My Little Log Book

I dont really watch too many movies, but when i do I like to share my feelings about the movie! Here's my review of Race, a recent Hindi movie. hether you like it or not, I am going to subject you to a few more movie reviews after this! Infact i am giving a link where you can watch the movie - free! Race the movie is aptly named. Do you remember "Naqab" by Abbas Mustan? How the plots and subplots and the twist in the tail had you gripping the edge of the seat throughout the movie. Well Race doesnt have Abbas Mustan favourite Bobby Deol, but it has a more than capable Saif Ali Khan. And of course Akshaye Khanna has to be there! He excels himself in movies of this genre. But having seen him in all these similar kinds of Abbas Mustan thrillers, I feel he should start experimenting. Saif (Ranvir) and Akshaye (Rajiv) are brothers. Saif runs a stud farm (the biggest and best in Durban) and Akshaye drinks and makes merry. Saif is the over-achiever, a Richard Branson like charact...

You dont need to have a lot of money to start investing. Thats a pretty erronous belief. The answer I often come across on investment queries is "I dont have money" to invest. This answer often is the start of your investment needs. You dont have money - so you need to make whatever you have work. Take for example you save Rs 100 every month. That makes it 1200 every year. Lets say, you are putting it in an instrument/bank/deposit that gives 5% annually. At the end of 5 years you are getting something like Rs 6830. Suppose there was an instrument that gave you 15%? You know the amount you will make? Rs 8970! A cool disposable income of Rs 2000!!! The next question is - who will give that kind of money/return. Mutual Funds, well researched stocks have given that kind of return and more. Do you know that markets in Brazil, India, China have given returns in excess of 40% (conservative) in the last year. And its not a single year episode. These kind of returns have been seen for...

Horology is the science of study of clocks and watches. This study has a fascination for many people (who isnt fascinated by watches?). At the turn of the nineteenth century during the "industrial revolution", when many of the things we take for granted like electricity, mechanical transportation, flying, telecommnunication to name a few, evolved enough to be useful, horology was a study pursued by many for its intricacy and relevance. Now i guess its left to the watchmakers to work it out and that too with more relevance on design than time-keeping!

Why does one Write? Is it just to Make Money? Can everyone write a Book? Creative writing is a uniquely selfish process. The writer gives her heart and soul into those few written words and the involved author doesnt really look at the sentiments of the audience! Writing is a cathartic process. Very few genuine writers do it for money, at least to begin with. An authentic work of art can never be produced if economic gains were the only motivation. So we have wannabe writers churning out reams of words...How many of them are ultimately successful? But everyone lives for a masterpiece, that one product where the world will realise the true value of the writer. Where will anyone who wants to write, start from? There is, I believe, a writer in every one of us (maybe not an editor, though!), for doesn't each of us see the world uniquely? To start writing one just needs to follow these basic principles W - Write whatever one feels...just jot it down. R - Read everything...anything inter...

Being a tea and/or coffee addict, I have learnt to experiment a lot with these two beverages. While my south Indian friends have taught me the best way to make coffee (both filter and instant), i have also had ample opportunity to taste the strong masala north Indian tea, just right for a heavy winter morning. And then there's the Bengali Tea. The flavour just kisses your palate and you are left wishing it would linger all day with you..and for many cups more. I thought I will just share my way of making tea...which I have 12-15 times a day! How to Make Indian Tea A bit more than 3/4 cups water - Bring to Boil in a saucepan A bit less than 1/4 cups milk - add and bring to further boil. Add sugar to taste. Add Tea Granules (1 to 1-1/2 tsp depending on the size of your cup) after water and milk has boiled properly. Bring to boil twice (dont boil too much, just enough for the granules to mix in with the liquid). Switch off the stove. Add One spoon green leaf Darjeeling Tea. Cover and ...

I am an online games addict. Free online games, Card Games, especially Spades, are my favorites. Yahoo Games website is the most incredible online gaming site I have come across. My earliest introduction to the internet was of course through Hotmail. It was amazing to be able to send a message across the seven seas in a few seconds and get a reply too, esp. when phone calls were so damn expensive. Then I happened to stumble upon Yahoo. And as there was not really much to do at college other than studying (in a residential b-school being the only married person in class, keeps you kind of lonely) I came across online games. Yahoo Games then was not the hyper cool version it is now. And there were not really many people online. I started with Literatti (as that was the least hedonistic way of wasting time!) and made some of my closest friends online at Yahoo Games. After I left college I was busy for a couple of years. Then I had to leave my job. That was the time I really became a Yahoo...

Easter Bunny and Other Easter Words I never realized there would be so many Easter Words in our vocabulary. While one can go on an Easter Parade on Easter Sunday obviously wearing an Easter Bonnet (Irving Berlin's song "Easter Parade," written in 1933), its more common to wear an easter hat to church on Easter Sunday again. Easter actually is associated with spring and rabbits are the symbol of spring, of abundance, gaiety and fertility too. So do you wonder where Easter Bunny comes from? But one has to wonder how this bunny, a mammal, can lay those multicoloured Easter Eggs! The easter egg has many significance, which maybe the little kids striving to make the best one, wouldn't be aware of. The biggest significance is that it's a sign of immortality and fertility. It signifies the beginning of life too, for its supposed to be a symbol of re-emergence of Jesus from his tomb. The biggest significance of Easter is that it falls in spring. Its the time most spring f...