My List of Top 25 Thriller Movies

Time for another movie based blog post this holiday season. Here's a list of my favorite movies in my favorite genre - crime thrillers which encompass heist movies, cop capers, gangster movies, horror sub-genre et-al. I'm sure those who like movies made by Scorsese, Tarantino, Fincher, RGV, Abbas Mustan would agree with the below list. Sorry for those who like superhero based or animation or gory or hard core action movies. Unfortunately those are not my cups of tea. The list comprises of English, Hindi movies, a Telugu, a Kannada and a Tamil movie.

25.Race (Hindi): Though it's not a superbly directed movie or sport a tremendous plot, this is one of those movies which completely sprung me off my seat in the theatre with unexpected twists sprinkled with bollywood dramebazi when I was least expecting. Trailers showing lead actors and actresses swapping also added to curiosity. Abbas-Mustan is undeniably one of the best Indian directors in the thriller genre

24. Pulp Fiction: I'm a big fan of Tarantino and I even liked his relatively unknown movies like Jackie Brown. Pulp Fiction doesn't come exactly under thriller flicks by the definition of it, it's a directorial trendsetter sorts of movie which directors worldwide like to copy (read RGV).

23.No Country for Old Men: It's more brutal than thrilling. I'm sure Bardem might've caused sleepless nights to many

22.Lucia (Kannada): I watched this movie after my wife's incessant awe and hard selling. This is one of those superb small budget movies from a relatively silent industries and hence couldn't have reached many from non-Kannada speaking moviegoers but the tight screenplay was an absolute delight. But a small thorn in the flesh is that the movie is eerily (!!!) similar to another favorite movie of mine which is in this list. Go find it !

21.Fast & Furious series: I started watching and liking the series since its 5th instalment and was awed by Paul Walker's presence. A typical no-brainer entertaining franchise with abundant melodrama and high adrenalin

20.The Silence of the Lambs: Again a fabulous movie where a girl deals with an intellectual cannibal to capture a maniac transgender serial killer. I would've enjoyed it more if I hadn't watched an inferior Sangharsh earlier

19.Pizza (Tamil): Superb movie displaying unflinching story-telling prowess. Not a horror movie but the director made sure the audiences clasped their seats hard throughout the movie. But alas ! what a shitty sequel called Villa

18.The Exorcist: The only horror movie in the list not because it scared the hell out of me but for being an inspiration for all other horror movies which were churned out in last few decades. Haven't watched much of Hitchcock including his much spoken about Psycho but 'The Exorcist' reminds of every other horror movie ever made (or ahem may be the other way round).

17.Company (Hindi): RGV's finest movie till date and I'm sure he can't better that anymore. One of the most hard hitting and detailed screenplays ever in the Indian movie history. Thankfully RGV refrained from showing his eccentricities and over-confidence to salvage the flick

16.A Wednesday (Hindi): Mind Blowing direction and screenplay by a relatively unknown director but Naseeruddin Shah just nailed it the hardest way possible. But the director disappointed with his next movie Special 26. Hoping for him to recreate the magic in his upcoming "baby"

15.Shawshank Redemption: One of the best movies showcasing an emotion called "hope". The movie was not just a masterpiece but also grows on the audiences. Only Morgan Freeman could've done that role.

14.Goodfellas: Now I don't want to state the obvious that Martin Scorsese is God. He's one director who created lifetime marvel in each decade. Goodfellas is my favorite among his older movies. Robert De Niro proved why he was a legend.

13.The Godfather trilogy: I know most of the lists put 'The Godfather' right on the top but may be I was way too immuned to the magnificent plot which was sadly made a run of the mill story by those innumerable copies. I watched at least 10 movies with the same plot before watching the original. But I should admit that Al Pacino was head and shoulders above all those copycats. So were Marlon Brando and Robert De Niro. These stalwarts gave me the impetus to watch many other classics like Scarface, Raging Bull, Taxi Driver and relatively more recent Heat.

12.Ocean's Eleven: Why would anybody care the plot when George Clooney, Brad Pitt and Matt Damon make audiences drool like never before. Though the movie is not an all time classic, it's for sure the best heist movies ever made. Dhoom series makers could've learnt a lesson or two from Danny Ocean and gang.

11.Drushyam (Telugu): A malayalam remake but I watched telugu version. One of the recent movies which hooked me well till end credits. Venkatesh must be lauded for coming out of his stupid fan-based predictable movies cocoon and trying this one.

10.Argo: Ben Affleck hit raw nerves in this Iran-set terrorist saga. Though many other middle east violence based movies hit the light, Argo was one which kept the adrenalin rush pumped up.

