My interview in today's The New Indian Express

The New Indian Express ran a story-feature on our Documentary Chitrakatha. Click on the image for a better readable size.

मेरा शहर

1. मकान मेरे शहर के कभी 'घर' बन ही नहीं पाते,

खरीदते ही लोग Property Appreciation Calculate करने लगते हैं.

2. मकानों की दीवारें भी यहाँ हैं कुछ कच्ची सी,

बगल के कमरे में धड़कते दिल  की  धडकनें भी साफ़  सुनाई दे जाती हैं…

अलबत्ता दिल की दीवारें काफी मज़बूत बनवा ली हैं सबने…

3. आज फिर लीकेज है दीवारों पर, छत पर फिर कोई अकेला रो रहा है...

Paglaa

Last days in Pune

Abke Santa Christmas Mein : My Chhoti Si Wishlist for Christmas

Dear Santa,

I have been a good boy this year or at least I think so...Time for a payback...

Here's my Chhoti Si Wishlist for this Christmas:

• A Disney Sketchbook (Hardcover)

• .Walt Disney Animation Studios -- The Archive Series: Story

• Walt Disney Animation Studios -- The Archive Series:Animation

• New MacBook Pro 17"
  

• Aur ek chhota sa Ghar! (Even if it has a couple of bedrooms lesser than KRK's Villa, I'll adjust).
  

Arre Haan, Oscars to main bhool hi gaya...koi naa next year Oscars bhi le lenge...

Updates!

I haven't been too active on Blog front for past few weeks. Neither active as a blogger nor as a reader. Reason, well there are plenty - I have been shuffling between Pune & Bom..err...Mumbai for more than a month now. I quit from my job to work on my documentary - Chitrakatha (which now has a dedicated Domain Name and hopefully will be having a dedicated website too along with the already running blog).

Chitrakatha again had to be put on hold for my house hunt in Mumbai. Hopefully I'll be finalizing a house soon and will be moving back to Mumbai.

Another big reason was my Reliance Data Card which has been generating some insane bills despite my limited usage, I fight with them, they disconnect it and I am forced to stay away from my blog.

As the day's approaching when we'll be bidding goodbye to Pune, I want to spend sometime in the city living the Puneri Life. I am definitely going to miss this house, rented hi sahi but this one was the bestest of them all.

I also took a deliberate break from reading comics and graphic novels for sometime and have started reading other books. Just finished reading two books by Argentinean author Guillermo Martinez: The Oxford Murders and The Book of Murder. The stories didn't appeal me that much, but his story telling skills were really commendable. Though I found the stories were not so gripping I would like to read more of his work, just to enjoy the narration, Martinez certainly is a master in that.

Diary of a Wimpy Kid by Jeff Kinney is another fun read, meant for teenagers but IMHO will be appreciated by the grown ups more.

Last but not the least, if you haven't joined the Chitrakatha Group on Facebook. Join the group and bring in all your friends, fans & followers. We will be having our 1st online contest on the Group soon!

   

Thoda Sa Relax Ho Jayein!

How to start writing when you have too many things to say, but don’t know how and where to start from? It happens when you come back home after a long journey, a journey where every single moment was so extra ordinary that you want to pour your heart out as soon as you reach home but when you reach, you are so overwhelmed and also, tired and saturated with all the thoughts that you can’t express things. Slowly its all forgotten or remains there somewhere in subconscious and comes out in fractions. It can also happen when you come back to your blog after a longtime and see you haven’t ‘actually’ blogged for sometime. Random updates don't count as Blogging, right? Now everything that you wanted to say is so jumbled up in your mind, that you can’t think of a thing in particular and start writing about it.

So I am planning to let my mind wander and write as it’s coming to me right now.

Congratulations Manna Da : I wanted to write when Manna Dey was honored with Dada Sahab Falke award last month. Manna Da is one of my most favorite singers and his songs have an aura of honesty because of his voice. His soothing voice has an assurance that the he understands you and your deep emotions. I always feel a deep connection to his voice and songs. I consider myself lucky, that my first professional Radio Assignment was a Manna Dey Special, a 3 hour long Manna Dey Interview for Musical-E-Aazam in December 2005. I not only got to meet the maestro after the show, but also discuss some of his non-filmy albums like Bachchan’s Madhushala composed by Ravi and rendered in his own voice. I also managed to get my Madhushala CD autographed.

I am sad to see how media which neglected the 90 year old genius until now, was hunting for his contact after the award was announced (I was still in touch with him and gave the contact to many a friends from media, who didn’t even know anything about him except Tu Pyar Ka Sagar Hai and Pyar Hua Iqraar Hua).

KANK: I just quit from my Job and cleaning my cupboard. There are bundle of papers, notes and research for the stories I was working on. Feels funny to see the chunk of work I did here in the past 18 odd months (my longest tenure with one job ever). I find it funny when people get emotional while cleaning up their desks in their last days in office. I often find it strange when people decorate their work desks like they’re going to be stuck with the same desk throughout their lives. Those nauseating big warm hugs to colleagues, Bye Bye, Tears, Last emotional mail sent to all and all that jazz… Kinda Vidaayi Scene! It was your office! Grow up! for crying out loud! Pardon me if I am getting too harsh! LOL!

What bring tears to me is the F***ing paper work: A Bigtime Headache, which I’ll be going through before the legendary full and final settlement with the company!

Finished reading The Oxford Murders by by the Argentine author Guillermo Martínez. The story is interesting although the climax was pretty predictable. For the first time I felt, Mathematics can also be intriguing. Damn mathematics teachers!

I am also, watching Heroes Season 3: Villains. I was disappointed with the Second Season, which in retrospect looks like a precursor to the third season. Jeph Loeb one of my most favorite Comics Writer who is also, one of the Co-Executive Producer of the show was recently fired by NBC because of some 'creative differences' & 'budget issues'. I am wondering if Tim Kring (the Producer) will be able to manage season 4 (Volume 5: REDEMPTION) of such a massive multi character show without him.