Thought Shots

This post is about what is currently taking place in the volatile region of Tunisia. They say that there are tremors felt after a banyan tree falls across the land. After the revolution, Tunisia has seen disorder in the way authorities function. The credibility of the police department and the govt. administration to solve people's problems has seriously taken a hit. But amidst this chaos, one group that people turn to for solving their problems is emerging. This is a group led by a man called Abdessalam. A group that calls themselves Salafists. Not everyone agrees with their mindset but the thing that makes this lot of people remarkable is that they are effective problem-solvers. People come to meet Abdessalam to relate their concerns. They come with the surest hope that the man will take care of the same. So we see a woman coming to him to describe how miserable her life has become due to her husband's debauchery of letting an alien woman in her home and keeping away with he...

I have followed the Dark Knight Trilogy by Christopher Nolan most curiously. It is after all one of the best superhero movie sagas of our time. When you think about Batman or Bruce Wayne, what are the qualities that strike you? His ability to seem unheroic for a more heroic cause, his desire to clean up the city whose richest man he is or simply how cool he can be with all his fancy moves and state-of-the-art gadgets and so forth? Although I like it all about him, there is one particular trait that I admire. That is how he handles his love. His love interest Rachael Dawes is constantly drawn towards other men. That would ideally cause jealousy in a man who loves her. But as Bruce says to his butler and confidant Alfred, "Who Rachael hangs out with is none of my concern". Wayne recognizes that though he loves her, she doesn't necessarily have to return the favor. And he respects that liberty the girl has. When you think about love, I think that this is one of the m...

My post today is about Shah Rukh Khan. I have always admired this man for his straightforwardness and charisma. His latest flick Chennai Express is out and naturally we see him getting aired everywhere. I was thus able to catch a couple of his interviews on the indian media. One on NDTV with Pronnoy Roy and the other one with Rajat Sharma on India TV. And on both the talk shows, SRK shone with his famous and sometimes controversial wit and humor. I will discuss here just the highlights. Am sure that you can watch the full video of the two on Youtube. Something interesting that SRK advised his young audience on the NDTV talk show was that they should not believe in the nonsense they get to hear about hating materialism. He said that the effort should be to make one's life as comfortable and cosy as possible both for yourself and your loved one. So ignore all those who recommend the quest of peace on some remote mountain in the Himalayas etc...ignore those who tell you to conc...

Have just finished watching Spielberg's epic 'War Horse'. It is perhaps a little too late to watch it but glad to have finally seen it anyway. What most fascinates me is the extent to which Spielberg has gone into doing justice with every single shot of this magnificent WWI epic. The costumes, the casting, the makeup, the sets and the landscape have all been dealt with, what can only be called, closest to perfection. Through this tale about a horse, a war horse, Spielberg shows us a great saga of love, the horrors of war and the ecstasy of reuniting with our loved ones. Till the very end, I remained hooked to this classic tale. And when the movie ended, I was left craving for more. I love this scene where Joey, Albert's horse, runs free from the clutches of the German army and reaches this no man's land between the British and the Germans all caught up and struggling in barbed wire fences. A British soldier, with a white flag in hand, dares to stand up and risk...

I was fortunate today to be able to watch a great film like 'Dead poets' Society'. The film stars Robin Williams in the role of a teacher who inspires his boys in class to think for themselves, not conform, but freely express themselves. He leaves the school seeing his little students taking the path giants are made of. Mr. Keating, as played by Mr. Williams, has a singular belief that the purpose of education is to enable young minds to think for themselves. So, he asks the boys to follow their heart without worrying as to what the society has to say. Mr. Keating's character reminded me of Mr. Emerson who once wrote, "Society everywhere is in conspiracy against the manhood of its members, the virtue in most request is conformity." Truly inspiring. Another strong message conveyed by the movie was that of seizing the day, "Carpe diem". Basis this message, Mr. Keating's boys find themselves daring to do things they normally wouldn't even ...

I love the movie 'The Social Network'. Watched it today all over again. The power that an idea has is ably described in the film. You have a kid right out of his teens who takes this thought of his to a billion dollar business. Although some doubt whether the idea was actually his, the film also shows that ideation without execution is hardly the stuff success is made of. And thus, the guy playing Mark says in the movie, "If you guys were the inventors of Facebook, you would have invented Facebook." Facebook is not just a site today, it is a place where people connect with friends that they normally wouldn't find the time to connect with. I remember once my profile stalking some of the friends I once hung out with, just one comment on their status rekindled our contact. It really allows one to permanently stay in touch with our friends, so-called friends, colleagues and relatives and that is a blessing in this age of speed. What's more, it gives u...

An ad doing the rounds on the telly these days is by OLX wherein a husband mourns to his wife that their big fat car has turned into a tiny tot...that is because their next door neighbor now boasts of a new mean driving machine. The couple decides on getting a new set of wheels on OLX. A classic case of jealousy. Navjot Singh Siddhu calls jealousy "a sickness of the soul". I don't know about that but what I certainly find remarkable is how people can feel miserable by seeing others in joy. A story we've been told since our childhood is that of the spoilt lad who stopped lamenting on not being able to own a new pair of shoes after seeing a legless man. What are we trying to convey here? Compare yourself with those who are inferior to you, feel superior and eventually happy having sufficed your egotistical thirst? We need to accept that nothing makes anyone inferior or superior. That the universe has an incredible sense of equality to it. Everyone, who is anyo...