Director-duo Abbas-Mastan has delivered yet another thriller named RACE! But the question is, what is this race all about? All the principal characters are presumably running after money, which was $50 million in the beginning, but ended up to $200 million! The younger brother wants to kill the elder one, not only for money, but also in order to beat him in the race of life.
Too much twists and turns in a plot make it very confusing. This is what happened here. The connections between the men and women are established so abruptly that the viewer is at his wit's end to figure out how or why should it happen. Take for example the case of Rajiv and Sophia-the younger brother and the secretary of the elder one respectively. During two-third part of the movie, they didn't exchange a single dialogue, but then suddenly it is revealed that they were married! The initial plan of Rajiv was to kill Ranvir, his elder brother, and claim the $100 million insurance money, whereas Ranvir planned to wait till Rajiv gets the money, and then kill him in order to claim $200 million!! Nobody cared about the fact that if both are dead, one really and the other as an eye-wash, who will claim the money on their behalf??
In the final scene before intermission, enters RD(Robert D'Costa), an investigating officer, and his assistant Mini. While Robert is busy in eating fruits all through , starting from banana to apple to sugarcane to strawberries, Mini tries to prove her efficiency by asking dumb questions and foolish comments on anything and everything she saw! They reminded me of Karamchand and Kitty. But Karamchand was happy consuming carrots only, while RD does not leave any fruit which comes within his reach. Johnny Lever made one brief appearence, which was supposed to be a comedy-cameo, but unfortunately, it turned out to be an attempt to make you laugh at gunpoint. There is a mercenary as well, who uses his truck as a key weapon whenever he is assigned the job of killing somebody. He fails both times, and in the second time, he gets killed, thereby relieving both himself and me from the pain of watching!
In terms of acting, Saif Ali Khan as Ranvir was cool, while Akshaye Khanna as Rajiv was okay, although he is getting stereotyped by playing the same type of villain in all of Abbas-Mastan's thriller (Naqaab, Humraaz etc). The ladies, Bipasha Basu and Katrina Kaif respectively as Sonia and Sophia, were full of glamour and all other things except acting. Anil Kapoor as RD and Sameera Reddy as Mini do not make an impact. I felt sad for Anil Kapoor, who delivered such a strong performance in Black and White, was such a waste here.
Over and above, the thriller was so "sleak" that it lacked the required smartness and intelligence. After all, everything cannot be fitted in one pot only by brute force. Dear Abbas and Mastan, enough is enough, Ab bas bhi karo!
Friday, March 28, 2008
Thursday, March 27, 2008
Life's flavor lost!
Growing up has, like every other happenings in life, its pros and cons. I remember the thrill I used to get in doing very trivial activities when I was young, many of those activities which I do no more, and looking back, very often it seems silly and pure waste of time when I ponder them over.
When I was in class II or III (also in the higher classes), book cricket was a craze. We used to pick the thickest book from our book-list and use it to score runs in plentitude. In school, as I was a back-bencher, playing this game was never a problem with friends, unless and until the teacher specifically asked me questions. But here again, my height was my saviour, because I was, and have been, the shortest person in my class, and hence, was unnoticed most of the time.
But when at home, I faced a problem. It was customary to read aloud so that my mother could hear what I was reading (she was my teacher then). On the other hand, I had already started a cricket tournament in the last period at school which I need to finish up! So my only option was to recall some poems or prose and recite them, and simultaneously turning pages of the book and keep record of the runs scored. During the entire time, I had to keep guessing my mother's movements, and getting a slightest hint of her approaching my study-table, I used to hide my "scorebook" below my "bat" (the thick book I mean), and open the thick book! Often the timing was wrong and I got caught, and scolded, sometimes beaten up , specially before exams. When I think of it, it seems very funny and childish now, but then, it was a matter of severe importance!
Swallowing a thriller, hiding it below an academic book, was very thrilling itself! Here also, I had to keep track whether or not Mother was nearby, although I had mastered the art so finely, that I hardly got caught.