9.Gone Girl: When terrific director and actor like David Fincher and Ben Affleck come together, a thriller like Gone Girl happens. Unexpected twists and commendable performances make this movie a good one to watch

8.Se7en: David Fincher proved why he's in the big league. When tamil director Shankar too ripped off the movie to create a main plot of his movie Aparichitudu / Anniyan, it speaks a lot. Also when Brad Pitt, Morgan Freeman and Kevin Spacey share screen, it's sheer delight and thrilling.

7.Italian Job: What a heist, what a chase and what a plot ! Mark Wahlberg and co nail it down and how ! Must watch for all thriller, action, heist and caper fans

6.Omkara (Hindi): Nobody can judge Shakespeare's plotline but Vishal Bharadwaj created what according to me is one of the best movies Hindi movie industry has ever delivered. A casting coup aside, it's adaption to suit Hindi hinterland, the accent, canvass, duels can't be repeated. Omkara has been VB's best movie miles ahead of his much acclaimed Kaminey or Haider etc

5.Kill Bill: Quentin Tarantino's movies are gory, stylish and comical in equal proportions. A maverick trendsetting movie (again an original source for many RGV's movies) which experimented with musicals, animated subplots, two-volume series has to be the best revenge drama ever made. Though Uma Thurman ate the movie, it was Oren Ishi's one minute walk with background music of "Battle without Honor or Humanity" which stole the show :)

4.Shutter Island: Another of Scorsese who found his muse in Leonardo Dicaprio after Robert De Niro. Shutter Island is more of a psychological thriller than an action or a regular thriller. A must watch

3.The Departed: When Martin Scorsese wields the megaphone and Jack Nicholson, Leo Dicaprio, Matt Damon and Mark Wahlberg compete to steal the show in a mole-undercover cat and mouse cop drama, there's no looking back. Though itself a remake of a chinese movie, 'The Departed' is an absolute casting coup and riveting drama. Could never get over it

2.Inglorious Basterds: Tarantino's best so far is only 1/3rd English and the rest was in French, German and a bit of Italian which I had to comprehend by reading subtitles more than watching the visuals and yet I felt it was splendid. A fictional tale based on Hitler's regime was too good to miss

1.Training Day: A mother of all gritty gangster-cop-drug war dramas has to be on top. Denzel Washington flick was directed by an ex-gangster who could pull off the stunt of recreating crime ridden LA shot in real notorious neighborhoods. One of a kind movie with tangential references to major organized gangs of LA never fails to raise goosebumps

These are the movies which I've seen but I'm sure they could be many more which I'm yet to watch. Couple of flicks on my immediate watch list are Mean Streets, The girl with dragon Tattoo.

Also some of the brilliant thrillers I could not accommodate in the list include Dev Anand-Vijay Anand's "Jewel Thief", Quentin's "Reservoir Dogs", Clint Eastwood's "The good, the bad and the ugly", Rob De Niro - Sean Connery - Kevin Costner's "The untouchables", Scorsese's "Gangs of new York", Tom Cruise's "mission Impossible" series, Valkyrie and the list goes on.

Awesome life of Shahrukh Khan

Those who know a bit of human psychology (or project management) know something called Maslow's hierarchy of needs which defines what people need to be happy or successful. And by the look of it, Shahrukh Khan has been one of the most successful people around in the era (at least in Indian context)

This article is not about deifying or eulogizing his acting prowess. Honestly I'm not a big fan of his work and liked only 2 movies from his repertoire till date, i.e., Swades and Chak De and believed all other movies of his were pretty mediocre if not painful.

Money:

Let us start with his success in terms of purely material achievements like money he made. His net worth is over $600 Million which is equal to Rs 3700 crores. Now compare with that of other celebrities whom we know are successful

Amitabh Bachchan - $400 Million
Rajnikanth - $40 Million
Sachin Tendulkar - $115 Million
Tiger Woods - $550 Million
Roger Federer - $300 Million
Tom Cruise - $450 Million
Justin Bieber - $200 Million
Lady Gaga - $230 Million
Barack Obama - $12 Million

So SRK made more money than almost all well-known celebrities in this world barring monarchs, scamsters, business tycoons or those who inherited fortunes from dads and grand-dads. Though fiscal empire should not be the only criteria to define success or happiness, one can't take away from him the tremendous grit, passion aided by supreme confidence, hard work and money management skills which catapulted him to this position from times where he had to work for a salary of Rs.50, slept on railway platforms and was paid only few thousand rupees for first few movies. So obviously there's something more to just plain numbers.

