Delhi flash mob fail!

I'm sorry guys but this really isn't cool. Or fun. And sadly it reeked 'gimmicky' and 'we want publicity' even before it actually failed. Plus you called the media.  I mean I love my friends from Delhi, but seriously guys, not happening. On the other hand you did give the rest of India material for laughter, so cheers for that :) Okay I'm just being mean, but can you blame me after watching the video?

Flash Mob at CST, Bombay

It's things like these which make me miss Bombay so much....
Seriously, isn't this the coolest city in the country...

So now what..

1) Couldn't think of a better title.

2) Have a submission tomorrow and I haven't done shit.

3) Two pegs down (this is called dedication).

4) Dynamic view template was cool. for like a day. Hate that I couldn't customize it so back to the old, classic 'I can make my blog look however I want' look.

5) Been too busy. Didn't have time to read your blogs. Sorry :P

6) Love life is the same as always (non-existent).

7) Reiterating this point but: work, work, work.

8) Done with painting most of the graffiti on my hostel room wall. Should put up a picture as soon as I'm done.

9) Anyone know any date-able women? They seem to have died out in Kolkata. I'm not desperate...oh wait I am.

10) Also I wish 9) doesn't alienate the female readership.

Cheers.
Will read your blogs soon, and make nonsensical comments. 

Children's books

I still read a lot of children's literature. No, I'm not embarrassed by it, I do this proudly. Sure there would be some out there who might point and laugh if I tell them that I recently read 'Heroes of Olympus: The Son of Neptune', but you know what, I really am a proud reader.

It's something to do with the fact that I don't like growing up. Let me tell you this, growing up is a pain in the ass. I don't want responsibilities, I don't want to deal with the pressures of life and I definitely don't feel like making a mark or something like that. There's something oddly liberating about reading a book meant for kids. I like to relive the days when the best moments were reading Harry Potter, and the worst ones, believe it or not, were when I wasn't allowed to waste my time reading the same novel for the tenth time as I had exams. We've all been there haven't we? And all children's books are so much fun to read. The crazy plots, the good old fashioned clean humour, and all the hopeful characters. And no matter what, the best ones always manage to put a smile on your face. It's something that very few adult books manage to do. There's always a tinge of cynicism, and all those realistic settings, while more believable, definitely don't give one as much joy as exploring a chocolate factory or diagon alley.

You know what, I actually think I know why a lot of adults wouldn't read a book meant for kids. All those fantastical elements seem 'kiddish' to them. But that's where they are wrong. I think that when you're a kid, you can believe in the magical, the fantastical. And as adults, its kind of hard to believe in the same. I really think most people tend to lose a lot when they grow up, but more so than anything else, they loose their imagination. And when you feel nostalgic about your childhood, its because you miss the simple joys of life, you miss the time when you could believe just about anything in the world.

But more than anything else, I love reading children's books is because I know that no matter how bad things get, no matter the pain and the suffering, there's always gonna be a happy ending. That's something no adult novel can promise you of, but in a kids book you just know everything's gonna be alright again. I want my life to be like a children's book, I want to be assured of a happy endings.  

Why we love Shah Rukh Khan

Yes, I saw Ra.One. Yes, I know it's crap. Yes, there might be some of you out there saying 'No I don't!', and well you're allowed your opinion, but let me put it to you this way. Shah Rukh Khan's movies have been making insane amounts of money before anyone knew so much money could be made out of movies. And he's been making movies for a long time now. So I'm guessing quite a few people like him (especially NRIs and Germans. No idea what's up with that). 

But to think of it, SRK is an oddity. He's not the most good looking actor. He's not the best actor either. He can dance, but isn't the best. He does't have the most diverse roles. And despite a lot of claims, he isn't larger than life like say, Rajinikanth or even Salman Khan. He doesn't appeal to masses like Salman Khan (making lots of money doing the same thing in terrible movies), or the classes like Aamir Khan. 

So yes, SRK is an oddity. On top of that, he's played ultra-romantic characters for most of his life.

But say what you want about him, you can't deny that he's been super successful. So what is it?

