Reg Slumdog

Reg Slumdog, I watched it in DVD (wonderful print) a couple of weeks back. I had read great reviews about the film & was very anxious to view it. The movie was good with riveting performances from the leading actors, fine music, excellent visuals, admirable screenplay etc. but.. I felt that some thing was missing. It was not wholly captivating, for me atleast. The script is totally commercial & lots of scenes were too unrealistic. I would consider it as a great masala movie with some stunning moments. Otherwise, I have seen much better movies which have not won any accolades at all. Even Rahman, I feel, have done better work than this. I don’t want to sound too critical, but this movie didn’t satisfy me entirely. Its a good movie, alright. But does it deserve this kind of hype & acclaim?

There were too many glaring loop-holes. I would mention just one. There is this quiz happening & the contestant has won 50 lakhs already & playing for 1 crore. The quiz master (Anil kapoor) asks the contestant a question & while our hero is thinking about the answer, ..Guess what happens…. there is a honk & Anil announces a break. Is this a live telecast or what? And is it possible that a contestant is given free time & allowed to roam around after a question (which carries a lot of money) is asked? Nonsense. This is just an example & thru’out the film, lot of such liberties has been taken.

And I feel the whole plot of the film stands on loose ground. Why should a guy be interrogated for answering right? just because he hails from a slum.. Do you think that makes sense & is it a possibility? Why should his roots bother a quiz master & even if he feels there is some malpractice involved, doesn’t police persecution look like an extreme step? That too an electric shock?? Its crazy.. Maybe, Mr.Boyle might have thought that in a country like India, anything & every atrocity is possible. I would re-iterate that it is a good film & I liked it, but it is definitely not a great film.

Amitabh Bacchan is being slammed off-late for criticizing Slumdog & the entire film fraternity is tearing him apart for his article about slumdog in his blog. But I would agree with him mostly. Why keep on selling India’s poverty & slums to westerners for the sake of money & awards. We, Indians, are always being type-cast as silly people in foreign movies & the western movie makers seems to be glorifying only our slums & our other deficiencies all the time.

It is a pity that even our own directors, when they want to make movies aiming at international recognition, would touch upon subjects like slum, communal violence, terrorism & the lavish Indian weddings only. Satyajiy ray started it by show-casing India’s poverty & the petty minded rich people / Zamindars. It is a pity that it is still continuing. Why not we OR they make movies on our rich heritage, culture, spirituality, religiousness, togetherness, ethical values, changing lives, booming economy etc? I wonder if there is ever a foreign movie or a serial made, which talks highly of India & its culture.

I remember seeing one part of Indiana Jones, where they portrayed India as a country of snake charmers & elephants. They showed an Indian kingdom which serves monkey brains & other animal parts as delicacies during lunch. I was so agitated (I heard the movie was banned in India during its release, but the damage was done at other countries only). Whichever foreign movie, wanting to be shot in India or wanting to show India, always show us in bad light only. There is a tele-film being telecast in HBO, which makes fun of our BPO set-ups & our accents & the stupidity of Indian workers. There could be very few exceptions here, but they cannot be considered as examples.

Coming back to Slumdog, I know I might sound very cynical, especially because the majority public seems to have been fascinated by the movie. But I cannot help feeling a little humiliated & let-down after watching the film. Maybe, if the westerners have made some movies to show India in good light, I could have possibly loved this flick. But that has not happened till now & India has always been projected as a country that is under-developed / poverty stricken / ridiculously superstitious / dirty / with thick brained people / local underworld dons / corrupt judiciary etc by foreign film makers. This is a very unhealthy phenomenon & has to be stopped even at the cost of few Oscars & Golden globes.



Review – Slum Dog by Arindham Choudhary (IIPM)

The real slumdog in the movie is not the main protagonist but India as a whole… The makers and those celebrating this movie's hard-to-spot brilliance are actually serving up India as the accidental millionaire, which in fact happens to be a slumdog… and like shameless fools we are gloating over its success without realising that it makes a caricature out of India. it's definitely a well cinematographed film… but the film has no soul, especially after little Jamal has jumped off the train and become a teenager… The rest of the film is just a modern version of the West's view of India where slums, slumdogs and Bollywoodian clichés have replaced the elephants and snake charmers.

