aditya kumar's weblog

Found this in the “More About Myself” section is one of the “bride” profiles in one of the many matrimonial websites. Trust me, I have copied and pasted it here, as is (including the dots) :

My Personality, Long-Term Goals, Partner Expectations, etc:

  
well will tell you……….. when i like you……………… or else no never………………………..

Hmmm…

That colored me surprised. Or Did it? Well, renders me speechless, for sure.

From the archives, this post originally written almost 3 years back, in February 2005, deserves a comeback. I am posting it as is, again.

“Thats the James Bond Beach”, said my sister.

“Thats the what bond beach?” I asked, my face giving a convincing, confused look not sure about what I just heard.

“James Bond Beach”.

My mind raced back to all the James Bond movies I had seen, the last 4. I could not even recall a single movie scene shot in India. Bond in India? At this place? How come I do not know about it.

“Why is it called that?”, the confused look on my face has transformed into a curious one.

“Oh its not called that. I call it that. Because, you know, it gives a feeling of how a typical beach is, in Bond movies. Blue water, silver sand, no one around, a seemingly private beach. colorful fishing boats beyond the coastline. The James Bond beach.”

She was right. This looked strikingly similar to one of those. It was probably the most beautiful sea shore I had ever seen in my life.

And for the third time in the last few minutes, the look on my face was changed to a convincing one. Yes, the James Bond beach. I was now staring with gleaming eyes on the waves, crashing on the silver sand, as if, in a matter of seconds, a bikini clad Halle Barry would just pop up from nowhere between the waves. The Bond-James Bond, Beach.

I am talking about a place called Karwar, a small town in the northern coast of Karnataka, a 150 km drive from Goa. I have stayed more than half of my life on the coast, and this was, quite easily, the best seashore I had ever seen. The water was bluer than the sky. The sun shone on the white sand, washing it and left it glimmering like silver. The sea was calm, as if pretending to me, that it has always been like this. Like storms, cyclones and the recent tsunami, were strangers to this sailors grave. “It wasn’t me”, as if the sea was telling me. The waves, calm and blue on the surface of the sea. But just before they crashed on the white sand, they suddenly turned green, as if venting some hidden anger only to be released in small quantities at regular intervals so that it goes unnoticed by anyone not paying attention. The anger, it holds inside, I said to myself. Behind me was the Navy establishment giving it the look of a private beach. And no one on the shore. Just the sea and somewhere on the horizon, the deep blue sea and the pale blue sky met. Nothing at all in sight. A sight to remember. It was like a hidden treasure, in the vicinity of the Naval authorities and away from the already little tourist attraction this city receives. It had no name, so we call it The James Bond Beach. The “Bond. James Bond” Beach.

Alright, for the few who have been following up with this blog, perhaps you did notice a little change, eh? Well, nothing much has changed. The WordPress version is now updated to 2.3. My loyalty to “The Journalist” WordPress Theme remains and I shall be ever thankful to Lucian Marin for creating it. The change in look, however, is a result of “upgrading” the theme to its latest version. It still remains true to its simplicity, I must say.

More later.

Verdict – 8/10

** No Spoilers Ahead**

Bollywood has felt the need for Child Themed movies as much as the fish needs the bicycle. Considering that, this movie comes as a fresh change, something that every movie lover could love forward to. Aamir Khan is his usual brilliant self but it is Darsheel Safary, the kid that steals the show all the way.

Taare Zameen Par is a movie every young couple should watch — Its a movie every parent with a teenage child must watch. Its a beautiful movie because it shows us how parents, with all the good intentions in their hearts, can still go wrong.

The reason why I did not give this a “9” is because I thought the parents role could have been a little more defining. Since for most of the first half, the family of the child plays a role of importance, one hoped that they could carry some of it, if not all, to the second half as well. But overall, by the second half, the story has a good foundation and the protagonist of the movie takes it off from there. The songs are well sequenced and not “just put there”. This has been an area that Bollywood has really improved over the last few years.

Aamir Khan impresses with his behind the screen antics and considering that he directed himself and a nine year old kid while working on a very sensitive subject that must have involved a lot of background research — all for the first time, I think he has done a brilliant job. I will not take away one thing from this man, who for all his brilliance, has often been misunderstood in the industry.

A few days ago, in conversation on the phone with a friend, talk revolved around the games available for playstation 2. Most of the games ported on video game consoles like the PS series are role-play. You are on the either side — The good guys or the bad guys. A terrorist on the run or a black commando killing robbers. Or a good earthling killing Martians. It boils down to one concept, the one of killing.

Honestly I am not in favor of letting a 13 year old use it because of the gore involved in the games. It is much worse than plain television viewing.

The concept of killing people with guns coupled with this modern amenity called a gaming console makes a combo that can be termed as trash of the western world. I got the console for myself when I turned, ahem, 26. Though I am sure I wouldn’t have picked up the gun but I shudder to think how would it be if I had got my hands on this thing 13 years ago.

The effects are for you to see. The School killings in America. Back home, a first incident of its kind, happened in Delhi a few hours ago. I am not suggesting that the people involved in these incidents were directly influenced by video games but I certainly see a pattern of some sort here.

Children carrying guns to school. This is the new face of the society we are living in.

On my way back home from work, near the Sony world Koramangala intersection, I saw an Enfield Bullet with “POLITE” written on back, Red bold letters. Curiosity, like always, had the better of me and the red signal as it was, I went near the bike, dragging my (relatively) mediocre looking Honda Activa and I asked the rider what was the whole “Polite” thing all about. I mean, if these letters had to form a word on the back of an Enfield Bullet, “C” had certainly to be a part of it, instead of the “T”.

Turned out, our rider had a little sense of humor. His first reaction was a frown, but as I completed my question, it turned into a smile and he told me that “POLITE”, in those big Red letters, was actually meant to scare off the rude Autorickshaw-wallas, for the menace that they have become on the roads. And since he really didn’t belong to POLICE, he could not claim that “C”. In these mad streets, at high speeds and manoeuvres , “POLITE” could well be “POLICE”.

Presence of mind?

Now, I had to read this a few times to be really sure of what it was. On the exact same spot, a month or two back, a lady driven scooty with, believe it or not, a sticker that said:

“DON’T KISS ME”.

Oh, how could I lady, especially with that helmet you have put on.

Absence of mind?

“MYSELF [name here]. I HAVE AN EXPERIANCE IN LECTURER”

“IM COOL GIRL BUT VERY SENSITIVE BY NATURE. I DONT LIKE THE SHORT TEMPERED PERSONS.”

These are actual matrimonial advertisements, quoted verbatim. With these coming my way, It would be a good ten or twenty years before I settle down in life. Of course, needless to say, I find myself in this situation since I have failed to find someone for myself but thats another story.

Then, this latest one:

“he should be smart… intelligent!! Looks don’t matter much but he should appreciate me”

A closer look at her profile — Hobbies- Will tell you later; Interests – Will tell you later; Favorite Reads – Will tell you later and also, we would be knowing “later” about her favorite music too. No other information whatsoever, in fact, I am surprised and thankful that she made it clear that she wants someone who appreciates her.

I shudder to think how casual one can be while looking out for the right person to get married to. If only one could get away from situations like these at will.

THE COOL GALS and EXPERIANCED IN LECTURERS, never mind the spelling, time to bring them on…