Movies To watch Before I die

The Lord of the Rings
Shawshank Redemption
The GodFather

Troy
Shadows in the sun (Shadow Dancer)
Seven Years in Tibet
Hotel Rwanda
Monsoon Wedding
The Namesake
Finding Forrestor
Lions for Lambs
Mission Impossible
The Last Sumurai
Minority Report
A Few Good Men
Days of Thunder
Top Gun
Man of Fire
The Hurricane
The Bone Collector
The Life of David Gale
K-PAX
Independence Day
Men of Courage
Meet Joe Black
The Constant Gardner
Goodwill Hunting
Mrs. Doubtfire
Sixth Sense
Patch Adams
Jack
Good Morning, Vietnam
Jumanji
Pauli
King Arthur
Braveheart
Dragonheart
Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves
Waterworld
Message in a Bottle
Forrest Gump
The Terminal
The Da Vinci Code
The Green Mile
Philadelphia
Cast Away
The Gladiator
Cinderalla Man
Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World
A Beautiful Mind
Dead Poets Society
Life is Beautiful
The Insider
Into the Wild
Dark Knight
A Knight's Tale
Spy Games
Bourne Identity
Bourne Supremacy
Bourne Ultimatum
GoldenEye
The Last King of Scotland
The Enemy at the Gates
Blackhawk Down
Saving Private Ryan
The Gangs of New York
The Aviator
The Departed
Titanic
Blood Diamond
Catch me if you can
Romeo & Juliet
Remember the Titans
The Last of the Mohicans
The Legends of the Fall
Rudy
Seven
Usual Suspects
The Pianist
Motorcycle Diaries
No Man's Land
Slumdog Millionaire
The Terminator II
Finding Neverland
Pirates of the Caribbean
Jerry Maguire
Man on Wire
Letters from Iwo jima

I Robot
Shriek
Ice Age I
Ice Age II
Monster Inc.
Toy Story I
The Cars
Finding Nemo

21
The Boy in the striped pajamas
War Dance
Road to Perdition
That thing you do
Body of Lies
A Good Year
The Insider
Fahrenheit 9/11
Loose Change
Hamburg Cell
What's eating gilbert grape
Far and Away
The Great Debaters
The Fall
The Reader
Inside Man
Race with sun
Letters from Iwo Jima
Munich
Mystic River
Seabiscuit
Little Children
Indigènes
One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest
Taxi Driver
Schindler's List
Casablanca
Astronaut Farmer

Yahaan
Maansarover
Hazaaron Khawaishen Aisi
kaminey
ishqiya


1. Apocalypse Now (1979)

2. The Apartment (1960)

3. City of God (2002)

4. Chinatown (1974)

5. Sexy Beast (2000)

6. 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)

7. North by Northwest (1959)

8. Breathless (1960)

9. Donnie Darko (2001)

10. Back to the Future (1985)

11. Alien (1979)

12. Lost in Translation (2003)

13. The Shawshank Redemption (1994)

14. Lagaan: Once Upon a Time in India (Hindi - 2001)

15. Pulp Fiction (1994)

16. Touch of Evil (1958)

17. Walkabout (1971)

18. Black Narcissus (1947)

19. Boyz n the Hood (1991)

20. The Player (1992)

21. Come and See (1985)

22. Heavenly Creatures (1994)

23. A Night at the Opera (1935)

24. Erin Brockovich (2000)

25. Trainspotting (1996)

26. Hero (1982)

27. The Breakfast Club (1985)

28. Fanny and Alexander (1982)

29. Pink Flamingos (1972)

30. All About Eve (1950)

31. Scarface (1983)

32. Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991)

33. Three Colors: Blue (1993)

34. The Royal Tenenbaums (2001)

35. The Ladykillers (1955)

36. Fight Club (1999)

37. The Searchers (1956)

38. Mulholland Dr. (2001)

39. The Ipcress File (1965)

40. The King of Comedy (1982)

41. Manhunter (1986)

42. Dawn of the Dead (1978)

43. Princess Mononoke (1997)

44. Raising Arizona (1987)

45. Cabaret (1972)

46. This Sporting Life (1963)

47. Brazil (1985)

48. Aguirre: The Wrath of God (1972)

49. Secrets & Lies (1996)

50. Badlands (1973)

Speech Given by Chetan bhagat @ Symbiosis Pune .The speech is as it was spoken by Bhagat ,I never liked any of his books apart from his debut book Five point someone ,nevertheless i do like the speech .

