My Hiatus

It has been a long time since I have blogged. Even though I had plenty to blog about but for some reason I never did. I guess the main reasons that I was lazy or I didn’t have time are just excuses. Over the past few months I have experienced a lot, probably not as much as many others, but on my account I have crossed my boundaries. Settling down in college was my time to begin a new. This sort of independence which I had never experienced before got to me and I succumbed easily to it. I had made friends quickly who took me places I probably wouldn’t have gone before simply for the fact that I used to hate dancing. I got to see things which people get easily influenced to do. Basically my music tastes started changing from soft Rock to R n B and Hip Hop. I started enjoying my new lifestyle which is very different from the one I had in Dubai. And along with that my marks were good enough for my standards, thus I had nothing pulling me back. This continued for most of my first semester and it was awesome. I loved it because it was fun and nothing else. College became ‘fun’.
This winter when I went back home I realized I had changed a lot. My ‘friends’ had not changed as much as I had. Talking about the same old stories of school started to annoy me. I didn’t even want to meet most of my class mates. I actually thought twice before going back to school. Small things started to get on my nerves. New years and holidays came and went by basically.
But on the journey back to Toronto from Dubai is when something suddenly hit me. I realized how far away from home I really am. When I first came here, my parents were with me. But this time I was alone. Being this far away from home filled me with all sorts of insecurities. I know everybody lives here alone and are independent. But it is also true that they also have some sort of family here. Some distant aunt or Uncle to whose house you can go away for the weekend or even to have a nice ghar ka khana, If anything happens to you, you know that they are there to help you in anyway they can. They will be over as soon as possible if something goes wrong. I know its crazy to worry about things like this. But Toronto, unlike Dubai, is a big city and anything is possible. It got me thinking even more after what happened in Judy’s car, the day I got back. Sometimes I do feel alone in a big city. I know I have friends here, no matter 4 months old or 4 years old, who can give you some sense of security which can be comforting. But there is only a point till where your friends can do something for you. After that you are on your own. That’s where your parent’s security comes in. Dubai never made me feel insecure and I thought I was courageous enough to take on the world. But it’s when you start living on your own fourteen hours away from home, outside the comfort zone, you realise how difficult it is to keep up a balanced and secure lifestyle especially in college. I try to do my best to stay grounded, but the thought of having ‘fun’ always manages to overrule everything else.

Chak De India

I have to start with a bad note because this Movie is nothing great. Just Different from the rest of the Hindi Movies. Any other movie which comes to close this one is Lagaan. And Chak de is no where close to it. Good acting by King Khan and the Girls squad. I like Shahruk when he acts in these types of movies, not anymore as a Lover Boy. I loved him Swades and now this one where he has given a natural performance. Not the usual types! The girls bring out the laughter in the movie. The casting for them was done pretty well. I think the movie could have much done with a better plot and a twist. The story and the game became toooo predictable at the end. I actually told my mom how the score line would go. If they could have thought of the Script and Storyline a little more it would have been great. The petty emotions in the movie were a little too much. The thing with Chak De is that it is one of its kind-type-movie in Bollywood or IFI but thousands of movies like this have been made in Hollywood so it becomes too conventional for me. But I have to agree that Chak De highlights many social and women issues in India very well. The spirit of Hockey was also well portrayed.

I specially wanted to blog on Chak De because this movie reminded me of our Inter school football journey. It’s like the movie was inspired from us, our Football Team. Its starts of with the Ministers (Principal) not encouraging and believing in the team at all and passing comments like “they would lose the first two matches and come back. Whats the point in doing anything??” Then this new coach comes who is like real rough and tough. Abuses and insults the players all the while making them train harder and harder. None of the players like him at first but that slowly begins to change as the results begin to come. They slowly start to have faith in their Coach. They lose their initial matches and then they begin to win. They reach the finals where they play their nemesis (Indian High) and win the tournament. I don’t know if others would be able to relate but the football team will surely be able too. It felt good because we were the underdogs and nobody believed in us that we could win and we finally did it! Pretty awesome that it matched exactly with movie.

I hope a well directed and original football movie also comes up in Bollywood which will inspire people to play, invest and enjoy football as well as they do cricket. I really want football to grow in India. I also hope that Bollywood comes up with ORIGINAL movies, even if the idea is copied please don’t copy exact scenes and dialogues from the Hollywood counterpart. Here I talk about movies like ‘Hey Baby, Partner, Etc.’

Chak De India – 7 out of 10.

P.S – Sorry, I am just bad with Movie reviews. I tried, it’s my first.

Vlogbrothers 2.0!!

These Guys have started this whole Video Blogging thing…. Every day they would post a video just as a blog entry accounting what they have done and how they done it. They just don’t make any video clip and put it up… they actually go through the work of proper editing, dialogue, set and all that technical stuff! Its actually pretty funked out.
A little info on these guys “Hank and John Green, Brothers for over 26 years, have stopped communicating...except through video blog.” To see all their work go to www.brotherhood2.com
I find the July 18: Accio Deathly Hallows to be the funniest!!! When he was singing the song I could only picture Tejas doing this in my head… Tejas you have been perfect! He would have come to my house and said “Romit man, I want to record something, its awesome man’ and would have posted it up!

