the mayan calendar

this newfound joy of taking the bike anywhere is totaly dampened by the rain. time is doubly wasted and the after floods left by the rain is invariably splashed by the cars that pass me.

i've got my voice back..but its hoarse.

was invited to concorde hotel for lunch yesterday....a dim sum lunch!! what more could i have wanted? great food and ambience. was at lunch with a chinese business man, the managing director of tokyo bank and their school mate, the dentist who is my cousin. the occasion was his birthday.

we spoke of the supposed tsunami on the 22nd of july, the end of the world in 2012 and fires and floods.

according to the tzolkin, the most fundamental and widely used mayan calendar, with almost no beginning and end..(completely circular), there are numerous things that could easily threaten the human species in the year 2012, such as a geomagnetic reversal, asteroid strike or something more personal like a flu pandemic, or a nuclear war.

have ancient civilisations left us enough coded warnings to show us signs of terrible things possibly occuring in the coming years? are they already beginning to happen? quite possibly there might be a major catastrophe. will our ignorance and beliefs stop the end of a 52 year cycle which was recognised by the mesoamericans? but the indigo people responsible for the next transition, the hype of the calamities, the possibility of evolution in the future and the strong energies of all that is described and claimed by forecasts and so on, are still yet to be seen and proven. are economists doing anything about it? will there be global chaos?

the end of something marks the beginning of something else right?

i recently came across a book, `how to survive 2012' by patrick geryl, one that details the upheavals in the sun's magnetic fields which will generate gigantic solar flares and affect the polarity of the entire earth. maybe it's worth a read.

i stil have to write my blog. watched yet another excellent movie yesterday, the perfume. a great deal of writing needs to be done.

ciao for now.

art

i remember a time when all i wanted was to paint. i cannot begin to explain the joys and freedom of expression one can pour into their painting, if you arent an artist in your own way, you will never comprehend this simple yet meaningful passion.

sanchita, my sister was always the artist of the family..she was literally born with that pencil in her hand and wherever we went, mum just had to give her a pencil and paper to keep her quiet. i was the copy artist...meaning i only copied her work, and as a result became somewhat of an artist too..albeit an inferior one.

however, my dream was to see her have her own exhibition by the time she was 40. she achieved that soon before her death. and her loveliest of art form was called `death' which exuded vibrant and positive energies.

she took 7 months to complete her work..delighting in working with acrylics.death was serenity, comfort and warmth. and in the exhibition, she couldnt get herself to sell it. it was finally given to a very close friend of hers.

ever since her death on 26th jan 2008 indian republic day, i have never talked of art or indulged in it because everything to do with art only reminded me of her.

however, in tagged, the website where men and women perpetually seek sexual mates, i met arnab..an interesting artist with an amazing talent, a talent which he needs to explore and expand provided he allows himself to do so. he is still searching and i hope he finds what rightly identifies him in his art form. there are very few men in this world who would want to have artistic and intellectual conversation with a woman...with arnab it has been so from the beginning and what greater stimulation can i expect from someone of the opposite sex who is as eager as i am to grasp whatever knowledge that is available in the world and beyond.

a message for arnab.

if acrylics is your comfort, try others....sometimes, we produce best with things we are most uncomfortable with, those that challenge us...it matters how we perceive things. right and wrong is a matter of perception..whatever the approach, it is okay as long as you are happy with your art.

going for angels and demons now....

tagged viewers

tagged viewers

jeez. this is my third attempt of writing the third entry. it better go through this time. the first time, it didn't take in my blog address and just disappeared suddenly, the second time, the compaq batt went dead.

maybe it was just not meant to be. surprisingly for both entries i wrote different things...would those things have offended anyone? maybe, do i care? i dont know. do i need to care?

some 300 viewers checked on my profile over the past two days, yet only one friend request, which is a good thing really!! great to know that my new written demand of wanting only intellectuals have completely sieved off those who are only interested in a quick physical entry. lol!!

for those who have read my journals. thank you. i guess it is surprising that people actually read my stuff. hehehe

was a little under the weather yesterday so did not indulge in my laptop and this morning when i got up, i could hear the struggle of my intermittent voice flow...goodness, i lost my voice! so, imagine how difficult it was to have tele-conversations and explain to the other side that i was really who i was...sigh!!

wanted to watch angels and demons today...some people have said that ron howard did justice to the book...lets see. let the crowd get thinner and the ticket price lower first. hehe. compensated instead, with another movie. l. a. confidential, will write about it in my blog.

my india travel journal is yet to be written....the list of things to do!!! hmm.

tagged again...sundays and books

habitually sundays are the busiest of the seven days. day of rest indeed!!

despite the inspites, chores and all, i never forget to read a page, well, atleast a page if my greed doesnt go further than that, of any book that i constantly tug along with me wherever i proceed to.

