Agent 007 says “the world is not enough” and lesser mortals like us say “It’s a small world!” I never thought I will find out how small it is while riding a cab in Mumbai. I wasn’t in a tearing hurry but the cabbie seemed irritated by the pedestrians who kept on straying into the vehicle’s path. At one such left turn he almost bumped into a street vendor who was not paying much attention to where he was going. When the cabbie braked hard, I braced for a heated discussion and a few choice abuses hurled back and forth.

But unexpectedly, the cabbie stretched out his hand with a smile and the vendor - after he recovered from the shock of almost being bumped off the face of earth – grasped it with an equally broad smile. I was flabbergasted! What is this? World Courtesy Day!

The cabbie offered an explanation when the cab started moving again. Looking in the rear-view mirror he grinned and said “That was my sister’s husband!” :-)

As I have said on this blog before, the 100.7 FM Gold channel can be a source of lot of interesting information about what’s happening in the far-flung areas of the country – only if you can put up with some of their RJs.

I was listening to one of their programs last week when there was a news item about a Vishvidyalaya in Merath that has undertaken a project to collect Hindi sayings and idioms used in nearby villages. When the anchorwoman asked the head of the project to tell us about few of idioms, he came up with 2 very succinct ones – ठाकुरों की बारात मै हुक्का कौन भरे and मै रानी, तू रानी, कौन भरेगा पानी (if everyone thinks of himself as someone important, who will do mundane work?). Are our politicians listening? :-)

Looks like Sanjeev Kapoor is coming up with a channel of his own. Can’t wait to find out what shows feature on it :-)

You never know what these researchers will come up with next. Recently I read that a researcher in Japan is working on how to put the mosquitoes to a good use – to deliver vaccines with every bite!

I must confess that most of the times the contents of the “Cosmic Uplink” column in Economic Times are beyond my comprehension. :-) But once in a while, there is a good story to be read in it. That’s how I came across the story of the Duck Hunter.

There’s a duck hunter who goes in search of a good dog to retrieve the ducks he has shot. He finds one and the seller claims that the dog can walk on water. The duck hunter buys the dog and sets out on his hunting with a friend.

He shoots a duck and orders the dog to retrieve it. The dog walks on water and brings the duck back. The hunter can hardly believe his eyes. He turns to his friend and asks him if he saw what the dog just did. The friend calmly says “Oh yes, looks like your dog cannot swim!”

Moral of the story – people don’t believe in miracles even if they are staring them right in the face!

A thought-provoking SMS:

Things are supposed to be used and people are to be valued.
But the problem these days is that people are being used and things are being valued.

Just glanced through the Manifesto published by the CPI(M) on their website http://vote.cpim.org/.

While there are some very good points in the Manifesto, here are some that made my jaw drop to my knees:
- No privatisation of pension funds
- Extending support to the Palestinian cause; severing military and security ties with Israel
- Abrogating the Defence Framework Agreement with the US and cessation of Indo-US joint military exercises
- Enacting legislation to annul the Supreme Court judgment prohibiting strikes
- Enacting legislation to provide reservation in the private sector

Are these guys for real? :-(

Oh, and BTW, if you make it to the end of the looooong .pdf file, you will see a point "Prohibition of corporate funding to political parties" under "Electoral Reforms". This, like charity, should begin at home. I hope CPI(M) realizes that :-)

The Lost Throne – by Chris Kuzneski

An ancient monastery in an isolated part of central Greece – surrounded by nothing but the towering cliffs - and the hour of midnight। What does that bring to your mind? An ocean of peace and tranquility? You are wrong! A group of highly trained warriors manages to break into the inaccessible Holy Trinity and sends the monks hurtling down the cliffs – after beheading them mercilessly. What were the monks protecting?

In another part of the world, a billionaire is terrified for his life because he has found something that is guarded by people who will go to any length to protect it। Will he be able to outwit them or will he be the next one to take the secret to his grave – his early grave?

Jonathan Payne and David Jones are on vacation, totally unaware of how their lives are going to be linked to the dead monks and the terrified billionaire who is on the run to save his life।

If it hasn’t sounded interesting so far, ask Google about “Metéora”, “Sparti” and “Heinrich Schliemann”. If that doesn’t make you reach out for Chris Kuzneski’s “The Lost Throne”, I will eat my hat (थौघ I don’t wear one!). A must-read for those of us who thrive on ancient mysteries!

