Questions...

My friend's dad is a surgeon. A few days ago, a 27 year old youth had a bad road accident and was declared brain-dead. That is, the heart will keep beating if given adequate life support, but theoretically, the patient is dead.

The patient's family decided to donate his kidneys. As routine protocol, the operating senior surgeon, in this case my friend's father, is required to switch off the life support system after the operation is over.

He duly proceeded to do so, but for 20 whole minutes, the heart kept beating without any technical support whatsoever.

How did this happen ? I'm not looking for any technical explanations here.Was it sheer will ? Was the heart just not ready to give up ? Was his brain (but he was brain dead wasn't he? ) telling his heart to keep beating for some more time ? Or is there an unknown control that has the power to take such decisions ?

I wish I knew.

Do we take life for granted? I think we do, in fact, we take our existence for granted every single living minute.

Is this why, people with disabilities sometime outperform , outshine and out-everything us. My Pathology teacher's son is physically disabled, one side of his body is paralyzed and the other side is almost useless. Yet, he has written three books in braille for the blind.

I am normal , but will I ever be able to write even one book in my lifetime ? Do I lack the will, the talent , the drive or the spirit ?

Questions.. questions...

Someone once told me, its only when you attend a cremation/funeral of a close relative/friend that you realize only completely certain, rock solid, unavoidable reality of life.
Death.

Good deed for the day...

Do you normally give money to beggars ? I don't. At least, not to the apparently physically normal ones.

Today I had gone along with my friends to this milkshake joint called Fantasy. You get great milkshakes there, especially the ones that are in season. Like right now Strawberry. We ordered one each, and while we were waiting for the order, we saw this person, very haggard and scraggly, walk along the footpath. The place was littered with plastic glasses which people had thrown after finishing their milkshakes. This man was picking up the glasses, scraping the insides with his fingers and licking them. He wasn't bothering anyone, wasn't begging, wasn't making any noise.

One by one he kept picking the glasses, scraping them and then licking his fingers.

This sight shook us and we promptly ordered an extra glass. we placed it by his side and for a couple of minutes he didn't notice it. Then he picked it up and suspiciously smelt it . Although it had a spoon and a straw, he dipped one finger in and licked it.

Having satisfied himself, he put the glass to his lips and drained it. His entire body seemed to come to life after that. He immediately got up and with great energy . he walked away.

Our good deed for the day was done.

Did he deserve it this time ?

Before you read the rest, let me tell you that I am a die hard Shahrukh Khan fan. But ill try to be as unbiased as i can.

This post is purposely titled , " Did he deserve it this time ? " because this is the question all SRK-bashers try to raise every time ( 7 for popular and 2 for critics , total 9 till now) that SRK wins the Filmfare best actor trophy.

Lets quickly run down the list his previous Filmfare Best Actor awards starting from 1994 till date:

1993 : Baazigar
1994 : Kabhi haan kabhi naa ( Critics)
1995 : Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge
1997 : Dil to Paagal Hai
1998 : Kuch Kuch Hota hai
2000: Mohabattein ( Critics)
2002 : Devdas
2004 : Swades
2007 : Chak de India

This means , he has won either the popular or the critics award 9 times in the last 14 years, and also the Best Actor in a Villainous role in 1994 for Anjaam and the Best Actor in a comic role in 1999 for Baadshah.

11 Filmfare Best Actor awards for different categories in 14 years, and strong nominations every year.

Mindboggling.

Now that we are done with the statistics, lets see if he deserved the award on all these occasions. I will be gracious enough to admit that on two occasions, viz. , 1995 when Aamir Khan was nominated for Rangeela and in 1998 when Aamir Khan again was nominated for Sarfarosh; the Award could have gone to him.

But on all other occasions, SRK completely deserved to win. And if indeed as SRK bashers claim that the Filmfare awards are rigged, why did Aamir Khan win for Lagaan? Or Hrithik for Koi Mil Gaya ? or Amitabh Bacchan for Black ? Or Sanjay Dutt for Vastaav ? Because in each of these years, these performances were indeed better than the rest!!
If SRK were to rig the awards, he could have won in 2001, 2003, 2005 and 2006 as well! He had strong nominations in all these years!

Another accusation is that SRK is the same in all his movies. Look at his last three awards. Devdas, Swades and Chak de India. He was Devdas Narayan Mukherjee, Mohan Bhargava and Kabir Khan in these movies, not Shahrukh Khan.

