Anger.. where art thou ?

"Don't you ever get angry ?" asked one of my close associates (accomplice ??). I gave yet another wry smile of mine in a cold fashion which would have even put off a wisecrack. The matter was dismissed thus with an utter disregard for the question.It was a couple of days later that I realised the question had struck a few strings within me. Something about the question disturbed me very much. It wasn't a serious impediment to my normal thought process, but it did lurk up occasionally causing some uneasiness within me.

When the frequency of this "gyan darshan" increased, I decided to sort it out once and for all. This seemingly simple remark had raised quite a few questions the answers to which wasn't as simple. I felt as if I had lost an emotion, an emotion which was quite frequent in the past. Now this part is very tricky, anger is definitely not one of the better human emotions that you would want to stick to. This is what happens when you lose something that you possessed for so long a time. The dicey part component is that you never know whether you should be happy or sad. Part of me was happy that I was oblivious to anger, while the other part was quite concerned whether I had lost the capacity to get angry...


The next few days were quite funny when I think of them now. I tried my level best to get angry at every possible opportunity. I hoped to surprise my friends with my "attitude", but I ended up surprised when they found my antics rather comical ! The more I tried to get angry, the more aware I was of my thoughts and the more I felt as if I were fabricating anger. It was pretty pathetic when you consider my attempts at getting angry. But there was definitely one thing that I gained out of this.. I could easily pretend anger with amazing ease. I was no longer artless...

Then one day it happened.. for a few moments my mind was under seizure, I couldn't think clearly, I was definitely in a different plane altogether. Some uneasiness hit me from the most unexpected quarters and brought along with it the emotion which I had lost. I was getting angry, but habits stay alive my dear; I could see and feel that I was getting angry. Well, it lasted for hardly a few seconds but again the impacts stayed long enough. For some strange reason, happiness was what I felt after that. I had not lost the capability to get angry ! Well, the next question wasn't far out there.. Does a man require negative emotions to make him complete ? Well, the search goes on.

The Godfather

This is going to be a unique post, quite different from any of my earlier ones. For once this is dedicated to one of my non-regular readers, who surprised me with the fact that he hasn't come across this masterpiece. It's come as a surprise even to me, a lazy bone like mine, undergoing all the trouble to draft a post at the most innocuous of times. This is going to be a combo review, a book -movie combo that I chanced upon to read-view within the span of the past week. I am pretty sure that each of my readers must have either read the book or watched the movie "The Godfather" by Mario Puzo. I happened to read it for the third time a couple of weeks ago when the inspiration to watch the movie was aroused within me. For the book lovers, nothing can equal the vivid description provided in the book. The smell of print and paper provides the icing for the wonderful delicacy wrought by the author.

Thankfully,for once, the movie provides ample justice to the book by taking into account the most innate details depicted in the book. For those who haven't watched the movie, please do so. Believe me, it is definitely worth it ! Marlon Brando and Al Pacino are simply amazing in their roles as Don Vito Corleone and Michael Corleone. Though the movie had some variation from the book, it recapitulates the charm of the story with its screenplay and music scores.Some of the differences that I could notice were;

* The history of Don Vito Corleone is not shown in the movie.
* Johnny Fontane isn't a very prominent character in the movie.
* The character of Dr.Jules is not even mentioned in the movie.
* The plot in the movie ends with the murder of the heads of the five families whereas the book is more benevolent, killing just the Tattaglia and Barzini.

The movie does score over the book in certain areas; the pace is quite pleasant in the movie whereas the book seems to be a bit too descriptive in certain places like Michael's stay in Corleone. The movie shows the cold-blooded politeness of the underworld in a scintillating fashion which seems extremely realistic. The music scores are so wonderful that it makes an impact on you without diverting the attention from the screenplay. Brando's presence is the magical mix that makes the movie a marvel. The scene where he says "Look, how they have massacared my boy!" to the undertaker Bonasera is one of the masterpiece of acting that has ever come up on the silver screen. The dialogues spoken in Italian have actually added the realistic flavor to the movie, despite this being not being a bi-lingual flick. No wonder the movie has been rated, the third best movie of the century ! Irrespective of the cause, the result is the same..Be it the movie or the book, both issue out an offer which you can't refuse !!

Happy Happy days !!

Back to a movie review says the Titan, No, not just because my readers prefer it, but because the Titan feels like writing one today. Its been aeons since I felt any movie was good enough to be even reviewed. Let me bang in no surprises, my dear readers, I was already a Sekhar Kammula fan and just couldnt miss out his latest flick, "Happy Days". The only telugu movies that I relish watching inevitably turn out to be kammula's and thats how I found myself being converted into a fan of his. Typical of his movies, the story is neither brilliant nor unearthly. "Happy Days" is a very commonplace movie that even one of can contrive. But that's what makes Kammula stand apart, the way he transforms these seemingly trivial stuff into the magical movies is simply amazing.

