Pyar Ka Punchnama - The Conclusion

I haven't watched it to the end so I won't do a full review. I just watched almost an hour of it then decided I had had enough.

It's not a bad movie, it's a simple story of 3 guys and the 3 girls who come in their lives. The story is quite true and very realistic. But the thing is it's too realistic. Anyone who has ever had a girlfriend or been married (poor chap) would feel like it's the story of his life. But why would you want to watch it?

Let me put it this way, if you have had a tooth extracted you know how painful that is. Would you watch somebody getting a tooth pulled out? The realistic version I mean, not the version with funny music instead of painful groans of the patient.

The conclusion - if you have never had a serious girlfriend in your life, definitely watch this to know what to expect. (It won't help you ONE BIT but you will know what to expect.). On the other hand if you have had a girlfriend or wife ever in your life, don't watch it!

The Shock of My Life

I have been off the blogging grid for about 2 months now. There was a reason.

On 16th May I got the biggest shock of my life when I suddenly lost my father. It was the biggest tragedy of my life and I was not capable of handling it. It was very unexpected which made it that much harder to handle. I think we never really absorb a shock like but with time its intensity reduces slightly.

My dad was a great person and I loved him very much. Losing him suddenly shook me to my core. I went to India for the last rites and with the support of my family and friends, I was somehow able to bear the shock and pain of it all.

I don't really want to say a lot about it for obvious reasons, but I want to get back into the blogging habit and even though I considered it I realized that I could not just roll past this huge incident without mentioning it. I mean this is the place where I mention even small things like my sleeping habits and my love for ice-cream, I could not go on and not mention this.

Anyway, I am back, I am here and you'll hear more from me in the near future.

My addiction can kick your addiction's ass

"Do you know they remove rust with that thing?", my colleague says incredulously
"So what, at least my insides will be rust-free. Rust is not a good thing you know?", was my flippant reply.

The topic under discussion was Diet Coke which my colleague couldn't believe that I even touched. An intelligent, sensible guy like me? Drinking Diet Coke? Ugh! That was the gist of his reaction.

And this same guy doesn't count 2 beers as drinking, actually he just doesn't like to count when he's drinking. I wondered what they remove with that!

The point I am trying to make is that none of us is free from addiction, though we do have our own choices and we think that those are okay while the rest of the world has gone mad.

Now that I have given up Diet Coke and all other sources of caffeine, (mostly because of my biphasic sleep) I don't understand how people can have those big glasses of strong coffee! And I have always wondered about how can  people smoke when there is a clear warning right on the pack! Even some doctors smoke! I mean, come on!

But I still eat sugar, love ice cream and oh chocolate..mmm, don't even ask me about chocolates! I don't drink alcohol at all and try not to judge the people who do drink.

The funny thing in all this is that while we all have our sinful addictions, we don't usually give them a second thought and are very quick to judge others who are also human like us.

Reminds me of an old joke,

A political leader is delivering a speech in a college and he says: "...so my dear students, you must resolve to stay pure and serve your country...repeat after me, you will not drink and smoke."

Students repeat: "We don't drink and smoke."

Leader: "Repeat after me, you will not gamble."

Students: "We will not gamble."

Leader: "You will not chase girls."

Student: "We will not chase girls."

Leader: "And you will give you life for your country."

One student: "Sure why not, what's left to live for anyway."

The whole point is that we need to find a balance between an addiction-riddled life and a meaningless existence. I am sure we are smart enough to figure out a way to enjoy life without ruining it completely with our weaknesses.

Think about it, having an icecream once a weak could be something you could live with but how can you tell your teenage son to not smoke when you smoke a packet a day?

There are harmless (less harmful) alternatives available for most of the common addictions these days, caffeine-free drinks, menthol cigarettes, non-alcoholic beverages...everything is there, but somehow because it's not sinful, it doesn't taste so good. I think we are tempted not by the actual product but its allure as a guilty pleasure.

Enough lecturing, let's finish with a sher:

ए शेख न कर इस तरह रिन्दों को नसीहत 

सब नेक बनेंगे तो खता कौन करेगा?

हम तेरे मिटाने से तो मिट जायेंगे लेकिन, 

फिर तेरी अदाओं पे मिटा कौन करेगा? 

