I felt that the film had things put in the right way, without the usual salt pepper additions that comes packaged with today's movies. It was just speaking the true life. It isn't possible to bring out the entire life of a person to the audience in all subtle terms. The film has brought out some real life within the 'time limits of a film'.
As the film says, it was the destiny of Jamal to be with Lathika, it was also the destiny of Jamal to win that prize. The revelations that made it possible for him was put through by Danny Boyle in a simple manner; through the 'slumdog's' story.
Role of each character was perfectly designed. Salim's love for his brother; Jamal's determination to find his lost heart Lathika, the deceptive(his fear of another millionaire from slum; evident from film prompted me to use 'deceptive'.) Prem Kumar played by Anil kapoor, a righteous and understanding police officer by Irfan... the perfection just paid off for Danny's work.
At the same time, the credits goes to ARR also for that song, arousing the spirits of audience who prepares to leave the cinema hall contented with the 'happy' ending of the film.
I saw the film today. I'll say that the film just owned the Oscars. It deserves whatever it got.
Back to the reality. Yes... In reality, if such a thing can happen, it will never be in India. Because, it is not so easy for such a person to come out so high within the economic 'grounds' in India. Rather, has a person come across to 'that or appreciable' position in India from that level, all these years? Not definitely in Jamal's way ;).. Well, I really don't know the answer for my question. It is for the reader to find out.
Jai Ho!
Ps: India is home to 170 million slum dwellers; which is 17% of world's slum dwellers. This number also means that 63% of slum dwellers in South Asia resides in India. (Source)
Showing posts with label Facts. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Facts. Show all posts
Sunday, March 1, 2009
Sunday, February 1, 2009
Do i know you?
I remember the month of September when i took 2 days leave for my sisters Engagement. It was on September 1st of 2008. The marriage; the blessed day, when the blessed couple embarked their journey of life was on February 1st of 2009. So fast the days were flowing. 5 months.. and the day arrived.
The 'feeling' was in the 'air'. The home was alive from the start of week before the marriage. Cousins, relatives, family members, friends... Just like any home which awaits a marriage, the house was bustling with activities. The typical feature of a marriage that, it is an occasion of bringing the people together was again a point to be stressed here.
Deviating slightly from the topic now... I understood one thing that time. The relationships in the family (when i say family, it refers to this context, the old joint family members who had turned out into numerous nuclear families) members were not known to that extent it used to be; say 20-25 years before(Not my experience; though ;). ). I learned that i didnt know many of the relations (too complex like a highly complicated trigonometric function! ). Wow... i wondered at that time; how difficult it would have been for members of old joint families to remember the member's names(i' didnt mean to be sarcastic here :) ).
I think i am deviating from the topic 'Wedding'. You know, i have kept the title of this writing as 'The Wedding'. It has evolved to 'Do i know you'. Out of box...
Eventhough, i am happy to bring out the above mentioned fact which most of us feels during such an occasion. Moreover, these are the things which needs to be specified when we feel like writing about such occasions... some real life experiences...
The 'feeling' was in the 'air'. The home was alive from the start of week before the marriage. Cousins, relatives, family members, friends... Just like any home which awaits a marriage, the house was bustling with activities. The typical feature of a marriage that, it is an occasion of bringing the people together was again a point to be stressed here.
Deviating slightly from the topic now... I understood one thing that time. The relationships in the family (when i say family, it refers to this context, the old joint family members who had turned out into numerous nuclear families) members were not known to that extent it used to be; say 20-25 years before(Not my experience; though ;). ). I learned that i didnt know many of the relations (too complex like a highly complicated trigonometric function! ). Wow... i wondered at that time; how difficult it would have been for members of old joint families to remember the member's names(i' didnt mean to be sarcastic here :) ).
I think i am deviating from the topic 'Wedding'. You know, i have kept the title of this writing as 'The Wedding'. It has evolved to 'Do i know you'. Out of box...
Eventhough, i am happy to bring out the above mentioned fact which most of us feels during such an occasion. Moreover, these are the things which needs to be specified when we feel like writing about such occasions... some real life experiences...
Monday, December 29, 2008
My December
Though the title gives the reader a touche at the Linkin Park's song, I felt that it is the best for my year end blog.
Decembers... went through 26 of them till now. A few 'memorable' of these; anyways. I was trying to think of these Decembers in this December. How fast a year has gone man! So fast that you feel like the last december 31st was just yesterday. Well, no point in talking the past... says wise men.
Jotting down my last 4 decembers...
December 31st, 2004
I was in Bangalore. The times of search for a job. I spend that night thinking of my career and a job in the top floor of the rented appartment in Bomnahalli, Bangalore.
December 31st, 2005
I was in my home town. The night went as usual. Calm, with a sumptuous dinner; ready to welcome the next year.
