Two years of Irony

The clock had struck twelve and officially a new day had begun – 30^th June 2010. Exactly two years ago, I was being inducted into TCS in an Initial Learning Programme (ILP) at Trivandrum. A week into the programme and realization of my mistakes had struck me. It was shocking, frustrating and confusing to find myself in a place where i thought I would never go. But there was no time to waste or to brood over past. I had to move on and pessimism had to go to make room for hope and optimism. Thus, a plan was in put action that would make sure an early and successful exit from TCS. Plan was an unambiguous one and all efforts to make it successful were unadulterated and synchronized. But the results were ironical. The exit strategy was supposed to work but it did not. Consequently, I found myself in TCS after two ironical years.

Looking back, I do see a lot of anguish, pain and hopelessness in these two years. I find it hard to remember the number of times I felt like a loser. Perhaps it was a reality check. But it does not matter anymore. Whatever it was, the good it has done must be taken into account e.g. I never knew I had the courage to go on and on even after feeling uninspired and I had no idea about my ability to fight till the last moment. I had never restrained and disciplined myself so much. These two years have tested me in many aspects and have made me resilient.

Moreover, I have come to a better understanding about what drives me and satisfies me. I do realize that nothing can satisfy me more than a fully exhausting, dedicated effort towards something meaningful even if I don’t get the desired result. The hard work that goes in pursuit of a Goal energizes me and helps in saving me from the negativity that a failure brings with it.

Well, irrefutable fact of life is that the bigger and painful the fiasco is, the more it toughens up you for the game called life. And something called ‘HOPE’ keeps driving you towards a purposeful goal.

Hmmm.. I must sleep now. Once again, I have poured more than I initially set out to do. If I have to recapitulate the whole thing in one line then i would just refer to this dialogue:

“The night is darkest just before the dawn. And the dawn is coming” – The Dark Knight

:) Signing off.

-Tarun

PS: Next time I go to an Interview, I will say that I am passionate about the dialogues of the movies that really captivate me.

Greenland and Global Warming

Someone like me, who is obsessed with his own little world and its vicissitudes, hardly finds time to explore what lies beyond his little world. But when I do, the feeling that comes with this newly acquired knowledge is of unadulterated satisfaction, achievement and amazement. At such times, I feel that vastness of this planet earth is beyond comprehension by a mere mortal and all that I can do is to explore it and admire it. One such moment of exploration happened on this weekend - courtesy National Geographic magazine. I read two wonderful articles about Greenland and impact of global warming on its geography, economy and future. I would like to share some of the most fascinating aspects from those articles:

1. Greenland, the largest island on planet earth (except continents), has some 80% of its land buried under ice sheets which can go as deep as 2 miles. It is one of the world's least densely populated nations. It is largely dependent on other nations for even the most of basic resources like fodder for sheep and wood for buildings. Its economy is largely dependent on sea food exports, which are not consistent enough due to unpredictable weather conditions. Greenland also attracts its share of tourists but numbers are not very high, owning to lack of proper conditions for stay and costly travel expenses. Fjords, that dissect the land and pop up many small streams, make it impossible to travel by land.

2. Although Greenland is an autonomous country but it is still considered as a part of Kingdom of Denmark, which controls its foreign policy and pumps hefty amount of money to help the anemic economy of Greenland.

3. Greenland has always been a hot spot for many glaciologists, who want to study Global warming in action. Increase in pollution in other areas has adversely affected the melting patterns of ice in Greenland. In general, ice has a tendency to reflect most of the light that falls on it. Its albedo is high. But with air containing all kinds of impure particles, volcanic ashes and by products of industrialization, the ice that is melting turns black in color. Resulting tar like liquid, also called cryoconite, has lesser albedo and absorbs higher amount of heat, which in turn melts more ice and sets off a chain reaction. If all Greenland ice melts sea level will rise will inundate coastlines around the planet.

4. Another interesting aspect of Global Warming on Greenlandic ice is formation of superaglacial lakes. These lakes, formed by rise in temperature around the region, vary in composition and size. While it may take days for a small pond to acquire the status of a lake, it generally takes only a few hours for a lake to be sucked by a Moulin - a vertical hollow shaft in sheets of ice. In 2006, a team of glaciologists documented the draining of a two-square-mile lake into a Moulin, where 11 billion gallons of water disappeared in just 84 minutes.

