Life is an Agneepath

Disclaimer: What follows next is a truly random, crappy and perhaps illogical post, written in an absolutely frustrated state of mind. Please don't bother to read or comment. There, you were warned.

24. The number is indeed special. It represents so many things. Its the number of hours we spend everyday on this planet. Its the number of hours the planet takes to rotate around itself. You may ask whats the difference, aren't they both one and same? Think again. One definitely needs a wake up call if he/she thinks that something extra ordinarily unique like a day from his/her life can be equated with a super repetitive natural phenomenon like the rotation of a 6 trillion trillion KGs of mass around a hypothetical rod of length 12000 km. 24, for me represents Life - and now that I'm have completed my 24th revolution around the sun today, I am being made aware of the quintessential fact, that Life does not remain a bed of roses forever. Its a path of fire or an Agneepath and everyone feels the heat sometime or later. I guess the heat was always there for me but the coals are getting just too hot now to ignore it anymore.

I never thought everything would suddenly change like the way it has from the last 18 months or so. Some changes were welcome and anticipated, some unexpected and ready-to-be-faced but to see the smooth machinery of my comfortable existence to be brought down to such a grinding halt like this is scaring. I thought I would get used to it soon, but seems like I don't really like the fact that someone has moved my cheese. It hurts and it pains big time, and there simply is no looking away from the fact. So what should one do next? Introspect and think of a solution to replace what you're missing while retaining what you like from the new life?

Why is it so difficult for some of us to forget the fading past and race ahead for that bright future? I guess the answer lies in what a person's Ikigai is. Ikigai - translated from Japanese literally means - "something important one lives for". I absolutely hate it when I see people deciding on almost every important course of their life based on the "economic prospects" instead of doing something they are passionate about. How can someone be truly happy from within and live a satisfying life if he is not doing something he enjoys? The very fact that almost everything that happens today is being controlled by the greedy capitalist economies that we live in, nauseates me. Look at us, how we have forgotten to enjoy God's best gift of "growing up" and instead slog for that Engineering / MBA degree. Instead of following the pursuit of happiness during the flagrant youth life that we had been looking forward to, most of the times we dedicate more than what we are expected to, to the "productive" part of our life craving for that promotion/ raise/ appraisal. If one should eat to live and not live to eat, then why do we live to work instead of working to live?

But Alas, its something for which we don't have a solution yet. After all, the very survival and satisfaction of our material needs depends on the world we live in. So accept it, we must, anyway it is. But in the end, its imperative to take out time for oneself every single day. Because if you don't do that today, thats 24 hours gone from your life like Keyser Soze disappears... poof... just like that. And its important to mention here that, unless proved otherwise, we have only one life. Damn it. Only One. And the length of this solitary life is beeping uncertain. As Mark Twain once said, "Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn`t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines, sail away from the safe harbour, catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore... Dream.. Discover". But the point here is that, does the world we live in allow us to do all these things at our will? Certainly not. We need to slog and work and learn and earn to do everything. Why does that sound like a vicious circle looping us into captivity forever? If ever there exists a "day of redemption", I hope I get an opportunity to clarify some of these issues with "Him".

The only thing we mortals can do is to just pick ourselves up from the fallen depths and try to rise from the ashes like that mystical phoenix. As to the challenges we face, perhaps they too are required in the long run or else how would we cope with the unexpected events? All said and done, I guess its only easy to speak and write about such stuff but terribly difficult to act upon. Or is it? If life is indeed meant to be an Agneepath then maybe that heat does act as a catalyst to surge us ahead or else we might just limp towards nothing. Its the fire that enables us but at the same time we need to carry that compressed CO2 Can with us to cool off things as frequently as we can. When things get bad, you should stop being sad and be awesome instead (True Story, Barney Stinson). When it seems that things are becoming impossible you need to shout back to the world, "It ain't over till I say its over. I'll be Back". And to top all the cliches that I've used so far, I would like to end it with what Hariwansh Rai Bacchhan once famously penned down and I now agree with:

Vriksh ho bhale khade, ho ghane, ho bade...
Ek patra chhav bhi mang mat, mang mat, mang mat...
Agneepath, Agneepath, Agneepath.

