Not every time you come across a movie which gets you thinking. Not every time there is a perfomance from the actors that stir you to put yourself in perspective. Not every time, and yes, not even Madhur Bhandarkar, can make a movie like Fashion. Though, I remember saying this for Page 3 also. Fashion's a movie which has got everything right about it. When I say everything, I mean right from the essence of the movie to the minutest detail possible.
For instance the "scene of the movie" for me was when Meghna(Priyanka Chopra) realises her life is near failure. She is shown entering her apartment after spending a night with an unknown man whom she had befriended in a party. As she enters, there's complete darkness on the screen symbolising her state of life till that instant. When she switches on the lights, the screen is lighted up with the dim lights emerging from her room, again symbolising that there is still hope and things could still get better. If a director can show all of this without getting his characters to utter a single word, then you can do nothing but admire his talent. Then there's another moment in the movie, which is unparalleled. Towards the end of the movie, when Meghna has made her re-entry into the fashion industry, she is about to walk the ramp as a show stopper. Just then there's news for her that her fellow model friend has been found dead with drug overdose. There is that endless two minutes of contemplation within her, where she is hysterical yet she cannot afford to ruin her designer friends fashion show. How I wish the director had somehow put across her thoughts in words to the audience. But then, I wouldn't be writing this blog, if he had done that. Its these little things which have been so intelligently taken care of, that makes this movie a must watch.
Even when he's adhered to such minute details, he hasn't lost out on the plot. The pace of the movie is such that, you'd want to be back at your seat halfway through the interval, just to be double sure that you do not miss out on anything. He's shown how one can reach insurmountable heights when one knows where to draw the line between attitude and arrogance. He's also depicted how important it is not to cross that line once you are at that insurmountable height, cause a fall from there will only spell disaster, from which a very few can recover. More than all this, he has cleared a lot of air about the glamour industry, which loom large in the minds of people like me. I was under the impression that to be successful in the fashion industry, you would have to sell your soul even before entering it. He's shown, that you can be at the helm with your soul intact. Mind you, he does not deny the fact that people do sell their soul before entering this industry, but that is not the only way out to be at the top.
All in all, I loved the movie. I do not want to be overtly appreciative of the movie, so I will stop here. Moreover, I am sure the director wants every individual to watch the movie from his/her own perspective. What I've presented above is what I saw in the movie, and the way I interpreted it. Kudos to Madhur Bhandarkar for giving his best in what he is best at.
Sunday, November 2, 2008 | Posted by rajivmaskara at 1:35 AM | 5 comments
Fashion 'Re'viewed
Wednesday, July 23, 2008 | Posted by rajivmaskara at 9:39 AM | 8 comments
The India US Nuclear Deal
I was wary of some nuclear deal going on between India and US. I was also wary of the fact that the UPA government would face stiff opposition in passing the deal, because presumably the Left( a member of the United Progressive Alliance) had its own inhibitions on the deal. However, irrespective of the political stance on this issue, I was more intrigued by the intricacies of this Nuclear deal. There were numerous unanswered questions circulating my head:
What is this Nuclear deal?
What is IAEA and what is its involvement?
Why is the US so keen on getting on with the nuclear deal?
Hence, I read the newspapers for some insight into these questions. Apparently, the newspapers were more intent on capturing the dramatic events in the parliament. I thought to myself, perhaps, I was looking in the wrong place at the wrong time. Next, I googled. Bingo! There was a plethora of information waiting to be read, but, none that I could be content with. I usually prefer details right from its origins with all the glossary intact. If I don't know the meaning of any term that's used, I should be able to find it in the glossary. My efforts to find such an article went in vain.
After a few hours of intense searching and reading, I could claim that I had a fair idea on some of the questions listed above. So, I thought I should share some of my understandings and interpretations on this 'nuclear deal'. I do not claim that this article would explain everything on the subject, but yes, I do want to make an attempt at simplifying things. Moreover, the facts below have been fetched from reliable sources such as the wikipedia, though the opinions thus fomed are purely personal and are open to confrontations, should you feel to do so.
Before leaping into the nitty-gritty of the deal, lets look at some 'glossary', which will be used frequently henceforth.
NPT: Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty
As the name suggests, this treaty was proposed to limit the spread of nuclear weapons. The signatories would also commit to disarmament and peaceful use of nuclear energy.
