Is this what the world calls a "smart"phone ?

You always woke me (and Kapil and Sumit) up in the morning with your lovely voice. I would start my day by looking at you. You were always by my side at any time of the day, or night. You were a worthy companion on all of my trips, be it the jungles of Matheran or the deserts of Jaiselmer. You showed me path when there was no light. You captured moments like there won't be 2nd time. Your playful music helped me through many journeys. You made your presence felt at each and every place, and in each and every heart. But alas, time does change. I knew you were sick when you started requiring more rest time per day. I knew something was amiss when you stopped talking for long hours.

I knew something was wrong when you will frequently require electric charge to revive you up. Since you were so close to my heart, I frantically looked out for transplant options. "They stopped making angels long time ago" was the standard answer I heard in the street. Out of total despair, I even trusted (or pinned my hopes on) a Chinese battery to bring you back. Cost me 250 bucks. Par tum to amar hone ki raah par nikal chuke they. Oh my Sony Ericsson W700i mobile phone, why did it had to happen?

And now that you have ditched me, I have bought Motorola Defy smartphone. Cost me 16 grands. It runs on Android 2.2 (Froyo). With you, I never had to worry about anything related to operating system of phone. Infact, I never even cared whether one even existed. But now, I needed to get some basic idea of different operating systems, partly to make sure I'm not buying any outdated stuff. With you, it the only thing I cared about was features like camera and walkman. But now, I needed to think about processor speed, RAM, memory card size, screen pixel and God knows what else. It sometimes felt that I was buying a pretty powerful computer, not just another phone. Frankly speaking, things have become insanely complicated.

This complexity isn't limiting itself to the selection process only. It runs much deeper than that, like a malice or a disease. If the cold war was still on, the Americans would have surely branded it as a Soviet conspiracy to take over the world!!! Think of this. It took my two weekends to understand how this phone works. And still, I often get stumped by something I don't know. I had to google for so many hours for such obvious things. Who would realize that one needs to 'long press' at an item to get an options menu. With my faithful ol' mobile phone, all it required was a simple key press to reveal menu. To switch between recently used apps, I need to 'long press' the Home button. To add to it, I need to frequently kill apps to preserve memory and battery. The list is endless. And there is still more to it. Apparently, I need to install apps from Andriod market for everything...starting from stopwatch cum timer (Ultrachron Lite), music player (MotoPlayer Music), sms (Handcent), kill programs (Advanced task Killer) or browser (Opera). Yeah, I know that all these things are already present by default in a smartphone, but when you spend that big moolah on a phone, u want everything to be sleaky, don't you. You don't want to play music on a player which is cumbersome to browse through. You don't want to use a sms application which uses MMS to send contact card requiring recipient to have data (GPRS/3G) connection to download it.

The suprises kept on coming. I miss the 'torch' of my ol' phone. Yeah it may sound stupid but hey, I have been nearly lost in a pitch dark jungle and trust me, the only two things that you can rely at that time are God and torch. I know it was my fault not to keep an eye for this feature when I bought this phoney phone. Deadly miss I say.

Interestingly, I also realized that you cannot save any draft sms message unless you enter a recipient name. In my old phone, I often used to type random information as sms and save it as draft. But this glitzy smartphone cannot do such a simple thing. So what do I do? Make a guess.... Yes. You are correct. I install another app (ColorNote) just to save my notes. I also could not use my mobile phone as a modem to browse GPRS based internet from my laptop. That used to be my lifeline at places where I had no landline net connection. It wasn't easy but it was doable with my old phone. Here I had to keep on googling to know what was going on. And guess what do I find? Yes. I solve the mystery by installing PdaNet app in my mobile and laptop. So this nice sleek gizmo is a rather app hungry one.

