Facts n Fiction

The new supposedly horror flick from “The Factory” – ‘Darna Zaroori Hai’ should actually have been named ‘Darna Mana Hai’ because there is no component in the movie that frightens you. Yes, there are a few ‘thuds’ and ‘creaks’ that shake up your cushion chair, but that’s all about it. The outcome of each of the story is very much predictable and that negates all possible chances of you getting frightened or horrified. Sound and flashes do some magic though. Of all the stories, only the professor-student incident seems a little good (may be because it’s directed by the man himself – RGV), all others have a scent of insanity or have a high guess value. There is no need to bite your nails or clasp armrest of your chair saying – ‘What next’. RGV has used different directors for each narration so that the episodes look distinct and that there is no repetitiveness. However, the attempt has failed miserably. Over a period when people mature and give something realistic, RGV on the other ha

“Oh no, not again” – is what slipped out of my lips when I saw the news flash about reservations in IIM and IITS. The quota bug has bit the education system again and that too to the elite institutes this time. Logic is simple – elections around the corner, gather our vote banks. The reservation system in education has ever frustrated me, right from my XII grade. My friend and I were waiting at VJTI in 1995 to take a look at the allotment list for the engineering seats. We were quite confident of getting a seat in good college as we had very good marks in XII exams. To our despair, we found our names in the waiting lists, while a boy with 67% (much lower than our marks) smiled away with a seat in one of the reputed engineering college in Mumbai. It felt like a slap on our face and we stared at each other when we discovered that the boy belonged to a reserved category. I had lost hopes of getting an engineering seat after my revelation to this quota system. My marks did fetch me an admi

“Why is this happening to me?”, “What wrong have I done?”, “My life is hell” – we must have heard a lot of people saying this when things seem to go wrong. Yes, life does look miserable at times, especially at times when nothing seems to be working out fine. But it also exposes you to some practical insights. Let these testing times strengthen you enough to fight back the crisis. Motivation, confidence, faith, optimism and so on are among the many things that a person learns during such phases. However, one more revelation that a person has during such times is, about the people around him/her who claim to be the best of friends or strongest support. It is very disheartening when you really want somebody to be there for you and support you and they let you down. Surprisingly, other people who matter but whom you least expect to help, come forward to extend their wholehearted support. And thus, in these really trying times you know who your real friends are. It portrays a clear distinct

Engineering days were bliss, lot of friends, fun, and pranks. However, what overjoyed us the most was bunking classes though very rarely. It indeed was a fun to bunk classes, go to the canteen, sip on a cutting chai and discuss everything from girls, studies, exams to democratic system. The time was constructively idled away. The idea of bunking classes though seems to have changed today. I came across a friend studying management, who got into this habit of bunking classes under the pretext that – “yaar professors are not good and I would better spend my time studying on my own”. I was amazed that a student could judge his professor’s knowledge and intellect. I am saddened to know that my friend does not understand a very basic difference that his professor has earned some degree and has already studied what he is currently studying, may be in much more detail. That that the professor is a professor is itself a testimony to the fact that he is learned/knowledgeable person, worthy enou

Globalization, terrorism and spirituality, possibly the three buzz words for today’s world. Indeed the latter two words have surely globalized and have spread to every corner of this globe. Globalization may surely help people understand each other better as there would be exchange of trades, ideas and hence ideologies. Spirituality also has become important today with the growing stress levels in day-to-day life. Many kinds of relaxation techniques are flourishing today to keep the adrenaline levels under control. However, it is painful to see that some people are still trying to divide people based on religion. Either trying to prove how their religion was suppressed or how is it superior to other religions. Believing in God, chanting prayers and following a religion is fine but having an extremist view about anything is bad. In your pursuit to prove your religion/God as superior, don’t disrespect other religions. Surely, no religion teaches to do this – to discriminate people based

And the award goes to…..this is what typically our new year starts with. Come Jan-Feb and we have newspapers and TV channels flooded with promos for the movie awards. Sansui, Samsung, Videocon and several brands of this kind flock to bollywood to choose their best pick. I learnt in school that ‘best’ was a superlative degree of an adjective, remember we all learned ‘good, better, best’. It always gave me an idea of someone or something being supreme in its own class and hence is called the best. However, this definition becomes void when it comes to movie awards. People (read hosts of these movie award shows) choose what they feel is the best. Screen feels that Rani was best, Filmfare feels Kareena was the best but in such a case is the real meaning of “best” justified. Shouldn’t all of us have a consensus over what is the best? May be not all but most of us. Moreover if each individual authority feels that their choice is the best, then it really makes no sense of having such a big ex

Pet owners in US or Japan have to clean up the place after their pet is with the job on the street. Quite obviously, I am referring to the pet’s poop that needs to be cleaned and that precisely what I mean by job. Will an Indian do it? Well surely it seems like, atleast it will start with Mumbai. A day ago BMC announced a regulation that pet owners will be fined anywhere from Rs.50 to Rs. 500 if their pet dog is found making the place dirty. Makes sense, you are yourself responsible for poop that your pet dog might leave back. Interestingly many dog owners consider dog to be their child and why then would you allow your child to poop on the streets. You would not have made your 4 year son or cute little daughter do so? How the pet owners see that their doggy does not dirty the place is their responsibility. It actually is a good move if seen positively. It ensures clean streets and hence a hygienic environment. Atleast you don’t have to do a cake cutting ceremony when you are rushing t