The treaty was proposed by Ireland and opened for signature in 1968, and first signed by Finland. Today 189 countries have signed this treaty.
India is among the three sovereigns, never to have signed the NPT, the others being Pakistan, and Israel. North Korea is the other sovereign which did sign the NPT, but later violated its norms and then withdrew, thus increasing the count of non-NPT members to four.
Five states are recognised by NPT as nuclear weapon states(NWS) - France, China, Soviet Union(now Russia), US and the UK. These were the states which possessed and openly tested nuclear weapons until then. i.e. 1967. All of these states had agreed to sign the NPT.
India tested its first nuclear weapon in 1974. So you could say, it missed out by a whisker on being recognised as a NWS by the NPT.
IAEA: International Atomic Energy Agency
The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) is an international organization that seeks to promote the peaceful use of nuclear energy and to inhibit its use for military purposes. One of the clause of the NPT was that IAEA safeguards must be applied to nuclear exports.
NSG: Nuclear Suppliers Group
It was founded in 1975 in response to the nuclear tests done by India in the previous year. Signatories of the NPT felt the need to further curtail the supply of nuclear equipment, material and technology. Henceforth the members of this group would restrict export of nuclear supplies to countries which did not sign the NPT. India, of course, was among the countries to which the export restriction applied.
So, with all these background information, I understood that India had to depend on itself for any nuclear energy that it might want to generate, right from the raw materials to the technology aspect. One of the key raw materials for nuclear energy is Uranium. India does not have enough of Uranium, the fuel that powers the reactors, to harness nuclear energy. To reduce the shortage, India couldn't even import Uranium from other countries because there was an organization called the NSG which would not supply India with Uranium unless it agreed to IAEA safeguards. Now if one were to ask, why not import it from the non-NSG members? Well, all the countries which have surplus of Uranium are members of NSG. Another question to ask is why do we need nuclear energy? Isnt there any other source of energy? Moreover, why is it that Uranium is required for nuclear energy? Couldn't there be any other fuel from which nuclear energy could be harnessed?
First things first, the spiralling prices of crude oil has forced nations to look for alternate sources of energy. The available alternates are: among non renewable sources, coal, natural gas and propane. Nuclear energy, though argued by many to be a renewable source of energy, has not been legally classified under renewable category. So, being a law-abiding global citizen, I would put it under the non renewable regime. Among renewable sources wind, solar and hydro are the main contenders. I am not sure why these forms of energy is not chased after. I would presume because of its non reliability and the costs associated with it. Among non-renewable sources, nuclear energy seems to be the automatic choice then.
Now that nuclear energy is the de-facto source of energy that seems viable, atleast in the near future, why Uranium? Thorium is another fuel which could be used in nuclear reactors. Besides, India is believed to produce 25% of the world's thorium. I am not too sure on this either, but I am led to believe that technology has not yet caught up on nuclear reactors running solely on thorium. Even if research on this is carried out and methods invented, based on which thorium could be a sustitute to uranium, it would not be commercially available in the near future.
So that leads us back to Uranium, and India is facing acute shortage for it. The government, along with private players are waiting to bring up nuclear plants but the shortage of Uranium has thwarted its intentions. So to account for this shortage, India requires this nuclear deal, a bilateral agreement on nuclear cooperation between the United States of America and India. Under this deal India agrees to separate its civil and military nuclear facilities and place its civil facilities under IAEA safeguards and, in exchange, the United States agreed to work toward full civil nuclear cooperation with India. Not surprisingly, now that the nuclear deal between India and the US is on the verge of being inked, many companies have announced major investments in the energy sector.
So what does US stand to gain out of this deal? I believe there are two major gains. Firstly, US will have major benefits from the huge amount of exports it makes in terms of technology and raw material. It would boost their economy. Next is the more strategic, albeit controversial, gain. Before I lay out my opinion, few questions to be asked. If the deal were to be signed, India would be required to open up 14 of its 22 nuclear reactors to the IAEA. So what about the remaining eight? Since India is not required to sign the NPT, it could still proliferate its nuclear power in these remaining eight reactors. Moreover, why are the NSG countries giving their consent to this deal? Isn't the US breaking one of NSG's clause: supplying nuclear material and technology to a non NPT member? I think thats exactly what US wants. It does not want India to be a non proliferator. This would help keep check on China, deemed to be a nuclear power, should it wish to showcase its nuclear power to become a super power. A definite threat to US , China, kept in check by its neighbour. What better could US have asked for? No danger to its staus as the superpower, while further strengthening its economy.
