Quantum of Solace - Review

For all who thought Casino Royale was the re-boot film in the Bond franchise, there is a surprise. Apparently, the re-booting is not done yet and it clearly evident in 'Quantum of Solace'.
The 22nd Bond film [20 Official and the Kevin McClory's 'Never Say never Again' being the previous 21 films] is actually loaded with surpirses and deviations. To cut a long tale short, this is not your 'Regular James Bond movie'.

The die hard Bond fans will be quite disappointed with this film, but in my opinion QOS is a good film. Yes, you do feel a bit let down with a threadbare storyline, which probably for the first time doesnt offer you a 'Bond Villain' in his lair, or the numerous 'Bondisms' we are used to. As stated earlier, this film is still part of the re-boot process where we find a ruthless, emotional James Bond out on his own mission to track down the real people behind the death of his love, Vesper Lynd. Bond for the first time does not obey or take orders from 'M' and goes on his own mission and in the process gets himself stripped of his licenses and official status. Bond, we find in this movie, as a trigger happy person who kills ruthlessly with vengence on the back of his mind.
This Bond is not suave and does not floor you with his charm and wit. He does not introduce himself as 'Bond, James Bond'. Bond this time gets involved in a lot of action and thrashes every mode of transport in land, water and air. Bond this time has no time for the usual casion visits or parties, though for a fleeting moment is dressed in the best of the suits and exploring his hotel suite and looking for some 'stationery', moments later he is the man out to get his revenge which leads him to dubious organisation 'Quantum' akin to the good old S.P.E.C.T.R.E. Probably the next film in the serious will unconver the organisation completely and introduce us to the main villain behind 'Qauntum'.

Watch QOS for some nice action and a good attempt at character development. Lets hope the 23rd film in the franchise returns with the legendary superspy 'James Bond' as we know him.

My Music Chart Toppers...

This is the list of My Fav Music as of today. Note that they are not ranked, just listed.

* SONG -> (MOVIE/ALBUM, LANGUAGE, SINGER)
-------------------------------------
* Mastam Mastam -> (Yuvvraaj, Hindi, Sonu Nigam & Others)

* Dil ka Rishta -> (Yuvvraaj, Hindi, Sonu Nigam & Others)

* Meherbaan -> (Ada, Hindi, A R Rahman)

* Sinbad the sailor -> (Rock On, Hindi, Farhan Akhtar)

* Aasmani Chatri -> (Blue Umbrella, Hindi, --)

* Beladingalante Minuminugutha -> (Psycho, Kannada, Raghu Dixit)

The Beautiful Feet

One of the most beautiful things that I have seen in my life is definitely an infant's feet. The feet that are tender soft yet warm, and that never have touched the ground. With toes that look crafted to perfection and the tiny movements that they make is mesmerizing. It’s a great feeling to hold those tiny feet enclosed in our palms. Everything about a new born is special and beautiful, like the divine innocent toothless smile, the excited movements of arms and legs, the high-pitched shrills and gibberish emanating from the tiny mouth and the confused stare from the pearl like eyes when seeing a stranger. I would definitely add the infant’s feet to this list of beautiful things. Indeed a thing of beauty, which is a joy forever!

Axing Words

The editors of Collins Dictionary have decided to give the pink-slip to 24 words in the English Language. Their argument is that, these are lesser known words and have almost 'nil' usage in today's world.

The list of words with their meanings is as follows:

1] Abstergent:- Cleansing or scouring
2] Agrestic:- Rural, rustic, unpolished, uncouth
3] Apodeictic:- Unquestionably true by virtue of demonstration
4] Caducity:- Perishableness, senility
5] Caliginosity:- Dimness, darkness
6] Compossible:- Possible in coexistence with something else
7] Embrangle:- To confuse or entangle
8] Exuviate:- To shed (a skin or similar outer covering)
9] Fatidical:- Prophetic
10] Fubsy:- Short and stout, squat
11] Griseous:- Streaked or mixed with grey, somewhat grey
12] Malison:- A curse
13] Mansuetude:- Gentleness or mildness
14] Muliebrity:- The condition of being a woman
15] Niddering:- Cowardly
16] Nitid:- Bright, glistening
17] Olid:- Foul-smelling
18] Oppugnant:- Combative, antagonistic or contrary
19] Periapt:- A charm or amulet
20] Recrement:- Waste matter, refuse, dross
21] Roborant:- Tending to fortify or increase strength
22] Skirr:- A whirring or grating sound, as of the wings of birds in flight
23] Vaticinate:- To foretell, prophesy
24] Vilipend:- To treat or regard with contempt

There are some people who are opposed to this move by Collins and are trying their best to persuade the editors to reconsider their decision.

Now that these words are to be 'exuviated abstergently' do not use them and 'embrangle' your conversations or writings!

Humour

Among the forward mail jokes doing the rounds, I found this interesting one.
*********************************************************************
An Old Story:

The Ant works hard in the withering heat all summer building its house andlaying up supplies for the winter.The Grasshopper thinks the Ant is a fool and laughs & dances & plays the summer away.
Come winter, the Ant is warm and well fed. The Grasshopper has no food orshelter so he dies out in the cold.

Indian Version:

The Ant works hard in the withering heat all summer building its house andlaying up supplies for the winter. The Grasshopper thinks the Ant's a fool and laughs & dances & plays the summer away.

Come winter, the shivering Grasshopper calls a press conference and demands to know why the Ant should be allowed to be warm and well fed while others are cold and starving.

NDTV, BBC, CNN show up to provide pictures of the shivering Grasshoppernext to a video of the Ant in his comfortable home with a table filled with food. The World is stunned by the sharp contrast. How can this be that this poor Grasshopper is allowed to suffer so?

Arundhati Roy stages a demonstration in front of the Ant's house.

Medha Patkar goes on a fast along with other Grasshoppers demanding thatGrasshoppers be relocated to warmer climates during winter ..

Mayawati states this as `injustice' done on Minorities.

Amnesty International and Koffi Annan criticize the Indian Government fornot upholding the fundamental rights of the Grasshopper.

The Internet is flooded with online petitions seeking support to theGrasshopper (many promising Heaven and Everlasting Peace for promptsupport as against the wrath of God for non-compliance) .

Opposition MPs stage a walkout. Left parties call for 'Bengal Bandh' inWest Bengal and Kerala demanding a Judicial Enquiry.

CPM in Kerala immediately passes a law preventing Ants from working hardin the heat so as to bring about equality of poverty among Ants and Grasshoppers.

Lalu Prasad allocates one free coach to Grasshoppers on all Indian Railway Trains, aptly named as the 'Grasshopper Rath'.

Finally, the Judicial Committee drafts the ' Prevention of Terrorism Against Grasshoppers Act' [POTAGA], with effect from the beginning of the winter.

Arjun Singh makes 'Special Reservation ' for Grasshoppers in Educational Institutions & in Government Services

The Ant is fined for failing to comply with POTAGA and having nothing left to pay his retroactive taxes,it's home is confiscated by the Government and handed over to the Grasshopper in a ceremony covered by NDTV.

Arundhati Roy calls it ' A Triumph of Justice'.

Lalu calls it 'Socialistic Justice '.

CPM calls it the ' Revolutionary Resurgence of the Downtrodden '

Koffi Annan invites the Grasshopper to address the UN General Assembly.

Many years later...

The Ant has since migrated to the US and set up a multi-billion dollar company in Silicon Valley, 100s of Grasshoppers still die of starvation despite reservation somewhere in India,

Gold at last

Abhinav Bindra gave India the long desired individual gold medal at Beijing Olympics. It was a great day for India and Abhinav.

Needless to say, as it always happens in our country, Abhinav was instantly rewarded by various state governments, or should we say 'politicians', with cash rewards. It is indeed a good thing to recognize one's achievement and reward the person. But I was just wondering, if these politicians ruling the various states, divert a part of their so-called development funds to build real world class infrastructure for sportsmen, we would not be in a situation to pray for that 'ONE' medal at Olympics.