Good Morning everyone and thank you for giving me this chance to speak to you. This day is about you. You, who have come to this college, leaving the comfort of your homes (or in some cases discomfort), to become something in your life. I am sure you are excited. There are few days in human life when one is truly elated. The first day in college is one of them. When you were getting ready today, you felt a tingling in your stomach. What would the auditorium be like, what would the teachers be like, who are my new classmates – there is so much to be curious about. I call this excitement, the spark within you that makes you feel truly alive today. Today I am going to talk about keeping the spark shining. Or to put it another way, how to be happy most, if not all the time.

Where do these sparks start? I think we are born with them. My 3-year old twin boys have a million sparks. A little Spiderman toy can make them jump on the bed. They get thrills from creaky swings in the park. A story from daddy gets them excited. They do a daily countdown for birthday party – several months in advance – just for the day they will cut their own birthday cake.

I see students like you, and I still see some sparks. But when I see older people, the spark is difficult to find. That means as we age, the spark fades. People whose spark has faded too much are dull, dejected, aimless and bitter. Remember Kareena in the first half of Jab We Met vs the second half? That is what happens when the spark is lost. So how to save the spark?

Imagine the spark to be a lamp’s flame. The first aspect is nurturing – to give your spark the fuel, continuously. The second is to guard against storms.

To nurture, always have goals. It is human nature to strive, improve and achieve full potential. In fact, that is success. It is what is possible for you. It isn’t any external measure – a certain cost to company pay package, a particular car or house.

Most of us are from middle class families. To us, having material landmarks is success and rightly so. When you have grown up where money constraints force everyday choices, financial freedom is a big achievement. But it isn’t the purpose of life. If that was the case, Mr. Ambani would not show up for work. Shah Rukh Khan would stay at home and not dance anymore. Steve Jobs won’t be working hard to make a better iPhone, as he sold Pixar for billions of dollars already. Why do they do it? What makes them come to work everyday? They do it because it makes them happy. They do it because it makes them feel alive Just getting better from current levels feels good. If you study hard, you can improve your rank. If you make an effort to interact with people, you will do better in interviews. If you practice, your cricket will get better. You may also know that you cannot become Tendulkar, yet. But you can get to the next level. Striving for that next level is important.

Nature designed with a random set of genes and circumstances in which we were born. To be happy, we have to accept it and make the most of nature’s design. Are you? Goals will help you do that. I must add, don’t just have career or academic goals. Set goals to give you a balanced, successful life. I use the word balanced before successful. Balanced means ensuring your health, relationships, mental peace are all in good order.

There is no point of getting a promotion on the day of your breakup. There is no fun in driving a car if your back hurts. Shopping is not enjoyable if your mind is full of tensions.

You must have read some quotes – Life is a tough race, it is a marathon or whatever. No, from what I have seen so far, life is one of those races in nursery school, where you have to run with a marble in a spoon kept in your mouth. If the marble falls, there is no point coming first. Same with life, where health and relationships are the marble. Your striving is only worth it if there is harmony in your life. Else, you may achieve the success, but this spark, this feeling of being excited and alive, will start to die.

One last thing about nurturing the spark – don’t take life seriously. One of my yoga teachers used to make students laugh during classes. One student asked him if these jokes would take away something from the yoga practice. The teacher said – don’t be serious, be sincere. This quote has defined my work ever since. Whether its my writing, my job, my relationships or any of my goals. I get thousands of opinions on my writing everyday. There is heaps of praise, there is intense criticism. If I take it all seriously, how will I write? Or rather, how will I live? Life is not to be taken seriously, as we are really temporary here. We are like a pre-paid card with limited validity. If we are lucky, we may last another 50 years. And 50 years is just 2,500 weekends. Do we really need to get so worked up? It’s ok, bunk a few classes, goof up a few interviews, fall in love. We are people, not programmed devices.

I’ve told you three things – reasonable goals, balance and not taking it too seriously that will nurture the spark. However, there are four storms in life that will threaten to completely put out the flame. These must be guarded against. These are disappointment, frustration, unfairness and loneliness of purpose.

Disappointment will come when your effort does not give you the expected return. If things don’t go as planned or if you face failure. Failure is extremely difficult to handle, but those that do come out stronger. What did this failure teach me? is the question you will need to ask. You will feel miserable. You will want to quit, like I wanted to when nine publishers rejected my first book. Some IITians kill themselves over low grades – how silly is that? But that is how much failure can hurt you. But it’s life. If challenges could always be overcome, they would cease to be a challenge. And remember – if you are failing at something, that means you are at your limit or potential. And that’s where you want to be.

