Ghajini

Wondering about the title of this post? Even I wondered about the title of Amir Khan`s Ghajini before it was released. And I again wondered and was surprised when I saw my face in a mirror after getting haircut this sunday. It took a couple of seconds to identify myself and also to realise that I have had the shortest hair ever in my life. Yes, that is what Ghajini is what all about. I knew people are going to give weird reactions and everyone is surely going to ask Y? People did give their feedbacks. I took all of them as compliments. I will tell you why! There were 4-5 people who said it was looking good. A woman in my office said I looked scary. This is a compliment coz I dont really want to look good or handsome to impress women. And thirdly a couple of women told ame that I have very nice hair and I look good in long hair. And most of the comments focussed on Ghajini. That I look like Aamir Khan of Ghajini (except for that stripe and few scars on my head. I do have a few scars on my head which reminded me of so many head injuries I have had). Thank you very much all of you. But I had this haircut just for myself. Because my insticts asked me to get it done. The aim was not at all to have the Ghajini look or to look scary or to let people compliment on my (missing) long hair. We, the human beings, realise value only when a thing/person/feeling goes missing. Its true.

Another thing i want to discuss very shortly here is the latest movie I saw. RAAJNEETI. Yeah! The samePrakash Jha movie. The same movie which I wanted to see not because of subject, cast, director or any other reason except that it has been shot entirely in Bhopal. However, the nature of movie is such that if you concentrate on the shooting and glimse of Bhopal, you may miss links in the movie. However I did not miss either of this. Bhopal looks as pretty as it really is. I could have suggested certain better locations of Mr. Jha. The concept of movie is good. Where the themes of Mahabharat and Godfather have been merged. -Manojbajpai -Suyodhan- very nice;
Ajay Devgan - Karn- fantastic
Nana- Krishna
Ranbir Kapoor- Michael Corleaone (less shades of Arjun)
Katrina Kaif - looks more like Gandhari
Mother- Failed as the portrayal of Kunti
Arjun Rampal- Sonny Corleone/Bhim
Chandra Pratap- Pandu, etc etc..........


But they havent been merged successfully. As you can gather, I have negative reviews about the movie. The truth about the politics shown in the movie (as compared with Mahabharat) in nicely portrayed but not really new and convincing. The director has portrayed as if the characters in the movie as still living in the Dwapar Yug of Mahabharat. There is Rajgaddi, there are contenders which are all in a family, there is morality as well as immorality but where is the Law and Order which exists today? If one makes a very logical movie, then you have to make sure nothing about it should be either illogical or unreasonable.

However, seeing so many familiar places in a movie for the first time was a great experience. I could identify almost 80 percent of the locations bang on target. My entire life in bhopal including my college life has been around those roads and locations. The climax of the movie whether Ajay-Manoj's Scorpio is pushed in a ditch was exactly in the same place where i got down from my car to pull out a election pamphlet/poster of Katrina Kaif. The U-turn the cars take when Chandra Pratap dies in where I was stuck in a scarry procession of Muharrma with my mom inside our car. And there are so many memories attached to almost each oand every location. So inspite of not liking this movie so much, I will make sure I have this movie in my collection.

Girl Bashing???

A friend of mine liked my previous post (wooomen) quite a lot and asked for my permission for putting the same in the Wall of his facebook profile. (To all my readers who arent aware, I am not on facebook since March 29, 2010 which was also coincidentally birthday of someone i knew. I dont have an answer and I dont have a reasonable justification for all those who think that was foolish). So, with my consent, my post was published. And as usual it happens on facebook "x, y and Z and 5000 others like it", I was told that a couple of people liked it. Yes, everyone has a right to like and dislike things. But one person said he liked it coz he loved anything related to girl bashing. Whoever you are and howsoever great philosopher, stud, dude or a hunk u are, but that wasnt meant for girl bashing. I understand that depending upon so many factors, two different person can deduce different meaning out of the same sentence. I am not complaining but i got furious after knowing it. I dont exactly understand these modern, cool, hot and happening jargons. I dont need to justify to anyone what I write. So, I am not writing hereto justify what I wrote and why i wrote. But i need to write something about what I think to avoid misinterpretation in future.