- Courtesy National Geographic - June 2010 issue.

I hope the reader enjoyed the information as much as i did. For more, get hold of the main source. Cheers!!

Australianism Prevails

"Australianism, means singleminded determination to win - to win within the laws but, if necessary, to the last limit within them. It means where the 'impossible' is within the realm of what the human body can do, there are Australians who believe that they can do it - and who have succeeded often enough to make us wonder if anything is impossible to them. It means they have never lost a match - particularly a Test match - until the last run is scored or their last wicket down." - John Arlott

The semi final between Australia and Pakistan was a true exhibition of the attitude known as Australianism. It was sheer class, mental strength and ‘never die' spirit that zoomed Australia into the Final of the competition. Once again, Australians proved themselves and delivered the goods when it mattered the most. It was just another match where the result could have easily gone against them but they snatched an improbable victory from their opponents.

After the match, I kind of felt sorry for Pakistan. Although they played poorly throughout the tournament but they performed really well in the Big Match. They batted superbly to host a Target of 192 in 20 overs and followed that with an excellent start. They did all right things that a team does to defend a high total. They got rid of Warner and Watson early and reduced Australia to 67/4 in 10 overs. Their spinners bowled their heart out to make the chase look impossible. Australians looked on the verge of being knocked out of the world cup. The edge was becoming thinner and thinner with each passing ball and an Australian defeat looked inevitable. But as one would expect from them, The Australians held on to that thin edge. They had that last ray of HOPE that never leaves their sides till the last ball is bowled. The task was arduous and they pursued it relentlessly. White started the onslaught with his lusty hitting and gave Australia the momentum they were looking for. But even after his marvelous innings, the goal looked far way from their reach when they required 48 runs in 3 overs with 6 men down. Their hopes were lingering on one Batsman who has been the epitome of consistency, Mike Hussey. Mike Hussey had delivered most of the times when the team required him and he did not disappoint his team mates this time as well. Some big sixes, superb running and cool batting reduced the equation to 17 of last 5 balls with Hussey on strike, already playing the innings of his life. Pakistan employed their best bowler in Ajmal to contain the deadly hurricane but things fell apart for them miserably. Couples of sixes, a sliced upper cut to fetch a boundary and final blow over mid wicket for a six were all that Australia required to pull out one the best international T20 chases. Hussey completed a miracle and expressed Australianism yet again.

Kudos to the spirit and attitude that form the core of any Australian cricketer and sets him apart from rest. And all the best to England for final game because they will need all the luck they can afford. There is no doubt in their ability and form but they will have to produce something special to stop the Australian juggernaut. No matter who wins in the final, we can be sure of one thing that the final will be played among the two best performers of this World Cup.

In a Traffic Jam

Yesterday would have been just another day in my already not-so-happening office life had I were not saved by a lunch party. As usual, the break from office was more than welcome. The food was delicious and Sandeep's witty one liners kept everybody happily occupied. Anyways, this post is not about those one liners or that delicious food, but it is connected with something that happened during the course of my journey back to office.

Having been lived in Gurgaon for more than a year, I don’t get surprised by everyday traffic jams. And same was the case when we got caught in a bad one. Once again, I found Murphy's Law apposite for a Traffic Jam. (Murphy’s Law for Traffic Jam - The row, you just left to get into a seemingly faster one, starts moving faster than the one you just came into). While I was occupied in observing the chaotic system, a friend said, "What's that!!” I turned my neck ninety degrees to my left and witnessed an unexpected scene. For the first time in my life I saw a group of nearly twenty Muslims performing their Namaz in a public place as a single entity in total harmony. It is quite likely that many will find this event a commonplace and mundane one. But to me, it was a symbol of freedom of expression. And what I felt, after watching that scene, is a tough thing to explain. I experienced tranquility amidst all the chaos and a feeling of admiration for those people. In that very moment, that single moment, I felt extremely proud to be living in such a country where all the colors and shades are accepted and respected, where you are free enough to be yourself, where love has been the way of life. I wished to see a world where that harmony will be perpetrated unconditionally.

Well, that was one traffic jam that, for a moment, made me laugh from inside.

Happiness and Others

Don't put the key to your happiness in someone else's pocket....

