writing

This is anything but the cliché, being hammered at with intensity, in the title! It’s not a love story unless you have a thing for high adrenaline car chases along the streets of Paris, in pursuit of bad ass terrorists committed to blow up an international summit and all those gathering for the purpose!

John Travolta and Jonathan Rhys Myers (the homosexual in me goes Va Va Voom!) serve up much more than a buddy-cop story in this movie which will ensnare you in its web of intelligent deception and feisty car chases and moves that would leave most gymnasts gaping!

James Reese (Jonathan Rhys Myers), a pencil pushing desk jockey who is a wannabe Special Forces member is teamed with the Charlie Wax (Travolta), an unorthodox veteran of busting crime syndicates, terrorist cells and such. The scene: modern day Paris. The plot: Several terrorists want several politicos dead. It’s up to Reese and Wax to fix this situation with dispatch. And they do exactly with some deception thrown into the mix!

Kiran Desai won the Man Booker Prize 2006 for her “Inheritance of loss” , which happens to be her second novel.

Luckily , thanks to my memory ( lack of it , infact) I had totally forgot all through my reading that the book comes with a baggage of Booker price reputation . Surprisingly each time I took the book , I have not even noted the lines in the front cover mentioning it. So my review comes without the reputation to influence me ! Blessing in disguise .

The field of the story is set in the beautiful hill station of Kalimpong , situated in the district of picturesque Darjeeling . The time mid 1980’s when the Ghurka land agitation tempers. The pages of the novel starts with Sai , a 16 year old orphaned girl who lives with her embittered , steel hearted grandfather who lives a secluded life sans all pleasant emotions except for his love for Mutt – the Dog. Since retirement , the judge has been living his lonely life ( not by compulsion but by choice) in the old spacious cottage with an old cook , till Sai lands up there. Slowly , we are introduced to various other characters of the small town – Uncle Potty , Father Booty , Lola , Noni etc. Then there is Biju , the cook’s son who is an illegal immigrant two ocean’s away in the land of America , struggling out his life there , humiliated , deprived but burdened by his father’s love , dream and expectations back home. Gyan , the tutor of Sai , who also teaches Sai , the first lesson of infatuation and love in her heart.

The novel swings between the thoughts of Sai , Judge and Biju. It takes back to the past of Judge , It shows the life through the eyes of Sai. It speaks the anguish , pain , humiliation , struggle from the heart of Biju. The mid 1980’s militancy shows up shattering the peace , beauty and the normalcy of the land and the people’s life. Everyone’s life torn apart .. The conflict in the land and minds of people stirred by the consequence of colonialism , race , nationalism and raw human love , greed , ego and false pride.

Kiran Desai has managed wonderfully in bringing the soul of the hill station , the small detailing adds up beautifully to take us into Kalimpong . This is the first V sign for an author – the art to take the readers effortlessly into the world described in words.

Though set in mid 1980’s the essence holds true even in 2009 when we witness struggle of communities , terrorism finding opportunities in the field sowed by economic disparity , cultural differences , feeling of being neglected , government apathy and also human greed.

The only let down I felt in the novel was in the concluding parts , where I felt the author gone bit hasty. Well , its how I felt . I also could feel the change in India since 1980’s and now but also how some changes have only been shifted and not entirely got away with.

As the book concludes “ all you needed to do was to reach out and pluck it” Well , you can sure pluck the book out of shelves and have a good read !

‘ If God was a Banker ‘ becomes the first book  in my book review section of my blog.

I used to be once a vociferous reader but somewhere down the lane I stopped running my imagination on the words I read from the pages of various authors , so I decided to restart by reading habit of late.

When I made my 15 hour journey to my native by train , I carried this book , which was suggested by my wife and  I finished the book in one go without break which was surprising for me coz am usually a slow reader ! So that could give you an idea how much I enjoyed it !

