Rain Rain Go Away?

Frankly, I'm loving this. The weather - it's beautiful. Soft, gentle monsoon rain bringing with it a cool breeze and the gorgeous smell of plants you can getonly this time of the year.

And if you drive along the promenade (either Marine Drive or Worli), the sea looks stunning. Dark, daunting clouds hanging so low and the sea so rough you feel they're merging. You can't see very far through the mist and the rain. Perfect weather for some nice corn while lying in bed listening to the rain and soft music.

And this, my friends, is a man who did and probably does, dislike rain. But then again London has what I would classify as annoying rain. It just doesn't have any point to it - constant drizzling but no real progress to a full fledged shower or retraction so that one can walk peacefully.

I don't care if this messes up all my metallic possessions, but the nicest thing about monsoons is when you switch off the air-conditioner in the morning, due to the rain outside you get water droplets dripping from walls and mirrors and anything that would stay still long enough.

This is why old school Hindi films have romantic scenes in the monsoons. It really is so perfect. There is some charm to this time of the year, everyone seems to be happier (perhaps its the holidays due to flooding) and calmer.

Shame I am stuck watching the rain from my desk as I (should be) study for my GMATs. Which of course is in three weeks and I feel under-prepared, as I should.

At least I'm sitting at my desk in a damn good mood.

Underdogs Anonymous

Rafael Nadal pretty much kicked Roger Federer's backside all over the clay court yesterday and, although I don't quite follow tennis, it seemed to me that Federer was playing pretty embarrassingly towards the end. For a World No. 1, that is. The funny thing is that Nadal has won the Frenchie thrice in a row now, and that made Federer the underdog - although given his complete dominance of the other Grand Slams this does sound a bit odd. Yet, I hoped that Federer would turn the 4th set around to set it up for a classic final set. Though as it turned out, hope was all I had.

So the thing I can never figure out is why I am so fond of supporting the underdogs. I suspect this applies to a lot of people, but yet I just can't seem to rid myself of habitually backing the underdogs - surely supporting Liverpool FC is a sign of this.

Now I know Liverpool has a glorious trophy-laden past and a fairly respectable record of cup wins in the last decade, but yet I would see ours as a club that really does disappoint and achieve less that it is capable of. And that in turn gives the expectation of defeat, even though there have been a few pleasant surprises along the way. But that may be one of the reasons I truly love Liverpool, yes it has character and is a good team - but mostly because it is in a "cosy" position of expectation of underachievement which allows tremendous joy when success is actually achieved. I cannot imagine a situation where LFC achieves so much success that one expects to win, i.e. LFC becomes the favourite. It would not only be weird but also be a delicate position for supporters like me.

Anyway the reason I write is mostly to wonder whether I'm the only one who prefers supporting the underdogs and the underachievers to backing a natural "winner". I suspect this might be a reflection on a whole lot of other things but I will leave that for the shrink when I go through my bog standard mid-life crisis.

Till then, perhaps I should start an Underdogs Anonymous.

Photos: Forin Trip - New York

Last of my holiday photos Here

This and That

Been a while since any blog post contained something more interesting than photos or DVD updates.

I visited New York for the first time since 1990, so it was like a whole new City yet it does strike me as any other big city. Firstly I didn't venture past Manhattan so honestly can't say I visited all of NY, but I suppose it is similar to sticking to Central London which really isn't the biggest disaster.

The best thing about that City for me has got to be the nightlife. Unlike both London and Bombay, partying goes on till really late and you can always find a bar your type to go to in the wee hours. I liked the Pizza Bar - purely for the novelty of it. Rather than going to get some greasy rolls or burgers I like the idea of getting greasy pizza - at a bar so you can continue drinking. Culturally NY is not as bad as I thought - where it lacks in centuries of art and architecture it makes up for in a few pretty good museums. Don't get me wrong I still think most of the city lacks historic character or charm, but every once in a while you see something interesting.

Getting around is probably the easiest thing in the world given the Grid system, and surprisingly affordable taxis. Central Park has got to be one of the nicest Urban parks in the world. I particularly liked the rock formations which are presumably natural formations dispersed around the park giving it a very "jungle" effect. Of course the other best thing to do is shop - variety of shops is unparalleled to any other city, and given the exchange rates it does make sense to fly over from London just for shopping! All in all NY is a nice-ish City to live in, but really one cannot compare with London or other European Cities. If I ever do move there, feel free to remind me of the step down it would be.

Since coming back a few interesting things have happened. But only a few. I must install a board with my ex's names and a slot where I could fill in who is talking to me and who isn't, and the third option of a cold war. Been making an effort with an ex I had past grievances against but given we were such good friends at one point it would seem the right thing to do (now that I have recieved an apology). Another one seems to have nothing to say to me yet is consistently 10-20% of this blog's readership. C'est la vie.

I've begun to loathe Gossip a lot more than I used to. Perhaps this is the effect of living in a City where a lot of people know each other, or atleast that's what happens in South Bombay. But surely people have better things to talk about (I know, I know... how silly of me). What is really annoying is the people who don't know you well enough for them to come and talk to you but not distant enough for them not to gossip about you. So eventually you will find out they've been talking behind your back which really is daft of them.

What's worse is an instance of a close friend of mine telling things about me to a semi-closeish friend who then goes and passes it on to my ex. Why would anyone who claims to be a friend of mine talk behind my back - and if they concluded something about my behaviour why not talk to me about it first? Specially given the negativity of that observation.

The result is now a huge distrust in most people around, and having to watch what I say in front of supposed friends. Which really is not me, I'm one for saying what's on my mind normally. Perhaps I should either decide not to care and say what I normally would OR just avoid certain people. The only problem with the latter being that it would result in my having only about three friends left. Gossip is clearly an inherent problem with a small-ish society in general.

Take me back to London, anyone?

DVD Library: Update 04 June 2007

Summer means a lot of holidaying friends and Family. More films for me to watch!

Added:

Innocent Voices - Luis Mandoki
Girl With a Pearl Earring - Peter Webber
Kikujiro - Takeshi Kitano
The Last King of Scotland - Kevin Macdonald

Updated Library - Here