Opera Browser
This post has been a long time coming (better late than never I guess). I have been a long time user of the Opera browser (around 4 years now) and have been mighty impressed by its performance.
In the sample space of Internet Explorer (6, 7 and 8), Firefox (2, 3 and 3.5), Safari, Chrome and Flock; Opera has come out as the fastest, sleekest, and the first to provide most new features. It is available across all popular platforms and works the same on all of them. I am really not sure why it hasn’t as much market share as I believe it should have. They have also come up with the best mobile browser I have come across.
This is not even remotely a detailed (or superficial) review of the browser. Just wanted to put in a good word for a product that I have come to love.
Test Cricket
I consider myself a test-cricket fan. Though I do not find enough time now to follow test cricket on the TV, I do try and keep up with analysis from a few places. Kartikeya is one person whose writings on cricket I have come to admire over time and his latest post on test cricket is something I consider a must for all cricket fans.
Kaminey
Since I posted last (which it seems was SOME time back), I have seen a number of movies; have liked some and hated some. But none of them got me to write something about it, for a number of reasons. Kaminey is one exception, and a pretty good one at that.
First, I am pretty thankful that there are some directors who do not require us to leave our brains at home when we come to watch a movie (because it’s pretty much impossible to do so). Because I do not like spoon-feeding, non-linear narratives generally work for me (not the regular flashbacks that are so prevalent). And though Kaminey does not have a very complicated non-linear narrative, we do need to stay focused to understand what is happening on the screen, and to the credit of the director, it is not very taxing to stay focused.
The performances are first-rate. If Omkara made me notice Deepak Dobariyal, then Kaminey had Mikhail (I missed the name of the actor who played this character). Shahid Kapur brought enough nuances to the twin roles he portrayed, this was pretty different from what he had done till now. Priyanka was adorable, Amol Gupte was effective. Actually everyone fitted what he/she played and so a blanket ‘well played’ is in order.
There are some scenes which I want to mention for the way they were conceptualized/portrayed but I guess I will hold off on that for now.I do not want to share the story here. Not because there is some high-voltage suspense, but because it would be better appreciated as it unfolds in front of you. So what I am saying is, take your brains with you and go watch Kaminey.
Oh and Yes….the music is awesome and very well used in the movie.
The King is gone…
“HIStory” Written and Composed by Michael Jackson, James Harris III and Terry Lewis
He got kicked in the back
He say that he needed that
He hot willed in the face
Keep daring to motivate
He say one day you will see
His place in world history
He dares to be recognized
The fires deep in his eyes
How many victims must there be
Slaughtered in vain across the land
And how many struggles must there be
Before we choose to live the prophet’s plan
Everybody sing…
Every day create your history
Every path you take you’re leaving your legacy
Every soldier dies in his glory
Every legend tells of conquest and liberty
Don’t let no one get you down
Keep movin’ on higher ground
Keep flying until
You are the king of the hill
No force of nature can break
Your will to self motivate
She say this face that you see
Is destined for history
How many people have to cry
The song of pain and grief across the land
And how many children have to die
Before we stand to lend a healing hand
Everybody sing…
Every day create your history
Every path you take you’re leaving your legacy
Every soldier dies in his glory
Every legend tells of conquest and liberty
Every day create your history
Every page you turn you’re writing your legacy
Every hero dreams of chivalry
Every child should sing together in harmony
All nations sing
Let’s harmonize all around the world
How many victims must there be
Slaughtered in vain across the land
And how many children must we see
Before we learn to live as brothers
And leave one family oh…
Every day create your history
Every path you take you’re leaving your legacy
Every soldier dies in his glory
Every legend tells of conquest and liberty
Every day create your history
Every page you turn you’re writing your legacy
Every hero dreams of chivalry
Every child should sing together in harmony
A soldier dies
A mother cries
The promised child shines in a baby’s eyes
All nations sing
Let’s harmonize all around the world
White lines in the sky
Most of you would have seen the trail of a high speed plane in the sky. It looks like a line of clouds and I don’t know about others but as a kid, I was convinced that these were rockets being launched into outer space.