Now talking only about 2007, where Darsheel Safary, the brilliant child artist of Taare Zameen Par was nominated with him.

Darsheel Safary was chosen from 20,000 kids to play a dyslexic Ishaan Awasthi. Do you really think he was going to be unconvincing ? Those helpless expressions, angry outbursts and tears were all carefully planned and orchestrated. Dont forget, you are talking about giving the award to Darsheel Safary, an actor. Not poor little dyslexic Ishaan Awasthi.

Naseruddin Shah once said in an interview, " Its more difficult to act like a normal person and win the audience's heart , than to portray a role of a disabled, abnormal person ".

I completely agree.

Lets not belittle the achievements of this hardworking superstar, who in 1991 with Rs.400 in his pocket once stood at Marine Drive with his friends and said " One day I'll rule this city."

To quote the great man himself, " The Filmfare Best Actor trophy looks the best in my hands." Indeed it does.

Short Movie Review # 3 : Jumper

Imagine teleporting yourself to any place in the world in a second. Never having to take the tedious process of taking a fight, taking a train, a bus or even walking. Never having to work for money, cause all you have to do is teleport yourself into a bank, pick up the cash u need, and pooof the hell back outta there.

In this movie, there is a whole breed of people in the world who can actually do this, and they are called Jumpers. There is a secret unit of people headed by Samuel Jackson whose sole mission is to kill every jumper that exists.

There you have it. Mindblowing special effects and a touch of emotion thrown in make this strictly passable fare. A slightly lame climax is a let down.

PS: Samuel Jackson defends his actions by saying that only GOD should have the power to be at all places at all times.

This is the first movie in which the hero actually abuses his superpowers to steal, and yet we want him to get away from the law.

My rating : 2.5 stars

Short Movie Review # 2 : Mithya

Mithya is different and like a breath of fresh air from the word go. I have always been grumbling that Ranvir Shorey's roles in Pyar ke Side Effects, Traffic Signal and Bheja Fry have been too short.


Well, here Ranvir Shorey with a meaty, complex role, blows you away with every scene :be it his scene rehearsal in his dingy room, his body language during the shoot out at marine drive, his conversations with his kidnappers on the boat and on the breakfast table, his chemistry with Neha Dhupia.... and his expressions when he begins to believe that he indeed is the DON.


The first half is complete fun, while the second half gets serious.

Go watch it.... 4 stars.


P.S. Ranvir Shorey's death scene is outstanding.

Short Movie Review # 1 : Jodha Akbar

Jodha Akbar is a long movie ( 3 hrs 30 min), and thats about its only weak point. Tremendous performances by the lead pair, lavish sets and 2 never-before choreographed war sequences make it a treat to watch.

A R Rahman has scored once more and the way khwaja mere khwaja has been shot, you will remember this song for long time.

Focusing more on romance than on intrigue, its only towards the end of the movie that u realize the intensity of the love between Jodha and Akbar. Something that history has probably failed to record.

A must see once. Ill give it 4 stars.

God reads my blog !

Dear readers, i am sure that God reads my blog.

Surely by divine intervention, my credit card arrived by courier this afternoon !!

Dear God, could i buy you something with my card ? Let me know. Thanks...

Am I the unlucky one ?

I'm a very simple sort of guy, having being brought up in a simple sort of way. My parents have never had and never will have a credit card. I guess, not that they are opposed to plastic money, but they simply do not like the idea of 'credit'. It was up till a few months ago, that I was of a similar opinion. I had never felt the need of a credit card till then. Paying for everything by cash was just fine by me. The sun was shining brightly upon me, the birds used to greet me every morning , everyone was polite and friendly, and in general, I was living the good life. But then one incident changed all that.

I had to travel to Chennai for a conference along with 2 of my colleagues. We had to book Spice Jet air tickets and since Spice Jet does not have a city office in Pune, one had to book them online. There was a great offer going on where the tickets were available at a throwaway price. But we were stuck, as neither my colleagues nor yours truly had a credit card. A couple of my friends who did, had a small maximum spending limit and as the sum involved was about 20000, no one as ready to do it. Finally my Guide, Professor & HOD came to the rescue and we booked the tickets through his card. But because of the 1-2 days delay in getting around to ask him, the discounted tickets were no longer available and we ended up paying about 1500 more per person.

Thats when i decided that i wanted a credit card badly.

