Big B (the not so tall one)

This Sunday, I went along with a friend to Alliance Francaise de Delhi on Lodhi Road, where cultural events are regularly held. The plan was to get away from the corporate scene for a bit and and take in some art. We decided to catch up a play, The Big B by the Pierrot's Troupe.

The play was heavily based on Munshi Premchand's Bade BhaiSahab, though the presentation had a very anglicized flavor. There were only 3 characters and the setting was the same throughout, the room shared by the two brothers around whom the story revolved. It was shown in flashback punctuated now and then by monologues by the protagonist who was an old man taking a walk down the memory lane. He was reminiscing about his school days when he used to share a room in the city with his brother who, though 5 yrs elder to him, was just 3 yrs senior to him at school. The play was a journey over the next couple of yrs as the brothers came closer. In class! :)

Some incidents were lifted straight from the original story , infact even some dialogues. Those turned out to be more entertaining than the rest. The acting was above average which made for a decent watch even though we had to pretend we hadn't heard the jokes before...

There is another review published in hindu which favors the play more than mine does. Check it out at http://www.hinduonnet.com/fr/2007/04/27/stories/2007042701330300.htm

Review Time: Chasing Harry Winston by Lauren Weisbereger

http://www.amazon.com/Chasing-Harry-Winston-Lauren-Weisberger/dp/0743290119

The fun-filled story revolves around 3 friends...poles apart from each other, the only common thing being... they are all about to reach 30.

Frail, pretty Emmy, who has just been dumped by her boy friend of 5 yrs.
Sophisticated, always-in-control Leigh! She has a great job, a great boy friend, and a great apartment. Her life is perfect or atleast that's what the world thinks.
Sexy, stunning Adriana, with a huge trust fund and no responsibilities, except looking great and having fun.

Emmy and Adriana make a bet that the loyal, commitment seeking, sometimes clinging Emmy should indulge in casualo relationships all over the world. After all, she's just been offered a job that will take her to every charming destination on the globe, why not make the most of it! On the other hand, wild cat Adi has to (gasp, OMG!) SETTLE DOWN with a diamond ring on her finger. And poor dear Leigh, why would she want to change anything. Atleast that what Adi and Emmy think, while Leigh can name a few or more... or maybe her whole life...

This year long journey in the lives of these 3 is light, fun and a good read. The downside is that you never get a chance to bond with any of the heroines. You like them, but you don't root for them. On the whole, a very good time pass!

And that makes it Larger Than Life!

Someone recently told me that I tend to concentrate on a problem much more than I do on the solution. I didnt like hearing that (obviously), but, even a little retrospection made me realize how true that was. And that is why any problem seems so big. I'm the one who feeds the fuel to the issue. By dwelling on the injustice of it all, I'm the one who's actually providing all the ammunition to it. Walking away might seem more cowardly that standing up for something, but we need to choose what is really worth standing up for. When I choose to walk away from a problem, I make a conscious decision of not giving it enough importance. One crucial rule of martial arts is "waste no energy". I think it is 1 rule everyone should incorporate into their life.

Death Valley

Wow! What an incredible experience. From mountains, to virtual lakes, to sand dunes, to mosaic... it was like flipping through the pages of a calendar, so many different vistas in 1 day!!

Amitabh Bachchan in Paa

I watched Paa tonight and I'm awed. No word seems appropriate enough... Its not beautiful, or fantastic or superb... its just up there! Its an Amitabh Bachchan movie!!! Probably the best movie that I'v seen of him. That man is a class apart. I used to think that he's the greatest actor Bollywood's ever had. Now I would go as far as to say, he's the greatest actor this world has ever seen... He just gets better and better with time. Old wine!!!
Its a great movie. Balaki has done a superb job. Every actor has added value to the movie... Every dialog, every song is carefully integrated... There's not a single moment that lacks magic... Bachchan Ji is so convincing as a smart ass, special 12 year old sick kid. You actually fall in love with the kid. His acting is just effortless... Is he even acting?
The movie doesn't try to make the audience cry. You just feel tears pricking at the corners of ur eyes and something tugging at ur heart even while you are laughing at some wisecrack of the incorrigible Auro.
Abhishek is so good in his role as the tech savvy, reformer politician and so is Vidya Balan as the loving mother who is a strong, independent woman. Hats off to Mr. Balaki... and Mr Bachchan... words can't do justice to the respect that I'm feeling for him.

Singleton class example in C#

namespace SingletonClass
{
public partial class Form2 : Form
{
static Form2 currentInstance;
private Form2()
{
InitializeComponent();
}
public static Form2 GetForm2()
{
if (currentInstance == null)
{
currentInstance = new Form2();
}
return currentInstance;
}
public void Form_Close(object o, EventArgs e)
{
currentInstance = null;
}
protected override void Dispose(bool disposing)
{
currentInstance = null;
base.Dispose(disposing);
}
}
}

Well Done Sachin!

Sachin Tendulkar has done India proud once again by showing that he's a true patriot. Rightly said Sachin, you are an Indian first of all... We need more Indians like him who are ready to stand up to trouble makers like Thackerays...All the Bals and the Rajs of this world care about is their votebank. This kind of cheap propaganda gets uneducated people to become delusional MNS followers. Its the educated people supporting them that disappoints me.