As I entered college, I caught up with the vice of smoking, and I still remember the excitement I had when I smoked at home for the first time, in the presence of my parents. They were watching a Bengali serial, and on the pretence of study, I locked myself in my room and started to smoke! I had to finish the cigarette before the commercial break, because who knows, during the break, I may attract the attention of my parents, who would certainly be surprised seeing me so enthusiastic about reading, and summon me! Practice makes a man perfect, and gradually I got hold of the timing and accuracy I needed to carry on with my secret vice.
Here, being 10,000 miles away from home, I have the liberty of doing these things, and many others, freely and without worrying of being caught. But still, sometimes I miss the pure thrill, fun and the feeling of breaking a rule that were attached with these mischieves! It is like losing a certain flavor, which I had adored so much in my childhood and adulthood.
When I was in class II or III (also in the higher classes), book cricket was a craze. We used to pick the thickest book from our book-list and use it to score runs in plentitude. In school, as I was a back-bencher, playing this game was never a problem with friends, unless and until the teacher specifically asked me questions. But here again, my height was my saviour, because I was, and have been, the shortest person in my class, and hence, was unnoticed most of the time.
But when at home, I faced a problem. It was customary to read aloud so that my mother could hear what I was reading (she was my teacher then). On the other hand, I had already started a cricket tournament in the last period at school which I need to finish up! So my only option was to recall some poems or prose and recite them, and simultaneously turning pages of the book and keep record of the runs scored. During the entire time, I had to keep guessing my mother's movements, and getting a slightest hint of her approaching my study-table, I used to hide my "scorebook" below my "bat" (the thick book I mean), and open the thick book! Often the timing was wrong and I got caught, and scolded, sometimes beaten up , specially before exams. When I think of it, it seems very funny and childish now, but then, it was a matter of severe importance!
Swallowing a thriller, hiding it below an academic book, was very thrilling itself! Here also, I had to keep track whether or not Mother was nearby, although I had mastered the art so finely, that I hardly got caught.
As I entered college, I caught up with the vice of smoking, and I still remember the excitement I had when I smoked at home for the first time, in the presence of my parents. They were watching a Bengali serial, and on the pretence of study, I locked myself in my room and started to smoke! I had to finish the cigarette before the commercial break, because who knows, during the break, I may attract the attention of my parents, who would certainly be surprised seeing me so enthusiastic about reading, and summon me! Practice makes a man perfect, and gradually I got hold of the timing and accuracy I needed to carry on with my secret vice.
Here, being 10,000 miles away from home, I have the liberty of doing these things, and many others, freely and without worrying of being caught. But still, sometimes I miss the pure thrill, fun and the feeling of breaking a rule that were attached with these mischieves! It is like losing a certain flavor, which I had adored so much in my childhood and adulthood.
Saturday, March 22, 2008
One week amongst Geisha
Imagine yourself seated inside a teahouse , and kneeling in front of you, is a woman, dressed in an exqusite kimono and whose face is painted white, lips as red as blood, and she is pouring sake or tea into your cup whenever it gets empty. From time to time, she is telling stories or performing a short piece of dance to entertain you. Your imagination will take you to the 1930's, and you'll be in the Gion district of Kyoto, Japan, one of the prime Geisha districts of the country.
Truly, it is a different world altogether. Arthur Golden's Memoirs of a Geisha has casted such a spell on me that I am still wandering around the alleyways of Gion, mesmerised by the beauty of the artists there, who are known as geisha in Japanese. The novel tells the story of Chiyo, a girl from a fishing district of Japan named Yoroido, who possesses a very unusual pair of eyes, and how she transforms into Sayuri, overcoming all the barriers of hardships and meanness of the surrounding world.
Arthur Golden has depicted the lifestyle of the geisha during the period of 1930's in intricate details. The various trainings that a girl undergo from her very young age to become a geisha, such as playing various instruments, dancing, learning the tea-ceremony etc., the jealousy and rivalry between established geisha, various tricks that a geisha apply to beguile wealthy and influencial men of the society in order to gain his patronage and so on. In a world where beauty reigns supreme, a geisha loses her virginity through a man who makes the highest bidding (however, this aspect in the novel is much controversial and the author has been sued for this). But other than this, the novel has been able to portray the hidden stories and facts of an entirely different world which was unknown to the readers. This is, I think, the main success of this novel, a genuine literary piece which has interwoven fact and fiction in the correct proportion.