Every time the Indian contingent fails to deliver more than one medal at Olympics there are talks from various quarters on the pathetic state of infrastructure for development of sports. These accusations and counter accusations lasts for a few days later forgotten till a new contingent returns from Olympics with a disappointing show.

All I feel bad about is that our country with the second largest population in the world fails each and every time to put up a decent show at Olympics. In contrast smaller countries (in terms of population and size) like Poland, Cuba, and Ethiopia etc. manage to win more medals than us.

Lets just hope the 'Kumar' trio in the boxing camp help us to increase our medal count this year from 'ONE'.

Update on star bloggers

More celebrities join the 'star bloggers' list:
Shekar Kapur - http://www.shekharkapur.com/blog/welcome.htm
Karan Johar - http://www.mynameiskaran.com/

My 'Special' Music Chart Topper..

This time I have only one special song, that tops my music chart.
* SONG -> (MOVIE/ALBUM, LANGUAGE, SINGER, MUSIC DIRECTOR)
------------------------------------------
* Sahana -> (Sivaji - The BOSS, Tamil, Udit Narayan and Chinmayi, A R Rahman)

Bawarchi - tastes good!

Bawarchi - is one of the Hrishikesh Mukherjee's classics that I wanted to watch from a long time, but somehow had not managed to. I caught up with it on a late Saturday night, being aired on SET MAX. I have heard and read a lot about this classic movie and was all excited. So was I disappointed? Well, Hrishikesh Mukherjee had cooked a sumptuous feast, good on mind and health, with no extra garnish of garam masala. It was a fantastic fare.

It has a novel starting, with no title cards to display but a narrator gives the details of film's crew.

We have this story of the loud and squabbling Sharma family in their home, ironically named 'Shanti Nivas', who are in constant search for a new cook, as every other person who is employed in household seems to pack his/her bags in a few days unable to bear its occupants' attitudes. Enter Raghu [Rajesh Khanna], a simple looking 'Bawarchi' - cook, who seems to know everything under the sun from algebra to music and of course the right cuisines to pamper the taste buds of Sharma family. He then goes on to analyze and solve the disputes in the family, and preach the family members to enjoy the simple moments in life. In between he does stare intently at the jewel box that is so closely guarded by the head of the family, which adds the suspense factor in the movie. The story, screenplay and the dialogues are simple and realistic with the usual trademark of the Hrishikesh Mukherjee films. The characters are sketched out as the next door family people with no super heroism to display. Finally all is well that ends well, with a message to the society on how to live happily with the family members. Others in the cast include A K Hangal, Jaya Badhuri, Asrani and Durga Khote.

Great movie that makes you think of why you don’t get to see such movies being made nowadays. Splendid Hrishikesh Mukherjee classic! A must watch!

BOND will be back in NOV - 2008

The official teaser of the next BOND adventure, Quantum of Solace, is out.
Watch it here.

Spiced up and serverd HOT !

News channels in all languages are going over the board to create a sensation even with a small bit of information they gather. Recent examples are the parallel investigation of the Arushi murder case and the communalization of the Amarnath land issue. Letting know what is happening is good, but going further and telling people 'what they think happened' is not right. The reason the private news channels gained popularity over the national news bulletin, in their initial days is due to the fact that they were ready to bring out issues and matters that sometimes were suppressed in the government run national channel owing to political compulsions. But things have changed a lot in both the camps and the private players have, unfortunately, opted for sensationalism.

When the public do have a right to know what is happening, it is not right on the part of the news channel to air their own 'version' of the story sometimes camouflaged as a 'Scoop' or 'inside source revelation'.

The news channels should be aware that media has the power to ignite the minds of thousands of its viewers. It should act responsibly and not over sensationalize any matter. The Arushi murder case is the most shocking incident where the news channels are carrying out various theories of their own and even dramatizing them for the benefit of the viewers. This might even affect the course of normal justice while the matter is still sub judice.

