Below are the 9 most recent journal entries recorded in vachabs' LiveJournal:

Monday, December 19th, 2005
11:42 pm	Transfer Point Hey, my amuggle meanderings can be read now at vachabs.blogspot.com (Comment on this)
Friday, May 20th, 2005
10:51 am	A promising sequel to the Legend I watched "Aapki Soniya" at Choudayya Memorial Hall last weekend. The drama featuring Mr. Farooque Shaik and Ms. Sonali Bendre was feast. Here goes the review of the play. The only flaw was auditorium's bad sound system I feel creating a sequel, especially for Legends is always a bold attempt. Audiences tend to compare the product with the prequel. This masterpiece has completely kept its high expectations. It is equally beautiful when compared to its legendary previous part “Tumhari Amrita” starring Mr. Farooque Shaik and Ms. Shabhana Azmi. In the twilight of his career, Zulfiqar Haider is shaken out of his wits by letters of a woman Soniya from France. With her malicious accusations and meticulous quest, she creates an upheaval, shaking his languorous life of content. She holds him responsible for her mother’s exodus from her life. She is a virago, brought up by a drunken French man, Andy, who also responsible for her prejudices towards her mother and Zulfi. She raves, rants over him in her letters, though his replies are always humble and cajoling her. When he comes to know that she is the daughter of Amritha, with whom he had a beautiful relationship, initially he finds too difficult to accept, as he is unaware of even her existence. For Soniya it turns out too late before she realizes, he is not the malefactor. This is the second time I am coming across Siddique’s work. His brilliant work has driven me to happen his fan. He had created magic through Love in “Tumhari Amritha”. Here again he created a wonderland through “Hatred”. I would call it one of the best modern classics. She is a bubbly, poise, sweethrobe on Indian celluloid. Can anybody forget “Patiyala ki maharani” telling “Don’t mind” in Sarfarosh? Obviously not! As a matter of fact “Aapki Soniya” is her debut on stage, but she proves that she can make a big here too. Well done adorable sonaliji!. Sonali Bendre has worked hard on her diction and the results are obvious; she does not fumble over Ghalib’s couplets or Siddiqi’s metaphors. Her expressions, intonations of the last letter was mind-blowing. As she admits, she has learned Urdu for this drama. Shaikh’s talent, meanwhile, is an inevitable conclusion. Siddiqi claims, he is the reason for this sequel to happen. He stands firm behind the script holding it up with his perfect intonations and his rich voice. It’s more than a buffet watching him modulating his voice. See him addressing Soniya as “Bibi” with reverence, “Beti” with love and “Ladki” in annoyance. After “Tumhari Amrita” it proves, Urdu can spread out to larger audience, yet I feel Urdu can be ‘con’ of the drama. We younger generations are simply novice to Urdu. And again, very different from conventional drama, this may not appeal to the mass. It was evident when I overheard two guys cribbing while coming out of the theatre, “This is the most boring play ever I have watched” Siddique’s bold attempt is a huge success. Even this has a long way to go like its prequel “Tumhari Amrita”. Come and enjoy the show, with its unique style, rich script and excellent presentation. Current Mood: calm Current Music: Hum bewafa Hargiz na The... (3 Comments |Comment on this)
Tuesday, May 10th, 2005
4:04 pm	The First Law of Conservation The writer of this article is an alumnus, IITM, he has authored many books on nature and wildlife. I had a great time with him during nature walks both on and off the campus. This article was published in July 2004 Newsletter of WWFIndia. THE FIRST LAW OF CONSERVATION A robot may not injure a human being, or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm. Isaac Asimov, Runaround (1942) A number of species of our wildlife that were widespread even in the last century are now to be found only in sanctuaries. We humans occupy the unprotected areas and use these areas for living in, for agriculture, for roads, for industries and so on. Our activities in these areas do not permit a harmonious existence together with most wildlife, and inevitably the wildlife has disappeared. Nevertheless, there are pockets where wild creatures are to be found, living relatively undisturbed by human activities. Estates adjoining forests provide the setting for some such pockets; campuses of educational institutions provide others. The wildlife found in such havens can be quite astonishing. The diversity of life in estates is often as great as in the undisturbed forests they are adjacent to. The vegetation in the campuses of some institutions is rich and favourable for a variety of animals. Numerous bird species may be seen there regularly, some of them rare ones. Even large mammals like