Slums, open-air lavatories, riots, underworld, prostitution, brothels, child labour, begging, blinding and maiming of kids to make them into 'better beggars', petty peddlers, traffic jams, irresponsible call centre executives… Slumdog…" is just every scrap of dirt picked up from every corner and piled up together to try and hit back at the growing might of India. And the awards almost seem like a sadistic effort to show the world – look we knew that this was India, and these are the slumdogs we are outsourcing our jobs to. It stinks of racial arrogance and it's such a shame now on second thought to see the Indian faces – including that of the undoubted master, AR Rahman - celebrating its success.

When the West wanted Indians to embrace them and their companies to come to India and capture the lucrative markets, suddenly we had all the Indian women, some very beautiful and some not necessarily so, winning all the Miss Universe and Miss Worlds. Today, they are in a crisis and India is looking unstoppable despite its slums and poverty, and they are losing their businesses to us. Isn't it the best time to paint India as the Slumdog Millionaire?? Amitabh Bachchan was spot on when he said that Bollywood has made far better mainstream films.

This edited review has exactly captured my feeling towards this film. I, longingly, look forward to a day when the world cinema would celebrate a film made on contemporary India & its changing lifestyle OR the culture / heritage of India. This would happen only when our own directors start to do so & I can only pray that such a day comes soon.

India has a vast heritage & its history is mind-boggling. Why not we attempt to showcase our traditions & heritage in the real sense? We did try to make films on our celebrated kings, quite a few times actually. But what happened? Jodha Akbar was too commercialized to make an impact with the global audience. Consider Akbar singing & dancing for a duet and people singing a song praising Akbar. Same thing happened with Asoka. SRK & Kareena glamorized their roles & the director mixed his imagination with reality and the end product was awful. We have to look at the regional movies of Iran, Israel, Germany etc to understand how well they portray their country’s legacy & culture without diluting the true spirit.

How will this change? An image make-over has to happen in this industry & Iam looking at various people who can do it. This brings me to a different topic altogether. Who can bring true glory to the Indian cinema? Maybe, I would try to write my next blog based on this.

Who am I Kidding?

One Sunday.

9 Am. Iam feeling bored & start to browse thru the newspaper to find something interesting. The first page has an article about the Srilankan army capturing the town of Kilinochi successfully from LTTE & driving the Tigers deep into the jungle. But it seems that along with the LTTE, thousands of innocent Tamils were also running for safety & their future is completely uncertain in their own motherland. The news article carries few photographs - people vacating their houses carrying only the important items, a crying baby, a boy carrying a goat & a bleeding girl. Deep in their eyes one can see the pain, despair, fear & frustration and my heart goes out for them. What have they done to live a life like this? Being born at such a place is not their fault & when is their misery going to end? I wonder aloud, when my wife peeps in & informs that her friend has 2 extra tickets for ‘Ghajini’ premiere show that evening & wants to know if we would be interested. What.? Ghajini? Premiere? Am I Interested? Are you joking? I would give an arm & leg to watch it. But the catch she says is that each ticket costs Rs.500. It made me think for a while. 1000 rupees for a movie.! Is it worth it? ‘Yes’ says my generous heart and is followed by my lips. My wife is happy & so am I.

9.30 Am. I was about to change the channel, when they start to show some clippings of the Mumbai blast & its after-effects. The politicians & celebrities are discussing the attack (sitting in an air-conditioned room & with a little make-up on their faces). They also show some of the victims’ family members & their anguish. They raise so many questions – “Why should innocent lives be extinguished due to a cruel act of terrorism? If two countries have a problem, why should common people die? How many dreams these people would have had? What would happen to their family? Where will this lead to?” I can empathize with their feelings, but only for a while. The test match between India-Australia is about to start & I do not want to miss the action. I change the channel promptly & watch the match for an hour or so.