‘If God was a banker’ is written by Ravi Subramanian , an alumnus of IIM-Bangalore. He himself is a banker , working with a leading foreign bank , and its no surprise he has chosen his professional background to scheme his novel !

The book paths the journey of two bright IIM guys who joins New York International Bank on the same day. One is fast ,  aggressive and another one is more principled holding high moral grounds in personal life as well as professional life. That gives us the two main characters – Sundeep and Swami . The whole novel revolves around them in the background of their professional careers in banking. The author has blended very well their personal life along with their professional life. There is quiet a dose of all human emotional ingredients – love , lust , anger , frustration , jealous , rivalry , ego , friendship .

The novel was quiet gripping that I could not keep down the book in the middle. The characters well crafted , the words simple still effective , the plot never a moment dragging or boring .

The book could make a good movie too . The director in me thought Amir khan or Saif Ali khan as Sundeep ,  Madhavan as Swamy , Rishi kapoor as Aditya , when I told my wife about the castings in mind , she said she would have liked to see Kay Kay menon as Sundeep , Irfan Khan as Swamy . ( well , honestly , her casting too sounds cool – just matter of how far the producer will dig into his bank account )

When my wife picked this book from the shelves of a bookshop , I should admit , I was not quiet impressed by the cover design but after reading it , I understood how true the good old English saying " don’t judge the book by its cover " is !

My Parting  Shot : A Good Read.

Some landmarks even if it seems trivial should be cherished . Little pleasures give wonderful boost to your confidence and a drive to perform better.

baby steps of toddlers gives immense pleasure …

so today while going through my posts statistics , I realized i have written so far 151 posts ! Strictly speaking , two of the posts where written by my better half . Nevertheless , I feel myself and my wife makes oneness ! So it is 151 and counting … !

I would like to thank each and everyone of you who have read my blog , special thanks to those who took time to leave comments ! A Big Thanks for your support , encouragement for helping me key in my thought process .. Baby steps may turn into a mature steady walk but I would still look upon your appreciation , criticism , encouragement throughout my walk … For we are not alone in this wonderful world . We may have born alone , but we find each other .. and then start a journey together in spite of distance , self interests , pulls and twists of our individual lives !

Thanks Again from the bottom of my heart to all of my readers !

Ok , I want to write this topic for quiet long time , after reading the 25 random things written by blogger Shakti

So here it goes , finally ..