शेख is teetotaller, रिंद is a kind of bad guy, addict, नसीहत of course, means advice.

The second sher has nothing to do with addiction but is one my favourite sher and belongs to the same ghazal so why not. :) 

Random Ghazal from my favourites

एक पल में एक सदी का मज़ा हम से पूछिए  

दो दिन की ज़िंदगी का मज़ा हम से पूछिए 

भूलें है रफ़्ता रफ़्ता उन्हें मुद्दतों में हम 

क़िस्तों मे ख़ुदकुशी का मज़ा हम से पूछिए 

आगाज़-ए-आशिक़ी का मज़ा आप जानिए

अंजाम-ए-आशिक़ी का मज़ा हम से पूछिए  

वो जान ही गये कि हमें उनसे प्यार है

आँखों की मुखबरी का मज़ा हम से पूछिए 

जलते दिलों मे जलते घरों जैसा ज़व कहाँ

सरकार रौशनी का मज़ा हम से पूछिए 

हँसने का शौक हम को भी था आप कि तरह 

हँसिए मगर हँसी का मज़ा हम से पूछिए 

हम तौबा कर के मर गए कब्ल अज़ल-ए-क़ुमार

तौहीन-ए-मैकशी का मज़ा हम से पूछिए  

Ice cream is life

I planned to write this post before but AH's post reminded me to do it now.

I have told you before I love ice cream and also shared the thought that "Life is like an ice cream, enjoy it before it melts."

But why do I say that Ice cream is life, or like life..here's why:

• * Ice cream doesn't have a real meaning, it's not part of a breakfast, lunch or dinner, but you can still eat it when you like. Just like life, if you go seeking its meaning you could spend centuries looking for it, yet if you want to enjoy it, it's right here, in this moment.
  
• * You must enjoy the ice cream as soon as you get it, you can't keep holding it hoping to eat it later, it'll melt. Just like life, if you don't live it right now, enjoy it in this moment, it'll pass you by.
  
• * It is possible to gulp down the ice cream without really tasting it. Very much like life, if you are too busy to notice it, you wouldn't really enjoy life even though you pass through it.
  
• * Ice cream is full of calories. And you think life isn't? Then why do people gain more weight as they age? :)
  
• * Ice cream comes in many flavours. So does life. And in both, different people have a liking for the different flavours and they claim that's the best.
  
• * Ice cream and life both taste more delicious when we share them with near and dear ones.
  
• * If you pay attention, each bite of ice cream tastes subtly different. Do I even need to say it? So does life, each moment is different and each moment is delicious.
  
• * If you eat it too quickly, ice cream gives you a headache, so does life.
  
• * Ice cream is a guilty pleasure. When done right, so is life. ;-)
  
• * Ice cream must be high quality for it to be enjoyable. Quality of life is equally important. 

I rest my case.

When you comment, do share what's your favourite flavour...of ice cream. 

Movie Review - As Good As It Gets

It's supposed to be a classic but I really hate these movies where you have been watching for a while but can't make out what the hell the movie is all about. The synopsis on IMDB says "A single mother/waitress, a misanthropic author, and a gay artist form an unlikely friendship". Based on that I'd NEVER have watched it, no matter how many academy awards it won. It won a few.

But two things made me watch it. One, it was a strong recommendation from a close friend. It's not like I trust her judgement in all films, but she is honest enough to say, "That's probably a chick flick you might not like that." so I have tried couple of her recommendations and so far they were working out, but this time... Two, it has Helen Hunt in the main lead who is one of my very favourite actresses. She's so cute and so real. I love her acting!

When you are 28 minutes into the movie and it hasn't started to make sense you start to wonder if that was the right decision to watch it. So, that's where I paused. But then, I also know a secret. I will tell you the secret and then your life will never be the same! Are you ready? Here we go. In EVERY movie... about 30 minutes in...something happens...something, that changes... everything!

After letting it stay on pause for a couple of hours I decided to give it a few more minutes.

Sure enough, the 30 minute rule worked, something happened, things started moving faster. And although I still suspect that this might be a chick flick I have to say, "Wow!" The way the plot unfolds piece by little piece, that is uncanny. No wonder it won the Best Screenplay award! I am not going to talk a lot about the actual events in the story because that would spoil it for anyone who hasn't seen it. I must say though, that while each event feels like it's a small, tiny piece that has no meaning, everything moves in the same direction, every little piece contributes to the overall plot.