In 25 years 6 months and 6 days of my life, I have had millions of experiences. And in respect of some of such experiences, I believed that those happened quite early and in younger days of my life. But I do not complain as there are miliion other people who would have had such or even bad experiences in even younger days of their lives.  And I have done a blunder once in my life. A mistake for which I cant really forgive myself ever. An act for which I have lost so much. And the tregedy which keeps hauting me. But anyways that is a part of life and it is going to be like that. I have learnt from it. And my character has grew much more stronger since then. I am on my own. And based on all kinds of experiences in my life, I now accept everyone the way they are. I am not judgemental about anyone. Just like a fool, I can now trust even strangers, a taxi driver, a beggar and even a thief for that matter. Anyways like always, main kuch zyada hi beh gaya. Coming back to about women. Everything I do and everything I believe is based on my personal experience and so are my words below.

It is true that at times I completely fail to understand women. But I know they get confused so easily. In this world, I do not know why but it has set up like that so many men are interested in the same woman at the same time. And hence she gets confused. May be it is like that every guy promises heaven, every guy promises golden dreams, every guys touches her heart and every guys promises to break all barriers. But point is that who actually does it. He is the man.  Most of the cases, she might be liking only one guy and rest are just friends. Such kind of friends who are not friend but who are hopeful that they will be able to get her one day. And like this latest Tata Docomo ad, "they hear only that tune which they want to listen. If a girl says "love you" to them, they believe she really loves them and they have some chance. And when they get to know she likes someone else, they call her bitch, slut and what not. They themselves do not realise that they were the real cheaters when in decoy of a friend, they were actually tempting for her. She is not a bitch, slut or whatever you call her. If there are many guys and she doesnt like one particualr guy and is again confused, it isnt her fault. The rule of nature is like that. And if you are frustated at her, then it is your own fault. You are frustated because you did not love her. You are frustated because you did not get what you wanted out of being in a relationship with that girl. If you believe in true n unconditional love, the guy shall not be frustrated. He will be heartbroken. He will be depressed but will keep loving her the way he did. No matter what you tell him about her, that she is like this, she is like that, she is unstable, she is inconsistent, but despite, respite and inspite of everythiing, the man will keep loving her. Anyways, I ended up discussing women in context of love, as i believe it was called for by the person who used the word girl bashing.

I am not favouring women or taking their side. But this is true. However, women are very strange. At times u give so much importance to them in life but in lieu you get ignored completely. You show the level of care for them, and they are careless about you. But then again it may be your fault that you were caring for here because you were listening to only that tune that u wanted to listen. But at times it is true that the more interest you show in them or howsoever truely deeply and madly you start loving them, they take you for granted. And would say "Atleast you should understand me". Yes I do understand you but i cant figure out why.

Anyways one can never stop arguing. There would be people who would give me quite valid and justified counter for my these words. But i am sorry, i believe only in my experiences. I have seen this world through my eyes only. I personally like women who are real, honest, sensitive, have a sense of humour and have a sense of loyalty. And I know they are confused. They arent inferior to us. If you believe in switching relationships n changing gears, they shouldnt be played with. Whenever you figure out the wrong they did, ask yourself what was the reason for that wrong. In 99.9% cases you will see a reason in yourself. They have feelings, a kind but naive heart, an intelligent brain. If you are extra potent, they arent the means to show your potency. Neither they are slaves nor they are baby producing machines. They are like us. Respect them and respect yourself.

The Girl-Bashing guy may not read this, but I think your all possible queries have been answered.

Women!

Woooo-men!

First you woo
then  feel blue
force your ego to boo
then strain your brain and leave eyes full of dew
put your heart in pain and all feelings you slowly chew
amidst all this one you discover who are you
then you meet another wooo-men and you think she is new
you go with the flow and try giving life another view
and you again woo !
Alas, it isnt so simple, its a circle which may forever continue!

Its raining men !

Monsoons havent arrived yet. I can feel stormy weather slipping in. I can hear the thunder.  I do not want to go out. I dont want let my self get soaking wet. But before I realise, its already pouring. The darkest cloud is right above my head. I have no choice except to get soaked.


What is stated above are my feelings right after I listed things pending to be done in my daily writing pad. There are already 21 things and the list is increasing. Work is pouring.

MAA

When despite of so many attempts I couldnt learn riding bicycle, my mom told me -"dont worry beta ! Just like you learned the multiplication tables, you would manage to learn riding bicycles." And I did manage. About 18 years later, I was in the final year of college and despite of a few attempts I could not manage to get a job. Since too many such things happened that time, I was very low and disappointed. My mom then told me that just like you managed riding bikes and multiplication tables, you will get a very good job as well.