the jungle cat and the leopard are to be found in some campuses. When an area is undisturbed over a period of time, nature has a chance to coexist. Wildlife can flourish in such situations. The problem is that over time human activities take new forms and increase in intensity even in “protected” places such as college campuses. The consequences of such changes in activity patterns and activity levels for the “resident” wildlife are usually not a priority of the institution that controls the campus. A premier technological research institution in south India came into existence about 50 years back in a small piece of forested land. Prominent in the fauna of this forest was a significant population of blackbuck. Over the years, much of the habitat has been lost to buildings, roads and garbage dumps. Feeding grounds have been fenced off. The traffic in the campus has become heavy, killing these animals frequently. The campus literally bristles with stray dogs, which regularly kill newborn and young blackbuck. It is a matter of time before the dozen or so animals of the single surviving herd disappear from the campus and eventually from memory. Does the law protect these hapless blackbuck? Under our wildlife laws, killing, sale or possessing wild animals is in general not allowed and is punishable. Our laws also specify what protected areas are. But there is no specific law regarding unintended loss of wildlife as a consequence of human activities. This is in contrast to the situation regarding marine mammals in the US. The Marine Mammal Protection Act there has established a moratorium on taking marine mammals in US waters. “Taking” in this context is defined to include hunting, capturing, killing and, significantly, harassing. “Harassing”, in turn, means disturbing by causing disruption of behavioural patterns including but not limited to migration, breathing, nursing, breeding, feeding or sheltering. By this definition, even approaching an animal by a human that causes the animal to move away in response could be illegal. Clearly, if our laws similarly forbade harassment of wildlife, they would provide protection for the blackbuck in the technological institution and other animals in similar circumstances. Without this specification, the conservationist faces a frustrating situation. “Too bad, there is nothing to do, the blackbuck will die out,” the uncaring will say. Nothing to do---inaction---these terms and this issue bring to mind Isaac Asimov, the famous science fiction writer. He wrote several stories involving robots, and formed the Laws of Robotics, laws which the robots could not violate. If we modify Asimov’s First Law of Robotics, quoted above, by replacing “a human being” with either “a blackbuck” or “wildlife”, then no robot would be able to stay still for very long! The keen conservationist could ask for little more! The vital difference is made by the words or through inaction and what follows. If our conservationist’s wishes came true, there would be a law under which every human being had to be active in protecting wildlife. No one could allow harm to befall any wildlife through inaction. Our conservationist would go even further and seek a law under which each human being had to work towards the welfare of all wildlife! But that happy state to be attained, in which that law could be enacted, will take a long time. And it will be attained one slow step at a time. For the present, the conservationist must be content with considering the desirability of a First Law of Wildlife Protection: A human being may not injure wildlife, or, through inaction, allow wildlife to come to harm. Kumaran Sathasivam k_sathasivam@yahoo.co.in Current Mood: amused (Comment on this)
Monday, May 2nd, 2005
9:15 am	An eventful weekend!! Hi all... last weekend was full of events and masti... I was desperate to watch "Kaal" so I did... but after watching the movie only thing came to my mind, to write a mail to karan!! Dear Karan, A simple, adorable romantic melodrama "Kuch Kuch Hota Hai" catapulted you as one of the finest directors as well as producers in Bollywood. "Kabhi Kushi Kabhi Gham" as well as "Kal Ho Na Ho" simply bolstered the fact... But your fourth venture into an alien topic, a spooky thriller, Kaal is not going to take you anywhere... Don't call me chairoyolant when this movie will cause a spur in your career graph! I read it somewhere, this can be a flop since his lucky mascot, Kajol is not appearing in the movie... i would rather say, this will be a fiasco as karan is missing in the movie!!! Your fan! hmm.. will write about it later... Saturday evening was spent with my old college buddies watching drama "Sattavara NeraLu" in Rangashankara.. That was a satire well presented... would like to write a review of it if time permits... "Hazaar Khwayishen eisi" is the name of the movie which I watched on sunday evening in PVR with one of my closest buddies... the name of the movie when roughly translated in english, it will be "A heap of desires".. when i told this to my aunt, she gave me a queer look! hmmmmm sigh!!! it was a good movie... revolves around three buddies set back during emerency period, early seventies... I liked heroin very much for both her good performance as well as her resemblence to my favorite "Smitha Patel"... would like to write more about the movie... but later!! Sunday dinner was with my cousin! as a matter of fact I have forty-seven first cousins. yes you read it right. "47". All credits to my grandparents ;) more later Current Mood: satisfied (2 Comments |Comment on this)