There is humour in the story, in the beginning when the dog pees on the floor I groaned, "Oh my god! Is it one of those?" But thankfully, it's not one of those. The humour in the movie is very good, very subtle and always embedded in drama so you laugh out loud even when there's no laugh track and there's nothing to indicate that it was comedy.

So, I laughed a few times, I felt welling up a few times and I had some "Wow!" moments. All in all, I don't regret making this choice and I would watch it again in the future. Director James L. Brooks has done an amazing job in filming it like real life, so simple, so down to earth and so professional. Outstanding job!

Performances are as expected, fantastic. All 3 lead actors won Academy awards, no surprise. Jack Nicholson, of course, has done a superlative job in the role of an obsessive-compulsive, misanthropic author. Helen Hunt as a single mother, waitress, beautiful, good-hearted girl has done a great job. Greg Kinnear has done fantastically well as a gay artist.

The only problem with this movie is that it's a very successful, well-known film, and being the kind of film it is most women would have already watched it. Had that not been the case there are a few dialogues that could be extremely useful with women. But...oh well! 

Recipe: Toasty Egg Pakode

If you tell me that I should leave sharing recipes to female bloggers I am gonna call you a sexist bastard and probably push you off a cliff, so just don't do it, ok? (Just kidding, I wouldn't push anybody off a cliff. I might poke though.) If this one goes well, I might share a couple more of my recipe ideas.

Not that this is a revolutionary recipe, but it just evolved out of my breakfast of fried egg and beans and I love it so much that I thought I'd share it with the world. The world that reads my blog, that is.

Without further ado, let's get into it.

Recipe: Toasty Egg Pakode
Cuisine: Eggitarian
Prep time: 0
Cooking time: 20 minutes
Serves: 1

Raw materials: 2 eggs (I use the very large variety), 30 gms. butter, 2 slices of white bread, seasonings, dips etc.

Process:
1. Melt a spoonful of butter in a non-stick pan on high heat. The 30 gms. is my guess, use about the same amount of butter as you do for frying an egg. I use the smallest hob on the stove for this.
2. Once the butter melts and the bubbles subside, turn the heat to about 40%.
3. Break an egg into the pan, making sure you don't use the centre but the rim so there's space for another egg in the pan. (And throw away the shells, ok?)
4. With a spatula poke some random holes in the egg as it starts cooking and break the yolk.
5. Now, break another egg into the same pan, keeping them both on opposite side of the pan. (Think football field.)
6. Break the yolk and poke holes in this second egg also.
7. As the first egg starts to solify and looking more white than clear, fold one corner of it over to the centre. Then the other corner. This would make it look kind of like a samosa.
Tip: If the corner you fold keeps rolling back flat, just hold it in the folded position with your spatula for a few seconds and it will stick.
8. Fold the second egg also the same way.
9. While the eggs are cooking put two slices of white bread into the toaster.
10. When the eggs get solid enough to be turned over, flip them over.
11. Toast the bread slices well to the point where they are red.
12. Butter the slices.
13. Cook the eggs well flipping them as you see fit, cook them on both sides to the point where they just start to get slightly red.
14. Take the eggs out and place one each on the buttered toast slices.
15. Sprinkle salt and ground black pepper on them as they say, "according to taste".
17. I serve them (to myself) with roasted garlic and herbs dip and a little bit of ketchup. Since I ran out of that dip, I have been using Domino's garlic and herbs dip. It works ok, if not that well.

The picture on the top shows you what they should look like. I took the picture myself the other day, so you know it's not an advertising photo.

Disclaimer: The photo has been photoshopped to make them look more delicious.

I like it because it has eggs, which are a source of protein, bread which is a source of fiber, the ketchup has vitamin C, black pepper is good throat if you have cold and good for the eyes generally. Calories, there would be some considering it's got butter and eggs but not too many.

Now, if you were reading properly, you'd ask, where are the baked beans in this? Well, that's what I was trying to get rid of, to not having to eat beans every day. And I achieved that. :)

I would be very interested to know if you try this recipe and how it turns out for you, and also if you make any tweaks or adjustments. Drop me a line.