The news channels are in constant search for a sensational subject and when they get one, they drop unceremoniously the current one they are pursuing. Stamp paper scam kingpin Telgi was dropped suddenly for the death of the kolkata man Rizwanur Rehman and suddenly his story is not heard at all and the kidney racket accused Dr. Amit kumar's face is all over the screen for few days only to be dropped suddenly and the limelight is now focused on Arushi and Shinjini. This shows the real concern of reporting the truth to the public. These news channels are responsible for making a short term public hero of previously unheard people, and sometimes even for the wrong reasons.

Considering all this, I would prefer the old fashioned 80's Doordarshan 9 PM news, where the news bulletin is subjective and no additional investigation or probe goes in from the bulletin board. Matter of fact - this happened at this place when these people were there and now the matter is in court with the next hearing on a given date - and nothing more. I would be happy with that now.

Hope the news channels realize the same and stop over-doing it, each and every time something happens.

The Prisoner of Birth - Review

From the first page, Archer makes you turn pages. There is speed in the story. The plot is also a good one which makes you think of Archer going the Grisham way. But for me the most disappointing part was the courtroom. What could easily have been a great courtroom drama is just short of it. It does incorporate Archer's routine of rags to riches story though.

For the regular readers of Archer, this is definitely not his best work. Personally I still regard 'Not a penny more' to be his best. And don’t go by the wordings at the back cover. There is no really 'Mind blowing' twist at the end. If you expect that, you are in for a disappointment.

On the whole it’s an interesting novel to read with a good storyline. This time the book is more detailed like a Forsyth book, because of Archer's experience of the prison life.

Update on star bloggers

In the last post I mentioned about our own Union railway minister - Mr. Lalu Prasad Yadav trying to do the blog act, and here it is. It has been launched last week. But unlike the conventional way, it is not Mr. Lalu Prasad himself who is going to post in the blog, rather he would tape all that he wants to be put in the blog and an IT team would take care of it. Sure, he even finds a different way to dish out a BLOG - like serving tea in kulhars [traditional dish to serve tea] in the Indian Railways.

And here is the link to Mr. Lalu Prasad Yadav's blog.

Star bloggers

Everyone has a blog nowadays, even the celebrities. They use it as a medium to discuss their current activities [movies, books etc.], connect a little better to their fans and followers and some even try to vent out their anger and show their differences with an individual or the media in general.

Some of the celebrity blogs are listed below, if you haven’t come across them:
Amitabh Bachchan - www.bigb.bigadda.com
Amir Khan - www.aamirkhan.com
Jeffrey Archer- www.jeffreyarchers.blogspot.com
Salman Khan - www.duskadum.blogspot.com

...and the latest I heard is that even Mr. Lalu Prasad Yadav is bitten by the blog bug. Hope to catch an interesting there blog soon.

Indy is back !

He is back after 19 long years. He still wears the same fedora hat and the trademark bullwhip, though this time around he doesn’t seem to put it to much use. And he has grown old. But the adventurer - archeologist Indiana Jones arrives on the big screen with style - the same old humor and not to forget a mission that leads him to exotic locales and forbidden places. Harrison Ford is again doing what he does best.

In this adventure, the quest for the Crystal skull, he is pitted against the Russians and a double crossing old friend, but ably accompanied and supported by his old love(Karen Allen) and son (Shia LaBeouf). The movie does not try to hide his age; actually it is set even in the movie as 19 years after the previous adventure. There is a passing tribute to the Senior Jones (Sean Connery, seen only in a photograph). The film makers have retained the true flavor of the series and have worked with more physical stunts than depending on CGI which is the norm now.

The movie ends with a slight hint of who might be the next Indiana Jones in the series. If you have enjoyed the previous adventures of Indiana Jones two decades ago, you surely should not miss this one - A must watch.

Archer was in town

..and Jeffrey Archer was in town. He was to address his fans and sign copies of his latest novel, 'A Prisoner of Birth'.