Reading this novel took me to a different world, and sitting in my bedroom, I was able to make a trip to Gion. Kudos to Arthur Golden for giving me this opportunity.
Truly, it is a different world altogether. Arthur Golden's Memoirs of a Geisha has casted such a spell on me that I am still wandering around the alleyways of Gion, mesmerised by the beauty of the artists there, who are known as geisha in Japanese. The novel tells the story of Chiyo, a girl from a fishing district of Japan named Yoroido, who possesses a very unusual pair of eyes, and how she transforms into Sayuri, overcoming all the barriers of hardships and meanness of the surrounding world.
Arthur Golden has depicted the lifestyle of the geisha during the period of 1930's in intricate details. The various trainings that a girl undergo from her very young age to become a geisha, such as playing various instruments, dancing, learning the tea-ceremony etc., the jealousy and rivalry between established geisha, various tricks that a geisha apply to beguile wealthy and influencial men of the society in order to gain his patronage and so on. In a world where beauty reigns supreme, a geisha loses her virginity through a man who makes the highest bidding (however, this aspect in the novel is much controversial and the author has been sued for this). But other than this, the novel has been able to portray the hidden stories and facts of an entirely different world which was unknown to the readers. This is, I think, the main success of this novel, a genuine literary piece which has interwoven fact and fiction in the correct proportion.
Reading this novel took me to a different world, and sitting in my bedroom, I was able to make a trip to Gion. Kudos to Arthur Golden for giving me this opportunity.
Sunday, March 16, 2008
Vacation sans Vocation
Spring Break for this year commences from today. It is quite an astonishing fact that I am , and will be, in Wichita during this break. Last year, we had a get-together in Riverside, California for a period of 10 days (mentioned in an earlier post). This time however, I intend to do some constructive work, the works which I like to do from my heart. These include watching some movies which I brought with me from home, reading some good books and adding some more songs to my existing collection.
As it has happened before, any plans made beforehand regarding studies have never been successful, I would rather not boast about those. It would be better to blog them down, if necessary, after the end of the break.
Happy vacation !
As it has happened before, any plans made beforehand regarding studies have never been successful, I would rather not boast about those. It would be better to blog them down, if necessary, after the end of the break.
Happy vacation !
Sunday, March 9, 2008
Tare Zameen Par: some other possibilities
Situation 1 : Director : Karan Johar.
Then, Ramshankar Nikumbh would be renamed as Rahul Malhotra, portrayed by Shahrukh Khan, and unlike Aamir, he would be present from the very first scene. The first half would have a couple of melodious songs featuring Rahul and his divorced wife, shown in occasional flashbacks. The dyslexic boy would be renamed as K-k-k-k-iran and Abhishek Bachchan and Rani Mukherjee would play the roles of the boy's parents.
Situation 2 : Director : Ramgopal Verma Film name : Dukhi Dyslexic
The boy would be troubled by some evil spirit who had suffered from dyslexia. Urmila Matondkar would play the role of the boy's mother, and Manoj Bajpai would be the Tantrik, who would perform some rituals to free the spirit.
Situation 3 : Director : David Dhawan Film name: Dyslexic No. 1
There would be no kids, Govinda would act in a double role......one a doctor, and the other, a man with the maturity of a ten-year old boy. The audience will discover that this man-child is the long-lost brother of the doctor, who got separated in the Kumbh Mela in childhood. Karishma Kapoor and Sushmita Sen would be the love-interests of Dr Govinda and patient Govinda respectively. Kader Khan would be Karishma's father and Shakti Kapoor would be seen as the patient's sidekick.
Situation 4 : Director : Priyadarshan
There would be lot of characters in the film, and actors like Paresh Rawal, Rajpal Yadav, Mukesh Rishi, Asrani, Suniel Shetty, Sharat Saxena will have significant roles. Akshay Kumar would be in the leading role, and the climax of the film will be in a hospital, where everyone would be running helter and skelter without knowing the actual purpose. Presence of a kid???? No way....here everyone will behave like a kid!!