Limitless - A good formula flick

As I say in the title it's a formula flick - the old "fountain of youth" formula. In this case the fountain is a clear pill that lets you access the whole 100% of your brain instead of the 20% you do now. I think the figures they quote in the film are wrong. There are two ways you use your brains, as a storage for memories and experiences and as a processing power. An average person uses about 10% of their brain, I use 12 and super-geniuses like Albert Einstein and Leonardo da Vinci used somewhere between 15-20%.

With that basic premise the story moves quickly and interestingly through more or less predictable plot points. I mean, the guy is a failed writer. As soon as he feels the power of the pill he will try to finish the book he's been sucking at writing, right? Then once he finishes that he will turn to the stock market to make some serious money. And then, of course, he'd be in the field of business, big mergers, changing direction of the fates of big corporations, that sort of stuff. It's common sense, and also inevitable unless you want to make your film a total crime thriller.

Director Neil Burger has kept the pace of the film quite swift and used cinematography imaginatively to show the various effects of the pill. He has mixed the business thriller part of the story with crime thriller part quite fluidly. The voice-over narration by the protagonist usually helps the audience with identifying with him and that has helped here, but I think if there's one thing where the movie lacks is that the identifying factor is not all that it could have been. In my view, that's because the story moves quite fast right from the beginning and bad things start to happen to the hero and that breaks the connection that's not yet fully established. But still, it's not a bad job.

In performances, Bradley Cooper has done very well. Abbie Cornish is adorable as Lindy. She's just so gorgeous! She has performed very well in her small role. Robert De Niro of course is a great actor and he has shown that once again. Performance-wise, I love the last scene where Bradley Cooper and Robert De Niro come face to face and the performance levels go sky high there.

That's my favourite part of the movie as well, the climax. It's not too long and not too short, it ends on a positive note and leaves the audience with a good feeling.

There's a lack of humour in the film. Burger has kept it fast-paced, serious action with merely an opportunity for a smile here or there. The dialogue is quite witty and incisive but it's not funny.

Some of the plot twists are unpredictable and they make the story more interesting and you find yourself nodding, thinking, "Yes, that makes sense." Those "aha!" moments are where a great script differs from a run-of-the-mill crap.

Overall, a good film, worth watching. Not only for the action but the thought-provoking factor as well. What would YOU do if you had access to 100% of your brain? I like it also because it inspires me to do more with my brain, to achieve more in my life, even without the benefit of the clear pill. 

Battle: Los Angeles - Bad remake of ID4

"Bartender, I want an action film, something with lots of guns and planes and stuff."
"One alien invasion movie coming up!"

That's how director Jonathan Liebesman seems to have come up with this film Battle: Los Angeles. I had two reasons to watch this film, one I like formula films when they are well-directed. Two, I like the actor Aaron Eckhart since his film, "Thank You For Smoking" that was quite a challenging role he played and he did it very well.

Well, the movie let me down on both counts. It's professionally directed, but not well-directed. And Aaron has a typecast role which he carries off well but there's no challenge in it.

I believe that the story of a 2 hour film should not be so simple that it can be described in one sentence and this one can be. Here's my one-sentence summary of it - "A team of US Marines is sent to extract some civilians from an LA police station after aliens invade Earth in order to colonize it to take over her resources."

There are the usual character flaws and the plot twists, nothing special there. Actually, Jonathan has made a purely formula film and he has not taken full advantage of the formula even. One important ingredient missing was the "suits". You know when they zoom in on the pentagon then cut to the big board table, with all the big players watching things on screen...the secretary of state, the defence secretary, the president, and one general who has worked with the hero in the past. That creates a totally different kind of tension than the one where bullets are flying and bombs are blasting.

This director has replaced that with the news to appraise us, and the core team, of the progress of events. This has made the film quite one-dimensional and it feels like you are watching a video game. Actually video games these days have more involved plot lines than this.

Another bet he has missed is when it is reported that the aliens are powered by our water, but he makes no use of it to thwart them. The end of the film is quite inconclusive. There is no real sense of accomplishment, no end of the war kind of situation, where you finally exhale and say, good job, lads. Just a continuation of the fight done in a very lacklustre way and it sucks.