The Venue: Landmark, Forum Mall, Bangalore
The Time: 7 PM onwards
The Date: 23rd May 2008

This even was not advertised much in the media and I was not surprised to see only a few people when I landed in landmark book store at around 6PM. With just an hour to go I purchased a copy of his latest novel - 'A Prisoner of Birth', and made it to the second row of chairs and seated myself comfortably waiting for Jeffrey Archer to arrive. Slowly people started filling in with their copies of the novel. Some bought numerous copies of the latest novel and some bought other previously published novels of his too. There were old people, the college crowd, the working class and even some high schoolers. After much of chair pinching and seat fighting it was announced that the author will be amidst us in a few minutes and true to their word Jeffrey Archer entered ascended the stage set up amidst thunderous applause befit only to a bestselling author.

Jeffrey Archer started by giving us the agenda for the evening, a talk from him on various aspects of his writing life followed by a Q&A session, which he said he will end when he finds the Questions boring and at last the precious Book signing affair, which he promised would last until the last book has been signed by him. He took control of the evening’s affair in a matter of minutes and started with his speech.

The man who calls himself to be a 'Storyteller' is also to be credited as a good 'Orator'. He spoke with witticism that is akin to the British comedians. His description of the ordeal of getting his first novel published and its alleged 'Instant success' was periodically punctuated by applause and laughter from the crowd. He also enthralled the crowd with one of his George W Bush jokes. The man was surely prepared with the latest happenings when he commented on IPL, calling it an 'Entertainment', his praise of VVS Laxman and 'Wall' Dravid. He even took a dig at the Jaipur airport ["It seemed like I entered Nigeria 10 years ago"] and gave a pat to Kingfisher airlines ["One of the best airlines I have traveled in"].

He spoke of how he was introduced to the literature of R K Narayan in this trip by a person to whom he had enquired about good writers in India and how he is on finishing R K Narayan's 3rd book in 5 days time. He went on to recommend few authors for the crowd - Maposa, H H Monroe.

The Q&A session was a boring one with people not exactly asking a question by trying to make a smart statement in front of Archer. Some insensitive guy went on to even 'Thank' the UK government to have put Archer behind bars. There was another chap who wanted Archer to take cue from Epic Ramayana and Mahabharata and write his next book with a social message for which Archer was quick to reply - "You can't make others to write you passion. You have a passion to say something to the world, you write it. I am just a storyteller"

Answering the question on why he chose to re-write his second novel 'Shall we tell the President' with a lady protagonist [Florentyna], he said it was high time USA went to elect a lady president which they have not been able to do all these years. He added to this that India was far ahead in this regard than USA by having seen a lady Prime Minister and a President.

The queue was long for the signing session which seemed would have continued past 10PM. I was off when I got my signed copy and a 'Thank You' from the master storyteller. The last thing that he said to the crowd was - "I will tell my grandchildren about this evening".

Now, I am a proud owner of a signed copy of 'A Prisoner of Birth'.

Guide - The Novel

I had liked Dev Anand's film - 'Guide', since I was a kid. The liking could have been largely attributed to the fabulous songs of the movie. But later in life, I chanced upon a article by R K Narayan, the author on whose novel the film was based, that went on to talk about his disappointment over the way his novel was commercialized and manipulated to suit the movie goers. This prompted me to take time to read this novel. It is really different from the 'filmi' version.
The best thing that I like about R K Narayan's style is the language. It’s English, but not the old European or the modern American style, but the words seem to be of a typical well educated south Indian who seems to have learnt his vocabulary early in life from the pages of 'The Hindu'. He spends lavish words and pages describing the locales, the people and their lives. The conversations too are simple and believable and not being 'Theatrical'. The story is also set in a typical south Indian terrain which is what you miss in the movie, which thanks to the 'filmi' funda was set in north India.
The movie apart from this change also goes on to infuse a lot other changes by the director/producer, who incidentally were not only Indians as the movie was also made in English with an American director. Though the movie in itself is a beautiful one, enriched with evergreen music and the charismatic Dev Anand, when compared to the novel the reader tends to second the views of R K Narayan in that the movie goes on to destroy the novel in a way or two.
The Novel is a good read, especially for those who are accustomed only to the Sheldons and Archers.

