My Rating: 2/5 … Read if you like corporate thrillers, but don’t expect much real action

Before I say anything else, here is a quote on back cover of book that made me get it:

An ordinary corporate executive turns assassin to save his firm from ruin with the help of the master of a secret guild out to revolutionize the corporation…

Wow, I thought. Another thriller in making. And that too with a different story. We know all dark corporate evil people who hire assassins for their deeds. But this was first time (as far as I know) that someone was actually dirtying their own hands, or so I thought.

The back cover of book, including line quoted above, had this:

Sanchit Mishra a.k.a. Sancho is staring bleakly at his performance appraisal form when an invitation from the mysterious Progress in Work Collective lands on his desk. His colleague and confidante, Pause Daniels, urges him to dig deeper. Soon he finds himself sucked into a secret world of anonymous superheroes out to revolutionize the business world by attacking that flawed god it worships – the share market. This parallel life pumps some self-esteem into Sancho, preparing him to do what’s needed when the firm is taken over by a multinational and an ugly industrial relations situation ensues.

The case for the transfer of ownership from shareholders to employees is made through Sancho and Pause’s story in this witty, fast-paced corporate allegory.

Now this got me confused (and a bit exited) about the book and I just dug in.

First two-three chapters actually got me interested in the plot. Sanchit aka Sancho gets the invite form Progress in Work Collective or as they call it, The Collective.
He flies to Turkey (at his own cost of course ) and  somehow, after a terrifying journey (for him) reaches the destination.

The Collective is supposedly an underground society or something which fights for reorganization of all typical corporate organizations and make them more Employee focused than they are now. Good concept really. Someone really needs to do that, I agree. But I did not get why it had to be underground and so secret.

Then it the story revealed that there was a nemesis for The Collective, none other than ‘Shareholder’s Conscience’. Now that is a cool name. These shareholders are supposedly dangerous people and they always assassinate the ‘Master Craftsman’, the leader of The Collective. Well, things got little skeptical here for me. But I held on.

Then suddenly, after a good start of selection process of The Collective, story jumped 15 days to Sancho’s office. Author says he did not want to bore us with details of selection procedure, but it was awesome nonetheless. Hmmm. I was dissatisfied. I wanted things to go into more secrets but apparently there were more pressing matters at hand like villain of Sancho’s career, the General Manager of his company being sacked, Sancho’s boss getting abducted by a local goon (claiming it being on behalf of worker’s Union), Management changing hands, Acquisition of company by some American company etc.

So Sancho suddenly finds himself facing a lot of opportunities  to lead and he does that. He is (from start of the book) being helped by his genius colleague Pause. Now Sancho and Pause have to save company, their boss, their employees from a fiasco. Somewhere down the line I remember exactly how the story had started. And I found the most interesting part (for me) nearly forgotten. :O

The book ends with the protagonist(s) getting their love, victory and well deserved whatever. But it leaves you confused.

The good:

Good points about how Employee’s turn into mindless ‘appraisal thinkers’. Author’s HR experience surely shines here. The language of the book is really good (I recently read Immortals of Meluha and The Secret of Nagas). Concept of The Collective, however far-fetched, was interesting. But..

The Bad:

Author blames current share market for world’s current condition. Though he would sound perfect to people who don’t understand Share market properly, I found it little far fetched. I know some points he makes are true, but they cannot be held solely responsible for everything. And even if we ignore the share market thing, I did not understand why he had to build so much mystery about The Collective and let it go just like that.  I wish he had written Sancho becoming a real sharp shooter or something and saving his company.

The Final Word:

Though I sound skeptical all through this review, I must give credit to the author for picking up a bold subject. People who go through all work tensions and know what evil thing ‘the appraisal’ is will agree with him. I would say read this book if you like corporate thrillers. The action thriller fans can skip it. If Arjun Shekhar writes another book, I will surely give it a try.

