Feedback time!

Okay...its officially been 2 weeks since I blogged last. And if I'm to keep up my 200 blogs for next year, I shud've posted 6 more so far...and I know I'm behind schedule. But actually, I have been working on some. Only I thought I should get my blog layout right first.

A couple of you told me that my blog is not very reader-friendly...coz of the black background and the font and all that. However, I think the template itself is soooooo me...I couldnt change it. So, I played with a coupla fonts and sizes and bugged a friend to help me with the CSS and...VOILA!...herez the "new and improved" I at my lone roof! However, I'm still not sure if this is any more readable. I read somewhere that a yellowish font color is easier to read over a black background. You be the judge of that. Also, I wud prefer to go with a sans-serif font...something taht is neither too serious nor too close to 'Comic Sans MS', coz my posts could swing either way and be anywhere in between. So all my design and techie friends...plz gimme advice!! For once, I am willing to not be condescending and listen! :D

Rocket Singh ROXXXXXXXXX!

When was the last time you came out of a multiplex feeling AWESOME, with a silly grin or atleast a wide smile on your face, feeling completely satisfied with the 200 bucks you shelled out?

It happened to me today...and its a really nice feeling that I've had rarely and it keeps getting rarer and rarer (With the exceptions of Wake Up Sid, Ice Age 3, Taare Zameen Par and BOMMARILLU before that!) I miss it. Everytime I come out, I feel pretty disgusted at the 100/200 that has gone down the drain and I really resent the multiplex culture that seems to propagate mediocrity. I mean, the multiplexes are supposedly here to give space to 'new' cinema, but I've mostly seen practically empty theatres playing crappy to so-so movies whose entertainment value ranges from severe headaches to half-hearted laughs. They hardly make you think, they are nowhere close to the movie-goer's reality and WORST OF ALL, they insult the audience's intelligence.

So when a movie comes out that is good, it becomes one's duty to praise it to high heavens!! I already have serious regrets that I did not do that for WAKE UP SID on my blog (It was like a second Bommarillu for me...those of you who know what that means!)

So this movie...I kinda liked the way it started...the quaint old-homey-images-from-childhood-simple-homes kinda pictures they showed while the titles appeared, the regular oooooooh-thatz-what-my-home-looks-like-too setting and the everyday guy who has a tiff with his rich-fart friend.....things that we all can relate to. I am not going to give away the plot or even a bit of the story. I'd really like you all to watch it, coz it really is worth it. I'm not giving a rating of 10/10 like for WAKE UP SID of course...coz therez not many drool-worthy guys who make you come out grinning like a maniac from the theatre, but there definitely is something. Its different, its honest and its got a solid, realistic message...AND, its a must- watch for the young corporate employee. It covers everything...even how women are sometimes treated in the still-mostly-male-dominated corporate world, esply at office parties. The best part is that its all done quite sublty, simply and yet the message comes thru strong and clear!

Now that thatz all said, I will admit that I'm beginning to have a HUUUUUUUUUUUUGE crush on Ranbir after this. 2 good movies in a span of 3 months...I'm definitely impressed :D And now, I must ROCKET off to sleep and dream about Sid(du)!

The noseman broke my home!

Today is a very sad day...for me and prolly for 5 crore others from AP. The other 5 must be jubiliant with joy. Facebook was filled with heated messages and even more provocative comments that could never end...that could never hope to lead to any meaningful conclusion. Twitter was a-twitter with excited emotions...anger, sadness, nostalgia, sarcasm, malice..
Even in Maharashtra, office canteens were abuzz with discussions and almost everywhere one heard "Telangana, KCR, Chandrababu Naidu" as they passed groups of students and techies on furiously venting out their emotions on street corners.

In all this chaos, my sentamentality has to make place for itself.