I guess you, the reader of this post, are subjected to at least 4-5 calls per week from banks offering you credit cards. Thinking that it would be a simple enough matter for me to get a similar call, I waited. No one called for over a month. Putting this down to plain bad luck, i waited some more. Finally, one day i got a call from HDFC, where i have an account. The caller was almost shocked at the enthusiastic way in which i almost shouted at him that "Yes!!! I want a credit card.. ". A agent was ringing my doorbell before I had even hung up. We completed the formalities and he was also kind enough to go and make a xerox of my driving license. I was assured that my life time free card would come in 15-20 days.

Feeling mildly victorious, i imagined the nice shiny blue card in my wallet. But I had jumped the gun a little. After a couple of verification calls, nothing happened for 2 weeks. Surprised and confused, I headed to the bank one day. Which brings me to the point, that with the banking hours that these banks have, when can a good natured, hard working soul like me ever manage to visit the bank ?????? Anyways using techniques that even '007' would be proud of , I managed to slip out of college and reach the bank. There i was told, that no inquiry on credit card status could be answered by anyone in person, I would have to call the phone banking assistance numbers. There i was, in the spacious lobby, facing about 3 "May I Help You" desks, seeing about 30-35 bank personnel in smart formal clothes smiling the Banker Smile, and not one of them could help me. Is this new age banking ? I made the call and i was told that my application had been rejected, for reasons unknown, and I would have to make a fresh application. Not buckling down under pressure, I approached the first desk i saw and told the gentleman sitting there that i wanted a credit card. I guess its not everyday that a customer goes to a bank and asks for a credit card. He looked at me as if I was kidding him. After my stare convinced him that I was serious, he made me fill another form. I left the bank with an assurance that within 15 days, the life time free credit card would be mine.

Nothing happened for the next 2 weeks. No calls from HDFC, no calls from any other bank. Had the word gone out that I was to be kept deprived of a credit card ? Let me assure you, I have no police record, and the maximum embezzlement i have done is to the tune of 50 rs. That too, of a friend who very greedily was not ready to part with the aforementioned sum, which was rightfully mine. All sort of crazy ideas started to run in my head. Was that friend highly connected in the banking circles ? Was he laughing away everyday as he was told about my futile attempts to procure a credit card ?

I called the phone banking assistance number again, and now i was told that my application had been rejected because of a signature mismatch. This was now getting personal. HDFC did not want me to have a credit card. I received a form by courier the next day, where i was required to sign in 4 places to verify the signature. I did that and dropped the form at my branch. This happened on 4th Feb and since then, whenever i call the phone banking assistance number, either the system is down and they tell em to call after hours, or they say that " My application is in the process of getting approved".

I will not give up. After another week I will start making a round off all the banks in the city, demanding a life time free credit card. This is my number: 09890166694. If u work in a bank and if you are not on the payroll of my friend, do give me a call and get me a life time free credit card. Thanks.

Trapped by 10 digits...

Ever wondered how much we rely on our mobile phones ? this is February 2008, and i got my first mobile phone in August 2004. Thats way way after about 90 % of the people in my class had got theirs. Not that i didnt want one before, but Dad kept putting me off with the reason, that i stayed at home and had access to a landline. My classmates were from outside Pune, and none of them had landlines, so a mobile was a necessity for them.

I remember arguing with my father that a mobile phone is a necessity for EVERYONE. I also remember when the day I bought my phone, I told my friend John that I will never ever be found saying " Oh.. I wish I could just switch my phone off and throw it away.. Its such a pain in the As*.. People can find you wherever you are... etc etc ". But now i realize how stupid I was.

Having a mobile phone makes you liable to answer it. Were we born with a 10 digit number for people to reach us wherever we are ? Nope. In the good old times when there were no mobile phones, a girl and a boy, very much in love used to die for that daily secretive 20 min conversation on a landline when the parents are either out of the house or busy.. If you had a cordless phone, you were lucky , You could out onto the balcony or into the confines of your room...That anticipation of the dreaded click when your parents would pick up the parallel line... where is all that these days ? Now i see couples msging each other 50-75 times a day, and yet constantly fighting, bickering, always dissatisfied.

I remember studying on my table and then suddenly hearing my name being called out from the road below, peeping out, seeing a friends face.. going down to have chat.. The unexpectedness of it all... Now you make a plan, and en route you will receive an sms either modifying it or canceling it. I remember going for DDLJ in 1995 with 15 of my friends and almost all of us reached the theater separately and on time. No confusion.