Situation 5: Director : Any renowned person from the South.
The film would be an one-man show of Rajnikanth, others will come just to fill in.
Situation 6: Director : Steven Spielberg
The film would be nominated for Oscar, and will finally win it.
P.S. : I got some of the above ideas from the rediff website, and expanded it.
Then, Ramshankar Nikumbh would be renamed as Rahul Malhotra, portrayed by Shahrukh Khan, and unlike Aamir, he would be present from the very first scene. The first half would have a couple of melodious songs featuring Rahul and his divorced wife, shown in occasional flashbacks. The dyslexic boy would be renamed as K-k-k-k-iran and Abhishek Bachchan and Rani Mukherjee would play the roles of the boy's parents.
Situation 2 : Director : Ramgopal Verma Film name : Dukhi Dyslexic
The boy would be troubled by some evil spirit who had suffered from dyslexia. Urmila Matondkar would play the role of the boy's mother, and Manoj Bajpai would be the Tantrik, who would perform some rituals to free the spirit.
Situation 3 : Director : David Dhawan Film name: Dyslexic No. 1
There would be no kids, Govinda would act in a double role......one a doctor, and the other, a man with the maturity of a ten-year old boy. The audience will discover that this man-child is the long-lost brother of the doctor, who got separated in the Kumbh Mela in childhood. Karishma Kapoor and Sushmita Sen would be the love-interests of Dr Govinda and patient Govinda respectively. Kader Khan would be Karishma's father and Shakti Kapoor would be seen as the patient's sidekick.
Situation 4 : Director : Priyadarshan
There would be lot of characters in the film, and actors like Paresh Rawal, Rajpal Yadav, Mukesh Rishi, Asrani, Suniel Shetty, Sharat Saxena will have significant roles. Akshay Kumar would be in the leading role, and the climax of the film will be in a hospital, where everyone would be running helter and skelter without knowing the actual purpose. Presence of a kid???? No way....here everyone will behave like a kid!!
Situation 5: Director : Any renowned person from the South.
The film would be an one-man show of Rajnikanth, others will come just to fill in.
Situation 6: Director : Steven Spielberg
The film would be nominated for Oscar, and will finally win it.
P.S. : I got some of the above ideas from the rediff website, and expanded it.
M for Mystery
My first introduction to mystery stories was through my grandfather, who used to read a lot of story books borrowing from the local library. The book was titled Doshhu Mohan, written by Sasadhar Datta. Mohan was the Bengali version of Robinhood, and was quite famous in those days. There were 10-12 volumes in all(the exact number I cannot recollect) , each consisting of five or six novels. My grandfather read them all, and coping up with his fast pace, I also managed to read almost all of them, if not all.
The novels of Mohan were more action and thriller rather than mystery, and were not quite fit for boys of my age (I was 7-8 then), although that aspect was not able to restrain me from reading those. After the Mohan series got finished, I started reading Hemendrakumar Roy, the stories of Jayanta-Manik, which were very adventurous and full of action. The TV serial Aabar Jokher Dhan was the main source which drew me towards them.
When I was in class V or VI, I got introduced to Kiriti Roy, and after a short while, to the one and only Prodosh C Mitter. It was then that I got to know the actual taste of mystery stories, where the brain was more powerful than the muscle. I must say that I liked Feluda much better than Kiriti, the level of satisfaction on reading Feluda was much higher than that of Kiriti. The presence of Topshe and Jatayu and the characterisation of Feluda made them much more lively and attractive.
While I was swallowing Feluda and Kiriti, I had read some bengali translations of Sherlock Holmes, but did not like it. In class VIII, I got hold of the unabridged full volume of Sherlock Holmes in english from my uncle (I borrowed the book, and have not returned yet!) . That was my introduction to mystery in English literature, and the person of 221B, Baker Street completely mesmerised me. The intricate details and the way of solving the crimes from the simplest of clues astomished me to the hilt.