Love & Popularity:

More important than money for anybody to feel content and happy is the outpouring of love and emotional connect with people who love us. And there's no denying of his unparalleled fanbase across the globe. When DDLJ released he swept a generation of young girls off their feet and instantly became an ideal boyfriend and a prince charming for every girl who wanted their Mr.Right to come, capture their senses, convince their parents and take them off to another world full of bliss. And guys experienced some vicarious escapist pleasure looking at his onscreen persona. And the trend didn't die down even today.

NRI's adore him like none other and it's evident in any overseas show he performs or attends. I've been a witness to the mad rush once at IIFA,Toronto. Though SRK never used his religious identity to expand his fanbase, thanks to that identity, he is adored across the Muslim world ranging from Pakistan, Middle-East to Southeast Asia because the masses there identify themselves in his success and onscreen escapades. His worldwide fanbase (among other entertainers) in terms of number comfortably surpasses that of Justin Bieber, Amitabh Bachchan or Rajinikanth.

If even after so many people loving him is not success, read along

Business Acumen:

The difference in fortunes made between him and other successful movie stars was his business acumen. He is an astute businessman who knew when, where and how to invest. He's been one of the foremost celebrities to venture into IPL when it was only the area of seasoned businessmen.

For those who believe he just makes money from advertisements, think about this. He owns a company called Red Chillies TVC which produces those commercials. So he's making money with both hands. He ventured into Red Chillies Entertainment (movie production), Red Chillies VFX (special effects company), Red Chillies Idiot Box (TV content production). Together he manages around 200 employees and gets richer by Rs 5 crore everyday. Just Whoa !

With real-estate investments across the globe and minting money through stage performances, constant business expansion along with his regular movie acting and production, he can give a run for any trained, educated IIM-MBA's money. Did I mention he was invited by NASDAQ to ring their bell (usually businesses honchos are the privileged lot) ?

Off-screen personality:

I must confess that while I'm not a fan of his movies, I'm pretty impressed by his wit, humor he presents in his off screen conversations, interviews and the kind of spontaneity he presents off-screen. Very few can carry off the sense of humor on the sleeve as he does and that doesn't exclude lampooning himself at time.

If you ever watched his views or opinions of serious subjects including terrorism, religion, corporate sector- he's more than articulate and more than often makes sense. He's intelligent !

Family:

The man who wooed and married his sweetheart and doesn't mind blushing and doting on his kids, takes care of his elder sister, doesn't miss an opportunity to express how much he misses his parents can always be an ideal family man.

Lifestyle:

All money minting tycoons are not lifestyle conscious and we can't generalize that everybody who is rich knows how to carry himself / herself. It's not about the brands or labels he wears but he is one of the best dressed people in the Indian page 3 circuit. Famous for smelling good and his fetish for well fitted clothing, he's a dream showstopper for any designer.

When he moved from an independent house in Delhi to Mumbai which boasts of apartment culture, he aimed at buying a plush independent house in Mumbai against the norms and now he owns one of the most majestic heritage buildings which is exempt from demolition and happens to be tourist spot too. With offices, theatres, library and many more amenities in his home, he knows how to live life King Size

So a person who amassed countless fans, immeasurable love, maintained normal family life, turned his dreams into reality, built an empire around himself with grit and intelligence has to be successful and his life has to be content and just awesome !

Chandrababu, YSR and KCR - A Tale of 3 Telugu CMs

At the outset, this article is not a direct comparison between KCR, YSR and CB Naidu or their performance as chief ministers of two Telugu states because one of them is no more and for the other two 6 months is not a lot of time to judge their performance especially when they are working in different political terrains now. This is rather my random rambling about their way up the political ladder and their political styles.

Almost a decade ago, I had a unique opportunity to work with AP political leaders across the spectrum including Loksatta's Jayaprakash Narayan, then assembly speaker Suresh Reddy, CPI's ex-MP Suravaram Sudhakar Reddy but what stands out head above shoulders was the working relationship with Chandrababu Naidu and his cotorie of TDP. Without running into any intricacies of the nature of business, let me just affirm that I spent quite some considerable time with most old war horses of TDP's politburo apart from the chief's son Lokesh and current AP cabinet minister Narayana (of Narayana colleges). That was the era after TDP lost power to YSR's juggernaut.

In many of my casual conversations with office bearers and low rung executives (most of them Andhra settlers), I discovered that recurring undercurrent among them was certain reverence to K.Chandrashekar Rao (KCR) who already was making high decibel movement in favor of separate Telangana through his TRS party. They felt KCR was one of the most disciplined, hard-working and efficient workers of TDP earlier and his contribution to boss' speech-writing, media management etc was immensely missed after he left TDP to launch TRS.

