What the Dog Saw and Other Adventures by Malcolm Gladwell

Malcolm Gladwell - an iconic writer on the hidden extraordinary in the ordinary things - weaving patterns with or without empirical evidence. After The Tipping Point, Blink and Outliers, comes an eclectical collection of his favorite pieces from his favorite magazine The New Yorker   - written from his days as a Staff Writer since 1996. The book is a delicious read for Gladwell fans - and covers conceptually blockbuster ideas for his next book - the reason some choke and others panic, the reason why there are many kinds of mustard but only one kind of ketchup, the hazards of statistical predictions, the trouble with personality tests and intelligence tests, the history of the world through the evolution of hair dyes...the list is indefatigably long and multi-faceted as Malcom Gladwell is truly. There's a piece about late bloomers where he says that Genius, contrary to popular opinion, has nothing to do with precocity; infact the best writers, painters and directors made it big in the late fifties and sixties. For fans of Gladwell, this is not just a curious case of what Gladwell thinks is - its the curious case of dramatic patterns in everyday life.

"My Name is Khan" movie (Hindi)

"My Name is Khan" after all the controversies is surprisingly good film - with powered performances by Shahrukh Khan and Kajol. Karan Johar scores new high with a better story and crisp screenplay (Syed Field helped?). Its just a bit longer with low mass appeal. The movie may resonate more than recent movies on 9/11. Good music apart, you get to see San Francisco closer in multiplex. And its a movie which may bond with American audiences than here.

"Striker" Movie Review (Hindi)

"Striker" starring Sidharth is explosive depiction of true life story of a carroms player with all the "slumdog millionaire" twists. Director Chandan Arora makes up for lack of entertainment with mind-blowing story-telling and above-par performances from all. If an outdoor game like carroms can be drop-dead gripping and intense, story-tellers need not look westward or wayward. Music is another first - six composers and one BGM composer fire all cylinders.

"Maya Bazar" - Ever "Green" No longer Black & White!

"Maya Bazar" (is Tollywood's "Sholay" and greatest blockbuster) in cinemascope and color is an entrancing restoration done with lots of diligence and panache - the effort is audio-visually enhancing and mesmerising. Considering the number of Telugus and non-Telugus who will populate theatres to see it atleast once, this is a jackpot from a classic whose text and subtext, plots and sub-plots continue to haunt movie-goers and inspire generations of movie-makers. Watch with all.

J D Salinger - A Writer's Writer who remained reclusive till the end

I am a kind of paranoiac in reverse. I suspect people of plotting to make me happy.

J. D. Salinger

- More quotations on Happiness

It's really too bad a lot of crumby stuff is a lot of fun sometimes.

J. D. Salinger, Catcher In the Rye

If you really want to hear about it, the first thing you'll probably want to know is where I was born, and what my lousy childhood was like, and how my parents were occupied and all before they had me, and all that David Copperfield kind of crap, but I don't feel like going into it, if you want to know the truth.

J. D. Salinger, The Catcher in the Rye, opening line

The world's Writing Tribe has lost one of the original masters of story-telling who wrote not for money or power but pure writing. But for "The Catcher in the Rye", "Nine Stories", "Franny and Zooey", "Raise high the Roof Beam", "Carpenters", "Seymour: An Introduction",  a dozen or more stories published in New Yorker, Saliner remained a legendary recluse and raised the game of solitude to epic proportions with speculations rife that he has atleast fifteen unpublished books in his safe. His wish was that all these manuscripts were to be opened after his death and published unedited. Surely, Salinger will rake it in for the American Publishers and Hollywood movie-makers  - Saliner's language had it all - grace, turn of phrase, wit and wisdom, cleverness and majesty. His story may provide the world of book-lovers  and writers - the truth behind what made Salinger a Catcher in the Rye!. R.I.P JD Salinger. Let the words make it in print.

"It's Not How Good You Are, It's How Good You Want to Be" by Paul Arden

I always liked both the covers and the layout of any book published by Phaidon. They invest well on the aesthetics of a book - binding that survives for decades, pages thick like timber (literally!), and an almost magical combination of picture-to-prose ratio. This one is a very portable, eminently speed-readable book designed for good advertising professionals and anyone with an eye for creative excellence. Paul Arden scores on every page with visually-enriched insights and punchlines that befit a Saatchi & Saatchi background. Waiting for my turn to see a Dentist, I could finish it in less than thirty seven minutes. A near miracle - these days  - as suddenly the books are getting longer and movies are getting shorter! More next time...Waiting for a movie after the Pongal over-feast.

A Taste of Life - The Last Days of UG Krishnamurti by Mahesh Bhatt

Mahesh Bhatt's latest book gives vignettes of the thicker-than-blood relationship he has had with one of the world's less known Anti-Gurus - Late UG Krishnamurti (a Telugu)who led a life of anonymity, self-flagellation and was a reveller of blasphemies. Mahesh takes us through the last few months of a life led in reclusivity, gay abandon, no-no to all medical help to heal the body, yet principled iconoclasm which has its own charm. ("Your natural state has no relationship whatsoever with the religious states of bliss, beautitude and ecstasy. They lie within the field of experience."). Mahesh, I thought is a gifted writer more than a spirited film-maker, more sensitive and evocative in his writings than his movies which have trappings of a past saddled with negativity, guilt and failure. Where the book disappoints is the teasers it gives in letting us into UG's world - More Questions than Answers remain after reading the book? Why did UG shun the world? Where did he get so much funding? Who funded his non-career "career"? Why couldn't he jell with Jiddu Krishnamurthi who professes similar arguments with more fluency? Where is UG's family now? It seems as if Mahesh wants to make a career out of the questions galore on UG's estate, his legacy, and his invectives and idiosyncracies in more books.