Ten minutes at the book binders...

The last step of getting a book bound, is putting it for a final press in a machine, not unlike the "clamps" that we used in our BDS Prosthodontics posting. The book is kept in a machine which has a lid. A lever is tightened till the lid fits flush on the book, and kept there for 10 min.

I reached the binders, Ms.Mahima Trading Co., a little early, so I saw this happen. Mr. Joshi (senior), Proprietor, asked me to wait, so that it would save me a trip later. I was there to pick up my Library Dissertation.

Let me describe Mr. Joshi for you. He is an average, nondescript looking man.. in his sixties. Almost completely bald and with a round face. But its when he laughs that his personality comes to life. Its a rich throaty chuckle, showing his red pan stained lips completely. I'm guessing he has very few teeth left in his mouth. Its the kind of laugh that brings about a smile in you, before you can stop it.

They say that sometime people just open up to you. For no reason. It happened then.

We were on opposite sides of the counter. He, on a small steel stool, me standing with my elbows propped up on the counter. The LD was firmly wedged in the clamp. Any other day, any other time, I would been listening to music on my phone, but that day, I strangely, I didn't.

" Do you eat mangoes? " he asked me.

" No, I keep away from them. A season full of mangoes @ one a day will easily set me back by around 4-5 kgs! ", I said. In case you dont know, I have this metabolism where ANYTHING I eat, directly attaches itself around my stomach.

" Thats absurd! " he cried, " Every single important vitamin is present in a single mango! Eat them in moderation, and nothing goes wrong...." , he said and laughed.

" I guess you eat them a lot? " I asked him.

His eyes lit up. " Oh yes, I eat one a day till August. There are about 7-8 varieties that I eat. Of course, summer is the best time to eat them, Bu I even eat them during the rainy season. Just a few slices though ." He chuckled .

He went on," My father was a big fruit lover. Way back in the fifties, he would buy seedless pomegranates , imported from Muscat at Rs.25 per pomegranate! That would be around Rs.500 today. Have you ever seen a seedless pomegranate ? We used to get small portions as kids. My father used to say, I don't smoke, so let me indulge in my love for fruits. This passion got passed on to me, and I have been eating mangoes ever since I was 8. And by God's grace, I don't have diabetes, at least till now. I'm 68 by the way.

The only time I fell seriously ill was in 1982, when my father unexpectedly passed away. He had a heart attack. That shook me up a little. My Grandfather first bought a shop on Laxmi road, even before it was called Laxmi road ! My grandmothers name was Laxmi. But then we sold it as it didn't do too well. My grandfather then bagged a contract with the College of Engineering, Pune, for all their binding work and we set up a shop near the hostel, right in their own campus. My father managed the shop till 1962, then I managed it till 1986. Then a lot of private engineering college opened up and in the political melee that followed, we were ousted. Then I came and set up shop here.

But I'm happy now, though I miss my swimming. I have swam in wells, lakes, rivers, even oceans. Swimming comes naturally to me. I still remember, how my son Nilesh swam for the first time. He was a mere 1 1/2 years old, and we were in the 4 ft section of Tilak Tank. I told his mother, just drop him in the water in front of me, I guarantee you he will be safe. And so she did. After he went down initially, he surged back up and saw me. And instinctively, he started paddling. I moved back, and kept getting closer. Thats what you call natural swimming.

He gave the throaty chuckle again.

But I quit swimming in 1982, as due to my father's death, I had a lot of blood pressure problems and my doctor said its time to stop. But I have no complaints with life now. I have gotten my two daughters married, both are in IT. Nilesh helps me look after the shop. "

Suddenly, he broke out of his trance an got up. He took my LD out of the clamp and after checking it, handed it over. I was speechless.

" This , is short, is the story of my life." he said. And he laughed again.

As I walked out of that shop that day, I felt strange. Why had he confided so much to a complete stranger? Was it because he had no one to talk to to? Couldn't be.
What had he seen in me ?

I felt strange, But nice in a weird way. Mr. Joshi now wasn't just a balding old man with an infectious laugh for me. He had a story.
And I knew it.

Short Movie Review # 6 : Tashan

Ive often wondered: " Dont producers and directors see the movie they have shot when it is half done ? Dont they realize what nonsense they have made, and scrap the movie right then and there ?"

Tashan is so unbelievably stupid that you cringe for most part of the movie. The story line is simple : Kareena steals Anil Kapoor's money ( 25 crores) by duping Saif. Anil Kapoor hires Akshay Kumar to find Kareena and the money, with Saif giving him company.

What could have been a fun run chase turns out to be a big bore. There is no chemistry ( sadly) between Saif and Kareena. The gags fall flat. The fight scenes are a cross between The Matrix and bad Mithin Chhakraborty movies.

