SlumDog sweeps the Golden Globes

Jan 11th 2009...

9:22 PM EST : As I watch the Golden Globe Awards Live on NBC excitement soars as “Slumdog Millionaire” wins Best Screenplay award. And the cast is elated! How old is Dev Patel? everyone's asking. :)

9:45 pm EST: Kate Beckinsale is presenting “Best Original Score”. “Slumdog Millionaire” wins and A. R. Rehman makes India proud, thanks to some truly inventive music. Rahman says his piece, thanks God, and moves on. Very classy.

10:14 pm EST: It’s Best Director time, friends! And the Golden Globe goes to Danny Boyle! Now “Slumdog Millionaire” is truly sweeping! The “Slumdog” table is very happy. And so is Danny Boyle.

11:00 pm EST: It’s finally time for the King of all awards - Best Motion Picture. Tom Cruise steps on stage to present the award. And Slumdog has done it again! I watch in awe as the entire rejoicing crew steps on stage - Anil Kapoor, Freida Pinto, Dev Patel along with Danny Boyle.

That's like the icing on a perfect cake. Way to go Slumdog!!

A Christmas in Boston

Christmas Day 2008, the Boston skies finally decided to give its citizens a break from the gloomy weather than prevailed over it for much of last week. A quick chat with Deepu ensured that the NY trip originally planned for today was thoughtfully postponed to New Year's eve and I decided to visit the Hare Krishna Temple in Boston instead.

However Lord Krishna was in no hurry to meet me today (perhaps he too wanted his day off for Christmas, I guess! :). Well, actually it was all my fault... I forgot to take the city map along with me and I presumed I will ask someone for directions to the temple once I reached Park Street. But 'Hell'Ooo!! No one told me that its Christmas eve and there will be 'no one' - absolutely NO ONE on the streets of Boston to guide me. Plus with no shops open to ask for directions, I ended up circling the blocks from Park Street to Arlington all the way to Copley Square and the Taj Hotel Boston, in a vain attempt to locate the 'Hare Krishna' temple.
Finally I found a 7-11 store run by a Indian (Bengali) family, who gladly gave me the right directions. But with an empty stomach and loads of walking around the blocks, I had run out of both patience and fuel. So, I headed back for the Marriott for a sumptuous lunch post which I cozyed myself into the extra feather bed.
By the time I woke up, the Boston sun had already bid Good Bye . Logged into my G Mail account, and there it was... a snippet from Google's Ad-sense. "Watch 'Slumdog Millionnaire' in Boston" it said. Something clicked. A quick call to the concierge for the nearest Movie theater. "1 Kendall Square Theater, Sir" came his quick reply. "Right across the Broadway, on Hampshire street, just a ten minute walk from here". In the next 15 mins I found myself zipping past Cambridge avenue just in time to catch the 7:45 PM show. And guess what, It was a House-Full! I was lucky enough to manage to get one of the last few tickets left. I expected a largely Indian crowd inside the movie hall given that it was an Indian movie and that too on a Christmas evening. But to my utter surprise the Kendall Square movie hall was full of all possible nationalities except Indians! I found myself sitting between a middle aged Korean man, a Professor at MIT on one side and a young Canadian man - a consultant with KPMG on the other. "Holy shit, This is so very funny! Where have all the Indians vanished now?" I muttered under my breath. I mean, you'll spot them literally 'everywhere' in Boston. You will find them in MIT and the Harvard Campuses as that typical bespectacled scholar, you'll find one in 7 Cambridge Center as the honest security guard, in Harvard Square as the sincere looking student, in the MBTA as an aged lady with worries clearly written over her face or in the Boston Commons Gardens as that cozy honeymoon tourist couple cuddling up on a remote bench! But they were simply not there in the theater at Kendall Square today, to appreciate a much-acclaimed Indian movie.