Honestly I was (am) not a big fan of KCR's confrontational politics but it doesn't take away from him that he has been the most significant Telugu political leader in the last 15 years. With a law degree and a masters in literature, he happens to be one of the most academically qualified CMs in India and arguably one of the best orators the country currently boasts of. His charm in Telangana is not lesser than NAMO wave or Modimania which gripped the countrymen and NRIs alike.

It also remains that KCR is the most hated Telugu figure unequivocally and almost unanimously hated by all Seemandhraites, settlers for his vitriolic and hate-mongering politics. But it takes an extraordinary leader to thrive despite the hate by polarizing almost entire Telangana behind his belt, confronting everybody ruthlessly (including his competition), resorting to high pressure drama spanning years and coming out unscathed and with flying colors.

He is hated for getting things done his way through means propelled by his selfish agenda, settling personal scores, power brokering, blackmails but history takes note of him as a fighter and winner for his cause (for good or bad). Like him or hate him, nobody can ignore him. He made possible which was almost impossible at one point, by blending political machinations, ruthlessness and surfing on the popular sentiment

Chandrababu Naidu is diagonally opposite of everything which KCR is. A non-communicator, non-orator, non charismatic. In 1994 when he staged a dramatic coup against NTR, I was 14 but politically aware. At that point my family was pro-congress thanks to our distant relationship with PV Narasimha Rao and my late grandfather's political equation with him. So I was neither perturbed nor excited about what was happening in Hotel Viceroy. Actually that incident brought in me some interest about current affairs and political happenings which was otherwise made insipid and bland by previous CMs like N Janaradhan Reddy or Kotla Vijayabhaskara Reddy.

What caught my mind later was frequent surprise inspections of government offices by new CM CBN himself which was never tried earlier. For general public, all politicians were blood sucking, disinterested rogues but when this guy started akasmika thaniki, followed by other public engaging programs like janmabhoomi, sramadhanam - he was a breath of fresh air. So technically he involved general public in social activities much before Modi did with Swachch Bharat abhiyan.

Chandrababu later started appearing on prime-time TV call-in shows where he interacted with general public. Regardless of how efficient the programs were and who benefited out of those, he showed that he was trying to reach out to the public - atleast average middle class urban households like mine. Nobody else could have thought of those initiatives at that point.

When he captured imagination of youth and tech-savvy intellectuals by bringing in Bill Gates, Bill Clinton to Hyderabad, built cyber-towers, catalyzed IT boom and laid out blueprint foe the lives of thousands of IT and ITES employees, he was making all right moves. Politically too, a leader who could revolt against an idol like NTR but still survive, faced minority ire by making pact with Vajpayee but still survive - could go no wrong. He was almost a superhuman. But what happened in 2004 was unimaginable.

YSR completely swept the carpet under his feet by taking all grassroot level, non tech savvy, agro based voters who were intimidated by CEO like CBN under his fold. I'm not sure if YSR himself expected the kind of success he reaped after padayatra but for CBN, it was a deathblow.

In my view YSR was the most politically aware and calculating politician among all Telugu leaders till date. Termed as perennial dissenter among congress circles for decades, he finally catapulted his party to power against all odds including a supposedly rockstar CM, a respected PM Vajpayee's aura, KCR's undercurrent Telangana sentiment.

YSR optimally channelized anti-CBN and anti-suave wave in favor of him and very intelligently transformed CBN's swarnandhra pradesh slogan into harithandhra pradesh directly targeting 70% population of the state depending on agriculture who mostly disdain technology or educated urban class. Incidentally, YSR himself was a doctor. His political prowess made sure he was the only leader who could reign in KCR and his maverick politics.With rajiv arogyasri and other schemes which his fans can't hold their blush, he was on the cusp of being the longest serving CM before an unfortunate accident bluntly cut short one of the brightest political careers of the state. His death gave a lease of new political life to both CBN and KCR who sit as chief ministers today

Back to 2014:

After struggle, hate, innocent deaths, irresistible sentiment and Sonia Gandhi's poor calculations - Telangana finally became a state in 2014 and KCR crowned a CM. KCR came to this position through confrontational politics, which in turn increased his mass fanbase and credibility among pro Telangana activists, but it seems the CM continues to be in that mode even today.