I have been hearing about the Telangana issue vaguely for about 5 to 6 yrs...but never really being one to care much about anything outside of my immediate circle, i hardly paid any attention. The extent of the matter was my loyalty to my 'hometown', Vizag being pitched against the superiority of a metropolitan Hyderabad in friendly banter with friends. I'm sure that if the state had split at that time, I wouldn't have minded as much. But then...it happened...I moved to Hyderabad...went to this amazing place to get an education (which will now be foreign, somehow) and the issue of Telangana hit closer home. I couldnt understand the language very well...which, in name is the same as my mother tongue. I had pretty much the same language problems as most of my northern friends...and worse, I was expected to help THEM out! As for the city itself, I resisted...I balked at the people...I might have scoffed at their customs...and even at the weather and terrain. But it grew on me, seduced me and completely won me over. I began to LOVE the language and its colour and its texture...preferred that over the 'properness' of my mother tongue. The people too became less strange and sometimes very dear...occasionally frustrating, of course! But I had loads of help falling in love with the city and with its unique blend of cultures...from my University and from my friends, who made it a home for me.

And now, of course, I've been pining for that home while the first got lost in time and memories. And to learn of this beloved city being pulled asunder in a tug-of-power war by NOSEY meddlesome individuals, it just breaks my heart.

To give the issue its due consideration, the agitation has been going on ever since Andhra itself was formed. The relatively ill-irrigated and resourceless area was neglected. The issue of caste also seems to creep in...somehow the region becomes a symbol of the downtrodden. Only, Telangana is also known for its Reddys. Even if/once the region becomes independent, the powerful Reddys of Telangana are not going to change and needless to say, not going to disappear. As for the proper allocation of resources, the moment-to-moment party-shifting antics of the Telangana hero from a few months ago dont inspire much confidence. Worse, the original fear of the 'Andhrites' regarding the Krishna and Godavari waters being held up might come true. And yes, that is exactly what we need right now...a role-reversal. That is going to help calm down the raging fires byutifully. And naturally, none of the benefits of the new statehood will trickle down to the self-immolating farmers anytimes soon, if at all. The only probable change would be even higher taxes until the resourceless state finds ways to generate revenue. I'm pretty sure the average farmer doesnt care if his postal address reads 'ANDHRA' or 'TELANGANA' coz he cant read anyway...he just wishes his son could read the alphabet.

As for the avg. andhrite...(i donno if i fall into the category), but I care! I care coz I dont want what happened with India and Pakistan to repeat and a bloody fued of hate to sear the borders. And even more important, since I must identify myself with 'Andhra', I hope that if/when Telangana crystallizes, the actual purpose of it is fulfilled and the benefits do trickle down to those who matter. If it MUST happen, let it be not to create yet another seat of power for morons to misuse, but for the layman's life to be less of a burden to him. I know this is an overly optimistic hope, but if all this pain of half a million people goes in vain, there would be no bigger tragedy. And my city...I will have to make an extra effort to not let it become too alien even as it changes, holding on to the memories that have made it my own....oh yea, and having hyderabadi biryani as much as possible...(even more so now!)

My LIST!

Its almost been a year since I started this blog...and I've hardly written a handful...and I donno about you guys, but I thoroughly enjoyed writing and even re-reading my stuff :D (even the ones I was asked to remove :P:P:P)

I guess I'm just writing again today after such a long break coz I'm yet again trying to start something...and i absolutely have to write everyday...I JUST HAVE TO!! except maybe weekends..u know...it'll be like work...only funner!

For today, since I'm wayyyyyy behind my schedule as usual...I'm just gonna put down a few things I wud really really like to cross off my list next year :D Please feel free to add/share ur list.

But before we get to that, have u ever thot of how much fun it is cross somethign off ur list? I actually LOVE making tons of lists and the fun part is crossing things off them...esply with a bright red marker...i have loadsa lists...mostly things to do, but also, books to read, movies to watch, things to find out, things to look up...apparently I remind my friends of the guy from Dasvidania...which I am yet to watch..and its on my list..hehe..well..newayz, herez my list: