when the king went away...

u feel a lil jilted, a lil unsure how to react when something you count as a "standard" in the world goes away.

michael jackson passed away today (they say suffering from a cardiac arrest)... just when he was planning a comeback. ironically the random playlist i was listening to was playing "blood on the dance floor" (i smiled thinking "it's been a while... still luv the beats") as the news broke. it's on every news channel, every website. people thronged to his home, the hospital where they took him, to his star on hollywood boulevard. and not just because he had the highest selling something or the most famous something or because he turned music videos into an art form... there are stars, and then there are superstars, but there's always, always... only 1 king. some can change your emotions... some change the world forever.

he'd been thru a lot, seen all the highs and lows you can imagine... but persisted. i think the only right way to address this is as cnn did: "entertainer MJ passes away". more than just a singer... an icon... an entertainer.

he churned out album after album of superhits, and i grew up on them... we all did. my fave stanza though is from "the man in the mirror":

A Willow Deeply Scarred,

Somebody's Broken Heart

And A Washed-Out Dream

They Follow The Pattern OfThe Wind, Ya' See

Cause They Got No Place To Be

That's Why I'm Starting With...

Me

as i sit not 3 miles from where he lies now, the news still seems surreal.

am going to be in denial for a few days...

r.i.p. m.j.

why follow, when you can lead

for the longest time, i've always wanted to make a movie. today, i'm doing it.

odd as it may seem, the first time i realized the power of entertainment was watching Mr. Natwarlal, where one amitabh bachchan through sheer brilliance, sold a script filled with ridiculuousness ranging from an honest cop being framed by a don, to his younger brother growing up pretending to be a world-famous smuggler to exact revenge, all while singing, dancing and occassionaly fighting off a man-eating tiger. (coz no story is complete without a man-eating tiger lol!)

something clicked then ... and its been clicking away ever since. everyone has at least one good film in them... everyone.

through all the trials and tribulations of daily life, i can't help but admit i've had a lifetime filled with interesting events, interesting people... and even more interesting stories. stories, yes... that's what film making is about... what it should be about (although am sure not everyone agrees here!) that's what i'm here to do... tell interesting stories.

a question was posed: what should we make? the answer...? 6 script-ideas in 3 days... that's how much passion this team has. yes, a team of techies... yes, a team of novices... yes, we're doing it.

we picked the simplest idea and went ahead with "Colt" (working title)... a conversation piece. it pays to work with people who understand your thoughts. my first 1 was... i'm not making a 1 minute short clip with an "and the moral of the story is..." at the end. i wanted to make a 10 minute movie... and hearing a resounding yes from the team made me want to pump my fists up in the air.

"Colt" isn't easy... nothing in film-making is. scripting, camera angles, lighting, sound, location, acting, editing, marketing... the list goes on... and we've been checking things off of that list for some 4 months now.

we pulled in every resource: from youtube to google to "people who know this stuff" to walking in to camera rental stores (only to be ridiculed by the staff behind the counter coz we didn't know each detail). others said, "great! that's a good hobby... you can shoot in a room with a cheap handycam... should take a few weeks". these people deserve 33 chair shots to the head (reference: wrestling)

this is not a hobby.

my team pulls in hours after 12-hour work-days... and then works weekends. we didn't fall into the temptation of "lets just make 1 and see". we wrote the script... and we've re-written it 10 times since. from budgeting (ahem!) to auditions, from costume & make-up to mock-shoots, we're taking it 1-day at a time. so what is it that keeps us going? it's the luv for entertainment... not for music, not for films, but for entertainment. passion is the heart and soul of our team.

people always assume a new venture is born out of boredom. they expect us to follow the norms: give it a shot, don't spend too much time/money/effort on it, get bored, move on. get a good laugh out of it. every complaint about a bad movie has always been met with "ah it's ok.. what can you do? let's not watch this guy's next movie"... just follow the norms.

this is my team: onkar, nayeem, sailesh, sravanti, marut and i
(spcl mention: ashwin)

and no, we're not using a cheap handy-cam. this will be an HD 24p movie shot on a professional camera. and yes, it will be b&w.

we are not here to test our talents... we're here to show them.

so why follow, when you can lead...

of venetian blinds, power tools and profiling

venetian blinds

after 3 visits, i finally picked 'em up for my room... nice wooden venetian blinds. 65 bucks and 1 hour later (ikea, man! it does that to you...), all that was left was to put 'em up. now, for some reason unknown to me, ikea believes in packing the worst possible instruction manuals possibly created by mankind. anyway, the thing wudnt go up coz the screws were up against some concrete. enter... the power tools.