Thursday, April 21st, 2005
4:23 pm	Last weekend Hello.. After one long week holidaying at udupi, I landed back in bangalore on last sunday! I watched "odakalu bimba" at Rangashankara on the same day evening. Playwright and director of the drama is Girish karnad. It was really unique in its presentation style. Arundathi Nag, actor, director of rangashankara, was the cast in that mono drama. I will post detailed review soon! In fact its english version " A heap of broken images" is also running at ranagashankara on some where next week. People who have admired "Tugalaq" "Nagamandala" "yayathi" "hittina hunja" by Karnad shouldn't miss this drama too! There is no message in the drama, but yes! entertainment is indeed in the drama. ..ta! Current Mood: peaceful (Comment on this)
Saturday, April 9th, 2005
2:13 pm	"Where there's a Will" I had been to Rangashankara last sunday. This time too i was again lucky to get a ticket at the last moment. Here goes the review of the drama Mahesh Dattani’s "Where there's a Will" doesn’t deal with famous adage "where there's a will, there's a way" instead its a typical contemporary comedy. Its humor revolving around testament of a business tycoon, who leaves behind a crazy Will. Here go the main characters of the play. Hasmuk Mehta: A business tycoon built his empire himself to which his father had started, with complete determination and strong will. His only problem in life is his son, who is still amature, when he is expecting a baby. Hasmuk’s character is well portrayed in the play. Sonal Mehta: She is an obedient mother, an obedient sister also an obedient wife. She is portrayed as a typical indian wife. She depends on others for each and every decision, it may be either her sister or later may be her husband’s mistress. Ajeet Mehta: There is a saying in maarwari community. "One generation starts a business, next generation builds the empire and third generation blows off it" he is a live epitome for the statement!! He has keen enthusiasm for anything thats his main problem. Preethi Mehta: Wife of Ajeet, is of course main character in the play. Her character drastically changes in the drama after her father-in-law’s death. She is transformed into a sly, uncanny, arrogant and energetic character from obedient, silent daughter in-law of a prestigious family. Kiran Jaweri: Mistress of Hasmukh, secretary later MD of the Mehta industries when he dies; her character is well presented in the play. She is smart, young, adorable, dynamic as well as wicked. She was supposed to stay with Hasmukh’s family as per his will, to teach the etiquettes to his family but she finally ends up with getting console to herself from her distressed past. Divya Raghuram, the director the play has put herself into Sonal’s cast. Actually she is the one who steals the show. She is articulate, energetic and has provided complete justice to her character and to the play as a director. Some of her repartees will keep you giggling even after the show. The character Hasmuk Mehta( I forgot the name of the actor), as I mentioned before, is well portrayed on stage. Surabhi was Kiran on stage; she has done a commendable job. Its lively face, which the character also demands, makes her job even simpler. The character Preethi (I forgot this actor’s name too) has to be crescendo, as per the script of the drama. Yes; she was ardent enough to get an overwhelming, positive response from the audience. Kishor Acharya, who was ajeet, must be more articulate. Though the script is not very extraordinary, it’s worth spending few bucks, on a weekend with your partner to this simple, original and chirpy comedy. Current Mood: content (1 Comment |Comment on this)
Friday, April 8th, 2005
