July 25, 2010

'Udaan'-It's about being man enough to keep the child inside you alive :-)



Sometimes one has to patiently wait for long enough to experience a masterpiece which can stir your soul. Udaan is one such masterpiece.

It's a very sincere and brave movie in terms of the message it renders and also because it paves a new beginning[hopefully] for Indian Cinema. A movie that inspires to liberate oneself towards doing the right hings in life along with embracing the shades of Grey.

Rohan (Rajat Barmecha) gets expelled from his elite boarding school after getting caught red handed by his hostel warden for watching an Adult movie[which apparently the warden was also watching ;-)]. This marks a new journey that separates him from his close school buddies [& partners in crime] and introduces him to a life that further distances him from his insensitive father [Ronit Roy] in spite of the physical proximity of staying in the same home[or rather house!!!] .

Rohan wants to live his dream of being a professional writer but his father wants him to work in the factory for half a day and then persue studies in an engineering college.However his tough routine does not stop him from writing poems and stories.

Udaan captures various facets of Rohan's life like his dream of being a writer....an immensely bitter relationship with his father...memories of his late mother..his emotional anchor 'Chacha'...his friends who constantly help him to liberate and keep him sane with all possible insane means... But the cutest part of Udaan is Rohan's relationship with his kid step brother 'Arjun'...

The movie has some of the finest poems. It makes sense to watch the movie to experience the magic of Rohan's poems alone.

Sample this poem which captures the essence of Rohan's conflicted relationship with his father:

"Jo lehron se aage nazar dekh paati toh tum jaan lete main kya sochta hoon, Wo aawaz tumko bhi jo bhed jaati toh tum jaan lete main kya sochta hoon. Zid ka tumhare jo parda sarakta toh khidkiyon se aage bhi tum dekh paate, Aankhon se aadaton ki jo palken hatate toh tum jaan lete main kya sochta hoon. Meri tarah khud par hota zara bharosa toh kuchh door tum bhi saath-saath aate, Rang meri aankhon ka baant-te zara sa toh kuchh door tum bhi saath-saath aate, Nasha aasmaan ka jo choomta tumhe bhi, hasraten tumhari naya janm paatin, Khud doosre janam mein meri udaan chhoone kuchh door tum bhi saath-saath aate."

Watch the movie in order to add depth in your life...to gather courage to realize your dream in the midst of the imperfections that surrounds you...to appreciate the simplicity with which the complexities of Rohan's life is narrated... to believe in stories that are reel as well as real.... to support new age Indian Cinema....and finally strengthen the belief that real manhood is about keeping the child inside you alive constantly....

All the actors play their respective parts with absolute brilliance but Ronit Roy steals the show. You end up detesting the character played by him but you will admire his acting skills.

July 8, 2010

N T Arunkumar on life, universe & everything 2.0

N T Arunkumar who has deeply influenced me in various HR forums and whose tweets I regularly follow is now passionately blogging [Majority of what I retweet are from his tweets].

http://ntak.wordpress.com/ is his web journal where in a short span [July 3rd onwards] he has written a wide array of posts on topics that are immensely close to his heart like CSR,travel, spirituality & very soon you can expect much more like leadership, technology,HR etc.

I know Arun Sir as a successful leader and one of the few genuinely good human beings who is selflessly concerned about development of young people like me. The blog gives me an opportunity to know Arun Sir even better.

I have found a teacher in him. Follow the blog regularly and get a slice of precious life lessons from him.

Following are a few links of my earlier posts on Arun Sir:

Link 1

Link 2

July 3, 2010

A small break from blogging

I am sorry for not blogging regularly these days. I am spending considerable amount of time reading. Most of these books are non-HR books and focuses on life & spirituality . I am thoroughly enjoying this phase.

I am also watching the football world cup matches too[mostly on weekends]. A little sad that Argentina lost today. But 'Jai Ho' to the Germany team. Young,spunky,energetic, aggressive and immensely determined. The team also has great ethical mix. I have to cheer for this team from now on to celebrate their passion to perform and the open mindedness to embrace inclusiveness. Thats the best team for the HR professional inside me :-)

At work I was busy doing an HR project which has been extremely satisfying in terms of creativity and learning. I am indeed having a great time at work.

In a couple of days, I will be back with blog posts.