Slumdog Millionaire-My assessment.

Let me not figure out how many awards this movie manages to get. Also, let us not, for a while, look at the other aspects of the movie like acting, technical details,etc. The movie grabbed my attention for other reasons. It is one of those instances when a movie maker has entralled the audience with a gripping story, drama and all the masala that we so yearn for. Although, most of us mumbaikars have a fair idea about the city, we continue to get startled when a new dimension or angle has been fairly presented. There are plenty of places that are still left undiscovered. Even though we know that they exist, it is good for our blinker state not to visit them entirely.The city is romantic in its essence and this aspect has been beautifully captured by the director.
The movie is about five things:
1) It does not require you to be a genius to make a million;
2) Education does not imply only classroom study but that life has it's own lessons to offer;
3) Finding love goes much beyond money, fame, risk and success;
4) Follow your dreams-the path clears itself in front of you &
5) Even in the most depressing circumstances, there are enough reasons for you to be hopeful.
Mumbai has a strange way of rewarding people who believe in themself and the city. Your education, economic background, etc doesn't matter. Hopefully we all will make the best use of all the resources offerred to us. That is what a movie is all about. It is about life. It should inspire you, entertain you and also make you think. Most importantly, it should touch your heart. Like this one did.

Thriving on Boredom.

Why do we get bored? Is it because we have very little to do or plenty of things on our 'to do' list?
Boredom usually comes from choices. Our ancestors never got bored. There is no real evidence or anecdotal claim of boredom in their life. Boredom is a more metronomical, urban phenomenon that makes us wonder about itself in all its depth.
Kids never get bored. They have no idea what it means to be bored. Ignorance. They are so ignorant about their surroundings that boredom never creeps into their dictionary. Also, curiosity plays a very big part. As adults, we feel that we have lived, experienced everything that is out there. Nothing really astounds us, thrills us or overwhelms us to the point of exuberance. One day, even gamblers become so jaded with the rush of blood that comes with gambling that their addiction is just another mundane addition to their daily chore.
Perhaps as we all go, our world is filled with so many things to do. We have hundreds of things that attract us and hence our attention time span has diminished. We try to seek pleasure into things but over time something else attracts our attention. This mind churning makes us bored.
We intend to do a whole lot of things but end up doing nothing. Not because we don't have many things to do or don't want to do them, but we are too confused to know which ones are important. Maybe priorotizing would help. Maybe ignorance would help. Better still-sit in a closed room. Think about nothing and do nothing. Maybe that should help.....

The world of artworks.

How are art prices determined??

Frankly, I have no clue. My guess is as good as yours. But there must be a lot of probability involved in the process of discovering an artist and determining a price deemed right for his works. Since in the art world all works are different, what formula works and becomes a hit is very difficult to predict.

Some high profile collector gets his fancy over a piece of art, the artist gets discovered, the market allows him his price and a cycle starts. The art market does not have an index like the stock market where prices could be discovered. So the price is so much more on sentiment than rational thought.

Thats why art prices can remain irrational far longer than any other asset prices. The quality aspects are also well understood by only a very few discerning eyes. Hence, nobody has the gumption to challenge the verdict put on a Leonardo or a Picasso work. Even newer artists are determined by the same benchmarks.

Only when an individual challenges these predetermined benchmarks with some unique works and follows it up with regularity; does his work get immediate mention, media attention, fame. Money follows. Look for such exponents. you would be very rich if you could do it early on in the career of and artist. Otherwise, if you are one of the moneybags, make an artist well known by throwing money for his works and 'discovering' him. Either ways-your heart and your art should be on the same wavelength.

Recession blues.

Is recession good or bad? People lose jobs, companies shut down and consumers prefer to sit at home rather than spend their already dwindling savings. This should make a recession sound like any nightmare that one can imagine. But perhaps there is a sliver lining to it. Although the boom times bring a lot of cheer and joy, they only add to our woes. Today, boom symbolises the need to be an ever spending creature. We strive to spend and make ourself happy. This happiness lasts till we are through with the particular product or service. We never really savour the things that we buy. Because, we didn't know why we bought it in the first place. We have only conditioned ourself to spend with the assuption that a certain joy would cross our path by doing so. The boom years also bring along with it the extreme competition to compare our being with someone higher up the ladder. The bank balance becomes our source to attaining the peace of mind which never steps into our door. Recessions are much better. They are perhaps a way of settling scores. They teach us a lesson-to be thrifty. Also, they allow us to find happiness in other avenues of life. Seasons change, time changes and so does the economic cycles. We only have to adapt, adjust and behave accordingly. Maybe we should also learn to admire the adversities. They come with lessons and they help in our betterment. Happiness follows......

Never ending wishes.....

We all wish for a happy New Year. But inspite of all our wishes, it isn't going to be like that. Not that I am being sarcastic by implying that we all have a bad year ahead. But over the years, I have come to the conclusion that it is only through crisis that we learn. All our efforts in doing good things are essentially wasted because we are never really ready. Human society has only learned, progressed and innovated itself through crisis. Creation always happens after the crisis. Hence, mass killings bring people together to fight injustice, war brings people to talk about peace, recession brings people to talk about restraint. Large scale unemployment is one of the reasons that made capitalism thrive. The 1930s depression made the US to think about more productive avenues to boost production and make economic growth sustainable. Even now, 26/11 attacks in Mumbai has brought back sharp focus on security issues. The problems, in all their calamity are lying there-dormant. It takes one of these problems to make change happen. Although, it is very unfortunate that we require collosal loss of confidence in our own existence to actually challenge the status quo, therein lies our awakening. We want to be shattered, destroyed to leave our comfort zone and act. Maybe we are all to doomed to act rationally only under extreme circumstances. So the new year-we will have it anyways. Which one? You decide.....

Love Science Shopping

What if you love a person so much that you can't let go?? Even when the person is long dead or long gone! Can you bring them back? Is there a way? Maybe science could help. It could basically help you to terminate all memories associated with that person. It could help you to delete everything about that person. But what if you don't want to delete them. What if you still desire to have that person around you? Is there a way? Yeah. There is one. If you could manage to preserve one strand of your loved one's hair or maybe some teeth extract, science has a cure. Yeah. Cloning. Although it is a very old science by todays scientific standards, cloning comes very close to anything yet discovered to regain your loved one. Their affection. Their rightful affection. The cloned person would be exactly like your loved one, only a little different in looks. And what more-you could have more than one clone of the same person!! But then, what if that clone of yours doesn't like you or share any feelings for you? After all you have done, imagine if the person just doesn't relate to you. Fear not! Your loved clone would be made to love you. Since you have paid for it, it is binding on the part of any company from whom the clone is awailed to make the clone as per your requirements. With all neccessary customization and tweaks. You don't like something from the original version or you need updates-change it. You would keep getting newer versions of your clone. So start collecting nuclear DNA's of the original person. But what if the original person does not want to get cloned? Well....you could still make basic features of the original person available to you. Will this make things like real love redundant? Bunk it man!! There is no greater joy than shopping. This one is Love science shopping! Great variety!! Great prices! Great products! Choose your pick!