ऑफिस मधील अप्रेझलच्या मोसमात आपल्यासारखाच मार खाल्लेला दुष्काळग्रस्त मित्र लाभणे यापेक्षा दुसरे भाग्य नाही. संध्याकाळी घरी आल्यावर मी माझ्या अशाच एका मित्राला फोन लावला.
"हॅलो. काय रे, काय सुरु आहे?" मी.
"काही नाही रे. तू बोल." तो.
सिक्स्थ सेन्स म्हणा किंवा काहीही म्हणा पण अशावेळी दोघांनाही बरोबर माहित असते की आता कोणता विषय निघणार आहे ते.
"आज रेटिंग समजले आणि डिसकशनपण झाले." मी सांगून मोकळा झालो.
"मला 'गुड' दिलयं आणि डिसकशन उद्या होईल." त्याने आपली पाने टेबलावर टाकली.
"सेम हिअर. मला पण तेच. आऊटस्ट्यांडींग, एक्सलंट, गुड, आणि अ‍ॅव्हरेज या क्रमाने गेलो तर 'गुड' म्हणजे 'बॅड' आहे. उगाच आपलं मोराल टिकून राहावं म्हणून गोड गोड नावे देतात साले........." बायको घरी असल्यामुळे मी जरा तोंड आवरलं.
" तुझा बॉस काय म्हणाला डिसकशनमधे?"
"नेहमीचचं. टेक्निकली तू स्ट्राँग आहेस पण पर्सनल इफेक्टीव्हनेस आणि रिस्पॉन्सिव्हनेस यात इम्प्रूव्हमेंट केली पाहिजे" मी माझी बिनपाण्याने कशी झाली ते सांगितलं.
"वाटलचं मला. हे बरायं, सॉफ्ट स्किल्सचा पॉईंट काढ्ला की आपल्याला जास्त बोलता येत नाही रे."
" बोलता येत नाही म्हणण्यापेक्षा धाडकन डिफेंडही करता येत नाही." मी जरा रिडिफाईन केले.
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"आता जरा तो फोन ठेव. पिल्लू उठलयं वाटतं. जरा बघ त्याच्याकडे. " बायकोने किचन मधून सांगितले.
आमचे तसेही बोलून झालेच होते. मी फोन ठेवला आणि आमचे तीन महिन्याचे बाळराजे ज्या खोलीत नुकतेच झोपेतून उठून खुसखूस आवाज करत क्रीबमधे पडले होते तिथे गेलो.
"त्याचा डायपर बदलायचाय. तेवढा नवा डायपर घे आणि बदल." बायको आतून वदली.
"हो."
मी डायपर्सचा खोका शोधू लागलो. कपाट उघडणे, ड्रॉवर्स आत बाहेर करणे, बेड जवळचे कॉफी टेबल उचकटणे आदिंचे आवाज एकून पाच एक मिनीटांनी शेवटी एकदाची बायकोच प्रकट झाली. काहीही न बोलता, क्रीबचा वरुन दुसरा कप्पा उघडून एक नवा डायपर तिने बाहेर काढला.
"तीन महिने झाले तरी अजून डायपर्स कुठे ठेवलेले असतात त्याचा पत्ता नाहीये तुझ्या बाबांना!"
कधी नव्हे ते वाटून गेले. बॉसचा सॉफ्ट स्किल्सचा पॉईंट खरचं बरोबर होता की काय?
Tuesday, December 29, 2009
Thursday, December 24, 2009
Jail Reviewed
My regular readers, if there are any (!?!), might accuse me of posting one after another negative reviews of books I read and movies I watch.
But this time I can't help when Write-Director Madhur Bhandarkar goes rogue and sentences unsuspecting viewers of Jail - his latest flick - to two and half hours of rigorous boredom.
Madhur Bhandarkar is someone who can make prototypical negativity really entertaining. He proved that in Chandani Bar, Satta, Fashion, Traffic Signal, and Corporate. In Jail, he dares to go ‘behind the bar’ and fails to live up to the mark.
Even though Jail's receipe has all those 'Madhur' flavours - a main topic (our sluggish justice system), professionals engaged in malpractices (exploiting lawyer), near-factual story line (hardship in prison), main character's life going topsyturvy, and pseudo happy ending - it completely fails to satisfy viewer's entertainment taste buds.
