Thought Shots

"For the past 33 years, I have looked in the mirror every morning and asked myself: 'If today were the last day of my life, would I want to do what I am about to do today?' And whenever the answer has been 'No' for too many days in a row, I know I need to change something", said Steve Jobs.  Well, today is the 31st of December which is neither the last day of your nor my life but is certainly the last day of the year 2013. And how stubbornly we are bent on celebrating it? The people I came across in the streets of Delhi today looked more cheerful than they ever have. They were doing things that really mattered. Spending time with family, friends, having that 'me' time and so forth. I think that's what the knowledge of the last day does to people. It sort of liberates them from the urgent to the important, helps them to get a bigger vision on things instead of getting caught up in the thick of thin things. They seemed to have let go of all the t

Some stories never get old. I think that Martin's Day , a film directed by Alan Gibson, is one such story. It's about a captive named Martin Steckart (played by Richard Harris) who escapes out of prison and abducts a boy also named Martin (played by Justin Henry) to keep the police away. The two Martins form an unlikely friendship as they get away from their respective prisons (the old Martin's freedom from the police cell and the young Martin's freedom from the prison of his uncaring mom and inattentive step-dad). In a scene from the film, the lieutenant in charge of catching Martin Steckart dead or alive, asks Dr. Mennen, "How come they are having such a great time and we are not?" And the doctor (played by Lindsay Wagner) answers, "Because it's our job to put them back in (the prison)." And out of the prison the two Martins are! In their stay away from a rule based world, they rob a service station, hold a toy truck in transit, hijack a t

I have just finished reading The Beauty Diet by Shonali Sabherwal. The philosophy behind the book is that though diet provides nutrition, it can also make one look good by "helping weight-loss, getting a proportionate body, making your skin glow and your hair and eyes shine". And who wouldn't want that, right? So, I am writing this one to share with you some of Shonali's tips that I have found helpful and easily applicable. First up, Shonali talks about going local. So when we go veggie shopping, the thing that we all can be blamed for (most of all me) is buying easily available packaged stuffs from your neighboring Safal outlet or the SuperMarket. Shonali says that one should rather go for buying from the sellers of veggies on rickety carts or the Sabji stalls where the veggies are all fresh and certainly far fresher than the packaged stuff that may have travelled far and wide struggling with death and disease just to reach our hands. Secondly, go traditional.

Ok so it is Sunday morning and I have nothing better to do right now than catch a movie. Thankfully, the one I caught just now was a Karan Johar produced and Kareena Kapoor starrer, and that is Ek Main Aur Ekk Tu. A romedy from the beginning to end. The film was fun to watch and yes...I will admit, disappointing in its climax. The film is about friendship, love and all that u can expect in a bollywood potboiler. You won't find yourself losing a smile from your face as you watch this. So the experience was not all that bad. I liked the concept the film had. It was about how an uptight architect Rahul (who has lost his job) meets a quick-witted hair stylist Riana in LA and after a night of drinks and debauchery ends up marrying her. They decide to annul the marriage, of course. But since Riana is not doing too well either in her career. She fails to pay her rents and is forced to come and live with Rahul. Their staying together makes them know each other better. And Rahul develop

Since the time of its release in 2006, Jab We Met is one film that I have been recommended to watch time and again. I have tried catching it too. But never could in totality and had to stop short somewhere in the middle of the film or towards its climax. Thus missing the fun of seeing how the film in its entirety was. Well, it is a Sunday morning and while I was surfing the channels I couldn't help but stop to watch the film (or at least try watching it) once and all over again. Thankfully, today I did go through the entire film and not just in bits and pieces. Mainly courtesy the newfound admiration I have developed for Kareena Kapoor having watched her latest film Gori Tere Pyaar Mein where she has given the performance of a lifetime. But it is for Jab We Met that she has received most applause from the public and the critics alike. So I just wanted to see if her performance in the film really outwits what she has done in GTPM. I don't know about that but the film itself was