Sundry events @ NewYork City

• Shakshuka and rose water infused lemonade at the Hummus place in Greenwich village
• Improv at the comedy cellar - I wonder if stand up comedians would have any material left without foreign accents and homosexuality. There was a genuinely hilarious one though. Us brown skins were seated in one corner and there was this bunch of chinese americans seated in the other far corner. So, the stand up guy goes, "I see a bunch of Indians there..so you chinese should hook up with them and head out to whitecastle or something"
• Dancing starlites choreographed to a piano/violin piece on the Saks 5th building ala the dancing fountains at the Bellagio in Vegas
• The simple hacking knot for a scarf that tucks in well with an overcoat. Perfect layering for wind chills.
• Shir-Chay - Afghani tea brewed with cardomom and rose petals. Bamiyan @ 3rd ave and 26th
  
• Freshly ground (by the table side) Guacomole at Tio Pepe
• Karan Johar at a Starbucks by the radisson. What's the caffeine for?..to conjure more red and golden drapes for his sets ?..Not that its a UFO sighting of sorts.
  
• Andy Warhol's Marilyn Monroe at the MoMa and the incredibly cool exhibits around the theme, SAFE: Design takes on risk
• The Charlie Brown balloon at the Macy's Thanksgiving parade isn't as goofy as I expected it to be.
  
• H&M finally has some pinstriped woolen sports coats. Got me a brown one.
• English is not the official language beyond 5th ave.
• There are more hot women on the MTA subways than a decent friday nite in an atlanta bar/club
• iPod is a neccessary functional accessory
  
• No smoking in public places is just an ordinance to be broken
  

No Signet, No Penguin. Power of point and click publishing.

Decided to publish my first fiction work on Fiction Press, an online publisher. It's a short story called "A Belated Courtship".

I wrote this a while back for a fiction contest that I did not win. Was nevertheless a very satisfying experience. It sure is a different world from screenwriting.

Click here to read "A Belated Courtship"

In search of a Promise land a.k.a the meaning of war

When I inserted the disc into the carousal, it absolutely occured to me that this doc would jus be an emotional deja-vu of "Born into Brothels", only to realize...

War is not a legacy that needs to be passed down from a father to a son. Yes! its a very loaded thought - realized it in my post (.) rumination of that sentence. I meant..to be passed down from us to our children. But all politics aside, can a war outlast generations of innocence, what with the meaning of that war passed down as an indoctrination rather than its original, true, worthy cause.

Somehow, through my early teen years to current, the "middle east peace crisis" has been de-sensitized in my mind to a mere contextual synonym to the Gordian Knot, than a livid socio-economic situation.

Watching Promises, made me realize that a warless world is not a fad, if we all adopt a resolution to stunt our growth to becoming adults and the evil that comes packaged with it.

Promises is a poignant piece of documented history - something I hope that generations to come (future warmongers, politicians, zionists, jihadis, saffron armies, xenophobes and megalomaniacs) will use to remind themselves that they once had pristine, benign thoughts of a world that did not need a Intifada or a "shock and awe" to set things right.

Watch a preview of Promises (quick time media format)

Borrow this flick from your local public library - ISBN: 1567303684

Beating around the " ___" and the new world lexicon

Intelligent Design
Origin - On the tongue of some lunatic who believes that a supreme force will alter his lack of intelligence.

What a waste of time for Darwin - that trip to the Galapagos island, mapping human brain and development from the times of ramapithecus and sivapithecus. I fear that his survival of the fittest theory is being defied by this class act man who coined the term "intelligent design".

Lexicon Exceptions - Not to be used by Trekkies, Jedi warriors and the Michael Moore fan club.

Eminent Domain
So much for the ancient practice of winning land by fighting battles. This law is nothing new for the native Indians.

Lexicon Exceptions - Not applicable for Zoos and ranches in Texas
This term designed to be used in context with the Arctic National Wildlife Reserve (ANWR) for oil exploration activities.

ANWR (Pronounced An-war)
New word suggestion for Merriam Websters.
"I got ANWRized (an-war- ized)" - Not only did my dad and I make oil money, I made people believe that they can find oil in their own backyard, and to top it all I make my co-profiteers pay something called a "windfall profit" tax (audio) . And guess what - that windfall profit tax aint applicable to me.