Disappointment’ s cousin is Frustration, the second storm. Have you ever been frustrated? It happens when things are stuck. This is especially relevant in India. From traffic jams to getting that job you deserve, sometimes things take so long that you don’t know if you chose the right goal. After books, I set the goal of writing for Bollywood, as I thought they needed writers. I am called extremely lucky, but it took me five years to get close to a release. Frustration saps excitement, and turns your initial energy into something negative, making you a bitter person. How did I deal with it? A realistic assessment of the time involved – movies take a long time to make even though they are watched quickly, seeking a certain enjoyment in the process rather than the end result – at least I was learning how to write scripts, having a side plan – I had my third book to write and even something as simple as pleasurable distractions in your life – friends, food, travel can help you overcome it. Remember, nothing is to be taken seriously. Frustration is a sign somewhere, you took it too seriously.

Unfairness – this is hardest to deal with, but unfortunately that is how our country works. People with connections, rich dads, beautiful faces, pedigree find it easier to make it – not just in Bollywood, but everywhere. And sometimes it is just plain luck. There are so few opportunities in India, so many stars need to be aligned for you to make it happen. Merit and hard work is not always linked to achievement in the short term, but the long term correlation is high, and ultimately things do work out. But realize, there will be some people luckier than you. In fact, to have an opportunity to go to college and understand this speech in English means you are pretty damm lucky by Indian standards. Let’s be grateful for what we have and get the strength to accept what we don’t. I have so much love from my readers that other writers cannot even imagine it. However, I don’t get literary praise. It’s ok. I don’t look like Aishwarya Rai, but I have two boys who I think are more beautiful than her. It’s ok. Don’t let unfairness kill your spark.

Finally, the last point that can kill your spark is Isolation. As you grow older you will realize you are unique. When you are little, all kids want Ice cream and Spiderman. As you grow older to college, you still are a lot like your friends. But ten years later and you realize you are unique. What you want, what you believe in, what makes you feel, may be different from even the people closest to you. This can create conflict as your goals may not match with others. And you may drop some of them. Basketball captains in college invariably stop playing basketball by the time they have their second child. They give up something that meant so much to them. They do it for their family. But in doing that, the spark dies. Never, ever make that compromise. Love yourself first, and then others.

There you go. I’ve told you the four thunderstorms – disappointment, frustration, unfairness and isolation. You cannot avoid them, as like the monsoon they will come into your life at regular intervals. You just need to keep the raincoat handy to not let the spark die.

I welcome you again to the most wonderful years of your life. If someone gave me the choice to go back in time, I will surely choose college. But I also hope that ten years later as well, your eyes will shine the same way as they do today. That you will Keep the Spark alive, not only through college, but through the next 2,500 weekends. And I hope not just you, but my whole country will keep that spark alive, as we really need it now more than any moment in history. And there is something cool about saying – I come from the land of a billion sparks.

Movie to watch before you Die

Myth=Mithya a handbook on Hindu mythology handbook review

I have never before read a book on mythology leave alone hindu mythology ,but i do confess i have read Mahabharata which was ages ago.Devdutt patnaik is a medical doctor by profession,however he is a mythologist by choice ,and works as a Chief Belief officer in Future group (owners of Big Bazaar) .We all know that mythologies are not easy to decipher for a ordinary,aam (mango) people .However the book has been a surprise in the manner in which it has expressed the authors views and ideas on characters and the role played by the various gods and goddess in the indian mythology .Patnaik in his own unique way expresses the idea and story so fluidly and subtly that it has the power to let you see ideas in a complete different way as if it has given you a new pair of eyes ,which in turn has given you a complete different viewpoints.

It has challenged or questioned many views held over by many indians rigidly which includes me especially on sex and homosexuality and it has quite lot of relevance pertaining to current generations tug of war over Article 377 in india .The way it has expressed the roles played by the hindu trinity (Brahma as the creator ,vishnu as the sustainer and shiva as the destroyer ) has left me completely in awe of them .I have never seen the better explanation of Gods as given by the patnaik.

This book does not profess or idolize any myth rather gives you a explanation why it is as such . And traces it origins and explains it relevance in Hinduism in present situation.It has touched only a fraction of myths that exist in Hinduism ,but explains them in a manner ,such that after reading it one says "Oh i never saw/thought it from this angle" .

Rather than me going ga-ga over the book ,why dont you have a look ,I would give it 4.5 out of 5.

The last lecture

Randy Pausch Last lecture....Nothing gets better than this