11 Am. India loses Sehwag early & the 2 batsmen Gambhir & Dravid are playing to consolidate, meaning they begin to waste balls. Iam bored & start to gaze thru the magazine “India Today” lying near the bedside. The cover has some unattractive title like “Farmer Genocide” or something. I was flipping thru the pages, looking for some film or sports related column, when I come across the cover story about farmers’ suicide. It is a 6 page article & I do not have the patience or interest to go thru it entirely. But I just decided to spend a couple of minutes on the article to know the context.

In India, farmers committing suicide is a common thing. They have so many things working against them – less rain, heavy rain, money lending sharks, corrupt govt officials, wavering commodity prices, poor govt policy towards agriculture etc. On an average, 40,000 farmers commit suicide every year (mostly including their family members). This year it has been around 41000 farmers & the agriculture minister claims that the situation is under control. He also mentions that it’s a good sign that the figure has come down from 43000 the previous year & I can sense a little pride in him. 40000 odd lives, that too of farmers, who take the responsibility of feeding the entire nation. What is the govt machinery doing? There has to be a definite solution here. Can’t the Ambanis & Tatas & Mittals play a role here? Iam thinking about this awful piece of news, when my wife brings in tea & reminds me about our family get-together lunch party. My uncle’s son has come from US for his marriage & he his throwing a party at the Hotel RainTree.

12 noon. Got to hurry. I go into the bathroom, take bath, shave & come out quickly. A quick check on the cricket score to find that the Indians have not lost any more wickets & are doing reasonably well. I dress quickly & we (I, my wife & my parents) head towards the car. When Iam wiping the dust off my car, I see the big scratch & a small dent on my lovely car’s right side rear door. Damn the share autos.! I curse them aloud & I feel a lot of pain looking at the scar on my car. It happened on Friday evening & I was not able to sleep the entire night. I have to get it removed immediately. So what if it costs me 6-7k, it is well worth it to bring the shine back on my car’s surface.

1 Pm. We got in & I start to drive the car towards the hotel. On our way, near kodambakkam signal, we witnessed a terrible accident. 2 guys on a speeding motorbike, while trying to cross the signal got hit by a car which was also speeding and crossing it from the perpendicular side. The bike went skidding; the 2 guys lost balance & were thrown away, crashing down on the road. The car which had hit the bike sped away without stopping. I was totally shocked & was not able to react. It was Sunday afternoon & the traffic was light. No traffic policemen as well. Few people gathered around the 2 guys on the road & were assessing the situation. I was slowly crossing the scene of action, not able to decide whether to get down & offer help or to continue driving. My family was of no help either in making me decide, as they were also confused. As I kept thinking about the decision, my car had gone well past the accident scene & I felt there is no point in stopping & going back. Looking at the rearview mirror, I saw a couple of cars pulling thru & people getting out of them to help. I heaved a sigh of relief & my feeling of guilt got washed away slowly. If not me, someone will always help.

1.30 Pm. We reach the hotel restaurant to be greeted by other members of our family. There were 24 of us. After chit-chatting for a while, we got to the business of filling our grumbling stomachs. Slowly the food started to flow & with it the fun as well. I enquired my nephew about his life in U.S & he mentions that it is great out there. No pollution, No traffic, No heat, No crowd, No bribery etc. But finally he finishes by saying that India is the best & he misses India deeply. He is waiting for an opportunity to get a job back in India & discloses that his heart is in India only. Wow. ‘That is so patriotic’ I say. He also says that he had applied for the Green card there & has recently got one. He is so happy about it & quips that many of his friends, who went to the U.S before him, have not been able to get the Green card as yet. Moment of pride.! Wow.!

