Michael

Michael Jackson is no more. In this pensive moment for me and millions of his fans , I had to write a few words in tribute to this great,talented artist who had a tragic end. I have soo many fond memories from childhood dancing to his songs and wanted to be a dancer when i grow up. I was pretty much hooked to his Music. Thriller , Dangerous , Bad epitomized my english collection.
I still remember the days when he came to India. Big billboards were on display annoncing his arrival. It was a big moment for India to host a big star like him in those times.
I am saddened by the fact that i forgot my childhood idol.May god give his soul peace.

One of my favourite song of Michael's
Man in the Mirror

Clipmarks

I was wondering why being a computer engineer i have never written much about Internet or computers.
There are tonnes of websites that come up all around us and become overnight sensations. Take for instance twitter. Not a great concept but just see how it took off. I am sure some one else had thought about it , but somehow this took off and other didn't. There must have been some fundamental difference in the thinking that makes X tick and Y fail.
Let's not go into it. I was going to talk about a cool FireFox plugin that i found the other day. I know it's not new , but it was pretty useful. Try it out https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/1407

slumdog millionaire

Once in a while something comes up and makes me come back and write. This time it's the British Indian movie Slumdog Millionaire.

I would have to accept that my first impression of the movie was that it's was pretty good and real , and definitely not a feel good. (Tha't what everyone terming it) The movie shows the slums in Mumbai , children getting blinded for money , police beating up the suspects , riots on the streets of Mumbai, prostitution etc. How can such a movie be feel good.

Oh ,then it stuck me. It's feel good for the people in west to see and realize how lucky they are , that the economic upheavals are nothing compared to the life in slumps of Mumbai or India in general. That's when i get convinced that the director didn't make a movie but actually a real life documentary and it should have been named "Poverty and Crime in India" not Slumdog Millionaire. It has not shied away from showing even a small detail that doesn't show India in bad light. I feel sorry to accept that a lot is not untrue. 

Take for instance the scene at TajMahal. I accept that there is a sewer on the back side of Taj , but couldn't the director have at least avoided adding that into the scene of Taj in the backdrop.

Then there is a classic scene in which a American Couple is duped by the kid and all there Car parts are stolen. In a very American way(as projected by Boyle) they hand that boy a  100 $ bill , pronouncing that's what a normal American would do when cheated. Second half is much better and bollywoodish. 

And I would like people in India to take it as a bitter pill and do something. And for those in west , Mubai is not a slum. The slumps in Mumbai are because Mumbai is the economic capital of india, and people from all parts of india come there for better life. There is a limit to which it can catter to these people and the rest are left to a life in slum. 

Crazy Japan - Part 2 (The Naked Truth)

Scene 1 : I am taking a member ship of a Gym near my home. And I very happy to be doing something at last to stay fit 

Scene 2: Enter the Change room. Everything is normal till now. 

Scene 3: As I am about to enter I thought I had seen a completely naked grown up man just pass across the Changing room door.  It's OK i thought , I must be hallucinating

Scene 4: Now i have entered the hallowed gates of changing room and there is no doubt in my mind of what i had seen few seconds back. There are naked man (without there undergarments) walking across the room as if they are in the confines of there plush bathrooms back home. Drying themselves and talking over phone. 

I think , welcome to Japan and as a matter of fact if you think deep inside , actually there is nothing to hide . Right ? ;-))

Crazy Japan - Part1 (70 year old Hip Hop Dancer)

Not every day you see a 70 year old Hip Hop Dancer and that too a women. Just when I entered my Gym ,normally there will be some yoga or bale dance classes but today I was shocked to see a Hip Hop Dance class . And if that was not enough a very old lady was doing Hip Hop and that too pretty well. I would definitely put this on top of the crazy things I have seen in this country. You could just imagine how funny it was seeing her dancing on " In da Club"...

Charity Run

Today I ran in the Tokyo YMCA charity Run , a total of 10 KM in relay format. There were 6 players in a team and each one of them had to run approx 1.5 each. Frankly I did prepare for it as I had never before taken part in a race. We finished 33rd out of the overall 90 team taking part in it. Almost all teams were sponsored by companies in Tokyo .

I recently developed interest in running. Though I am still of the opinion that it is a very passive and boring sports compared to other like Cricket , football etc . I feel it is essential in my sedentary lifestyle.

But overall it was lot of fun and yes at the end of the day I could say "It was all for charity " and go to a good night's sleep. :-))

Some pics from the run . Click

Canyoning

Went for Canyoning yesterday. It was an amazing experience. One might think it's same as a water rides in a theme park, but I would disagree. It's not at artificial as them.
In natural surroundings , with minimum human intervention(yeah u need ropes and safety hooks) , it's totally different and more full filling experience. You need to have a kind of confidence and faith on the forces of nature. And indeed after it you will have respect for them.