Tu na thakega kabhi, tu na thamega kabhi, tu na mudega kabhi...
Kar shapath, kar shapath, kar shapath...
Agneepath, Agneepath, Agneepath.

Ye mahaan drishya hai, chal raha manushya hai...
Ashru shwet raqt se lathpath, lathpath, lathpath...
Agneepath, Agneepath, Agneepath.

P.S.: I love the concept of Head Fakes (Randy Pausch - really achieving your Childhood dreams) and the head fake here is that the above blog post was actually meant only for me. The rest of the world reading this is just a bonus.

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Batman : The Dark Knight

As I had said in my last post (which was ages ago), Batman: The Dark Knight is simply the most awesome and God level movie (It's a master piece) ever made till date. (Note the date: It's 13th Sept '08, unless Chris Nolan and Christian Bale have again teamed up together for Batman 3 at the time of reading). The list of adjectives that I can use is simply endless to praise it. In fact, the one word which is apt might be Ubercool!! The proof of this obvious statement can be judged by the fact that it stayed on #1 on IMDB for a couple of months (yeah, the internet movie database, I am really surprised so many people haven't heard about it yet !!) and while some people (who don't have a taste in anything other than classy non fictions or those who don't appreciate the super hero mythology) cried foul and said it would slid down are still amazed as to why its still #3 on IMDB... Of course, its based on perception, but you can't deny the fact that the movie is really class apart - which can be attributed to the unbelievably good direction and vision of Chris Nolan and the way his cast have been supporting him. The basic difference between Nolan's Batman and the earlier one can be credited to the one of the most fundamental attributes of Batman - the darkness within, the complicated chaos and the mindsets of characters involved in the storyline. My message to super hero film makers: "It's all about portraying the mythos and storyline as properly as it's done in comics". And that's where Batman: The Dark Knight and it's prequel (Batman Begins) score.

The movie obviously had an advantage of being a blockbuster even before it's scheduled release. It was riding high on the earlier prequel, Batman Begins' success and so the expectations were high. It had a really great ensemble of a cast. Plus the tragic death of Heath Ledger (who was really, really exceptionally brilliant in portraying the menacing Joker) put the movie in a lime light. Of course, as a super hero, Superman has always overshadowed Batman in terms of popularity and fan following, but I think this movie might as well reverse the trend (After all, I've always been a Batman fan, from the last 8 years when I had read the first DC Comics of my life ever).

To sum up the movie in brief, it begins with the sheer maniac and genius plan of the legendary Joker, who in Alfred's words is someone "who just wants to see the world burn" !! I mean, he is someone who believes that Gotham needs an altogether different class of criminals and this, coming from someone who believes in sending a message... "Everything Burns !!" and he really does torch a 15 feet high mound of cash... Insanity at its level best, must say that. He wants the end of Batman, by unmasking him and spins such a finely meshed web involving the mafia and the dark knight himself. In between the skirmish, Harvey Dent, the local super hero who makes a terrific effort to squash the crime in Gotham using his tremendous law skills, is entangled and life becomes messy for him. Another distinguishing highlight of this movie is that every charecter plays a hero - whether it is Alfred who continues to remove doubts from the fragile but impervious mind of Bruce Wayne or whether it is Det. Gordon who is simply superb yet again and you can't forget Morgan Freeman - who believes in certain sets of ethics and signs off in the end with style. Between all the punches, explosions and stunt-work is some great dialog work. All the actors have their moments and this list is endless.

Bale's Batman is THE definitive Batman because we see everything in this character finally on film. Martial arts skills, cunning, great tactical thinking, forensic application, technological genius to advance or improve Luscious Fox's inventions/technological breakthroughs, intimidating personality, and even a little swashbuckling.

As for Heath, yes he gets credit for his performance as the Joker. But you have to also recognize Jonathan and Chris Nolan for the writing and treatment of the character. It's not just the fact that Ledger makes the Joker so menacing, but the Nolans have given the character this great manifesto that drives its actions. The Joker's stance on chaos, order, anarchy, the morality of the average modern human being make the character so interesting psychologically. The Nolans have drafted a complex character and only a perfect performance could've pulled something like this off. That's how difficult of a role this was, and that's why Ledger's performance is so great.

