Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

My daughter had been waiting for the release of this book for a very long time now. And July 21st was the P-Day, I mean D-Day. She had warned us about long queues outside book stores and how she wanted to go and stand in the queue and absorb all the Potter mania and be amongst the first to get hold of the book.

I am not sure if she slept at all last night. We set out early in the morning today to the book store at Sadashivanagar. Surprise of surprises, there was nobody there except us. And, the staff at the store were just removing the books from the boxes and putting them up on display. They had made arrangements to ensure smooth sale of books and the feeling of achievement I could see on my daughter's face, to be amongst the first to get her copy of the book is too difficult to explain. And she was touched by the dedication in the book which said, Dedicated to 7 people, the last one was you..."if you have stuck with Harry until the very end". She said so sweet, thank you Rowling.

Leaving her and all the Potter fans with the Deathly Hallows... and waiting for the book to be released :-) (by my daughters) so that I too can read it.

Auto Fellow

I am autofellow autofellow
Four knowing route fellow
Justice having rate fellow
Good people mix fellow
Nice singing song fellow
Gandhi borning country fellow
Stick take means hunter fellow
Big people's relation fellow
Mercy having mind fellow da
I am all poor's relative fellow da
I am always poor people's relative fellow da
Achak means achak only; Gumuk means gumuk only
Achak means achak only; Gumuk means gumuk only

Town become big, population become big
Bus expecting, half age over
Life become hectic in time, exist in corner of street
Ada eye beat means love coming they telling
You hand clap means auto coming I telling
Front coming look, this three-wheel chariot
Good come and arrive, you trust and climb up
Mercy having mind fellow da
I am always poor people's relative fellow da
Achak means achak only; Gumuk means gumuk only
Achak means achak only; Gumuk means gumuk only

Mummy motherfolk, danger not leave
Heat or cyclone, never I never tell
There there hunger take means, many savoury
Measurement food is one time
For pregnancy I come free mummy
Your child also name one I keep mummy
Letter lacking person ada trusting us and coming
Address lacking street ada auto fellow knowing
Achak means achak only ; Gumuk means gumuk only
Achak means achak only ; Gumuk means gumuk only

Got this as a forward...rings a bell?

E-Judiciary

The sea change for the better being brought in with the computerization programme in the courts is laudable. Most of the courts, atleast in Bangalore are computerized and we can also check the status of different cases, cause lists, last action taken on a particular case etc online, though NIC does have a disclaimer which says it is not responsible for any wrong information.

The electronic display of cases in all the courts in the Karnataka High Court has also made life much more easier for us advocates to keep abreast of matters in different courts. The computerization in the different City Courts too is a tremendous effort in keeping up with the times and providing proper information to both advocates as well as the parties.

It is very heartening to read about the further computerization that is happening all over in the judiciary.

This is what President Abdul Kalam had to say....

"Our judicial system is dynamic and an institution which is throbbing with life catching up societal and technological evolution. As the ultimate protector of human rights and the final resort for dispensation of justice, the citizens of India look up to this institution with hope. Our Society is going through a unique dynamics due to the shortage of leadership with nobility. The only hope the nation cherishes and looks to is the judiciary with its excellence and impeccable integrity. We should do everything to make the judicial system succeed. It is said that a nation fails not because of economic progress but because of an increase in decision makers with small minds.

"This casts a very heavy responsibility on the entire judicial system to live up to the expectations reposed in it and to maintain the sacred aura attached to it unsullied. Qualities of honesty and integrity are synonymous with each member of the judicial system. e-judiciary will be an enabler in the realization of transparency, speed and equity in the judicial decision making process. With these words, I launch the Computerization of Courts by the Supreme Court of India. I am confident that with the effort taken, Indian model of e-judiciary can become the best in the world." (9 July 2007)

Films of Desire: Sexuality and Cinematic Imagination

It makes interesting reading the reviews of the films to be staged in the "Creating Resources for Empowerment in Action" organized by The South and Southeast Asia Resource Centre on Sexuality and Moving Images And The International Centre to be held in PANAJI, GOA between July 14-15, 2007. The event, Films of Desire: Sexuality and the Cinematic Imagination, a one day event, will focus on Southeast Asian Cinema and will feature inter alia Screenings of features, short films, documentaries, animation, music videos and experimental films that engage with ideas of sexuality in South and Southeast Asia. Discussions around the different ways in which desires get articulated, normative and non-normative representations of sexualities and how filmmakers' intentions may be displaced by multiple readings by the audience.

This seems to be an interesting event in The International Centre,Goa,Goa University Road , Dona Paula on 14 July between 4 pm to 8 pm and on 15 July between 4 pm to 8.30 pm. The details can be procured from the website

A brief outline of some of the movies to be showcased in the two day festival and their review-

BEAUTIFUL BOXER, Ekachai Uekrongtham , 118 minutes/ Thai with English subtitles/ 2003/ Thailand

Based on the real life story of Parinya Charoenphol, a Muaythai boxer who underwent a sex change operation to become a woman. The movie chronicles her life from a young boy who likes to wear lipstick and wear flowers to her sensational career as a kick boxer whose specialty is ancient Muaythai boxing moves which she can execute expertly with grace and finally her confrontation with her own sexuality which led to her sex change operation.

