Happy New Year!

Hi There,

Wishing you and your Family a Very Happy New Year (2009). God bless this year of the Bull with peace & prosperity to your Kith and Kin and everybody around the globe.

Regards,
Viral Thaker

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Black Cat commandos dont lose humor even amidst pressure.

New Delhi: "Life is too short — 2 inches." This was the handwritten note on the greeting card which commando Karamjit Singh Yadav quietly handed over to commando Bharat Singh as they settled down for a quick briefing session at the Taj Mahal hotel on November 28. Singh, who had sustained a shrapnel injury on his left ear, looked at Yadav and burst into a laugh. Having just walked out together out of a successful 30-hour long commando operation at Oberoi Hotel, both these men from the National Security Guard (NSG) clearly hadn't lost their sense of humour.

Coming out trumps in one of the toughest anti-terror operation ever conducted in the country, the gallant men from the NSG who flew back to New Delhi to a hero's welcome at their headquarters at Mehram Nagar on Sunday were brimming with stories like these. Stories of how camaraderie and humour helped them bond even stronger in adversity, with the enemy just a bullet away.

"The enemy bullet had just missed him by a whisker. I just wanted to convey to him that the difference between life and death in this case was two inches," Yadav told The Indian Express. "I could never imagine that somebody could come up with something like this in such a situation," beamed Black Cat Bharat Singh. Both men were a part of the 50-odd Black Cats from the 51 Special Action Group involved in operations at the Oberoi Hotel.

At little before that briefing at the Taj, when Bharat Singh was getting the wound dressed at the Oberoi Hotel, his team leader commando R K Sharma told Singh that he had got his ear hit purposely so that his wife wouldn't pull it anymore. "I told him that had he given me this idea earlier, I would have got both my ears injured too," Sharma said, tongue firmly in cheek.

But apart from keeping the cheer going, the men leading the charge at Oberoi Hotel were also careful in ensuring that the morale of their teams did not flag at any stage of the long drawn operations. The news of Major Sandeep Unnikrishnan's death was not allowed to percolate beyond two of the senior team leaders leading the Black Cats at Oberoi. "The Major had trained many of the boys fighting in the Oberoi. We knew the news of his death could affect their morale," said one of the team leaders.

Some of the Black Cats in Oberoi even had a verbal duel with the two terrorists holed up there. Having been shot at by one of the commandos, one of the terrorists limped back to hide himself behind a wall. "Chhup Chhup ke kya marta hai, samney aa na, he shouted," said a commando. "Tujhme dum hai toh tu samney aa ja naa, he was told by one of our men," he added. Expletives, many in Punjabi, flew thick and fast between the commandos and the terrorists.

"I can tell you what all was said but you will not be able to print those words in a newspaper," one of the Black Cats told this correspondent. He, too, had clearly not lost his sense of humour.

I Need my Wings Back!

I need my wings back
The ones that helped me rise
As I capered across the skies
And kissed the sunrise

I need my wings back
The ones that help me soar
Glancing at cyan oceans
Towards heaven and more

I need my wings back
The ones which helped me escape
Racing with the gales
Eluding lines of fate

I need my wings back
The ones that made quicksilver
Waltzing on cloud nine
As 'neath tiny lights shiver

I need my wings back
For now I lay broken
Watching darkness conquer
My heart still unspoken

I need my wings back
The ones that they snatched
Leaving me breathless
Ceaseless bruises on a heart scratched

I need my wings back
I dream of flying again
Rending through empyreal blues
As Aurora awakes and Nyx will wane

Happy Diwali.

Mr BEan

Mr Been Dessin - video powered by Metacafe

Review: Drona!

DRONA is a big film in all respects -- big stars, big canvas, big expenditure on SFX, big ad spend, big expectations. Sadly, it's a big, big, big letdown as well.

Fantasy/adventure films are a rarity in Bollywood. Actually, you want to laud Goldie Behl for being courageous, for venturing into a lane that's rarely visited by dream merchants here. But the screenplay is a complete mess. In fact, if at all there would be Razzies in Bollywood, the three writers of DRONA -- Jaydeep Sarkar, Rohini Killough and Goldie Behl -- should be nominated proto for coming up with a sloppy and slipshod screenplay.

What saddens your heart is the fact that the Lullas of Eros and Shrishti Arya, the producers of DRONA, have spared no efforts in giving DRONA a spectacular look. The vision is perfect, but how about narrating an absorbing and attention-grabbing story? You remember DRONA for its striking visuals, not storyline. It's like embellishing priceless and precious jewels on a mannequin.

What's wrong? Goldie Behl and his writers can't decide if DRONA is a superhero film or fantasy. Although the makers have been maintaining all along that it's not about a superhero, the fact is, it is. In DRONA, the protagonist does everything that a superhero does. However, the lead character would only look more powerful if the anti-hero is equally authoritative. Surprisingly, the negative force here [Kay Kay Menon] is more of a buffoon than a villain.

More minusses! Dhruv Ghanekar's music is a big yawn. The tunes are listless and the placement of songs is equally jarring. Also, the length is a problem. You wouldn't mind a 3-hour film even today, provided it has the power to keep you glued to the screen. In this case, the 2 + hours seem never-ending. The film goes on and on and after a point, you actually want to scream, 'Enough!'.

In a nutshell, DRONA disappoints and how!

Little Aditya has never known love. Brought up by a foster family, all he knows is taunts and humiliations. Aditya [Abhishek Bachchan] grows up. Enter an evil sorcerer Riz Raizada [Kay Kay Menon], a descendant of the Asuras. He is desperate for a precious secret -- the amrit. But to lay his hands on the amrit, he will have to defeat Drona. Problem is he doesn't know who Drona is.