Though I am of the opinion that caste, community or religion should not matter as long as one has talent, I am amused by one comment made by Varun Gandhi - he says that he is a Hindu। In the Indian society, the child inherits the father’s religion, isn’t it? Going by that rule, if Firoz Gandhi was a Zorashtrian, so was Sanjay Gandhi and so is Varun Gandhi! ये बात कुछ हजम नही हुई :-)

And the song that's uppermost in my mind today:

पहलेसे लिखा कुछभी नही

रोज नया कुछ लिखती है तू

जो भी लिखा है दिलसे जिया है

ये लम्हा फिलहाल जी लेने दे

Last week I got an SMS about BJP's "grand IT vision for tranforming India". Some of the salient points left me wondering:

1. Internet enabled education in every school - hope they will be trained on how to use it.
2. eBanking for every Indian - even if he/she doesn't have any bank account? WOW!
3. 1.2 Crore new IT-enabled jobs in rural areas alone - What about net connectivity in rural areas? I stay in a metro and God knows when the cable is down, I have to make at least 3-4 calls and still, it takes 2-3 days for someone to turn up and set it right. BTW who is going to train these people?

Hmmm....this message told me at the end that I could SMS certain number to stop receiving further such messages. But I am yet to do so. I don't want to deprive myself of more material for this blog :-)

The Bank Job

These days when you hear the word “Bank” you can’t help but think of all the ones that went belly-up on Wall Street. :-) But once upon a time, banks used to make you think of the word “Heist”!

“The Bank Job” is based upon one such real life bank robbery tha took place in 1971 on the Baker Street. The thieves got in by digging a tunnel and broke into the safe deposit boxes looting jewellery and cash worth over three million pounds. What’s more, nothing was ever recovered, no one was ever arrested.

I do not know how far the movie version has stayed faithful to these real life events. But to tell the story in a nutshell: Terry Leather (Jason Statham) – a conman, is now a London car dealer. Life is dull but straight when in walks Martine, his former teammate. She tells Terry that her latest boyfriend has told her about how a particular bank’s alarm is going to be non-functional for a few days. A better opportunity to rob it would never present itself again!

Terry readies his team, little knowing that Martine’s ultimate goal is to secure the contents of only one safe deposit box – a compromising “portfolio” of one of the royals! M-5 (or M-6!) is using her jail sentence - for possession of narcotics - as the bargaining chip to get at that “portfolio” – because they in turn need it to nab a Trinidad thug. And to make matters a wee bit more complicated, there’s no telling what London’s high and mighty has got stashed away in those safe deposit boxes :-) Terry and his buddies are going to step on a lot of tails for sure but can they walk away with the loot - and their lives?

Don’t ask me. Go grab the DVD and watch it for yourself! :-)

Mirrors

What is it that scares you most? Is it an ancient mansion in the middle of nowhere? Or a grove of trees where darkness reigns supreme? How about a cemetery in the dead of the night? But will you be afraid of the mirrors and everything that casts a reflection?

Ben Carson (Kiefer Sutherland) is a disgraced NYPD detective who is relieved from the duty after killing a man in a shooting. An out-of-the-work alcoholic, he takes up the job of a night watchman at Mayflower Department Store – or whatever is left of it after a deadly fire partially destroyed it years ago. But a boring job is the least of his problems. His marriage is on the rocks forcing him to stay with his younger sister.

Ben is trying to mend his ways and sees this job as the next step in that direction. He, however, is puzzled by the squeaky clean mirrors throughout the ruins. Apparently, his predecessor was obsessed about keeping them clean. Ben discovers that there is more to these mirrors than meets the eye when he starts seeing images in them. Needless to say, no one believes him – not even his ex-wife.

All hell breaks loose when his sister is murdered in a grisly fashion in her bathtub. And Ben has to run from pillar to post in search of the person whose name is repeated over and over again by the horrid images in these mirrors. Because if he doesn’t find that person, he will never see his family again!

If you want to get spooked every time you look into the mirror, this movie is for you. Believe me - I know. I washed my face without looking in one for one whole day! :-(