A load of crap from an idle brain

A lot of good things and humongous amount of ugly things happened in 2008.  The global financial meltdown, terror attacks in Bombay and the rest of the country, millions of job losses, more than 20 banks going bust in the US.  Big investment companies like Lehman, Merrill Lynch, Bear Stearns etc down the drain.  All the bad things were very promptly covered by the world media.  So, let me look at some of the best things that happened to me this year.

Best thing to happen to me in 2008

I got married.  Is there anything better than this?

Travel in 2008

I made 4 trips to India this year and contributed my part to global warming.  So, other than the regular trips home, 2008 has been a pretty dry year when it came to travel.  2009 seems more promising as i already have lots of travel plans lined up now that i have my wife as my travel partner.

Movies in 2008

Have lost count of the number of movies i watched this year.  It should be more than 150.  That means around one in 2 days.  Fortunately, i dont restrict myself to any particular genre or language,  so i have had the honour of watching some truly remarkable movies across languages

Let me emphasize that all the movies mentioned below are not necessarily released this year.  These are just some of the movies that i saw this year which impressed me.

Aamir
A Wednesday
Mithya
Oye Lucky Lucky Oye
Jodhaa Akbar
Tahaan
Subramaniapuram (Tamil)
Dasavatharam (Tamil)
Gamyam (Telugu)
Slumdog Millionaire
Dark Knight
Children of Men
Death at a Funeral
Before Sunset
Taken
21
3:10 to Yuma
Transsiberian
Rebel without a cause
The Towering Inferno
In Bruges
Traffic
Gran Torino
28 weeks later
Rang-E-Khoda (Colour of Paradise) – Iranian
Bacheha-Ye aseman (Children of Heaven) – Iranian

Books in 2008

Kaoboys of R&AW – B Raman
Eleven Minutes – Paulo Coelho
Reluctant Fundamentalist – Mohsin Hamid
Freakonomics – Steven Levitt
Barefoot Investor – Scott Pape
Undercover Economist – Tim Harford
It happened in India – Kishore Biyani
We are like that only – Rama Bijapurkar
The World is Flat – Thomas Friedman
Intelligent Investor – Benjamin Graham

Investments in 2008

At the begining of the year even though there were predictions that the world economy was in for a rough ride, no one would have believed if the markets would be at a situation where it is now.  From 20,000 to 9000, the Sensex has been on a mother of all crashes.  My portfolio is totally in the red.  But then as some great soul said…

Buy when everyone sells and sell when everyone buys

Iam buying and have built up quite a bit of my portfolio by now.  I averaged out quite a lot of my losses and surely dont need the market to climb back to 20k to see a positive portfolio.  I still cant believe why people keep advising me that i should start buying only when the market is stable.

How does one judge when a market turns stable?  The worst thing you can do is to time the market.  Its practically impossible for anyone to guess the top and the bottom of the market. The only thing a long term investor can do is to religiously invest a bit of his savings in the market and cash out when he hits paydirt.

Career in 2008

Nothing interesting happened in my career during 2008. In fact, hanging on to the job one has is the mantra in this gloomy economy. In fact this is a good time to start studying and get certified in some courses that can make a difference when the economy rebounds.

My resolution for 2009

…. is to have no resolutions

+++

This blog completes 1 year today

The number of views and posts have been beyond my wild imagination.  Am already reaching 400,000 (4 lakh) hits soon.  I do see that the frequency of posts have gone down post marriage.  I do agree that there is a very beautiful distraction in my life now, but i have no intentions of abandoning this very precious obsession of mine.

As we approach the 61st year of independence, its time to highlight some of the achievements and the things that make India that it is. Hope to put up more articles on the hidden gems that prop up the country inspite of the bad news all around.

Thanks for reading and all the support this past one year.  Made some great friends on the net through this blog.  Hoping for a continuation of this incredible journey.

+++

Jaane Tu…Ya Jaane Naa

One thing that beats me completely is how can someone as perfectionist as Aamir Khan give nod to a lousy script as this one.  And how can someone like Abbas Tyrewala who has written some solid scripts like Maqbool and Munnabhai think of making a movie on this.

Honestly, had a lot of expectations from the movie considering the fact that it was an Aamir Khan production with such a solid assembly of technicians. Everything in the movie is great except the script.  Imran Khan is not your typical hero, Genelia is bubbly, vibrant and emotes well.  Surely she is one of the better prospects in the industry than bimbos like Katrina, Bipasha, Aishwarya etc.

Or then maybe i was too engrossed with wifey sitting beside me that i lost the plot of the movie.  Anyways, not a great prospect from the reputed Aamir Khan productions.  Better luck next time.

My rating:  (**) 2/5

The Dark Knight – Batman

Well, what should i say about the movie that hasnt been told before.  You can watch the movie for just one person, Heath Ledger. His Joker is creepy, violent, sadistic and sends a chill down your spine with his antics. Batman, unlike other superheroes has a dark side to him unlike the goody goody Superman.  And Christopher Nolan has exploited the same to the hilt.  Though the movie has a lot of messy and confusing sub plots, its a compelling watch.  A bit on the longer side, still surely one of the best big budget movie to come out of Hollywood in years. Aaron Eckhart as Harvey Dent is too good.  But his transformation at the end was not so convincing.