An imperishable, spectacular and chaotically-brilliant movie. The Dark Knight possesses the essence that should always exist in the handover from comics to the big screen. Sequence after sequence, this is the absolute glory. A great movie that does not give even a single frame to breathe. An ode to chaos and anarchy, while shares are confronted inevitably lead to a path dirty, black and hostile. A real Gotham City, dominated by fear.

This is the best film of the all time. Simply put, The Dark Knight belongs to a category where no comic adaptation could enter before. Thanks Christopher Nolan. Thank you very much for a film that's a lot more than the typical film based on comic books. Please do post your views about what you felt about this legendary movie by clicking here.

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The most motivational video ever !!

I am just a paper away from completing my engineering final exams, and during this troubled times of the year, I always surf the internet for some cool stuff to get my mind off the boring world of metals and materials (just a personal opinion, no offense meant to great researchers in the field). And on youtube, keying the words "motivational" (since thats the prime important thing, which people like me, who begin to study at the eleventh hour need :-) ), I found this video which has really inspired me... like anything... Seems like everyone must watch it at least once. What are you waiting for? Click the "play" button now !!

Its about What a man can do and and there is nothing called impossible in this world... Truly awesome stuff... Though the video seems to be an Indianised version of the original, it has many global facets as well. Enjoy watching the video !!



The song is "Ameno" by Era Group. And don't bother to look for translation. The song is just a collection of myriad sounds from a modified Latin format. Hope you liked it. Somehow one gets a feeling its been funded by Apple, but what the heck, its good anyway. Please do comment, which was "the" moment that touched your heart most in the video !! (for me, it was Gandhiji lifting the pinch of salt... quite a revolutionary moment which laid the foundations of not obeying the Imperial Rule).

Click here to post your views and comments. And don't quit because you think something is impossible !!

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Think Different. Change the world.

Here’s to the crazy ones.

The misfits.
The rebels.
The troublemakers.
The round pegs in the square holes.
The ones who see things differently.

They’re not fond of rules.
And they have no respect for the status quo.

You can praise them, disagree with them, quote them,
disbelieve them, glorify or vilify them.
About the only thing you can’t do is ignore them.
Because they change things.

They invent. They imagine. They heal.
They explore. They create. They inspire.
They push the human race forward.

Maybe they have to be crazy.
How else can you stare at an empty canvas and see a work of art?
Or sit in silence and hear a song that’s never been written?
Or gaze at a red planet and see a laboratory on wheels?
We make tools for these kinds of people.

While some see them as the crazy ones,
we see genius.
Because the people who are crazy enough to think
they can change the world, are the ones who do.

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The Greatest Theory

Man has a tendency of assuming things flat or straight unless they are proved to be circular, spherical or in a loop. In fact he continues to live on the circumference of a huge, giant circle without even realizing that it is, after all, a loop. Actually its not his fault. The loop is just so big, that its curvature can easily be neglected without any serious errors in the blip of a human life.

Man designates the point where he stands as 'zero'. He runs to his right , eventually gets tired and calls it 'plus infinity'. Then he tries to run to his left, again gets tired and calls it 'minus infinity'. His vanity has blinded him from seeing the bigger picture.

Consider this example. What is the largest thing or the greatest distance that man has known, say a billion light years. And what is the smallest thing or the least count of the most precise measuring instrument ever, say a billionth part of nanometer. Imagine you have this superhuman power that you can shrink down at your will to whatever size you want. In doing so, you may first shrik down to the size of an ant, then an amoeba, then an electron, but you still want to continue to go smaller and smaller. Here lies the catch. You do not realise that you are in a continuous loop. It has no end. Eventually you will be on the other side, approach 'plus infinity' from behind and suddenly find yourself a billions of light years in size. You continue to shrink, you will cross the 'zero' mark or your original size but still be in the same loop.

Same is the thing with time. If you transport yourself a billion years in the future, you might just end up in a few billion years in the past.

P.S.: This has been borrowed from a fellow friend - Archit's blog. So if anyone is going to sue me for plagiarism, this is a disclaimer... Plz, I am already in heavy debt.

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