The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo

It was with mixed feelings that I picked up this book at Landmark... And boy, did I take the right decision! Folks, I finally completed the first book of the Millennium Trilogy. And all I can say is, I can't wait to ravage the next one! Set at a breakneck pace, this compulsive whodunit really did it for me;-) I spent a couple of sleepless nights over it, itching to get to the end and find out who did it, after all.

Mikael Blomkvist is a disgraced financial journalist who has been summoned to a small village in the back of beyond, to meet a 80-year old former industrial giant. He is entrusted with the strangest investigation he might ever have come across - to find out who in the family murdered his beloved grand-niece Harriet, about 40-odd years earlier. What seems like an impossible quest soon turns out to be one hell of a ride - Mikael finds out bits and pieces of the puzzle, and unearths alarming, and spine-chilling facts about the family that make the monster Frankenstein look like a saint.

I had reached that point in the story where I began to believe that Blomkvist was the protagonist, the hero, blah blah, when Lisbeth Salander made her presence known. The full force of Lisbeth Salander's character hits you with within five minutes of her entrance; trying to actually describe her is an exercise in futility.  The most unconventional heroine I've ever come across, Lisbeth's entrance marks the point in the novel that makes it un-put-downable, and the story begins to race. Riveting is the word how the book can be described; this one is a must-read for all suspense and thriller buffs.

I don't want to reveal too much of the story here, so people, take me at my word - if you haven't already, then go out and get it. This one's a keeper. The girl, the dragon tattoo, and of course, the book. ;-)

Telangana and Me

Politics is not a topic that interests me; I guess this is the very first post in my blog concerning politics of any sort. But then, this is the very first time politics have affected me so personally.

November Rain

Somehow, rain always makes me feel like curling up in a chair by the window, with a cup of coffee in hand, and an old book; walking in the rain was something I never even considered doing. A couple of days ago, when it started raining, I decided to forgo my usual cuppa and head out for a walk. It was dusk - that time of the day when people like to snuggle on their couches with the TV remote.

I had barely walked a few steps when I saw these kids squatting by a small pool the rain had made, paper boats in hand. I was hit almost immediately by a wave of nostalgia; my own childhood, the days of getting drenched in the rain oblivious to the screams, rants and threats of my parents; running down the street with friends, following eagerly the paths of our paper boats meandering their way through the rivulets of rain.

I realized that as I grew up I slowly forgot to appreciate life's smaller joys; the joys that made my entire childhood so much more memorable. The joy of running home after school at full speed, with that lightness in the heart that another day of lessons was finally over. The joy of playing in the street with other brats, oblivious to passers-by, oblivious to the dirt, oblivious to time, oblivious to everything. The joy when my gran used to make my favorite dish without my asking, and the joy that came when I knew I could have as much as I wanted to :D The joy of finding a sparrow's nest right inside the house, and accepting those tiny birds as a part of the family; the joy of making stupid faces and shouting at the top of my voice (as loudly as my lungs would allow it) just for the heck of it, knowing full well that none in the family would even bat an eyelid ;-)

I wonder how many of these joys are possible now without raising eyebrows. I hope as we grow older we appreciate these tiny experiences, maybe take a few moments out of our day to remember them, and tell ourselves that life is not that serious after all. It's just as serious as we want it to be.

What's in a name? Lots!

What the hell is in a name, Shakespeare might have said.

I disagree, having spent more than three hours searching a name for my new blog. It was like my blog was jinxed; every single darn name I tried was already taken. In my desperation I started trying out song names - no luck. Even www.noname.blogspot.com was taken, for Chrissakes! Cmon! And even more exasperating was the fact that many of these blogs seemed to have been started on a spurt of creativity, and then pushed back into the recesses of the blogger's minds. Lot many had just a single post on em, dating back to as far as 2001. In blogging terms, they might as well have been created during the B.C. period!

I had planned on starting a blog about interesting things happening in the digital world - could be anything, ranging from appealing, out-of-the-box websites, to start-ups, to any interesting news, whatever. I most especially did not want my name in the URL. Finally, after a lot of head banging, cursing, contemplative minutes later I hit on this - kreativeblitzkrieg.

Yeah, I know, it cant get worse than this one. So please, guys, if you've got any suggestions, do let me know. Mucho appreciated.