Infact, there were too many such moments during the lunch. My Uncle casually mentions that they are buying a house at ECR & they have not decided whether to rent it out or occupy it themselves. Atleast 15 hearts at our table would have choked hearing the news and Iam not telling you, if mine was one among them or not. I simply nodded & congratulated my nephew. The food was delicious & the bill came for Rs.26000/-. My nephew used his Amex card to settle it & left a tip of Rs.1000 for the ever-smiling server. “Isn’t it a little high?” asks my innocent mom. My nephew explains that it is very less compared to U.S restaurants, where the tipping percentage has reached almost 20% of the bill. Another moment. Another Wow. After exhausting ourselves with too many ‘wows’, we took leave from there & started for home.

3.30 Pm. On our way home, my wife whispered “If his heart is in India, then why is he so proud about getting a green card?”. Beats me too, but I didn’t want to discuss it & kept quiet. We had to stop our car at a signal & were immediately surrounded by beggars. The number of beggars in the signal is on the rise in Chennai & the worrying fact is that most of them are children. There is a kid who wants to sell us a lousy cloth for 10 bucks. I know it is not worth it, but wanted to buy it for 3 reasons, 1- it is only 10 rupees : 2- it might mean a lot to the kid & 3- Atleast the kid is selling something & not begging. As I was thinking, the signal went green & other vehicles started to honk behind me. I start my car & drive past the pleading kid, convincing myself that my 10 rupee may not be that big for the kid as the profit from selling the cloth would be very less only. And ofcourse, if not me there is always someone who will buy from him.

4 Pm. We reach home & while heading towards my room, my wife reminds me of the Evening show & we should start by 5.30pm. I fall on the bed; switch on the TV to catch up with the cricket excitement. To my horror, I find that the Indians have lost 8 wickets & Tendulkar has gone for a score below 10. Iam very angry with the Indian batsmen & it takes almost 10 minutes for the shock to subside in me. I do not want to see the sports channel anymore & change it to news channel. Another news channel & they are discussing the soon-to-be-launched models of car from different companies. They are showing pictures of BMW, Honda, Nissan, Toyota etc & the models look fantastic. It is so absorbing that Iam not able to take my eyes away from TV for the next 10 minutes. When would I be able to afford a BMW or a Nissan?

4.30 Pm. With a heavy heart, I change the channel to find another documentary “Children of heaven”. Now, what is this? Iam expecting to see children with some special abilities. But what are they showing? It’s a documentary about the abandoned children in orphanages, child labour in tea shops / match-box factory etc, handicapped poor children, dying children, begging children etc. I remember that I have been thinking for a long time about sending a small cheque (2000 rupees, maybe) to an orphanage, but have been postponing it for various reasons. I decide to send the cheque this month definitely. But, wait... This month I have to pay the EB bills, have to get the scratch on my car removed and have to buy clothes at the ‘Lifestyle’ sale. Maybe next month, I will definitely send the cheque. The program was still running & I was not able to watch such heavy stuff now especially after India has done so badly in a match. I want entertainment now. I change the channel & get myself glued to MTV.

5.30 Pm. We start to the movie & the next 3 hours are a total bliss for us. Fabulous movie & we enjoy it thoroughly. I feel happy that my 1000 rupees is well spent & feel satisfied. My wife mentions that the movie has been made for 50 crores, sold for Rs.90 crores & expects to do a business of more than 200 crores. Isn’t it great? An Indian movie collecting so much. India is arriving on the big scene & how. My heart is filled with pride as we come out of the theatre & head back home.

10 Pm. On our way home, near Valluvar Kottam, we see quite a few families sleeping on the platform under small tents. There are adults, children & even new born babies out there in the cold weather. They have covered themselves with some torn pieces of cloth & they lie there, shivering & breathing hard. ‘What if it rains suddenly?’ asks my wife & I have no answer. We feel sorry for them & remain silent for the rest of our journey. We have a light dinner at home & hit the sack fast. We are totally tired & want to rest as much & to get ready for the grueling week ahead.