Am i too much of a cynic? Maybe. Yes the mobile phone does have its advantages, the most important being , being of use in an emergency.But i haven't heard of anyone suffering massive loss of life and/or property in the old days, just because they couldnt make a phone call.

As my Dad says... on a landline, you will never be low on battery, you will never have a Busy Network and u can stop worrying about scratching or losing your phone !!!
I guess Dads know best.

Yeh Dosti...

Think of the one friend who matters the most to you. The one friend, you cannot imagine your life without .Yes. Your best friend.He was there when you needed him the most. He was there when there was nobody else for you.When you were let down elsewhere, he offered you his comforting shoulder.

Friendship,is a very precious emotion. I use the word emotion, because you can feel friendship so strongly.

Friendship is like a guitar.The music may stop now and then, but the the strings will remain forever...

Remember the time when you were feeling low and your friend just put out a hand and no words were needed.
In a perfect world, your girlfriend would be your best friend. All your emotional and physical needs would be met by that person.

But life is far from perfect.

Satisfaction is like an elevator. It stops on different floors.Likewise, there are various levels of satisfaction. We have emotional, physical, social and psychological needs.

When you have just lost the cricket match for your class, you would rather have your best friend saying” cheer up man, we’ll get them next time”, rather that your girlfriend saying in her cutest voice “ OK sweetie pie, its ok..its just a game”...
When a person looks for friends, he is actually searching for himself. Your best friend is the one who brings out the best in you.

Its like being in this vast room full of mirrors, but all of them giving a slightly different reflection.We try to find ourselves in our friends, to find people who have similar likes and dislikes, who have a similar psyche.Let’s face the fact that your girlfriend simply cannot do all the things your best friend can.

Seriously, do you people know anyone who has a girlfriend, but no best friends?And now, how many people do you know that have best friends, but no girlfriends?

A best friend is that part of our family we get to choose.

On a more humorous note :

A best friend also has the advantage that:

1. You don’t have to foot the bill all the time when you go out for dinner or a movie.

2. Your best friend won’t get jealous if you talk to another guy for a long time.

3. Your best friend wont have those 3 days in a month where his stomach and your head starts to ache.

4. Your best friend won’t insist on going shopping every now and then.

5. You won’t have to call your best friend every night to say good night.

6. You will be able to watch a whole cricket match with him and when you say “long leg’ , he wont take it as a compliment.

Author's disclaimer : I'm not gay !!!

Getting philosophical at 6:45 am...

Today morning i woke up to read this sms from a friend : "Life is a lesson, it teaches you how to live, rise from the downfalls and see something that you never knew would ever happen.Its all about surprises, good or bad. They do make our eyes go big and our mouths open.Its all about how you deal with and make best of what comes your way. Cherish the beautiful moments and let no weak moments affect you. Live life freely, its beautiful... live it !"

I admit im not at my best at 6:45 am, but today I did some fast thinking. I was confused. Should I be grateful that Life indeed is a great teacher, or should I rather be asking the question, "If Life hadnt put me in a mess in the first place, why would I need any lessons ? "

Would you rather lead a happy, contented life, never having faced any huge personal tragedies, being married to the person you love, in a job that you are passionate about, with caring parents, cute children and a nice house or would you rather have lost the person you love, be stuck in a job you couldnt care less about but be smart, having learnt from Life's lessons how to deal with rejection, adversity, etc ?????

I would take naive and happy over bitter and smart anyday...

The point is, we must take this whole "Life teaches us so much !!! " thing in the right perspective..

Thus finishing my ruminations, I fired off an sms to my friend putting the above points as politely as I could and went for the morning cuppa. I sure needed it.

My first brush with sonography...

Being a budding Oral Physician and Maxillofacial Radiologist, I hadn't come to use the USG (Ultrasonography) machine till now. But yesterday we started with our Medical Hospital postings and I was in the USG section.

One of the procedures done was the Foetal Anomaly Scan, in simple words, a scan of the pregnant mothers womb, to check if everything in the baby is alright. Let me tell u, the reaction that Ross and Rachel give in Friends is not exaggerated at all!

I experienced s strange feeling when i saw the heart of the 4 month baby , as small as a 25 p coin, blink on the monitor screen. We were watching new life.... a head, a spine, a thigh bone... an abdomen... Who knows, this little baby, a mere image created by sound waves on our monitor screen could be the next Prime MInister, the next Cricketing Star, the next Bollywood Icon !