Happy days spans over the four years of a bunch of college going students. Thats all the story is about !! Reminded of Godavari ?? :-)... Well, thats Kammula for you. Coming back to 'happy days', the story begins with the most intimate description of the life of freshers stepping into the engineering colleges. The way each of the lead characters is defined is simply amazing which every you can easily identify yourself with. A studious and all serious guy, a simpleton coming up the hard way, a sincere and devoted guy who does all things with utmost patience, an easy-go rich brat, an all rounder with not-so-bad marksheets, a tom-boyish girl, a college beauty... just name any kinda character you want, you get it in the movie. Among these, two characters deserve a definite mention here and are provided a bit stronger outline than the others. First, Rajesh the typical big shot's son who has entered with one eternal goal, somehow spend four years at college and get a certificate. The second would be Tyson, the straight-forward, ultra patient and steadfast student who perseveres to achieve his end.

The first half exhibits the typical samples of college life,
> Ragging
> Nagging
> Engineering drawing :P
> canteen restrictions
> English lecturer
> Fresher's party (Ahem..)
> x-year vs z-year tussles
> Assignments and night-outs before exams
> Tours (industrial visits ?? )
> 'extraaa'- curricular activities (Okay .. here I would let the readers guess the rest :D)

Typical to the Indian movies, there is the usual college-romance between a couple of the lead pairs. The movie touches almost all the pleasurable aspects of engineering education. (Well, what else could the director afford to show ..even a fleeting glimpse of electrical lab could have put me off !!) But we have to give due credit to the screenplay, it simply zips you back to your college days. The rest of the movie is a mixture of break-ups, patch ups, and mix-ups. What makes the movie magical is the detail of on-screen depiction, minor facts like hostel mess, club-rooms, same-pinche's and anniversary-trees are shown so casually that it literally transports the audience into the college-campus. For example, the scene where one of the guys borrows money and bike from his gang shows the level of attention given to each section of the screenplay and direction. The movie is strewn with an amazing array of songs which are again typical of Kammula's movies. Kudos to Mickey for his absolutely stunning music scores ! Also the entire movie is shot within the same college premises (CBIT, Hyd) which again shows that low-budget movies can also be money-makers.

As with other Kammula movies, the comedy is subtle and adds gaiety to the story. With such a weak story line it simply amazes me how the movie manages to hold your attention for the entire duration of the movie. Well, who cares.. as long as I don't have to comprehend human-impossible feats and out-of-place characters, I am a happy audience. But identifying yourself with the characters of the movie is quite a different recipe that leaves a lingering aroma and tinge of joy in your heart !

This time the benefactor was... Nagarjunasagar !

No way !! was my response when my roommie broke out the news.. We were planning to go on a one day trip to Nagarjunasagar. But I knew, my instincts told me that the unavoidable was to come...we didn't have a choice, we had been mystified by the unseen forces of nature which lured us into the travel mode. The odds were against us, the heavy rainfall on the previous days, the impending danger of floods and the high alert sounded in lieu of Ganesh chathurthi. The thrill, yes, that was the prime mover that provided our bones,the usually lazy ones, with the motivation to move. The trip had its attractions too, twelve of the twenty flood-gates were opened due to the heavy inflow of water in the cachement. Rest assured...we were gonna have plenty of water.

Biking down to Nagarjunasagar would have been a biker's paradise if it weren't "raining, and so we decided to teleport ourselves by means of a cab. Another fact which went in favor of a cab was that we were fourteen (more ??)in number. 'Well begun is half done' goes well for a trip to Nagarjunasagar. Beginning early is extremely important for two reasons
1. If you are biking, the sun can get really hot by noon.
2. The boating ends at 13:00 hours. If you go a minute later than this, you'll cut your sight-seeing contents by half ! (Disclaimer : The same can happen if you choose to go during rainy seasons !!).

Okay, lets get right into the proper travelogue mode now..

Places of Interest :

1. Nagarjunasagar dam

The dam by itself is a splendid entertainer with its huge form and grace. If you happen to be a frequent dam visitor, then you'll be surprised to know that no traffic (inclusive of humans :P) is allowed over the dam under any circumstances whatsoever. Nevertheless it's still fun to watch the water gush out in huge torrents forming a facade over the entire height of the structure.

2. Nagarjunakonda :

I have twice embarked on a trip to Nagarjunasagar, but never have i set my eyes upon this place. It is supposed to be one of the main attractions of nagarjunasagar. The boating begins from the cachement base where the APTDC building is hosted. You have a couple of snacks counter apart from the boating booking office in that building. I have heard that there is a museum of great renown, but then the trip to the islet is by means of a boat which attracts me more than the museum. Since I lack the capacity to further extempore on some place which I have never seen before, I'll drop of from this section for now. But hey ! one thing I can say for sure.. if you want to see the place there are two things that you shouldn't do :

1. Come during rainy season as the level of water might rise providing the officials enough reasons to dock the boats.
2. come after 1:00 PM as the last boat departs at 1:30 officially.. but this is one rare place in India where things run in advance..the last boat departs half an hour in advance :-) (say cheese !!)