Picture this : Akshay Kumar is fighting about 25 men on a crowded terrace. Suddenly he yanks a big pole from the ground and tonks the bad guys, and all 25 fly into the air.

Kareena Kapoor too, is not to be left behind. She suddenly jumps around in slow-mo like Trinity and starts stabbing the bad guys like there is no tomorrow.

Anil Kapoor hams throughout the movie, talking in a weird accent thats hard to catch at times.

The only time the movie comes to life is during the two songs: Dil Haara and Chaliya. Kareena holds center stage here, looking good enough to eat right then and there.
And yes, there is a bikini scene. But dont blink, or you might miss it.

Mr. Yash and Mr. Aditya Chopra, what are you two doing ? The whole country believes your judgment, trusts it. YR films has some respectability. Dont ruin it by churning out sub standard fare like this. Take a break from producing movies for others for a couple of years. And give us Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi fast.

Rating : One star

One Two, Buckle my shoe...

Ive always dressed very simply, uncorrupted by the latest fashion trends. I also have my own notions on shopping. For what's essential, take money from your parents. For whats not, earn some yourself.

The problem is, however expensive a pair of shoes I buy, they only last a year or little more, as they have to withstand the Pune rains for about 2 months every year.

I had ignored the trend of having pointy shoes for a very long time. But then the pressure eventually got to me. Everyone in college started wearing them. Even the unfashionable ones ! Mustering up the courage, I decided that this was it. I was going to have me some pointy shoes!!
There was nothing wrong with my current ones. They were nice and solid and black and rectangular. Yep, rectangular. Just the way our feet are. The are the narrowest in the middle somewhere and broadest at the end where our fingers fan out.

And so I picked up a pointy pair. With my own hard earned money. A pair not too expensive, but not too pointy either. And they hurt like hell.

It was like someone was torturing me for no reason. I was ready for anything...to tell the the truth, to reveal the country's nuclear plans, to bitch about anyone they wanted me to, but no one was interested.The shoes looked nice though. That I admit. Got a few compliments in college. But they still hurt like hell.

" Aah, its just shoe bite... " I said to myself.

After the first 4-5 days, they actually got a little comfortable. And then one of them ripped at the seams. I didn't blame my toes, they needed some air to breathe ! At that point I felt much like a General, who after winning the battle, slips and falls down the staircase to break his back. But I refused to throw in the towel. I wasn't giving up now. Not after 5 days of sore feet. They just needed a little bit of needle work and they'd be fine, I told myself. I got the torn one fixed by a cobbler.

The next week, the second one ripped. Now I felt like the same General, but who after recovering from hospital, is told that another war has broken out, but he is relieved of his command.I kept the 'ol chin up. I was going to win this one. The second shoe came back from the cobblers, all fixed up. Life was looking good.

Yesterday, the first one ripped in a new spot. I wasn't in the mood now to feel like any General.

Both my shoes are now at the cobblers, for a complete seam reinforcement. Ive declared a State of Emergency.

Of course, I have my trusty rectangular ones to keep me company till then.

P.S. : Oh, did I mention have size 11 feet ? Another size more, and I would have to get shoes made for me. That doesn't have anything to do with my problem, right ? :-)

The first one is always special...

September 8, 1995 will always be a special date for me. It was the day that I fell in love with Bollywood. It was the day I fell in love with watching movies in theaters. It was the day I first experienced that strange feeling when the film certificate comes up on screen and the lights dim out. It was the day I first did advance booking.

It was the day Rangeela released.

The trailors on TV were already a rage and the songs were scorching the charts. I had, like any self respecting teenager, bought the Rs. 38/- audio cassette, which proudly screamed " A.R. Rahman's First Hindi Score".

I remember cycling up to Rahul, Pune's best theater at that time. We were about 14 of us, all my basketball club gang. Some of us rode solo, some of us double-seat. The balcony ticket was a steep Rs. 50. What had surprised me, was that Dad had actually seemed happy in parting with the money. And that time, too excited, I didn't give it too much thought. But over the years, As I got to know him better, I realized that my love for Bollywood was somewhat inherited from him.

He too remembers watching Kashmir Ki Kali on the day his 11th standard exams got over. He remembers every movie he saw during his days in Nair Hospital and Dental College (NHDC), Mumbai from 1965-1970. He told me once that when he went for the First Day- Matinee show of Teesri Manzil, he loved it so much that during the Intermission, he did the advance booking for the night show of that day itself.

Rangeela was an unforgettable experience. Right from experiencing on-screen titillation for the first time during Hai Rama to having moist eyes during the climax scene.

During Rangeela I though Id seen it all... It surely was the best movie that year, the acting , the music...

But I was to get luckier. Just one month and 13 days later, on October 20, 1995 I found myself with more or less the same people and in the same theater.

