Volkswagen Beetle... in India

Have you heard the news? Volkswagen Beetle to be launched in India, with a price tag of Rs. 20.45 lakhs (ex-showroom, Delhi).

Would you buy this little (pun definitely intended) piece of metal that looks like 3 semi-circles (discounting the two black full-circles, otherwise called tyres) welded together so beautifully that it could easily the "Cutest car ever" award, if there was one, while also making everyone, men and women alike, fall in love with it, for little over 20 lakhs? I wouldn't. Obviously, 'coz I don't have, in my account, even that "little over" over 20 lakhs.

But what I meant is, (if a fairy came and put Rs. 20.45 lakhs beneath your pillow with a note reading,

Use this money wisely to buy a car (it's a paradox but spare me) and I would return tomorrow to give you more.

Love,

Gossamer Moonglow

(or whatever your fairy is called. I found mine here.) would you?

Granted, it's not exactly 'People's Car' at 20 lakhs. Or maybe that's how the Germans classify(-ied) 'People's Car' as -

No taking your dog for drives. Or bringing laundry back home. Wear your finest suit, take your kids for a drive on Sunday and clean it yourself in your garage the rest of the week. You can't even trust your chauffeur with it.

But jokes apart, if you wanted to spend Rs. 20.45 lakhs, then this car could very well be your wisest choice:

1) It comes with 72-yrs of history, history that every soul on the planet has definitely heard of, if not know it. Now, that's EXACTLY what we want, don't we?

2) You would also be living Hitler's dream (even if only a fraction of it), if you like that perspective. Another vehicle that owes its popularity and development to Hitler (and WWII) would be the Tank. Bug is definitely wiser, wouldn't you think?

3) Small is beautiful. Whereas, other companies only try to punish you for spending 20 lakhs by giving you huge, over-sized boxes, when all you wanted was 4-wheels with a roof.

4) It should be more eco-friendly (compared to the other vehicles you get for 20 lakhs) - smaller, lighter and only a 2L engine.

5) It's a sure head-turner. It's simply so pleasant to look at, that it will make you turn your head, even if you were driving one yourself.

Besides all this, the Beetle will infect everyone with a smile, which is what fairies want - spread happiness (according to my nephew's story book).

CONCLUSION - If your fairy found you, the BEETLE is your car. And I'm going to leave a chocolate under my pillow tonight (just in case fairies love chocolates). Ms. (or Mrs.?) Moonglow, are you reading?

Bringing up kids...

Bringing up kids... is no easy task. So I've heard countless times before from numerous parents. Some even took to beating their kids so not to 'spoil' them, and I call them, "Chumps". I've always held a view very different from them - beating kids hurts their ego and confidence and is not good for their overall development. Instead, as they say, "showering more love" should do the trick.

Yet in the last 1 week, I slapped Advaith twice and I don't like it myself. His actions on these two occasions were just silly and committed in a playful mood, with no intention to hurt anyone. Infact, I can't even say his actions could have hurt someone unintentionally. Tell me, how harmful, could throwing a book on the floor or kicking someone on their face with his little feet, be.

But when the repetitiveness of the same actions begins to stretch beyond the boundaries of play, a growing concern inside you calls for an immediate action on your part to make them stop it. And when your "No, don't do it"s go unheeded you are left at a loss. You obviously couldn't leave the kid in a room full of books asking him to throw them all down, like the dad who wanted to make his son quit smoking. You also couldn't throw down a book yourself, and pretend to, as the idiom goes, "bring the house down", 'coz that would be like encouraging them to do it literally, bring the house down. And kids, you should know, HAVE the patience and energy to do anything they set their hearts to. Never spark such desires in them.

So what is it that you could possibly do to make them see sense. What if your "Don't make me come and hit you" (final) warnings (while holding back a smile and faking anger in your tone) is replied in the Gandhian way, "Come, hit me." A reply like that made the English resign and leave, over 60 years ago. You see, the English didn't care (and didn't need to, anymore) what shit we could possibly get outselves into, but I do. So I'm left with not even that option.

I ended up being a Chump. Not once, but twice in a week. I'm sure what I did wasn't the best thing to do, and I'm not very sure if it was even the right thing to do. But I am just ignorant of any better option (read action). And what's worse is when, after I slapped him, he hugged me and holding back tears, asked, "Why did you hit me?". I told him, "because you threw the book down", but I know that's not the truth. The real answer was "because I was a Chump".

You tell me what other options did I have.

My first dinner

Today we invited my sister, brother-in-law and Advaith home for lunch and I prepared lunch for everyone.

Cooked dal, curry and rice (and this time I took a pic).



(Posted from mobile).

Advaith's Photography

Today I showed Advaith how to click pictures on my phone. And below are his first few takes.

At first, he just pointed the phone at my mom (like a TV remote) and clicked a couple of times.

After this I showed him how to point the camera. Below are the pics he took after that.

(I have resized the original pictures to reduce their size.)

The Prestige - Movie Review

This is the review I began writing on Friday, 13th of April in 2007 and didn't touch again after. It's definitely not the final version, but I don't remember how I meant to finish it. I'm not even going to give it a try now.

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There was a central theme, which though very unrealistic, still left you wondering. That is why, I would rate "The Prestige" as the THE BEST MOVIE ever.

Unlike other movies, like say "The Departed", which are completelly void of any theme, yet leave you feeling that it was a great movie, even though you truly don't feel anything at the end of it.

However, "The Prestige" simply left you wondering. But such movies will not be appreciated as much as they deserve to be, because the audience only want to leave with the feeling of having watched

something spectacular, something extraordinary, and feeling complete. That is just the irony of life. The irony existing in this world. "A shining copper piece is better than a dusty Gold coin"

But, had the director completely understood this irony and tried to make a movie that left the audience feeling FULL and Complete, to receive the full appreciation it deserves,

then the movie wouldn't have been completely deserving anymore, even if it may have received many awards. That just completes the Vicious Circle.

And, due to this Vicious Circle, Best is not better.

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I like these two quotations from the review above -

A shining copper piece is preferred to a dusty Gold coin

and

Best is not always better.