This all was still acceptable. But the straw that broke the camel's back was yet to come. One fine evening, I was returning home and was chatting with another friend of mine. He asked me to transfer one file from my phone to his phone. I quickly browsed to the file and scanned options. No bluetooth option. Hmmm.. I smiled and thought "How stupid of me??" I haven't switched on bluetooth on my phone. So I switch it on and try again. Still nothing in the options menu for Bluetooth. I try for next 20 minutes but still clueless. Finally, after lot of experimenting and googling, I uncover the secret. That my 16k Android phone can send bluetooth files from only few select folders. To get universal bluetooth applicable from all folders on my phone, I need another app from market. I literally pulled my hair. I could do bluetooth almost effortlessly from my old phone. Here I had to install 'Bluetooth File Transfer' app to make it work. That was it for me. After that, whenever something didn't work, I quickly looked up google to find a suitable app rather than trying for hours before installing the app.

The only benefit I have seen uptil now is that of Google maps. It is a pretty handy app, particularly if you are new to the place and looking for directions. I'm sure there will be more benefits. But for now, I'm still searching for the silver lining.

Update: Can now use this smartphone as a torch too...courtesy another app :)

Ra.One criticism justified?

Ra.One has released, finally. And as expectedly, the usual crew of critics have given their verdict on the movie. The average rating has been in the range of 2 to 3. But who cares about these numbers? Afterall, when a movie like Bodyguard which was also incidentally blasted by the same critics collected over 20 crores on the opening day, then anything else hardly matters. However, what surprises me is the criticism which the movie has been receiving from aam junta.

Let me admit that I am NOT a Shahrukh fan. I have no issues if you find endless problems with his movies. Infact, I'll be happy to join you and do some SRK bashing (but don't dare say anything about DDLJ, that will be blasphemous!!!). However in case of Ra.One, I find the criticism beyond rationality.

To start with, I have been hearing at so many places that this movie has no story. Helllooo.. Good Morning. Wake up. You must be asleep since past 30 years. Which bollywood movie off late has made money because of its script? Remember Dor? That Nagesh Kukunoor movie starring Gul Panag, Ayeshan Takia and Shreyas Talpade... Wikipedia says that the movie was taken off in Kolkata within a week of its release. Or Mod? Another recently released movie which didn't trouble the ticket counter people. So much for a good script. And look at Dabangg. Another bollywood movie. I absolutely loved it, and so did countless others..but did the director even hire a storywriter? I doubt.

Another continuous rant I hear is of less fight sequences. C'mon, this is India my dear. Here the recipe for successfull movie is very simple- get a big star, have some action, some romance, couple of item songs, some emotional scenes and some cheap comedy sequences, release the movie in festive season and voila, u get a hit....and yes, never mind if you miss couple of ingredients, you can always add overdose of something else. But overall, it has to be a mixture to cater to everyone's tastes. Why do you think Rajini sir was brought to the movie? It didn't add to the script. It was simply done so that Tamil and Telugu versions of the movie get a good audience!! Too much of one thing and you risk loosing a big chunk of audience. Having too much of action sequences would have robbed the movie of some of its family scenes. SRK has simply played to the gallery.

I know that the movie has some over-the-top scenes like Kareena explaining Karva Chauth to a robot or SRK doing a MJ :) But if we can clap at Chulbul Pandey's shirt flying off his body because he is angry, then we ought to extend fair bit of rope to SRK also just to have a level playing field. And if you don't like this kinda stuff, then I guess you are at fault for watching this movie..C'mon, all of us know what to expect from Sallu or SRK movie..don't we? And whether you like it or not, SRK has dared to try something new, something which has never been tried in a mainstream bollywood movie...and he certainly needs to be applauded for that.

P.S: I saw Ra.One on the 1st day of its release, primarily because I had nothing else to do...and I loved the movie (Yessss, I'm all game for timepass brainless movies :D ). It was like all-in-one for me. I could see inspiration from Terminator 2, Matrix, Speed, Endhiran (Robot), Iron Man, Spider Man. Good timepass it was. Movie is gonna be a big grosser. Afterall it has Rajini sir in it :)

It depends

What do you do when you don't know what to do? Seek advice..or search within and look for answers and in the process, hope that you have the sense and sensibility to make a right decision.