Even a bad movie has at least a few redeeming scenes and this movie has one. When Aaron rappels down from a chopper and his team joins him even though he told them to carry on, that's a good scene. Very brief, but good. But I wouldn't watch this movie again for that.

And I was reminded throughout of how this was a remake of Independence Day, and not a good one. Hence the title.

In a couple of places, I found myself second-guessing the director. For example in one place, the heroine (such as she is) makes a joke about doing a post-mortem on an alien body but the camera handling, or more likely the editing, kills the joke. I'd have done it differently.

In one shot, I could sense the presence of the crane camera and felt like I was watching the shooting rather than an actual scene from a film. I'd blame that on soundtrack and background score.

In a couple of places the background score is not suitable, but mostly it's fine for a formula film.

Conclusion: Overall, it's a film that you can easily miss, without losing anything, but if you get roped into watching it, you'd survive. 

Lock, Stock and Hera Pheri?

Sometimes I feel like grabbing some of the Bollywood people by the collar and giving them a good beating. I am not usually a violent man, but they do try my good nature.

This latest rant is the result of just having watched "Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels". I realized that I might have liked the film if I hadn't already watched it before. in Hindi, as Phir Hera Pheri. Director Neeraj Vora (who has also taken credit as Writer, ha!) has lifted the plot right out of LS&2SM shamelessly and just added slapstick comedy to make it funny. Deplorable, despicable, dreadful!

Had it not been for having watched Phir Hera Pheri I think "Lock, Stock.." is a good film, quite professionally made, though it might not be my cup of tea. I like action films, but I don't usually like British style of comedy.

More reviews later. Proper reviews, not rants. 

Biphasic sleep log - Day 100 - 30th April

It's ironic how this the 100th day of my biphasic sleep pattern wasn't really biphasic except that I slept ttwice.

Because of the whole tiredness, shoulders aching thing I decided to take an early and long nap. So I went to bed at 1430 and didn't set an alarm. So, woke up 1623 on my own. And felt very, very rested. It was amazing. Like 100%+ energy levels.

This reminded me that even on biphasic, I should do a reset once in a while when I take unlimited sleep with no alarm. Once in a while it's good, and despite the idea people get from my biphasic experiments and all this, I do love sleep. It's great! I just want better sleep and more waking time also. I guess, I am just greedy!

In the afternoon and evening I felt quite energetic, but took it easy for the shoulders. And that was fine too. But at about 2330 started feeling sleepy quite suddenly. I think it was more my schedule than any actual tiredness.

Went to bed at 0015 with alarm set for 0500, but also with the understanding that I might sleep longer. Felt asleep quite quickly. Woke up at 0500 and turned the alarm off. Then thought about the shoulders and the fact that even after I woke up I would probably just rest to let my recover from overwork. So why not use sleep for that? So, went back to sleep.

Woke up at 0716. Again, very, very rested, body felt fine including the shoulders.

And that's the 100th day done.

I am sure going to miss writing this log, but as I have said before it serves no purpose any more and the time I save maybe used in other things like a proper blog post.

I'll probably do a summary a few days later and I might add some periodic logs but not more than once a week, just to keep the experiment updated and provide data for the future generations. :)

There's one variation of polyphasic that I haven't tried yet and that's 6hours naps, each one 30 minutes. I think it's called Dymaxion pattern. I might try that soon. :D

Since I am closing this log today, I will reiterate the conclusion once for easy access.
Conclusion: Biphasic sleep pattern works like magic. It delivers on all its promises, more efficient sleeping, better quality of sleep, more energy in the waking hours, short falling asleep time, quick entry into REM, long vivid dreams, good health, good appetite, no effect on weight, abundance of creative energy, increase in productivity.
I have no intention of going back to monphasic sleep in the foreseeable future.

End of Captain's Log, Stardate 30th April 2011.

Biphasic sleep log - Day 99 - 29th April

Because of the whole summer day drowsiness and free-time phenomenon I have been thinking about adding a nap to my day, in early afternoon or even late morning. If I get up at 0500 and take my only nap at 1800, that's a 13 hours long during which I am constantly mentally and physically active. Another nap may not be a bad idea, though it might make my sleep pattern triphasic rather than biphasic. Oh well.