Everyone points to the other man, who, according to him, is happier. But the only one, who has the courage to declare that he is truly happy, is he who has relinquished all his passions and hungers from within.
-- Swami Chinmayananda

I came across this wonderful message while browsing Times of India. Liked it and felt like sharing it. What prompted me into quick action was the connection that I felt with first line of the quote. It is absolutely truthful that consciously or unconsciously, most of us tend to equip others with the key to our happiness. Thoughts like, ‘What others will think about me’, ‘Will they think bad if I do this’, ‘Will he like this dress’ etc, give rise to anxiety and fear of being rejected. At times, we tend to elude ourselves by denying this fact. But in reality it keeps on dwelling inside, slowly to come up again without the knowledge of our conscious mind. Because the truth is everybody desires to be accepted, appreciated and liked by his or her sphere of society.

Sometimes, we become so much engrossed in these thoughts that we forget that the real source of happiness lies within us not with people surrounding us. Having said this, I don’t intend to imply that one should stop listening to others or behave as if there is only one soul left on this planet. We must respect and regard others opinions and point of views. But at the same time, it is extremely important to understand the subtle but substantial difference between flattery & true appreciation, between sincere criticism & disparaging words and between positive and negative influences. If we succeed in keeping a balanced approach, then the quotient of happiness lying in our hands will be much much higher.

I'm Back !!

A LONG HIATUS -- This might be the right phrase to describe my blogging activity since Oct, 2007. Yes, it has been over two years since I last wrote about myself, since I poured my thoughts in here and since I enjoyed writing about a movie that I saw. Come to think of it, I do realize how erratic and ephemeral my blogging has been. I have been too lazy and too busy to write. Moreover, I was entangled in my web of thoughts, frustrated with my present job, apprehensive about my future, uncertain about my career and dreamy about my aspirations. And one can also add some guilt of unfinished tasks and some pity (after a glut of ineffectual results) to already overflowing emotions that I was experiencing. Having said that, I will be doing injustice with myself if project everything as dark. Because happiness can be found even in the darkest of hours and my situation was no way near the darkest.

Surely, the final year at Thapar was a turbulent one but even then it was the most memorable time that I spent with my college friends. The scenes of our last party, those watery eyes and a deep nostalgia still engulf me whenever a thought of that life rambles into my mind. Without a shred of doubt, the college time is the best and the most happening time of one’s life.

The transition from college to job happened all too fast for my liking and I found myself in Trivandrum, for Initial learning program of TCS. Undoubtedly, it was really an amazing and delightful experience to travel and explore Kerala. Trip to Munar and Kerala backwaters, late night stay at TCS to complete tasks for EC-2, Dancing in a TCS bus on south Indian songs and enjoying company of some really good friends are some of the most cherished memories of my ILP. But life was never the same after ILP.

Ever since ILP, I found myself in a race with life. Each and every day, only one thought traversed my mind and I was too full with it to realize slow recession of happiness from my life. All I wanted was the misery of a Job at TCS to end as soon as possible into a fruitful career path. What exactly constitutes a fruitful career path is a question that still haunts me. Its answer eludes me all the time. After many unsuccessful attempts at getting into a foreign university for either MS or PhD in Biotechnology, I finally decided to bid farewell to the idea that clogged my mind for all the time since I joined TCS. I am still unsure that whether it was my passion and love for Biotechnology or my hatred for IT sector that motivated me to pursue this idea. Whatever the reason was, I did give my best shot at it and when all those doors slammed shut before my eyes, I realized that it’s a break up that I must get over with as soon as possible. So as of now, I am planning to shift to contingency plan A i.e. MBA. This is motivated by the fact that I got calls from IIMB and IIMS on the basis of my strong academic background. The results for the same are still awaited.

During the past two years of my life, I have been through some tough lessons and realizations. Some of those shattered me to my core, changed my perspective of life. And all the chaos that ensued in my life made me believe that most of our apprehensions come from our desire to control our future, from efforts to control our little sphere. On the contrary, there is so much that a mere mortal like me cannot understand and the best thing to do is just to give his best without worrying about the result or consequences. And it is extremely important to be flexible enough to accept change because the only permanent thing in life is change. Well, it is so easy to put these thoughts into writing but their true essence lies in practice, something at which I find myself quite inconsistent. I just hope that with time and with some meditation, I can put these lovely thoughts into action more often.