December 31st, 2006
Rocking Freaking Dashing Daring... say what? That was the night when we broke the rules, the impossibilities, the barriers and we literally flew! The night, we planned a trip to Pondicherry. We 'safely' made it to Pondy and celebrated the night dancing the entire night! On January 13th, we roomies (Better name us Roadies) broke the rules. We made it to Pondy(147 Kms from where we stay: Thiruvanmiyur, Chennai) in 1.5 hours in our Pulsar 150 's. lolzz, that was a hell of a ride. That night was unforgettable. We 'luckily' made it to Pondy that night. ;-)
December 31st, 2007
I was in Belgium. Winter time! We went out that night to explore the new year celebration in Halle, Belgium. Quite a change from the previous december 31st's; this was spend in a different ambience. The most lucky thing that night was the chance to see a fantastic firecracker show in Halle township.
And today, its 29th december, almost 2 days to record the night of December 31st, 2008
I cannot fortell about this day. No plans made till now. :)
I will wait and see... By the way, I will not update this column. Because, that will be a January 2009 log. :)
Decembers... went through 26 of them till now. A few 'memorable' of these; anyways. I was trying to think of these Decembers in this December. How fast a year has gone man! So fast that you feel like the last december 31st was just yesterday. Well, no point in talking the past... says wise men.
Jotting down my last 4 decembers...
December 31st, 2004
I was in Bangalore. The times of search for a job. I spend that night thinking of my career and a job in the top floor of the rented appartment in Bomnahalli, Bangalore.
December 31st, 2005
I was in my home town. The night went as usual. Calm, with a sumptuous dinner; ready to welcome the next year.
December 31st, 2006
Rocking Freaking Dashing Daring... say what? That was the night when we broke the rules, the impossibilities, the barriers and we literally flew! The night, we planned a trip to Pondicherry. We 'safely' made it to Pondy and celebrated the night dancing the entire night! On January 13th, we roomies (Better name us Roadies) broke the rules. We made it to Pondy(147 Kms from where we stay: Thiruvanmiyur, Chennai) in 1.5 hours in our Pulsar 150 's. lolzz, that was a hell of a ride. That night was unforgettable. We 'luckily' made it to Pondy that night. ;-)
December 31st, 2007
I was in Belgium. Winter time! We went out that night to explore the new year celebration in Halle, Belgium. Quite a change from the previous december 31st's; this was spend in a different ambience. The most lucky thing that night was the chance to see a fantastic firecracker show in Halle township.
And today, its 29th december, almost 2 days to record the night of December 31st, 2008
I cannot fortell about this day. No plans made till now. :)
I will wait and see... By the way, I will not update this column. Because, that will be a January 2009 log. :)
Sunday, March 30, 2008
How to Buy a Diamond?
Belgium is known for diamonds. A place where diamonds from many places in the world arrives and gets polished/purified. The value of a diamond is increased hereby.
Antwerp lies to the north of Belgium.. For centuries, Antwerp is known for its top-brass Diamond workers. The craftsmen who were well known for their work of generating the best quality diamonds in the world.
When we went to Antwerp for buying diamonds, we didn't know how to quantify the stuff we pay for. We learned some things there...
Diamond Characteristics :-
A diamond can be classified based on its color, clarity, cut and carat.
Color: They can be of types colorless, near colorless, faint yellow color, very light yelow, light yellow color. A near colorless diamond is a good and common choice.
Clarity: This is a measure of a diamond's internal flaws and impurities. Based on this characteristic, a diamond can be Flawless, Internally flawless, vvs1 or vvs2, vs1 or vs2, si1 or si2, si3, i1, i2 or i3. vvs1 or vvs2 grades are commonly opted ones.
Cut: A diamond cut is not the shape of a diamond. When a diamond is cut in good proportions, light is reflected from the other facet and gets dispersed through top of it. When the diamond is cut too deep, light escapes through opposite sides of it. When it is cut too shalow, the light will not get reflected through facets and it escapes. So, no reflection of light will happen.
Carat: A carat is the unit of weight by which a diamond is measured.1 carat = 200mg. One carat is divided into 100 points therefore a 1/2 carat diamond is described as .5 of a carat, or 50 points, or a ½ carater.Deciding the carat of diamond depends on the use (proportionate to size of finger)
The fifth c is Certificate. Get a certiicate, when you buy a diamond.
When you buy it in same amount, always bargain for price reduction.A diamond price depends on global dollar value. We got some reduction when we bargained with this particular point :).
Antwerp lies to the north of Belgium.. For centuries, Antwerp is known for its top-brass Diamond workers. The craftsmen who were well known for their work of generating the best quality diamonds in the world.