1. I am a Narcissist : I am proud , happy to say I am a bloody narcissist . I love myself . I love what I am . I strongly believe that One who don’t love oneself cannot love another one effectively.
2. I am a die – hard romantic : To put more effectively , I am one lazy die hard romantic. No wonder , I found my better half in a dream come true unlikely  scenario !
3. I am a big time Optimist : I strongly believe by the Bhagavat Gita’s quote  “ Whatever happened, happened for the good; whatever is happening, is happening for the good; whatever will happen, will also happen for the good only ”
4. I am a Dreamer : I dream  and I ‘m ‘njoying it ! Dreams drive our passion , dreams drive our vision. I used to dream while sipping chai, taking bath , when the nature calls , while riding . Though now , my dream session is restricted while driving for various reasons.
5. I am an Absent minded professor : Err .. should say rather Absent Minded Blogger. I have a bad memory that has given rise to many funny , awkward situation for me. If I remember them , will try to post a topic on it some day .
6. I am one big time lazy bum : Should i say more on this ? Nah feel lazy .
7. I am a Young Angry Man : Young ? mmm I think I can  still qualify for the word. Nevertheless , even if I turn 100 , I would be still young at heart ! I get angry but my anger is short lived. Bit short tempered , hmmm yes .
8. I Forgive and forget : The brighter side of me that could offset any negativity of my anger is that , I cool down pretty fast and forget the event and forgive those who made me angry in double quick time. Also , I have no qualms to apologize , if I find myself at the wrong side. Pretty nice quality , isn’t it ? Many a times , I would have forgotten the incident that would have made me angry with someone and when I meet them next time after quiet sometime , would be wondering what would have made me angry with them . While the other would be bit uncomfortable talking , I would have forgotten and in a goody goody mood with them !
9. I am an emotional type : Unpredictably emotional , that would sum it up better. I get emotional at times for simple things . I get emotionally hurt easily for smaller issues with the loved ones and I can amaze you at the same time being emotionally detached with seemingly more emotional issues.
10. I am less egoistic : Ego is a burden that makes one less flexible in thoughts and action , luckily I have less ego ruling my heart and head.
11. Heart over head : More often , I tend to take decision based on  intuition and what my heart dictates.
12. I Cry : Whoever said “boys don’t cry” probably lied. Men do cry but most deny. Men cry silently , but I don’t hide my emotions. If I feel to cry , I let my tears happily out ! Did I say happily ? sounds weird but I think that is exactly what it is , freedom for tears ha.
13. I get mood swings : I get mood swings and when I do get I go into a recluse and my wife can vouch for it ! but I recover very quick from it !
14. I got a colorful personality : I love colors . I love to dress up in bright colors. I love colorful walls , colorful articles etc etc  Bright colors enliven me and gives me energy !  I dream to own a customized  colorful , floral design painted  car one day !
15. I live in curio-city : Am one Curious boy err ok man ! I am curious to know about lot many things. What are those ? They can be anything and everything .
16. I love silence : I feel “silence” is a beautiful experience and two people in love can bond a lot through silence .  Just being together with silence around and within can bring a “wonderful” feeling “being together”
17. I love solitude : At times I love to be alone. Being alone kind of rejuvenates my mind and thought process. I don’t know about others but I feel I can effectively shut my mind and keep it blank .
18. I dislike secrecy : I hate being kept out of loop in any scheme of things or any events by those who I love. I would like to be informed of whatever happens , even if it might anger me . Eventually , my angers are short lived but If I found out later or come across later about any secrecy , I would be just enfant terrible.
19. History fascinates me : I love history. I love to read about , evolution of mankind , past civilizations . I wish there is a time machine to take me through various ages of the human civilizations.
20. Hinduism moulds me : Vedas and Bhagavad Gita inspires me. Sri Krishna , remains my eternal spiritual Super star for me . I consider Him -  A Friend , A Guide , A Philosopher , A Punching Bag , A Pillow , Myself.
21. Illayaraja , soothes me : The Maestro of melody of Tamil film music is my favorite music director. His 70’s and 80’s music are timeless classics that makes wonders to my mood !
22. I love nature :  I love trees , I love beeches , I love mountains , I love flowers , I love grasses , I love rain , I love sky , I love stars , I love sand , I love the smell of soil , I love Mother Nature.
23. I love cooking : Cooking is a wonderful art to practice ! Thanks to my bachelor days , I had spend quiet a good amount of hours in kitchen. Though , I won’t rate myself as an excellent cook , I love cooking and exploring new recipes . And , ya ! My wife has rated me the world’s best Tea maker !
24. I love to love : I Love . I Love to be Loved . I Love to Love. I Love the Love that matures in time in spite of differences and issues. True Love is like wine that tastes better as it gets old ! It needs
    to be tasted than imagined !
25. I am not perfect : Nobody is perfect and am not either. I have many imperfections but am always ready to correct it , if my imperfections have potential to harm others . If it does not harm others, am bit lazy to correct myself. Still , I am trying….

Well , Many months back when I wanted to write this post , I thought It would be  tough to write about oneself but once I started , I found there are lots to write about myself , After all , If one could not observe from oneself , what could we write about others ? So there are more to write about myself but then … The header is 25 Random things … so I stop here…

If you read this , Do try to write “ 25 Random things about you ” .. it makes a good experience that you would relish ! Do let me know about it too .. incase you decide to share it with world !