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The old man picks up his lunch box and shoulders his hammer. He quickly bows to the God’s idol in the corner, says a quick prayer and hits the road. A day just like any other day.

This is the story of any of the men in the photo. Only hammer gets replaced by something else like a handbag, a broomstick, a bag of goods, a vehicle or just an id card. But the story remains the same. No matter h0w glossy, glassy and classy your work environment is, your story is same as this old man.

He goes to work, works hard, gets his pay and thanks god at the end of the day for giving him power enough to earn his bread. Does he have regrets? Wishes? a bucket list? May be. He wishes he could do a lot of things other than his daily work. He does not get the chance. But does that make him regret his life? Most probably not. Because he knows that there is no use of regrets or negative feelings, they will just spoil the taste of your life. Live it as it comes to you, strive to be better, strive to be worthy of a better life.

Life is not as simple as it seems, or may be, it is.

(see original post here)

The Three Musketeers (IMDB: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1509767/)

Director: Paul W.S. Anderson

Starring: Logan Lerman, Matthew Macfadyen, Ray Stevenson,Luke Evans, Milla Jovovich and Orlando Bloom.

(Briefest) Summary: (No Spoilers)

The three musketeers, after having their time of glory, are now living like other common people. But the new kid, who wants to be a Musketeer himself, bring action back in their lives. Some villains (guess who) cook a plot to turn over the kingdom and get rid of teenage amateur King. And it comes down to the Three (four, actually) musketeers to stop this from happening.

The movie is in 3D. Except for few scenes, 3D was (literally) a headache. There is not a single boring moment, and things keep happening. Movie keeps its constant pace and neither slows down nor speeds up suddenly. Use of bright vivid colors is awesome. I was getting bored with dark dull colors so far. But you will be amazed by colors Orlando Bloom wears and manages to look regal all the time. Director and writers have done a good job of creating a simple but interesting story (plus leaving a loose end for possibility of a sequel). Some of the scenes were extraordinary.

I would suggest watching this movie in theater but preferably NOT in 3D. I don’t know if it was just me, but 3D does not show the colors as good as normal. I am sure you will not regret watching the four musketeers in action

Cheers.

For so many years, this little kid named Harry and his friends have been my friends. I did not read HP as a kid, I read them a lot late. I saw a friend of mine reading a book without leaving his room for 2 days straight until he finished it, I got curious. Until then, I had only heard about people being crazy about HP. So I decided to rent the movies. And there it was. I fell for the magical world immediately. Then I had to get the books somehow and read them. I became die-hard fan of HP. And been the same for years now.

For me, Harry Potter books are not just entertainment. They are much more. There were times when I was alone, sad and blah blah (read my posts in sad category LoL).. HP world was my solace. Whenever loneliness or any other unwelcome feeling overwhelmed me, I used to dive in the world of wizards.. I still do. Reading these books again and again, sometimes fully, sometimes just my favorite parts was my way of keeping every other feeling at the bay. Some may think this is crazy but you have to be there to understand it.

I don’t really understand why exactly HP is something that puts me at peace. I am not a blind follower of things. There are HP books I do not like much. But I still like reading them because they take me in the world not seen by other people. Its been same feeling for all Narnia books, but they are more like kids stories than HP.

There are people who reject HP as kids stories before even giving it a look. Well, to each his own. But I disagree to the claim that these are only kid’s stories. No, they are not just kid’s stories. Certainly J K Rowling wrote these books keeping kids in mind mostly but they are deeper than people think. These books deal with things like friendship, love, loyalty, bravery etc. It’s not the plot that makes you like the books, it is the things that are unraveled as the story progresses.

A lot has been written about HP in so many years and a lot will be written. This is my bit. The reason to bring all this up is because they are releasing the last movie in the series. Harry Potter and Deathly Hallows Part II.
Its tagline is “It All Ends”. And it really does for us, fans. There will be nothing to look forward to anymore. It kinda ended when last book was launched, but last movie sorta seals the deal.