Such has been support of my mom in my (our -including my brother) life throughout. Right since giving birth and showing us this beautiful world, taking us alone to doctors very far away in rickshaws when my dad was buisy in certain important meetings, teaching us all basic things essential in this world, being our full time tuitions, beating us to teach us lessons, singing for us, cooking for us everyday, making sure we always wear clean and well ironed clothes everyday, forgiving our mistakes, hiding our mistakes and saving us from dad's anger, understanding our needs and emotions, laughing with us, strengthening our characters, loving protecting and caring about us always (and for doing millions of such things), mom you have been like a god in our lives. Dad too has been equally important in our lives but this being a mothers day, all words here are for you.


I had never ever been away from home in my life of 24 years. I never stayed in any hostel or boarding school. And now here I am in Mumbai. Working and living alone and missing you everyday in my life.

माँ मुझे घर वापस बुला लो,
जो भी सब्जी बनोगी उसे मैं बिना शिकायत किये खाऊंगा,
जो काम कहोगी वह करूँगा और बिलकुल तंग नहीं करूँगा.
समय से उठूँगा और समय से सोऊंगा
गाडी धीरे चलाऊंगा और घर के काम में मदद भी करूँगा
सच बोलूँगा, मेहनत करूँगा, पैसा और शोहरत भी कमाऊंगा
ना  गलत काम करूँगा और ना ही गलत चीज़ को हाथ लगाऊंगा.

ये कहाँ आ गया हूँ मैं खुद समझ नहीं पाता हूँ
दिन रात सोचता हूँ और बस सोचता ही रह जाता हूँ
यहाँ आज़ादी है, मेरा वश भी चलता है और सब कुछ अपनी मर्ज़ी से करता हूँ
लेकिन सब अधूरा है, गहरा अँधेरा है जिससे मैं कभी सहम सा जाता हूँ
बड़ा हो गया हूँ, कमाने भी लगा हूँ और रोज़ ऑफिस जाता हूँ
पुरानी यादों में खो जाता हूँ पर नए सपने नहीं बुन पाता हूँ
काम में मन लगता हूँ पर रोज़ थक सा जाता हूँ
जब परेशान होता हूँ तोह खुद को समझाता हूँ 
हँसता भी हूँ , गाता हूँ और चेह्चाहाता भी हूँ
लोग हमेशा रहते हैं पर कई बार खुद को अकेला पाता हूँ
लोग कहते हैं कि मैं तरक्की कर रहा हूँ
जो कुछ भी हूँ, जैसा भी हूँ और जहाँ भी हूँ
आज मैं खुश हूँ

है हकीकत कि यह सब कुछ तुम्हारी बदौलत! 
मेरी येही  है आस कि मैं सदा रहूँ तुम्हारे पास!
वरना किस काम कि यह तरक्की और किस काम कि यह शोहरत !

gauravgopal99 and gaurav_gopal99

The above are my email ids. I am simply writing this post because a senior associate today wanted to mail a bulky file on my personal id as it was bouncing off from my office id. When I told him my id, he asked me what does 99 mean in your id? I gave him an answer. I shouldn’t have thought much about it later but nevertheless I thought about this. Is it only me who thinks so much or everyone does it? I think every sentimental emotional fool does. And i bet all such sentimental and emotional fools have a very good memory. Coming back to the question. I have answered this question so many times. And I have always lied. My usual answers include that the id was not available, i made id in 99, etc. Thats a lie. Truth is that when I was in 11th standard, I opened my first ever account on hotmail only to chat and send & receive mails from a girl (with whom i had a long relationship thereafter). Thats okay i suppose. I would have made a simple id, but just for the simple reason I was hitting on that girl, I made id with digits 99 as she also had 99 in her id. At that time, I guess she also asked the same question, but at that time I did not answer the question. Years later when i opened account on gmail, i again used 99 as I was still in the relationship. And now I am living with these ids permanently. I am writing here not because I am regretting anything, but just wanted to tell you this small truth about myself. One should never compare their present with past. Becauser when it was there in the past, it was beautiful. And once you compare it with present, it will look as if it was a waste.

FLIGHT DELAYED! SLP DISPOSED! OBJECTIVE ACHIEVED! FLIGHT MISSED! ROADS JAMMED! WORK POURED! BORED!