Divya by Yashpal is set in historical times, the era when teachings of Buddha were prevalent and people were embracing Buddhism. The book is originally in Hindi, it’s been translated in English by Anand. It is a story about the girl Divya. The book traces her journey from her teenage to the time when she decides as to what she wants in life.

Each chapter has been neatly outlined and details out the characters of the story. The key characters are Prithusen, the son of the merchant Preshta, who has achieved a noble status in the society based on his skill of breeding horses. Rudradhir, twice born brahmin son of Acharya Pravardhan, Chairman of Republican council, Devi Mallika, the courtsean, Ratnaprabha the courtsean, divya’s aged Great Grand Father, the chief Justice of Sagal, mahapandit Dev Sharma, Marish,who engraves the sculptors. Like this as the story proceeds there will some more characters come in. The story begins with the spring festival being celebrated in the court and the people of the state participate in various competitions. Through these competitions we readers are introduced to Prithusen who is awarded the best swordsmen of the state and Divya who is designated as Daughter of Saraswati in one of the Dance Performance. Readers also get introduced various senior people of the State in the first two chapters,the story revolves around the difference which exists between the upper class (brahmins) and lower class (other than brahmins). There is a sharp contrast between these two classes. There is a clash between Prithusen and Rudradhir over who should carry the palquin of the winner of the Dance Competition, Prithusen is not allowed as he is not brahmin.

Thus begins the journey of Prithusen who is burning with the desire of being treated as equal to brahmins as he won the title of the Best Swordsmen of the State. He seeks justice in the court of Maha pandit Dev Sharma. Divya is attracted to her and she promises the justice to him as the Chief Justice himself was unable to meet him. As the hearing of Prithusen in the court is delayed, divya and prithusen start getting closer to each other.And their meeting place is Devi Mallika’s house garden. Meanwhile the news of War starts coming in and Prithusen gets busy in the hectic preparations of war, Rudradhir was banished from the state for 2000 days after the chief justice decides the judgement in favor of Prithusen. As Prithusen gets busy in the preaparations of war, the passion between two lovers is on height. The marriage proposal from Prithusen for Divya is kept on hold by MahaPandit Dev Sharma in the light of upcoming war. Meanwhile as the war is approaching, Prithusen is ready to go, one such night Divya meets him and they cross all the barriers. Divya is happy about the fact that she belongs to Prithusen wholly. As the war starts, news of Prithusen being emerging as victorious starts pouring in. On other side Divya is waiting for his return as she was pregnant with Prithusen’s child. Finally he arrives all injured and Seero, the daughter of the Chairman of the council is put on the duty for taking care of him and the physician from the Buddhist Math Cheebuk starts nursing Prithusen. Divya goes to meet Prithusen, however he is sleeping and Seero’s nursing will prevails and she returns back. Soon the news between Seero and prithusen reaches the ears of Divya too. She goes to meet him for the last time but she is unable to and on the way back she decides to abandon the plan to go back to her house and gets into the hands of slave seller.

From there, a new journey begins for Divya as she struggles to keep her baby boy alive, her name is changed to Dara. She becomes a wet nurse in order to feed herself and the baby. As she is unable to bear the fact that she should first feed the baby of household and then hers, she runs away and takes a refuge in Buddhist Math, however, she is denied the entry because she is not a free woman! It’s the prostitute who is a free woman. Circumstances force her to drown herself in Yamuna River and there she is saved by Ratnaprabha. In her house, divya gets changed to Anshumala and her glory is at her heights due to her dancing skill. However, she is unable to come out of the grief that has hit upon her after the death of the baby and the fact that she was betrayed by her lover. In such circumstances, she is wooed by Marish and then by Rudradhir who was once smitten by her. But she defies all such advances. Meanwhile, caste system is once more restored in Sagal on the return of the Rudradhir as he completes his banished term. Prithusen becomes a Buddhist Monk and no more he fears from Rudradhir or vice versa under the guidance of Cheebuk. Devi Mallika wants an heir to carry forward her legacy and she settles upon the disciple of Ratnapabha without knowing that she is Divya. As she asks RatnaPrabha to give that disciple to her, she realises that it’s no other than Divya. This marks another phase of journey for Divya and she returns to Sagal but being a daughter of brahmin household she cannot be a courtesan and once again she has nowhere to go. She is approached by Acharya Rudrdhir to become the lady of Sagal by marrying him, Prithusen offers her to turn to buddhism and Marish comes and offers his manhood and it is to this man she finally goes to.