Though I admit that TV9 is too propagandist a channel with a foul mouth and should have been regulated, banning them was no solution. KCR wanted to make a statement that those who oppose him have to bite dust. This actually doesn't work in democracy. With absolute majority in the assembly and among masses of Telangana and with almost no resistance or alternative to him in the state, he is busy consolidating his power and grip on the state and it's resources.

But when the CM gets into verbal duels and confrontation with media, prime minister, central government, governor of the state, chief minister of the neighboring state or literally everybody who don't follow his diktat, he is actually hurting the state, himself and those crores of people who stood behind him. And when his son tweets anti Diwali or anti-Hindu statements and his daughter declares anti-India sentiments to attract few votes, things are definitely going down hill from there.

Chandrababu seems to making right noises by aligning tightly with central government and industries. When neighboring states like Karnataka and Tamil Nadu get worried about him to the point of asking PM to control him, it indicates something is going right in Andhra state. Devising grandiose plans for the state, attempting to pull investors from everywhere and most importantly not spreading hatred among regions, declaring that he would felicitate Telangana stalwarts in Andhra unlike his Telangana counterpart, things are staring towards new dawn.

Being a Telanganite myself, I would love my CM to be a face of reforms, accelerating growth and superior infrastructure in Telangana and would also like CBN to succeed in all those sky high ambitions. Hatred and development are mutually exclusive and diagonal in the public life which can't go along.

Travel Diaries 3 - Switzerland

This article is long long overdue. I love blogging travel episodes as much as I travel but could only write about few misadventures and not all travel experiences as yet. though I wrote about US west coast and Hawaii way back in 2010-11, I`m heavily backlogged and what better place to rekindle the series than with Switzerland - rightly sobriquetted heaven on earth.

That was September 2013 when we headed on to our family expedition to Europe and ran into some unexpected turn of events (both good and bad) and were left a bit sour towards the end of our Italy tour. We were in pursuit of a real getaway from a mess (will blog that in travel diary about Italy) and we could not ask for a better place.

Train journey from humid, tropical central Italy towards Alps of Northern Italy bordering Swiss brought in a holistic change in the climate, mood and the entire canvass. We arrived to a small town called Interlaken (in the German spoken part of Switzerland) sometime during late evening and retired to bed after a tiresome journey. We could not exactly comprehend the surroundings in the sleepy town at the outset but could hear river flow and swaying woods.

The dawn brought to us one of our happiest and most pleasant days. Pristine unadulterated backdrop, swiftly flowing river just in the backyard, snow capped mountains in the vicinity swept us off our feet. Before we could relish ourselves completely, the ticking clock was teasing us. Quickly finished breakfast and headed to Jungfraujoch, supposedly the highest point in Europe.

While the steep train journey towards the peak in itself has been a tourist`s dream, the top of the mountain can`t be explained in words. Despite having visited Banff, Jasper and the glacier there, Jungfraujoch is in a completely different league. First hand experience of Alps`snowfall, the ice museum and surprisingly a bollywood themed Indian restaurant made our entire Europe trip worthwhile.

Next day in the itinerary was Lucerne. We had no real idea what was in store until we boarded the train to the city. If anybody asks me what could potentially be the best train journey ever, I`d not mince my words before suggesting Interlaken-Lucerne visuals. Almost all bollywoodish movie duets were choreographed there. Ridiculously lush green meadows, belled grazing cattle (Swiss icon), frequent springs and waterfalls, turquoise lakes, winding train tracks, friendly people around - I can just feel everything all over again.

Lucerne is a bigger town than Interlaken, bit more commercial, crowded, better infrastructure and I dare say - more beautiful. On the banks of swan populated lake, archaic old town, die to experience climate. I felt how lucky could one be to retire and spend their post retirement phase of life in Lucerne. I don`t rule that possibility out ;)

From Lucerne we had been to a day trip to Mount Pilatus, almost similar to Jungfrau, but the steepest cogwheel train trek in the world was worth it.

Next stop in our expedition was the most famous city of Swiss, Zurich. Financial capital of Switzerland and hub of Indian black money ;) Zurich can be compared to Toronto or New York City or Paris (though much smaller than all three) but better infrastructure, helpful crowd. Not much for nature-lovers though. We had to route our journey through Zurich to connect to our next stop which was Innsbruck in Austria.

The only off-note among so many good picturesque memories was exorbitant cost of living or traveling. Easily the most expensive country in Europe (atleast among those I traveled).

Another travel diary soon.