LOVE FOR SHARE , Nia Dinata, 120 minutes/ Bahasa Indonesia with English subtitles/ 2006/ Indonesia .

The film is an intriguing portrait of polygamous lifestyles in contemporary Jakarta. A gynecologist Salma discovers, to her shock, that her husband has taken a second wife. She tolerates successive wives as'a good Muslim wife'should, until an incident forces her to cater to everyone in his circle. Siti, a country girl, realizes too late that her uncle, who has moved her to Jakarta with the promise of sending her to beauty school, has other intentions. In a packed household, Siti's hope for survival rests in her growing intimacy with one of her uncle's other wives.And Ming,a waitress and material girl, contrives to become her Catholic boss' second wife. The lives of these three women from different classes and ethnic backgrounds intersect as the similarities in their stories are revealed.

SEA IN THE BLOOD, Richard Fung, 26 minutes/ English/ 2000/ Canada.

An intensely moving personal essay about living in the shadow of illness, Sea in the Blood explores two of Fung's closest relationships — with his late sister Nan, who died in 1977 of a rare blood disorder called thalassemia (which literally means 'sea in the blood'), and with his lifelong lover, Tim, who has been living with HIV since 1980.

STRAY CATS , Ellen Ongkeko-Marfil, 115 min/ Filipino, Tagalog & English with English subtitles/ 2005/ Philippines.

The film follows the parallel love lives of Marta,a middle-aged advertising executive, and her gay friend and duplex landlord, Boyet. Both are waiting for the men who they believe will fulfill their hopes and dreams. Boyet writes romance novels inspired by Marta's idiosyncratic anxieties about Steve, her noncommittal boyfriend. Hoping that Steve will eventually ask her to settle down,Marta is quietly envious of Boyet's 'family' —his adopted son, Jojo, a 15-year-old pickpocket, and Dom, his financially dependent lover. Willing to play the stereotypical roles of woman and gay man, Marta and Boyet embrace their hopeful fantasies. All these hopes
turn out to be illusions, however, and as they mature they decide to take matters into their own hands.

THE MATCHMAKER, Cinzia Puspita Rini, 10 minutes/ Indonesian with
English subtitles/ 2006/ Indonesia

A simple story about Kay, an eclectic girl with both beauty and sweetness and a guy who seems to fall for her.Their eyes locked and she had him besotted since the first second he saw her, in his bookstore. The simple yet charming guy, named Darren owns a bookstore and she is quite a regular customer. A conversation over the book she ordered actually begins what we think as a start of a romantic journey. While, Kay is cooking a master plan which involves Darren in her own mind, they enjoy their times together. A week after their first meeting, Kay decides to launch her master plan.

These are but a few of the movies to be showcased. Should be a double bonanza if one heads to Goa now, a nice holiday and the added attraction of the movies. Anyone game for it?

How Times Have Changed!!!

I still hear the authoritarian voice ringing in my ears when we had been to participate in an interschool competition in BEL School, Bangalore ordering us to keep quiet. I, in Class 9 then was representing my School in a Quiz competition and we were asked to maintain silence while the competition was on. We were asked to sit in one place and be disciplined.



I was in for a very nice surprise yesterday when I went to Ambedkar Bhavan to pick my daughter up from the All India inter school national competition conducted by Horlicks called the Horlicks Activity, the biggest inter school fiesta. It was all about energy and enthusiasm and noise what with the organisers asking the audience to scream, dance and generally have fun and the children were more than willing to do so. There was a banner outside which read "CAUTION: WHIZKIDS INSIDE" . :-)


I saw the energy and the involvement with which the children were participating in the group dance, music etc conducted yesterday and today. It is a very interactive and wonderfully conducted competition having all schools from Bangalore participating. Another surprise was when the team from St. Joseph's Boys European School was represented by an all girl team. Well, they clarified that girls were also in the School now :-)



All in all, a very nice change from the routine work being with children shouting and cheering teams, a dhamaka. The half an hour I spent there was enough to have my adrenalin pumping and getting me all charged up. A nice Friday evening it was. Kudos to the organisers for coming up with such a wonderful competition which was more about participating than anything else.

Sycophancy of the Highest Order

It was celebration time for Katta Subramanya Naidu in Bangalore today as it was his birthday. And what a way to celebrate...by putting up or encouraging putting up of hoardings all over the city defacing the beauty of our city. What a waste of money. They proclaim him to be "Badavara Bandhu" meaning "relative of the poor". Is this the way to help the poor? Encouraging all this is We, the People. What a sad state of affairs.