Didn't take an extra nap today but did feel tired towards the late afternoon, so much so that I could not focus on anything after 1700. So, just lay down and watched TV until nap time.

Nap: 1800-1900. Yes, I had set the alarm for 1830 and I did wake up and turn it off, but went to sleep again without making a conscious decision and woke up naturally at 1900. But didn't feel panic when I woke up. It was only half an hour extra.

I felt more refreshed, perhaps I needed that. I had done some Wii fitness today. Since I finished both beginner and advanced level of Obstacle Course, broke my record in advanced Snowball Fight, almost broke my record in beginner Snowball Fight, did some Yoga, achieved an all-time high score in Hula Hoop all in 21 minutes, I decided to go for a jog on Wii. I find Wii jogging much harder than real running for some reason. Apparently, I ran over 3 kms. in 10 minutes. And I did feel tired after that, almost as much as after my real run which takes about 30 minutes for 2.6 miles.

In this 31 session though, I burnt about 162 Kcal and my Wii age was 12 years younger than my real. Not to mention that I was tired and sweating like a pig who has been running cross-country marathon!

After the long nap though, I felt fine, no tiredness. And had more energy today at night. So much so that I slept late at 0030, and could have stayed up even longer but I didn't want to disrupt my schedule.

Woke up at 0515 by alarm and stayed up. Took a few minutes for the eyes come completely awake but didn't have any other trouble.

I am feeling tired in the arms and shoulders, and I know it comes from working on the laptop almost non-stop. I know the solution as well. I will take a break from working so hard on my SL magazine and work on my backlog of movies and TV shows.

Energy levels: 100%
Body: Shoulders and neck tired and tense.
Health: Great.
Mood: Productive+Creative

99 done, 1 more to go!

Biphasic sleep log - Day 98 - 28th April

Considering that these are summer days and I am at  home, I do feel sleepy in the day, but usually I try not sleep other than my one nap, though I have been thinking of adding another scheduled nap in the day then either reducing core time or just keeping it as it is.

Nap at normal time, 1800 to 1817, woke up, did 1 minute of something on the laptop then went back to sleep. I love now how easily I can go back to sleep. Then slept till the alarm rang and woke up at 1830 by the alarm.

Felt refreshed and instantly active as I woke up, no issues there.

At night, felt sleepy about midnight. Therefore, slept at 0050. Alarm set for 0430. I was about to wake up with a little bit of effort but again wasn't careful and feel back to sleep. Till 0510. At that time, I just woke up naturally and this time stayed up.

Again, I had a very vivid dreams in the extra sleep like yesterday, but not as beautiful as yesterday.

Still loving biphasic. 

The Missing Voice

The Missing voice

कमरे में सन्नाटा सा है

छत पर पंखा कड़-कड़-कड़-कड़

अपनी धुन में चलता जाता

शीतल मंद हवा के झोंके 

दबे पाँव खिड़की से आते

फिर भी पर्दे हिल जाते हैं

मोटर कारें चलतीं नीचे 

शोर मगर ऊपर तक आता

फ्रिज की घूं-घूं चलती है अविराम अकेली,

चाहे दिन का कोई पहर हो

मेरी खिड़की के नीचे बच्चों ने फुटबॉल उछाला 

उनके कोलाहल ने जैसे दीवारों को हिला दिया है

इतना सब कुछ होने पर भी,

कमरे में सन्नाटा सा है...

कैसी है वो ध्वनि जिसे मैं सुनने को आतुर बैठा हूँ 

कौन सा ऐसा सुर है जिसकी कमी मुझे खलती है इतनी

नहीं नहीं, 

छोटी सी वो चिड़िया मेरी खिड़की पर आकर गाती थी, 

दो पल का विश्राम ढूँढती 

अपनी व्यस्त ज़िंदगी से जो, 

मेरी खिड़की की छजली पर

चुव चुव चिव चिव कर जाती थी?

मेरा उसका क्या नाता था

मैं क्यों उसको याद करूँगा?

उसके नन्हे से गीतों का

मुझसे क्या संबंध भला?

