Best Movies of 2008

My favorite movies for the year 2008. The list below includes my favourites out the movies released last year in the following languages - Hindi, Malayalam, Tamil and English. Watch these when you get time.

• A Wednesday (Hindi)
• Aamir (Hindi)
• Anjathey (Tamil)
• Jodhaa Akbar (Hindi)
• Kung-fu Panda (English - Color)
• Mumbai Meri Jaan (Hindi)
• Rock On!! (Hindi)
• Saroja (Tamil)
• Subramayapuram (Tamil)
• The Dark Knight (English - Color)
• Welcome to Sajjanpur (Hindi)
  

Coming Soon on the Blog: New Story - "Oridathoru Phayalvaan"

Summer Placements - Part 2

Kuttapante Kusruthikal - Episode 1 (Part 2)

Scene 2: Trichur

Somewhere in the middle of the town, two people were arguing by the roadside.

“Let’s have breakfast and then go”
“No , we are already late”
“Let’s go by bus”
“No we will go by auto”
“#$$##@@&^&&"

Well it was our Kuttappan and KK.

Day 1 Begins……

Things were not going properly as expected. They went to the bank and were told that Mr Joseph would be guiding them for the project.

Kuttappan wanted to see the Cash Flow statement while KK wanted to know what the gender mix percentage of the bank was at different locations

Kuttappan asked for P&L statement while KK asked why they didn’t have a proper canteen with subsidized charges on food.

When Kuttapan went again to ask for the balance sheet, but Mr Joseph was fed up by KK’s questions and told Kuttappan to come and meet him after 2 days.

KK on the other hand was very happy there on getting a Vada and tea free of cost at 3 pm.

That night Kuttappan did not sleep. He knew he cannot handle both KK and his project. He had to decide on one. Without any second thoughts he decided that he go ahead with his project only. But he had to make a good plan to avoid KK. He thought and again thought and during the thought process he somehow fell asleep. But once he got up he had his master plan ready.

Day 2:

Kuttappan did not wake up KK, who was still sleeping at 9 am. Kuttappan went to the bank and started getting the required details at a great pace. Being the only “Internet Savvy” person at that time from our batch he was sure to get more information on the bank from the net also for his analysis. By 11.30, KK came to the bank only to be greeted by a mischievously smiling Kuttappan. Some emotional arguments happened there for 15 min.

By around 3 pm Kuttappan told KK with a smile “Hey man I am going out for a tea”

He was sure that KK will not come with him as he will get coffee or tea free of cost from the bank.

Time 6.30pm: KK came back to their lodge. He did not find Kuttappan. Maybe he went out for a movie.

10 pm. Still no news about Kuttappan. (Both of them did not have a mobile phone in 2002). KK checked the newspaper to find out if Hum Aapke Hain Koun or any other movie with running time more than 3.5 hours was released somewhere there.

KK gets scared and calls up a lot of his friends from a phone booth and tells them that Kuttappan is not to be seen. He takes an auto and goes around Trichur town to find him out. No luck.

Day 3

KK has absolutely no idea what to do. Everyone in the bank had seen them in a big argument the previous day and next day Kuttappan is missing!!! KK decided not to go to the bank and continue his search.

By evening he decides to call Kuttappan’s parents and spit the news. He dials the number.

“Hello”
“Yes Hello”
“I am KK, Kuttappan’s friend. There is some…..”

But before KK could complete the sentence

“Hey KK, this is Kuttappan here. How are you?”

“What are you doing there? Why didn’t you tell me that you are leaving back to Tvm? I was searching for you for the past 2 days.”

“I told you KK…”

“You told me that you are going to have tea…Nothing more”

“That’s right…I took the next available train, came to Trivandrum and had tea….”

Summer Placements - Part 1

Kuttappante Kusruthikal - Episode 1 (Part 1)

Year 2002.
Scene 1: College of Engineering, Trivandrum

The college days are almost going to end. We had to do our final project to be eligible for a Masters Degree in Business Administration (not to forget the 4th semester exams after that). We were the first MBA (fulltime) batch from College of Engineering, Trivandrum and so there was not much offers for summer placements by companies. Almost everyone was finding out companies to do their project on with their personal contacts.

In spite of the big tension that prevailed with the students and the professors, Vinesh and I were sitting in the college canteen discussing the latest movie and “watching all others out there”. Just then Kuttappan came running and said “Hey guys, did you hear that one Bank has agreed to take 2 students from our batch for the summer project and possibly a final placement for them after that. They are here tomorrow. We need to prepare for that. Come to the library. We all are there”

Vinesh: “Kuttappa that’s great news”
Ashwin: “ Why don’t you have a cup of coffee”
Kuttapan: “Boys, don’t waste time. Come quickly”

Kuttapan rushed back to prepare for the same while we both continued sipping the hot tea at a leisurely pace till the time the canteen supervisor came and told us that it is time for him to close

The next day by the time we reached college, Kuttapan was there to greet us with a big smile. At once we knew he got selected.

Kuttappan: “Guys, everything is over. I got selected and I will be leaving for Trichur tomorrow”

We both congratulated Kuttappan and convinced him that he was “Hanuman” and not “Sulaiman”.