One fateful day, Aditya and Riz come face to face. Riz notices the kada that Aditya is wearing and recognizes him as Drona. Riz's men chase him, but he's saved by Sonia [Priyanka Chopra], who makes Aditya realize his true identity.

Sonia takes Aditya to his birthplace, to his mother, Queen Jayati Devi [Jaya Bachchan]. Aditya gets to know his roots, but Riz and his army catch up with him. Thus begins Drona's journey…

Given the fact that DRONA rests on a thin plot, there's not much that director Goldie Behl can do to salvage the show. Yet, Goldie has executed two sequences with style. In fact, these two sequences stand out like an oasis in a desert. The first, when Kay Kay turns Jaya Bachchan into a statue. The second, the train sequence. Awe-inspiring sequences!

DRONA is also high on VFX and a couple of sequences are well implemented. Note the petal storm towards the latter part and also the one when Kay Kay drags Priyanka into his yacht. Sameer Arya's cinematography is, quite surprisingly, inconsistent this time. The lighting is too dark at places. The production design [Tania R. Behl] is innovative.

Jaya Bachchan is grace personified. The only regret is, she gets less footage. Abhishek does very well. He plays his part most convincingly. Priyanka's introduction is fantastic, but her 'Babuji kehte hain' dialogue gets on your nerves after a point. Kay Kay fails to impress. Navneet Nishan hams.

On the whole, DRONA lacks soul. At the box-office, the publicity blitzkrieg might ensure good returns in its opening 4-day weekend, but the cracks should start appearing sooner than expected, since the film fails to keep you hooked. Its fall is imminent!

I matter.(Happy Bday!!)

I startle awake, surrounded by earth
Am I alive or is it my birth
strange feelings emote as I try to flourish
Drowning in moisture no wait it will nourish
I fight through the earth a little each day
Now kissed by the sun if choice I will stay
Time passes slowly my body seems longer
I reach for the sky each day growing stronger
Elements do torture no quitting this fight
Rest time comes deep from dusk to sunlight
Now I am older, bolder, and wise
To full potential with gifts from the skies
It was all started from one little room
Amazing the difference my body in bloom
I am fully extended and brilliant with hue
Colors so vibrant I enhance any view
I started out small, dirty, ugly, and weak
Perseverance undaunted to beautiful peak
I am a flower started out from a seed
Inspiration to others when they are in need

Happy Birthday Veer! The journey is long but the path is clear.

Mind of a Poet!

With each stroke
of the pen
internal chaos
diminishes
and patterns
become visible!

I am the Phoenix of my civilization

Give me a topic to talk about
Turn on the light of wisdom
Up the volume of the angelic sound
Soothe the cry of babies through lullabies

Marvelous picture unfolds
An ocean of thoughts unexplored
A great length my mind traveled
To identify the truth to find peace!

Imagine going back in time
In the center of Babylon
Living a life of a lion
Being fed with fruits of Eden
Smelling the flowers of the Hanging Gardens

Upon return to find the real life
Asking the questions so dull
Who broke the vase?
Who left the door wide open?
Who shut your mind?

Do not play with Peace,
Do not act as a hell raiser,
Do not judge me,
Do not float in my unchartered waters,
For I am the Phoenix of my civilization.

Heaven is where Home is...! (Baa's 74th Birthday)

Memories at TeamLease

Viral Thaker

Viral Thaker
Originally uploaded by Viral Thaker1

One of my best photos ever taken. I just love this one.

Viral Thaker

Viral Thaker
Originally uploaded by Viral Thaker1

Who am I?

Sometime I wonder after this world has been crushed,
after it has been in my palm,
was it I who did it,
was it I who crushed everyones lives,

sometimes walking down the street
I think to myself
was it I who designed my life,
I wonder who created the life of ours,
as I sit here I wonder
was it I who pissed you off,

but the more I think about it, it becomes real,
was it I who upset you,
was it I who said it to piss you off,
was it I who detroyed or made your day horrible,

but I say, I am who I am,
I am sorry for the trouble I made,
I am not I no longer,
I am now the earth as i am crushed under my own palm !

The Vampire Within

The light dies down.
The shadows are alive.
The darkness overcomes me.
And I feel my blood pumping through my veins.
I can hear the pulses of everyone a mile away.
I feel the blood lust within me.
I take off and find the first living thing I see.
And she lays there...dead.
I stand there in horror.
Wondering about what I did.
Then the darkness comes back......forever.
And now I'm the vampire I always wanted to be.
The vampire within.

No-One Knows (Me)

I am mumbling to myself again
My tongue moves in my mouth
Suddenly I have no front teeth
Where did they go
I can't feel them
Panic rises
Then the feeling comes back
I can feel them
They are still there
It's over before I can react
No-one knows

I'm looking at the computer screen
My eyes burning
I can still see around me
But my eyes burnt out
Empty holes of black soot
Burning won't stop burning
Then nothing
It's over before I can react
No-one knows

My brain I can feel my brain
In my head is this pressure
Sometimes is gripping my brain
Like warm blood flowing in my head
Then it stops
It's over before I can react
No-one knows

Talking to you I lose myself
Go somewhere else inside
I start thinking of deep personal things
Things I don't want you to know
Then I realize you can read my thoughts
I am about to freak out
Then it endsIt's over before I can react
No-one knows

I look at a picture of myself in my teens
I feel guilt for not being stronger
Thoughts come into my head
14 year old me wants to stab the 21 year old me
I can feel the fearI don't know what to do
Then I come out of it
It's over before I can react
No-one knows ... No one knows...
No one understands...