Anyway Kudos to these guys for not only coming up with the idea but also going through the trouble of updating it everyday… that’s something!! Here is another...

The Recent Past

After 28th March, there has not been a single day I have touched my books. I have not practiced a single sum in Maths, not written down a Physical- chemical formula or even memorised anything. Life feels weird for sometime outside the world of our school. Just the hope is there that we will be able to recollect everything in college. Even the things we have not done in school like Calculus and I have like 2 courses in it. I promised myself I will go through it again after everyone leaves and I am left alone in Dubai because I am like one of the last to leave this place. This fun work filled summer has indeed been exciting. Not a single day was boring or uneventful.

From the start we had decided to work and continue with our passion of film (Video) making and see where we stand in the Industry. I say, not too far away from the top. Okay, a bit of exaggeration but our projects grew bigger and bigger over the period and now we are doing a documentary for Dubai Centre for Special Needs and that’s a big thing and on top of that we reached a position to sacrifice a project from a famous Bakery ‘Mr. Baker’ to have fun and chillax. The whole journey was worth it and now we have enough money in our pockets to spend like Rich spoilt Dudes. But once a miser always a miser. I will always be a miser; I don’t think I can change that. But I have been treating. Seriously though we have learnt a lot in the process about the industry and our clients, the business world, documentary making, interviews, politics, handling people and making contacts. The most important thing that I have learnt from the whole thing is that there are still people in this world who are really helpful and won’t complain a bit if we ask for their assistance. It is unbelievable the amount of help we have received from our contacts. I sincerely thank them

Even the whole experience for me with Dhruv helped me learn a lot about the film making industry and the Production houses and how to start as a film maker in this vast industry. It did cost me a lot of time and money in commuting from Karama to Emirates Hills. The Dubai Transport is completely to blame. It is seriously not safe to travel by bus during office hours. I have seen fights taking place and people getting pushed of the bus. Even the timings are infrequent. Waiting in the Dubai heat for 1 to 2 hours for a bus and coming back is just bullshit but people struggle and do it day after day. I guess all they can do is wait for the Metro system because the traffic is just killing. Overall my first employment did show me the struggles of life and how tough it can be. I guess I now know where I have to go and what I need to achieve in life.
Even though with all our work, we managed to find time for fun and games. We had our kinda fun. And now thanks to shooftv.com we are again dignified members of society. We can now walk into a mall and actually act like we are here to buy something. I was able to treat my parents for a fancy dinner at Nando’s for the first time and buy my very own stress reliever. Even my Laptop came as a blessing and now I can chat and facebook from my bed!! It is not bad at all to be lazy.
Now only things to look forward to are SFS, UTSC and Calculus. Oh….yea and Mystery shopping. The best way to earn seriously!!!

All the members of Redial, even the one in Bombay, Thank you for a great summer.

Not bad at all for a summer experience.

SHOOFER 11

We, as in Redial Entertainment, have entered an amateur film-making competition that is taking place in the U.A.E. To cut to the point, we have made it to the quarter-finals, and are two steps away from winning. Our progression depends on your voting, and therefore any support will be appreciated.

So if you like our videos, and you would like to vote for us, please vote for us in the following way(s):

[NOTE: Voting is possible only on TUESDAY, JUNE 19TH, 2007 FROM 12:00 AM TO 6:00 PM]

1. Go to http://www.shooftv.com/sq11.aspx, see our video submission, follow instructions and VOTE!
2. Follow instructions on this post which are the same ones as the ones on the official website. VOTE by:
1. For UAE Residences: SMS “SHOOFER 11” to 4324. [It costs only 90 fils. Any contribution will be really appreciated!]
2. For Internationals: SMS “SHOOFER 11” to +248980010.

Thank you for all your support guys, and I sincerely hope you will bless us with at least one vote!
P.S. Seriously, thank you for your support.

GOA....

Next up….Goa!!

Goa has the smallest airport I have ever seen. A small building for a terminal along with a runway beside it constitutes the airport. Passengers have to walk to the plane to get on. Now days Indian flights have become so cheap because of cost cutting that they charge you even for water, sandwiches and juices served commonly in any plane. Goa is generally a place for friends and couples. Dil Chahta Hai perfectly depicts the Goa’s scene. A place to relax on the beaches and occasionally enjoy the water rides.

It is a very friendly place in general. But the people loot the foreign tourists like anything. You won’t believe it how much they raise the prices. I bought a gift (Ali your basuri) for which they said 600 Rs. It’s crazy. For which I bargained and got it down to 75 Rs and I still feel I got robbed. The funny thing is to hear the village ladies (bhanhanji’s) selling stuff in the flea markets speak English in accents better than the English. It’s so funny man. Ali you would go mad. I wish I recorded it. Also many white skins are not only tourists, they are residents too. They have come and loved the place so much that they decided to settle down. The fact that I didn’t know about Goa was that it was ruled by the Portuguese till 1961. So many stayed back and began to reside there.