The Curious Case of Ram Gopal Varma

It's been 25 years since Ram Gopal Varma's Shiva released. Incidentally I just watched (quite unfortunately) his short movie on Lakshmi Manchu's legs. RGV came a long way or rather stooped a long way from his dream big bang debut to his sad state now. During late 80's "Shiva" came like a breath of fresh air for me. At the age of 9, I so loved the slick, subtle way, novel camera movements, lack of any unnecessary dramatics or larger than life characters.

Then came a splurge of movies with his distinct mark like Kshana Kshanam, Rathri, Gayam in Telugu and Rangeela, Satya, Company in Hindi which are all examples of his true brilliance and genius. I later understood the strong inspiration he'd drawn from The Godfather trilogy, Martin Scorsese and Alfred Hitchcock movies but he blended their finesse with his own vision resulting in such epics. I believe his best times ended during the phase when he turned a bad emulator of Quentin Taratino, a genius himself but was junior to RGV in the world of cinema.There started his curious case..exactly like that of Benjamin Button

The man who showed the country what underworld was, directed nonsensical crime thrillers like Contract, D, James, Shiva 2006, Satya 2, Department which have no hangover of his previous masterpieces whatsoever. Other forgettable movies like Jungle, Daud, Mast, Naach, Nishabd, Darling, Agyaat, RGV ki Aag, Ice Cream blah, blah and blah made his case even more curious. His horror movies like Kaun, Vasthu Shastra, Phoonk, Phoonk-2 are at best badly made b grade remakes of The Exorcist and Hitchcock flicks.

Sarkar and Rann were kind of saving grace but again Sarkar Raj, Rakhta Charitra were marred by his eccentric camera angles (which were more irritating than novel), unnecessary decibels in background and not to mention bad screenplay. But as an erstwhile fan I watched all the above mentioned movies just in anticipation of good movies, Each time he announced a film, I hoped it was his comeback only to get convinced that his era ended but..this Manchu lady's feet shortie is a culmination.

While he can be tolerated for his bad movies, he started his moribund interviews, irreverent tweets, arrogant blasphemy and PR minded controversies with certain shock value. He famously declared that no director can predict the outcome of their vision and audiences who don't know movie-direction shouldn't criticize. It's similar to saying that people who eat at restaurant shouldn't criticize the chef for bad food if they themselves can't cook.

I read somewhere that he's buried in a mire of debts running to several crores and his desperate compulsion to stay afloat in news by making some stupid comments on twitter only to provide some visibility to his films reflects a very sad and sorry state he is now in for the kind of visionary he once was. A man revered on a pedestal along with Maniratnam, Shekhar Kapoor and dubbed Scorsese, Hitchcock or Taratino of India is now at best, a history.

Regardless of his current box office stamina, creative vision or execution, one can't take away from him the credit of establishing a parallel genre of cinema which shook the entire generation and produced a school of directors, actors most of whom are currently raising the flag of RGV brand high. Hope that'd be his legacy.

My Tryst with Teaching !

"I think the teaching profession contributes more to the future of our society than any other single profession" - John Wooden

So true, yet teaching is one of the most underrated and thankless professions because every successful student believes the reason for his success was his own talent and merit whereas every failed student squarely blames his teacher or school for his failure. Or maybe that's sheer human psychology.

Teacher-student bond that's formed in very nascent stages (like around 2-3 years) is very strong. That's the age when kids' mind would be very ripe and fertile and they subconsciously yearn for knowledge, learn language and are usually curious to explore the world. A very sensitive age when they try to repeat, re-enact elders. While parents are most responsible for child's mental development, it's also the initial set of teachers who make or break a kid in that phase.

I strongly believe that a person's character, aptitude and attitude is formed based on what one learns and experiences during primary and middle school phases. That's the tender age when one needs to witness a live person demonstrating knowledge and inspiring young minds towards wisdom and ways of life. No books or internet sites can replace a sane teacher's ability to transform an innocent kid to a thinking and aspiring adolescent.

This is the age which decides if the kid would become a responsible citizen abiding by certain duties and collective consciousness or turn into a bum, thug, criminal or a terrorist. Those teachers who could ignite the imagination, creativity, awaken latent potential and inspire some hope in young minds could make a lasting impact on students' life. And those students go on to change the world around them.

What my teaching career taught me !

Personally, I didn't change the world around me but I strongly believe whatever I learnt and practiced till now is a direct result of all my teachers who taught me, inspired me, created awareness, demonstrated how to utilize the knowledge in the best interest of my career and life. Wikipedia and Google have lately occupied the stature and respect which usually teachers deserve. Reasons could be partly bad quality of teaching and equal vulnerability and naivete of students to believe what they see in internet is more accurate than what their teachers explain. I admit that I learnt a thing or two through wikipedia but my ability to grasp and extract knowledge from these internet sources was instilled by my teachers.

