Pics..

Some photos that I took from my cell phone... Since my phone camera is just 2MP the resolution in large size is not very good.. but when seen in small, looks pretty neat I felt :)

Sky after sunset...

The Inscrutable Americans

Author: Anurag Mathur

Writing book reviews is tough. One thing I’ve realized after writing reviews for a couple of them is that a review is not just about writing what the book is about but write it in a way which generates enough curiosity and interest for the reader to pick up that book and at same time not letting out the essence (keeping the suspense on) in it. So that’s what I’m trying to do :)

Picked up Inscrutable Americans last night and just couldn’t keep the book down till I finished it. One of the most funny and hilarious books that I’ve read after Five Point Someone (by Chetan Bhagat). This is also made into a movie which, now I am dying to watch!

It’s a very simple but a common story about a small town boy (Gopal) from a conservative family in India going to the US of A for his higher studies and the kind of culture shock that he gets – his fascinations, enigmas and the whirl wind of emotions during the span of 1yr of his life there. What makes it different is the way the author has brought in the unique aspects of both Indian and American cultures and the comical contrasts and comparisons between the two. The American lingo and the way it is interpreted by the Indian (Gopal) is truly hilarious…!! Well, I’ve also read some negative views from people who feel that the sense of humor in the book is cheap and cranky but I felt that the author has done justice to the character that he has created. Maybe a little extrapolated but so what? it is a story being told… Primarily it’s all about America as seen through Gopal’s eyes… Towards the end you will really end up empathizing with this character to a great extent! :)

It’s a very light read and can be finished in a day or two…

Revived interest..

One resolution that I made this new year was to get back some of my old and most loved interests... reading and music. I haven't done anything about re-starting my music lessons yet but a couple of hours of talk with my friend and a bit of self-motivation seems to have done the magic for me to get back into that groove of reading books all over again. The last few months I've just been stacking my bookshelf with lots of to-be-read books which just remain there un-dusted still... I've finally managed to bring them out and have lined up a few for the next few weeks...

1. Inscrutable Americans
2. Life of Pi
3. Never let me go
4. Shantaram
5. God of small things
6. The Kite Runner

Will definitely write my reviews of each :-)

Mungaaru Male...

I don't remember the last time I went to a theater to watch a kannada movie or even saw it on a DVD. The last good ones that I really admired were 'Amruthavarshini' and 'America America'. I know this is almost a decade back but I really haven't seen anything as nice as these till date. I hardly watch kannda movies...unless something is recommended by loads of people.. and am glad I saw this one. Mungaru Male (means pre-monsoon rains) is one of the nicest kannada movies and one of those really rare movies which has used rain as a metaphor thru'out the movie.. This movie generated so much curiosity and now I know that it has lived up to it's expectations. No wonder it's regarded as the biggest hits in South Indian cinema and has a whole wikipedia page for itself! It says..

"The movie set a national record as the first Indian language movie to run for 1 year at PVR Cinemas nationwide"

Everyone will agree that the script is the most important part of any film. The technicalities, glitz, glamor, choreography, item numbers are all just additions which are not required if you have a good script to present and this movie does exactly the same. It's a very simple but a very different kind of a love story which really touches your heart. Screenplay and cinematography are just mind blowing. The shots in the beautiful landscapes of the Malnad (Coorg) region during the monsoon rains make it even more beautiful. I would have loved to watch it on the big screen!! Am sure it will be even better an experience than watching it on TV... I was just looking at some of the subtitles here and there and noticed that the essence of the dialogue is lost in translation... So if you can't understand kannada and u are going to watch the movie with subtitles then you may not appreciate it as much....

The music by Mano Murthy is definitely commendable - almost all the songs are very melodious and hummable...with very meaningful lyrics too! The playback singers sonu nigam, sunidhi, shreya ghoshal and kunal ganjawala add their special touch to the songs of course...The most unexpected moment and the best part of the film is its climax which is one of the realistically best endings that I have seen in a long time... No wonder the movie is still running packed houses... I hope we get to see more of such high quality kannada movies in future!

Why blog?

It's been nearly 2 years since I started blogging... and what started as just a time pass became a hobby gradually. I wish I could be more regular with writing in this space... most of the days thoughts just remain in my head for multiple reasons - lack of time, energy, enthusiasm or plain laziness. So this new year I resolved that I should pen down my thoughts more often and overcome that inertia... :)

When I asked myself and a few friends 'why should someone blog'... here's what I felt and got to hear...

1. Share your knowledge and opinions - People like to hear what u think, your opinions, your thoughts...
2. It's like keeping a diary/journal - a historical record of thoughts over time
3. Network and connect with people - it's true that you really get to know some great people who you would probably never get to meet out of the blogging world
4. Express yourself
5. Improve your writing skills
6. Gives you exposure
7. You learn a lot! - coz you are always interested in what is happening around you so that you can write about it
8. It acts as your creative outlet
9. It's fun! - a hobby.. for time pass
10.. and finally.. you can blog just becoz everyone else is doing it these days! :)

So if you are a non-blogger and want to give this a shot these could be enough reasons for you to do so... and if you are already a blogger then all the more reasons to continue blogging!