SlumK9 Millionaire

I finally watched Slumdog Millionaire. I don't know what's the big fuss about the movie and it's criticism.

I don't get the objection about depicting poverty. It is not the only India, true. But it IS India. They are all real life scenarios, except maybe the "potty" scene. Just that, all of it may not happen to one person. But it's a work of fiction. No one claimed this to be a biography of anyone!

Talking of real world, how realistic is a scantily clad lady with a bare chested, 6/8 packed man singing and dancing in open spaces? Or better still, with rows of similar dressed ladies dancing in the background? Or villains doing Olympic level spins in the air before falling after being hit by a hero's punch? Or cars rotating in the air, and rolling before exploding in flames? If I can handle those, I can handle depiction of poverty.

The big question is will it get the Oscar? Should it? When I think of Oscars, some of the movies that come to my mind, are the ones I can see anytime, anywhere, n number of times. I don't think this movie belongs to that category. Still a decent watch.

P.S: Another reason why I liked this movie... I knew the answers to all the questions asked, except for the 100 dollar bill question. Then I would have used "phone-a-friend" and called one of my US based friends.

Reality health-check

It happens so many times that we talk about getting a health check-up done, and then we forget all about it and get on with our lives. And in unfortunate cases, one fine day, without any warning, a pain in the arm and someone finds out he has a heart condition. Classic example - my father. My father was a top class footballer who played for Mohun Bagan and Bengal, didn't smoke / drink / party, slept / woke early, avoided spicy / oily food, had a lean body mass, in short - a model "healthy" person. Yet he suffered from a heart ailment in his early 40s, and carried a pacemaker later in his life. If it can happen to him, it can happen to anybody.

Proud to announce that yesterday I had a lipid profile test done to check my cholesterol level, and all is well here. So, my friends, do the right thing - get yourself checked, specially if you are over 30.

The list grows

I don't trust most politicians for obvious reasons. When approaching a police official, I don't know if he is a rare honest and hardworking law enforcer or the more frequently found corrupt one. When going to a doctor, I don't know if the medicines he prescribed is what I need or they are prescribed because he gets cut money from the medicine companies. When seeking justice, I don't know if the lawyer only does lip service to his "noble profession". It's a long list, but there were still a few sectors / industries which I believed won't join the list.

But, when one of the top IT companies in India, whose shares determine the fate of the Indian Stock Market, with numerous awards including a recent award for corporate governance, with a blue eyed boy of Indian IT sector with several "Entrepreneur of the year" award as it's CEO, with one of the top ranking auditor firms auditing it's accounts, is involved in a humongous financial scam, I just don't know what's next in the list.

New Year Resolution: To have fun

A very peaceful new year to all. Hope you had fun ushering it in.

It's been a nice extended weekend for me. First, I had to spend a day visiting distant relatives to invite them for my cousin's wedding later this month and quite liked it.

Second, the school gang met up after a long time for a nice dinner. This, despite the fact that much of the conversation revolved around my marital status and chalking out an action plan to "rectify" it. Good luck guys :)

Then I spent a day accompanying friends on a whirlwind tour of Kolkata including spots I haven't been to / haven't been to in a long time. How I wish that all my friends came with places like a cemetery, and a boat ride on Hooghly river on their must-do list, instead of malls and "Someplace else". I guess, all of us can't have common interests. But one common interest which almost all my friends have, is good food sampling, and I sure can't complain about that. Kolkata, in my humble opinion, is still the best place to have food in India. The only regret is one needs a few days to try out the different delicacies Kolkata has to offer, and almost always, my friends leave before I am satisfied they had even 10%. Anyway, doesn't matter, if they had a good time here...

Final report
Week: 1, Year: 9, Millennium: 3 - Fun; resolution fulfilled.