Lexicon exceptions - People who defied the theory of evolution (refer to Intelligent Design above), who are still using stones to ignite fire and burn dry twigs to keep them warm.

Civil Union
Because everyother union aint civil enough. Because you don't look like Adam and she doesnt look like Eve and behold the power of God - marriage between you two is satanic, but I do have some good news for you ..."I just saved a ton of money by switching to Geico" (to be read as "if you really want to live together, you two can get into a civil reunion" ). View the Geico commercial

Lexicon exceptions - People who insist that they want to read the "State of the Union" address using a teleprompter

Filibuster
To be used as a verb - "Shhhhh!!! I dont want anyone to know that I am getting away with nepotism - but if they really want to raise hell about it they can go filibuster"

Lexicon exceptions - Harriet Miers and not to be used in conjunction with "I nominate"

Antidote for Animal Senses

Wednesday. A lazy fall evening. Curbed my constant procrastination and took that trip to the Indian movie rental store. For lack of better choices, I stared at the movie posters adorning the walls inside the store. I must confess, it’s quite an impressionable effect when poster designers juxtapose a traffic order message like “No Entry” (for a film title) with three busty bollywood "chicks" sucking it up to manifest every inch of their cleavages. So my animal senses reached out to pull the DVD from the racks.

I was about to pay for the DVD rental at the register. This is where sharing your taste of movie genres and befriending your videowallah with a bit of small talk pays off. He reminded me, that he had a copy of this flick I wanted to watch – Hazaron Khwahishen Aisi

CUT TO: Me, gazing at the final scrolling credits of Hazaron Khwahishen Aisi, making a mental note of the names, of even the most trivial talent that made the movie happen. My customary salute reserved for movies that show outstanding technical finesse and production values.

Set in late 60s and late 70s, Hazaron.. is the story of Vikram, Sidharth and Geetha – each of them driven by distinctly different motives and aspirations in life.

Amidst hashish and Hendrix, heavily influenced by Che and Castro’s idealogies, Sidharth faces the rich kid’s angst of starting a socialist revolution in rural Bihar. The revolution is likened to the still ubiquitous naxalite movement in that region. Vikram’s antagonistic views of socialism and his sycophancy tendencies, does not make him the cynosure in the eyes of Geetha. Geetha is drawn towards Sidharth (played with élan by Kay Kay Menon). Chitrangadha Singh plays the role of Geetha and she is quite a find. She plays the character of a UK schooled lass caught between love and passion for Sidharth and subscribing to his revolutionary socialistic ideas. What ensues is a well paced tale of each individual’s struggle and how their lives crisscross in the backdrop of a National emergency and political strife.

Definitely a must watch for original screenplay, music score and tight editing.

Anneclogues from Italy - Part Deux

11.45 am, Monday : After 5 glasses of Pinot Bianco paired with bruschetta and pasta arabiatta, it was one heck of a "high" feeling in Sienna. The walk through the main square and the narrow alleys leading up to this gargantuan wall was the first time I felt the spirit of vacationing given that everything that preceded this event was so stressful - consulting the local maps, sticking to shedules, deciphering hand shapes and motions to communicate. From atop this wall, its a splendid view of the city of Sienna - red brickstoned walls and tiled roofs. I shot this one hoping someday I would go back and put my silver screen characters against this backdrop.

Suprisingly, the Pinot Bianco was the best wine I had in Italy. Not even the Chianti Classico at Castello Verrazano in the Tuscan wine country could offer a better palate experience. I must confess that Italy somehow didn't live up to the high expectations I had about its smooth and eazy red offerings.








While at Castello Verrazano, picked up a bottle of Vino Santo..more like a wine liquer. The grapes are harvested and allowed to dry and shrivel in an aerated room, losing a lot of its inherent water mass and bringing up the alcohol to 14%.



Where the mountain, sky and the sea meet - The regal, picturesque view of the mediterranean sea from this cliff made me forget the 2 hr steep hike up with the weight of a 20lb backpack.

The freshness of the air racing through my sweat beads is something I will keep yearning for. Cinque Terre, the Italian riviera truly was the best part of my vacation.