Christian Bale as Batman is ok, but he is completely overshadowed by the Joker.  Sad, we will miss Heath Ledger. I havent watched Brokeback Mountain.  Believe, its time for me to go through his entire filmography and catch up on what i missed out.

But the icing on the cake?  I watched The Dark Knight in Prasad IMAX at Hyderabad (one of the biggest 3-D IMAX screen in the world).  And the experience.  Fabulous.  Simply mindblowing.  The ariel shots of Gotham city, the entire stunt sequence in Hong Kong…., they have to be seen in IMAX to be believed.

My rating (****.5)  4.5/5

Above pictures courtesy: Santabanta, Warner bros

+++

…this morning in Singapore.  It has been 17 days of hectic bliss back at home.  I got married on 14th July.  Cant believe that 13 days have passed since.  Had no time to go for a honeymoon as i had just 2 weeks of leave for the wedding.  All plans have been kept on hold for now.

Life post marriage is great. It took a bit of a time, but i slowly managed to get over the ‘me’ and have included ‘we’ in the decisions.  The journey has just started.  It was hectic shuttling between our homes even though both of us hail from the same city of Hyderabad. Visiting relatives, church, the customary introduction to the hundreds of people (faces and names of whom i dont even remember now) were just part of the schedule.

Managed to pull wife out of the crowd for some personal ‘alone times’ with her.  Managed to catch 2 movies in the process.  Jaane Tu and The Dark Knight in IMAX.  The IMAX was a hell of an experience.  Awesome screen and an equally brilliant movie. Reviews of both the movies will follow in the future posts.

Monday means both of us go back to our respective schedules of work. Its back to the rut, but its a happy feeling and the heart is naturally elated as i realise that my status has finally changed

+++

Iam flying back tonight to Hyderabad.  Oh yeah, am excited.  The 3 months post engagement have sped past and before i can realise, there is just 5 days to the wedding.

Will be back in Singapore on 27th July.  Blogging will be practically non-existent during this 2 weeks period.  Thanks once again to each and everyone for your wishes and blessings.  More stories when iam back.

Till then, be good

Above picture from TownofStMarys

+++

Just 15 days to go and the mind has started playing its games. Its actually a strange mix of excitement and nervousness. The final days of my bachelorhood are here. It feels strange that my status will finally change after 32 years. Am sure its going to be an interesting 2nd half of my life.  Honestly, am itching to get started.

Met up with a couple of friends over dinner on Friday.  As we lazed at the beach watching the waves and the ships in the background, my friends mercilessly kept ribbing me over my soon to be ex-single life. It was good fun.  Both of them are married and it was good to hear their experiences.  We went for dinner at a Kerala restaurant.  It was a funny bachelor’s party as hardly any booze flowed.  All of us had just one glass of beer each keeping in mind the tradition.  As one was working the next morning and the other was driving, none wanted to increase the intake of alcohol.  And i love such a scenario. Cost effective too, u see

My colleagues and friends are so surprised that my wedding is close by and iam so cool with no visible stress signs. They dont realise that all the tension of arranging stuff for my wedding has been outsourced to my parents and brother back home.  All i need is to do is to just laze my way into the wedding.  Will shop for my clothes in Hyderabad.  Clothes are damn costly in Singapore and also there is not much choice unlike in India.  Unless i want to shop for brands, which i dont.  Anyway the stuff you buy for the wedding just rots away in the cupboard once the D day is over.  That’s why i love the whole concept in Europe and America where people like to rent their suits, tuxedo, wedding gown etc for the day.  That’s very cost-effective.

Meanwhile, an interaction with Nandan Nilekani, Co-Founder and Co-Chairman of Infosys on CNBC’s “Young Turks Tutorial”.  I cant seem to be able embed the video.  Click on the links here and here to watch it.  Quite a nice watch.

+++

So let me start of first with the exam. It was just ok. Am not sure if i can clear it off this time. Let’s see. If nothing works out, there is always December. Yay. See, i always look for a silver lining in the dark cloud.

Oil prices going through the roof means that everything’s becoming costlier. The house rentals have gone up too. Though am yet to find out any comparison between the two. Glee with anticipation that iam getting married, my landlady has jacked up the rentals. I got no choice anyway. So just grin and bear it. Airfares from Singapore to India are freaking costly. Its SG$1050 for the round trip in Singapore airlines. No other airline is flying direct from Singapore to Hyderabad and with just 2 weeks leave, i dont want to play hop and skip with Malaysian, Sri lankan or Thai airways. Also there is not much savings by flying with them. As for Air india and Indian, i will not let even my dog fly with them. So, that rests the case.

In the past 6 months, this is my 3rd trip home and everytime, i have had to pay more than SG$1k. Coupled with it is the upheavals at work and am not sure of why so many things are happening at the same time. Anyway, since none of them are in my control, i let things be the way they are and swim along, and see where the tide takes me.

And then, over the past one week i have watched these 4 movies. Reviews and ratings follow

Juno
Steet Kings
woodstock villa
sarkar raj

+++

It was my parents’ 37th Wedding Anniversary yesterday (17th May 2008). Interesting to see that they managed to hang on to each other for so long. Phew

+++