7:09 pm	Its me ‘vacha’ speaking I remember that day very well. It was at 7:30 pm, I was dining, badinages were going on, my mobile which was quite and undisturbed in my pants pocket till then , suddenly started to vibrate and yell Mi2 tune giving evidence of its existence. I looked at the display. It was an STD call from Bangalore. I received and said ”Hello this is Venkatesh speaking, may I know who is on the other end?” An elderly lady (I could make out by her voice) was replying to my query, asked me with bewildered tone ”Can I speak to Mr. Vacha?” I go numb, realizing that my identity “vacha” has taken over my christened name! She was my friend's mother. It was first week of my freshman year when one day we asked to write down login name for an email id which was going to be provided by the institution. We had to give it on the spot. I simply juggled with first few letters of my first name and surname and came up with a login id “vachabs” I used to say my email id as “v” “acha” “b” “s” splitting it as I had came up. It didn’t take more days before my friends started calling me “vacha” I never thought this name will give me the above experience. I, Venkatesh Acharya B S, hail from a beautiful town, udupi on the shores of sun-kissed Arabian sea. I am eldest to my parents, who believed in “We two, ours two” motto. I completed my schoolings from udupi, graduated from KREC, Surathkal, currently known as NITK, Surathkal in Electrical and Electronics Engineering. I did my masters from IITM, Chennai with specialization “Microelectronics and VLSI Design “ Currently I am working in Bangalore. I will come up with more, later. Current Mood: amused (Comment on this)
Tuesday, April 5th, 2005
6:10 pm	‘Tumhari Amrita’ has a long way to go… Music and dramatics are my love as well as passion. I usually never miss any opportunity of watching the concert or theater.. I recently watched "Tumhari Amritha" directed by Feroz Khan. It was one of the plays i watched and here goes the review of the same. It was a long day!! i was eagerly waiting for the clock to strike five o'clock in the evening . I was leaving for the drama "Tumhari Amrita" which was going to be staged at the Choudayya hall. I reached the venue half an hour before the play started, but still all the tickets had been sold out. I always believe in miracles and it did happen. A lady came at the last minute with an extra ticket, and I could enjoy the wonderful play. It is the longest running play in India. Surely it has a long way to go. The play was originally staged in English, inspired by AR Guernsey’s love letters. The play was first staged fifteen years ago in Mumbai. The play was a huge success and later it was adapted into a Hindi Play named "Tumhari Amrita". Javed Siddique has a written a touching script. It is a story of two people who hail from different backgrounds; neither could live together nor stay apart. The play starts with an invitation by Amritha's father to Zulfi Hyder Ali's father to a party to celebrate the eight birthday of his daughter amrita. The bud of friendship, which starts in the party blossoms into a beautiful relationship, which is more than friendship. The first part of the drama revolves around their adolescence and the second part presents both the characters more matured. It is really a feast, to watch two very polished actors working on stage together. Both Shabana and Farook are simply the best. I have seen almost all movies of Shabana , from 'Masoom' to 'The Morning Raaga'. Her expressions, body language, and delivery of dialogues; everything is impeccable. In this drama she plays the role of a girl who is always ahead of her time. It is the she who first proposes to Zulfi. She doesn’t care for anyone in the world, she does what her will says; but still she struggles to realise her true self. She realizes the value of sacrifice when she finds herself in the same shoes of her stepmother. Unlike her, Zulfi is a practical man. He cares too much for society and prestige than for values and relationships. He doesn’t accept her proposal because of the only reason that their religion is different. But it’s the same man, who is ready to marry her when his prestige is at stake when a journalist finds some of the letters which she had written to him. In the second half of the play political satire is well presented. After Farook read the last letter, resounding applause echoed through the whole auditorium. The director Feroz Khan has, in moving away from conventional drama, made a bold attempt. The drama is entirely just recital of letters by the two characters to each other. The focus light was on the both actors almost throughout the play. There are no acoustic and light effects. Though the style of the drama was unusual I enjoyed it and am sure others will too. In simple words I can say that if you are an art lover and couldn’t make it to the show then you have really missed something. Don’t leave the opportunity if you get a chance again. Again I would say, it has a long way to go. Current Mood: geeky (5 Comments |Comment on this)
Friday, April 1st, 2005
11:57 am	First Blog Hello friends, this is my first blog entry, Wait wait i am not making you an april fool. U will read my series of articles some published and some yet, hope they will keep you amused as well as informed. Just for change i would like to keep this blog short.. meet you soon... Current Mood: happy (Comment on this)