Meeting Raghu Dixit!

Finally, my blog did earn me something. After reading the review of the album 'Raghu Dixit', Raghu Dixit the man himself invited me to his concert being held at R V College of Engineering, Bangalore on the 30th of March 2008.

It was great to meet Raghu Dixit, speak a few words with him and get the CD 'Autographed' by him. Here is the picture of Raghu Dixit signing the CDs for me and my friend Tejas.

My Music Chart Toppers..

This is the list of My Fav Music as of today. Note that they are not ranked, just listed.* SONG -> (MOVIE/ALBUM, LANGUAGE, SINGER)
-------------------------------------
* Mysore Se Ayi -> (Raghu Dixit, Hindi, Raghu Dixit)
* Ambar -> (Raghu Dixit, Hindi, Raghu Dixit)
* Soruthihudhu -> (Raghu Dixit, Hindi, Raghu Dixit)
* Adhe Bhoomi Adhe Baanu -> (E Bandhana, Kannada, Sonu Nigam)
* Tum Mile -> (My Name is Anthony Gonsalves, Hindi, Kay Kay)
* Mudhal Mazhai -> (Bheema, Tamil, Hariharan)

Raghu Dixit's Music

It was 10th December 2006 , the venue was the Palace Grounds in Bangalore hosting the Bengalooru Habba, an annual festival celebrating the spirit of Bangalore. Actually we friends had been there to attend the concert of the famous percussionist Sivamani. The said concert was to take place later that evening and when we arrived at the venue it was announced that a local band called 'Raghu Dixit project' would be performing. We just ignored the announcement, assuming the band to be a local gang of youngsters with bass guitar in hand and with a weird theme of 'Indo-world-folk-rock'.

They entered the stage in a unique dress code, of kurta tops and 'sadhu' dhotis and necks covered with strings of beads and rudrakshas. Again, we termed this as a 'Show' of their weirdness, but were also a little anxious to know the 'Music' they would play. And then Raghu started with their hit number 'Mysore se ayi'..........and it was then he added more numbers to his fan club from the crowd. The instrumentation, the unique blend of folk and rock, and the powerful voice of the man Raghu Dixit himself was hard to resist. They followed it with more numbers, and when they bid farewell to the stage, the one thought on everyone’s mind was 'When would they release their album..'

The thought turned into a question, the question took the form of prayer...and the prayers were answered on the first week of March 2008 when note music duo Vishal and shekar released the album of Raghu Dixit in their label.

The album has 8 tracks, including all the hit numbers played in the Bengalooru Habba concert. It has 6 Hindi tracks (with little bit of English thrown here and there) and 2 Kannada tracks.
1] Hey Bhagwan - This ought to be the first song of Raghu Dixit to be Video graphed. It’s a fun-loving song.2] Mysore Se Ayi - Raghu Dixit's major hit number. Beautiful lyrics with amazing music score and rendered in a powerful voice by Raghu.3] Gudgudiya Sedi Nodo - A philosophical song born out of the verse of the 19th century sufi saint of Karnataka, Santha Shishunala Sharif. 4] Ambar - The longest track in the album and the most romantic and soothing track of the album too. 5] Khidki - A refreshing track with the theme of old memories.6] No Man will Ever Love You - A love song calling back an old love in a soothing tone.7] I'm in Mumbai - A fun song about the life in Mumbai city, on the lines of the famous Md. Rafi Track 'Yeh hai Mumbai meri jaan'8] Soruthihudhu Maniya - Another philosophical song, again a verse of Santha Shishunala Sharif, which talks about ignorance in the world.