फिर भी सच है, 

कई दिनों  से उसका गीत नहीं सुन पाया

शायद उसकी व्यस्त ज़िंदगी बहुत व्यस्त हो गयी कहीं पर

शायद मेरी छजली ही अब  दूर हुई उसकी राहों से

या फिर उसको फ़ुर्सत ही ना रही कि आकर गीत सुनाए

क्यों मुझको विश्वास है फिर भी,

अभी कहीं से वो आएगी, 

फिर अपनी ही भाषा में वो 

चुव चिव का वह गीत गाएगी, 

सोच रहा मैं भी उससे 

अपनी भाषा में पूछूंगा  

“क्या इस छजली से मोह नहीं है,

क्यों इतनी दूर चली जाती हो?”

Biphasic sleep log - Day 97 - 27th April

Just when I was thinking that this log was getting monotonous.

The nap was quite good. Went to nap at 1800, fell asleep in 5 minutes and woke up naturally at 1825. Felt fully awake and alert so turned of the alarm 5 minutes in advance and stayed up.

Then at night felt sleep right on schedule. I should mention that now when I feel sleep it's not the normal kind of sleepy which is like a suggestion from the body that perhaps it's a good time to sleep. No, it's more like a complete system shutdown, "The application could not be started because this workstation is shutting down" kind of sleepiness.

But still went to bed at 0030 with alarm for 0510. Woke up at 0510 and felt confident that I could stay up but wasn't careful enough and slid back into sleep very easily. Next thing I knew it was 0647.

Even though I had wasted more time in sleep than I intended, I wasn't sorry about it today. I had had a long, vivid, very beautiful dream! So that was time well-spent.

As for energy levels everything was great.

Energy levels: 100%
Body: Fine
Health: Good
Mood: Relaxed and happy

Three more days to go but having second thoughts about discontinuing the log.

I like him, but...

ये मसाइल-ए-तसव्वुफ़, ये तेरा बयाँ 'ग़ालिब' 

तुझे हम वली समझते जो न बादा-ख्वार होता 

Translation: Ghalib, your subject matters are good and your style is great, we would regard you as a Prophet if you were not such a drinker.

So, Ghalib was not perfect. 

Recently Chalie Sheen went back into rehab. I am a great admirer of him for his acting in general and in Two and  a Half Men in particular. I didn't know what to think when I found out that he was as bad in substance abuse in real life as he was in the TV show as Charlie Harper. 

When I was quite young, in my teenage, I discovered the books of Enid Blyton and got hooked on them. Many years later, I came to England for work and mentioned to someone that I practically grew up reading Enid Blyton and her books taught me English. He told me that Enid was not a nice woman in her real life, she used to be horrid to her children and used to neglect them a lot. Enid Blyton has written a great many children's books and they are vastly popular. I am a big fan of many of her series books like The Secret Seven, The Famous Five, Five Find-Outers and Dog etc. 

Going back to the young age, I think I was in my 20s when Sanjay Dutt's film Khalnayak was released. Sanjay Dutt was in custody at the time for illegal possession of an AK47 rifle. I remember talking about the film with my friends on a morning walk. But we were young enough to know everything, and the solution was clear to us. "Both are totally different matters, it doesn't matter what happens in his personal life, we can go and watch the film." And that was decided. We ultimately didn't get to watch the film, but that's not the point. 

I have many, many examples of this type where a personal is very admirable for something that they do, but also they are bad in another regard. This mix of good and evil can be found in a whole range with the amount of good and bad varying to a great extent but the essential question is the same. 

Sometimes, the decision is clear. Michael Jackson, according to people, was a great musician. But he also had an illegal, horrible, despicable sexual perversion. I never cared for his music or his personality so I don't give a damn how good a musician he was considered to be. On the other hand, his particular perversion, in my books, is absolutely unforgivable, in any condition. So, both ways, I don't like him, and I don't care if he's dead, I am going to speak ill of him, I don't believe in that hypocritical convention that a man suddenly becomes a saint just because he's dead. 

An opposite case, I absolutely love this song called "Cliffs of Dover". I have even posted here about it. It's an instrumental piece by Eric Johnson. While doing research on the song, I came across some forum posts and found that Eric Johnson is a great guy, no conceit, very down to earth, very helpful. I talked to my guitar teacher about the song and he told me that Eric is an absolute perfectionist and works very hard to get his sound just right. All good things, easy decision - I like him!