I got introduced to Byomkesh Bakshi much later, just after my class 10 Board exams. It is really unfortunate that I did not read Byomkesh before. But when I finally read, it was a nice experience. I got the same razor-sharp intellect and intricate logical reasoning as that in Holmes, and Byomkesh occupied my top list among the Bengali detectives, dethroning Feluda.
I had heard the name of Agatha Christie from my mother but did not quite get a chance to grab her books. The college library gave me that opportunity. During the 3 years in my college, I finished almost the entire Agatha Christie collection. No other stories had that capability of holding the mystery till the end, where you get to know the real culprit in the last page. Miss Marple and Hercule Poirot both have their own unique characteristics, and according to me, Agatha Christie is the most prolific mystery writer in English.
Recently, I read a novel by P D James, featuring her protagonist Adam Dalgliesh, a commander in Scotland Yard. I liked the novel very much, and am planning to finish the works of P D James one by one.
Through this post, I would like to pay homage to all the detectives mentioned above and also to their creators, who have been overshadowed by their own creations.
The novels of Mohan were more action and thriller rather than mystery, and were not quite fit for boys of my age (I was 7-8 then), although that aspect was not able to restrain me from reading those. After the Mohan series got finished, I started reading Hemendrakumar Roy, the stories of Jayanta-Manik, which were very adventurous and full of action. The TV serial Aabar Jokher Dhan was the main source which drew me towards them.
When I was in class V or VI, I got introduced to Kiriti Roy, and after a short while, to the one and only Prodosh C Mitter. It was then that I got to know the actual taste of mystery stories, where the brain was more powerful than the muscle. I must say that I liked Feluda much better than Kiriti, the level of satisfaction on reading Feluda was much higher than that of Kiriti. The presence of Topshe and Jatayu and the characterisation of Feluda made them much more lively and attractive.
While I was swallowing Feluda and Kiriti, I had read some bengali translations of Sherlock Holmes, but did not like it. In class VIII, I got hold of the unabridged full volume of Sherlock Holmes in english from my uncle (I borrowed the book, and have not returned yet!) . That was my introduction to mystery in English literature, and the person of 221B, Baker Street completely mesmerised me. The intricate details and the way of solving the crimes from the simplest of clues astomished me to the hilt.
I got introduced to Byomkesh Bakshi much later, just after my class 10 Board exams. It is really unfortunate that I did not read Byomkesh before. But when I finally read, it was a nice experience. I got the same razor-sharp intellect and intricate logical reasoning as that in Holmes, and Byomkesh occupied my top list among the Bengali detectives, dethroning Feluda.
I had heard the name of Agatha Christie from my mother but did not quite get a chance to grab her books. The college library gave me that opportunity. During the 3 years in my college, I finished almost the entire Agatha Christie collection. No other stories had that capability of holding the mystery till the end, where you get to know the real culprit in the last page. Miss Marple and Hercule Poirot both have their own unique characteristics, and according to me, Agatha Christie is the most prolific mystery writer in English.
Recently, I read a novel by P D James, featuring her protagonist Adam Dalgliesh, a commander in Scotland Yard. I liked the novel very much, and am planning to finish the works of P D James one by one.
Through this post, I would like to pay homage to all the detectives mentioned above and also to their creators, who have been overshadowed by their own creations.
Sunday, March 2, 2008
Beginning of a new era?
The young brigade, under the courageous leadership of a Brigadier and a superb performance from a veteran soldier, have created havoc within a superpower. I am talking about the young Indian cricket team which defeated Australia in the first final of the CB series about 6 hours ago, leading by 1-0.
Lots of hues and cries had been raised regarding the team selection of India, especially in the one-day squad. Inclusion of young blood and exclusion of experience had made captain Dhoni a prime target of the media. I honestly admit that initially, I was also skeptical about the one-day team selection, where Dhoni was trying to win a tournament leaving out the experiences of Dravid, Ganguly and Laxman in Australia in spite of the fact that the trio performed nicely in the test series. But Dhoni stuck with his plan, including only Sachin in the final eleven, and had faith on the youngstars like Rohit Sharma, Robin Uthappa, Praveen Kumar and Ishant Sharma. We must not forget that this tour is Dhoni's first Australia tour.