Anyways, I was happy I was there. To experience a thrilling cinematic experience from a filmmaker in peak form. “Slumdog Millionaire” is pure movie magic - pulsing with life, oozing authenticity and so drunk on romance that it simply has to end with an exuberant musical number. The story revolves around 18-year-old orphan Jamal Malik (Dev Patel) who is one question away from winning 20 million rupees, the top prize on India’s version of “Who Wants to be a Millionaire?” But doubts over how he made it that far lead to his interrogation by a police Inspector (Irrfan Khan) and subsequent flashbacks to Jamal’s years as a child and adolescent in the slums of Mumbai (shot in Dharavi). In spite of the numerous flashbacks, British Director Danny Boyle has subtly ensured that the viewer does not lose focus at any point. As the movie progresses and the story unfolds, the pieces of the jigsaw puzzle slowly begin to fall in place and the beauty of the movie emerges from the picutre that now stands some-what complete.

One glance at the MIT prof and the KPMG chap sitting next to me and I knew they were spell-bound by Jamal's successful journey to his destination... the love of his life, 'Latika'. And as the credits appeared, I too found myself joining the multinational, multiracial audience, giving a thunderous applause and a well-deserved standing ovation to a movie that will create impressions (both good and bad) of 'Aamchi Mumbai' like no other!

War on Mumbai

My earliest memories of the Taj Mahal Hotel are as a 6 years old on his first visit to the iconic Gateway of India. It stood there - firm and resilent, right next to the Gateway, while we enjoyed the cool Arabian sea breeze along with the Bhel Puri, a mouth-watering Indian retreat. I remember passing through its grand Ballroom years later with some of my colleagues at Capgemini. It was being decked to welcome a distinguished Russian state visitor. The Taj is a permanent association in the minds of us Mumbaikars. Last week those memories came flooding back as I watched from my Boston hotel room, and saw the iconic Taj Mahal hotel on fire.

CNN first reported that terrorists had opened fire at VT (Victoria Terminus) and I though this was just another of those 'Shoot & Run' terrorist attacks. My first response... called up my younger brother who works with a 5-Star property in Mumbai. It was later that news broke out about hostages being taken inside the Taj and Oberoi. And the rest is history... the terrorists eventually getting 'neutralized' one-by-one after a gunbattle with the elite India Commandos, in a tussle that lasted for well over 60 hours. As I followed CNN minute by minute, I was a surprised at the coverage that India and Mumbai in particular was getting all of a sudden here on the US neworks... CNN in particular. Later in the evening, when I stepped out into Harvard Sq, I saw some curious eyes around me and soon enough at the 'Market in the square' restaurant, a Japanese-American stepped up to my table and asked me with a smile "Everything fine back home"?. "Yes" I said, barely managing to smile back. I was touched by his concerns... as much as I was by the events that were still unfolding 'back home'. For they were hurting and bleeding my lovely city.

I later learnt that the attack had affected someone I remotely knew too, when we received an official mail from our alma mater that we had lost two of our alumni - juniors from the SP Jain MBA program, in the firing at Cafe Leopold. One of them I learnt, was about to get married very soon. There were many more heart rendering stories like these across all levels... from the VT Platform sweeper who died while doing his job, to the famous ET food critic who lost her life in the fires that raged on the 6th floor of the Taj.

These kinds of events though bring out the best in ordinary people. Like the brave Taj Mahal employees who risked getting shot to get guests out of harm's way. And hostages still recount stories of the bravery of their saviours, the Indian Commandos.

Post the attacks, there are clear signs tha we have reached the 'Tipping Point'. As the common man demonstrates his anger in Silent Candle lit protests, heads continue roll in the Mantralaya (the state house) in Maharashtra and politicians in New Delhi scramble for damage control policies and to come up with ways to counter this new form of Terrorism.

But we must not forget that Mumbai has the best counterterrorism policy - Resilence.

Cafe Leopold opened days after the strike and guess what it was buzzing with activity & tourists yet again. The BSE Sensex opened on Friday and closed higher. And as the American President elect Barak Obama put it in his condolence message "These terrorists who targeted innocent civilians with their hate-filled ideology will not defeat India's great democracy, nor shake the will of a global coalition to defeat them."

I have a trip to India planned soon and I will make it a definite point to visit the Taj again... just to relive those childhood memories - once again.

Long Live the Taj! Long Live India!

Mumbaikar in Manhattan

If there's one word I can use to describe my journey with i2 so far... it would be 'explorative' both in terms of learning and traveling. From Bangkok to Bangalore to NY to Portland. This job is sure like putting wheels on my feet. Have seen so many new places in this one year, I'm afraid I may lose count if I don't (b)log them down.