The book traces Divya’s journey at various phases and it is through her eyes we are able to see the mysteries and miseries of the caste system and life. There is a rampant use of Buddhist Philosophies and its all and all a historical book. It binds a reader till end.

A woman oriented novel, recommended only to History Lovers.

Managing Stress
Swami Sukhabodhananda

One youngster comes to me very depressed and asks this question "Why is God creating so many difficulties for us? How to handle stress?" I tell this youngster to reflect on this beautiful story:

A man goes to a shop, picks up a beautiful cup and says "my god this cup is so beautiful" and suddenly the cup starts talking to the man. The cup starts saying "O man, I am beautiful right now, but what was the state of my being before the pot-maker made me a beautiful pot?

Before I was sheer mud and the pot-maker pulled me out of the mud from the mother earth and I felt why that pot-maker is so cruel, he has separated me from mother earth. I felt a tremendous pain. And the pot-maker said, "Just wait." Then he put me and churned me, when I was churned I felt so giddy, so painful, so stressful, I asked the pot-maker "Why are you so cruel?" the pot-maker said, "Just wait." Then he put me into a oven and heated me up, I felt completely burnt. There was tremendous pain and I asked the pot-maker "Why are you so cruel?" and the pot-maker said, "Just wait."

Then he poured hot paint on me and I felt the fume and the pain, I again asked the pot-maker "Why are you so cruel?" and the pot-maker said, "Just wait." Then again he put me into an oven and heated it to make me more strong, I felt life is so painful hence pleaded the pot-maker and the pot-maker said, "Just wait." And after that the pot-maker took me to the mirror and said, "Now look at yourself". And surprisingly I found myself so beautiful.

When god gives us lot of trouble, it appears god is very cruel but we need patience and we have to wait. When bad things happen to good people, they become better and not bitter.

So, all difficulties are part of a cosmic design to make us really beautiful. We need patience, we need understanding, we need the commitment to go through in a very calm and wise way. So, all difficulties are not to tumble us but to humble us.
With this understanding, let us not be against difficulty. Understand difficulty is a part of a purifying process. A purifying process at present which we cannot understand and hence we need faith and we need trust.

Let us understand how to handle stress with this background. You can be affected by stress from two angles. There is an internal stress and there is an external stress. Nobody can avoid stress; one has to only manage stress. Managing stress can be internal and also external.

The internal stress is; your thoughts can create stress, your values can create stress, and your beliefs can create stress, meaning thereby your stress is coming from your mind more from the outer world. Many people suffer not from heart attack – they suffer from thought-attack.

For example, when somebody says you are an idiot, we get so hurt, we get so victimized. My boss has called me an idiot and I am feeling tremendous pain. Now where does this stress come from? If my boss has called me an idiot, I have to ask myself "am I an idiot"?

If I am an idiot nothing to be upset about; and if I am not an idiot, then also nothing to be upset about! It is the perception of the boss. But why do we suffer from that stress? I suffer not because my boss has called me an idiot but because of the thought-attack.

I may say the boss has called me an idiot; therefore I am suffering? It is true that the words are unpleasant. But what hurts is the interpretation of the unpleasant word. The thought in me interprets. That is pain and therefore it becomes pain. Much of our stress is our mind interpreting it as pain. So we suffer from thought-attack more than heart attack.

Reading the title , don’t be misled that I just got eligible to vote ! Though its been many donkey years that I had gone pass the legally eligible voting age of 18 , its only this year I got my name included in the electoral list ! well , better late than never , isn’t it ?