You know what, SRK acts in a lot of commercial films, always playing the same old character. But every once in a while he plays a role completely different than what he's done before. I think it comes at a gap of every two years. Think about it. Swades, as the NRI who has life-altering journey. Chak De India, as the strict, but awe-inspiring coach. Even My Name is Khan. Does he impress? For the most part. 

But I have a different take on why we love him. It's also why many of his crap movies work. Just him. It's hard to not like him. Be it his onscreen avatar, or his real life person, he does his best to charm the pants out of you. Because he always seems jovial, friendly, like the coolest kid in school who still wouldn't hesitate to be friends with the biggest loser. Watch any tv show, whenever SRK is in front of the camera, you just end up watching it anyways. He always manages to crack jokes, even at his own expense, loves to talk about his wife, and is always grateful. Yes he seems arrogant once in a while, but its usually the fun kind of arrogance. And he always seems to love kids. 

So all in all, yes, we love Shah Rukh Khan, because he seems the type of guy you could be friends with. 

Don't believe me, try this. Think about at least one SRK movie which you like, where he is the star. Watch it, and then tell me if you don't like the movie mainly because of him. 

And here's one of my favourite films. 

PS: Happy Diwali guys! sorry for taking the one month break. What to do, stupid projects took up my time. And the diwali sweets just made me lazy. Cheers :D

The Last Dance (2999 AD)

January 1st, 2999 AD: The world is dying. What was once a blue planet is no more. It's sometimes a memory, but mostly it's just a dream. We live in domes now. They protect us. And we wait. We wait to live, wait to die.Wait for a change. But mostly, we just wait for an absolution. 


He saw her from the corner of his eye, and instinctively got up. His recklessness caused the little heap of metal on which he was sitting on to topple over. It might have been an air-vehicle once, perhaps a domestic robot. Now it was just a heap of old, rusted metal, gathering dust.
'Sorry I'm late. I was in the lab. Working', she said.
'You still keep track of time. How do you even know the difference. Its always yellow anyways.' he replied, while coughing.
'Shut up. How's the asthma?'
'Same as everyone else's.'
'Adjust the speaker on your mask. It all sounds garbled. '
He started tinkering with the controls on the side of the mask. Loud static filled the air.
'Ouch! What are you doing?' she yelled.
'Sorry, my Breather is a little fucked up. Thought about buying a new one, but I have few Credits, and its either a new Breather, or decent food,' he said smiling.
'I thought you were trying to find a job?'
'I tried. Apparently when all efforts are being put in the terraforming of a new planet, there's very little use for a writer. I'm thinking about taking up cleaning work at ISRO again.'
'You do know the substances we work with right. It could kill you.'
'My asthma is gonna fucking kill me anyways. Its just a matter of time.'
'Stop talking like that! They are in the advanced stages. It's gonna happen soon. I know it.'
'Haa! How would you know? You're working on how to grow frickin potatoes on the new world.'
'I'm working on vegetation. Stop acting this way.'
The roof of the dome suddenly started turning pale. Drops started pouring from the semi-permeable membrane of the dome. They reached the ground and slowly started burning through the ice.
'We should go inside. The canopy in this part of town is down,' she said.
'Yeah lets go to my place.'

They reached the bottom of the stairs. 'Jenny, turn the lights on,' he shouted.
I'M HIBERNATING.
'Jenny, shut the fuck up and turn on all systems, otherwise I promise, I'm replacing you,' he roared angrily.
YOU DON'T HAVE ENOUGH CREDITS TO DO THAT ASSHOLE.
Nevertheless, the computer turned the lights on.
'I'm really sorry. Stupid, worthless piece of shit,' he said to her.
'It's okay. The older the AI, the crankier it is,' she said and smiled.
'Wanna help me reboot the OS next week?'
I HEARD THAT.
'I know, that's why I said it loudly, idiot.'
She took her hand and placed it on his mouth. 'Ssh. It's just a computer. Let's listen to some music?'
He went to the control panel and touched the screen. The room was filled with a soft tones. She took his hands and put them on her waist. She put her own around his neck, and they moved gently. He leaned in for the embrace and held her tight.
'Tell me honestly,' he said in a nervous voice. 'What are our chances on getting on that shuttle? What are you're chances of getting out?'
He felt her cheeks slightly moist. Quivering, she replied 'I don't know. My boss and his family are all getting tickets. I'm not sure about me. I know they're going to hold a lottery, but its a lottery after all....I don't know what's gonna happen.' She started sobbing.
'Sshh. We'll make it. Don't worry okay. Let's just dance for now.'
'I love you.'
'I know. But I'm just dancing with you because you might get tickets.'
'Haha, jerk! I hope you burn in hell,' she laughed.