The strong points of Raghu Dixit's Music and his first album can be summarized in the following points:
* Powerful voice that can sing songs of various genre

* Rich instrumentation

* Meaningful and suitable lyrics from Raghu Dixit and Niraj 'Kaakh' Singh

* Beautiful composition of 19th century sufi verses, which would have made Santha Shishunala Sharif proud

The Audio CD has been released by 'Vishal & Shekar' Label. It is priced at INR 149/- , which includes a magnificent package of the journey of Raghu Dixit and his music, the lyrics for all the songs with the kannada version for the 2 tracks 'Gudgudiya..' and 'Soruthihudhu..', and a special Bonus Disc featuring the 2 hit numbers 'Mysore se Ayi' and 'Ambar' to be gifted to someone special.

If you are interested in good music, different music, refreshing music....go GRAB a copy now !
For more information on Raghu Dixit visit http://www.raghudixit.com/

[PS: My bonus disc is still with me :-) ]

Gems Of India

Recently there was a lot of talk about who should receive the coveted Bharat Ratna award this year. Numerous names were also suggested ranging from Atal Bihari Vajpayee to Sachin Tendulkar. Some self-centered ones went on to propose their own names too. With all this hype around and the media covering every word uttered, I got interested in the whole idea about this award and decided to check the winners list - AND WAS SHELL SHOCKED to see few of the name, that I expected to appear in the list, missing.

The award has been described as ‘India’s highest civilian award, awarded for the highest degrees of national service’. What beats me is the absence of certain names that includes firstly the ‘Father of the Nation’ - Mahatma Gandhi. The other names that should have decorated this coveted list include:
* Subhash Chandra Bose - Freedom fighter / Revolutionary to take India’s freedom struggle to world arena by forming the INA* Swami Vivekananda - Noted spiritual leader and scholar* Rabindranath Tagore - Poet / Freedom fighter* Kiran Bedi - First woman to join Indian Police Service* Ilayaraja - Noted Music director

It is also unbelievable that Subhas Chandra Bose was awarded Bharat Ratna in 1992 and was later withdrawn thanks to a Public Interest Litigation filed in the Supreme court of India. One thing that our countrymen do promplty is to file PIL’s for everything and take pride in that.

I feel this award should be reserved for the special few who have not only served the nation and its people in their life, but also taken India to new heights by their work. It is saddening to see even this special award being eyed by politicians for their political gain.

My Music Chart Toppers..

This is the list of My Fav Music as of today. Note that they are not ranked, just listed.* SONG -> (MOVIE/ALBUM, LANGUAGE, SINGER)
-------------------------------------
* Mauja hi Mauja -> (Jab We Met, Hindi, Mikha Singh)
* Tum Se Hi -> (Jab We Met, Hindi, Mohit Chouhan)
* Ajab Si -> (Om Shanti Om, Hindi, Kay Kay)
* Adhe Bhoomi Adhe Baanu -> (E Bandhana, Kannada, Sonu Nigam)
* Jashn-E-Bahaara -> (Jodha Akbar, Hindi, Javed Ali)
* Maa -> (Taare Zameen Par, Hindi, Shankar Mahadevan)

PL/SQL Obsession from Steven Feuerstein

Obsessed with Oracle PL/SQL ?

Well, Steven Feuerstein is. He is regarded as one of the world's leading experts on the Oracle PL/SQL language. He is also referred to as the 'PL/SQL Evangelist'. He has to credit around 10 books on the PL/SQL programming language published by the O'Reilly Media. His book 'Oracle PL/SQL Programming' is referred to as the "bible" for PL/SQL developers.

I am a beginner in the field of PL/SQL programming and in constant search for useful material and PL/SQL resources. I chanced by this site from Steven Feuerstein hosted by 'Quest Software', PL/SQL Obsession. This site has a truck load of information, material and resources regarding PL/SQL programming. As they say with the PL/SQL programming books by Steven, this site is a MUST for the PL/SQL programmers.

DBMS_OUTPUT.PUT_LINE ('HAPPY PL/SQL PROGRAMMING');