After wasting my right to vote for so many years , I finally decided to be a responsible citizen . So few months back , I went and collected the Form- 6 for including my name in the electoral list. The form was as good as Greek and German for me as it was typed in Kannada language. I kept it aside , hoping to fill it someday with the help of somebody. I totally forgot about it , with many other issues and sub issues and no issues but laziness to blame !

One day , Jaago Re guys woke me up ! Their campaign on net and TV reactivated the ‘responsibility’ gene in me. I logged in to their website and dutifully filled my details as well as my wife’s detail . Thanks to Jaago Re team , 5 minutes of keying in , my Form – 6 was ready and emailed to me ! They had even mentioned the office address where I have to submit it .

So armed with the printed copy of the Form – 6 , I went to the Voters Facilitation
Centre in our area. There were two queues . One long one and another short . I was told the short one is for submitting the new application. 5 minutes wait . My application was submitted. I was happy ! Things went smooth after all . I was told to come after 15 days to check if my name is included or not . Once included , I could get my EPIC ( Electors Photo Identity Card )

I was thrilled that am going to cast my first vote ! Recently in Rajasthan assembly election State PCC president , CP Joshi lost the seat by just one vote so who knows my one vote could be the decisive one too !

Exactly after 15 days , I went to the Voters Facilitation Centre to check if my name is included are not in the list . When I went there , there was one very long queue .. Instead of standing in queue , I went near the counter to see if there is any notice over there that could give me bit of some information . There was to be no information. I was in double mind , should I stand in queue or not . I asked one person , who walked down from the counter , what his submission date is . His was some date earlier to me. I talked to few others and came to know those who submitted before my date of submission only have not got their name included yet in their list . So people stood for many hours only to see , if their name is included or not !!! If only the election commission has made the process easy by putting a notice that applications received till so and so date  has been included , things would have been easy and people would not have to wait hours just to be told to come on later date. It could in fact speed up matters for them too. Anyways , I walked back without standing in queue.

I went twice after that only to find still bigger queue. I decided to go on weekend. Two weekends , I slept off . By the time I woke up , there was double bigger queue waiting for me in the centre.

Finally , someone said April 8th is the last date , so I decided I would brave the crowd and check my status . Since they open the counter at 8 , I decided to go by 6:30 only , hoping to beat the queue. By the time I kicked my lazy ass and managed to reach there , it was 7:30 and i was greeted by some 200 people waiting ahead of me ! I cursed myself but then decided to join the patience club. It was one truly secular queue ! With people of all gender,  caste , creed , religion and social strata waiting patiently , all for the sake of Indian democracy ! Some sensible ones had bought along newspapers , books , water cans and even tiffin ! Thank God , I carried my earphone so i got hooked to Illayaraja’s tunes stocked in my mobile!

India is the global back office when it comes to ITEs but our government agencies have their own way of providing ‘ prompt ’ services. There were two system to manage the huge queue and they took their own sweet time to process . Finally when my turn came , it was 12:40 noon ! 5 hours in queue ! I never had stood for so long in a queue till date but then I was happy to find out that my name was included in the electoral list and am eligible to cast my vote in this upcoming election !

Then the next issue was to get EPIC . I have to stand again for another 5 hours most probably and with only one more day left . I realized I will skip that anyways it is not mandatory to have EPIC to vote and if the name is included I can always furnish any one  of other approved documents . So I decided to collect the EPIC later once the election is over and they restart the EPIC issuance .

I overhead many people complaining about how EC could have simplified the entire process of electoral process. Why others even I had my own share of advices for them to better the working process . But then later I realized , If EC has to be blamed , we public are also to be equally blamed. The whole process of Electoral name inclusion and EPIC is going on for many , many months much before the official election dates were announced. If we had cared to apply then , we could have avoided standing in huge queues ..

Anyways 5 hours of standing and now am armed with my vote power and looking forward to the next queue when I would be standing to cast my vote ! Am I thrilled ? Yes !!!

