I want the choice to decide
Not only by your words must I abide
I regret but am happy to tell you
I live for me and what I do.

Whispering in an ear you shouldn’t
Living deadly dreams knowing you coudn’t
With foolish eyes that led you on
To defeat the purpose of this song.

I tell you I quit to have hope,
Release this, to have ability to cope.

I wish I hadn’t heard the voice that spoke
Wrap your words around my neck
Learn to efficiently choke.

Grievances of a past scar you know is there
Guilt of a past love you know wasn’t fair
I no longer know what I’m trying to say
So I’ll leave it for today…

I’ll leave it for you to ponder this way.

Image Credit: Gadlab

Popularity: 14%

11: 20 PM

Reese Witherspoon comes to present the Best Director Award. And guess who won the award ? It is Danny Boyle from Slumdog Millionaire. What a guy! In his speech he showed humility and apologized for not having given credit to his choreographer but gave his tribute to Mumbai and truly deservedly so.

Danny Boyle we love you.

11:27 PM

Halle Berry and Co comes on stage to present the Oscar for the Best Leading Lady. Anna Hathaway, Kate Winslet, Meryl Streep and Angelina Jolie

Kate cries while she gets praised.

Meryl Streep got nominated for the fifteenth time. And Angelina Jolie was a stunner …But the Oscar went to Kate Winslet…She recollects her shampoo bottle from her bathroom when she was eight years old. Madhavan just told me that her acting in “The Reader” was stupendous.

And now comes the next best category of awards

11:37 PM

Sir Ben Kingsley, Michael Douglas, Robert DeNeiro, Anthony Hopkins and Anthony Roda to award the best Actor’s award.

Richard Jenkins, Sean Penn, Frank Langella, Brad Pitt and Mickey Rourke gets nominated for the best actor’s award.

The Oscar Award for the Best Actor goes to Sean Penn. There was a standing ovation from the crowd. Sean Penn says “ You don’t know how difficult it is appreciate myself”. The words that followed after that was very impressive – a great speech. His humility was seen when he appreciated Mickey Rourke- the comeback kid.

11: 47 PM

Steven Spielberg comes on stage to present The Best Picture.

Frost/ Nixon, The Slumdog Millionaire, Milk, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button and The Reader are the ones nominated in the Best Picture category.

And the Oscar Award for The Best Picture goes to Slumdog Millionaire. The Producer Christian Colson, along with the entourage reached the stage to collect the award.

What a moment for Slumdog Millionaire, Mumbai and India !

12:00 AM on 23rd Feb’09– Off to sleep. Good night, have to wake up early for office, tomorrow. Have a great week, everyone!

Jai Ho! Jai Ho!

Image Credit: MasterOrz

Popularity: 14%

10:42 PM

Eddie Murphy is on stage to present the Jean Hearscholt Humanitarian Award. And the award goes to legendary Jerry Lewis. Nostalgic, huh ?

10: 54 PM

AR Rahman wins two Oscars for India, two more to the Slumdog Millionaire kitty.

AR Rahman wins the best Original Score for Slumdog Millionaire. Proud of you, AR Rahman..What more – He gives a live performance from Slumdog Millionaire….O Saya and Jai Ho along with MIA.

This is probably the best night for A R Rahman.

He is also nominated for the best background score and he wins it hands down. The song is Jai Ho and the lyricist is Gulzar.

Arguably the best night for Slumdog Millionaire, AR Rahman and India.

11:05 PM

Guess what ? Freida Pinto, from Slumdog Millionaire is on stage with Liam Neeson for presenting the best Foreign Film. The Oscar goes to “Departures”

The Japanese director is Berry Berry Appy and Sankoos everyone. Did I say, Freida Pinto was lovely in that Blue dress.

I think this is the first time, an Indian has been called on stage to present an award. I may be wrong, though !

Popularity: 23%

The Oscar fever has caught on and for the first time, I am blogging live watching the Oscars, from the comforts of my home. Nothing can beat this experience. Seeing it live, munching my favourite triscuit, watching my two kids screaming louder than the Oscar host and blogging as Slumdog Millionaire is about to win Oscars – At this point, I don’t know how many, though!

The expectations are high among Indians that music maestro AR Rahman, who has bagged three nominations for “Slumdog Millionaire”, will bring home the coveted trophy. What a moment that will be!