this nice and subtle happiness of reading, this joy not chilled by age, this somehow unpunished vice...would i call it that...hmm....well, this selfish, serene long intoxication that has made me a total surrender to it, of it.....how can i not give in to the greed and selfishness of wanting my time with an entertainment so very cheap and a pleasure so darn lasting?

in the 43 years of having lived this obligated life, the companionship of good books, great variety of music, excellent and thought provoking movies, and the natural and acquired love of wanderlust, how could i not have lived life to the fullest...

one hope though, wish there were more of my kind...sigh!!!

the first in tagged

my first

never really considered tagged as intellectual but then what the heck...who cares, the love of writing needs no confinement. whether someone knows it or not, understands it or not, its like art, if there is a soul out there beside mine who can relate, then i write for that soul.

the skies may disappear, the mayan calendar dec 21 2012 may end it all, the indigos may rise or like the inconvenient truth, after kolkata we all may be under water and my guess, perhaps evolve into mermaids and gillies...whatever. do i care? (do we still worry about savings and investments? hehehe)

well, i dont know..i guess i care about writing...;-)

they say whatever u do the first time...keep it short n sweet...let mine be so..adieu

changeling - clint eastwood

a 2008 film. as a director clint eastwood has been one of my favourites, and he has given us some of the finest films we have ever seen. changeling was a far cry from eastwood's best films, but i can tell you that it was an experience i wont easily forget.

a single mother, christine collins (angelina jolie) returns home one day from her switchboard supervising duty to find her young son, walter (gattlin griffith) missing. she reports it immediately and gets a very casual and condescending reaction from the police department. later we know that the worst is yet to come. after a few months, the police chief stages a reunion between christine and a boy who christine insists is not walter. her insistence becomes an irritation for the chief and as a result she is ridiculed and treated as a hysterical, traumatised woman who is declared a lunatic and a threat to herself and to others. she is locked away in a mental hospital.

the meandering events pointing to explore police corruption, the suppression of women, the emotional effectiveness of capital punishment and rights of civilians, along with the plight of children is a little confusing at first until the whole story emerges slowly but mundanely.

set in the year 1928, besides being taken to a an era way before us, it is also black and white in terms of character portrayals. a story about the unflagging determination of an ordinary woman and her quest to find her 9 year old son. but while the tenacity in the face of overwhelming odds is undeniably admirable, the way it plays out is not always compelling.

in the story christine seems to have just one ally, a radio preacher named gustav briegleb (john malkovich) who believes in her and helps her to expose the lapd's bullying.

the methodical storytelling leads to flat and even tedious stretches and parts of the story mirrored by jolie's deliberate performance are so calm that they seem almost monotonous.

i think with this film the actors were not able to stretch out in the zone between realism and melodrama to explore their characters' raw nerves, tender spots and psychic calluses like those who did in eastwood's previous films. even though it is supposedly based on a true story, it did not quite feel real.

the script is compelling, the direction confident, the production values professional, the actress classy, and the chilling and gruesome turns, with the belief in ultimate justice makes it an unforgettable film.

watch it as you simply must watch a clint eastwood film :-)

body of lies - ridley scott

body of lies. a 2008 production. an action drama cum thriller directed by ridley scott. i would not miss any movies which starred russel crowe and leonardo decaprio. so this was one of the first ones i watched from the whole lot.

based on david ignatius' novel, roger ferris (caprio) is a covert cia operative working in jordan who is tracking a high ranking terrorist called al saleem who, with his group is targeting and bombing civilians. ed hoffman (crowe) is ferris' boss who is communicating with him from langley. ferris uncovers information on al saleem and devises a plan with the help of jordanian intelligence hani salaam (mark strong) to infiltrate the terrorist network, both men are weary about trusting each other. ferris meanwhile meets aisha, an iranian actress (golshifteh farahani), a nurse who he falls in love with. hoffman betrays ferris by not telling him the entire truth, which compels ferris to act on his own, again with the help of salaam.

a technically well crafted spy thriller with pretty exciting and well staged action, intricately woven with a splash of love story in it. crowe puts on weight to be in this film, and gives and adequate performance in a seemingly undemanding role for an actor of his caliber.

however, maybe because it was based on the book, it creates an experience now too familiar. this film addresses the issue of terrorism (another post 9/11 film) with the cia meddling, with very ordinary spy thriller genre conventions.

even though it is not boring, as i personally think no movies should be, and on the contrary, is exciting as we are trying to figure out who is on whose side, i would say it is still, not unforgettable. there are certain movies that stay in your mind, no matter how many years pass by, frankly if i allow another week to pass, i wont even remember what this was about.

body of lies doesnt really strike a few nerves and the despairing urgency is not quite achieved in this film but overall, i found it pretty much engaging and entertaining. and i am sure anyone else would too...