To conclude, if India needs to progress, it needs energy. Rising prices of crude oil have proved detrimental to India's cause. So what it needs is nuclear energy to boost its energy supply which is possible only if the nuclear deal is inked. One could question US' strategy behind this deal, but who cares, as long as India stands to gain. Go India go!!!!
What is this Nuclear deal?
What is IAEA and what is its involvement?
Why is the US so keen on getting on with the nuclear deal?
Hence, I read the newspapers for some insight into these questions. Apparently, the newspapers were more intent on capturing the dramatic events in the parliament. I thought to myself, perhaps, I was looking in the wrong place at the wrong time. Next, I googled. Bingo! There was a plethora of information waiting to be read, but, none that I could be content with. I usually prefer details right from its origins with all the glossary intact. If I don't know the meaning of any term that's used, I should be able to find it in the glossary. My efforts to find such an article went in vain.
After a few hours of intense searching and reading, I could claim that I had a fair idea on some of the questions listed above. So, I thought I should share some of my understandings and interpretations on this 'nuclear deal'. I do not claim that this article would explain everything on the subject, but yes, I do want to make an attempt at simplifying things. Moreover, the facts below have been fetched from reliable sources such as the wikipedia, though the opinions thus fomed are purely personal and are open to confrontations, should you feel to do so.
Before leaping into the nitty-gritty of the deal, lets look at some 'glossary', which will be used frequently henceforth.
NPT: Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty
As the name suggests, this treaty was proposed to limit the spread of nuclear weapons. The signatories would also commit to disarmament and peaceful use of nuclear energy.
The treaty was proposed by Ireland and opened for signature in 1968, and first signed by Finland. Today 189 countries have signed this treaty.
India is among the three sovereigns, never to have signed the NPT, the others being Pakistan, and Israel. North Korea is the other sovereign which did sign the NPT, but later violated its norms and then withdrew, thus increasing the count of non-NPT members to four.
Five states are recognised by NPT as nuclear weapon states(NWS) - France, China, Soviet Union(now Russia), US and the UK. These were the states which possessed and openly tested nuclear weapons until then. i.e. 1967. All of these states had agreed to sign the NPT.
India tested its first nuclear weapon in 1974. So you could say, it missed out by a whisker on being recognised as a NWS by the NPT.
IAEA: International Atomic Energy Agency
The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) is an international organization that seeks to promote the peaceful use of nuclear energy and to inhibit its use for military purposes. One of the clause of the NPT was that IAEA safeguards must be applied to nuclear exports.
NSG: Nuclear Suppliers Group
It was founded in 1975 in response to the nuclear tests done by India in the previous year. Signatories of the NPT felt the need to further curtail the supply of nuclear equipment, material and technology. Henceforth the members of this group would restrict export of nuclear supplies to countries which did not sign the NPT. India, of course, was among the countries to which the export restriction applied.
So, with all these background information, I understood that India had to depend on itself for any nuclear energy that it might want to generate, right from the raw materials to the technology aspect. One of the key raw materials for nuclear energy is Uranium. India does not have enough of Uranium, the fuel that powers the reactors, to harness nuclear energy. To reduce the shortage, India couldn't even import Uranium from other countries because there was an organization called the NSG which would not supply India with Uranium unless it agreed to IAEA safeguards. Now if one were to ask, why not import it from the non-NSG members? Well, all the countries which have surplus of Uranium are members of NSG. Another question to ask is why do we need nuclear energy? Isnt there any other source of energy? Moreover, why is it that Uranium is required for nuclear energy? Couldn't there be any other fuel from which nuclear energy could be harnessed?
First things first, the spiralling prices of crude oil has forced nations to look for alternate sources of energy. The available alternates are: among non renewable sources, coal, natural gas and propane. Nuclear energy, though argued by many to be a renewable source of energy, has not been legally classified under renewable category. So, being a law-abiding global citizen, I would put it under the non renewable regime. Among renewable sources wind, solar and hydro are the main contenders. I am not sure why these forms of energy is not chased after. I would presume because of its non reliability and the costs associated with it. Among non-renewable sources, nuclear energy seems to be the automatic choice then.
