10 movies that I really like

The following is a list of ten movies that I really like(no particular order):
(I know this is a complete waste of time and is not going to serve any purpouse for anyone--but just felt like doing it :-) )

1. Matrix(only the first part)
2. Pirates of the Silicon valley
   
3. Seven
4. Veer-Zaara(maybe the only Shahrukh Khan movie that I really like)
5. No, Swades also(like the scene where Shahrukh Khan drinks water from the kid's jug)
   
6. Troy
7. Shawshank Redemption(saw it a long time back and dont remember most of the scenes--but the dialogues about Hope were nice)
8. Dude where's my car?
9. Nayagan(Tamil movie)
10. Lakshya(kinda like the way, Hrithik changes after his temporary drop out from the army)
11. Sholay
12. Satya
    

I guess there are some more,so, I will just continue

12. Passion of the Christ
13. Star trek--first Contact
14. Ek ruka hua faisla-- It is a Pankaj Kapoor movie in which 15 members of a jury sit and decide if a guy(or was it a kid??) committed a murder or not.
15. Blair witch project(only the 1st part--the best horror movie I have ever seen)
16. Sixth Sense(the 2nd bestand Unbreakable also)
17. Mughal-e-Azam(never seen the whole movie continuously)
18. Iqbal(very inspiring)
19. Lord of the rings--The fellowship of the ring(I like the hooded guys on horses who keep chasing the ring-bearer)
20. Benhur
21. Omkara(could have been slicker,but, I am ready to excuse that)
22. Hotel Rwanda
23. American Pie(the first part only---- how did I forget it earlier)
24. Luther
25. Don--The chase begins-the One with Sharukh Khan--ok one more SRK movie that I liked :)
26. Shiva--The hindi one--Starring Mohit Alawat and directed by RGV
27. Euro trip-- absolute classic--esp. the character of Mika's brother

How revolutions come--the Nepal case

After seeing V for Vendatta, me ,Sundar and Saurav were discussing about how countries go into anarchy and about the trigger points for a revolution.

I see a good example of a revolution brewing in Nepal.

If we see the Nepal case, the main trigger points are:

1. General discontent--A general feeling among the people that their freedom is being suppressed in the name of national security.
2. A rallying point--though the King's rule(or emergency as it is called) has been there for about 14 months now, but, the people could not find a rallying point. Now that the 7-party alliance has come up and there is some one out there spearheading a movement, it has found mass appeal.
3. A common enemy uniting different sections--For a long time now, the maoists didnt seem to see an eye to eye with the various political parties in Nepal,but, a bigger enemy--the king, taking powers into his hands seems to have made the maoists cosy up to other parties.
4. A general change in atmosphere--Nepal, which has been a sleepy country in the himalayan foothills, famous only for its natural beauty, suddenly seems to be in fires today--the change in situation has more to do with a general awakening of the people and a feeling among the common man that some political decisions taken in a palace in Kathmandu is affecting his life.

I don't know if the power will be transferred to people completely or even if the the new government that might get formed would be any better than the king's rule--but what I can be sure about is the fact that the people of Nepal have understood the real meaning of freedom and that itself will ensure a form of governance where the government is afraid of the people and not vice-versa(sound fimiliar??--copied from V for vendetta)

why I like Google calendar

1. Uncluttered UI.Rather I should say, a, no-nonsense UI.
2. Drag and Drop does most of the things.....no save button or delete button in the main screen.
3. Really like the way, the "what" and "when" fields change from uneditale to editable,when you move the mouse over it....
4. Ability to customise the view, for weekly,monthly, and next n days.
5. The agenda for the day comes to my mail everday.
6. The use of basic colors...typical google approach towards color selection.
7. I have not had to use the Help link till now(is there a help link??).
   

some things I would like to see:

1. The screen looks basically like an excel sheet,so, the user should have the ability to change the size of each cell(the way it is done in excel).
2. Should be able to change the month(and year), without clicking again and again on the >> button.
   

D for Dashed hopes

A few days back ,I went to watch V for Vendatta. Being a Wachowski brother's movie, I expected it to be stylish and slick and revolutionary(I am not talking about overthrowing governments) like Matrix.Alas, I was in for disappointment.Lessons learnt:

1. When you go for a movie based on some novel,book or comic, then do read the novel,book or comic before going for the movie.Then only you will be able to appreciate the idea being presented in the movie, in the right context.
2. Dont compare 2 movies made by the same guys.A movie like Matrix(only the 1st part) is unmatchable in terms of the sheer audacity of the thinking that we are not in control of our lives and that what we see is not real(did I read the same in Bhagvad Geeta about moh maya)and for a lot of other reasons ,but, expecting that all the movies made by Wachowski brothers will be like Matrix is like expecting all search engines to work like Google.
3. Identify the intended audience and see if you are part of that.Maybe taking bullets from 7 or 8 machine guns and still surviving to beat the hell out of 7 or 8 baddies might be heroic for some--for me it looked like a cheap copy of some Rajnikant movie :-).
4. Go with an open mind and dont have any opinion about the movie till you have seen it completely.

From now on, I intend to follow these points to have a better viewing pleasure :-) .

and BTW, I think the film never talks about the concepts of The Land of Do-As-You Please and the Land of Take What You Want.Also, the movie doesn't seem to stick to the story of the original comics.

Exposure

When we all have a goal to work towards,we put our efforts in a definite direction and we all become the eopitome of sincerity,perseverance and mostly epitome of smartness also.So, when we know a goal, we are able to decide how to work towards it,but, how do we decide what is our goal?There are many factors that go into deciding a goal,but, I feel that one factor that governs all other factors is "Exposure".

For most software engineers (like me), some of the goals would be like:working on new technologies,climbing up the corporate ladder(or maybe starting something of your own,when you feel you are ready), earning money, interacting with people from varied cultures,etc.,but, how do we decide the benchmark for each of these goals.For example,lets take the game of cricket.If the best guy from your place is the guy who hs played at the district level(and you don't have a TV to influence you), then you might max. think of making it to the county team, but, if you have interacted with a guy who has made it to the county team,then you would like to be better than him and try to play for the national team.

Or maybe, incase , the most respected person in your place is a guy who manages, lets say,50-60 odd people across 2 or 3 projects in some company which is widely respected, then you would also try to be like him,maybe manage more people,get a higher post or something,but,in that situation or environment, you would never think of starting your own thing--> not because, you are incapable, but, because of the fear of the unknown(no one you know has done it before).

Now all of us don't get the best possible exposures at all times,so, we have to go and find out things.Some ways of getting new and better ideas(cos thats what exposure is supposed to do)can be by:

1. Talking to different types of people(as many as possible) .For example,lets say, you are a Java developer,then constantly interact not only with your team-members,but,also with developers working in other languages,testers,people from the QA team,guys who do the project management,people who dot eh HR and resource allocation,etc.
2. Talk to people at all levels ,cos, as a person goes up the heirarchy, he gets a better view and ofcourse, he is more experienced. Also, I ahve observer that in every person's life, a stage comes when he wants to proactively help otehrs and if you gel into the place,then you get a guy who sincerely wants to help/guide/mentor you.
3. Always help others.Helping others not onky gives you satisfaction,but,also a better understanding of the problems that you might face tomorrow.
4. Always be inquisitive,because, if you don't show enthusiasm or if you don't show interest, then no one would really want to help you.
5. Don't see profit and loss in every activity,cos,most of our actions don't have tangible results .
6. and Finally, use the internet for useful purpouses like blogging and reading others blogs(esp. reading the blogs of a guy called Krishnan Subramanian).