power tools

since the beginning of time, man has been fascinated by power. i know this, coz it is repeated in every sitcom i watch, more notably in tim allen's "home improvement". (yes, this is where i get my knowledge from). annoyed at not being able to put up the blinds i had purchased, i spoke to the property's maintenance guy... hes a friend of mine. although hes not legally allowed to alter the room, apparently i am. so he points out this shed of his at the end of the property... this shed holds ALL the power tools u can ever dream of owning. goooooooooood..... verrry gooooooood.... mom was none-too-happy about these developments, but i sneaked into my apt anyway.

profiling

before i get into this, let me describe what i looked like as i walked up to my apt from the shed: baggy shorts, long t-shirt, crew cut hair, tools in my hand... and yeah ofcourse the "tan". this very, ummm, south-of-the-border look (as it turns out) caused a fellow resident to walk up to me and say "que pasa" & when we would be able to get to fixing their sink.................... *ahem* i use the term "profiling" coz racism is just too harsh... and sooner or later, all of us do this. i chalked this one up to just one of life's "Seinfeld" moments. couldn't waste time; i had blinds to fix.

bonus: annoying people in the service industry

took a quick dinner break. here's the scene: at chipotle (mexican grill) today, we order four plates. 3 require guacamole, one doesn't. let me repeat that. THREE yes, ONE NOOOOOO!!! ALL this woman behind the counter has to do in her profession is SPLOSH guacamole on these plates. THAT is it... it is the maximum effort and talent required of her. again, when she goes in to work, i realize the job isn't what she dreamed of as a kid, i know it's not paying enough, but STILL, even with the least bit of interest, you should be able to SPLOSHHH Gmole. after pointing out the one that does not need any Gmole... and repeating this twice btw... she picks up the spoon, and almost in slow-motion, i see her hand come down on the one i am pointing at. i wish at such times in life, i could snap my fingers and outta nowhere, news cameras would appear... journalists would break the glass ceiling n rapple straight on down, microphone in hand... and this, this TALENTED person's face is shown across the globe, in the news, in the papers... heck maybe on youtube. and then, my friend, maybe, just maybe, the idiocy will stop. but, i digress...

anyway, the blinds got put up just fine. so yeah, there were a coupla etc holes in the wall, and yeah this might come crashing down any time soon... but you know wat? i enjoyed all of it. and did a pretty good job too ;)

a longer post about the new yr, the new job and my bday coming soon... but yeah, don't hold your breath. i might be out fixin someone's dishwasher LOL

WAW!

1st things 1st... WAW isn't a way of saying "wow" (like my best friend goes "WAAOOW!!!"... dunno why, but she's incapable of sayin it straight hehehehe)

"WAW!" stands for "what a weekend!". have had a few crazy ones in the past... but this 1 takes the cake.

worked on friday and then had to rush off to do some apt-movin. rushed on over to LA... ahhh! good ol' USC side for a meal: the two-nine cafe... old friends... couldn't ask for more. well maybe a blonde or two :P :P

saw a friend off at LAX... this place has some real bitter-sweet memories. have never visited this place and not wanted to board the flight myself. he was heading back to india, for gd... back home, for gd. yes jumpin him n grabbing his ticket did cross my mind! we had a decent conversation. something became clear: when we leave india, some 15 ppl see us off at the airport... when we leave now for gd, some 15 ppl see us off again. so what's different? it took 22 yrs to get 15 ppl to say adios, & only 2 for the same... that says something. we're not just friends here... we're family. gonna miss him. n he, us.

we dealt with the sadness the only way guys know how to; yup... we saw a late movie: harold n kumar part2. insanely hilarious in a gross kind of way. lol!

saturday morning went hiking for 5 and a half miles.... did it in sum 2 hrs or so baby! we were warned about mountain lions n rattlesnakes, although none of them really turned up! hehehe.

have spent the past coupla hrs helping this mad cat plan her trip :P :P

tomorrow is some more moving...

now you know... what a weekend...

am luvin' it.

conversations

sometimes, some conversations stick with you. a few words spoken here n there, without much of an effort... even lesser of a thought. they have a quality of... je ne sais quoi... lingering on.

engineering:

was reminiscing about some old engg days with this friend... didn't even know her then, but yeah she's been through the same rigmarole as i. we discussed how univ oral exams were tougher than written ones. we used to dread vivas; i mean these guys were outright brutal! bear with me as i paint this picture of nostalgia. we cud be asked anything... & "anything" included the following question:

"yeh panvel hai, yahaan se 5 km door ek gaon mein ramlal naam ka ek aadmi rehta hai... jiski teen gaay (cows) hain... us mein se doosri gaay ne apne bacchhde ko aaj doodh nahin diya......
...........
...........
kyon ?"