The music stopped. But they didn't let go.


PS: (So this is basically the follow up to the story written a long time ago. I actually love sci-fi, with human characters, and I'm a sucker for post apocalyptic stories. Also, please tell me if you'd like to read more stories set in this world. Cheers. 

3000 AD

(This is a short story I had written for an English paper about 3 and a half years ago. Today all of a sudden I felt like exploring the world I'd created once more and decided to write another story, a prequel of sorts. So before writing that story, here's the original :)

I could see the atmosphere affecting the plastic body of the shuttle. I ascended towards space, leaving the 'dome' and the planet behind. Safely above the acidic atmosphere, I looked back on the planet I once used to call home. Earth, they used to call it. I had studied when I was young, that Earth was once blue, the air was once clean. Difficult to imagine that, seeing that the planet I was looking at now was red with craters and 'domes'. The domes were large, semi-circular structures where people could live without being affected by the atmosphere. Suddenly my monitor burst into life.

"All space crew outside. poceed for take-off ",said the Captain."Yes sir", I responded. "Alert . All ground crew prepare for evacuation,"I spoke into the transmitter. "Take off on my command. Fly to a distance of hundred kilometres outside the atmosphere and then go to the new facility through anti-space. Over and out." The monitor was showing me live transmission of the activities on 'Core Earth', ( that was the new name of this ravaged planet). People were pushing each other to get into the space shuttles, while the ground crew to get into the space shuttles, while the ground crew were struggling to maintain order. The Earth was about to crumble but we still had not lost our primeval behaviour.
I saw the 'Shudras' huddled in a corner, silent, aware of their g=future. The Shudras were the poor souls who had been affected by the air that was filled with poisonous gases and diseases. A majority vote by the countries in the UN, ordered the Shudras to stay on Core Earth even as it was being destroyed. They need not have bothered. Most Shudras would have agreed to stay and die, rather than continue the miserable life they were leading even on a new planet. In another dome i saw the Capatalists makiing their way towards their private shuttles. Class distinction had always been a part of humanity and sadly would always remain so.

The first shuttle took off from the Indian dome simultaneously as six other shuttles rose from their respective countries. Suddenly the first American shuttle burst into flames. "The idiot punched hype-burn too early, killed fifty-thousand people in one stroke", Henry muttered into the transmitter. I smirked and said,"That's fifty-thousand and one less American idots polluting the new planet. "Thats true",replied Henry."Shit, gotta get back to commanding the French shuttle" and the transmission ended. All the other shuttles went into anti-spac without any incident.
" Last seven shuttles taking off,"muttered the Captain,"Begin the clean-up process as soon as they proceed into anti-space. Then leave for anti-space. Good luck". I saw the final shuttles above Core-Earth and then they disappeared into anti-space. "Prepare to trigger the lasers in 3...............2..............1.............now!" I ordered. At once seven green lights descended towards the planet. Silence......Then the planet disintegrated, leaving a huge patch of empty, black space. "Good work boys, meet you on yhe new facility,"I punched hyper-burn and at once I was wading through the white tunnel of anti-space.
I came out at about two thousand kilometres away from a small, blue planet. There were white clouds surrounding it and brown land amidst the blue. It was the most spectacular sight I had ever see. I descended towards this new planet. As I entered it's atmosphere my monitor showed me that it contained 32% Oxygen, 76% Nitrogen & 2% othere gases :-air.
I landed on a clean green patch of ground. I jumped out of my shuttle and breathed in the fresh, natural air. I looked around and there she stood, Mother Eart amidst her lush green forests, fresh and unpolluted air, clear running streams---triumphant, rejuvenated and happy with the fresh lease of life.