Blink by Malcolm Gladwell

"I knew from the first few pages of Gladwell's Blink exactly what I thought: I'm gonna be up all night reading this..A smart,breezy celebration of intuition..kept me hooked to the final page."
This is one of the statements made in 5 page acclaim for Malcolm Gladwell's Blink..So,can this book keep you up all night? No,it can't..But as far as hooking you to the last page is concerned..It sure scores high!

Gladwell entered the best seller arena with The Tipping Point & it seems he's all set to stay there with blink..for long!Blink talks extensively about how brain works in the Blink moments,your first impressions,instincts,snap judgements et al. and how they can be startingly correct & just as startingly--Wrong!

As the author himself says the first task of Blink is to convince you of a simple fact: Decisions made very quickly at the spur of the moment can be as good as decisions made cautiously & with deliberate research.It in a way tries to probe into the age old issue of how powerful is your unconscious.But instead of rattling endlessly just about how influential one's unconscious is (which most of the psychology books tend to do..), this book also talks about its fallacies.How at times,your instincts deceive you into making wrong decisions,how your powers of rapid cognition tend to go awry for a very specific & consistent set of reasons & how your snap judgements can be educate,controlled -- Influenced!

Best thing about Blink is that it doesn't deal with hardcore & sadly, boring scientific terminologies..Not for once does it talk about Oh-My-God-How-Do-I-Pronounce-It type chemicals & hormones.Rather,it uses a series of interesting anecdotes & compelling stories from completely different walks of life to make his point.

One thing you can't deny is that this one is a very exhaustively researched book.Also,most of the events described in this book happened in the recent times,so it was easy to relate to them.Though,Gladwell has been a journalist,still all the incidences described give impressions more of a storyteller than a journalist.His dissection of the events make a very interesting reading.

But what beats everything else is his ability to find similarities between completely disparate fields of study & not only that,he startles you with the revelations that are completely going to bowl you over,for most of the times they give some really powerful insights into marketing,advertising,business strategies,political tactics,relationships,defence & what not!

And come to think of it,some of them are very ordinary pieces of information which we would generally skim over & he turns them into delightful & gripping case studies!

Like we have one Pepsi's challenge where Coke lost onto Pepsi due to blind sip tests, the phenomenal victory of a team led by a retired millitary commander against one equipped with high powered satellites & sensors & supercomputers.How adrenaline rush led autism & unconscious led bias led to one unfortunate & infamous death,how an estremely talented singer's career went into jeopardy inspite being acclaimed by experts due to fallacies of surveys,how a chair once written off as chair of death later went onto change the norms of ergonomics.How during speed dating people end up choosing partners exactly opposite to what they wanted.How a product's packaging dominates over its content.How salesmen decide bargains based on prejudicesregarding gender,race & looks and so many things that will leave you gaping for more.

The message is simple -- Every moment - every blink - is composed of a series of discrete moving parts & ever one of those parts offer an opportunity for intervention,for reform & for correction.

Only problem with the book..too much repetition..& tends to get really confusing at places..Certainly not something you can digest in one go..But,a good book..As one Library Journal says.."For once a best seller will be more than worthy.."

Doctors by Erich Segal

Erich segal's Doctors..Liked it a lot..n ws a better read than love story..
I mean i just dont know why I didnt like love story much in the first place..ther's a book by danielle steel "Fine things" I happened to read that before love story..mayb that's y..:

I kno that Fine things n others many in the league are inspired frm love story only..n original is original..but as i said..I cant help it!

As for Doctors..It ws very moving..wud hv been better if shortened a bit..The climax went too overboard n filmy..n lukd like n attempt to connect the characters of the book..the "platonic" frdship between the protagonists laura castellano n Barney livingston ws really remarkable..

But most of all i liked th character Bennet landsmann..but he ws put to n abrupt n fast end..while he ws the most promising characters of them all..I wish I cud hv more of him in the book..

I like the starting n ending lines of segal..they r quite well written..enuff to create interest..but the matter inside is not always too good..I mean,though its all very moving..emotional..but still very filmy..There r places where u expect miracles for ur favourite characters..n they dnt happen..n there r places where thz miracles happen out of the blue n sudden..

What i din like..How stories of sum of the characters were left just like that..I mean partiality towards laura n barney wsnt justified..But all in all....I luvd reading it..parts abt barney were cool...n bennet..n okay laura too at times..n the frdship they all shared...I even liked seth lazrus..n i wantd 2 read more about lance mortimer...

A gud book..

36 China Town

If your brain works too fast..If you don't have a sense of humour..Please stay away from this one..

Wht do you get when you try to mix comedy with a murder mystery with a romance between shahid-kareena,paresh-payal,johnny-tanaz?
Answer..a piece of crap..called 36 china town..

A loose plot..predictable..the directors forget at times what they want..suspense,drama,thrill..or romance,comedy..?coz this muvi has none of them..