Smokey Smokersons

No, this is not some new hookah or cigar joint. Am talking about the dreaded smoke emitting, fume spitting, soot enveloped vehicles rampant on the streets of Hyderabad. God forbid that you get stuck behind one such monster during rush hour; you might end up choking, suffocating, and cursing your bike, due to which you are being made to endure such torture. It's a damn wonder why no action is ever, ever taken against these poisons. The traffic police obligingly stop every other person on a bike and demand to see each and every document under the sun (including our insurance papers, dammit!) failing which they subtly ask for a couple of hundred bucks. Catch hold of these bozos, for a change!

My eyes are almost always red-rimmed by the time I reach office, triggering rumors that I might be a crybaby. Pssst, I bet she's the sort who's been crying since childhood about not going to school, college, and now, the office, heh. No, guys! Not me! Anyways, I have no idea whether such constant exposure to the smoke might affect my eyes; I know for sure it's affecting my nerves. I bite back all the dirty swears that rise to my lips when I get a gust of thick black smoke blown directly into my face. And go home fuming. No wonder I'm not able to get any fairer, heh. I wish to God there was some solution to this; sadly, apart from moving permanently to a village that knows only bullock carts, I dont see any light on the horizon.

Yoohoo, my first vote!

Yay! I voted today for the very first time! 25 years old, and I voted for the first time today? Uhhuh! Oh well, let me not think of that.

It doesn't matter that I had to stand in the blazing sun for almost an hour, it doesn't matter that I've got this big ugly blue stain on my finger; all that matters is I voted, and I sorta like the feeling! I hope all you guys out there voted, too. If you didn't, or couldn't, doesn't matter, you can always vote on April 23rd. Don't forget.

In the meanwhile, let me concentrate on getting this stain to disappear. It looked pretty cool at first, but now it just looks like a big stubborn blot of ink, and I've got a wedding to attend this Saturday. Maybe I'll have some comfort in knowing that none of my friends can boast of having had this stain, save for one or two. Hehe.

Update: Attended the wedding. A couple of behenjis asked me whether I accidentally poured acid on my finger. Jeeeez!

8*10 Tasveer Review

This was one movie which I really looked forward to, partly due to the fact that it was a suspense thriller, and partly because it was directed by Nagesh Kukunoor. I was not named Late Kate for nothing. I reached the theater late, and we missed the first 10 minutes of the movie. I could hear my friends cussing under their breath. Aww hell, God, let em please understand the movie! I prayed under my breath.

All my prayers were needless though, cos Akshay seemed to know what we missed, and he obligingly went back to the past and showed us every scene. Yeah! He can concentrate really hard on a pic (yup, 8*10 dimensional pic!) and go back to that exact scene, and replay the events in his head. Ahh well. He spends the entire 2 hours trying to solve his Dad's murder mystery. OK, so we figure the suspense out like in about 10 minutes, but it seems like the characters are hell bent upon making Akshay use his damn gift. Sort of like, when we were kids, and used to do our homework; everyone knew 2 plus 2 equals four, but forced us to use our brains nevertheless.

For starters, guys, Akshay's Dad instead of blurting the killer's name, blubbers about Tasveer and all kindsa shit. Same goes with Momma; when she's conveniently stabbed, she could've just spelled out the name and saved us from the misery. Instead, she leads him on a whole lot of puzzles, asks him to go to the attic, and what not. Yup! This and more is in store for you if you are that gullible and watch this movie.

Man Oh man! Listening to Javed Jaffrey's broken Hyderabadi Hindi was a torture to Hyderabadi ears. His fake accent, fake acting, fake hair style, yup, I guess Ayesha Takia was as fed up with him as we were, and when she couldn't take it anymore she just used the axe on him out of sheer desperation. We're not complaining, Ayesha!

OK, this is not a spoiler, but lemme tell you guys this - If only Akshay had spared just one minute to peek into Ayesha-goody-goody-smile-Takia's past, we would've been spared all this unnecessary torture. The movie would've wrapped up within 10 minutes.

The Pink Panther 2 Review

Guest Review written by my good friend Mayank :-)

I mean the movie is funny but the jokes which I cracked between the scenes were even better and that’s what my friend told me including the people in the rows below and above me, heh. Getting serious, I thought the movie was good just in parts.

Nothing too spectacular but ya if you are one of those who go to a movie just to have fun leaving your brain behind (the same clichéd stuff), you are not too keen on the logic and if you really like our desi movie Golmaal , this is the movie to watch out for. Honestly, I really don’t know , do I ridicule it that its full of those old school jokes and totally illogical, or appreciate the feel good factor and the good acting + enactment???