HAHAHHAHAHAHAHHAA... gotta luv old friends, & the senseless conversations you can have with them. good times, good times...

quick quips:

* on being asked by a friend why i didn't plan to visit home when out of a job for 3.5 months:
"i plan to become a free lance bawarchi... u have no idea how passionate i am abt it. i luv the cooking... but it's the chef's cap mostly."

* on being asked by a co-worker if i was lucky & would win lots of money in vegas:
"ppl talk abt being lucky in luv, or lucky in gambling… i'm not so picky in this matter. good luck in ANY kind or form will do… even if it’s something inane like always being able to guess what the cafeteria's serving before hand. this way i know whether we should bother heading to the café or just plain go out to subway. i can hear their praises now, “you’re right again Tushar! "u da man, Tushar!” aaaah... fans. voila! i'm the hero... and ofcourse, a hero that’s eating good food."

P.S. she doesn't talk to me much now... LOL!

* on hearing this wannabe acquaintance complain endlessly about how much kooler she was than other "lame" indians:
me: "hey, is this spelling of baccalaureate correct?" (honestly, this was unintentional!)
her, proudly: "no! it goes 'B-A-C-H-E-L-O-R-E-T-T-E' ."

lifer:

yeah, that's a term i use for ppl i've had around for a lifetime... yeaaaaaaars can go by without a single word being exchanged, yet the conversations flow as smoothly as ever:

-- begin conversation, after 3 years of "ssup, all kool?" exchanges --
============================================================

frnd: say, tush, do you like india more or the US?
frnd: i mean with you living here or there
me: its a tough question dude
me: here thr is a lot of work appreciation, u know?
me: life is more comfy in bombay without a doubt, but then you spend 70% of ur life at work
frnd: that's true man
frnd: hmm, so US is better professionally and home's better personally, then?
me: in a nutshell, yeah

-- end conversation --
=======================

it's ironic how weeks go by slowly, while life passes you by so fast. yet some things stick around... like conversations ;)

"Bye Bye NRI"

This is a funny,yet true, article I came across in "Times of India" by Chidanand Rajghatta.

"It’s all over for the NRIs, folks; long live the RNIs! If you are not familiar with the latter acronym, better get up to speed, because it could apply to you. It stands for Resident Non-Indians, a term manufactured by the now deposed and embittered NRIs to describe those they say are residents of India only in name, but who don’t show the slightest sign of being Indian — which to nostalgia-stricken NRIs means listening to Mohd Rafi and Lata Mangeshkar of circa 1970 while driving to work on the Beltway; not the Bollywood Rap the RNI types are soaking up while stuck in traffic jams in India.

The tidings about the demise of the NRI cachet and the rise of the RNI legend was brought recently to America, the largest hangout for NRIs, by a crestfallen member of the long-hyped tribe. He had returned from India rather shell-shocked. It’s not just that the dollar had sunk below Rs 40 and touts at Taj Mahal were using greenbacks to blow their kids’ noses, he sniffed; it was the way he was treated at home.

When he sat down for breakfast expecting to be served pohua and idli, he was fed Post’s Banana Nut Crunch. Olive oil had replaced asli ghee in the making of parathas. When they went out to dinner — Tex-Mex, no less — friends whipped out their wallets faster than Clint Eastwood drew his six-shooter in For a Few Dollars More, and didn’t allow him to pay. His Amex card returned to the US unmolested.

There’s just no respect anymore for NRIs, he moaned. What happened to the good old days when nephews and nieces begged him for Levi’s and Nikes, for Chanel No 1 and Poison? Why, as recently as a couple of years ago, snotty little brats were pleading with him for playstations and iPods.

But now all these were available in India, as were the latest laptops and cellphones. Having gone from Non-Returning Indian to a Non-Resident Indian, he had now been demoted to Not Required Indian.