First the story..
A casino heiress is murdered n 6 ppl are the prime suspects..n you automatically know..none of them is the killer..They get to the scene of the murder due to some or the other reason..n are scared to their wits when the investigating officer comes in..
Now starts..events..which at times will send you into splits..n at times..will make you feel like pulling your hair..

Abbas-Mustan???:o
Whts wrong????

Songs..AA aa ashiqui is one awesome song..n so is rock your body n one party song at the end..rest is soo soo n absolutely all of them unsituational.but choreography???oh my god..you see so much of red in them..you feel like puking..

Actors..Shahid is at his overacting best..he was far better in dil maange more..
Kareena..thank god..she doesn't have much of dialogues..she looks like a doll in the muvi..n that's what she has done..pinned up like a doll..no acting,nothing..just weird facial expressions..
Johnny lever..His time was finished right then when he came as the second lead in govinda's Joru ka gulam(one of the worst ever made),but i must confess..at times he was really funny..rest of the times..looked repetitive & stale..
Paresh raval..better than all the rest..but story was so awful..his role of a gambling prone hotelier..couldn't do anything to save the movie..but the funniest sequence of the movie comes from him..
Tanaz n Payal Rohtagi..The lesser said the better..
Upen patel..9820 420 420..oh my god!!!!n his pick up line..Is your dad a terrorist..??Can any joke be older than this???His long drive action is funny..Dances well..but acting???not his cup of tea..

Only good thing about the movie???????
Akshay khanna..had it not been for him n his million dollar smile..film would be a disaster..Every scene he is in..you can watch without sulking..
This guy rocks!:)

All in all..a disappointing film..

Life Or Something Like It..

On this stage called life
God gave me a wholesome part...

I took it up as a liability..
Never realising that it was a gift,
A chance for me,to grow as a soul..

I whined over the obstacles I faced..
Never realising that they were blessings,
Given to me to polish my abilities..

I yearned for the wordly pleasures..
Never realising that the biggest wealth is love,
Which was already given to me as a family..

I asked for strength,I asked for power..
Never realising that strength lies not in being a winner,
But living as a survivor..

I asked for opportunities to make it big..
Never realising I already had it in form of time,
Which I always let passby,dreaming about the future..

I asked for good luck..
Never realising it was all in my 10 fingers,
To change my lines of fate..

I despised griefs & ran after happiness..
Never realising that griefs were what made me humble,
And taught me the art of thankfulness..

I took failures as setbacks..
Never realising the failures made me level-headed,
And strived me to give my best..

I asked for this,I asked for that,
when it was all there right in front of me..
I longed for what I did not have,
When all I needed was what,I already HAD..!

---

Welcomme to My Buhlog!!

Frankly speaking,for as long as three long years of my fidgety life(that's when I had first heard the term blog..)I couldn't understand what's the deal with blogging..Many times,I purposely ignored the term like I always ignored my increasing weight --I knew it was there but wouldn't do anything about it..:)Till now that is..!

The idea of an online journal where I could scribble all the crap I manage to think in a day's time,never appealed much to me..& on top of that,letting other people peek in & comment on the histrionics of my restless mind..??Naaah..not for me..I was more than just happy finding solace in the pages of my personal diary..

In my 20 yr old life span..I've had 5 diaries..Three of which were caught & saw an untimely demise..one is safely tucked somewhere in my almirah..It's safe there coz it's impossible to locate it behind that unmanageable heap of books..& anyway my entire family is allergic to books..so nobody's gonna peek in there..& last one is gathering dust from last 2 yrs..I scribble very occasionally..when I'm too sad or when I'm too happy..or when I get too philosophical..or simply when I've absolutely nothing to do..!Now,since I spend my entire day doing just nothing..I've stopped writing diary completely.Not that I've stopped thinking now..It's just that I'm too plain lazy for that..;)

So what brings me here?In case,you've come this far just to find out the reason for my sudden change of heart..I'm sorry,you'll have none..It might be that I don't want to tell you or maybe it's just that I dont knoW for myself..:P

What matters is that,after whatever minor major bloopers..I'v finally made it!!and AHHHH...How am I lovin' it..!!Seriously,the joy of creating something on your own is one of its kind..:)

So,ladies n gentlemen,friends,foes & strangers..Lemme present before u for the very first time(It's not exactly the very first time..but never mind!)--MY Buhlog..!!

And what I'm going to write about..?I'm not so sure..for a while it'll be just me,me,me!!My life..my friends..my views..& just when you'll start wondering if I'm some self-centered freak,i'll come up with something else..;)Till then,bear with me..n keep watching..

And now with this..I end my first note..Thank you for being with me so far..I dont expect your brain to work on same wavelength as mine does..& anyway,am not much of a writer person..So,It's quite possible you don't like what I say in the coming posts or you might just not understand..Whatever be it..I would love it,if you leave your feedback..:) n more than that,i would love it If you write back your own opinion too..About how YOu feel about a subject..I'vent written any thing so far..but very soon..I will..n Would love to hear from you..

Till then..Stay beautiful..!