But whatever it is, I would say you will be the best one to decide that you like it or not as I did………. Or did I ??? So check it out yourself and let me know. About the story its that same one like the first one. The same silly case and the dream team trying to crack it as it does the best .

CLOUSEAU – the smartass tries to make the most serious situation funny. But you know what he gets the PINK PANTHER – the diamond (Wanted to ask why "pink panther" ….. I also don’t know…. I am sure there is no logic behind it … can bet on it.) Music is just ok … May be I feel this as I was watching it at cinemax…. (The audio sucks there ya)

PS - For all the jokers who are about to waste money for the married Aishwarya…. Its really not worth it. Only reason you should do it is to get the film industry to rise up from recession.

Dev D Review

A botched up attempt to remake the classic, Anurag Kashyap went overboard with this one. In wanting to project Devdas with a contemporary twist, all he's succeeded in projecting are cartons of booze, instructions as to how to do drugs, where exactly to pick up whores, et al. I went to the movie with great expectations; Pop! went the bubble, and even before it was intermission, I was raring to go back home.

Due kudos to the actors though; Mahi Gill deserves applause, I just loved her in the film. With unconventional looks, and an immensely expressive face, she just about steals the show from Abhay Deol and Kalki Koechlin. They are not far behind; Kalki was amazing as the girl-woman Chanda, and as for Abhay Deol, he was so convincing as the egotistic spoilt brat that I actually wanted to slap him hard, heh.

Anurag Kashyap was projecting new age Devdas; here, he forgot one vital point; today's youth is highly outspoken; sulking and pining away in private just dont happen anymore, atleast not for a guy who's just come in from London! Added to the fact that he and Paro were in constant touch through messenger and whatnot, it's highly impossible that he would be content to booze his heart out in the sanctity of his room while his childhood sweetheart tied the knot with someone just below his balcony. Tell me, what are the odds of that happening?

A couple of scenes had me in knots, though; like the scene where Dev rejects Paro, and she, devastated, stares mutely into her mirror to see if what he said was true. That was a truly poignant moment, and Mahi Gill does it so well, you can actually see the hurt and grief etched in her face. Sigh! Ah well, a couple of scenes do not redeem the entire movie, though; every movie would be a hit if it were the case.

Not at all a movie you can watch with your family, but if you are that adamant, go alone. No point in wasting someone else's time along with yours, is there?

Her Royal Highness, Princess Tampa

Now, everyone knows how drowsy warm afternoons can get to be. I was just on the verge of falling asleep today when I heard the soft ping of a Gtalk IM on the computer screen. I made an effort, postponed my nap, and replied. This was followed by quite an interesting conversation, which, since I am not selfish, have copy pasted for you guys.

I wish to apologize to all my friends for keeping my identity a secret till now; I hope you understand, fellas... I just dont like the publicity!

OK, here goes:

shiv.madurai: hi
how are you?
Asha: hi, who is this
shiv.madurai: i'm shiv
i hope u dont know me
Asha: where did u get my id
shiv.madurai: i read your blogs and got it thr
is that a problem?
Asha: oh, alrite
not really
shiv.madurai: i think u r frm hyd rite?
Asha: yeah
Sent at 2:49 PM on Wednesday
shiv.madurai: what does your name mean?
Asha: im sorry? what did you say?
shiv.madurai: what does tampa mean is it just a id or means something
Asha: dude, tampa = queen of the universe, i belong to The Tampa Dynasty
my great grandfather was a maharajah
and he was bestowed this title by the british empire
shiv.madurai: OMG
maharaja really?
Asha: yeah, really. i'm a princess, please dont tell anyone...
shiv.madurai: is there any link that says so
Asha: no, i dont think so
i dont need publicity and all that jazz
shiv.madurai: but tampa here takes me to some city in US
Asha: yeah
it is also the capital city of Florida
shiv.madurai: cool your name means many things... wow...
i see your status busy are you between somethiing
???
Asha: yes, i have to supervise the palace
shiv.madurai: ohh ok
let me know when u r free
caryy on
Asha: oh thanks
ofcourse, i'll let you know definitely, definitely, when i'm free
shiv.madurai: cool
ta-ta

And that, my dear friends, was my brief stint as a princess. :o)