Grudge

Nice. Very nice.

Blasts in the city

Around 10 minutes to 3 on a Friday afternoon. Prashant gets a call, chats in Malayalam for some time & then whirls around to say, "hey they're saying there have been blasts ... 3 of them". I check up on CNN-IBN .... yup, it says so on their 'Breaking News' panel.

Ours is probably the 1st cubicle in the ODC to have got wind of this. Just as Mani; Akshay & Suresh are told, the people around start getting calls on their cells. I head out to the pantry, call up home, get a call from Jolly & wonder how long it'll be before the cell networks are jammed.

Back in the ODC, everyone's off their seats & chatting. Some staring out the huge glass panes near the conference rooms, 'cause one of the bombs went off really close to where we are. A macabre game of 1-upmanship starts .... one guy looks up from his screen & says he's read about 4 blasts, the other says no, he's seen 6 on another website. The internet speeds, already slow due to the network upgradations in progress, are going down further.

Finally, a mail from office security. The usual stuff .... & a request to head home early. I stay on .... got to complete the HLD document. Swami comes around at 5 ...., "Vivek, what are you guys doing man? Go home". The rest leave, I stay back till 5:45.

Swipe out at 5:47, traffic seems normal, a drizzle starts & soon turns into a downpour. Reach home, call up Arni, the networks are back to normal after an hour and a half. He's OK.

So that's what the aftermath of serial bomb blasts in your city feels like. It's a feeling of something that was bound to happen, a sense of inevitability about it. Helplessness .... & the knowledge that it'll happen again. Hope God remains as kind as he was with me today. And rest in peace to those who were not as lucky.

Singh is King

I don't know what the nuclear deal holds for this country & it's future but after days of spirited debate & witnessing the worst (& best) of Indian democracy, I'm happy for this man.

Nice guys don't always finish last.

German GP

Hamilton wins & now leads the Drivers' standings!

Kismat Konnection

Far too many coincidences in the story line - but then it's expected if you go by the title.

Vidya looks good though.

Contract

Bring back the old RGV ...... please! This movie is impossibly unbearable.

cab se cab tak

Of late, (I think ever since the new airport opened) there has been a sudden profusion of Renault Logans with 'City Taxi' badges on Bangalore roads. Most of them have 'Meru' or 'CelCabs' emblazoned on the sides which goes to show that they're all private.


Above is a pic taken at the new airport.

They've certainly brightened up the roads here. And they're a darned sight better than the eyesore Padminis of Bombay & Ambassador taxis of Kolkata.

Fiat 500

Fiat launched the cute 500 today with Miss Dutta in attendance. Nice combo.

Volkswagen Jetta

Vee Dub launched the Jetta in India today.

The Departed

Not bad. Pretty good, in fact.

Rbk

Total Mall. New Reebok store. Flat 40% discount. Sexy black & red combo I'd been looking for.

Must learn to control impulse. But then again, you only live once.

Left without the Left

Finally it has happened. Just when the PM is overseas on an invitation from the G8, no less, the group of Indian commies has decided to show it's true colors.

Good riddance, I say! My contempt for this gang of slime balls & their pathetic ideology has just gone up a few notches.

Now Playing

Singh Is Kinng OST

Singh Is Kinng - 2 words - Snoop Dogg. It's the 1st time ever that a mainstream Hip Hop star as huge as Snoop has sung on a Hindi movie track. Akshay Kumar joins in on the rapping too!

Jee Karda - Labh Janjua, on song, as usual, on a Pritam directed album

Bas Ek Kinng - It's got an ultra cool bassline while the Punjus Mika & Hard Kaur rock this one

All in all, Singh Is Kinng falls short of the hype surrounding it's release, but Hip Hop tolerators won't be disappointed.

Bachna Ae Haseeno OST

Khuda Jaane - A typical KK song that's massively hummable

Lucky Boy - Sunidhi's vocals; Hard Kaur's rapping & Raja Hasan's interludes. Lovely combo!

Aahista Aahista - Lucky Ali & Shreya Ghoshal on a romantic duet with backing Spanish guitar set to a bass heavy rhythm - the Vishal-Shekhar touch, no doubt

Bachna Ae Haseeno - Kishore Da is back! Well not really, but the remix of the original has turned out great. Vishal raps on the intro, while Kishore Kumar's son Sumit delivers the lines. Cool!

Bachna Ae Haseeno is in typical Vishal-Shekhar fashion, a well turned out album with pleasant rhythms & catchy tunes. Good going guys.

Rock On OST

Socha Hai - lovely lyrics

Pichle Saat Dinon Mein - the play on the word roya is super

Rock On - the riffs, the riffs .... they're perfect ringtone material!

Ye Tumhari Meri Baatein - Dominique is just outstanding here. 2 of the best songs in this album are by the girls

Phir Dekhiye - lovely, soulful number from Caralisa. I remember her from the My Dil Goes Hmmm remix from Salaam Namaste. Once you've heard her on this one, you'll realize how misplaced she was on that track.

What can I say about this one? Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy have produced a great album completely in sync with the Rock them of the movie. The lyrics of every song stand out. And why shouldn't they? It's Javed Akhtar handling that department after all.

British GP

An extremely wet race saw the 2 McLarens move into 1-2 before the 1st turn itself in one of the best ever pieces of overtaking I've ever seen.

Almost everyone had a spin-off, but Hamilton finished a superb race as winner.

There's now a 3 way tie for 1st place in the drivers' between Hamilton; Raik and Massa.

Jaane Tu Ya Jaane Na

It has it's moments. But they are too few & far in between.

I expected better from Aamir Khan & Abbas Tyrewala. Maybe that's the reason why the disappointment is greater.

Aamir Salman - the patch up

Now this is a sight I had thought I'd never see - Aamir & Salman sharing the same stage, in this case at the premiere of Aamir's nephew's film.

The reason this excites me enough to post on the blog is what happened the last time these 2 came together - they came out with one of the best comedies ever in Hindi cinema in the form of Andaz Apna Apna. The numerous reruns of that film on TV & clips on YouTube (with long lists of comments) are testimony to how these 2 combined so well on screen.

However, talk was that they had a falling out & Aamir had vowed never to work with Salman ever again - & he didn't.

Till now, that is. The 2 have reportedly made up & talk now is that the sequel to that movie is being planned. If it does materialise, I'll definitely try for a 1st day show.

Politics

A very interesting article on Cricinfo about power games in the ICC. And who better to play them than a politician like Sharad Pawar. Frankly, it's enjoyable watching a 3rd world country like ours riding roughshod over the opinions of the goras on the basis of it's money muscle. About time they got a taste of what they've been dishing out all along.

There's a lot that has been happening in Delhi as well. The Congress has somehow managed to wrangle the S.P.'s support & looks all set to push for the Indo-US nuke deal, the Left's support be damned. They should have done this a year back.

These are interesting times for politics watchers.

Sony Walkman NWZ-S616F

Because -

1. I wasn't happy with the Transcend's sound ....
2. .... and it's battery life
3. Always wanted a Sony
4. I'm crazy about music
5. Some things you just do

Honda CBF Stunner

Surprise, surprise - a bike launch just as the monsoon flooding begins!

Add one more to the list of whackily named Honda products in India. It's basically another cut & paste job with the Karizma's front fairing & the Shine's 125 cc engine. The price is reportedly very attractive & this red & black combo looks super!