Sunday, July 29, 2012

For the survivor

Often life hands us lemons. Only a few of us use this lemon to make lemonade. I am lucky to have one such friend, who, in a recent conversation, only half-jokingly referred to himself as the 'Survivor'.

It is true - this dude, who I have known for close to a decade now, is indeed a survivor. He survived b-school, a couple of jobs lost, a horrific accident which laid him low for almost a year, and finally the great financial crisis.

He lives life king (ok, maybe prince) size, without attachments, and in style. This style goes beyond just a set of hot wheels and a cool pad, it includes himself, his looks, his body (recently he has started running 8-10 kms a day).

Dude, keep surviving :-)

Saturday, July 28, 2012

The Dark Knight Truly Rises

First, a confession. I am a Bat-freak. When I was a kid, I would fervently wait for Batman cartoons to show up on good 'ol DD Metro on Sunday evenings. I hated the earlier set of criminally-badly made Batman movies (with the Penguin, Mr. Freeze, Poison Ivy et. al), but even then I watched all of them faithfully. When I finally laid eyes on Batman Begins, I thought finally here is a movie that does justice to the most amazing superhero of all time. The Dark Knight was, in my eyes, the best movie ever made.
It was with great expectations, therefore, that I trudged in to watch the last part of Christopher Nolan's trilogy on the Batman. Trepidation, too. For I thought from the trailers that Batman finally meets his comeuppance in Bane.
(Aside: Bane! What a guy! A legend to match every bit of the Batman's own. A hulk who is pure evil. I thought that the Joker was the last word on villains. I still do, but I will always remember Bane with respect and admiration)
The Dark Knight Rises was everything I expected, and much more. A fantastic cast of characters (everyone is here, including Ra's Al Ghul, the Scarecrow, Catwoman, Talia Al Ghul, Robin), epic action set pieces (the first scene is going to live forever in action movie lore), honest and precise explanations for all the back stories (League of Shadows, Bane's origins etc) and contextual, big picture questions (has capitalism gone too far?, do the ends justify the means) take this movie up to the top 5 of all time list. I particularly loved the way the movie ended, on dignity and hope.
The irony is that I would rate the Dark Knight as a grander epic, precisely because it ended without hope, as a gritty and depressing tale of life as we know it.
The Dark Knight Rises, on the other hand, tells us that there is a better life out there. We only have to Rise!

Thursday, July 19, 2012

Elina's current favourite

This is a song I first heard in 2002 in Germany. These days my daughter loves this song (only the song not the video. She says 'Don't Like It' when I play the video!)

Thursday, July 05, 2012

Optimism

I find I generally blog when I'm worried or pensive. No blogging happens when things are flowing smoothly. This is a good time to change that!

My little one has taken nicely (much more than I expected, honestly!) to school. My wife is doing well at work, and has made friends at work. My own work is going through a patch of good work, where results seem to be following efforts. My parents and in-laws are both super supportive for us and happy to get time with their grand-daughter.

I was worried about a close friend who was struggling for close to 6 months. However, now he is fine and back in action and that gives me great pleasure and relief. Other friends are happy, nursing new babies or preparing for them.

I have begun (surprise, surprise!) getting up early in the morning frequently to knock off the old squash ball. AND follow it up with some swimming and lounging in the pool. I'm trying to eat healthier (though the same cannot be said about drink, unfortunately), and seem to be moving slowly (make that glacially!) towards my weight target.

I took my little one to Delhi to her grandparents' place for a few days. This was the first time she was away from her mamma, and yet the only one worried or grumpy during those 4 days was me! The daughter was an angel, and enjoyed thoroughly with her grandparents.

In short, life is swimming along.