Monica Belluci with an Indian

The time has come to leave Chicago. Life of an IT consultant is nomadic; set up your tent (and hook up your laptop) at one place only to move to the next. My next destination is not Chicago. Definitely I will miss Chicago; the vibrancy, the jazz, the glitterati, the pubs and bars, the parties and drinks and the people. And certainly I will miss Monica Belluci (name purposely concocted to avoid publicity. Monica Belluci wouldn't be a friend of a confused H1b holder. I just used her name as the person in concern has Italian origins; people who know Belluci: don’t be jealous, my friend is nowhere like her and people who don’t know Belluci: its time to Google her).
I was so much feeling marooned in Chicago once the last project ended and my colleagues got dispersed to different parts of this continent. Gym, books, Borders, acquaintances, jogging, working, social gatherings- everything was so incomplete without good friend(s). I met Ms Monica Belluci at a concert of the Chicago Orchestra playing Charlie Chaplin’s City Lights. And she changed everything I knew about Chicago or for that matter US. She not only plays Andrew Lloyd Webber on her piano, she is good with her trumpet. We became friends in no time. She was as new to the city as me with not much friends. And she has a good heart. She cooked for me fine Italian dinners, got me Thanksgiving food from her home, drove me around to far off suburban shopping centers for discount sales and allowed me to drive her car a few times. Suddenly my lonesome existence was finding a meaning of having friends, having good company who can be fierce fully competitive during a game of bowling or dart or pool and equally sensitive and sharing over a dinner watching a movie.
Life may take me to many corners where I find it’s difficult to turn around and come back but I know she will be one I can count upon any time.
Thank you Ms Belluci for being there for me.

Ghai Vs Ramu: the debate starts afresh

My blog is getting visited, I know that, however Iam disappointed at the irrationally poor number of comments. May be my subjects are not shared well by the readers. Well, I think now its time to write to the audience. I chose a subject that I will think will fetch some comments. Iam hungry for some comments. And the topic is who is best, Subhash Ghai or Ram Gopal Varma. First I will discuss them both as glossed as possible and then do a little comparison, leaving the rest to the desi readers to comment on. My nondesi friends who visit my blog, Iam sorry if you feel left out this time.
When I say who of the above 2 mentioned directors are greatest, I don’t obviously mean to insult people like Guru Dutt, Bimal Roy or for that matter even Raj Kapoor.They are beyond compare. It just a popular choice as both of them have now two new movies in the bollywood...Aitraaz by Ghai and Nach by Verma.
I can remember right now at least quite a lot of films by the Ghai which I have enjoyed, starting from Kalicharan (his first movie) to Joggers' Park (which he co produced). This son of a dental surgeon has a repertoire of movies, which have mesmerized audiences for over decades and that includes Vishwanath, Vidatha, Karz, Karma, Ram Lakhan, Saudagar, Taal and Pardes and undoubtedly he has been awarded titles like "The Dream Merchant", "The Showman of the Industry" for his acumen to churn out such blockbuster box office hits over and over again. He has captured the mind of audiences both in India and abroad as is evident from big earnings Mukta Arts (his production house) has made from Pardes and Taal from offshore markets. He is business savvy and made Mukta Arts the first production house in India to go public (http://www.valuenotes.com/SChhabria/sc_MAL_22may04.asp?Writer=&ArtCd=33794). And he artfully directed successful actors like Dilip Kumar Raj Kumar and Sanjeev Kumar. He is equally adept in handling fresh heroines like Mahima to more established ones like Madhuri and Ash; his latest movie will have a British actress called Antonia Bernath. And he is establishing a film school near Mumbai too. So it seems like he has done it all and keeping up to his comment "I need to give back whatever I got from cinema,to the younger generations, whether its knowledge, experience or capital" (http://www.muktaarts.com).
Now ladies and gentlemen, get ready for Ramu or Ram Gopal Varma. He is a civil engineer famous for making bollywood masala films with a panache. Like Ghai, his first movie Shiva shot him into fame instantaneously. He had his share of unsuccessful movies like Ratri and Money before he started out belching hits like Raat, Rangeela, Satya, Shool, Jungle, Company, Bhoot and Mein Madhuri Dixit Banna Chahti Hoon. If you have seen his movies you would know that there is a definite pattern in the madness of his films, they are not run-of-the-mill boy meets gal movies. Jara hatke. Check out his entire repertoire at the following link (http://us.imdb.com/name/nm0890060/). Now I don’t want to eulogize either of the directors and neither do I want to write their obituaries. To me and my senses, Ramu's movies are definitely much more attractive to watch for rather than Ghai's. Ramu is urbane and classy and sophisticated, Ghai is more earthy and much more for the normal. Ghai's heroines are so mundane and so traditional sati types while you will be dazzled and shocked at the characters Ramu's heroines enact...they are fanatics, they can be killers, they can be possessed, they dress wild, they can do anything. To me Indians in USA (h1b crowd is hopefully young, urbane and sassy type) ought to identify more with Ramu's heroes and heroines than those of Ghai's as the former types are more assertive,aggressive and arrogantly normal; unless you are on the wrong side of 45, when you start thinking that everything traditional, everything romantic are good you would hopefully appreciate the thinking behind Ramu's movies.
That was my take on them. Iam definitely waiting for some juicy comments this time.

the lap story

Ever wondered what does the word Lap mean?? Well it can mean anything...i mean literally anything...from "the upper side of the thighs of a seated person" to "touching with the tongue" to "link access protocol" and "Licence Area Plan" and swimming 'laps' in a pool and what not. Just give a search on Google as "what is lap" and see the interesting possibilities (note:search also the images and you will find the diversity of the word LAP). So if lap can have such a wide connotation think what havoc can laptop play?? I chose this subject of laptop to write the day I got my new IBM laptop (ibm likes to call it t40 notebook..they don't like laptops :)). So what is now a laptop? A dinky keyboard married to a great LCD screen with unpredictable battery life to give a portable mess. Thats the normal definition. But have u considered the other mutations ..say laptop dancing....ooohhhlalala...or say puttin your head on someone's lap and looking up the clean blue sky on a sunday afternoon. I can already feel that your imagination is really stretching out ...and you are thinking aloud. Nothin wrong. After all lap-tops are supposedly for resting..whether its your portable computer or someones relaxed head. Now think about the most tabooed lap thing-the lap dancing. How many of you have actually experienced that and not enjoyed that?? Touch your heart and say that. Probably you stared impassively, as if watching the share prices on yahoo; your friends and companions will usually be too polite to claim a free eyeful, and so tend to talk among themselves, or look away at other dancers arranging themselves gymnastically around a chrome pole on the stage. Forget that, just checkout this link for more unadulterated fun on laps http://www.jimmcneill.com/dance.html