Watching a 3 and and a half hour movie called Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge.

A movie that gave us the most incredible on screen pair. Ever.
A movie that changed the meaning of palat ( looking back).
A movie that took us beyond India. Realistically. And then brought us back.
A movie that we all, unfailingly, even now, watch for at least 15 min if its playing on TV.


A movie that gave us the most famous screen names, Raj and Simran. Which have spawned the most common college canteen and classroom graffiti you can ever find : Raj loves Simran.

Even now, 13 years and gazillions of theater movies later, when the Film Certificate comes up and then the lights dim ever so slowly, I feel the strange rush of adrenalin. I love movies. Unapologetically and unabashedly.

What can I do? Its in the genes.

The sound of silence...

In "The Bucket List", a pretty girl at the bar is telling Morgan Freeman, how her friend climbed the Himalayas.
"Did he hear it ? ", says Freeman.
"Hear what ?" The girl replies.
"The sound of silence. When you are standing at the highest point in the world, they say that you can feel the absolute silence . And then the silence speaks to you. Like the voice of God".

Well, I haven't been to the Himalayas but I get the point. Have you ever been been working , concentrating hard and then suddenly as the power supply is cut, all sounds around you die down ?

Its happens to me quite often. The mechanical crane working behind our college , the buzzz of fans, the whirrrr of desktop processors, and the myriad other sounds that I cant put a name to, just stop.

Its eerie. I can hear everything around me so clearly. The same thing happens at home. What never ceases to amaze me, is how I can hear every second tick away on the wall clock.

And then I realize in those fleeting electricity-less minutes, how fast the second hand is going. I mean, it can t be taking 60 long seconds for one minute, its just zipping around !!

I mean... there I was... at my first day in Fergusson College in 1997, wearing brand new brown Woodland shoes, a new light green checked shirt with sleeves rolled up and new black belt with a golden buckle..... starting the best period of my life.... Did those 2 years just zoom by ?

The one year in Pharmacy.. with more hazy memories than any other year....

The 5 unforgettable years of BDS... the fastest period of my life..

The 9 most professionally satisfying glorious months that followed, of running Dad's clinic and giving it a complete facelift...

Starting MDS.. and now, 2 years of MDS have flashed by which have shown me tremendous highs and lows...

I clearly remember shaving for the first time on my 16th birthday, on the day of my 11th standard final exam. And now im 26. Wow.

And then suddenly without any warning, the lights come back on.. my computer restarts... the fan starts spinning and buzzzing again... the fridge compressor kicks in.. the TV in the hall starts blaring...

and I forget that I was doing some real meaningful thinking.

What a pity.

Short Movie Review # 5 : Shaurya

And it happens yet again. We take an amazing script, screenplay and dialogues from a Hollywood movie and mess it up. Ironically, A few Good Men is one of the movies in my wishlist to be remade ! ( refer to http://superdoc-betweenthelines.blogspot.com/2008/03/scene-by-scene.html)

Shaurya has many things working against it...

- Kay Kay Menon seems too young to be a Brigadier, Javed Jaffrey looks older than him !

- The whole Rahul Bose and Minnisha Lamba track is unnecessary. In A few Good Men, there is not even a hint of romance between Demi Moore and Tom Cruise.

- Why have weird scenes like the wedding inside the house in the middle of the night ?

- Somehow whenever the director tries to show us a different shot, like Minnisha Lamba helping Amrita Rao wipe the glasses, it just seems fake.

- All Rahul Bose does is instigate Menon in blurting out his crime, that too in a matter of 10 min. Compare that to the detailed gathering of evidence and the climax courtroom scene in A few Good Men.

- The viewer is left clueless till the very end, about the contents of the all important file that Amrita Rao sends Rahul Bose.

- The personal vendetta and the Hindu- Muslim angle is almost laughable

The only places where Shaurya redeems itself is the 2-3 scenes with Menon and Bose interacting. Especially when Menon is narrating the story of Bose's father to him, the fire in Bose's eyes is worth a good chunk of the ticket price. But the standout scene is the flashback, when we see the murder as it actually happened.

Final word: See it if you havent seen A few Good Men. If you have, stay far away.

Rating : 2 stars

Cherish your sleep !

It is very famous Maharashtrian trait, to sleep in the afternoons. I have embraced it fully, unconditionally and lovingly, ever since I was small.


There is something special about an afternoon nap. Nap would be a mild word I am using, because I normally knock myself out for a good couple of hours. When I didnt have a mobile phone, would unplug the landline. Now I have a phone, and I have a special profile created, called Sleep Peacefully.

Everything gets turned off, except the phone light. Thats because there is no way to turn it off. Nokia people are u listening ???

It is said, that we Maharashtrians can be going trough a terrible time personally or professionally,or even be suffering from disease, but our afternoon sleep stays unaffected.