The relief on the mothers face when we told her after the scan was complete that all is fine, was overwhelming.

And then the icing on the cake.. me, a Dentist, being asked in colloquial, " When will I be likely to deliver ? "

Without batting an eyelid, I quickly scanned the report and confidently said " Oh, on 8th of July this year . All the best !"

The Feline Supremacy

Four people stay in this house ; my father, mother, myself and the cat. We have had the cat for the past 14 years and she has become an important member of the household. Her name is Kajol, named after the Bollywood actress.My mother thought she bears a striking resemblance to our cat. The family history of Kajol makes pretty interesting reading. Our first cat was Monica, who in due course gave birth to Sophie . We gave Sophie to our neighbors .Then, a month later, under tragic circumstances, Monica passed away.Sophie meanwhile gave birth to 4 cute kittens, one of them being Kajol.

If you aren’t confused enough already, Kajol is Monica’s grand-daughter. Kajol is primarily white and black, with a dash of golden yellow and brown thrown in for good measure.Her daily schedule would surprise you:

She gets up at sharp 6:00 a.m. with the doorbell of the milkman. Unlike the comic strips, she doesn’t bother the milkman much. In fact, she couldn’t care less if he didn’t exist.My father then gives her the first fish-meal of the day, 2 long pieces of the bombil.

Kajol then goes for a stroll. She comes back after about an hour, to wake up my mother. After a while both of them go down to our compound ( via the elevator).There , Kajol is allowed to graze for a while. Yes, that’s what you read, she eats grass for about 10 min.My mother brings her up and then Kajol has a bowl of milk (with cream aplenty) .Then she has a spoonful of cheese. Finally, Kajol’s gastronomical activities draw to a close and she proceeds to my room, vigorously licking her lips.

Kajol leaves the house in the evening to take her walk. After it becomes dark, Kajol comes back in. Then she thankfully keeps herself awake for awhile.At about 9:30 p.m. she has her….YOU GUESSED RIGHT, her next fish meal, 2 long pieces of the bombil.

After patiently waiting for my Mother to finish watching the TV, she then retires for the day.After reading till now, you must have guessed that Kajol is a pampered cat.

I recently read a small article in a prominent magazine which stated that next to a tortoise , a cat is the most useless pet to have.It sleeps around the whole day, doesn’t help to guard the house.It only lets you pet it when it feels like and generally obliges you by everything it does. The cat is the only domestic animal that man hasn’t been able to train.Have you ever seen a cat-act in a circus? A cat doing handstands or walking on 2 legs or jumping through rings?

Never.

The cat has managed to keep its dignity intact. Maybe that is why, in most of the James Bond movies the super rich villains all have a furry and cute Persian or Siamese cat on their laps, and not a stupid dog who keeps on yelping as if the world is about to end.The cat never bothers the guests. As soon as it senses some unknown presence in the house it will quietly retire to the inner rooms, or leave the house.The dog on the other hand will keep on mindlessly barking, and the host has to perform the tedious task of familiarizing the guest with the dog.

The cat is also less expensive to maintain than the dog.It is an extremely clean animal , and you will always find the cat skin smooth and shiny. You don’t have to take the cat for a walk, nor do you have to give it a bath.

The cat is very independent.Unless you trouble the cat, there are very slim chances that it will needlessly bother you.These days, late night riding in Pune has become a nuisance as you may find several stray dogs barking and chasing you .

Ever heard of stray cats running behind 2 wheelers and cars and meowing?Ever heard of a gang of stray cats causing a big public nuisance in the society, and people complaining of cat-bites and taking 17 injections where it hurts the most? Nope.

The cat is a peaceful animal, who believes in the motto “live and let live”.Cats have 6 senses and 9 lives.They have an acute sense of smell and can see in the dark.They sleep lightly and eat heartily.

And if you love them, they love you. Conditionally.Kajol is no exception. No brainless loyalty here.Smart ‘give and take ”in the 21^st century.Long live the cats.

The cat is a man’s best friend, but it will never stoop that low to acknowledge it.

P.S. If anybody’s still interested , I heard about 2 weeks back that Kajol’s great-great-great granddaughter gave birth to 3 kittens .So, that makes Monica a great-great-great-great-great…aaaahh, forget it.