I cannot describe this movie without giving away much of its plot. Parag Dixit, an innocent, well educated guy played by Neil Nitin Mukesh, spends 2 years behind the bars while being prosecuted based on circumstantial evidence.Navab, his fellow jail mate played by Manoj Vajpayee, acts as Parag's moral compass in those years.
Neil Nitin Mukesh portrayed stunned and flabbergasted Parag so naturally that, I think, he is just being himself in the movie. ( FYI - This is not a compliment!).
Manoj Vajpayee's natural talents go untapped in this movie. Same is the case with talents of Madhura Godse!
Final word. If you've already seen Jail, and are willing to redeem your mistake, please watch 'The Shawshank Redemption' without fail.
But this time I can't help when Write-Director Madhur Bhandarkar goes rogue and sentences unsuspecting viewers of Jail - his latest flick - to two and half hours of rigorous boredom.
Madhur Bhandarkar is someone who can make prototypical negativity really entertaining. He proved that in Chandani Bar, Satta, Fashion, Traffic Signal, and Corporate. In Jail, he dares to go ‘behind the bar’ and fails to live up to the mark.
Even though Jail's receipe has all those 'Madhur' flavours - a main topic (our sluggish justice system), professionals engaged in malpractices (exploiting lawyer), near-factual story line (hardship in prison), main character's life going topsyturvy, and pseudo happy ending - it completely fails to satisfy viewer's entertainment taste buds.
I cannot describe this movie without giving away much of its plot. Parag Dixit, an innocent, well educated guy played by Neil Nitin Mukesh, spends 2 years behind the bars while being prosecuted based on circumstantial evidence.Navab, his fellow jail mate played by Manoj Vajpayee, acts as Parag's moral compass in those years.
Neil Nitin Mukesh portrayed stunned and flabbergasted Parag so naturally that, I think, he is just being himself in the movie. ( FYI - This is not a compliment!).
Manoj Vajpayee's natural talents go untapped in this movie. Same is the case with talents of Madhura Godse!
Final word. If you've already seen Jail, and are willing to redeem your mistake, please watch 'The Shawshank Redemption' without fail.
Wednesday, December 02, 2009
The Lost Symbol
What do you get when you cross a bunch of Wiki posts on Freemasonry with Brownism?
- The Lost Symbol
Just finished reading this book.
Dan Brown, author of Da Vinci Code, Angels and Demons, Digital Fortress, and
Deception Point, disappointed me by sending Robert Langdon, Harvard Professor from Department of Symbology - that, by the way, is nonexistent- on a dead-end mission to find something hidden somewhere in Washington, DC, in his new novel - The Lost Symbol
The plot, in addition to being a dead-ended one, is weak and predictable. Much has already been said and written about the Masons and their involvement in events that shaped U.S. history. To date, mishmash of legend and tweaked facts has obscured the reality to such an extent that finding a meaningful conclusion ,even in a fiction book, is as impossible as finding that something hidden somewhere in DC. The reference to Noetic Science feels ad-hoc and is totally uncalled for, so does the involvement of CIA. Readers of Da Vinci and A&D can easily point out that Prof. Langdon is not up to the mark in this novel.
Read/Skim/Toss? Just Skim.
- The Lost Symbol
Just finished reading this book.
Dan Brown, author of Da Vinci Code, Angels and Demons, Digital Fortress, and
Deception Point, disappointed me by sending Robert Langdon, Harvard Professor from Department of Symbology - that, by the way, is nonexistent- on a dead-end mission to find something hidden somewhere in Washington, DC, in his new novel - The Lost Symbol
The plot, in addition to being a dead-ended one, is weak and predictable. Much has already been said and written about the Masons and their involvement in events that shaped U.S. history. To date, mishmash of legend and tweaked facts has obscured the reality to such an extent that finding a meaningful conclusion ,even in a fiction book, is as impossible as finding that something hidden somewhere in DC. The reference to Noetic Science feels ad-hoc and is totally uncalled for, so does the involvement of CIA. Readers of Da Vinci and A&D can easily point out that Prof. Langdon is not up to the mark in this novel.
Read/Skim/Toss? Just Skim.
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