Me, a die-hard AB fan

Amitabh Bachchan, the towering inferno, rightly known as the Big "B" (Big Boss) of Indian film industry, has not only enthralled innumerable Hindi movie fans, but has also set a model exemplary in his own way. In this blog, I do not promise to capture all his achievements, neither it is possible nor am I going to try it. This blog is a miniscule glimpse into my opinions about him (things I adore in him).

"A thin, tall guy with a peculiar voice, gawky appearance, sunken cheeks" - that was the opinion held by many in the industry. It has not been a cakewalk for him, like any other newcomer. In his early days of struggle, he has even stayed in places rented and shared by 7 others. One such place has been owned by veteran comedian Mahmood.

"Saat Hindustani" marked the beginning of his career in 1969. But it was Hrishikesh Mukherjee's "Anand" that brought him into lime light. He had not a single movie as a solo hero and what followed "Anand" was a string of 13 flops. Yes, that's right - 13 flops. With a totally different hero look (as compared to Rajesh Khanna, Jubilee Kumar (err... Rajendra Kumar), Dharmendra), it was hard for him to convince Indian movie producers till Prakash Mehra took the risk of casting him in "Zanjeer", followed by "Hera Pheri".

Rest is history!!! Who can forget the aristocratic hypnotizing dialogues:
"Yeh police station hai, tumhare baap ka ghar nahi." - Zanjeer
"Mere paas rupiya hai, paisa hai, gaadi hai, bungalow hai, tumhaare paas kya hai?" - Deewar
"Sir, I can speak English, I can talk English, I can walk English, because English is a very funny language." - Namak Halaal
"Bhai, tumne mukhtaar singh ka toh naam suna hoga?" - Shahenshah

He retired in early 90s and started ABCL a couple of years later. It is then that he displays himself as a paragon of perseverance. When nothing was working out for him, when people had written him off, when his comeback movies like "Mrityudaata" were failing miserably at box-office, he struck back rising like a phoenix and captivated the entire nation with shows like Kaun Banega Crorepati. I remember the story of a spider trying 7 times before being finally able to succeed, the story that inspired Robert Bruce to conquer Scotland.

The living legend (aptly given this appellation), has achieved recognition in Madame Tussaud's wax Museum on Marylebone Street in London. Having won accolades, both on national and international fronts, BBC's offical voting announcing him the most popular actor was like adding another feather in his cap. It is sad to note that an actor of his calibre has won only 3 filmfare awards for best actor (Amar Akbar Anthony, Don, Hum). A power-packed performance in Agneepath righteously fetched him a national award.

Besides acting, close friends like Tinnu Anand speak highly about Amitabh's philanthropic nature too.

It would be a grave injustice to talk about Amitabh Bachchan and not talk about his performance in "Black". A marvelous piece of work, an actor none other than AB could have done justice to it. As wife Jaya aptly says, "This is something never experienced before. ..."

Well, this is about me, a die-hard Amitabh fan and Amitabh, ofcourse! ;-)

Me and Calvin with his Hobbes

Wondering why I chose this topic... Hmmm... I shall give credit to a good friend of mine for the same... I must admit that this indeed is a very interesting topic to write upon; especially given I am going to talk about another loquacious character.

I had been given a book on Calvin by the same friend of mine. I generally like comics and expected light hearted material from this book too. And one fine night, I did take this book to read before going to bed. So amazing is the character of Calvin that I read half of the book the very same night. Now now, I am not gasconading/boasting stuff here. The book has 127 pages and the pages are really lengthy... Trust me! ;-)

But I did not read it because the book was too enchanting and all... I kept reading the book hoping that some character other than Calvin would eventually talk or at least Calvin would give a chance to talk. But all my hopes went in vain. He did not even allow Hobbes to talk a lot. Ah! What a pity! A cute tiger like that lying quiet for most of the time in his life. I can't even imagine that. I did not even get to see him roaring even once. But it was getting too late for a poor mortal like me to stay awake. After all, unlike Calvin, I just can't be a student and not worry about my livelihood.

I have to get up early in the morning, iron clothes, prepare breakfast (putting milk on cereals is painful, especially at odd hours in a day) and to top it all - take bath. I never got to comprehend as to why one has to take bath daily even if they do not indulge themselves in dirty activities - like playing in dirt, etc. - just like Calvin. But that's just me! A great thinker like me, is always misunderstood by the low mortal souls roaming all over the place on Earth. Sigh!