So, to begin with, was back from Thailand by end of June only to immediately kickstart work my next project. And while I was working on it, also managed to write an article in the Economic Times, present a paper at NITIE's Lakshya'08, caught up with the SP Jain gang to cut some B'Day cakes and watch some great movies thanks to AV.

Also managed to squeeze in an unforgettable trip to Mysore and finish reading Arvind Adiga's 'The White Tiger' just a day before it was awarded the Man Booker '08. Phew... now that was something.

And then, here I was! Suddenly all alone and jet-lagged in NY bang on time for the 'scary' :) Halloween Weekend. But I ain't complaining. A futile attempt to contact Mr. Kataria (who was partying away the Halloween weekend) and I knew I had to fall back on my backpacker
instincts and find my own way in this concrete jungle.


Easwar's reco to start off with Brooklyn Bridge was promptly accepted, the laptop bag was converted into a backpack, the Sony camera tucked in along with some pastries, and the next hour I was traveling on the PATH (like the Mumbai local) to the WTC memorial site, walking along the famous streets of downtown NY, into Broadway, across Park Street, a right turn and there it was!
The Magnificent Brooklyn Bridge, welcoming its visitors and at the same time bidding adieu to the setting sun.
And it did turn out to be the best Sunset walk ever.
OK, picture this now. The cool NY breeze blowing against your face, the glittering Manhattan skyline on one side, the Statue of Liberty standing tall on the other, athletes warming up for the next day's NY marathon and amidst it all like an icing on a perfect cake, the setting sun casting its magical spell with its yellow-orange hues.


It felt truly dreamlike to be at a place which you have only seen and heard about in the movies. Thanks EJ for your splendid idea. :)


And then it was time to head back, this time in a NY Yellow Taxicab, chatting with the cabbie who turned out to be a freelance writer. He said he drove cabs so he could interact with more people and get inspiration for his stories. Ah! that reminds me of the 'Taxicab Confessions', the hit HBO reality show that will be on HBO in 5 mins.

Time for me to sign off... for now. Catchya soon!

Beaches, Birthday Bumps, Bangkok and more...

Hmm… Here’s a Birthday Blog on my 26^th Birthday. Thank you everyone for all those Wonderful and Warm Wishes - be it via e-Mails, e-greetings, Orkut scraps, birthday bumps, a 'very special' call and the wonderful Chocolate Cake. I will cherish each and every moment forever. For they made me feel at home even while being so far from home in this smoggy city…

Thanks once Again for making my day so special!

Our i2 team has been working pretty much into late nights ever since we started on this project. Weekends were usually spent catching up on some much needed sleep and that effectively left us with little time to explore Bangkok. This last fortnight however was a bit different! Our team got some respite, thanks to a couple of interesting events that came out way. First was the sports day, shortly followed by a visit to the beautiful beach city of Pattaya.

The sports day was real fun; a bit tiring at times, with more than a dozen events lined up back-to-back.

There was a prize for the winning team from amongst the five teams and our Green Team was eventually declared the overall winner at the end of the day.

The weekend that followed was the 2-Day visit to Pattaya… The leader of the pack of 8 was ChiChi aka Sameeeeeer Saxennnna with his inexhaustible bundle of practical jokes and knack of perfect humor (extra e’s & n's in his name for the Thai Version.). He led throughout with his enthusiasm and along chugged Lahuti, Ankit, Tiwariji, Mohan, me, Ghosh Babu, Atul and Vahini… Once there, we were joined by Koon Sayan and Koon Charoen. We all made for a real fun team. :)

The tourist city of Pattaya is well-planned and has a very hospitable and welcoming ambience.

Day one was the visit to an isolated beach island called Koh Larn Island near Pattaya. The beach there was breathtakingly beautiful… absolutely clear skies, white sand and blue-green waters, kind of... straight out of some Oil on Canvas Painting.

After hours of splashing around, beach volleyball and some unintended sun tanning, it was time to head to the Hotel Resort.

Day 2 began with a leisurely morning spent at the beautifully maintained Nong Nooch Gardens. They have a wonderful Orchid Garden and even created a replica of the Stonehenge.

Post a sumptuous lunch at Alibaba Restaurant, we found ourselves on the famous Pattaya Beach complete with its European tourists, banana boats, para sailing and much more...