Now that nuclear energy is the de-facto source of energy that seems viable, atleast in the near future, why Uranium? Thorium is another fuel which could be used in nuclear reactors. Besides, India is believed to produce 25% of the world's thorium. I am not too sure on this either, but I am led to believe that technology has not yet caught up on nuclear reactors running solely on thorium. Even if research on this is carried out and methods invented, based on which thorium could be a sustitute to uranium, it would not be commercially available in the near future.
So that leads us back to Uranium, and India is facing acute shortage for it. The government, along with private players are waiting to bring up nuclear plants but the shortage of Uranium has thwarted its intentions. So to account for this shortage, India requires this nuclear deal, a bilateral agreement on nuclear cooperation between the United States of America and India. Under this deal India agrees to separate its civil and military nuclear facilities and place its civil facilities under IAEA safeguards and, in exchange, the United States agreed to work toward full civil nuclear cooperation with India. Not surprisingly, now that the nuclear deal between India and the US is on the verge of being inked, many companies have announced major investments in the energy sector.
So what does US stand to gain out of this deal? I believe there are two major gains. Firstly, US will have major benefits from the huge amount of exports it makes in terms of technology and raw material. It would boost their economy. Next is the more strategic, albeit controversial, gain. Before I lay out my opinion, few questions to be asked. If the deal were to be signed, India would be required to open up 14 of its 22 nuclear reactors to the IAEA. So what about the remaining eight? Since India is not required to sign the NPT, it could still proliferate its nuclear power in these remaining eight reactors. Moreover, why are the NSG countries giving their consent to this deal? Isn't the US breaking one of NSG's clause: supplying nuclear material and technology to a non NPT member? I think thats exactly what US wants. It does not want India to be a non proliferator. This would help keep check on China, deemed to be a nuclear power, should it wish to showcase its nuclear power to become a super power. A definite threat to US , China, kept in check by its neighbour. What better could US have asked for? No danger to its staus as the superpower, while further strengthening its economy.
To conclude, if India needs to progress, it needs energy. Rising prices of crude oil have proved detrimental to India's cause. So what it needs is nuclear energy to boost its energy supply which is possible only if the nuclear deal is inked. One could question US' strategy behind this deal, but who cares, as long as India stands to gain. Go India go!!!!
Labels: Nuclear Deal
Friday, July 11, 2008 | Posted by rajivmaskara at 5:40 AM | 3 comments
The ASD phobia!!!
"ASD Results."
That was the subject line of the mail, I received in my inbox, which made my heart skip a beat. In fact anything to do with results always gets me fidgety and this was no different. With regained composure, I opened the mail. The anxiety in me suddenly turned into a deep rage. Our training coordinator had sent the mail only to inform that there would be a slight delay in obtaining the results due to unforeseen reasons. If only I could lay my hands on our coordinator. Firstly, I would have given him a substantial amount of verbal dose. Secondly, I would have set out a training course for him where they train you on how to write apt 'mail subject lines'. I mean, you just cant write a subject line saying something and mean something else. There's got to be some relevance.
Nevertheless, it took around two more days for those unforeseen reasons to get sorted out and there I was staring at my ASD results. It took some time to sink in. I had cleared the exam with 12 strengths, which I later realised was the highest ever in Symbian India. I was in a state of disbelief, but then I couldn't help being delighted too. I had pulled off one of the most challenging exams with amazing "results".
I call the exam "challenging" because it measures you on numerous parameters. There are five options to a given question. There could be multiple right answers. As if that wasn't difficult enough, you are also tested on the level of difficulty of the question. Say, if its an easy question(who decides whether its an easy question? - the guys who've set the paper) and if you get it wrong, you ll be penalised heavily, but if you get it right, you are not awarded as heavily as you would have been penalised, had you got it wrong. Confusing? My sense of reason had gone for a toss on hearing this. Then to add to all this, they also measure you on your speed. I mean, what's speed got to do with this. But that's the way the exam is and that's the way you are going to be judged.
Now to master all of these at one go is near impossible - at least that's what I thought. But then looking at the results one would think that I had reached a certain level in 'decoding' ASD. So, I thought, maybe, I could share some of my experiences which might just lend to your preparation, if at all you intend to give the exam.