10.30 Pm. As Iam lying in the bed trying to sleep, I think about the day. I want to go thru all the nice things of the day, but unfortunately all I could remember were the disturbing pictures of the children from heaven / the farmers / the innocent people at Srilanka / the begging kid & the platform people. It is very upsetting & I wonder why I should be thinking about such things. These people are suffering, alright. But, what can I do? I cannot help them in anyway. It is their destiny that they were born at the wrong places. Karma, it is. I can only be a spectator & feel bad for them. I have my life to care about & other important things to worry about (My car has a scratch, Iam not able to buy a BMW, My nephew is buying a bungalow(now you know) and Sachin Tendulkar has failed to score).

I care for people & I have not caused any trouble to anyone. Iam not that big to fight for something that is beyond me. I will take good care of my family, my relatives, my friends, my business & my assets. I will do my duties well, pay my tax regularly & will pray sincerely. I will raise my children properly & see to that they are settled well. I will live a responsible life & spread happiness to all. I know that a piece of the world around me is falling apart, but there is absolutely nothing I can do about it. There is no feeling of guilt in me. Iam doing all that I could & I cannot do anything more than this. So what if Iam not helping, there would always be someone else.

While Iam slowly dozing off, deep in my subconscious mind, I hear a voice which sounds just like mine. It inquires,” Is this what you call a responsible life? Is this all you think you can do?”. There was a pause for a while & then it asks, “Who are you kidding, Harsha? Who?” & the voice just fades away. I fell asleep.

Silly Point - 1

I just wanted to remember those silly moments of my life, which were embarrassing mostly but at times educating as well.

One such moment happened during my first year at SRM Engineering College. It was our 1st year exam & the first paper was English. The timetable was stuck on the notice board 15 days in advance & the exams were supposed to happen during the morning sessions. That’s where my brain malfunctioned & somehow registered it as afternoon session. Infact, I still have not figured it out, how my mind had goofed it up that way, as there were no practical explanations for it. It has never happened to me before or after, where my mind completely faltered in registering a thing which was so plainly simple.

Infact, I remember doing a group study for Maths two days before the 1st exam in my friend’s place with 4 guys & even during that time, we didn’t talk about the exam time. Maybe it was not necessary for my friends to discuss it, as it was so obvious for them. Ofcourse, we didn’t have phone connection at that time & could not communicate much as well.

So, finally the D-day came. I prepared well, went to the temple & I started from my house by around 11.30am to catch the 12.10pm train (we would not want to be late for the exams, isn’t it?). And I was surprised to see that none of my friends were there in the usual compartment & for that matter I could not see any students at all. Only 2 seniors were there & they were going for their arrear exams. I was totally confused & was not able to figure things out even then. After a lot of thinking during travel, I was convinced that I had made a mistake about the exam date. It has to be tomorrow obviously & what a fool Iam to have come on the previous day itself. I chuckled to myself & I decided to go till the college to see the notice board again, anyway.

As the train was reaching our potheri station, I just peeped out of the train & almost fainted. I could see a lot of students & my friends at the other side of the platform & they were waiting to catch the train going towards Chennai. The realization dawned on me very slowly; the exam had taken place in the morning & after completing it they are heading back home. I was totally shocked, went pale & started sweating profusely. I got off the train & walked like a zombie towards them.

My friends were surprised to see me during that time. They had thought that I was not well & had planned to drop by my house to see me. When I told them about my mistake, they were totally shocked. But the shock lasted only for a while, after which they all started to laugh & all along our return journey, they had a blast at my expense. Infact, I myself became normal very soon, saw the funny side of it & joined them in the fun. Ofcourse, it’s a different story how I convinced my parents about my blunder.(I told them that the exam timings were changed the previous week & many of my friends had missed the exam. My poor parents were cursing our college management for the entire week).

By the way, do you think that my embarrassment is over with this incident? No way.. The worst was yet to come.

What happens when you missed an exam? Ofcourse, you were supposed to take arrears. Imagine writing an arrear for the English paper. What if my lecturers & some other important people(??) see me? How many will know that I was absent the first time? Will the word get out & would I be humiliated? There were so many awful thoughts going in my mind.