Goa is football crazy. It is unbelievable. Every 5 kilometers you can find a football pitch and players playing professionally like with referees and in jerseys and everything. That was good to see.

There are many churches and temples to visit for all the religious people. So there you go. Then there is the Agwada Fort where that famous ship scene was shot in DCH. For the rest, beaches are best place to just lay back and sleep or take a dip and play around with the nasty waves. Occasionally if you are lucky, you may get a live show. (if you know what I mean) Just one thing, stay of the Indian-occupied-part of the beach. You seriously don’t want to go for a swim with Indian bhanhanji’s who go to the water wearing saris and salwar kamiz and the men go in with transparent vests or dhotis. Just find your own private spot or relatively empty place.

The water sports are awesome there. I was over at Baga beach. We got see dolphins for free, we were just lucky I guess, otherwise you have to pay 300 Rs to go by boat to the deep sea and get a glimpse of them. Our dolphin came near the shore. That was kind of cool. I went for parasailing and water scooter rides. The good thing is that it is not that expensive. The scooter is for 200 bucks which you can bargain and get it down to a 100. Parasailing is 500 – 600 for Indians and 1000+ for white skin. Seriously parasailing was an experience which nobody can forget easily. A different feeling altogether. You can also go for Scuba diving buts that quite expensive, it will come around 2700 Rs. Overall, I was quite impressed with Goa. It is a very good holiday spot. For all those going to Bombay or Bangalore, they can go to Goa on weekends to chill out and have quality fun. It’s worth it.

India - Delhi and Jaipur

Just been Blogstipated for a long time now, don't know sometimes you have so much to write that you don't know where to start and finish. And sometimes you transcribe so much that you don’t want to touch the key board ever again.

Yea where I left of…Delhi. I don’t want to seem hypocritical as against my last post but as the days went by I began to fall in love with the place. It somehow seemed to grow on me. Talking to the people, the auto drivers, the internet café dudes, the Indian footballers with whom I played football, everyone just began to make feel at home. Dubai is a foreign land no matter what. I do not belong to this country and it makes me feel like that. There is so much to do there other than just hanging around in malls for time pass. Delhi might be a place without any sense of civic conscience, none at all. But sometimes having none can make it more fun and exciting. Everyday was an adventure, literally. Something new is going to happen and you know it. Going to meet Harry in Gurgaon, my sister in a remote place, family members millions of miles away were just awesome experiences and people you meet along the way can be quite interesting. In Dubai, it has become a routine. You either hang out in this mall or the other. It’s just that I am bored of this place. I am frustrated of all the black and white I see here after coming from a place full of color. I mean, in India, people celebrate anything and everything. I don’t like the whole concept of religious ceremonies and pujas, but I have realized it is nothing like that. It’s just an excuse for people to hang out, chill and more importantly socialize. It’s an excuse because people live so far away from each other that they can hardly meet unless for such occasions. My point being, somehow Dubai does not give me that emotional attachment, which every citizen needs, even though I have lived the crucial period of my life here. Delhi may not be as developed as Dubai, but it still gives me a sense of happiness and belonging that Dubai will never be able to provide. I belong there, I do not belong here. If it were not for my friends and school, I would have stayed there much longer.

Let’s cut the crap of comparing Dubai and Delhi and move on to Jaipur. After the long and delayed train ride to Jaipur from Delhi we found Harry waiting for us at the station. Sweetu!!! His farm house is one of the coolest and the scariest places I have seen. They were both partly because of Harry and his pregnant horses. He had raised our expectations of his farm house very high and it did manage to keep up with it. Starting from dogs to geese, they were all there. At day, his place can be quite fascinating with cats chasing mice and the dog chasing the cats. From pregnant horses fooling around to geese being presented as gifts, it was all happening. At night the place is freaky as hell. From Harry sleep walking and running around screaming like a crazy to Ali calling Satan and the lights going out followed by a thunder storm, rare in Rajasthan, and then the horse’s neighing and windows breaking and stuff. We almost believed that Harry was possessed.

First day we went to see the sophisticated-bitch-play, “Piano for sale.” Harry you screwed us. The play was so bad that most of the audience left at half time. We met Harry’s cool Uncle and Aunty who had the funniest dogs in the world, Buddhu Singh and Gabbar Singh. They made us laugh very much so. I still can't get over those two and Harry head butting Gabbar was just too funny.
Swimming in the rain in a pool full of rotten leaves and flowers was just awesome. “Swimming fighters…deadly positions…very nice!!”

Cycling through the village was interesting where we got some fantastic shots, saw a camel posing for the camera and the word SEX in big letters in the middle of no where. Who would have thunk? Happy happy times....seems only yesterday we were there. Time flies when you are having fun. Life?! :)

I would like to take this opportunity to thank Mr. and Mrs. Kapoor (Harry’s parents) for keeping up with us for 4 days. Harry's mom for controlling Ali’s desire to kick a cat. Thanks for letting us stay and have a great time. I say this on behalf of Ali and I.
For more photos please check my facebook.

To be continued….