The vital point in Dhoni's captaincy is that he never hesitates to take risks, knows what he is doing and firmly believes in that. Sometimes it seems that he is arrogant, may be truely he is, but otherwise, he is a very nice captain. Changing the game plan as and when needed is a good quality of a captain, and needless to say, Dhoni has that quality.
Regarding the youngstars, Rohit Sharma is the latest sensation. He delivered in the most crucial stages, and today also, his knock of 66 and the 123-run partnership between him and Tendulkar paved the path of victory for us. Ishant Sharma has bowled superbly throughout the series and today was not an exception. Praveen Kumar has played only 4 matches, but has shown lots of promises. If nurtured properly, he will be the bowling spearhead in future. Piyush Chawla, whom people claim to be the successor of Anil Kumble, got his chance in the final match, and did not disappoint at all. His spell of 10 overs had cost only 31 runs! Robin Uthappa, however, was a bit low in the series compared to his earlier performances.
Harbhajan Singh has been the cynosure of controversy for the last couple of months. But the good thing is, all of these could not distract his focus from the game. Throughout the series, he has played his part effectively. The same is true for Irfan Pathan as well. It is good that he is been allowed to concentrate solely on his bowling rather than imposing the "all rounder" label on him. Yuvraj Singh however, has been a disappointment. But hopefully he will perform pretty soon. Gautam Gambhir, on the other hand, has been the best batsman of the team so far in this series with two hundreds and a couple of fifties.
It is said that one should never disturb a tiger. After losing the fourth league match against Australia, Dhoni stated the press that the openers should take more responsibillity from now on. This must have hurt the ego of Sachin, which he treated with a 54-ball 63 against Sri Lanka, and by the unbeaten 117 today. A sublime knock which had a perfect blend of aggression, authority and responsibility, this was a treat to watch for the cricket lovers.
Lastly, we still have to win one match to emerge as a champion. I believe we have the power and talent to do it. So, Chak de India !!
Lots of hues and cries had been raised regarding the team selection of India, especially in the one-day squad. Inclusion of young blood and exclusion of experience had made captain Dhoni a prime target of the media. I honestly admit that initially, I was also skeptical about the one-day team selection, where Dhoni was trying to win a tournament leaving out the experiences of Dravid, Ganguly and Laxman in Australia in spite of the fact that the trio performed nicely in the test series. But Dhoni stuck with his plan, including only Sachin in the final eleven, and had faith on the youngstars like Rohit Sharma, Robin Uthappa, Praveen Kumar and Ishant Sharma. We must not forget that this tour is Dhoni's first Australia tour.
The vital point in Dhoni's captaincy is that he never hesitates to take risks, knows what he is doing and firmly believes in that. Sometimes it seems that he is arrogant, may be truely he is, but otherwise, he is a very nice captain. Changing the game plan as and when needed is a good quality of a captain, and needless to say, Dhoni has that quality.
Regarding the youngstars, Rohit Sharma is the latest sensation. He delivered in the most crucial stages, and today also, his knock of 66 and the 123-run partnership between him and Tendulkar paved the path of victory for us. Ishant Sharma has bowled superbly throughout the series and today was not an exception. Praveen Kumar has played only 4 matches, but has shown lots of promises. If nurtured properly, he will be the bowling spearhead in future. Piyush Chawla, whom people claim to be the successor of Anil Kumble, got his chance in the final match, and did not disappoint at all. His spell of 10 overs had cost only 31 runs! Robin Uthappa, however, was a bit low in the series compared to his earlier performances.
Harbhajan Singh has been the cynosure of controversy for the last couple of months. But the good thing is, all of these could not distract his focus from the game. Throughout the series, he has played his part effectively. The same is true for Irfan Pathan as well. It is good that he is been allowed to concentrate solely on his bowling rather than imposing the "all rounder" label on him. Yuvraj Singh however, has been a disappointment. But hopefully he will perform pretty soon. Gautam Gambhir, on the other hand, has been the best batsman of the team so far in this series with two hundreds and a couple of fifties.