On the exam(arrears) day, I covered myself with a big cap / sun shades & entered the campus like a cat; do not want to be seen by anyone whom I know. But my luck deserted me completely on that day. There were only 2 other students who had come for the arrear exam. They were not very close friends of mine, but we know each other well. Both of them were from a rural background & they were surprised to see me there. They comfortably chose to ignore my excuse of absenteeism during the first time and started to tease me.

They would say, “ We studied in tamil medium. So, no surprise in our failure. But how come you have bungled machi?” & “ Shall we all go for English tuition together? " & “ We both will surely clear the paper this time. So, next time you will not have any company” & so many other wise-cracks to make my life miserable.

And to add to my misery, I was spotted by a couple of good-looking junior girls as well & I nearly died of shame. I ran for cover & almost behaved like a most-sought-after terrorist during the entire session, hiding my face / turning my back to people etc.

I laugh even today, when I think of that dreadful day. How silly of me..!

2008 - Looking back

• 
  The year 2008 is being termed as one of the worst years in the recent past by most of the eminent community like astrologers / businessmen / politicians / terrorists (??) / working group / media people / students / armed force etc. Every one has a justification to substantiate their stand in this regard & most of it looks valid in paper too. Very few industries are happy at the end of the year & according to me, telecom / food / entertainment industry has survived the recession. (The only industry where recruitment is happening at full swing is the BEGGING INDUSTRY & I heard that it is flourishing now, not just in India but everywhere).
  
  I had spoken casually about the events of the past year with around 50 odd people during the last couple of weeks & almost everyone has something negative to say about 2008. Many vouched that it had been the worst year that they have ever come across. Most of them, infact, equated their personal grieves with the year & remarked that the year has been terrible for both personal & professional lives. The reasons they cited are far too many like Loss of dear ones / Hospitalizations / Monetary loss / Work related stress / Unwanted expenses / External market conditions / this & that.
  
  I just wanted to take this opportunity & reflect upon the significant events/reactions that took place in my life during the last year, to decide if this year had been good for me or not. So, I made a list & these are the important happenings of my life in 2008.
  
  I started to think of a diversification from my HR business & actually did it in a big scale.
  
  Our HR business suffered badly due to my lack of focus (because of the new venture) & the external market conditions. From 7 working members it has come down to 3 now.
  
  Our family shifted to another house.
  
  I lost my maternal grandfather & my paternal grandmother.
  
  We moved into a big, spacious & a very expensive office (for my new business).
  
  Got married to a lovely girl, who has been & still remains a great friend / guide.
  
  Borrowed a huge amount(really huge for my standard) from various sources for the new venture.
  
  Still borrowing a substantial amount steadily every month to manage the business overheads.
  
  Both my vehicles, car & the bike, drowned in the flood at our area late last year & still under repair. Have not estimated the cost of repair as yet.
  
  Market looks gloomy & do not know what is in store for both my businesses.
  
  I have always valued friendship very highly & in 2008 this particular ‘ship’ traveled quite a long distance up in my heart as my dear friends stood by me strongly & contributed immensely in a lot of ways.
  
  And many other insignificant events.
  
  Now what do I make out of this year? If I look at the events plainly, then I would have to conclude that the negatives clearly overshadow the positives & 2008 should be termed as a bad year for me too. At the end of the day, for the balance sheet to look rosy, the assets & earnings should be more than the liabilities & expenses. But what am I left with? Am I supposed to be happy or not? Would I be able to manage & survive this recession? Have I bitten more than what I could chew? Lots of unanswered questions & incomplete answers.

But somehow I feel a lot of satisfaction with the year 2008 as it has, kind of, made me realize a lot of things about life. It has opened a lot of new avenues for me & it has brought me an inch closer to my dreams. My entire thinking process has changed during last year & I have learnt to look at things from various perspectives now. I have always considered myself a risk-taker, but this year I surprised even myself with some bold decisions I made, which could even be considered as ‘dangerous’ to an extent. The year 2008 might pretty well become the most important year of my life (‘might be’ only).