That’s it from me in my come back post. I have scribbled more than I expected. Bye.

PS: I read my previous posts today and cherished them as the gifts life bestowed upon me.

A Trip to RDB Fort..

Hi blog,

What a trip it was.. first of this type in my life.. Credit must go to chaman for his idea.

It was Sunday and everything was planned.. Eight of us, (AP, Kiran, mridul,kamal, chman, pappu, ramneet and me), left for RDB fort on bikes and in my case scooter. Well, i never had the experience of driving on highways and that too of around 150 km on a round trip. But it was totally fun. The fast driving of highway has a thrill of its own.

RDB fort was good. We clicked hell lot of pictures from mridul's digicam and from my k790i. After exhausting every corner of fort, We visited Gurudwara sahib near fort and langer tea there, was very refreshing. We also visited Mcdonald and Floating restaurant. The burger at Mcdonald was really tasty. I also had the opportunity of driving Karizma and CBZ extreme on the way back and both bikes were really good. For the first time in my life, i drove at the speed of 100 kph. It was totally thrilling. The trip was really-2 awesome and we had a lot of fun.

PS:- Biotech Rockzz.....

The Butterfly Effect & The Chaos Theory

Hi blog,

"The Butterfly Effect" - Yeah, it was the movie shown by Thapar Movie Club today. The movie was totally confusing one and the voice system of C-Hall added with a bad print of movie made the matters worse. But still, I understood the movie because of Kamal, guys discussing movie at end and Wikipedia (It rockz). And now after fully realizing the movie plot and concept, i feel like appreciating it. The concept was mind boggling.


Tagline of Movie: Change one thing, change everything.

The Butterfly Effect is a story of an extra ordinary boy which can go in his past black outs and change the course of events in those blackouts. And these changes further effect the outcome of his life. Whenever he changes an event, a new time line presents him with an entirely different life. He changes the events to suit the best life but end up in a life of some trouble or the other. And at last, he succeeds in striking a balance in life but he has to scarifice something he desires most. After that he destroys all the ways from which he can travel in past and accepts the life he has got in last time line.

Now let me come to The Chaos theory Part:

It has been said that something as small as the flutter of a butterfly's wing can ultimately cause a typhoon halfway around the world - The Chaos Theory.

Actually, in a chaotic system the smallest variation in input can have an enormous impact on the output. And this is the most interested thing that is applied in the movie. The smallest change in a blackout event causes total life change of characters in movie putting them in different time lines. That goes to sure that sometime certain important event can change the course of life and it is something that one can take away from movie.

Apart from chaos theory, movie also gives a very simple lesson that one cant have everything in life and sometimes, we have to make certain decisions, certain sacrifices.

Overall, it was a good movie if you understand it (which takes time). But it could have been far better. Especially, the part dealing with revival of time lines.

My rating: 7.9/10
Imdb rating: 7.7/10

Bye blog.

PS:- It was another good day in placement scenario for Biotech as 4 more students were placed (in HCL). Our Gang is almost placed. I'm very happy for all of my friends which are placed and do hope that others will get placement soon. After all, Thapar has got some brand name in market...

Mission TCS Accomplished...

Hi blog...

I'm to used to saying this but I'll have to say it again.... "Its been a long time since my last post"... But this time I've excuses.. 1st I was busy and too occupied in placement work to write and 2nd (more importantly) i was not having a net connection at home.. Anyways, now I've got DATAONE and a placement.. Total tension free for a few days... Now let me start writing about the Mission TCS...


1st aug, 2007 -- TCS was coming for campus placement. I was happy because it was a very good growth oriented IT company and i wanted to reserve a seat in it. The placement process was divided in written tests and interviews. Career launcher took care of the interview part and i was confident for the interview but it was written test that was haunting me. So i along with suneet and Deepi started preparing for it. I started missing classes, labs just for placement. Prepared for the Quant section from old TCS papers... Did some GRE high frequency words... And also got Barrons 12th edition model test papers for analytical reasoning (it is widely known that TCS analytical papers come from that only). But preparation was more of an illusion as i had not completed reasoning section.