Today I saw one such plane and the same white line. I thought out loud that it’s not very often that we get to see this white line now, and was wondering why has the frequency reduced. My friend gave me the answer that hit me hard, mostly coz it may be true: It’s not that the planes have reduced, we have stopped looking into the sky as often as we used to.
Counting Day
My first brush with counting day was sometime in the late 1980s (I think it was the time when Rajiv Gandhi lost power but I am not sure). Those were not the times of Electronic Voting Machines (EVM) and counting had to be done manually, so it went on for a few days. There were discussions on the TV this whole time (TV meant only DD then by the way) and my father and his friends used to be glued to television this whole time. Everyone used to bring the news paper from his home and the news paper boy was asked to deliver all the papers for those few days so that they had the benefit of the analysis from as many fronts as possible. There were animated discussions, points, counter-points, bets, long winded discussions not leading to any conclusion; and all this came to an end only with a formal declaration of the election results. Being in government jobs, most of them opted for casual leaves at this time; and those who did go to the office, simply continued with the group in the office.
I used to sit in with the group of uncles every chance I got, though I never understood much of what was going on. The constant flow of tea was one major attraction for me (yep I am a tea fanatic since then) but the main attraction was the impression I was able to create amongst my friends because of the time I spent with this group. I would get some sound bytes, and then impart this knowledge to friend in school as well as in the colony, with the air of someone who knew what he was talking about. It really does not take that much to impress 9-10 year old boys anyways; gals of any age are a different story all together 
. Simple things like knowing the names of more that 3-4 news papers, or 3-4 political parties, or knowing who will be the next Prime Minister (not that complicated a question at that time) was a big hit in the gang.
Switch to today, the counting started at around 8 AM, and by 12 we knew what was gonna happen.
Not fun; not fun at all 
vote for me
Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister asks people to vote for her so that she can do to the whole country what she has done to the state of UP.
Well that is exactly what I am afraid of…
Gulaal
It is surprising in a way that this is the first Anurag Kashyap movie I have seen (since I watch pretty much anything) but I can only say this : ‘better late than never‘.
One of the most difficult tasks at this time would be to find faults with this movie simply because it has been so well made. And it gives me a bad feeling to know that it will not make as much money as a film good as this should make; but I guess the makers also knew this beforehand.
The movie packed a whole lot in itself and as such can mean different things to different people and the impressive part is that none of these different people would feel short-changed by the director. For me, it was about the extent to which politics has crept into our day to day lives, even in personal relationships. The way Dileep is exploited by Kiran (obvious to everyone but Dileep) and the way Kiran is exploited by her brother Karan (which is not as obvious); reflects at a personal level how the office of general secretary is exploited by Dukey Bana at a political level. In the end the clear winner, or the last man standing, is the one who was the least obvious in his manipulations; which says a lot about how politics is played out.
The strengths of the movie are many: dialogues, songs (used very effectively as background score), performances, screenplay, use of lighting (notice the place where Dileep and Ransa reside, and also the scene when his highness learns of his son’s death…you will know what I mean) and the writing. What’s great is that every character has story and a part to play, no one is a filler. And nobody’s story is dictated out to you, you are assumed intelligent based on the fact that you bought a ticket for this movie.
I would recommend this movie to all who love good cinema…and would like to say that Anurag Kashyap and Piyush Mishra have gained a new fan who is starting his research on them as of now 
I Must Go Down to the Sea
I must go down to the seas again, to the lonely sea and the sky,
And all I ask is a tall ship and a star to steer her by,
And the wheel’s kick and the wind’s song and the white sail’s shaking,
And a grey mist on the sea’s face and a grey dawn breaking.
I must go down to the seas again, for the call of the running tide
Is a wild call and a clear call that may not be denied;
And all I ask is a windy day with the white clouds flying,
And the flung spray and the blown spume, and the sea-gulls crying.
I must go down to the seas again, to the vagrant gypsy life,
To the gull’s way and the whale’s way where the wind’s like a whetted knife;
And all I ask is a merry yarn from a laughing fellow-rover,
And quiet sleep and a sweet dream when the long trick’s over.
This is a work of John Masefield and I am not totally sure if I can use it on a blog. If I can’t then please do let me know. I just wanted to share it since I liked it.
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