The first half is brilliant, it soared and then just crashed. But its not really that disappointing except that sometimes it can feel like an American makeover of a much better show as in ‘28 days later’. If you enjoy a good action cum horror flick this is for you. But honestly could have been much better.

This one quote from the film made it all worth while and inspired to write this post, He in the quote below refers to Bob Marley

“He had this idea. It was kind of a virologist idea. He believed that you could cure racism and hate… literally cure it, by injecting music and love into people’s lives. When he was scheduled to perform at a peace rally, a gunman came to his house and shot him down. Two days later he walked out on that stage and sang. When they asked him why - He said, “The people, who were trying to make this world worse… are not taking a day off. How can I? Light up the darkness.”

- Robert Neville (Will Smith)

Here is a small list of facts compiled by BBC which we happened to learn in 2007

Adding milk to tea negates the health-giving effects of a hot brew.

Astronauts wear nappies during launch and re-entry.

Only about half of China’s population can speak the national language.

To be found attractive, women should sway their hips and men their shoulders.

Anti-Americanism began in Paris.

Dumbledore is gay.

The Australian town of Eucla has its own time zone.

Sleeping on the job is tolerated in Japanese work culture.

And…

Check out the the video below and be careful because someone’s listening

His travels give you a glimpse of life in the 14th century stretching from northern Africa to the Far east. And apart from reading his book by Tim Mackintosh-Smith I also happened to see a 3 part documentary on The National geographic channel called Camels, Courts and concubines in which Tim Mackintosh-Smith travels in his footsteps and retraces a remarkable journey.

His experience is quite breathtaking in fact Ibn Battuta even dreams of his travels to come in one part he says:

“That night, while I was sleeping on the roof of the cell, I dreamed that I was on the wing of a great bird which was flying with me towards Mecca, then to Yemen, then eastwards and thereafter going towards the south, then flying far eastwards and finally landing in a dark and green country, where it left me. I was astonished at this dream and said to myself “If the shaykh can interpret my dream for me, he is all that they say he is.” Next morning, after all the other visitors had gone, he called me and when I had related my dream interpreted it to me saying: “You will make the pilgrimage [to Mecca] and visit [the Tomb of] the Prophet, and you will travel through Yemen, Iraq, the country of the Turks, and India. You will stay there for a long time and meet there my brother Dilshad the Indian, who will rescue you from a danger into which you will fall.” Then he gave me a traveling-provision of small cakes and money, and I bade him farewell and departed. Never since parting from him have I met on my journeys aught but good fortune, and his blessings have stood me in good stead.“

Source: Ibn Battuta: Travels in Asia and Africa 1325-1354

Here you can experience
a well composed article called The Longest Hajj

Well I don’t know about how ground breaking but I felt that it gives hope to mainstream Indian cinema when I thought it started to stink. Aamir khan (aka. Mr. Perfectionist) acts and directs in this movie and its his directorial debut. I say the debut was exceptional because it serves the higher purpose of art, cinema in this case.

The film was full of amazing moments which almost made me well you know the C word It is a story that shows the helplessness of a kid who is not able to perform tasks that are beyond his abilities. It also shows the lack of understanding on part of teachers and parents while dealing with such kids. And, last but not the least, it is a story of hope. It is a story that not just touches you but also transforms you. I couldn’t find a scene which I couldn’t relate to. It sometimes is way too emotional and clichéd but I guess that was the main strength to this movie.

Ishaan Awasthi (Darsheel Safary), plays the troubled child and he is such a natural. I wonder how Aamir discovered this little talent. He was just brilliant.

If you have randomly hit this blog and curious about Taare and haven’t watched it yet well what are you waiting for?

dinhaas!

Paulette the grandmother (Françoise Bertin) of the character Franck (Guillaume Canet - This guy reminds me of Patrick Dempsey), really steals the show, she made me wonder about what I personally will go through when I’m her age. Paulette is an emotional anchor to the movie.

Audrey Tautou stars as Camille Fauque a near anorexic office cleaner (”Surface Engineer”) who happens to move into the same apartment as the other two characters Franck and Philibert due to circumstances, Her performance feels quite real and she completely justifies the character.