So, here’s the scoop. Apparently, our bharat mahaan is rolling in so much lolly, and such is the attention being lavished on it by the world, that NRIs are being told to take their depreciating dollar and dafa ho jao. Dirhams and euros are still okay, but the dollar is definitely in the doghouse. Heck, even the Taj — the hotel, not the monument — is reportedly telling folks they would rather be paid in pesos.

People, it’s Pox Americana time, and the American NRI is bearing the brunt.

As a long-suffering itinerant who straddles the world of NRIs, RNIs, IRNs etc, i can attest to the hardship the poor NRI is going through with my $0.02 of insight, the equivalent naya paisa being too unaffordable. It’s a terrible chore these days to shop in the US for the family in India. For one, there is hardly anything that is ‘Made in USA’; and what is available is already outdated in India.

The horrible moment of truth laughed me in the face when i handed out a nice T-shirt i had bought for a brat, only to be thanked with "Chee! It’s Made-in-Bangladesh." The sneakers, it turned out, were made in Thailand, and the baseball cap in Vietnam. The nadir came when the gang espied my cellphone, a model that was apparently discarded in India in the 20th century.

So, where does that leave the NRI? Word is that they are pressing for a change in nomenclature. They’d now like to be known as INRs — Indian Non-Residents."

chai/coffee

yes, it's been 6 months since i last updated this... and i know my fans are quite upset... all 4 of them. this one goes out to you guys! :P

so here's this favorite-topic-turned-pet-peeve of mine. coffee shops in bombay... they're everywhere... EVV-AAARI-WHERE! that's not the problem though. it's the fact that they aren't really coffee shops... not like starbucks, where you'd go to converse, read a book, do your hw... or write something :) ....they're flames for wannabe-moths, who have enough money to splurge.

given 3 months in bombay, i had the opportunity to spend some quality time in these coffee shops... talking to my ppl, trying to know them better... dare i say, impress a girl on a date?! :D baristas, ccds, cafe mochas... all of them are pretty kool. they've managed to instill the coffee-culture in a predominantly tea-drinking nation... impressive.

now, am all for loud discotheques and pubs, but coffee shops are where you go to talk man... hold conversations. well, in most cities anyway.... not in good ol' bombay though! these places were really rough; could barely hear each other over the cacophony of people jabberin away. the young-adults were bad... n the adults? worse! hehehehheehe besides, the coffee, was avg at best. and why the hell don't they serve no good chai man?! CHAI! i wanna see gooooooood chai there!

a total let-down was cafe mocha though. sittin in their bandra outlet with paul, discussing h1s and our bangalore/goa escapades, we found it really funny that all people there did was either make-out on the couch, or have hookah. ok fyi, i HATE the hookah fad... i mean, if you luv it, more power to you. but i detest it... i mean how stupid do you have to be, to be a "non-smoker" n "smoke" a hookah? but that's how fads work....heheehehhe! wat's next? teenage girls in spaghetti-tops smoking beedis? or better yet, spittin paan inside the restaurant. heyy! c'mon now! it's the "KOOL" thing to do, right?.... riiiiiiiiiiiiiiight! i dunno man; am as much a youngster as the next pre-teen that hates the world... but seeing people making out next to me in the middle of the afternoon, in the midst of hookah-smoke, just ain't my idea of a good time.

my favorite coffee-shop in bombay is undoubtedly "prithvi cafe"... the age-old, out-door venue run by prithvi theater. the ambience is to die for and you can see the who's-who of the theater/tv world there... it's just teeming with talent... real talent. they serve some super snacks there. AND, they serve the best chai ever (yeah, yeah i know, its famous for the irish coffee thing... still!). during the best date of our lives (yes, i cross-checked with her), dips & i ordered some food along with the aforementioned, infamous hot beverages. for the 2nd evening in a row,

the waiter said: "sir, that isn't available".
me: "no problem, get item 2"
waiter: "sir, that isn't available either"
me, jokingly: "did you guys know i was stopping by, & decide to NOT make all that i ordered?"
dips: "so what's the matter? what all do you have?"
waiter, smiling wryly (and no, i'm not exaggerating): "actually we're closing down......"
us: "OH!"
me: "are you'll renovating? or is something else coming up here?"
waiter: "sir, they're opening up a cafe mocha here"
us: "............................................"

so that's that. prithvi's gone, and it's gonna be replaced by a hookah-joint also known as make-out central... ladies and gentlemen.... cafe mocha. (knowing prithvi theater, they'll prolly control that... it's still annoying though :) )

"coffees and conversations"...? nahhhhh! gimme "chai and gupshup" anytime!