Just in case if you have booked your date for ASD, then make the ASD Primer book your bible for the next few days. There' s no book which can prepare you better for this exam. You should at least read it once before D-Day. I read it twice. Then the sample paper available at the majinate site is a must solve. How to get the paper? Google ASD sample exam and you should get a link to a majinate website, which offers a free sample paper. I lost count of the number of times I solved that paper. Now you would ask why the same paper over and over again. Firstly, there isn't any other paper available. Secondly, I never got the answers correct on the first or even the second attempt. So I solved it repeatedly until I got it right. There are a few questions which do appear from this paper, so that was motivation enough for me to get it all right. At least I shouldn't miss out on these 'gift' questions if they do appear on the exam- that was my approach.
During the exam I got questions, which got me questioning and doubting my C++ skills. After the exam, I thought I was an illiterate as far as C++ is concerned. Believe me, C++ questions are really tough. Only later did I realise that the tougher the questions get, the more the chances you have of ending up with a high score. Because that's an indicator that you are doing well. So don't panic if you think the questions are tough. Its just that you are doing really well. Another thing which might have helped me was my speed. I completed the paper within 75 minutes, thanks to my reading speed. But then its more important to answer your questions correctly, rather than mess it up by being in a hurry.
Well that's my ASD story. Hope it helps. All the best for those preparing for it.
That was the subject line of the mail, I received in my inbox, which made my heart skip a beat. In fact anything to do with results always gets me fidgety and this was no different. With regained composure, I opened the mail. The anxiety in me suddenly turned into a deep rage. Our training coordinator had sent the mail only to inform that there would be a slight delay in obtaining the results due to unforeseen reasons. If only I could lay my hands on our coordinator. Firstly, I would have given him a substantial amount of verbal dose. Secondly, I would have set out a training course for him where they train you on how to write apt 'mail subject lines'. I mean, you just cant write a subject line saying something and mean something else. There's got to be some relevance.
Nevertheless, it took around two more days for those unforeseen reasons to get sorted out and there I was staring at my ASD results. It took some time to sink in. I had cleared the exam with 12 strengths, which I later realised was the highest ever in Symbian India. I was in a state of disbelief, but then I couldn't help being delighted too. I had pulled off one of the most challenging exams with amazing "results".
I call the exam "challenging" because it measures you on numerous parameters. There are five options to a given question. There could be multiple right answers. As if that wasn't difficult enough, you are also tested on the level of difficulty of the question. Say, if its an easy question(who decides whether its an easy question? - the guys who've set the paper) and if you get it wrong, you ll be penalised heavily, but if you get it right, you are not awarded as heavily as you would have been penalised, had you got it wrong. Confusing? My sense of reason had gone for a toss on hearing this. Then to add to all this, they also measure you on your speed. I mean, what's speed got to do with this. But that's the way the exam is and that's the way you are going to be judged.
Now to master all of these at one go is near impossible - at least that's what I thought. But then looking at the results one would think that I had reached a certain level in 'decoding' ASD. So, I thought, maybe, I could share some of my experiences which might just lend to your preparation, if at all you intend to give the exam.
Just in case if you have booked your date for ASD, then make the ASD Primer book your bible for the next few days. There' s no book which can prepare you better for this exam. You should at least read it once before D-Day. I read it twice. Then the sample paper available at the majinate site is a must solve. How to get the paper? Google ASD sample exam and you should get a link to a majinate website, which offers a free sample paper. I lost count of the number of times I solved that paper. Now you would ask why the same paper over and over again. Firstly, there isn't any other paper available. Secondly, I never got the answers correct on the first or even the second attempt. So I solved it repeatedly until I got it right. There are a few questions which do appear from this paper, so that was motivation enough for me to get it all right. At least I shouldn't miss out on these 'gift' questions if they do appear on the exam- that was my approach.
During the exam I got questions, which got me questioning and doubting my C++ skills. After the exam, I thought I was an illiterate as far as C++ is concerned. Believe me, C++ questions are really tough. Only later did I realise that the tougher the questions get, the more the chances you have of ending up with a high score. Because that's an indicator that you are doing well. So don't panic if you think the questions are tough. Its just that you are doing really well. Another thing which might have helped me was my speed. I completed the paper within 75 minutes, thanks to my reading speed. But then its more important to answer your questions correctly, rather than mess it up by being in a hurry.
Well that's my ASD story. Hope it helps. All the best for those preparing for it.
Labels: ASD
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