Another one bites the dust. Inspired by a fellow blogger, I took the Myers-Briggs Personality Test online. Here’s what it says.. ‘Seem theatrical in their displays‘ seems like a nice way to say — ‘uff, kya nautanki hai!’ methinks :| Now to look for this ‘uncanny sense of the motivations of others‘ that I apparently have.. ?

Conscious self	Overall self

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Makdee-man, makdee-man, does whatever a makdee can!

Sounds familiar? Came across this bizarre bit of info today! (Am still debating if this is someone’s idea of a late April Fool’s joke?) Apparently Marvel Comics has decided to launch an Indian version of Spiderman! Instead of Peter Parker we’ll have Pavitr Prabhakar (oh the horror!) Wait, you think I’m kidding? Here’s the press release for you —

Bangalore, India (June 14, 2004) — Marvel Comics & Gotham Entertainment Group — Indian publishing licensee of Marvel Comics and the leading publisher of international comic magazines in South Asia — announces the launch of Spider-Man India.

Spider-Man India interweaves the local customs, culture and mystery of modern India, with an eye to making Spider-Man’s mythology more relevant to this particular audience. Readers of this series will not see the familiar Peter Parker of Queens under the classic Spider-Man mask, but rather a new hero — a young, Indian boy named Pavitr Prabhakar. As Spider-Man, Pavitr leaps around rickshaws and scooters in Indian streets, while swinging from monuments such as the Gateway of India and the Taj Mahal.

Mumbai’s (Bombay’s) first web-swinging superhero will be joined by a reinterpretation of the classic Spider-Man villain, the Green Goblin — reinvented as a Rakshasa, an Indian mythological demon. “We feel this is one of the most exciting and unique projects in comic history,” said Gotham Entertainment Group CEO Sharad Devarajan. “Unlike traditional translations of American comics, Spider-Man India will become the first-ever ‘transcreation,’ where we reinvent the origin of a Western property like Spider-Man so that he is an Indian boy in Mumbai and dealing with local problems and challenges.”

And before you recover from that one, here’s some artwork of what’s about to hit us! (Sample above) Is it just me or is there something positively disturbing about the images?

Okay, I know there’s some merit in adapting something to reach a wider global audience and all that good stuff, but seriously, whatever happened to the purity of art? Or maybe the memory of watching Spiderman as a kid is too sacrosanct for me to mess with. (Remember Sunday evenings? The rach ki rachna, Rasna ad immediately followed by the Spiderman title music? Ah good memories!)

Am I being too unfair by mocking this? Hmm..

It’s interesting how some songs stay in our head more than others. Not for their musical merit but for the simple memories one associates with the song. Or sometimes.. how the meaningfulness of the song increases when one personally experiences the feelings that the poet is talking about. Once we relate to the song on a personal level rather than on a musical alone, the song becomes that much closer to our heart. We just dont just listen to the song, we feel it..

Was revisiting one such song today, after many months.. Gulzar’s evocative lyrics set to a simple and beautiful melody by R D Burman. The questions that life throws at us, ever so innocently.. and the storm of emotions and thoughts that we pass through as a result of it..

Tujhse naraaz nahin zindagi hairaan hoon main
Tere masoom sawaalon se pareshaan hoon main

jeene ke liye socha hi nahin, dard sambhaalne honge
muskuraayen to, muskuraane ke karz utaarne honge
muskuraaooN kabhi to lagtaa hai
jaise honTon pe karz rakhhaa hai

aaj agar bhar aai hain, boondein baras jaayengii
kal kyaa pataa inke liye aankhen taras jaayengii
jaane kab ghum hua kahaan khoya
ek aansoo chhupaake rakhaa thaa

zindagi tere gham ne hamein rishte naye samjhaaye
mile jo hamein dhoop mein mile chhaon ke thanDe saaye..

Film: Masoom (1982); Singer(s): Lata Mangeshkar, Anup Ghoshal; Lyrics: Gulzar; Music: R D Burman

When I smile, I feel the smile weigh on my lips like a debt. When the tears flow, I don’t stop them, for my eyes might crave for those very tears tomorrow. Eloquent words that tug at our heartstrings.. This song will always have a special place in my heart.

Got this in an e-mail forward today. On Googling, discovered that it was written for the Wharton Undergraduate Journal by a student Fu-zu Jen. Parts of it rang so true! Am guessing every gal has a guy friend who’s done some (if not all) of this for her. So for all the wonderful guys in the world (you know who you are!) — A big heartfelt Thank You!

This is a tribute to the nice guys. The nice guys that finish last, that never become more than friends, that endure hours of whining and bitching about what asses guys are, while disproving the very point. This is dedicated to those guys who always provide a shoulder to lean on but restrain themselves to tentative hugs, those guys who hold open doors and give reassuring pats on the back and sit patiently outside the changing room at department stores. This is in honor of the guys that obligingly reiterate how cute/beautiful/smart/funny/sexy their female friends are at the appropriate moment, because they know most girls need that litany of support. This is in honor of the guys with open minds, with laid-back attitudes, with honest concern. This is in honor of the guys who respect a girl’s every facet, from her privacy to her theology to her clothing style.  Read more..

Was cleaning my bookshelf last evening, when I ran into a copy of my high school annual magazine/yearbook from India. An inconspicuous and dusty book with the school logo proudly displayed in one corner and a picture of a dozen geeky girls in braces (yes, yours truly included) on the inner cover with the title Student Editorial Board. Yikes, one can only hope that there are no other copies of this book lying around in any corner of the universe!

Anyhoo, so this book, has a really fascinating image on the cover. A piece of paper held to the table by pins, while a hand is busy sketching the cuff of a sleeve. The sleeve extends to the drawing of a hand, that having emerged with a form of its own, is in turn, drawing the cuff on the first hand’s sleeve. Classic chicken/egg cyclic funda!

Many years later I learnt more about the creator of this fascinating work of art — M C Escher, one of the most famous graphic artists of the 20th century. While he created his share of realistic art, he is perhaps most famous for his seemingly impossible structures. His experiments with infinite space, relativity, spirals, mirror images et al are fascinating for artists and mathematicians alike. In fact, the phrase ‘mathematical art’ is often used to describe his work. In particular, Drawing Hands is one of Escher’s most recognized prints, a classic conflict between flat surface and three-dimensional space.

Anyways, long story short, seeing the image made me feel a compelling need to write about it, hence this blog :)