Other two Indian films vying for the glory are “Smile Pinki” and “The Final Inch”.

The time is 8.30 PM EST.

Ok, the Oscar Awards has begun and so is this live blogging.

The time is 8:33 PM

Singer, Dancer, Actor Hugh Jackman enters the show with startling display of his talent. He starts of with the song on Slumdog Millionaire, moves onto Benjamin Button – what a startling display, picks up Anne Hathaway for an impromptu dance. Jackman performs about the other movies – The Reader, The Wrestler and Nixon. What a Live Performance that was!

The time is 8:40 PM

Hugh Jackman introduces all the nominees including Mickey Rourke, the couple – Brad Pitt & Angelina Jolie, the guy who played Nixon, Demi Moore.

The time is 8:45 PM

5 yesteryear Oscar actress winners including Whoopi Goldberg introduces Penelope Cruz, Marisa Tomei, Demi Moore et al.

Penelope Cruz wins Oscar for the best actress. She goes to the stage and thinks she would faint…but doesn’t. She gave an emotional speech saying it is art which unites the universe. You are too good and beautiful. Penelope – Congratulations !

The time is 8:54 PM

Some type pad clicks. Few sentences and sounds of a typewriter. I don’t know what is happening.

Enter Steve Martin and Tina Fei. They starts joking around, as usual and soon picks up the mike for announcing the best screenplay. Now I understand why there were those type sounds.

The best screenplay award goes to Dustin Lance Black for Milk. Dustin, on the stage, emotionally talks of “Hope” for Gays and Lesbians across America.

Next comes the award for the best adopted screenplay…and the award goes to Simon Beaufoy, the writer for Slumdog Millionaire.

Oscar # 1 for Slumdog Millionaire. Wondering why Vikas Swarup for Original Screenplay. But yes, he thanked Vikas Swarup and the other two musketeers and his love for India.

I am so excited now. My friend, Madhavan, who wrote Will Slumdog Millionaire Win the Oscar Awards, pings me on Gmail. We exchange congratulations for the first in the kitty and many to go.

The time is 9:03.

Enters Kungfu Panda and his star friends…I am talking of Jack Black and Jennifer Aniston. He is hilarious.

The best animated feature film goes to Wall-E. Oscar is taken by Andrew Stanton. He thanks everyone..nothing extraordinary of a speech. The show goes on

The best animated short film goes to La Maison En Petites. Kunio Kato collects the award and “Sanks” everyone!…Sankooo..meaning Thank You.

Time for a break!

Popularity: 27%

I had picked up this book 2 years back at the annual Strand book festival, and got to read it now. Tarun Tejpal is someone I had a curiosity to read. The first sentence of the book, made me raise an eye brow and doubt what was in the offering. First 150 pages or so, I was lost and now after completing the book, I think that part of the book could have been shortened. It was repetition of unnamed protagonist’s obsession with his wife and her body, and his inability to think beyond her.

But after about 200 pages the story picks up and that is when you find it difficult to keep the book down. The story travels from one plane to another, from one era to another, from one continent to another, from emotions to reality, from curiosity to mystery and finally lands up with truth.

Author has divided the book in five parts: Prema or love, Karma or action, Artha or money, Kama or desire, Satya or truth. And the chapters pretty much revolve around these broader themes.

It is a story of a writer, who makes several attempts at writing a great novel, but finally lives through one and realizes that you have to live a story to be able to tell it. By some stroke of destiny, he buys a house in lower Himalayas, and the house has a mysterious history and a story that no one is willing to tell. The author gets obsessed by his desire to unearth the story so much that he looses interest in his original obsession, his wife. Finally after following the story and my joining all the facts that he collects from all possible people, he feels a sense of relief and that is when he goes back in search of his wife, content that he, at last has a story.

The story has been woven very intricately by the author, it keeps moving back and forth in time and space. The descriptions of the places, events and people are excellent. I could specifically relate to it as half the story is set in the city that I grew up in and the author describes the city from all angles, including calling it a city with no past and no visible future. He talks about the city in such a way that you can almost smell the city and feel it. He describes the emotions also with equal ease, and you can feel what the protagonist is going through. He describes his house in Himalayas, and the visuals from its various angles in such a way that you can visualize the whole valley. He describes people in such a way that you would think of someone that resembles the character.

