Category Archives: experiences

1408

One time I watched a movie called 1408, starring John Cusack on my computer. I enjoyed it. As they say, it was a one time watch Horror movie. It ended normally, life went on, things became usual.

Few days later, the same movie was being shown on TV. I thought of watching it again. When the climax came, something was off.

When I had watched on the computer earlier, the ending was different. When they showed on TV, the ending was different. Without spoiling, I can say that in one case, a character dies, while in another ending he doesn’t.

That weirdness blew my mind. I tried to think harder whether I actually watched the movie earlier or not. Or it was some new format of Deja Vu I was experiencing. It kept on wondering what’s the deal with this or should I get myself checked.

Turned out that the movie 1408 had 2 deliberate endings. One was the US version while another was Canadian.

It was a temporary but a great experience to feel out of control about what one had witnessed first hand. It was like a dream which feels real. Kind of like limbo.

Good fun.

Here’s its Minimal Poster by the way.

1408

The Manga Guide To… Everything

In Japanese Culture, comicbooks are integral. They not only have comics prevalent in many forms for kids, a large portion of the publication is meant and received well equally for adults too.

You want to tell a story, there will be a Manga for it. You want to tell history, there will be a comic book for that. And, if you want to learn Maths, there will be a graphic novel for that too.

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Here’s some unsolicited advice for you

Some people have a personality that makes you believe that they can be bothered for personal advice. They have an air of stability and sound decision making. They look like if you tell them your secrets, they will keep them end-to-end encrypted.

When I was in college, few friends were open to telling me about their crushes and stuff, assuming that I won’t reveal. Something made them think that I, for one, won’t interfere, and second, might guide them further. I did guide them and today they are happily married. To someone else, of course. I lured the others to actually reveal their secrets by sending them a link to share their 3 crushes and then reading their responses. Phishing and college pranks and whatnot.

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Updating Role Models

When I was growing up, one of the programs I would watch every Sunday morning (apart from Sunday Morning Cartoons on Doordarshan) was the Bournvita Quiz Contest hosted by Derek O’Brien on Zee TV. For kids interested in quizzing, O’Brien was like a Role Model. My school was seldom invited to participate in BQC so all I could feel about it was to get envy. A few years later I did get a chance to see him Live in Birla Auditorium in Jaipur when Discovery Channel organized a quiz. I, along with a school-mate, almost reached the City Finals of the quiz but couldn’t clear the last hurdle and missed a chance to meet him in person. But I always wondered how would it be to be quizzed by one of the most prominent Quizmasters in India.

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My TV wants to take a Vacation

Photo by Gaspar Uhas on Unsplash

Don’t you sometimes inflict pain on to yourself just to see how much would it hurt or do you still have it in you? Like touching a hot pan to see what temperature can you handle, or trying to lift 10 KG bag of Aata to see if your backbone is still in solid-state or watch News on TV just to see how many decibels your ears can tolerate? I could dip my hand in boiling milk and I could lift heavy bags but I usually give up after checking the sheer loudness of the TV News for more than 5 minutes. And I live almost next to an airport so I know what loudness is.

I wonder how these news people sleep at night? Maybe everything they do is in ALL CAPS. GOOD MORNING? MORNING I SAID. DON’T YOU THINK THE MORNING IS GOOD? HOW DARE YOU SAY GOOD MORNING AFTER 12? What if they get a little extra salt in their food? What if someone overtakes them from the wrong side? How do they react with their Kids when they show them their report cards? Even the graphics on these news channels are so glaring that if you feel cold any day, keep a TV with News On instead of spending money to make a fireplace.

I have tried a lot but News is becoming more and more unbearable. I am not saying that it is not relevant. I am just saying that I have now become nihilistic enough to ignore it and still live normally. I have even tried the silent news channels. They are so depressing and dull about everything around that one feels that it would need some electric shocks to come back to reality which is normally just fine if not 100%.

The day is not too far when the TV would come with coolants and radiators. And if they get too hot due to the sheer loudness, you might have to take them not to a TV Repair shop but with you to some hill station so that they can take a vacation.