Anyway, I hope the movie is good. And I will always have HP with me if I need him.

Cheers.

Right now I am sitting at my home in Karad, writing this post. It’s cloudy out there with occasional rain. Mom is planning about cooking somethingi like but I am going to tell her to make something simple.

As usual I have made some resolutions. They hance been on my mind for long time so they are not really birthday resolutions. But today is good day to get started.

Life has been good so far. There were some ups and downs and setbacks. But it really doesn’t matter. Because everything works out fine in the end. I don’t really have a solid goal for my life yet. I know a lot of idealistic people do insist on having a goal set and all that. But I am gonna play it my own way and not the way books tell us.

Anyway, got a surprise gift from my best friend y’day… Also had a great lunch with friends at famous hotel Jagat Bhari Kolhapuri (again). Came home early, spent time with dad, just me and him…it’s been nice birthday weekend so far.

Happy birthday to me.

Anyway, that day was no exception and I got a few calls which gave me opportunity to use my imagination. I was musing n laughing to myself I got another call. Readying my brains I answered it. A girl greeted me in Marathi (instead of usual “Am I talking to Mr. Sudarshan….?”) and told her name. She said she was calling from a NGO from Mumbai and they work to help the underprivileged children. She went ahead and told me about how they organize camps and give away cloths, food, books etc. I was listening. They were looking for common people like us to donate whatever amount we can afford. For first time I did not interrupt to use my usual tactics. Somehow I could see the genuine passion in her voice, the passion for whatever work she was doing. I let her talk for a while. Then suddenly, my brain kicked in with my usual tactics and I made up a good reason to tell her. I told her about similar initiative taken by my company with help of a local NGO (which is true) and how I am also kind of part of it (which I am not, though I want to be). I practically lied. I told her I was already contributing through my employer. She said it is really nice of you sir. And to my surprise she actually thanked me for being considerate and listening to her before hanging up.

After I hung up, the usual joy of victory did not come to me. Instead, I was feeling guilty about it. There was nothing to feel happy about. I felt bad. At least I could have told her plainly that I do not want to donate anything right now. But I had to make up some stupid lie (which led to get me respect which I did not deserve). I did not tell this to anyone.

Days went by, and I forgot this little incident. I continued shooting down pre-approved credit cards and personal loans. Last week, I again got a call from same girl for same purpose. I recognized her because of her unique way of talking. I guess she had not kept track of calls made or something because she had no record of calling me before. I was in a hurry so I cut her short and told her that we have talked about this before and my answer is same. Again she just said thanks and cut the call.

And then it struck me. Then it all came back to me. I remembered how bad I had felt lying to her for first time. I had done it again. And this time I could not control myself. I picked up my phone and called back on her number. It was picked by someone else at the NGO. I asked for her by name and apologized (not directly) by telling her that I have turned you down twice with some reason while you guys are actually doing some good work, so please tell me ways I can donate some money. It shocked her that someone actually called back to say this. She told me how much I can donate and what impact it will have. I felt really good about myself after hearing all the things they were doing for children. Not that I was donating a big amount as I am not a billionaire. But I donated what I felt right.

Believe me, there is no feeling as good as being able to do something for someone. It does not matter what you donate, do it in terms of money, time, cloths or anything else, it’s a good deed, and it will make you feel good.

Here is the link for the NGO’s site: http://www.savethechildren.in/

Summary of story (NO Spoilers): The self tooth plucker(see The Hangover Part I for details) i.e. Mr. Dentist is getting married in Thailand. As usual the wolfpack(with a new addition to group) decides to do a simple bachelor party one the beach (simple= just sitting around fire drinking beer and Alan roasting marshmallows ). They wake up in Bangkok to find a lot of surprises. Rest of the plot is exactly same as part one but funnier with little less twists.