The story touches all the aspects that touch a usual human life-childhood, politics, history, mystery, relationships, love, lust, famous and common people, chance encounters, weird people and events, cross cultures, religion, lack and abundance of money, free spirits, traditional living etc. All this is neatly woven together in a web that may entangle you.

You would enjoy reading this intense and bold story, which is definitely different and original, especially if you are an intense person and like to lead an adventurous life.

Credit: Anuradha Goyal

Popularity: 20%

I honestly don’t remember when was the last time I celebrated Valentine Day. It might very well be before my first child was born. But yes, when I was in my teens I had all the reasons in the world to express my love to someone whom I cared so much. Not that I don’t have now And I always thanked those who created this day . Ironically, I never bothered to find out the history behind Valentine Day celebration until Mr.Muthalik reminded me to.

A brief Wiki search tells me that the holiday originates from the story of Saint Valentine, who upon rejection by his mistress was so heartbroken that he took a knife to his chest and sent her his still-beating heart as a token of his undying love for her. Hence, heart-shaped cards are now sent as a tribute to his overwhelming passion and suffering. This, of course, is one such theory.

In his recent interview with CNN IBN, Muthalik continued where he and his men left off from Mangalore and continued to reiterate that he is against the western culture that is driving India and the many Indians following these. If I were to go by Saint Valentine theory, Valentine’s day has nothing to do with being a Western or following a western tradition – it is all about expressing love and love has no barriers.

Mr. Muthalik seem to have failed in understanding this. His continuous blabbering is only spreading hatred in the society. Sooner the government realizes this and takes steps to stop him, the better for India and its billion peace lovers. 

The best way to fight such anti-social elements is to give it back to him in the same coin.  Celebrate this Valentine’s day like nobody’s business and send a message to the evil forces that stop us from expressing love. Prove a point to the followers of religious fanaticism and pseudo gate keepers of Indian traditions that love can conquer all.

What is Muthalik & his followers, after all – a mass of some flesh, no bones, no brains ?

I am definitely celebrating this Valentine’s Day – Are you ?

Image Credit: Felix Francis

Popularity: 12%

I want my child to be a politician or get real. Why? Because I want my child to tell an audience how to do something right or remain doing it right all through her life. Why? Because I have been a little gutless doing it myself. Do what right ? Live life right. What does that mean? I don’t mean to preach, tell someone to follow a religion, or to spread peace, or to love everybody, or to never lie. None of this.

I want my child to help build roads, facilitate dialogues for conclusive resolutions. I want my child to plant trees as many as she can. Not care if it’s in the middle of a busy market. Tell people that getting real is not all that difficult.

My child should be able to look terror in its eye and say I will vanquish you. I don’t mean dramatically but yes I mean remove it from the root. Keep the politics aside for 5-6 years and clear all matters. Remove borders for talks.

My child should not call a river its’ own or say a mountain belongs to it. Or say linguistically speaking a guest is not welcome somewhere.

I’m not speaking about birds chirping, vegetation flourishing and planet being alive for eternity. I do not even know if that’s possible. But I know it’s possible for my child to take these measures to ensure she lives. She will not do this for her next generation but for herself.

I will call my child India. Why shouldn’t I? I will never know what to say when India will quiz me about why I sat back and gazed while pieces shattered. India will run and play without a fear. India will scream happiness. India will never lose hope on her siblings and fellow mates.

India will make friends who will all grow up in harmony. India will never plot a terror plan, I will not let India kill someone and take pride in it. My India will not slay for gases and natural resources. No carnages to prove a point, meaningless one at that.

India shall be simple yet luxurious and generous in spreading a smile. India will crack jokes and tickle brains. She will learn to dance and sing, she may not be the best at it but she will do it regardless. She will pick her ball up from the garbage when it rolls there not fearing that she may touch a bomb.

India is my child and she is born. She is alive and breathes with me. She walked this land with me for all these years. She is that little voice in me I have killed so many times. I will let her grow, will let her grow and blossom into the India I have always dreamt about.

My India will not be torn apart and bathed with blood. She will sing a different song that will sound just like me and everything that is seen and heard.

Image Credit: McKaySavage

Popularity: 13%