The meaning of Secularism takes a whole new meaning when it comes to the dictionary of Indian politicians.

BJP ( Bharatiya Janata Party ) is labeled a right wing hindutva communal party by the oppostion parties. They are supposed to have an “agenda” representing only the majority hindu population. They are treated as divisive party because of their saffron affluence. The whole campaign of the so called “secular” parties of India revolves around the notion that BJP is anti – secular because of its Hindutva leanings.

So the parties join together , forge alliances to retain the power all in the name of safeguarding the nation from the anti secular party ( read : BJP) . Good so you think the political parties opposing the BJP are truly secular in nature ?! wait read ahead to couple of  interesting facts.

• Congress , self confessed  champion of secularism , happily aligns with IUML ( Indian Union Muslim League ) , Kerala Congress ( representing the Christians )
• Communists party ( the other major self styled guardian of secularism in India ) have no qualms aligning with the right wing Islamist organization , NDF.
• BJP is accused of being communal on account of  Gujarat riots. Let me make clear am not supporting the Gujarat riot. Gujarat riot is a highly condemnable incident . What baffles me is , BJP is time and again villified for the Gujarat riot by congress and other so called secular partied , In that contexct how does Congress became a “holier and secular ” party when it is solely responsible for unleashing a brutal massacre against Sikhs in Delhi soon after Indira Gandhi’s assasination ? Why does Congress is atoned of its sin conveniently  but BJP is villified again and again ?

So it makes me wonder if it only becomes anti-secular in India ,  if a party has leanings towards Hindu mindset ?! And it becomes a secular force if we align with right wing parties of non-Hindus ?!

Well …… As far as Indian Political dictionary , it seems so.

Five Point Someone is the maiden novel of Chetan Bhagat , the IIT / IIM graduate turned Author , whose novel “ One night @ Call centre ” was quiet a hit with the Indian readers (but not with me) and was later made into a flop movie “Hello”.

Honestly , I was not quiet impressed by his “ One night @ Call center ” novel , well am not writing a review on it because its quiet a long ago I read it and do not want to revisit it for a review. We had ordered “Five Point Someone” thanks to Citibank reward points.

The book is also currently in limelight because Amir Khan is acting in a movie “Three Idiots” directed by Rajkumar Hirani (who gave the classic munnabhai series ) based on this novel. So I thought that Five point someone must have some good point, if an actor like Amir khan is impressed by it.

Five Point Someone is based on a three lead character’s life – Hari , Ryan and Alok during their IIM college days. Simple , Isn’t it ? After reading it , I felt watching an 80’s movie based on college days ! Nothing new. Nothing exciting . Just a simple, time-pass novel. The three students mess up with their grades and find themselves on the average grades (five point grades out of 10 ) that explains the five point part of the title. Each one characteristically different from each other but become best of buddies and the story narrates chapter to chapter how they mess up their study days and in between a love track between Hari and a professor’s daughter, Neha. There is nothing great about the story, makes me wonder how Chetan bhagat became to be one rated as biggest selling English language novelist in India’s history! There are far better works than his. Or is it like Indian movies? A blockbuster movie does not necessarily mean a great quality movie, right ?! One good point though reading Chetan Bhagat’s novels gave a glimmer of hope to my wife and me that one day we could also become a writer !!!

I wonder what made Amir Khan agree to do this movie. Having read the novel, am eager to see how Amir khan manages to work around this story into a movie of his kind ! Going my the characterization , Amir Khan must be playing Hari , Madhavan as Alok , Sharman Joshi as Ryan , Boman Irani the Head of Department , and Kareena Kapoor as Neha.

Update ( July ‘05 ,2209) : It seems Amir khan is playing Ryan , Madhavan as Hari and Sharman as Alok .

My verdict: Do read it, if you get it free. Read it, if you have time to kill and no better books to read. Ok ok time pass.