3. How to name it ??

Okay.. the title says it all. I am really at a loss trying to find a name for this place. There's a bridge across the river immediately before the dam, a huge sprawling one that you cannot miss. But thats not the one I am referring to.. there's an old bridge that is broken and condemned for use. That's the one to watch out for ! Believe it or not, the feeling is entirely of a different plane if you were to stand on the broken rims of the bridge. The wind blowing at a mighty pace, bringing with it the tiny droplets of water from the dam outflow, the huge ripples formed by the sudden conversion of static energy into kinetic energy, its just amazing !! Unfortunately, the second time I went here, the bridge was barricaded to prevent any mis-happenings. Still we managed to find an alternative to reach the edge of the abyss and I realised later that it was worth the effort. If you want to take those movie-type still photographs, this is the place for you.

4. Ettipothala falls:

Exotic as the name might sound, the falls are equally picturesque. There are two things that you can do here. One, watch the falls, enjoy the beauty, take snaps and pack your bags, pay 20 bucks for this. Two, go near the falls, have a mini-trek to the foot of the falls, have a bath on a smaller section of the falls, and pay nothing for it. The choice is yours to make :-)> coming down to the facts, you can ideally take this up as the last lap of your journey since it remains open till sunset. Moreover, this is just 10 km from the dam site which provides you with the flexibility to go here at your choice.

5. The Banks :

This was the best part of my latest trip down to nagarjunasagar. Its a sequel to the "How to name it section" that you have read above. The other end of the broken bridge has an amicable and broad river bank which can serve as a hot spot to take a quick dip into the river. It can turn out to be more than a dip if there's plenty of water discharge,so beware guys ! the river cuts through deep enough to pull you in, so go one step at a time into the water. There are some reinforced steel posts installed at a location which you can hold onto if you indeed decide to have a dip. We decided against the local's opinion and went ahead to have a dip. It was worth more than I ever hoped for. With twelve of the twenty floodgates opened, the water was coming out in waves. The experience was nothing short of Miami beach (Trivia : I've never been to Miami before :P).

An ideal place for a quick one day break for any person, one which provides relaxation to the tired minds, refershingly beautiful waterspots, amicable climate and ample fun for all age groups.

Factfile :

Duration of the trip : 15 - 18 hrs

Distance from Hyd : 159 KM - 180 KM

Travelling time: 3 hours one way.

Mode of transport : Biking (tiring & enjoyable)
Cabs taken on hire
APSRTC Buses from Hyd

Places in and around : Srisailam (60 Km from N.sagar)

Best time of visit : Non-flooded days :)

Amenities required : Snacks (you wont find many around there.), a change-dress, camera, Jerkin.

Cost of the trip : Around Rs.500 - 800 (inclusive of an inexpensive lunch and dinner)

Bikers' beware : Return before nightfall, road is very dangerous at night.

Problem selecting text in Internet Explorer

"Mirror mirror on the wall, Who's the best browser of the all ?"

If you happen to ask this, you'll not be surprised with the answer that you get - Mozilla. True, with the recent anti-miscrosoft campaign gathering momentum the patrons of IE are being converted to the other faction. And to those who are in favor of IE here's one more reason why you should be thinking again...problems selecting text in IE has been an oft noticed issue. When we click on some text and drag to select them, one can see text getting highlighted incorrectly. The net result - you cannot select the text that you want..

Now that we have the problem defined.. what would be the solution ? AFAIK there is no clean solution to this, the reason being, it is not very clear why this occurs in the first instance. I have been able to spot one clear scenario when this occurs. Whenever the page contains any absolutely positioned element especially container elements like DIV's you can see this occurring. Overlapping div's make things more complicated for IE to render. Again I don't have any solid explanation for this behavior of IE but the only logical conclusion that I could arrive at is that IE is not able to resolve the absolute position of the element on the DOM hierarchy.Hence it tries to select the nearest possible element that it could resolve.. the entire DIV itself !!

Coming to the solution, I have to thank google for leading me to a solution or rather a hack that allows IE to identify these elements correctly. The snippet goes as follows

function HackForIE()
{
document.body.style.height = document.documentElement.scrollHeight + 'px';
};

I would like to thank the author of this piece of finding as this works perfectly. Unfortunately we really don't know why this hack works and enables IE to fix the position of the absolute elements correctly. You ll be surprised folks, to know that, more than half the pages that we browse are ridden with this issue. Hopefully future versions of IE resolve this for good if they want to survive admist the growing popularity of MOZ....