And then came 1st august, and see how luck favors the blogger, the test for Biotech was postponed to 2nd august and i was extremely happy. Me and suneet went to library and started doing model test papers and everything went great till 1:10 pm and then i got a call from CILP office. I was asked to report to CILP office and the test for top 10 students from Biotech was to start in half an hour or so (my rank is 2nd in the class). I was shocked, broken and what not.. and then luck again favors the blogger, a call came in CILP from somebody (I dont know my saviour) and the program was cancelled. Huh.. I was relieved.. I did some more test papers on that day.

2nd August, around 1 pm -- Written test in Computer lab. Well, it was far lot easier than i expected. I did all the guess working in verbal section, some in analytical but Quant was a piece of cake. The test was done successfully. First hurdle was crossed and the second was about to start.

3:30pm -- I was there in front of CILP office, formally dressed with filled TCS form and a folder of certificates, waiting for the interview. All of my friends from Biotech were there. Needless to say they were tensed, but i tried my best to find humor in the situation. But when my name was called, at 6 pm, i was a bit nervous. The wait was getting on my nerves but i tried to calm myself and entered for the interview....

THE INTERVIEW

First 2-3 minutes were close to terrible. I let slip in my introduction that my father is a Bank officer and soon i was bombarded with questions from banking line, accounts.. what not... and soon i told them that its not my field. Then began what would i call 'dream 10-12 minutes' of my interview. One of the interviewer asked about Mitochondria and i explained him all its chemistry and biology and then it was like leading an interview. He asked questions from my answers and i explained each and everything. mDNA was made to be an existing part of genetic material in cell by me and the viruses, genetic disorders, Mendel's laws, photosynthesis.. what not.. i just blasted each and every question with confidence. Ho, it was great.. But then came another twist.. The interviewer asking technical questions left the room and the second one took over... and started a bad patch.. asked about C/C++ and i was not knowing much.. at last he gave me a puzzle, which i half solved.. he remarked that it was easy and i should have solved it.. Chalo Technical interview was done... I was not sure that i've done enough to get a call for HR interview but my CG and technical knowledge of biotech did the trick and i got a call for HR interview in next 10 min...

Well, HR interview was fun.. Mam was cool.. she just wanted to know that why i wanted to change from Biotech to IT, being good in technical. And i answered as diversely and differently i could have done. At some point she looked a bit unsatisfied but at last i thought i had done a fine job of convincing her.. Anyways, HR interview was over in 5-7 minutes..

Huh.. All done and then i was again in waiting mode... It was 9:30 pm. I was waiting for the result in C-hall. Cracking jokes among friends but a bit nervous from with in. And then came the Head of TCS team. He started announcing results..

First B.Tech Biotech --
Tarun Gupta

I got up.. accepted the applause from audience.. But Was this the moment i was waiting for.. i dont know.. i was blank.. my perception of the world was lost.. my hands were applauding for others but mind was not processing information.. it was just different from any feeling i ever had. And now, about 10 days later i have started feeling a sense of fulfillment watching my friends getting placements in other companies. It really makes you happy..

Anyways, The bottomline is and remains -- Mission TCS was Accomplished...

Bye blog..

5th July.. The delayed Independence.

Hi blog...

Its 5th july today and i got my independence.. a delayed one... should have been on 4th july but i am free now from a pathetic piece of shit they call training.. today i got my certificate.. a document proving that i had completed my training officially... i cant be happier... I know that at end the things went better in a way that i got a desired project much related to my field but still i cant help feeling that this training was nothing less than a time pass or time wasted.. may be i dont know enough to decide about it.. who knows.. they say that alls well that ends well... it has ended now and ended well... let see how things goes in college.. looking forward to that.. in the meantime, i request the reader to shed some light on the thing they call training....

Bye..

Cya soon blog....

Goodbye Mumbai...

Hi blog,
It has been a long time since my last post.. i was a bit busy in report and project.. now its over.. Finally i'm leaving mumbai.. Felling great..

It has been a mixed bag in mumbai.. some moments of joy, some sight seeing and quite a lot of travelling.. made me tough mentally but it takes a lot out of u too... i'm still not sure about this place.. whether its good or bad i'm still consumed.. i dont know why.. perhaps it was a lot happening in a short duration or my frustrations about other things.. i can hardly tell.. but one thing that i can asuure u is i'm very-2 happy to leave this place.. and this post of mine is different in the prospest that i'm hardly thinking while typing.. just the thoughts pouring straight from my heart and i'm typing... well i think thats it... i'll write about mumbai in future too.. (may be a tourist guide).. who knows.. for now..