I must admit that the Banana Boat ride was the most exciting of them all though! It needed a lot of co-ordination. We fell into the water not once, not twice, but thrice and I still get an adrenalin rush when I see these wonderful snaps clicked by Vikas...

Pic 1. Before the first fall...

Pic 2. Down with the Banana Boat...

Pic 3. Out of the water after some tense moments...

Then it was Sunset Time and we lazed around a bit, our bones aching courtesy to the three falls.

The trip would have been incomplete without a walk on the famous walking street with its infamous bars and pubs. So we went ahead and did just that. Walk :)

Pattaya was fun and helped us unwind and begin anew on the project. Look forward to having some more good time here in the 'Land of Smiles'. Catchya then!

Bangalore Bytes - II

My Thai Airways plane glides effortlessly through this nascent pre-sunrise Bangkok sky on its way to Suvarnabhumi Airport. From my window seat, the entire city horizon looks like the city has been chiseled and mapped to scale with absolute perfection. It is dotted with dozens of Parallel expressways twinkling with their still brightly lit street lights, each trying to proclaim its dominance over the other. One can see numerous zigzag flyovers that will try their best to confuse every new tourist out of his wits throughout the day to come. Way above the Bangkok horizon and smog, right beside my plane I can see a very pretty ‘good morning’ cloud with its own golden lining that it seems to borrow from the emerging sun. And finally I have ‘Morning Celebration’ by Karunesh playing in the backdrop to make it a picture perfect setting for diving into flash-back…

Bangalore brought along with it many new people - most of them fellow i2ers. In my last blog I wrote about some people who made my transition to Bangalore smooth. They were people I knew... folks from school, college, B-School. But there are many more whom I met for the first time. - most of them from SPJIMR, Bombay.

Like ‘Punch Liner -Amit Vijay’ alias AV who has this uncanny ability of coming up with the most unthinkable and utterly hilarious punch lines in the most unexpected circumstances. Then there is ‘The Monk without a Ferrari – Anand’ who keeps planning about how to get rich enough to buy his first Ferrari ASAP. Both AV and Monk have one thing in common - a fantastic sense of humor. Then comes ‘The Motorola Man – Ashwin’ alias Crao who brandishes his latest Motorola and if you happen to say ‘Motorola isn’t good’ and/or ‘Nokia is the best’, be sure you are dead the next moment :). ‘Happy Man - Avinash’ is someone who never stops being happy and smiles all the way.

Then there are my own folks from B-School, my classmates Ajay, Shilpa, Prit Raj and Nitin. Prit Raj’s bachelor’s party was our first late night outing in Bangalore and it remains one of the best times I have had in the Garden city - thanks to the non-stop jokes cracked by AV, Nitin and others, we almost died in a riot of laughter that night! Truly awesome fun!

The sudden clutter of the cockpit radio jolts me out of my flash-back. “Cabin Crew – Prepare to land” crackles the pilot’s voice over the in-flight announcement system and within the next few moments the plane made a perfect landing at Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi Airport.

The journey has been very comfortable so far and I hope it stays so for the entire duration of my first assignment with the Tatas in Thailand. Will keep you folks posted… Ciao then!

Bangalore Bytes

Hey folks! I'm back. After a real long time, scores of procrastinating sessions (mine) and complaining emails (by friends), I realized it was time I finally punched some thoughts onto my keyboard.

A lot has transpired ever since my last blog post... I have reached an important milestone in my career with the completion of my MBA at SPJ, Singapore. The last days of the program were all about mixed feelings. The 'not-so-good-feeling' about the program coming to an end was kind of neutralized by my parents’ week-long visit to Singapore and the wonderful time I had with them. And then we had some wonderful company in the form of Delnaz’s family.

My time in Singapore can be termed as one of the most memorable days of my life. However, following my career objectives had (earlier) ensured that I would be heading back to India post my MBA; for India is where the action really is.

Before I got from B-School back into the rat-race, I got a much needed opportunity to spend some days at home to unwind, relax and get in touch with myself. My stay in Mumbai was dotted with chance encounters and meets with some good old friends. These included 'Amjed Bhai' who kept running away from all Questions related to Shaadi.com, 'Mr. All Smiles' Rajesh who never missed an opportunity to pull everyone else's leg at Prashant's wedding in Thane, 'Chocolate Girl' Prachee who just kept that chocolate smile on, no matter how many bags (mine) she had to carry :) and the 'Maratha Prince' Rahul who still is in a dilemma about whether to get married first or go for that elusive MBA first. Net Net...Had a great time and by the time it was over, I was left wishing I could spend some more time with my family...