There are two ways you can go about seep. You can.... you know, just sleep. Just get into bed and lie down and close your eyes and get up. Simple.

Or you can do it my way. Enjoy your sleep. Relish it. Cherish it. Savour it. Make sure everything is perfect in the room before you lie down. Check that there are no chinks of light coming through any curtains. Check that the cordless is not in your room. Check that your computer speaker volume is mute, to kill the beep of the gmail notifier. Make sure you have changed your phone profile.

And then, you slide down and get your pillows into position, smile and thank God for this wonderful ability of humans to slip away into a subconscious state at will.....

When you are sleeping, no one can make you cry,no one can insult you, hurt you, defeat you, you cant lose, fail an exam, get rejected, have your trust broken, lose your keys, break your phone, say something embarrassing, have an accident, etc etc..

Basically, nothing can go wrong . Unless you fall of the bed that is.
Ouch, that might hurt.

A difficult choice...

Ive been reading ever since I remember, and i have to thank my Dad for that. I was in the 8th Std, when everyone around me was reading a Hardy Boys or a Nancy Drew, he gave me a James Hadley Chase. I even remember which one it was, " Believed Violent".


In the next 3-4 years i finished all 70 odd of his novels. Since then, I have also finished Jeffery Archer, Frederick Forsyth, Agathe Christie, Erle Stanley Gardner, Arthur Conyan Doyle, Sidney Sheldon, Harold Robbins, Michael Crichton,Alastair Maclean, Irving Wallace, John Grisham, Robin Cook, Jackie Collins, Ken Follet, Issac Asimov and PG Wodehouse.

I wouldn't dare to arrange these authors in any order whatsoever. The people I have mentioned above, have given me countless hours of unparalleled entertainment.

And moments that I will never forget , for as long as I live:

- the characterization opening paras and the climaxes of almost all the James Hadley Chase novels, particularly, " Miss Shumway Waves a Wand " and "Come Easy- Go easy".
- The scene in Kane and Abel, when the two protagonists cross each other on the road, and doff their hats at each other
-The scene in The Odessa File where the purpose of the entire man hunt is revealed
- the last line of " No Comebacks"
- The plot of " A holiday for murder" and "And then there were none"
- The last line of Bloodline, " he died as the others had- in ecstasy."
- The line in Sphere " My name is H-A-R-R-Y"
- Almost the entire Foundation series
- The climax of all the Blandings novels, where all the sub plots fit seamlessly into each other

There is raging debate that is played in my mind every now and then... What do I like more ? An amazing movie or an equally good book ?

Devdas or The Odessa File ?
Lagaan or And then there were none ?
Swades or Foundation and Earth ?
Dil Chahta Hai or Galahad at Blandings ?

and...

Jurassic Park or Jurassic Park ?

Most people who know me only over the past 3-4 years would assume ill choose the movies.

But I pick books.Give me a book anytime. It will be difficult for me to explain, how Jurassic Park the book, is so much better than Jurassic Park the movie. It just is. Trust me.

P.S.: IF you have read the post until here, and you don't know what I'm talking about, grab any of the books whose names you see here. You'll thank me later.

A post on my favorite books will follow in a few days, as time permits.

What could have been...

When you are small, you are a bit of everything. A painter, a sportsman, a mathematician, a musician, a writer and a craftsman. As you grow up, at different points in time, you let go of these one by one. And then you regret it later.How many of us are actually doing something we love ? Is our profession our first choice ? If we had the opportunity to turn the clock back, how many of us would still choose to be what we are ?

I remember trying my hand at swimming and badminton in a big organized way. Daily coaching, competitive spirit , I had it all. But somewhere down the line, I just didn't pursue it well enough.

I played competitive basketball for almost 7 years, was part of state championship winning team 5 times. And till I was in the U-14 category, i can confidently say I was one of the top players in my city. I remember playing out close matches under floodlights, with that special feeling when you are in the "zone" and cant hear the crowd around you... I remember almost every tournament I played, all the important matches, the things my coaches said to me.

As I became older, I made more attention to studies. I'm not saying I would have gone on to make a great basketball player for sure, but at at least I wouldn't have any regrets. Now whenever I read about the sport in the paper, see a mention of my old club, get in touch with those friends, I wonder on what could have been...

My biggest regret though probably is not becoming a professional writer of short stories or a journalist. I started writing short stories long long ago and I had the choice to pursue this avenue, but I didn't.Now whenever I have a weekend free , I write one, hoping I get them published some day.

They say the happiest man in the world, is one who loves his daily work.

Do you wish you were something else? Something you were darned good at when you were small ? You should have kept at it.. I bet you would have been famous by now! Write in your comments..





Oh and ya, this is what I really wanted to be... :-)