Final verdict is... "Asi tere Sheher nu Salaam kar Challe haan".....

Goodbye mumbai..

Life in a........ Metro

Hi blog....

Another day goes and we are heading towards the 15th may.. Hmm.. Am i getting impatient ?? I dont know... Chal leave that.. let me tell you about today.. a day just like any other one.

I got up at 11:30 as usual... there was no electricity and according to the notice board of society it was to come at 5 pm.. what should i do for time pass ?? and then the idea came... a movie at Adlabs in galleria mall.. Cool.. so i got ready by 12:15 and was off to galleria.. I was thinking about watching Tara rum pum but got the tickets for Metro.. The show was at 2:30 pm.. I had an hour or so to explore the mall.. the mall was good but Center one was better. The best place in the mall was 'Odyssy - The leisure place'. It had books, greating cards, toys for kids, perfumes and music shop. It was cool to spent half an hour there. And then at 2:15, i entered the hall... so let the movie take over the post...

Movie review

My first thought about the movie was that it will be realistic and practical movie but i was proved wrong. There is no doubt that the movie was realistic at times but then suddenly it went too far fetched to contend with.
Theme of the movie said "countless emotions". Its true to some point. Movie shows it all.. passion, lust, a greed to succeed and love. It was a bold movie. At a moment, it reminded me of page 3 but page 3 was class apart. This one cant match page 3.

But there were certain things that appealed me most in the movie. Movie clearly showed the hollowness of the character in certain group of people which do nothing but use others for their benefit. Also, the path followed by some to realize their dreams, which ultimately compelled them to sacrifice on their integrity. A virtue which is constantly going down in todays hollow but shiny society. Apart from that movie showed some emotionally weak characters, tangled love lines bla bla bla..

And, as far as acting is concerned, i think it was good.. you can always expect Kokana sen sharma and Irfan khan to do a good job in these sort of roles. KK and Shilpa also did a good job and kangana ranaut looked good too..

And talking about the music, well it was rock dominated totally. A rock band performs in all the song (i dont know the name). Initially it looks good but after some it starts to give a headache. The best song was "In dino".

Final Verdict: A good movie for a one time watch watch.. Something appealing (At times)... But its not a ground breaking cinema by any means.
My rating: 2.8/5
Imdb: Not there yet.

After the movie, i went to center one and wandered there for an hour so. Then back to home. Back to Orkutting, Chatting and blogging...

Bye blog.

A rocking Day with Spiderman - 3

Hi blog..

Today was an eventful and Successful day.. Bhot aish kitti... Day started a bit boring but soon it was filled with fun and excitement. Actually it was 'The Monitoring Day'.. Our dear prof SS was coming for monitoring.. So me and AP went to Nerul Plant of our company (Elder Pharma) where SS was expected to come. We reached Company at 10 and were hoping that we were not late.. ans we were not.. On the contrary, SS came near 1:00 and we have to wait for over 2 hours. Our cool company coordinator left us with SS in his cabin. And from that moment onwards the day started to change.. First we all said "Good morning" in a formal way and then something followed which neither me or AP was expecting or hoping for... Dear, SS started talking a bit friendly with us.. asked about all project things, Mumbai, changes in our lives bla bla bla.. there were one or two awkward moments which could have turned nasty but all in all it went well.. So we were free by 2:10 and left the company..

Our total planning was to go home straight forward but another unexpected plan was on the way.. we boarded a bus to Vashi baazar as usual (hoping to get an auto from there towards home).. But my mood changed in between.. i was dying to see Spiderman-3 and moreover Mridul said it was great.. So I told AP to get off at Vashi depot and go to Fame Adlabs for watching Spidy-3.. AP agreed.. So we left the bus at Depot... We hired an auto from depot to Galleria mall where there are 4 screens of fame Adlabs...
there were 8 shows of Spidy-3 in a day at Adlabs.. and shocking thing was all were already filled...

I was a bit disappointed to say the least but then i thought about going to another Cinema Nearby Meghdoot or Meghraj.. And See how the luck smiles on us.. We got the tickets for 3:30 show of the movie....