Next, I found myself headed for Bangalore to join i2, where I am based at present. A beautiful but sleepy garden city, Bangalore is still grappling to come to terms with the fact that it is now a major power center for India - thanks to IT. I am fortunate to have the company of other friends from B-School and beyond. 'The Almighty Lord' Easwar who can express even the smallest and simplest joys of life through the odes on his blog, 'Biscuit Queen' Delnaz who kept praying that Brittania doesn't post her to Mizoram, Shillong or some other remote Indian land to sell Biscuits, 'Juni Maitrin' (marathi) Shweta whom I got to meet after a really long-long time (21 years to be precise) and refresh some long forgotten memories. Thanks to them my transition to this garden City was really smooth.

That's all for now... There is a whole new bunch of interesting people I have come across in Bangalore. But more about them in my next post. Watch out!

The Nizam's Heritage Block.... The latest Buzz at S P Jain, Singapore!

I had promised to come back with more pics of the latest buzz at S P J - The newly restored Heritage Building... and here I keep my promise as always! :-)

I was always intrigued by the name "Hyderabad Road' ever since the day I landed here.
Yes, that's the name of the road on which the S P Jain, campus is located in Singapore.
Last month the new Leadership and Executive Education centre was inaugurated at the hands of the Education Minister of Singapore, Mr. Tharman Shanmugaratnam. Read more about the inauguration here.

On a quiet rainy evening after the inauguration, last week I sneaked into the new block and got trigger happy with my camera. :-D Here they are!!

Me at the entrance of the New Leadership centre...


The Leadership Centre was earlier a Royal Vacation Mansion of the Nizam of Hyderabad... That's why "Hyderabad Road". :-)

And now... let my pictures do the talking!

One of those cosy corners...


A close up of one of those frames is shown below... Take a quick glance... What do you see? a Horse jumping over an obstacle? Bingo! There you go... Wrong! Observe carefully now! Its actually a Camel!! and not a horse. :-)


An ornate but pricey glass chandelier...


A close up of a portrait of the Nizam...


The entire leadership block at S P Jain, Singapore is full of more such antique pieces... When I was done clicking my pics, I decided to take a look at the Garden, which is now being restored to its original royal beauty by the S P Jain administration.

And that's Vineet at the Amphitheatre Outside...

Finally, take a look at the open garden on the other side of the Heritage Building... which is a part of the campus too.

Singapore from the 72nd Floor of the 'Swiss Stanford' - EQUINOX

We reached the place early so we don't miss the beautiful sunset. However, the smog ensured that the sun disappeared behind it prematurely... thus ruining our chances... Yet we made the most out of it! :-)

Perched on the top of the Swiss Stanford, the Equinox is an elegant palce and a recent hit with Top Class Singaporeans.


I was lucky enough to find a cushy and comortable place near a glass pane and that kept me trigger happy with my camera :-D Was fun watch those cars go about the sqares with crazy madness while here we were on the top of the world... doing... JUST NOTHING! Felt like God. :-)


Singapore... minutes after sunset.

Singapore through the wine glass...

Amazing View of the Singapore river along with the city horizons.


The view of the CBD (Central Business District) includes Corp HQ's of Finanial & Telecom Companies like HSBC, Maybank, OCBC Bank, DBS and SingTel etc.

The Majestic Chinese Gardens

All set to exploit a rare free day... College Entrance as seen from the Library Reading Room which by the way is a designated Heritage Building... (more about it later)


The Breath-taking beauty at the entrance of the Chinese Gardens...


The Japanese Pagoda...

Spiral stairs Inside the Japanese Pagoda... (reminded me of the Boot House in Mumbai)


The breath-taking scene from the top of the Japanese Pagoda...


In the Bonsai Gardens... (The small tree in the green vase to my left was more than 80 yrs old and had miniature fruits on it. Amazing! Isn't it??)


The trail winding its way to the smaller twin pagodas...



And that's Bala at his best... :-D