Jhalak Dhikla Ja

These days my wife is not requesting (in fact ordering ;-)) me to change the TV channel and switch it to saas-bahu serials. She has started watching "Jhalak Dikla Ja", "Dance India Dance", "Mummy Ke Super Star" and "Comedy Circus". Thanks to these reality shows. Now I don't have to watch vamp serials because there is plethora of reality shows which is not only a full time pass but also they can be watched from any episode. I don't have to be aware of the whole history.

When I come back from office, instead of telling me the sad stories of Saas-bahu serials (though I am not at all interested in those bitching stories, I could never acknowledge this fact :-(), my wife now keeps talking about her favorite Celebes dancing on the stage, kids singing with their mothers and three generations dancing together.

These days’ reality shows have become prominent on TV channels than any other show. Whether it is Star, Sony or Zee, all are showing dance, comedy or singing reality shows. Jhalak Dikhla Ja is one among them airing on Sony. Celebrities who are relatively free these days get a chance to dance in this show accompanied by one choreographer. Ram Kapoor, Mohinder Amarnath, Anand Raj Anand, Ugesh Sarkar, Baichung Bhutia and Karan Singh Grover taking on gentleman's stride. At the same time Monika Bedi, Parul Chauhan, Hard Kaur, Shilpa Shukla and Gauhar Khan sets fire on the stage by their thumkas.

Ram Kapoor, a television actor and best known for his role as Jai Walia, is one of the most fun loving people in the Jhalak house. Mohinder Amarnath, a legendary Indian Cricketer, used to dance so well considering his age that Saroj Khan used to say, "Main aap pe fida hun". On the other side, The hot babes Gohar Khan, seems to be Juhi's favourite, has got "marks ka guldasta" many time for her good dance performance. Hard Kaur is proving herself as a great dancer apart from being a good a rap singer.

Participants perform and appeal audience to vote. Everyone says that viewers are the ultimate judges, but when a good performer goes out, judges blame public to be biased. One of them says, "kya ho gaya hai public ko". Don't you know public goes by sentiments? One thing I don't understand, "Public voting ko mante nahi ho, to vote mangte kyon ho". If you don't trust junta, then don't leave it completely on to public. On the contrary, in Jhalak Dikhla Ja, after voting results, last two candidates go in dance off. and again after the performance of the two, judges decide who should go out. In this way, they respect public decision as well.

All in all, Jhalak Dikhla Ja is a good entertaining time pass reality show. Three seasons have already been successfully completed and the fourth one is now on its full pace. Let's see who wins this time..

Eklavya - The Royal Guard..

After Munna Bhai MBBS, Parinitha and Lage Raho Munna Bhai Vidhu Vinod Chopra has come up with another new concept 'Eklavya - The Royal Guard'. Eklavya is a multi starer movie in which Amitabh Bachan has outperformed everyone else by his impeccable acting. Saif Ali Khan (Harsh), Vidya Balan (Rajjo),Voman Irani (King), Sharmila Tagore(queen),Jaikie Shraf(Jyoti, King's brother), Jimi Shergil(Udaya, Jyoti's son) are the other gems of the movie. All of them played their role wonderfully.

Movie doesn't have regular plot where it revolves around Hero and heroine of the movie. It's a story of Eklavya and other characters are knitted around him. Amitabh Bachan has overshadowed evryone by his flawless acting. Over the years Amithabh Bachan has become sailer of the boat.

Best part of this movie is length of the movie. Movie is only for 1Hr 50min. Only acting based movies can't make people glue to the chair for long and Director has taken care this fact very well.

Beauty in real meaning..

It's 7:15PM and raining heavily. Mumbai is famous for its unpredictable rain. Snigdha is still waiting for bus. Next bus to Andheri is at 7:30PM. She waits for the bus at the same bus stop daily. Snigdha is a very simple girl. She doesn't have a fair complexion, but I don't know what attracts me towards her. I think it's because of her pure heart.

I saw her first a few months ago when I was waiting for a bus at the bus stop. I saw her helping an old lady getting into the bus. I thought it might be her aunt. But later came to know that she didn't even know the old lady she was helping to. I was very ebullient by the thought that a little bit of humility is still left in these fast paced Mumbaikars. I approached her to appreciate her efforts for the lady. She first gave me a glance as if I was an idiot, but then she realized I was also a gentle soul..;) From that day onwards I meet her daily at the bus stop and have a chat while traveling back to home.