Whenever there is a sequel, there comes comparison. In my opinion, The Hangover Part II has more comedy than the Part I. You can’t help but laugh. Excellent timing of punch delivery combined with excellent acting by everyone. Only thumbs down thing about this movie is that in Part I, characters had a lot of things to do, a lot of twists as compared to Part II. But believe me, you will not regret watching this movie. There are some really nasty :O surprises for the audience (not everyone) . And make sure you sit through credits, you will know why if you have seen Part I .

P.S. If you have not seen the first The Hangover (released in 2009) yet :O , WATCH IT BEFORE WATCHING PART II. There is really no connection between two movies, but it will help you get hang of things faster.

 This is one of my most favorite food items in the world. It is popularly known as Misal-Pav. Speciality of Maharashtra State in India where this item is available everywhere. It is spicy, tasty, has a lot of calories and is cheap enough for everyone to afford. A detailed recipe can be found here.

I have tried Misal Pav at all places I have visited so far. It tastes different at different places. Misal from city of  Kolhapur is most famous of all. Most of the times, people refer to Misal-Pav as Kolahpuri Misal-Pav. Misal is a combination of spicy curry usually made of chick peas and chilly powder gravy. Then a few items are mixed in curry to form the final Misal. These toppings include Farsan( Indian noodle like item made with Besan (Gram Flour)), chopped onion, coriander and a lot of other things depending on the choice of cook. Then Misal is served with a piece of Lemon to mix with it and a pair of Pav i.e. Bread (see above photo). Usually in Kolhapur area, sandwich bread slices are served instead of normal bread (and Misal-Pav becomes Misal-Bread there ).

Anyway, this is one of the food items which make me drool each time someone mentions it. I had a hard time writing this post because I was drooling so much. Now I had enough control, I am outta here and going get myself a nice Misal-pav treat.

If you happen to visit Maharashtra, India, I suggest you try this item. There is a list of best places for Misal-Pav here, but it is in Marathi, so you might need a translator.. If I happen to get a list in English, I will put it here…

Cheers,
Sudarshan

Addition of The Rock (Dwayne Johnson) gives this series of movies a new turn. Fast five is not the best of all films in this series(as many people seem to claim, IMO, best one so far is 4 th movie), but it is better than most of them. It has usual comic touch, excellent locations (Rio de Janeiro, my new favorite), fast cars, a little drama and hell lot of action.

Director Justin Lin and Screen-Writer Chris Morgan has done good job this time. I am not going to give summary of movie as there not much to tell about this action flick. But it would be a Paisa Vasool deal if you decide to watch it.

P.S. Are you one of the people who run away from theater as soon as it starts showing credits at end? Well, for this movie, I suggest you wait for a while… there is a surprise at the end of movie… it comes after a few names on credits list…. so don’t miss it…

Directed by: Carlos Saldanha.
Starring the voices of: Jesse Eisenberg, Anne Hathaway, George Lopez, Jake T. Austin, Tracy Morgan, Jemaine Clement, Leslie Mann, will.i.am, and Jamie Foxx.

Rio is story of a bird, a Spix’s Macaw, last male of its kind, named Blue by its owner. Blue is taken to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, one of most beautiful places in world (in my opinion) to join the last female Spix’s Macaw in the world, named Jewel. They get kidnapped by local smugglers and chained to each other. The story turns more colorful after this incident as Blue and Jewel escape, take help of other birds. They keep trying to shake off the villain bird, Nigel, who is in constant pursuit helped by a monkey gang.

So what happens next? Do Blue and Jewel get together? How do they un-chain themselves? You should watch the movie to find out.

If you have kids, please take them to see this movie. I am sure they will love it. And it is enjoyable by all ages, not just kids. Also watch it in 3D for sure.

P.S.> Though its a animated movie, it certainly made me feel like going to Rio-de-Janeiro… I have added it to my wish-list of places to visit . Hopefully, someday, I will visit that beach

Cheers,
Sudarshan