Me-TOO

Another book-post. Vinod was invited by aNTI to fill out a questionnaire. Me being Me decided to gatecrash the meme. Here goes,

1. You’re stuck inside Fahrenheit 451! Which book do you want to be?
This book I haven't read, but I caught hold of a few enlightened beings who read this and got the gist of the story. Apparently, all the books in the planet are going to be destroyed so each person has to memorise one book (don't bother correcting me if I am wrong, I don't give a shit anyways)so which one would I want to memorise. I'll take RIVER GOD by Wilbur Smith, cause I have read that book thrice and I probably have most of it memorised, saves me the sweat.

2. Have you ever had a crush on a fictional character?
Amanda from "Another Roadside Attraction" by Tom Robbins.

3. The last book you bought is:
Skinny Dip by "Carl Hiassen" Its hilarious.

4. The last book you read:
Look above for answer.

5. What are you currently reading?
The Dancing Wu Li Masters" by Gary Zukov. This book is manna from heaven.

6. Five books you would take to a deserted island:
Zen and the art of motorcycle maintenance - Hopefully I ll finish that book after 5 years of reading one page a month.
Robinson Crusoe- To use as a survival guide.
The Confederacy of Dunces- John Kennedy O Toole, for the ultimate in black comedy.
The Seven Tasks of Asterix- Cant imagine a world (or a deserted island) without Asterix.
Any issue of Playboy, for the same reasons as VINOD (Sorry mate, I had to rip that off your site, but hey what can I say, we think alike)

7. Who are you going to pass this stick to and why?
No one. This is not my stick to pass.

Chandramuki and Mumbai Express Reviewed

Saw both the movies back to back yesterday. 12 o Clock Mumbai Exp and 3.30 Chandramuki. One was brilliant and the other was less than average.
Mumbai Express:
Kamal rules! This is by far the funniest of all Kamal's movies (He seems to be on a comedy trip interspersed with extremely violent ones). A pretty simple story about a bungling bunch of kidnappers, the dialogues (story, screenplay and dialogues are by Kamal) are simply stunning in their timing and delivery. Pasupathy and Vaiyapuri have done a great job with the supporting roles. I also take this opportunity to welcome Manisha Koirala back into the human race (she was beginning to look like an alien species, especially in Mudhalvan).Though I am not a die hard fan of either Kamal or Rajini, this movie throws up a pretty convincing case to join the Kamal fan club.

Verdict: This is one of the funniest movies EVER. Don't miss it.

Chandramuki:
Had to rush from Santham to Shanti theatre, didn't want to miss the intro scene of the 'superstar'. Made it with 4 minutes to spare. Rajini's introduction was the usual high voltage stuff (especially with over 500 hard core Rajini fans testing the limits of their vocal chords). A remake of the Malayalam hit "Manichitrathalu" this would have been a pretty good movie except for the casting. One expects certain gimmicks from the superstar, well, that's how he became the superstar in the first place. This movie lacks the usual punch dialogues or hand gestures that have become the hallmark of recent Rajini movies. The flick moves along predictable lines except for a few glitches. There is a fight scene which is there for reasons best known only to the director. Rajini decides to beat the brains out of some guy for absolutely no reason. I spent all of last evening and most of this morning trying to come up with a plausible reason for that scene and I haven't succeeded. The scene where Rajini reads the Bhagavad Gita at midnight with his sunglasses on was as hilarious as some of the scenes from Mumbai Express.

Verdict: Watchable, but don't go to the theaters expecting the usual Superstar pot boiler, you will be in for a disappointment.

Contributions to:
Superstar Superannuation Fund
Actors Guild
C/O.Vijayakanth aka Captain
Tamil Nadu.

The Bus to Nowhere

Halleluiah! Praise the lord, and all that. For only the millionth time we are going to try another confidence building measure with our friendly neighbor. A bus across the line of control. Wow, who ever came up with such a brilliant idea? Has to be one of those IAS, IFS types, no one else has enough Yak shit in their heads to think of such idiocy.
YAK SHIT


Our brothers, sisters, uncles etc across the border, train and arm militants to come over for a soup, pulao and a bout of AK-47 firing in Kashmir, Mumbai, Delhi and Korukupatti, while we spend a couple of zillions to try and keep alive 25 poor souls who want to visit their brothers, sisters, uncles etc across the border.

How is a bus load of people going to help two countries stop aiming nuclear tipped missiles at each other’s assholes? The learned bureaucrats have probably come up with something as mundane as “if there are people to people contacts, there will be better understanding of each other and therefore we will be able to jointly root out terrorism”. Idiots, wake up. The Pakistanis bomb Al-Qaeda hideouts in the north and train Laksher-E-Toiba personal in the south. They have been doing that since 2001 and they are not about to stop it because of a bus that doesn’t even have “in-bus” entertainment. The irony is pretty rich; the militants trained by our chums start spraying bullets on the bus that is supposedly a confidence building measure between the two countries.
Our mates across a couple of oceans have a better idea of rooting out terrorism. You just smart bomb the bastards out of the universe. You want to meet Allah? We shall help you achieve your goal. You want to shag your virgins in paradise; let us give you a ride in our Tomahawk.

Why didn’t the Americans send a friendly confidence building Boeing (with in-flight entertainment of course) to Kabul with garlands, streamers et al? People to people contact, so that they both learn a bit about each other and then jointly work on an agenda to bag the big bad ‘O’ man. No Boeings for Afghanistan. F-16s and stealth bombers are the American way of doing things. But, what is good for the goose is not necessarily good for the gander. India is not allowed to bomb terrorist training camps. We should train bus drivers and play more cricket as a means of fighting terrorists.
The BJP a loyal friend of Uncle Sam did an about-face when Mad Modi was refused a visa; the congress that used to keep its distance from big Uncle has suddenly found that they are in love with the Bushmen (I repeat, I have nothing against the American people, only against its current morally repugnant government).

Politics and diplomacy
Is quite mad and crazy
Most times without reason
The leaders commit high treason

Contributions to:
Kevlar for the bus driver
JK state transport corporation
Srinagar.

The AM drinks Chai @13500 feet above sea level.


An ariel view of Gangtok city.


The antimatter himself!


A pic taken from Alliance Air flight CD7542 from Kolkatta to Chennai. They said the Indian govt prohibits shooting photos from an an aircraft. That was enough reason for me to shoot this.

Up in the Himalayas

This ROCKS (Literally!!)


17 KM to China and 5 KM to BABA MANDIR (Yeah, the same one)


Oh Magnolia!


The moody Teesta river. (Some say it has PMS)


It was a punishing 30 KM trek to this spot. But the view, one would agree, was worth the pain.


The Singalila range, now that is what I call a "tent" with a view.(Woke up and stepped out to this sight on day 2 of the trek)

The Kanchendzonga. (This is the sight that set me off on the quest) 


The Magical and Frozen Tsangpo Lake