My tryst with the profession of teaching was accidental and least expected. After studying engineering and MBA and further working for few years in IT field, I never ever in my wildest dreams did imagine myself teaching a bunch of grown up corporates or aspiring students. I should credit the unflinching support and faith of my ex-employer who saw something in me that he wanted me to teach his students as makeshift arrangement while he was attending something more important. I initially reluctantly took the job but discovered I enjoyed the work, eventually started loving it. And it's been 7 years without looking back.

In these 7 years of teaching, I grew as a communicator, negotiator analyzer and acquired many more traits while transferring my knowledge and experience to others. I learnt that teaching is not just telling or explaining stuff but narrating an entire pretext where and how the knowledge would be used. Teaching made me a story-teller because I understood the importance of captivating the audience before I could teach a lesson or two.

While teaching subjects like project management and business analysis to experienced corporates or knowledgeable aspirants, I was expected to reach certain standards myself in terms of knowledge, posture, behavior and ability to address questions and concerns. Hence I improved my knowledge base, pronunciation, pace and diction which helped me in many other ways. Thanks to my teaching career, I got a decent hold on vocabulary (both business and technical), body-language which I could not have got it otherwise. I had to manage and lead a group of 20-30 people, set agenda, not allow the group to lose focus and drive the point home taking everyone along. This brought out some latent leadership and managerial skills out of me. 

While teaching, I had to understand individual pain points, realize that everybody was not made with same level of aptitude and hence I had to bring in variation and cater to the least common denominator. This brought out certain kind of empathy wherein I could stand in my students' shoes and judge myself. There were some situations when some very intelligent students caught me off guard which brought in humility in me thus giving a reality check to my arrogance, if any. My teaching profession made me more flexible, better decision-maker, an extrovert, a consultant and a better social person. 

I don't know how my trainees look up to my contribution in their success or enhanced knowledge, but I live with certain satisfaction that I'm a miniscule part of the bandwagon called "teachers" who strive to penetrate the knowledge forward through generations. May be this is my way of social contribution while improving, challenging, discovering and redefining myself consistently.

Happy Teachers' Day (Sep 5th) to every teacher who taught me something in life directly or indirectly, wittingly or unwittingly, through lessons or experiences or by just being around me to inspire.

Excessive Cultural Pride Leads to Terrorism

World in last 1 month or so

• Israel killed almost 300 naive civilians in a densely populated Gaza strip of Palestine, some of them women and children
• Ukrainian Rebels shot down Malaysian Airlines civilian flight killing close to 300 people
• Boko Haram killed almost 350 people in Nigeria
• ISIS killed hundreds in Iraq and Syria
• Thousands killed elsewhere in Pakistan, Afghanistan, Kenya, Philippines etc

And remember, these casualties were only in June-July. And there is one reason for all these murders and destruction - That's excessive pride is one's own religion, culture and ethnicity. I guess this epidemic of excessive pride in prevalent across the globe, every country, every region, every community.

The modern pride-hate combo started during Nazi regime when Hitler legitimized unprovoked holocaust, mass murder of almost 6 million jews. This led to jewish emigration to Israel which gave impetus to another long, volatile and violent conflict between Jewish Israel and Arab Palestine. While Hitler has been and rightly should be condemned for the worst crime in the world history, Israel-Palestine conflict is such unfortunate tussle that one can't take sides because both parties bay for the blood of other just because they follow an alien culture.

Israel historically belonged to Jews but were pushed to oblivion by Muslim and Arab invaders in their expansion roll. During world wars, Jews emigrated to Israel in large numbers and pushed Arab Palestinians into hardships in Gaza and West Bank. The reason for this jugalbandi is hate towards one another. Arab Muslims could not stand Jewish's culture and hence invaded and converted them; later Jewish couldn't stand persecution by Arabs and Nazis alike and retaliated with force on Palestine. 

Unfortunately both groups play victims to other's terrorism. But the excessive pride in their own religion, language and culture among both Jews and Arabs fuelled hatred against one another and created unfathomable, tangled conflict of civilizations which even today takes lives of innocent people regularly.

ISIS, Al-Qaeda, Muslim Brotherhood, Boko Haram, Taliban unleashed an unprecedented and undeclared war on western civilization or everything non muslim or to be precise non sunni because they can't stand anybody not following and submitting to their cultural and religious pride.  

While in India:

Though not as bloody as Middle-East, India too is plagued by religion / region / ethnicity triggered madness fanned by politicians and religious leaders alike.