But, back to the point, what do YOU do when you come to find out something bad about someone you admire and respect? Salman Khan is a great actor but he killed 4 footpath-dwellers while driving under the influence of alcohol. Do you still like him? I still watch his films, but I don't like him as a person. What about you?

For me the question is still open, whereas in most cases, I have a definite stand and opinion, most times an opinion that goes against every other opinion in the world, but I know. In this case, I don't know...

..I'd be very interested to get some viewpoints on this. Please share your thoughts in the comments. 

Biphasic sleep log - Day 96 - 26th April

Had the nap from 1805 to 1830. Went quite well. But that's normal now.

At night, I was late, courtesy of SL, but I think it was unavoidable. Went to bed at 0100, with alarm for 0530.

Did wake up at 0530 and with a little effort got up as well.

Energy levels: 98% but got better
Health: Good
Body: Only slightly tired from doing too much laptop.
Mood: Active

I am going to discontinue this log after it completes 100 days. There seems to be no point to it any more. I have successfully adapted to biphasic to the point that I never plan to go back to monophasic permanently. I have demonstrated that biphasic works and is flexible enough to be continued in view of social demands.

In the meantime, I have tried both Everyman and Uberman and found that none of them work for me at this point in my life.

The only thing I don't like about this log is that it kind of takes over the archive section of my blog since there are way too many log posts and not enough other posts. :) So, in 4 days I plan to stop this.

Biphasic sleep log - Day 95 - 25th April

I should start with the day. I went for a run again. And performed even better than Friday's run. More running, faster speed, personal best for pace. And yet, it was not as good as Friday's run. Today I had to make an effort. On Friday my body was in control, I felt I was in a good enough shape to run. Today, even though I achieved the same targets, hitting the same checkpoints, I had to make an effort for each. Today I had to exercise my willpower to not give up before each checkpoint. I could do this because I knew (from Friday) that I could do it.

Thinking about it later, I tried to find what the reason could be, since I should be even better than Friday simply because of Friday's work out. The time was almost exactly the same, the distance from last meal was about the same. I was not hungry yet, not at all. My diet had been the same.The weather was same, sunny and warm. The only difference I could think of was that Friday's run was after several nights of biphasic sleep, and today's run was off the back of two consecutive nights of monophasic sleep. It's not a true scientific test, but that's the only difference I could think of.

Also felt more tired after the run. In the afternoon I felt very sleepy. So much so that I took my evening nap in the afternoon. From 1545 to 1610. Just 5 minutes to fall asleep since I was almost falling asleep already.

The nap was good. I did wake up with a headache but it went away after a while. And still had the energy to stay up till midnight.

Actually past midnight. Slept at 0030 with alarm for 0510.

Woke up 0510. Took some effort but woke up.

Energy levels: 98%
Body: Fine, no tiredness from yesterday's run
Health: Fine
Mood: Active

Biphasic sleep log - Day 94 - 24th April

Strictly a monophasic day. Was busy in so many things, SL, phone, housework etc. that realized the time at 1845. And I was hungry and had more appointments. So, no nap.

Yesterday's monophasic and today's no-nap day told on me by night. Started feeling sleepy about 2200. So finally slept at 2315. With alarm set for almost 6 hours of sleep till 0500.

Woke up at 0500 and slept again till 0618. Didn't feel too bad as it was after all a monophasic night, rest was more important since there was schedule.

Energy Levels: 95%
Body: Fine
Health: Fine
Mood: Active

Biphasic sleep log - Day 93 - 23rd April

Quite a simple day but not biphasic.

Was out all afternoon so didn't get any chance for a nap. I had a couple of glasses of Diet Coke, which was not good but there were so few real alternatives and I was in the mood. Anyway, I didn't feel any extraordinary caffeine high or withdrawal. But I didn't feel sleepy either.

Felt a bit of tiredness in the legs from yesterday's run.

At home, I did my usual SL stuff and went to bed at midnight with an alarm for 0445 even though I had had no nap.

Woke up at 0445. Took a lot of will power to wake up.

Energy levels: 90% reduced to 80% later.
Health: Fine
Body: Fine
Mood: Productive