The Movie sure made me hungry with all that food and classy Restaurants and guess what one of the main character is a cook, well I ended up having a nice filling steak at Belgian beer cafe after the movie.

Well if you really love feel good love stories with a happily ever after type ending then this is definitely for you.

Minimalist design is said to be highly influenced by Japanese traditional design and architecture and me adopting it will not come as surprise to people who know me as a massive Japophile[?].

Whenever I see Christmas decoration, it makes me happy BUT it also reminds me that I’m getting old. Well Time sure passes don’t it? It was 8 years since I started my personal website, and it still feels like last year.

The book is a great eye opener in terms of cognitive science, politics and how you can literally manipulate thinking by using appropriate use of words, using positive frames even to convey a negative idea. Its all about how effectively you frame your idea or in other words draw people into your world view. The ideas are primary and the language carries those ideas, evokes those ideas.

Then as I was reading further through it I found this interesting detail about a strict father family and idea.

The world is a dangerous place, and it always will be, because there is evil out there in the world. The world is also difficult because it is competitive. There will always be winners and losers. There is an absolute right and an absolute wrong. Children are born bad, in the sense that they just want to do what feels good, not what is right. Therefore, they have to be made good…… When children do something wrong, if they are physically disciplined they learn not to do it again. That means that they will develop internal discipline to keep themselves from doing wrong, so that in the future they will be obedient and act morally. That is, if people are disciplined and pursue their self-interest in this land of opportunity, they will become prosperous and self-reliant. Thus, the strict father model links morality with prosperity. The same discipline you need to be moral is what allows you to prosper. The link is the pursuit of self-interest.

The above reminded me of family system in India. Which is nothing but strict father idealogy. Then I wondered what defines a conservative and progressive in India. Everything in India is very conservative and progressive thinking is still unknown. In a globalized world India is being watched closely, everyone across the world is watching us and our ideas. Because they want to know about the people they have to do business with. India is a diverse, vibrant, chaotic yet structured and a free Country. If somebody want to see structure in chaos India would be the place. But what I hate about it is pertinent hypocracy and injustice, inequality and bias at every level in the society. phew….

I’m often viewed as optimistic, nonconformist, outspoken and irreverent. But I’m pro-choice, pro-democracy and law abiding. The very idea is if something taboo is shown in the movies, people start talking about values and morals. But How many of you started smoking because your favourite actor puffed away on screen? or became depraved after watching an item number on screen? Instead of impinging on freedom of speech and expression why not focus on banning the sale of the killer cigarette itself? Why should you stop others from leading their lives and doing their jobs when they are clearly not violating the law? Every one is a moral police In India. Everyone tends to teach you right and wrong, see that is why I say strict father model makes more sense with India in context. India needs a rethinking of its point of view, liberalism which is an ideology, philosophy, and political tradition that holds liberty as the primary political value is essential. India is a great country. A country which was the birth place of many free thinkers and philosophes. India is a young country and there is a great hope of converting it, into an ideal democracy where freedom rules.

Being open to inquiry and continuous questioning of existing assumptions is a core principle of a liberal. Let’s work at a progressive and liberal India. Let’s not constantly cower down and “fit in” because it’s easy, or because despair is familiar. Let’s start living life on our own terms, democratically, freely, lawfully and far removed (whether an atheist, widow, divorcee, housewife, metrosexual man, a couple in love, or HIV+), from fear, prejudice, regression and stigma.

A grown-up person is capable and therefore free to make choices either for good or evil. A grown-up person should be able to assess alternative choices and be fully responsible for the decisions taken. In a democracy, if we can trust of voter to take important decisions relating to governance, and the person is able to run a household and perform other significant duties, it is then an insult to that person’s independence for someone else to dictate and curtail his or her choice. Attempts to curtail choice usually end up curtailing initiative, creativity, and progress. The freedom to choose is therefore the most fundamental freedom of all, to be restrained only under the most special circumstances.

