I personally did not find the book so captivating. But Mira Nair's big screen rendition of the book was brilliant. Irfan Khan's and Tabu's performances were flawless.
The movie made me miss Kolkata dearly. Glimpses of Kolkata shown in the movie has successfully captured the true essence of Kolkata. There are many highlight's in the movie.
The scene in which Ashoke Ganguly tells Gogol the true significance of his name, Ashima's reaction on hearing about her husband's demise, Gogol's transformation after his father's death...makes the movie unmissable.
Sunday, June 24, 2007
Wednesday, April 18, 2007
The Road To "Prediction"
It was a cold and lonely year end for me. I had decided on forgoing the year end trip to NY with friends and here I was thinking about how much I am missing out on, rather than studying. My GMAT exam was less than a month away and I was hoping that not going to NYC will make me feel less guilty. Well in a way that helped. Watching a bunch load of DVDs prevented any feeling of guilt that might have been pondering to show its ugly face.
For the last month or so I have been preparing with some degree of regularity, for my GMAT exam. 10 questions each of Sentence Correction, RC, CR, Problem Solving and DS on weekdays and a full fledged model exam over the weekends. Thinking about all those hours spent at the Enoch Pratt Library in downtown Baltimore, now appears to me to as time that was well spent.
I had set a reasonable goal for GMAT. Any score greater than or equal to 700 would appeal positively to my lazy conscience. Scores of 650 or less in my earlier tests did indeed cause a few flutters but then I kept telling myself that the actual exam is always easier than the practice tests. Although a voice inside me was trying to make a feeble attempt to ask "Who the hell are you trying to kid?", I guess I was successful in strangulating it. Yet again my conscience was spared the pain of undergoing a change of habit.
And so the story went on till the penultimate weekend before my exam. I answered a test from GMAT Prep. The score.....760!!!!! I was overjoyed. I was actually considering buying my buddies beer that night and announcing to the world that the 'Master of GMAT' has arrived. Good sense prevailed....thankfully. Next weekend's test scores 710 and 710.
I answered my GMAT on Jan 23rd 2007. My score...surprise surprise...710!!!
Step 1 accomplished.
For the last month or so I have been preparing with some degree of regularity, for my GMAT exam. 10 questions each of Sentence Correction, RC, CR, Problem Solving and DS on weekdays and a full fledged model exam over the weekends. Thinking about all those hours spent at the Enoch Pratt Library in downtown Baltimore, now appears to me to as time that was well spent.
I had set a reasonable goal for GMAT. Any score greater than or equal to 700 would appeal positively to my lazy conscience. Scores of 650 or less in my earlier tests did indeed cause a few flutters but then I kept telling myself that the actual exam is always easier than the practice tests. Although a voice inside me was trying to make a feeble attempt to ask "Who the hell are you trying to kid?", I guess I was successful in strangulating it. Yet again my conscience was spared the pain of undergoing a change of habit.
And so the story went on till the penultimate weekend before my exam. I answered a test from GMAT Prep. The score.....760!!!!! I was overjoyed. I was actually considering buying my buddies beer that night and announcing to the world that the 'Master of GMAT' has arrived. Good sense prevailed....thankfully. Next weekend's test scores 710 and 710.
I answered my GMAT on Jan 23rd 2007. My score...surprise surprise...710!!!
Step 1 accomplished.
Sunday, March 4, 2007
The Land of Opportunities
Lufthansa prides itself on the fact that it is the safest air craft in the world. But going by my solitary experience on board the German airline, I thought that punctuality also ranks high in its 'customer satisfaction' goals. The flight took off from Mumbai on time and just before landing at Frankfurt, the passengers were asked to adjust their watches to the exact scheduled time of touch down at Frankfurt. My flight experience was nothing much to write about. The on board Hindi movie (No Entry) was something I had seen before. And yes, before you wonder...there were no personal screens to view movies.
To add to my excitement, it was snowing in Frankfurt. Getting out of the flight, I was caught full on by an icy cold gust of wind. My blazer proved brazenly inadept for this kind of weather. I almost ran into the waiting bus, which took us to the terminal building. After a wait for a couple of hours in the soothing air conditioned temperature of Frankfurt International, I was air borne again, this time to Chicago.
I had to get out of O'Hare International to reach the domestic terminal. And it was then that I saw those fascinating cars. It was a scene straight out of some Hollywood flick. A stretch limo , seemed almost strategically parked in order to welcome me to the 'Land of Opportunities'.
The United Airlines flight from Chicago to Baltimore made me miss our domestic flights back in India. Their service offerings far exceeded what I was experiencing in United. Anyway, I reached Baltimore somewhere at around 20:00 hours, tired to the bone.
My boss was there to pick me up, along with his son and my ex team lead. Office was the last thing I wanted to think about right now. But I couldn't thank my boss enough for the ride to his house and the hot chicken curry and rice. Stuffed to the neck, I was dropped at 'Park Charles' in downtown Baltimore, which would prove to be my abode for more than a year. The 'feels like' temperature of -10 degree centigrade outside, already made me say 'Home Sweet Home' upon entering the hallowed portals of appartment 1304.
To add to my excitement, it was snowing in Frankfurt. Getting out of the flight, I was caught full on by an icy cold gust of wind. My blazer proved brazenly inadept for this kind of weather. I almost ran into the waiting bus, which took us to the terminal building. After a wait for a couple of hours in the soothing air conditioned temperature of Frankfurt International, I was air borne again, this time to Chicago.
I had to get out of O'Hare International to reach the domestic terminal. And it was then that I saw those fascinating cars. It was a scene straight out of some Hollywood flick. A stretch limo , seemed almost strategically parked in order to welcome me to the 'Land of Opportunities'.
The United Airlines flight from Chicago to Baltimore made me miss our domestic flights back in India. Their service offerings far exceeded what I was experiencing in United. Anyway, I reached Baltimore somewhere at around 20:00 hours, tired to the bone.
My boss was there to pick me up, along with his son and my ex team lead. Office was the last thing I wanted to think about right now. But I couldn't thank my boss enough for the ride to his house and the hot chicken curry and rice. Stuffed to the neck, I was dropped at 'Park Charles' in downtown Baltimore, which would prove to be my abode for more than a year. The 'feels like' temperature of -10 degree centigrade outside, already made me say 'Home Sweet Home' upon entering the hallowed portals of appartment 1304.
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