Vantage Point

This is truly one of the most amazing films I have seen recently. Its outstanding.

First the story: relatively simple. A global Summit against terrorism is being held in Spain. All heads of government are participating. The President of the US gets up to make a speech and is assassinated. Theres a huge crowd at the place, including the 6 principal characters. Each of them views the event differently and the director adopts a very unusual device: their stories are told through flashbacks, and each flashback takes the story a bit further. Confused? Dont be, because the visual effect is stunning. Each characters story is told in a simple, non-melodramatic way that emphasises the facts of the event. And yes, there is a sequence when most of the characters intersect.

Aside from the unusual treatment by the director, the acting is superb. Dennis Quaid is crackling as the secret service agent. So also William Hurt. If you remember Sigourney Weaver from Alien, youll see her in a brief cameo as a TV news show producer. Its a brief movie, at 90 minutes, but worth every minute.

The Standard Chartered Mumbai Half Marathon for the second year in a row ..

I developed an interest in running in 2007 and took part in the Mumbai Half Marathon first in 2008. Was a great experience that did wonders for my confidence, esp since I'd never done serious physical exercise before that. This year was better in some ways and worse in others. the better parts were that I ran with less effort and fewer breaks ... stopped just about 5 times and each time not more than a minute. Also had fun chatting up with people while running, like I met my friend Anand Kripalu of Cadburys and Shyam Gwalani who runs his own training business in Thane.

And the crowds were more encouraging this time. Coming on the back of the November 26, 2008 terror attacks sponsored by Pakistan, it was seen as an expression of public spirit to be involved in the Marathon in any way possible and that encouraged people to participate in different ways.

On the negative side? Well Standard Chartered and Procam obviously don't believe that Marathoners need to use a toilet at any time during anywhere between 2 and 4 hours of running. It's quite weird but there's a shortage of public conveniences along the way. And of course the bigger downside, that I took more time than I did last time !!! Last year I did the 21 kms in 2 hours 26 mins; this year while I have not got the official record as yet it looks closer to 2 hours 28 mins or so. Possibly the heat- a lot of runners were telling me this year that they took longer.

And some one asked me why I do it .. I am reminded of Edmund Hillary's response on being asked why he wanted to conquer Everest, and he responded "Because it's there". I guess that's it. I hadn't done much of physical exercise earlier so I started doing it 2 years back and the results are getting better. Some of my friends are getting envious as well, because they are beginning to slip off the exercise bandwagon!!

Just finished a two day lab

If you haven't been through a t-group before, or are not very sure of the methodology, check the hyperlink www.isabs.org I just returned from a two-day lab conducted in Mumbai. Although a very brief lab - I am more used to the 6 day version that most ISABS labs are - it was useful. First I learnt what triggers off my anger. Second how I express and manage anger. Third how I react when I am feeling angry towards a person in a position of authority and power, who tries to sneer down and talk down to me. Fourth, that anger can sometimes be a product of helplessness. And of course I did experiment the first day, to make sure that I was more of a participant than an observer and I got into it to the hilt, coming in with passion and enthusiasm. I did enjoy this one in retrospect.