The world this week (17th August- 23rd August)

Yet another Majid Hussain's book finished, yet another Denzel Washington movie watched, yet another Ashes lost by Kangaroos in Old Blighty and yet another ghost of partition revisited in free
India.
Evolution of Geographical Thought by Majid Hussain is actually a history of geography from the Early Egyptians, Phoenicians, Indians, Chinese, Greeks, Romans to the modern Kant, Humboldt, Ritter and Karl Marx. Quite an informative book and it suits perfectly to my aspirations. 7/10.

Man on Fire (2004)
I am becoming an addict to the Denzel Washington's movies day by day. I rate this movie second only to The Great Debaters. A Bollywood movie named Ek Ajnabee was made on the same story acted by Amitabh Bachchan and just like all other Bollywood movies Amitabh Bachchan stays alive while Denzel Washington had to die. 7.5/10.

England is able to regain the Ashes after 2 years. Last time when it lost the difference was 0-5 to mighty Australians. This time Australia is no Goliath and England is no David. This was the series between the equals and as they say who dare wins. Congratulations England and best of luck Andrew Flintoff to you future endeavours. You have been a great entertainer :) a terrific player produced by England in the average lot.

The ghost of Jinnah is living again and this time Jaswant woke him up. I simply don't understand the logic behind writing this book. Last time when he wrote his "Call to honour", he created a hullabaloo by saying that "there is a mole in Prime Minister Office". This time he is saying that Jinnah was secular. Even if Jinnah was secular, what difference he makes now? He is sleeping in his grave after dying from TB why wake him up. Do you want another partition? ;). On a serious note, Jinnah was a great Indian and it was the fault of Congress to lose Jinnah to the Muslim fundamentalist party known as Muslim League those days.

Signing off till i write again.

The world this week (10th August- 16th August)

Books:
Guys, this week i finished my bete noire Majid Hussain's Human Geography. This book has been my nemesis for quite some time but some how i managed to finish this off. Its a survey of the human civilization from a bird's point of view. Interesting read for anyone interested in Human settlements and evolution. 7/10 points.

Movies:
1. Satya (1998)
India's real underworld movie and the cult of RGV is born. It has a cult following and the songs are perfectly perfect. Sapnon main milti hai and Goli Maro Bheje main have become eternal songs of Bollywood and of young Turks. 8/10.
2. LOC Kargil (2003)
To be honest i dont know why this movie failed to win accolades. Its a great movie and a tribute to the heroes of Kargil war. Its a mother of all multi starrer and i dont believe that the sheer intensity of war fare can ever be surprassed. Manoj Bajpayi, Ajay Devgan, Ashutosh Rana and Sudesh Beri acted brilliantly. Ek Sathi aur bhi tha and Tu jahan bhi rahe are good numbers. I have seen this movie 6 times. 7/10.
3. New York (2009)
A good concept, good looking actors, nice dresses but film a real loser. I was expecting a better show from Kabir Khan after his Chak De India but now he seems to me as a One film wonder. Irfan Khan is the only positive point. 5/10.
4. Waqt (1965)
A typical pre 1991 bollywood movie. 3 brothers lost in their childhood by a calamity and joined by another calamity. A good time pass if you like Rajkumar's one liner. 7/10.

The world this week (3rd August- 9th August)

This week was an academic week for me and i learned few things about Human settlements. I am in the last leg of Majid Hussain's Human Geography. I saw quite a few movies and ended my Saturday with a get together with the old Amigos.

Movies
1. Garam Hawa (1973)
One of the last movies of legendary Balraj Sahni. A great actor who epitomized farmers and working class and glorified Indian cinema by giving Kabuliwala and Do Bigha Jamin. This story is about a middle class Muslim family caught up on the wromg side of the history after 1947 ghastly partition. The second half is bit boring but the legend of Kaifi Azmi still rules. 8/10.

2. Sehar (2005)
A young police officer fights against the organized crime in Uttar Pradesh. He leads a team of committed police officers to seek and destroy the criminals. Rajendra Gupta acted brilliantly. 7.5/10.

3. Twelve Monkeys (1995)
A multi starrer sci-fi thriller about human civilization living inside earth when the entire human civilization above it was destroyed by a dangerous virus. Bruce Willis was sent from future to seek and destroy the virus so that earth can be saved. Brat Pitt is in surprise package and some times he is strong enough to beat Johny Depp of "Pirates ....." fame hands down. 7/10.

4. In the heat of night (1967)
A common plot exploited beautifully. An African-American investigates a murder of a millionaire in a race sensitive town. Sydney Poitier acted brilliantly. Race does not define you, its you who define race. 8/10.

Signing off till i write again.

The world this week (27July- 2 August)

Yet another feather in my cap and yet another step towards my 2011 goal. I passed this week reading approaches of Human geography, race and population theories.

Movies:
1. Machinist (2004)
Yet another Christian Bale flick but this time its about psychological thriller. Bale was extremely thin and insomniac in this movie. "If he was more thinner, he would not exist". Good movie with lot of darkness. 7/10
2. Children of Men (2006)
IMBD rating rates it in all time top 250 movies but for me its an extremely over hyped movie. Clive Owen and Michael Caine acted brilliantly but the movie is less than their sum. 5/10.

News:
Manmohan singh defended his Sharm -el Sheikh statement with Pakistan in Lok Sabha without any logic. It was a lecture on all the past failures of Indian government's inalienable right of the appeasement of Pakistan. Unfortunately those terrorists don't kill MPs or ministers, they kill the common man.
England is giving a commendable thrashing to the haughty Australian team and i am loving every bit of it. God saves the queen.
Happy friendship day to all of you. God bless you.

The world this week (20 - 26 July)

Movies:
1. Terminator salvation (2009)
Being a Christian Bale film, i was expecting a lot from this movie. This movie is a combination of all the cliches found in almost all the sci-fic movies. Judgment Day still rules and this latest sequel is not even a smallest temple of the cult. This is Neeraj Jadaun and if you are reading this then don't be a part of the Resistance ;). 6/10.
2. 3:10 to Yuma (2007)
Yet another film of the legends, this time Christian Bale meets Russel Crowe in a western flick. Worth watching to see Crowe and Bale reviving the magic of Clint Eastwood and John Wayne. 8/10.

3. The office (2001)
Its the original BBC series and quite funny as well. But i will still prefer Michael Scott over David Brent and Jim over Tim. Anyways a funny time pass. 7/10.

This week also got a rare chance to meet the cast of Abhimanyu movie (it was shot at Kormangala and M.G. Road in Bangalore) courtesy my childhood friend Amar Kaushik who has now become Asistant Director and working with the likes of Anurag Kashyap and Onirab. I found Sanjay Suri a very humble, polite and friendly person and we discussed few things about Indian IT industry and the weather of Bangalore. On the other hand Onir was bit reserved during that meet. Anyways a good rendezvous with Bollywood and my old friend.

News:
We are celebrating the 10th year of our "victory" in the Kargil war against the Pakistan and Mujaheddin. They died for strangers and we are those strangers. I have few words of advice from John Buchan to Dr. Manmohan Singh "The hasty reformer who forgets the past is condemned to repeat it".
We are now nuclear submarine capable nation. Its a proud achievment of DRDO and BARC combined together. Time will tell how INS Arihant fare against the odds.
Signing off for now. See you next week or may be in between. Stay healthy, stay hungry and stay foolish.