When we went to Antwerp for buying diamonds, we didn't know how to quantify the stuff we pay for. We learned some things there...
Diamond Characteristics :-
A diamond can be classified based on its color, clarity, cut and carat.
Color: They can be of types colorless, near colorless, faint yellow color, very light yelow, light yellow color. A near colorless diamond is a good and common choice.
Clarity: This is a measure of a diamond's internal flaws and impurities. Based on this characteristic, a diamond can be Flawless, Internally flawless, vvs1 or vvs2, vs1 or vs2, si1 or si2, si3, i1, i2 or i3. vvs1 or vvs2 grades are commonly opted ones.
Cut: A diamond cut is not the shape of a diamond. When a diamond is cut in good proportions, light is reflected from the other facet and gets dispersed through top of it. When the diamond is cut too deep, light escapes through opposite sides of it. When it is cut too shalow, the light will not get reflected through facets and it escapes. So, no reflection of light will happen.
Carat: A carat is the unit of weight by which a diamond is measured.1 carat = 200mg. One carat is divided into 100 points therefore a 1/2 carat diamond is described as .5 of a carat, or 50 points, or a ½ carater.Deciding the carat of diamond depends on the use (proportionate to size of finger)
The fifth c is Certificate. Get a certiicate, when you buy a diamond.
When you buy it in same amount, always bargain for price reduction.A diamond price depends on global dollar value. We got some reduction when we bargained with this particular point :).
Sunday, November 18, 2007
Visit to Rome - A memoir
Now it is 2.5 months after that visit. I have some photographs, few recordings, a map of Rome and some fainting memories to fuel this post. I deeply regret that, i thought to have a post for this, so late.
"Rome was not built in one day." - John Heywood, English Playwright and Poet, 1497-1580.
That was a different story.
When John Heywood quoted that, he might not have thought about another possibility with the subject. Here it goes...
"Rome can be seen in one day." - this one is mine, ;)
[Flash Back: It was all planned hastily when one in our group got pissed off with the routine desk job we all used to do. Well, good one!, every one was interested.. wonder why not!
We were lucky to get tickets in a Ryanair(that one is cheapest here) Boeing 737-800 flight on 1st Sept 2007.]
ROME: A Highlight
The legend says that the city of Rome was found by the twins Romulus and Remus. Nevertheless, centuries of wisdom was involved in the formulation of Rome.
Here, I would like to highlight some key places which always had attracted attention in the roman history.
The Colosseum:
One of the masterpiece of roman engineering, the Flavian Amphitheatre (Officially) was a project flagged off by the roman emperor Vespasian.
Facts:
Colosseum was built by prisoners, mainly jews in a mere 5 years span. At any moment it had the capacity for entry or exit of 10,000 people through its state of art design. Can you imagine a sea battle being held in this structure?
Yes, impossible is nothing.
One another fact which i thought worth mentioning here is the cross someone has installed in the stands of the Colosseum.
It is said that the cross has been installed for the memory of christians who were killed in the colosseum combats. But, there has been no historical evidence of christians been killed here.
[Img: The cross inside the Colosseum]
The Pantheon:
Pantheon aka 'The temple of all gods', was
dedicated to the roman gods by emperor Trajan.
The structure was converted to a christian church from a pagan temple with the help of the
Byzantine emperor Foca.
The amazing part of this structure is that its huge concrete dome is not reinforced!
[Img: The Pantheon]
The Roman Forums:
The Roman forums were the famous amongst many other forums in Rome.
Roman forums consisted of vast line of structures involving temples, basilicas and arches.
Most of them were dedicated to emperors and gods.
[Img: Roman Forums]
One of the structures found worth mentioning here is the temple of vesta.
It housed the sacred eternal flame which was the symbol of the eternal life of Rome.
The flame was guarded by the Vestal virgins, six girls who were chosen at age of 6 to serve the next 30 years of their life as virgin .
Fact: 10 girls was buried alive in the history of Vesta... they broke the rule.
[Img: House of vestal virgins]
The Vatican City:
The smallest independent country of the world houses the famous arts of artists like Bernini
and Michelangelo.
Never miss the Vatican museums if you visit the Vatican.
Fact:
The military of Vatican city involves the Swiss Guards. It does not have army.
~Varia~
Planning a visit? Here are some things that you need to take care of:
Accommodation:
Book a hotel room well in advance of your trip. It will be quite difficult to stay in railway station or streets :)
Safety:
They says... in streets, never carry your backpack at your back! It should be rather used as a frontpack ;)..
Transport in Rome:
Rome has 2 metro lines. Each stop will be having one/more monuments in that place. No worries about searching a place :) .
Get a map of Rome from any store there. Everything will be there that map.