It is said that one should never disturb a tiger. After losing the fourth league match against Australia, Dhoni stated the press that the openers should take more responsibillity from now on. This must have hurt the ego of Sachin, which he treated with a 54-ball 63 against Sri Lanka, and by the unbeaten 117 today. A sublime knock which had a perfect blend of aggression, authority and responsibility, this was a treat to watch for the cricket lovers.
Lastly, we still have to win one match to emerge as a champion. I believe we have the power and talent to do it. So, Chak de India !!
Saturday, March 1, 2008
The Inevitables
There are certain small things in everyday life which often go wrong and irritates us. The effect is not fatal at all, but intensely irritating. From a first hand experience, let me list at least some of them .
- While coming back from grocery, with six polypacks equally distributed in both hands, I climb up the stairs and stop in front of my apartment door, gasping for breath. Then, shifting all the six packs in my right hand, when I put the left hand in the left pocket of my trousers, it happens in 95% of the cases that the keys lie in my right pocket!!
- There is a small pocket on the side of the driver's seat in my car, made for storing the cellphone. Before driving, normally I keep my cell phone there so that I can attend any call while driving. But I don't get any calls then. Sometimes, if the cell phone remains in my jeans pocket instead by mistake, inevitably I will get a call. Twisting and turning, as I collect the phone from the pocket, the caller disconnects from the other side !
- Whenever I try to collect my homework from a bunch of copies (back home and here as well), in most of the cases, mine will be at the very bottom if I start searching from the top, and will be in the middle somewhere if I start from the bottom !!
- While making tea or boiling milk, as long as I keep staring at the burner so that the milk does not spill , nothing happens. Getting tired, whenever I turn my attention to something else for 15 seconds, the milk overflows and spills all over the burner, causing the fire to extinguish in some cases!!
- Many times it has happened (and will happen in future as well) that while waiting for a bus to take me Saltlake, I get buses heading towards every other possible routes except Saltlake. A crowded bus will appear at last, testing my patience at the highest level of tolerance!!
Distractions !!!!!!!!!
I was going through an online comic strip magazine, where I stumbled upon a series of strips titled Newton's Laws of Graduation. The third law was the best one, which goes like this:
For every action towards graduation, there is an equal and opposite distraction.
Well, who knows this fact better than me? From the point of entering the department to the point of exit, there are so many distractions that even if I am able to dodge a couple of them, another dozen come and disturb me! I am leaving out my apartment from the discussion, as when I am home, hardly any action towards graduation takes place.
There is a notice board in the department building just opposite the elevator. Pressing the 'up' button of the elevator, I walk towards the board to read the announcements. If I find something interesting, then no matter how many times the elevator beckons me, I go through it thoroughly, think about it for a while and then finally come back in front of the elevator.
As I enter my office, I settle myself in the chair, switch the computer on and keep a couple of journal papers from my bag on the table. Then, I feel a thirst for coffee, and getting myself a cup from the workroom (a few yards from my office) , sit back again . As I am about to read the first word of the paper, suddenly my brain reminds me that I've to check the department email. Deleting 11 spams of the dozen mails, again I try to concentrate on the journal. If I am able to go through the abstract, I turn my attention towards the computer screen to check the mails from yahoo and gmail!
Switching among the tasks of reading, checking and replying emails and sipping coffee, the coffee ends first. Then comes the urge of smoking a cigarette. So going down, I smoke hastily and rush back within 10 minutes. As I make progress through the paper (i.e., read the first paragraph of the introduction and grasp it), I try to scribble something on a sheet of paper, and luckily, if I am able to understand the very first equation, I feel that I should take a break by playing a couple of games of Tetris.
This game is my biggest distraction! If I get a good score in the first couple of attempts, I stop there and come back to the reading. But if I'm in a bad form, and get unsatisfactory scores, then I keep on trying to improve the score, and as a result, couple games turn into a few dozens, the eyes turn red and at the point where I can no longer stare at the screen, I take a break and go to wash my eyes. When I come back, my mood is bitter due to the failure, and there comes the need of another cigarette, another distraction!!