Snigdha is an average looking girl. Physical beauty doesn't impress me much. It's her inner beauty which really compels me to meet her. I may sound as if I am trying to be too modest, but it's true.. Physical beauty can impress you in short run, but in longer run inner beauty is what matters. When I talk to her for few minutes, my fatigue evaporates and I feel rejuvenated. She listens to me very carefully and corrects me wherever I go wrong. She gives me energy to take up new challenges. She can not hurt anyone..In real meaning, she is a nice person..She is a blend of traditional and modern values. She doesn't hold herself back for the sake of some trite traditions. She doesn't follow them blindly. She uses her wit to judge the situation and then she reacts.

Sometimes I feel she is an angel who knows nothing about malign thoughts, cheating, betrayal.. At times she surprises me when she suggests to me to be careful from this cruel society, where people just wait for a chance to take advantage on you.. I wish her to be the same nice person even in adverse situations...

A trip with our gang..

It was 4:00AM and none of us was feeling sleepy. We were driving from Singapore to Kuantan.. Adi, behind the wheel, was crazy for driving, that's why we decided to drive all the way to Kuantan instead of taking a cheap flight.. Sana, Adi's Girl friend, was busy in capturing every moment of the trip by her tiny-miny, but hi-fi camera.. We were stopping after every mile to capture a scenic view from the road side.. Aman and Swati, a sweet couple and our friends, were posing like budding love birds.. I was in the front seat with magnifying glass scanning through the route map and was acting as a navigator..Through out our trip, we were enjoying songs on the DVD player and by our budding talents in the car..We took a break at Kota Tinggi, a famous water fall on the way to Kuantan. We fuelled our body with some food and started for Kuantan.

We reached Kuantan around 3PM. We had a booking in Hyatt Regency on the beach side. We kept our luggage in sea-facing room and ran towards the restaurant in the hotel, as we were all very hungry. We enjoyed delicious food served to us. Hotel staff was very friendly..While finishing up food, it was already evening..We decided to set bonfire on the beach and play antaksihiri. We did all the preparation for the evening and started our game.. While we were all busy having fun, someone sitting very close to water caught my attention..I excused myself from the group and went a little closer to the person..I was amazed by what I saw.. A very beautiful girl, wearing white dress, was sitting on the beach.. I mustered courage and went little more closer the girl.. Now I was totally flat by her beauty.. She was very beautiful. Pearl shell necklace was adding charm to her charismatic beauty.. Her gleaming eyes were like twinkling starts in the sky. I had never seen an angle. But if angels do exist, it should be like her. I was so impressed by her beauty that I couldn't resist myself going close to her. To start conversation, I asked her name. Hearing my question she gave me a glance as if her parents never christened her. A moment later she replied, "Sheen". I wanted to ask her what she was doing there, but a thought of intruding other's life stopped me from asking this. But later, during our conversation, she told me that she lived nearby. I wanted to live every moment of that evening. Around mid-night she decided to leave with a promise to meet next morning again.. I helplessly said her good bye and was watching her image going away from me. That night I couldn't stop myself thinking about her and admiring her beauty.. She left an impression on my heart. I didn't know what to call it. Was it love at first sight.. But I didn't believe in love at first site. Juggling with the thoughts I slept very late.

Next morning, Aman asked me to get ready to start our journey back to Singapore. But I was peeping out of window from my sea-facing room. My eyes were looking for Sheen.. But there was no trace of that lovely girl. With heavy heart, I got ready to go back. Till this time I haven't told anybody about that girl. During our journey back I was very sad. Everybody kept asking me the reason..When their questions became un-resistible, I told them the whole story of that girl..And inquired if they also had seen her last night. But none of them said yes.. Then I realized that it was my imagination in which I had a nice time..But it was a lovely imagination. I am still looking for girl of my imagination. Sooner or later will find her.. Or who knows I have already found her..

A trip in cab..

Unlike Singapore's normal weather, it was a cool day. Serenity pervaded everywhere. I stay very near to the airport (to welcome everyone, whoever comes to Singapore ;)) I had to go to my friend's place to attend a get-together. After a long wait for the bus I decide d to take a cab. It was not very economical to take a cab to reach the other end of Singapore, but lack of time compelled me to take this costly transport , provided by the government to rob people.

Sitting in the back , I was constantly peeping in the front to check the meter. I was very sure that it was tampered by the cab driver. In the mean time , the driver, who was a Malay-Singaporean, asked me," Are you an Indian?" I proudly said," Yes, I am". He asked me about my profession. He kept asking questions about India and Indian people and I kept replying proudly. Then he started the topic of Bollywood movies. He was a great admirer of Indian movies. I was happy to hear from him that Indian girls are more beautiful than western girls. He sung a few songs for me. He had been watching Hindi movies since he was 15 years of age.