Kashmiris feel oppressed and are abetted by Mujahideens like JuD, LeT, JeM in their drive against Kashmiri pandits and India in the longest violence in South Asia. The violence took the toll of over 50,000 civilians. Ulfa's pride in assamese culture triggered another long anti Indian armed struggle killing thousands. Khalistani movement and anti-sikhs riots took a toll of thousands, right wing Hindu fundamentalist groups like Bajrang Dal, Ranvir Sena killed hundreds

Though not violent and murderous, the underbelly of hatred and regional discrimination is being carried out by politicians like Raj Thackeray, KCR and leaders injecting venom in names of marathi Manoos, Telangana, Gorkhaland etc. Leaders like Karunanidhi, Vaiko fan anti-Hindi and pro LTTE sentiments. Implied hatred by leaders of political parties aimed towards particular vote banks like MIM, BSP, SP, Shiv Sena, SAD, RJD is largely prevalent. 

The common theme among all these parties, leaders, politicians is to scare their voters, subjects that their culture, region, religion, community was in danger due to the atrocities of others and thus should retaliate in kind through hatred and discrimination. Sometimes the rhetoric gives way to violence and eventually into terrorism

Be it India, Middle East or East Europe; at the end of the day, it`s ordinary civilians who get swayed by excessive emotions, sentiments and pride about their culture and ethnicity that turn into terrorists for their purported cause to unleash havoc towards others; and one day the same people get engulfed by the fire they once lit. 

Valentine's Special - 8 Stages of my Love Story

Can't believe I have known her for the last 8 years and married for almost 7 years. As I look back I realize that our love story gradually transformed from an harmless internet friendship to a long distance courtship and then to accomplished marriage to blissful parenthood. Quite a journey, it has been. A note on St.Valentine`s Day remembering and reminiscing 8 stages of love during the last 8 years.

Stage 1: Infatuation

The most beautiful stage. That strong urge to always think about her and talk to her. Those days which started and ended with her thoughts. Those late nights / early morning calls which went on forever. Those dreams to have her in my life and arms forever. Being illogically and childishly infatuated is a bliss that nobody should miss.

Stage 2: Anticipation

Next stage was anticipating and planning life together. That stage involved knowing each other`s likes and dislikes better, befriending each others` families and friends, managing and changing priorities, dreaming how our married life would be and doing everything to make those dreams come true.

Stage 3: Romance

Much anticipated stage especially after 2 years of international long distance relationship. Those sweet nothings, holding hands, long drives, candle lit dinners, listening to each other, falling head over heels all over again many times and basking in that unprecedented attention and affection.

Stage 4: Creation

Next was creating our own world. Converting 4 walls of house into home, slowly converting our dreams into reality, steadily reaching self set short term goals, building social relationships, making family friends and stabilizing our very own small world

Stage 5: Understanding & Acceptance

Surviving misunderstandings and friction caused by mutually exclusive priorities and then understanding others`points of view. This stage is about exploring some unknown and latent preferences of the better half and accepting each other as a complete package as opposite to the best front presented earlier. This in my opinion is an important stage to realize that love is much more than attraction and anticipation of living together. It`s actually accepting the love of our life with all qualities which we may not necessarily agree with. This is when true love begins.

Stage 6: Complementing

Complementing each other (mind it, it`s complementing not complimenting) worked like a cement for foundation. After realizing each other`s positive and negative areas, the success of marriage is directly proportional to how they support, supplement and complement each other thus locking the perfect relationship and concealing the other from fear of failure or any apprehension.

Stage 7: Pride

Then came the light of our life to teach us purpose to live. Our son, our baby. He came, he saw and he conquered our senses in such a way that our world turned upside down for good. He has been making us beam in pride. We as parents grew together, learnt parenthood, discovered how to create and nurture love in a tiny being. We are basking in the glory of shaping an attitude, behavior of a 'person' from inception. Wow, we feel so important !

Stage 8: Complete 

Now this is a stage when we no longer have to express or tell how much we love each other in any way. Mutual feelings are understood, told, perceived and acted upon without any need of words or gestures. Love is appended by great levels of comfort level, understanding, respect, importance and security.

Love is in the air. It`s everywhere. Happy Valentine`s Day

PS 1: Don't bother about those who dissuade you from celebrating Valentine`s Day. We need reasons, logic, rationale to avoid days to hate, not love. We just need a reason and excuse to celebrate and express love. Nobody loses anything through expression of love.

PS 2: बुरी नज़र वाले तेरा मुह काला