The after affects of my initial adventure did make me adverse to picking up the book again... But as you guys already know - Komal just loves challenges! Err... Whoz Komal? Oh, I see... it's me - Now, you see why I had to keep reading the book which is so centered on Calvin. But, there was more to this story. Other day, my self-conscience and I had a little chat about Calvin. Here are a few excerpts from the conversation:

Self-Conscience: Komal, how can you be so easily bugged by Calvin? That doesn't suit your temperament.
[Now, that's what I call a cool excerpt! ;-)]

And I was off to another adventure with Calvin and of course, Hobbes. Though, at times, I wonder does Hobbes has anything to do in that book. After all, Calvin is so dominating. Perhaps, this could be attributed to his verbosity. This other adventure was no different. I remember one such story in which Calvin decides to not bug anyone for his Christmas presents and I wonder, why he thought of bugging. If only, he had thought of abandoning his talk for a few days, how grateful people around would have been to Santa Claus. Phew! That was not on the x-mas cards for them.

Finding Calvin no different on this adventure of mine, I decided to give Calvin a back seat. After all, change is spice of life and he had none to proffer. Yeah, yeah, I know - that too much spice can burn mouth too. In such cases, keeping spice in refrigerator would not also help. Green chillies serve as best example! What say? ;-)

Me and Minneapolis

Minneapolis - the city of dreams! Atleast, that's what I had thought of it, when I set for it on 23rd July, 2001 from my motherland. With dreams in eyes, anxiety, hope, ambitions, nervousness, I boarded the Jet Airways flight from Hyderabad and subsequently the KLM flight at Mumbai. I was not alone. There were 23 more, just like me, may be at varying equations of emotions, but in the same boat and off we were to this unknown and fascinating dreamland.

I was all awake with my eyes wide open awaiting to land on this marvelous city - also known as part of twin cities (along with St. Paul). A trivial aspect being that I hail from one such city - Hyderabad, also a part of another twin cities (Secunderabad being the counterpart). The journey had begun... A journey full of memories pertaining to a city - A city that has seen so much along with me, a city that has seen ups and downs in my life alike, a city that has given friends and foes alike, a city where I gained knowledge, where I shared knowledge, a city which instilled hopes, a city whose beauty I still look with aesthetic appreciation, a city whose picture cannot be drawn with a few words!

200, Union Street - the street where UMN's Dept. of Computer Science and Engineering is located. Union Street - The street where I remember throwing snowballs at my friends, the street where my friends and I are walking towards Chipotle during lunch time, the street where my friends and I used to look people walk from Starbucks while gulping coffee, (I remember my friends always taking Mocha and I ordering a Caramel Macchiato - the days of glory!), the street that brings in a plethora of pleasant memories in mind.

2-209, Dept. of CSci. - the room where TAs proffer help to students. 2-209 - The room where I have helped students with their Java assignments, the room where I have argued with my TAs for grades, the room where I remember taking Algorithms classes online upon missing the same due to flu, the room adjacent to my TA office.

Andrew House - the place where I stayed for almost 2 years.

Friends - Lakeri, Nitin, Vijay, Prasanna, Abhishek, Ishank, Haque, Rezwan, Bashi - whose friendship I would cherish for my entire life.

Mall of America - the place where I shopped the most before any trip to India.

Minnehaha Falls - one of the most exotic locations.


UMN - the University which bestowed me with Master's degree.

This was a glimpse into my perspective of Minneapolis - The place I bid farewell to for a living, the place which taught me to move ahead in life, come whatever may be, the place with which I would always maintain this unknown, unsaid, special bond.

Well, this is me, an emotional :-) and Minneapolis, the city of bonds.

Me, the garrulous

This posting is all about me... I suspect that the future postings would also be related to me... :p
After all, this is my blogspot :D

I basically like challenges in life and having heard from friends and foes alike, about the enormous pain of maintaining a blog, I decided to take up the challenge... However, I do not claim that I'll maintain it ;-)

This being my 1st posting, all I would say to you folks is - you are most welcome to my world of posts - err, "THE" blogspot, my blogspot! Happy reading!