Happy New Year- The Film Review That Wasn't

Like 'The Week That Wasn't', a spoof of the news during the week, let me attempt a review of a movie I did not watch.

Shah Rukh Khan dances his way into the audience's heart, matching steps with Abhishek Bachchan. Two of the best dancers ever!

Abhishek Bachchan does a fight, a disco, a comedy sequence, and a tragi-comedy sequence. That's more than he has done in years. Happy or not!

Farah Khan directs. She was great in Main Hoon Na (disclaimer- I saw that), greater in the last one (I forget the name of that one) and is the GREATEST in this one.

The producer is laughing all the way to the bank. So some people are happy-the bank and him. What about the viewers? Some people called me up just to tell me NOT to watch this and remain happy. What could be simpler? Forget Yoga, Meditation (Vipassana, the silent meditation, is especially hard on the incorrigible talkers), Reading, Music, Partying with friends, Long holidays in the mountains or at a beach, and all those things which cost a bomb. Just chill, and Don't watch a film! Can't get easier than this, the new Happiness recipe.

Happy New Year! Oh, oh, did you say you just watched it? :) :)

Teacup in a Storm

Yes, I know we usually talk of a storm in a teacup. But I woke up this morning due to the sound of a thunderstorm with rain, and decided that the best course of action was to make myself a cup of tea.

So I did. And tea makes you think. So I did that, too.

The more I thought, the less I understood. Then I remembered I used to have a poster which said, "The more I think, the more confused I get." So I stopped thinking.

Our gurus (those that I have read anyway) advise us to stop thinking in order to approach the thoughtless state of 'being' to escape from the mundane, useless thoughts that crowd our poor minds. This is supposed to take you (over time, when the time is right etc..) to a meditative, calm, 'being-in-the-present' kind of state.

So I tried my best to meditate. And lo and behold, I found a new awakening, ....from sleep, because unknowingly, I had dozed off in the middle of my spiritual quest.

Anyway, there is always a next time!

Fogged Out

It was cold and breezy this morning, reminding me of Delhi. I am glad Indore is milder, because the days are pretty warm and sunny-at least thus far. Delhi winters got me down usually, having grown up in the sunny southern state of Andhra Pradesh.

Contemplation about life and years well-spent (living it) is the norm around this time of the year, so I thought I would sit and meditate for a while. But my dilemma was, that in meditation you are generally asked to think of nothing. So, how can one think of something while concentrating on nothing?

Anyway, I am now attempting to do a bit of both-something and nothing. The thing is, I like doing both. And therefore, will idly think about work and while working, ideate about idling. I have got it down to a fine art. Consultancy is on offer for those interested. Fees are negotiable. 

Golf as Meditation

Putting two and two together- golf and meditation, I think I have discovered the perfect blend of what I need, I can say with some pride. Why meditation? Because it needs concentration, forgetting yourself and your daily dose of worries, anxieties, and so on. When you are focussed on the golf ball, just before you take a swing at it, that's exactly what happens. Meditation of a sort, even though you don't call it that- this will be my patented phrase. Oh, well, forget it, you are not supposed to remember this world and its patenting policies. People in high places even forget whose parents they are (and therefore the many paternity cases).

I have just restarted swinging the golf club, and therefore this new-found gyan. Swing it away, folks, and you shall have no worries.