And yes.. get a day pass for the metro :)
Places to visit:
I found that the following were my favorites after my visit.
a. The Vatican Museum and Church.
b. The Colosseum and The Roman Forums
c. The Isola(The Tiber Island, Island between two bridges)
d. The Castle of Saint Angelo
e. The Trevi fountain
f. The arch of Titus(Near Roman Forum)
g. The piazza del popolo(The Obelisk from Heliopolis, Egypt is an attraction here.)
Ps: Make sure that you go for a guided tour in Colosseum. The guides will associate the Roman Forum tour together with the Colosseum tour. It is really worth to pay for a guided tour here... if you are interested in history of Colosseum and Roman forums.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I bought a sculpture at the Rome airport - as a token of my visit of Rome.
In it, it was written - La Pieta Di Michelangelo - The sculpture by Michelangelo which shows Mary holding the body of Jesus after he was taken down from cross.
"Rome was not built in one day." - John Heywood, English Playwright and Poet, 1497-1580.
That was a different story.
When John Heywood quoted that, he might not have thought about another possibility with the subject. Here it goes...
"Rome can be seen in one day." - this one is mine, ;)
[Flash Back: It was all planned hastily when one in our group got pissed off with the routine desk job we all used to do. Well, good one!, every one was interested.. wonder why not!
We were lucky to get tickets in a Ryanair(that one is cheapest here) Boeing 737-800 flight on 1st Sept 2007.]
ROME: A Highlight
The legend says that the city of Rome was found by the twins Romulus and Remus. Nevertheless, centuries of wisdom was involved in the formulation of Rome.
Here, I would like to highlight some key places which always had attracted attention in the roman history.
The Colosseum:
One of the masterpiece of roman engineering, the Flavian Amphitheatre (Officially) was a project flagged off by the roman emperor Vespasian.
Facts:
Colosseum was built by prisoners, mainly jews in a mere 5 years span. At any moment it had the capacity for entry or exit of 10,000 people through its state of art design. Can you imagine a sea battle being held in this structure?
Yes, impossible is nothing.
One another fact which i thought worth mentioning here is the cross someone has installed in the stands of the Colosseum.
It is said that the cross has been installed for the memory of christians who were killed in the colosseum combats. But, there has been no historical evidence of christians been killed here.
[Img: The cross inside the Colosseum]
The Pantheon:
Pantheon aka 'The temple of all gods', was
dedicated to the roman gods by emperor Trajan.
The structure was converted to a christian church from a pagan temple with the help of the
Byzantine emperor Foca.
The amazing part of this structure is that its huge concrete dome is not reinforced!
[Img: The Pantheon]
The Roman Forums:
The Roman forums were the famous amongst many other forums in Rome.
Roman forums consisted of vast line of structures involving temples, basilicas and arches.
Most of them were dedicated to emperors and gods.
[Img: Roman Forums]
One of the structures found worth mentioning here is the temple of vesta.It housed the sacred eternal flame which was the symbol of the eternal life of Rome.
The flame was guarded by the Vestal virgins, six girls who were chosen at age of 6 to serve the next 30 years of their life as virgin .
Fact: 10 girls was buried alive in the history of Vesta... they broke the rule.
[Img: House of vestal virgins]
The Vatican City:The smallest independent country of the world houses the famous arts of artists like Bernini
and Michelangelo.
Never miss the Vatican museums if you visit the Vatican.
Fact:
The military of Vatican city involves the Swiss Guards. It does not have army.
~Varia~
Planning a visit? Here are some things that you need to take care of:
Accommodation:
Book a hotel room well in advance of your trip. It will be quite difficult to stay in railway station or streets :)
Safety:
They says... in streets, never carry your backpack at your back! It should be rather used as a frontpack ;)..
Transport in Rome:
Rome has 2 metro lines. Each stop will be having one/more monuments in that place. No worries about searching a place :) .
Get a map of Rome from any store there. Everything will be there that map.
And yes.. get a day pass for the metro :)
Places to visit:
I found that the following were my favorites after my visit.
a. The Vatican Museum and Church.
b. The Colosseum and The Roman Forums
c. The Isola(The Tiber Island, Island between two bridges)
d. The Castle of Saint Angelo
e. The Trevi fountain
f. The arch of Titus(Near Roman Forum)
g. The piazza del popolo(The Obelisk from Heliopolis, Egypt is an attraction here.)
Ps: Make sure that you go for a guided tour in Colosseum. The guides will associate the Roman Forum tour together with the Colosseum tour. It is really worth to pay for a guided tour here... if you are interested in history of Colosseum and Roman forums.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I bought a sculpture at the Rome airport - as a token of my visit of Rome.
In it, it was written - La Pieta Di Michelangelo - The sculpture by Michelangelo which shows Mary holding the body of Jesus after he was taken down from cross.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