In case we do decide and search for advice, the task will be to find someone or something having knowledge of the situation and ask for advice. It may not be the best solution that you can get but hey, something is better than nothing. Now you atleast have a lead to further probe on. Thats a start and one will need to look for more advice and keep on moving forward. On the other hand, occasionally we may not opt to look for advice. Afterall, humans have been blessed with something called brain and we outta make good use of it.

But how does one make this decision of which path to choose? Is it a result of self confidence..or stubbornness..or arrogance or ego or sheer feeling of superiority and a result of 'I know all' syndrome? I dunno about that.. But what I do know is that there is a thin line between self confidence and overconfidence.

Self confidence drives while overconfidence kills. Self confidence can take us to unchartered places and can herald new innovations, while overconfidence only leads us to a pit. So the question essentially boils down to how does one recognize this line and make sure that (s)he does not cross it. One way could be to realistically identify the gap between one's capabilities and the skills required to find the solution. But that is easier said than done. So what is the way forward? The more I think, the harder it becomes.

A simple two word answer will be 'it depends'. Yeah, we have heard it zillion times now. This is THE answer which always comes to rescue when you don't know what to say. It represents the greyer shade..neither yes, nor no. But then, all of us are a shade of grey in one way or another. Some less, others more. Isn't it?

So, where does it leave us in the end? Have we found the answer to the question we set out to unravel? I bet u know the answer already. 'It depends'.

Bhangarh:Town of ghosts

I have heard about lot of ghost stories and all of them are based on some place like building, mansion etc. However, I had never got a chance to visit such a place. While in Narhat village (Alwar district, Rajasthan), I heard about a place called Bhangarh which is supposedly one of the most haunted places in India. Apparently it is quite a popular place.

One day, I got an opportunity to visit the place. It was a typical Rajasthan afternoon..a hot and sunny one when me along with Ayush and one local headed off to Bhangarh. Bhangarh is right next to Ajabgarh village(in Thanagazi block). The road to Ajabgarh-Bhangarh reminds you of the horror serials with bare trees lining up on both sides of road.

The actual area of Bhangarh is quite well preserved by ASI. A temple is situated at the entrance of the walled area after which ruins of the marketplace are located. The ruins clearly show that the kingdom had lot of shops. All these shops had similar architecture..and surprisingly, all these shops have been destroyed from same level..like someone has chopped them off from the top. The whole area has 3 temples and all of them are still intact. There is also a 4 storey palace, it used to be 7 stores high but now only 4 storeys remain. The palace lies in lap of hills and lots of bats (and probably some ghosts too) live in its rooms. From the top of palace, a beautiful view of the whole kingdom and the plains ahead can be seen. The area also has a garden with lot of plants. One can hear the wind gushing among the greenery. Overall, the site is quite well maintained.

The folklore has it that Bhangarh was once a prosperous town. The king and queen lived in the palace. There was a sadhu living on the nearby hilltop in his cottage. He liked the queen and wanted to get her. Once he gave some hair oil to a maid servant so as to apply it on the queen. The sadhu had done some magic on oil so that whosoever would use the oil would come in his cottage. The queen got suspicious of the oil and threw it on an arch of palace. The result was that the arch flew and landed over sadhu’s cottage. The sadhu was crushed and while dying, he cursed that Bhangarh will be destroyed in one night. All the people fled the place. All the buildings –except temples- in the town were destroyed overnight and ghosts started living there. The locals believe that if anyone goes to Bhangarh after the sunset, he/she won’t return. We heard this story from a number of locals. Apparently, earlier there was a Govt. of India signboard at this place saying that government is not responsible for anybody who enters the place after sunset but we did not find any such signboard.

We left the place well before evening but the memories of such a beautiful place will linger for long.

Jaisalmer:The Golden City

A trip to Rajasthan is incomplete without seeing the sand dunes in Thar Desert. Even before reaching Rajasthan, I had made a point to go and see the actual desert, the one which I had seen in so many Bollywood movies.

