In da club

Got to get into the groove of writing a blog. Sure, work expands to fill the time available. But what the heck! My resolution: Keep writing for atleast ten minutes every time I find time oozing out of my watch. A Dalinian vision of molten watches. Well, all of us do hallucinate at work at some point of time. Blogging is nothing but persistence of memory.

Yesterday’s plan of meeting up with RH and RT ( college friends, both of them) at Some Place Else got cancelled and we eventually settled for the Calcutta Club. A full bottle of Kingfisher beer and a plate of golden fried prawn flew off the table in no time. The service stank. The bearers were missing in action, ignoring our frantic gestures to the point of utter disdain.
RT is a high-flying yuppie consultant. He “flies”( sic). RT regaled us with his stories about trans-atlantic flights-which has now become his fortnightly chore and how he hates it all. Also his story about how he recently went to Chicago on a project, met a Korean co-worker, and was offered a new job by him to head a different company’s soon-to-be-started Indian operations. “But you have changed your last job just about four months back”, I asked him. “I know, and they will kill me if they find out about my plans”, he laughed. “But why”? I probed. “ I can set up my office anywhere in India, and I am seriously thinking about shifting to Calcutta”, he said. “The only catch is, my wife doesn’t want to shift out of Delhi”. The conversation soon veered down to the recently acquired status of Calcutta as a “happening city”. RH, who was keeping quiet all this while, also jumped into the fray. Somewhere an emotional chord was struck. Decibel levels were raised. Thursday evening suddenly came alive for few minutes. Perhaps the only topic (besides The Forgotten Hero and The Forgotten Indian cricket captain) which unites and animates all Bongs- sad, old or otherwise. After many a raving and discourse later, we decided to call it a day. It was a long and lonely drive back home.

Why do I write “Calcutta” and not “Kolkata”. A hangover from the Raj days. I don’t want to consume a tablet of Party Smart to get over it. Call it a reverse sub-altern viewpoint.

Have a diner invitation at an office colleague’s place tomorrow night.

In pursuit of WOW!

Yesterday evening I was at my in-law’s place for dinner, followed by a DVD screening at my home of Spielberg’s “War of the Worlds”(WOW). I have read the Bengali translation of this HG Wells classic many moons ago, which was, believe it or not, published in a C-grade paperback format, and I remember picking up the same from one of those quintessential A H Wheeler outlets. This is an example of what happens when Spielberg tries his hand at B-movie-making. What I admire is the scale and extent of destruction which was portrayed…straight out of a gothic manga – thanks to the talented folks at ILM. I am not surprised at the lukewarm reviews this film received. Perhaps its not virulently jingoistic or a visual spectacle like say, Independence Day. Not due to the fact that the film is “cold”. I can vouch that a lot of Kubrick’s work is colder!! Spielberg has faulted only on one count : He has been not able to establish the fact that “the germ is the idea”! Blame it squarely on his scriptwriters who have not been able to develop on the "germ of an idea" inspite of all of HG Wells' genius. Hope they learn the cinematic technique after revisiting Ang Lee’s “The Hulk”. And moreover I could spot the clever ploy adopted by Spielberg of always focusing on the trials of a hapless girl and thereby hijacking the sensibilities from the sense of the viewers. Imitating oneself can sometimes become a self-depricating act of mimicry no matter howsoever one strives to make it out as the sincerest form of flattery. Some sequences in the film are carbon copies of Jurassic Park and Schindler’s List. Like, for instance, the sequence in where the aliens are searching for their prey inside the basement. Cut and paste with the digitally-created raptors, and voila! you jump cut into a ditto sequence from Jurassic Park. The pursuit of WOW has been abandoned. Game over!!

Some serious meetings are happening at office on year-end targets. Only to be interrupted by stupid phone calls from clients. It’s a different war out here with estimate amounts and deadline pressures. A wretch of a life!
Planning to go to Some Place Else today evening to meet up with old college pals. Got to down a few pegs with them.

And God created.....

28th December 2005. Its 4.45 pm on my watch. I type in the first few words. Makes me feel elated...its a different state of mind.