All those raving about 'Slumdog Millionaire' and how beautifully it has depicted Muslim-life, kindly do yourselves a favour and watch 'Salim Langde Pe Matt Ro'.

By now every blogger worth his salt would have written about the despicable Mangalore pub incident. I have no intentions of joining the bandwagon. What I shall blog about, is an incident that occured around three years back.

Kalwa station is surrounded by slums on the eastern side. Me and a female friend of mine bought cigarettes from a paan-shop nearby and were happily smoking. In a couple of minutes, a few youngsters walked towards us and asked in a high-handed tone, "Idhar kya kar rahe ho?" Before we could reply, a middle-aged woman came and turning towards my friend asked, "Yeh kya kar rahi tu?" Our obvious "Cigarette pi rahe hain" reply seemed to have got their goats. The woman then proceeded to shout at us about how my friend was spoiling the people around her by smoking. One of her statements is still stuck in my mind, "Tujhe dekh ke bachhe bhi cigarette piyenge." With me in no mood to relent, the argument seemed all set to turn nasty. Sensing my anger, my friend threw away her cigarette in disgust and suggested that we walk away. And thats what we did.

Movies added

Ardh Satya
Arth
Prahaar
Pushpak
Mother India
A Wednesday
Salim Langde Pe Matt Ro

How many batsmen in the history of Test cricket had a mind as uncluttered as Virender Sehwag? Among those I have seen bat, only two names spring to mind: Viv Richards and Adam Gilchrist.
Take a bow, Viru. You are a GENIUS.

An Unsung Hero

ASI Tukaram Omble

You are the reason why we have managed to unearth the Bombay terror plot. I can do nothing but salute your bravery.

http://www.dnaindia.com/report.asp?newsid=1210635

Over the past few days, I have heard quite a few people criticize (almost ridicule) Hemant Karkare, Vijay Salaskar and Ashok Kamte for being 'stupid' enough to travel in the same vehicle during the Bombay terror attacks.

Its oh-so-fucking easy to say this. Hindsight is always 20/20. In a situation, like the one that was panning out, were they supposed to wait till 3 vehicles would escort them, one by one? Was ASI Tukaram Omble 'stupid' as well, when he chased down the terrorists on his bike and then grappled with one of them, fully knowing that the terrorist had an AK-47 in hand?

And for all those who are claiming that the 'elites' are displaying double-standards with their Gateway March, when all this while they never paid attention when the 'aam aadmi' died in train blasts, I have just one question to ask: Who the fuck stopped you from organizing these protest marches back then?

The anguish on her face was too much for him to bear. He did something, he had never done before. He handed over a 10-rupee note to her. She looked at it and cried. He patted her on the back as she went away. He wiped off a tiny tear-drop before strangers on the street could catch a glimpse. And yet, there was an emptiness within him.

WTF Quotes

VS Achutanandan - "If it had not been (Major) Sandeep's house, not even a dog would have glanced that way."
A-chutiya-nandan!

Shivraj Patil - "Before I could reach there, the terrorists who had attacked one of the hospitals, the Cama Hospital, had left and those who attacked the railway station had also left."
Did you expect them to wait and bomb your ass off? Actually, that would have been much better.

Vilasrao Deshmukh - "The state had not got any specific intelligence reports warning about the terror attack."
To, Mr. Vilasrao.
We plan to bomb Hotel Taj Mahal on the 26th of November at 10 pm. Hope to see you there.
Regards,
LeT
Seriously, what is this shit about specific information? Probably, he wanted the terrorists to post an RDX-scented letter to the PMO's office.

RR Patil - "Aisa nahin hai. Itne bade shahar mein chhota hadsa ho jata hai. To total failure nahin hai."
He could have added, "Hey, Senorita" at the start.

Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi - "Some women wearing lipstick and powder have taken to streets in Mumbai and are abusing politicians, thus spreading dissatisfaction against democracy. This is what terrorists are doing in Jammu and Kashmir."
Which world does this joker live in?

The dumbest question ever asked... Barkha Dutt to Shantanu Saikia - "What have you been telling your kids about their mother?" Shantanu broke down on hearing the question and Barkha has the shamelessness to say, "I hope we haven't upset you with these questions."
Yeah, genius!

And I trudged back to work today. Sullen, grim, heavy-hearted, angry, frustrated, helpless. An eerie silence seemed to have engulfed the local train. All around were people with large eyes fixed on newspaper images, probably reminiscing about a Bombay they once knew. A Bombay they can no longer identify. No card-playing, no bhajan-singing, no smiles, no laughter. And then, verbal volleys traded between two people. Evidently, some guy had stepped on the shoes of the other. A fellow passenger quipped, "Ab kya ek doosre ko maaroge?" The voice, firm yet laden with emotion. One of them quickly apologised to the other and all was well again. I guess, these are the best of times and these are the worst of times.

The sheer audacity of the terrorists who attacked Bombay stuns me. Its one thing to surreptitiously leave bombs at crowded places like markets and local trains. But to carry arms and ammunition and open fire on the road is something completely unseen here. It almost feels surreal.

Thankfully, havent heard or read any 'Spirit of Bombay' and such shit today.

And, why oh why do these chutiya news channel reporters/presenters have to shriek on air?

Movies added to my collection:
36 Chowringhee Lane
Jalwa
Maachis
Padosan
Chalti ka Naam Gaadi
Chaudhvin ka Chand
Do Aankhen Barah Haath


Books:
The Motorcycle Diaries by Che Guevara
The Enchantress of Florence by Salman Rushdie

Matty Hayden at it again. This guy can make a career out of foot-in-mouth quotes. Keeping aside the 'political incorrectness' of his 'Third World' comment, its absolutely preposterous and plain stupid to cook up excuses like sightscreens being the reason for his team's slow over-rate. What has he been smoking? Maybe, some 'obnoxious weeds'.

Got my shoes shined at the railway platform for the first time yesterday. I dont think I'll get it done ever again.

Movies added to my collection: Bhumika, Bazaar, Nishant, Ankur, Hare Rama Hare Krishna, Teesri Kasam, Jis Desh Mein Ganga Behti Hai, Do Bigha Zameen and Shatranj Ke Khiladi.

Woe betide the guy who rammed his briefcase onto my ribs. You bastard! (in Kangana Ranaut style)

So long...

http://www.bollywoodhungama.com/movies/fstills/13762/index.html

Just cant stop laughing at that Matrix-like pose. Neo, you've got kampitishan.

Last Saturday, I visited a temple after a long long time. No, I wasnt dragged along. Just that my Mom wanted us all to go together and we duly obliged. Some positives:
1. Quite a few girls with plunging necklines.
2. The smell of camphor and incense sticks.
3. Helped reaffirm my belief in the futility of god.