There were five people of my batch in Rajasthan (myself, Ayush, George, Arthy and Pratibha) and all of us planned to visit Jaisalmer. Jaisalmer is the westernmost district of India having Pakistan on its western frontier. We reached Jaisalmer on a Saturday afternoon after 14 hrs train journey. The journey is long and once you cross Jodhpur, you can see only vast barren plains. I am from Punjab and have seen lot of plains in northern India but nothing like the ones in Rajasthan. These plains continued for couple of hours of train journey and were devoid of any life. Only some shrubs were seen here and there while the remaining area was totally uninhabitated.

We reached Jaisalmer railway station and headed off to Hotel Desert Haveli. We had already booked this hotel prior to our arrival here. The hotel guy called ‘Aladin’ (now thats a name one can’t forget) had come to receive us at the station and he took us to the hotel.

One of the main attractions of Jaiselmer is its fort. The fort is a marvelous piece of art and the best part is that it is still inhabited by people..infact, it is teeming with people and shops. The buzz of market kicks alive the whole fort and it is a different feeling altogether. Our hotel was located inside the fort and from its window, one could see a beautiful view of the city and the desert beyond. After freshening up, we had lunch at ‘The Trio’ restaurant. It had a good ambience with food being served under a tent at the rooftop. After this, we started the sight seeing leg of our trip.

One striking feature of Jaisalmer is its golden yellow color. All the buildings inclusing the fort, havelis, houses, petrol pumps and even police and railway stations are built from golden yellow limestone. This gives the city a totally different aura and hence, it is also known as the Golden City.

The hotel people had arranged a jeep for us and first, we went to a Jain temple (don’t remember its name) on the outskirts of Jaisalmer..the temple had a wonderful architecture and was preserved well. After this, we went to see the ruins of Kuldhara village…this site is also now managed by ASI. It was already 4 PM and all of us wanted to see the sand dunes fast so we asked the driver to head over to ‘Sam Sand Dunes’. These sand dunes are about 45 kms from Jaisalmer and are a major tourist attraction. The driver dropped us two kms before the sand dunes and we got onto the backs of camels to go right into the desert. Camel ride is fun..but you really gotta balance yourself else you might fall. Once we reached the dunes, we just walked on the sand, tried to run from one dune to other.. and with Rajasthani folk music in the background, ‘twas lotta fun. The dunes really look mesmerizing at the sunset..like someone has splashed colors on canvas.

At night, we stayed at a resort in the desert. There was a folk song and dance program happening at the resort but none of us liked it. We had arranged for tents for our night stay but we preferred to sleep outside in the open. If the desert is burning hot in the day, it turns into freezing cold at night. We had to use blankets at night to protect us from chilly winds.

I woke up early in morning and at sunrise, I again walked upto the dunes.. It felt like I was under a spell, some sort of magic by a beautiful witch…which kept on pulling me toward the lovely golden sand. The fierce winds at night had created beautiful scales on the sand.. I was alone in the middle of nowhere but then reality dawned and I bade goodbye to the sand and returned to tent to take a shower. I took shower and stepped outside the tent and bah, I was engulfed in sand again. Fast dusty winds (at 8 AM) had ensured that I can’t feel the luxury of a shower for more than 5 minutes. Anways, we had breakfast and returned back to our hotel in the fort.

We had coffee at the hotel and then we went out for some more sight seeing. We visited the Jain temple inside the fort. After that, we didn’t see the palace and went to see a haveli instead. Though there are lot of havelis in Jaisalmer, Patwa haveli is said to be worth visiting. One can take an autorickshaw or just walk down the narrow lanes of the city. The haveli is a beautiful and grand piece of architecture and is worth visiting to see the grandeur of erstwhile times. (Photographs of haveli at its official website: http://patwahaveli.com ). The haveli has lot of exhibits used by its owners and together, they take you into different era altogether.

We also bought diaries made of handmade paper as a souvenir. While creating the paper, the manufacturer often adds leaves, flowers or grass inside the paper thus giving it a totally different look. I also bought another souvenir of a window representing the many windows which forts and havelis have. The shop owner gave me a fossil stone with this purchase..apparently, this stone is extremely old and has medicinal properties. As per shop owner(s), it can convert milk to curd though I didn’t test this claim.

This culminated our Jaisalmer dream. We had sumptuous food in the city and started back for the long journey.