This 5th feb was the 20th death anniversary of my Dadaji.

He was brilliant and good and compassionate and humble. He was the best person I know. He was the best person most people will ever know.

He taught me music. He made little notes and stuck them on the keys of my casio.

He taught me how to identify plants with their leaves.

He told me which bird was which.

We took walks. Long walks. And he would tell me about everything we crossed - plants and birds and bugs and stars.

He knew so much. About everything.

We have trunks full of books. That's where I get my love for books from. He read. So much. I try to read like him.

When it's cold and there's a bonfire... I stand in front of the fire like him... My family knows what that means :)

He has been gone 20 years. And I miss him so much.

AFI Top 100

Its the start of a new year which makes me want to make lists...Here's another list of fantastic movies... The AFI top 100 (2007). We have the Rank, the movie, the director and if I have seen it or not.

1. Citizen Kane Orson Welles
2. The Godfather Francis Ford Coppola
3. Casablanca Michael Curtiz 
4. Raging Bull Martin Scorsese
5. Singin' in the Rain Gene Kelly, Stanley Donen 
6. Gone with the Wind Victor Fleming 
7. Lawrence of Arabia David Lean
8. Schindler's List Steven Spielberg 
9. Vertigo Alfred Hitchcock
10. The Wizard of Oz Victor Fleming 
11. City Lights Charlie Chaplin 
12. The Searchers John Ford
13. Star Wars George Lucas
14. Psycho Alfred Hitchcock
15. 2001: A Space Odyssey
16. Sunset Boulevard Billy Wilder
17. The Graduate Mike Nichols 
18. The General Buster Keaton, Clyde Bruckman
19. On the Waterfront Elia Kazan
20. It's a Wonderful Life Frank Capra
21. Chinatown Roman Polanski
22. Some Like It Hot Billy Wilder
23. The Grapes of Wrath 
24. E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial Steven Spielberg 
25. To Kill a Mockingbird Robert Mulligan 
26. Mr. Smith Goes to Washington Frank Capra
27. High Noon Fred Zinnemann
28. All About Eve Joseph L. Mankiewicz
29. Double Indemnity Billy Wilder
30. Apocalypse Now Francis Ford Coppola
31. The Maltese Falcon John Huston
32. The Godfather Part II Francis Ford Coppola
33. One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest Miloš Forman
34. Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs David Hand 
35. Annie Hall Woody Allen 
36. The Bridge on the River Kwai David Lean
37. The Best Years of Our Lives William Wyler
38. The Treasure of the Sierra Madre John Huston
39. Dr. Strangelove Stanley Kubrick
40. The Sound of Music Robert Wise
41. King Kong Merian C. Cooper, Ernest B. Schoedsack 
42. Bonnie and Clyde Arthur Penn
43. Midnight Cowboy John Schlesinger
44. The Philadelphia Story
45. Shane George Stevens
46. It Happened One Night Frank Capra 
47. A Streetcar Named Desire Elia Kazan
48. Rear Window Alfred Hitchcock
49. Intolerance D. W. Griffith
50. The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring Peter Jackson 
51. West Side Story Jerome Robbins, Robert Wise
52. Taxi Driver Martin Scorsese
53. The Deer Hunter Michael Cimino
54. MASH Robert Altman
55. North by Northwest Alfred Hitchcock
56. Jaws Steven Spielberg
57. Rocky John G. Avildsen 
58. The Gold Rush Charlie Chaplin
59. Nashville Robert Altman 1975
60. Duck Soup Leo McCarey
61. Sullivan's Travels Preston Sturges
62. American Graffiti George Lucas
63. Cabaret Bob Fosse
64. Network Sidney
65. The African Queen John Huston
66. Raiders of the Lost Ark Steven Spielberg
67. Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? Mike Nichols
68. Unforgiven Clint Eastwood
69. Tootsie Sydney Pollack
70. A Clockwork Orange Stanley Kubrick
71. Saving Private Ryan Steven Spielberg
72. The Shawshank Redemption Frank Darabont 
73. Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid George Roy 
74. The Silence of the Lambs Jonathan Demme
75. In the Heat of the Night Norman Jewison
76. Forrest Gump Robert Zemeckis 
77. All the President's Men Alan J. Pakula 
78. Modern Times Charlie Chaplin 
79. The Wild Bunch Sam Peckinpah
80. The Apartment Billy Wilder
81. Spartacus
82. Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans F. W. Murnau
83. Titanic James Cameron 
84. Easy Rider Dennis Hopper
85. A Night at the Opera Sam Wood
86. Platoon Oliver Stone
87. 12 Angry Men Sidney Lumet
88. Bringing Up Baby Howard Hawks
89. The Sixth Sense M. Night Shyamalan
90. Swing Time George Stevens
91. Sophie's Choice Alan J. Pakula
92. Goodfellas Martin Scorsese 
93. The French Connection William Friedkin
94. Pulp Fiction Quentin Tarantino
95. The Last Picture Show Peter Bogdanovich
96. Do the Right Thing Spike Lee
97. Blade Runner Ridley Scott
98. Yankee Doodle Dandy Michael Curtiz
99. Toy Story John Lasseter
100. Ben-Hur William Wyler

Hmmm.... I am not very happy with the number of unseen movies. I think I will start AFI Fridays... Watch a movie from this list every week... Seems like a fun idea. Let's see how it turns out :)

Write more...shall I?

I have been told I should write more.

I agree in principle.

But when it comes to actually putting thoughts down on paper or rather here for the world to see, there occurs a dilemma.

Do I want you to know what I am thinking, what's happening in my life or how am I reacting to it?