Starting a business of this magnitude was no easy task for an ordinary person like me, who did not even had the eligibility of getting a bank loan then (even now Iam not eligible, they say). A lot of thinking went into my decision about starting this venture & I was totally aware of the repercussion & the hardship involved enroute to the safe zone. I had deliberately chosen the ‘Road less traveled’ & I know clearly well that the path is not going to be easy. (But I would be lying if Iam saying that I expected this kind of financial crisis & such a big economic slump).

I have heard someone say that in ancient Chinese dictionary, there would be 2 meanings for the word ‘Crisis’ – one would be ‘Danger’ & the other ‘Opportunity’. I just chose to believe the second meaning & Iam totally optimistic that things would change for better soon. I clearly understand my responsibilities & what is important now is to cross this passage of life safely with minimal damage. I realize that a lot is dependent on my confidence level & am not allowing any negative thoughts to peep in my mind even for a minute.

I do not own any valuable materialistic possession at the moment, do not have any investments, am completely unprepared for any emergency expenses. But what I have now is Loads of confidence in my mind & heart / bag full of dreams / ability to work hard / an ever supporting wife / fantastic friends. Will these be enough for one to realize his dreams? I hope so.

Analysts have predicted that 2008 would be much better compared to what we have in store during 2009 & they fear that the worst is yet to come. Come what may, life has to go on & my eternal ambition of “Leaving my name in the journals of history” will continue to fuel my journey ahead. "Miles to go, before I sleep”.

Big dreams, High hopes, Long way to go, Huge Mountains to scale. But I have time. I have confidence. I have the right aptitude & attitude. I have tasted both success & failure. I know my limitations. I have people rooting for my success. I have my whole life in front of me. Thank you 2008.

சுடும் வரை நெருப்பு..

சுற்றும் வரை பூமி..

போராடும் வரை மனிதன்.!

- வைரமுத்து

KingHarsha

"The biggest risk in life is - not taking one at all".

This quote could have possibly changed my life. Iam saying 'possibly' because there is still a little uncertainity in my career & my success in the desired profession. This will have more meaning after I reach the target level in my life & we will know it in another couple of years, hopefully. We will talk about the relevance of this quote to my life in the later blogs.

This is my first blog. I have always had the penchant for communicating, interacting with people & to express my thoughts / ideas regularly to others. Blogging is a fantastic tool for this purpose, but I have always been postponing it for several reasons like Lack of time, Lack of knowledge & a little apprehension about the entire task of blogging. Now, I have decided to go for it & hoping to carry on with it forever. Lets see.

Iam a complete novice as of today & am not aware of anything other than writing / posting . I shall be making myself more knowlegable in this domain asap, because I feel & realise that "INTERNET" is going to rule the world for the next decade or two, and I want to play a miniscule role here.

I have named my blog “An inspired life”, which would sound quite preposterous now, but that’s what Iam aiming at & that’s where Iam heading towards. I have set very high goals for myself long time back & have failed many a times even before starting the pursuit. But dreams never die. I might either reach my destination or end up a failure, but I can assure you, I will not go down without a fight. I have always defied redundant norms & the ‘middle class mind-set’ people have and would continue to do so with much more energy & passion.

I would consider my life to be complete only on that day when Iam acknowledged as “an inspired soul” by atleast one human being. When I chose an email ID like ‘kingharsha’ long time ago, I did it just for style. But now, that’s what I want to be remembered as, in future. My entire focus in life now is to reach some dazzling heights in my profession & to leave a bench-mark for people to follow. More on such stuff later in the next blogs.

I have not planned anything for this blog, I do not even know if I will continue with blogging forever. For the moment, Iam considering this as an outlet to vent my thoughts & as long as I derive some satisfaction out of it, I will continue with it. I might write about anything & everything that comes to my mind, but most of all, I want my blog to be informative & engaging. Your comments would be considered invaluable. Sharp criticism or Hearty appreciation, whatever it is, share it with me thru the blog.

Iam stopping with this now, as Iam not sure how my blog page would look like and am eager to witness it immediately.