He said if luck permits and there is peace, he would like to take his wife to Kashmir, the valley of love. He started praising Kashmir. He had seen it only in movies. But his description of Kashmir was very captivating . In the mean time I had reached my destination.

I wished him luck for his future trip to Kashmir and got out of the cab.

Now I was only thinking of Kashmir. We have such a wonderful tourist place in India, but because of terrorism no one dares to visit it . Probably this diver's luck would bring peace to the valley. God please help him to fulfill his wish and bring peace to the valley.

False Impression,,

I am a great admirer of Jeffrey Archer. I have read number of novels written by him. 'Not a penny more, not a penny less', 'Kane and Abel', 'Prodigal daughter' and 'False impression' to name a few. In my opinion 'Not a penny more, not a penny less' is one of his finest piece of work. I like this novel so much that I have read it twice. Whole plot of this novel revolves around 4-5 persons who try to take back their money by a person who cheated them all.

Latest novel I have read is 'false Impression'. This is based on a murder of Victoria Wentworth, owner of Van Gogh painting. She is heir of an estate and debt of her father. Her father had taken some loan from Fenston Bank. Father dies leaving all his debt on Victoria. Unable to return money Fenston decides to acquire the Van Gogh painting. But suddenly she is killed. Police starts investigation.

Now several incidents are happening around. Anna, working in Fenston's office in WTC tower was sacked on 11th sept because she had suggested a way to Victoria to save her estate. Anna somehow managed to escape from 9/11 twin tower collapse.

Anna wanted to help Victoria in saving her estate and Van Gogh painting. She decided not to allow Fenston to succeed in his ill will. She had got a Japanese buyer, Nakamura to buy Van Gogh at 50 million dollars. This will pay down her debt and interest. By the time she contacts Victoria, Van Gogh had been dispatched from Wentworth to its destination, Fenston Bank. She some how managed to get hold of it and take it to Japan via her home land where she meets her friend. Hes friend is a good painter. He paints another replica of Van Gogh. Anna was being chased by two stalkers, a police man and an athlete turned to a killer. She manages to escape from all the adversities and returns original Van Gogh in it's owner's hands.

Novel ends with disclosure of the whole mystery of murder of Victoria.

Currently I am reading another novel of Jeffrey Archer, 'First Among Equals'.

We Indians - Aise hi hain hum,,

I was constantly peeping in my monitor like an umpire standing in the cricket ground. One of my colleagues came and asked why I was so late in office on Friday. His words were piercing in my eardrum. With full of frustration I turned around and stared him for a while. After scrutinizing him from top to bottom I replied with heavy voice,"Yaar, I have some work to finish". He informed me that he was going to "Bottles and Chimney", one of the most happening pub in town. To add fuel to the fire he invited me to join him knowing the fact that I would not be able to join him. I wanted to kill that guy, but thought of consequences held me back tightly.

After cursing him I sat back in my chair and tried to resume my work. But one thought was constantly nagging me,"What am I doing at 10:00PM in office on Friday?". It was not the first time I was slogging in office. I was sitting in office to complete my task I had earlier promised to deliver on Monday. But now to cater my manager's request to deliver it on Friday I was sitting all alone in the office like a watchman of old haveli.

I was in that situation because of my not-to-say-no habit. This habit is prevalent among most of the Indians. We Indians are very flexible. We bend ourselves so much that anybody can kick our ass. Jokes apart. We work hard. There is no harm doing that. But hard work should be within office timings. Most of us work hard even after that. Initially when we are unmarried we stay late in office because we have nothing to do back at home. This becomes a habit. After marriage when you try to steel time from old wife (office) for your new wife , problems start here. Boss doesn't approve you going home early (at 7:00PM). He feels you are no longer working hard and not performing all your jobs well. It is all because he has an habit to see you in office in late hours. If boss asks us to finish a job before time, we never say no. Instead we stretch ourself to make it to possible. This is how we people are.;)

Unlike this, in western countries people are very straight forward. They work 9-6 and go home. They enjoy personal life too (I am not sure, but at least leave office on time). If they feel things can't be done in given time, they don't hesitate saying no on the face of their manager.

I was completely lost in thoughts of all this. Suddenly my mobile rang. It was my friend Suresh who was waiting for me to join him for clubbing. Immediately I logged off my PC and left office to enjoy my Friday.