Probably not.

Take the latest bizzare turn of events (the exact nature of which I can not disclose) for example, would read like a badly adapted soap opera with all the necessary razzmatazz.

Then I wonder why I would not write about it. Do I care about what the characters of the aforementioned drama series would think? I don't think so, does not particularly sound like me. Yes yes I know - how very sensitive!

Its probably more to do with the fact that if I write it down it will become a documented fact of my life...and uggghhh this idiocy shall not become a part of my biography, unless of course it shows character and patience and depicts all those lovely virtues of mine ;)

And the Oscar went to...

For a movie buff, I have come to realise, I am quite behind in my in my reading list (err...watch list). So here's one of the simplest benchmarks of cinema...the Oscars... and there's so much left to see...and so much more to see again :)

2009 - “The Hurt Locker” -  loved it

2008 - “Slumdog Millionaire” - eh

2007 - “No Country for Old Men” - has been on my watch list for too long now...

2006 - “The Departed” -  fantastic

2005 - “Crash” - seen, nice...

2004 - “Million Dollar Baby” - he he...inside joke...haven't seen it coz of it....but have to watch

2003 - “The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King” - ofcourse i've seen it

2002 - “Chicago” - in bits and pieces

2001 - “A Beautiful Mind” - long back..

2000 - “Gladiator” -- surprise surprise...i've not seen this.

1999 - “American Beauty” - seen it. only ok.

1998 - “Shakespeare in Love” - seen

1997 - “Titanic” - loved it then, dunno about now.. The 3d version is coming so will watch it again.

1996 - “The English Patient” - havent seen it yet

1995 - “Braveheart” - seen it... Love it.... Love Mel Gibson (why did he have to go and make a fool of himself?!?! Humph!!!!)

1994 - “Forrest Gump” - lovvvvvvvvvvvve it... I think another movie of this year needs a mention - shawshank redemption - amongst the best movies ever made

1993 - “Schindler’s List” - one of my all time fav movies. Reading the book now.

1992 - “Unforgiven” - which one is this again?

1991 - “The Silence of the Lambs” - oooh...not going to watch this one

1990 - “Dances with Wolves” - havent seen it

1989 - “Driving Miss Daisy” - saw it lonnnng time back...dont remember much... So its on the re-watch list

1988 - “Rain Man”

1987 - “The Last Emperor”

1986 - “Platoon”

1985 - “Out of Africa”

1984 - “Amadeus”

1983 - “Terms of Endearment” - i think i saw it on tv once lonng long ago...

1982 - “Gandhi” - Yes, i think once every year on 2nd oct for 20 years... And I think it's the first movie I saw (ever)

1981 - “Chariots of Fire”

1980 - “Ordinary People”

1979 - “Kramer vs. Kramer” - yup...long back... And have seen the horrid Indian version as well

1978 - “The Deer Hunter”

1977 - “Annie Hall” -

1976 - “Rocky” - Of course... am a die hard Rocky fan

1975 - “One Flew over the Cuckoo's Nest” - no...but have to

1974 - “The Godfather Part II” -

1973 - “The Sting” - nope, but have to

1972 - “The Godfather” Saw the movie. Read the book. The book it better.

1971 - “The French Connection”

1970 - “Patton” -

1969 - “Midnight Cowboy”

1968 - “Oliver!”

1967 - “In the Heat of the Night”

1966 - “A Man for All Seasons”

1965 - “The Sound of Music”- Lots and lots of times, and i can watch it as many times again

1964 - “My Fair Lady”- Saw it last November. nice

1963 - “Tom Jones” -

1962 - “Lawrence of Arabia” -

1961 - “West Side Story” -

1960 - “The Apartment” - have seen the indian version ;) have to see this also

1959 - “Ben-Hur”

1958 - “Gigi”

1957 - “The Bridge on the River Kwai”

1956 - “Around the World in 80 Days”-

1955 - “Marty”

1954 - “On the Waterfront”

1953 - “From Here to Eternity”

1952 - “The Greatest Show on Earth”

1951 - “An American in Paris”

1950 - “All about Eve”

1949 - “All the Kings Men”

1948 - “Hamlet”

1947 - “Gentleman's Agreement”

1946 - “The Best Years of Our Lives”

1945 - “The Lost Weekend”

1944 - “Going My Way”

1943 - “Casablanca”- Here's looking at you kid

1942 - “Mrs. Miniver”

1941 - “How Green Was My Valley”

1940 - “Rebecca”

1939 - “Gone with the Wind”-yup... Reading the book as well

1938 - “You Can't Take It with You” \

1937 - “The Life of Emile Zola”-

1936 - “The Great Ziegfeld”

1935 - “Mutiny on the Bounty”

1934 - “It Happened One Night” - yup ... Lovely. the indian version isn't half bad either

1932/1933 - “Cavalcade”

1931/1932 - “Grand Hotel”

1930/1931 - “Cimarron”

1929/1930 - “All Quiet on the Western Front”

1928/1929 - “The Broadway Melody”

1927/1928 - “Wings”

That's a lot of un-seen movies! I guess I need to take a month off and change this to a respectable ratio... And now that we have gone through the Oscar list, the next post will carry the AFI top 100 - I hope that's a better number (fingers crossed).

The unremembered spanned an eon,

life drowned while faces blurred,

I was a God & I was alone,

I was mine the day I died

Music played,

words were a haze

the rhythm stayed

when I drowned the water moved with me

Did I cry?

Did I laugh?

Did I shout how I loved you?

Or did I let you down too?

Time sank with my heartbeat

the chill burnt through my veins

peace was so close

and then I was washed ashore