Suppose everything is fine and I am able to put off all the distractions aside. Then, inevitably, some friend of mine will call for nothing (because he is being distracted also!! ), and we start chatting. This happens in most of the weekends from both ends. Other than this, the office phone can ring, somebody can knock the door or I may feel to know about the result of the overnight cricket match, the review of the latest bollywood flick, the upcoming films of Aamir Khan - in short, both my mind and the surroundings conspire to distract me from my actual job.
All these will take place under the assumption that I am able to understand the journal article. But if that is not the case, then one can imagine what may happen! I will glance at the page for a while, then open the Tetris thinking that it may give me some idea, or go down to have a smoke in order to stimulate the brain cells and all sorts of things which I think will help me to understand the article. As a last refuge, I go to the library to fetch a book , but finally end up at the wrong rack (novels , drama, short stories, DVDs ! ), and so when I come back, I may not have the academic book I was looking for, but I will have at least two novels and two DVDs at my disposal!
So the key question is, what can I alone do against all these distractions surrounding myself? I think I have to find this first before carrying on with my academic research!
For every action towards graduation, there is an equal and opposite distraction.
Well, who knows this fact better than me? From the point of entering the department to the point of exit, there are so many distractions that even if I am able to dodge a couple of them, another dozen come and disturb me! I am leaving out my apartment from the discussion, as when I am home, hardly any action towards graduation takes place.
There is a notice board in the department building just opposite the elevator. Pressing the 'up' button of the elevator, I walk towards the board to read the announcements. If I find something interesting, then no matter how many times the elevator beckons me, I go through it thoroughly, think about it for a while and then finally come back in front of the elevator.
As I enter my office, I settle myself in the chair, switch the computer on and keep a couple of journal papers from my bag on the table. Then, I feel a thirst for coffee, and getting myself a cup from the workroom (a few yards from my office) , sit back again . As I am about to read the first word of the paper, suddenly my brain reminds me that I've to check the department email. Deleting 11 spams of the dozen mails, again I try to concentrate on the journal. If I am able to go through the abstract, I turn my attention towards the computer screen to check the mails from yahoo and gmail!
Switching among the tasks of reading, checking and replying emails and sipping coffee, the coffee ends first. Then comes the urge of smoking a cigarette. So going down, I smoke hastily and rush back within 10 minutes. As I make progress through the paper (i.e., read the first paragraph of the introduction and grasp it), I try to scribble something on a sheet of paper, and luckily, if I am able to understand the very first equation, I feel that I should take a break by playing a couple of games of Tetris.
This game is my biggest distraction! If I get a good score in the first couple of attempts, I stop there and come back to the reading. But if I'm in a bad form, and get unsatisfactory scores, then I keep on trying to improve the score, and as a result, couple games turn into a few dozens, the eyes turn red and at the point where I can no longer stare at the screen, I take a break and go to wash my eyes. When I come back, my mood is bitter due to the failure, and there comes the need of another cigarette, another distraction!!
Suppose everything is fine and I am able to put off all the distractions aside. Then, inevitably, some friend of mine will call for nothing (because he is being distracted also!! ), and we start chatting. This happens in most of the weekends from both ends. Other than this, the office phone can ring, somebody can knock the door or I may feel to know about the result of the overnight cricket match, the review of the latest bollywood flick, the upcoming films of Aamir Khan - in short, both my mind and the surroundings conspire to distract me from my actual job.
All these will take place under the assumption that I am able to understand the journal article. But if that is not the case, then one can imagine what may happen! I will glance at the page for a while, then open the Tetris thinking that it may give me some idea, or go down to have a smoke in order to stimulate the brain cells and all sorts of things which I think will help me to understand the article. As a last refuge, I go to the library to fetch a book , but finally end up at the wrong rack (novels , drama, short stories, DVDs ! ), and so when I come back, I may not have the academic book I was looking for, but I will have at least two novels and two DVDs at my disposal!
So the key question is, what can I alone do against all these distractions surrounding myself? I think I have to find this first before carrying on with my academic research!
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