Mumbai se aaya mera dost ! Dost ko salaam karo! The song cobra and yadav sang when I landed in IGI Airport when I came for the first hearing on March 29 in this matter which got disposed off yesterday. And during these 3 visits to Delhi it really felt great seeing everyone after so long. Especially when I was lost in the web miseries and questions. And I felt equally bad when I came back this time. I have a feeling like an orphan whenever I go away from people who are so close to me. People say I am an emotional fool. I think I am.

May 3 was the date of hearing and for filing of consent terms which was fixed by the Supreme Court. The period from March end till May 4 was full of trips for me. BHOPAL-DELHI-INDORE-NAGPUR-DELHI-DELHI. And here I lie exhausted and tired. And guess what, I have been given 7 new matters to work on. Two years of ordeal in Mumbai are about to get over and much more responsibilities are dancing over my head asking me to take care of them and make all of them happy. And my nature has been such that I always wanted to make everyone happy so I am doing that.

In this matter which we call as “Worli Matter”, I was asked to take a lead for a real life compromise and settlement. Immidiately i went into the flashbacks of Dispute Resolution days in college. There was this ADR Cell lead by Dr. Surya Prakash. And it felt great to preside over a settlement and see it coming to an end so well. As I have told you all before, I still maintain that I am getting paid to learn. I spent the international labour day preparing for the delivery of my baby. Yes, I call this settlement my baby. And the evening was well spent with a dinner with some former colleagues of WG and accidently catching up the Laser show at Queens Necklace on Maharashtra Day. The best thing about living in India is that there are so many such DAYS. And you get off on most of such DAYS. Good fun.

Sunday April 2, I was awaken by the ring on my phone. There were certain fresh issues which had to be tackled with. This human brain is a deadly thing. It thinks so much. But anyways after sorting out things, I hurriedly packed my bag and reached airport on time only to find that the air craft had some technical problems. They took three hours to change the air craft and I could reach my Hotel only at 9:30. Lalit Intercontinental. Nice hotel. I prepared for the next day and slept. May 3 was supposed to be a big day and I made sure I had arranged for everything. Right from the conference with Mr. Counsel till the filing of consent terms, everything went perfect. And it was over. And so were my hopes coz I knew that I wont be coming to Delhi again anytime soon. But it was good to see people from my college in the Supreme Court. Some juniors who are still studying, some who just passed and some seniors who passed long back. I always feel good and excited when I get to meet students from my college or when I hear anything about college. I still feel attached.

Then I had RAJMA CHAWAL in Bengali Market at Bengali Sweets right opposite to Nathus. It reminded me of good old internship days. The yadav called me up telling me that he has taken off from office just coz I was not coming to Delhi anytime soon again. Yadavji you are a gem that I have in my life. Sandy also had not gone to office coz of other issues. And we asked sameer to bunk office for sometime. Aur jahan char yaar mil jaayein wahan raat gujar jaye ho gaya. At KHAN MARKET we kept drinking till we realized it was seven and I was supposed to board my flight at 8 20. And Yadav put everything behind for dropping me on time. Magar ye ho na saka. Aur flight miss ho gayi. Mere saath yeh doosri baar hua hai. Kya karoon meri sangat hi kuch aisi hai. But I was happy that I had an extended stay in Delhi.

When i reached back here in Mumbai, I was welcomed by the motormen strike due to which locals in Mumbai came to a hault. And the entire Mumbai came out on roads. All roads were badly jammed. Despite taking the Bandra Worli sea link I was late by 2 hours. And as I say, when it rains, it pours. It poured the entire day and I was exhausted.

This T-20 World Cup is looking as dead as Ranji Trophy in India. I don’t feel like seeing matches. I am bored of excessive cricket. I am desperately waiting for FIFA World Cup. Much more desperately I want to play football. But where is the time. When there is time, where is the field? When there is field, where are the players? So, I play inside my flat. My Anfield.

And I know this blog is getting as boring as sometimes my company is. Thats all i wanted to share with you as of now.

And yeah Kasab has been given death sentence today. Everyone knows that was coming. He will be hanged after sometime or some days or some months. Thats all right but its not something which is going to lead to deterrence. Govt prosecutor said in fancy words that “Kasab ka hisaab poora ho gaya.” But they do not know that there is no hisaab of terrorism. No such precedent can stop it. However it may further aggravate it. But nevertheless, it was something which was bound to happen. No sympathies and no further comments.