Despite globalisation, nations continue to exist independently as different competing corporates. The opprobrium of being an “Indian” sticks to all Indians everywhere. They are treated as second-class citizens, coming from the ‘Third World’. Their efforts or ability are discounted, often for, but not merely, racial reasons. America, Europe, Japan, Australia and other developed nations spend lavish care on their alleged poor while the hopeless poor of India are neglected. All nations operate a foreign policy exclusively in their national interest and no one will ever come to India’s help unless it suits them in a self interested way. Therefore nationalism is even more important today than it was a hundred years ago. The Indian liberal is an Indian first and liberal second. India’s national self-interest is the primary concern of the Indian liberal, and his or her focus is to achieve a status where self - respect is easier to obtain than it is today in this world. However, each of us cares for India and Indians for reasons that maybe different, and in our own unique way, and to that extent nationalism represents a deliberate choice to the liberal.

P.S. The above is composed from ideas from several bloggers on this planet.

I particlarly feel that in this present world free will and choice are just an illusion. As the influence of media and peers which often manipulates our decision making. As humans we are often tempted to lean towards the most comforting side and when you have to think less the more comfortable you feel. So we often make choices based on popular culture and flashes of branding embedded deep in our psyche and ignore the fact that how good these decisions really are? Because we just dont have the time! And all this leads to more complicated problems for instance bad health from eating cheap and large quantities of fastfood.

Certain user in the forums of Open source resonates with exactly what I feel.. He says :
“There are complex psychological factors that lead the impoverished, uneducated, immigrant and disenfranchised to be highly influenced by advertising and offers made to them in person. The advertising companies spend millions on psychological studies and consultants to figure out how to take advantage of the psychology of their target audience. You can write about your experience, but to ignore the overwhelming data and claim that everybody else should just be like you is patently dismissive and does nothing to address the reality. People are weak for whatever reasons they are, it is not ethical to prey on those weaknesses. Except in an amoral capitalistic economic model.”

Deepa Mehta is a genius, and I laud her bravery in continuing to tell the stories of India with such brutal honesty, heartwrenching sadness, beauty, insight and wisdom. Some aspects felt cheesy but its an element which makes it lovable I guess. I just loved the brilliance of the little girl who played Chuyia. And the story of the old widow who loved sweets. Finally the lesson we learn from this brilliant movie is that struggle for freedom is hard and painful especially in the shadow of temptation and power over the vulnerable and the innocent. This movie honors the spirit of all those Indian women who silently suffered the injustice and whose stories are untold and forgotten.

47% of the suicide bombers have an academic education and an additional 29% have at least a high school education.
83% of the suicide bombers are single.
64% of the suicide bombers are between the ages 18-23; most of the rest are under 30.

And the BBC reported that suicide bombers “are likely to be motivated by religious fervor.” According to a BBC report, recruits are “picked out from mosques, schools and religious institutions. They are likely to have shown particular dedication to the principles of Islam… and are taught the rewards that will await them if they sacrifice their lives.”

What does these all mean? I cant judge why would somebody blow himself, And would never like to quote religion or any social problem in this context. Period. But I surely but definitely as I always did, blame the Human condition and our tendency to self-destruct. We are self destructive only because we forgot our original Nature. We from being a simple, self-fulfilling, respectful and joyful, have turned into Compulsive Obscessive Rationalists. For example, the majority of humans stampede to join the herds, or “bandwagons,” of charismatic leaders. There, they delight in winning decisive victories, though it isn’t always clear exactly what they win. Nevertheless, having won, the majority regards minorities as losers, unfit to participate in the activities of the herd.

After the atomic bombs were detonated in Japan, Albert Einstein observed, “Everything has changed, except human nature.” He was noting that humans destroy each other with any available tools. In this way, leaders invite mass extinction by turning the products of abstract thought against their own species. In other words, in their advanced brains, most humans carry a powerful potential resource for adaptation and survival, but since they don’t know how to use it, they abuse it. Moreover, they do this to popular acclaim. Many political factors retard mental fitness. With a mix of such primitive politics and powerful technology, our species may not have enough time to realize such a revolution in thinking and soon self destruct. Before that happens, folks have a nice time.