My name is Khan .... and u deserve it

There have been very few movies (especially Hindi) which have touched me enough to make me cry and "My name is Khan" is one of them. A movie with such a simple message "There are only 2 kinds of people in the world - Good or Bad" and a message not drilled into ur head by long speeches but by the adorable characterization of Rizwan Khan is simply amazing.
This movie also has a great similarity with the latest Marathi movie doing the film festival rounds "Harishchandrachi Factory" -- the similarity of Determination. In HF Dadasaheb Falke the first indian filmaker (Raja HArishchandra) a man of modest means is determined to make a movie,so strong ins the determination that he is undaunted by the fact that it requires 10,000 Rs just to travel to London to understand the art (in 1924 10,000 was equivalent to todays 3 lakhs) and more importantly undettered by the fact that his wife is expecting. Similarly in MNIK Rizwan dreams of speaking to the President irrespective of the odds. We may discount this as "it happens in movies" or actually learn that NO Dream is impossible provided we have the passion to pursue.
I have often heard from my friends that they want to start a business however not without quitiing what they have or maybe in 10 yrs "when they have money" or when they are a "bit stable". After watching both these movies i guess the real thing lacking is not money or stability but the passion and the readiness to bear the brunt which this passion brings.
For all those of you who have been holding back for a "muhurat" to start ur business or take the dace class or hit the gym --- go watch MNIK and HF --- maybe u will get inspired and it would ignite your passion!!!

BTW - after watching MNIK i believe

1. Shiv Sena must be made to watch the movie and they would clearly have no justification for the "Goondagiri" then
2. There were a lot of claims that Shahrukh did a publicity stunt at the airport recently and that his engagement with Shiv Sena is also to garner support -- MNIK doesnt need this cheap publicity.

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I closed my Facebook Account Today

I logged out of Facebook today for the last time -- I am off the "lay my life bare" phenomenon. Some people may gasp and consider this brash in the world of today which is all about being connected and others may feel my white hair are getting to my brains.
Let me clarify this is not a symbolic gesture or a launch against Social N/w in any manner. I simply didnt feel it was adding in any utility to my life and in fact it was getting a bit irritating. Here is an example - One of my friends recently commented that he intends to come back to India after 10 years in USA. Great!!! By the way this "Friend" is someone i havent spoken to in those 10 years and not because international calls were costly. Anyway good to know via Facebook that he is back, but then the continuous messages of all comments posted to this message were on my facebook from people i dont know!!!
When i open my Facebook page I have peoples horoscopes and photo's of completely unrelated people whom someone from my friend list may have commented. I also have zillion update on what stage and heroics my friends have completed in Mafia wars and Farmville -- though most of them would give a thousand reasons for not going for a drive to the countryside on a weekend ;-)
But the most imp reason for switching off was UTILITY. We all lead a busy life in real world and several new web tools have made life interesting. There are RSS feed readers which makes keeping track of news easier, various Firefox widgets which make browsing/ blogging easier but what has been the benefit of Facebook to me in the past 1 year? 
Reconnecting with old friends - well yes i did find some of my old school colleagues on Facebook - we said hi, how are u ?, exchanged nos. but thats it -- after that its back to Mafia wars and horoscope updates.
Making New Friends - The supposed utility of meeting new people and supporting new groups again didnt work for me and i think there are enough opportunities in real life to meet people.... not choosing who "seems" interesting based on "profile" but simply interacting and let the chemistry decide if u click. Anyways u never know if the Profile is what it says and people who would consider acquaintances on internet as "Friends" are unlikely to be my type anyways - Friendship is much more than being neighbors in Farmville.
Being part of groups - Havent been much successful here --more sucessful going to Mocha Cafe and be a part of the film club or joining a trekking group , going paragliding.
Being in touch with distant friends economically - Well with the international call rates being what they are i guess the monthly Broadband connection costs more than making an occassional call to the distant friends and then there is always Skype, Gchat etc -- well if u really want to be in tocuh that is.
Great games -- Duh!!!

The only utility i see is to stay in touch with my Fans -- that is if i were SRK and people would actually pay me to write blogs so that ad revenue monetization can happen (comeon u dont beleive that Celebrities actually write on blog themselves do u?)

So in this year of the Tiger (in Chinese new year) i take this leap to touch base with the real world and bid adieu to the virtual one atleast for some time till a great app comes along.

Gong Hei Fat Choi
(Happy new year in Cantonese)

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Some improvement at Mumbai Airport

It was a pleasant surprise that finally someone figured out the futility of the Swine Flu declaration form at Mumbai international airport. For the uninitiated whenever u land from an international flight there was a req to fill in a Swine Flu declaration form which asks various questions to determine if u could potentially have swine flu. You then get the form stamped from a medical officer at the airport before u can move out of immigration.
Brilliant prevention measure but the issue being that most of the times the MO stamped your form even without looking at you in the rush effectively defeating the purpose and only adding to the chaos in the small space.
However when i landed last night it was a relief that they finally have automated monitors for you to simply pass thru - No forms,no hindarance -- smooth passage.These monitors were first installed in (where else) - Singapore airport about a year back i guess and while late ultimately they have reached India.

BTW this sense of relief on smooth passage was short lived since as soon as u come out getting a pre-paid cab is a chaos in itself but thats for another time and blog

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