Now movie review...... well, it was a good movie.. no second thoughts about that.. Special effects were as good as its earlier parts or may be better.. Story line could have been improved a bit... there were too many villains to accommodate in one movie.. Movie was a bit more romantic then Spidy 1,2... But overall, it is a very good movie for a Spidy fan... Must see .. especially for special effects..
My Rating: 8.3/10
Imdb rating: 7.9/10....

After the movie, AP went home straight way because he was feeling giddy... and i went to Centre One mall.. I spent more than an hour or so in mall.. It was just great.. Crowd was good too... On the way back to home, i had my small dinner..
Overall it was a rocking day...

PS:- Spiderman-3 was the seventh (As far as i can remember) movie that i have seen in cinemas of Mumbai... Others were..
1. Guru (Excellent Movie)
2. Eklaya (Good acting, Weak Story.. Nice to see, nothing much to remember)
3. Ghost rider (Waste of money)
4. Black Friday (Super-Duper Movie... A must Watch)
5. Namaste Landon (Good Timepass movie.. Katrina looks Hot...)
6. Mr. Beans Holiday (Very good and Clean comedy.)
7. Spiderman-3 (Good movie.. excellent effects)
Saga will go on......

Bye blog.... :)

The Shawshank Redemption

FEAR CAN HOLD YOU PRISONER, HOPE CAN SET YOU FREE


Hi blog, Seen The Shawshank Redemption today again.. Seen it countless number of times and movie still delights me... Especially its dialogs... So I'm writing about it.... Actually i should have done it earlier because this movie deserved it. But better late than never.. Let me start..

The Shawshank Redemption is undoubtedly the best movie i have ever seen. Its a classic. Movie gives you hope. It engages you slowly and then delights you at end. The beauty of the movie lies in it being slow. Every scene, every character just fits into it amazingly.. Acting by every character in the movie is amazing.. The narration by Morgan freeman throughout the movie holds the viewer.. This movie has it all -- hope, patience, friendship, fun, misery and prison life.... And above all great dialogs.. Here goes some of my favorite ones...

Red: "Get Busy Living, or Get Busy dying.. Thats goddamn right."

Andy: "Remember red, Hope is a good thing, may be the best and no good thing ever dies..I'll be hoping that this letter find you and finds you well."

Red: "I hope to cross the border. I hope to see my friend. I hope the pacific is as blue as it has been in my dreams. I HOPE"

Andy: "Yeah. The funny thing is - on the outside, I was an honest man, straight as an arrow. I had to come to prison to be a crook."

Red: "Some birds are not meant to be caged... Their feathers are just too bright.. and when they fly away..the part of you which knows, it was a sin to lock them up rejoice..yet the place you live, is much more drab and empty after they are gone.."

Red: "That kid's long gone. This old man is all that's left. I gotta live with that. 'Rehabilitated?' That's just a bullshit word. So you go on and stamp your forms, Sonny, and stop wasting my time. Because to tell you the truth, I don't give a shit."

Red: "These walls are funny. First you hate 'em, then you get used to 'em. Enough time passes, you get so you depend on them. That's institutionalized."

Red: "In prison, a man will do anything to keep his mind occupied."

Andy: "There are places in this world that aren't made out of stone, and that there's something inside that they can't get to ,and that they can't touch. It's yours. ....Hope."

Red: "When they put you in that cell... and those bars slam home... that's when you know it's for real. A whole life blown away in the blink of an eye. Nothing left but all the time in the world to think about it."

Red: "Andy Dufresne - Who crawled through a river of shit and came out clean on the other side."

Brooks: "The world went and got itself in a big damn hurry."

Warden: "I believe in two things: discipline and the Bible. Here you'll receive both. Put your trust in the Lord; your ass belongs to me. Welcome to Shawshank."

Red: "... and for the briefest of moments -- every last man at Shawshank felt free."

Warden: "The man disappeared like a fart in the wind !"

Red: "Prison life consists of routine, and then more routine."

Warden & Andy: "Salvation lies within"

Red: "Geology is the study of pressure and time. That's all it takes, really. Pressure and time."

Red: "Somethings are best left unsaid."

Well, there are endless dialogs in the movie which could have come here but i had to choose the best which was a very hard job, i must admit. At end i will just say "wonderful Movie"

PS: My rating: 10/10
Imdb rating: 9.1/10 (2nd best after Godfather)