He agreed. Don’t ask why…..

But one question remained. Who is the other person?
I asked him. Kuttappan’s face changed. He tried to change the topic. But once we knew that there was a bit of a problem there, we needed the answer.

Vinesh asked him again. No answer. But finally we had no option but to blackmail him with some old stories. Finally he gave up and said “Its Krishnakumar (KK)”

“Does that mean that you both are going to stay together and work together from Trichur”
“Yes”

We both burst out laughing.

Just then one of our professors also came that way.

He asked Vinesh “Where are you doing your project?”
“Ashwin and I are doing it together”
“Oh ok, Ashwin where are you doing it then”
“Sir, still not decided”

He got a bit irritated and we got a 5 min advice from our professor and he then asked us “You did not get a project and still you are here laughing aloud? What happened”
Vinesh: “Kuttappan got a summer placement”
Prof: “Yes, I heard that. So….”
Vinesh: “He is going to be in Trichur for the next 2 months with KK”

The irritated look in the professor’s face faded away. He smiled at Kuttappan and gave a pat on his back and conveyed his best regards and went back to the staff room.

Kuttappan said he wanted to do some packing and so he is leaving. We assured that we will be there at the railway station to drop him tomorrow.

After that both of us decided to take some rest in the classroom. While we were going past the staff room we heard a big laughter by a few of the professors in there. Still not able to understand why :-)

To be Continued............

The Party

“People with similar ideological interests will unite to fulfill one single dream…..”

That led to the rise of the Party. Nothing has ever been written about the Party till date. I was given this ultimate privilege by some senior party leaders to reveal the existence of The Party. The Party has its virtual Headquarters in “Gods Own Country”, Kerala with “Devils Own People” like me as its members and it has roots in other places like Bangalore, US, Dubai etc…

So what does the Party do for the society and for the economic growth of a developing country like India?? - Nothing

Does the party have a name? – Yes, it is called The Party.

Does this party have a motto, a flag, an emblem??? No ..No ..No.

Has the recent global recession hit Party? No way. Recession in the Party may hit the world but not the other way around

What has the Party done to curb the recession impact – Kept silent on the matter.

The Party has a High Command and a Politburo (short for Political Bureau, Russian - Politicheskoye Buro). Decisions/orders put forward by the High Command are not adhered to by majority of our members (maybe only by new members and a very few others). Strict orders are given by Politburo to the members for a just for a specified time period only since they know the members very well. Party members are expected to adhere to the rules and regulations of the Party which are written and rewritten many times according to the whims and fancies of senior party leaders.

A Glimpse of Party Disputes:

Mr. Anoop Ramanujam, a senior leader who wants his voice to be heard in the Party forum. But till date he is yet to get recognition for the “self – proclaimed contributions” he made to the party. Whenever he makes such a claim the senior party leaders always questions the genuineness of the claim and most of the time Anoop is given a show cause notice for wasting the senior leader’s time.

Mr Suresh Poothapara Damodaran (also known as Com.PD ) who has made significant contributions to the party and fed up with Anoops claim’s says “Com.Ramanujam has misled others for a long time. He has not taken part in any major or minor revolutionary activities in the party. I request this member to do a small picketing at least”

Last heard Anoop was planning to launch a guerilla attack on PD when he lands from US to India.

So how does someone join the Party??
Well...... You don’t choose the Party, the Party chooses You.

You will know more about the Party and its activities in the coming days.

Lights, Camera, Action!

“Ashwin, why don’t you start a blog?” – I asked myself this question one year back.

“Why should I???” – I yelled back at myself.

I went and tried a google search for “BLOG” and got the following definition to answer that question

“A blog is your easy-to-use web site, where you can quickly post thoughts, interact with people, and more. All for FREE.”

“So what???”

“You can interact with people” – No reaction

“You can quickly post thoughts” – Someone earlier said "Slow and Steady wins the Race"

“It’s Free” –Trying to instigate the typical malayali mindset in me.

It seems it is kind of a fad now to start an own blog. Well, Aamir Khan started it, Amitabh Bachchan did that, so now why can’t I?

Finally last month, I decided to go for it. Now I was more worried on what will I name my blog rather than its contents.

Now for the name….I thought about it for hours, searched the net, asked my friends and what not. Finally one day I jumped with joy on finding a unique name - - “Expressions Unleashed”.

"Wow, what a name" - I congratulated myself and rushed to register it with blogspot. WHAT!!! It says it is not available. Someone else has already registered it. What about the time I spent on finding it?? Who cares!!!

After one week I came up again with a lot of so-called wonderful names only to be disallowed.

And finally today I came up with this thought provoking name for my blog – “Cool Water Blue Sky”.

THOUGHT PROVOKING??? – Yes man, I am still provoking my mind to understand why I kept such a name!!!

Now that the name is finalized what is going to be contents of this blog. It could be anything ranging from movies to a comedy series titled – “Kuttappante Kusruthikal” (Pranks of Kuttappan) to travelogues to a lot of PJ's to whatever that comes to my mind (No rules set). Let me see how it goes. Thats all for now.