An evening with the Geiko

Most of us would have read about the Memoirs of the Geisha, enjoyed the film as well. I had the opportunity to interact with two.

We were a group of 26 for whom this was a surprise parting party planned along with a performance. From what I understood, its extremely expensive to see a performance from a Geisha but since this was a sponsored gift we got lucky :)

There were three of them there, an ex Geisha, a Geisha and a Geiko. The ex-Geisha was the one who spoke to us about how it all works. She told us that today the number of girls who like to be Geisha has reduced drastically, the ones who are interested have to join in at a tender age of 12/13, this is when their training starts, after about 3-4 years of training, they become Geikos, that's Geisha in the making and by about 19/20 they are Geishas.

Geishas are trained to be individuals whose company is enjoyed by the rich men in Japan. They can participate in intellectual discussions, entertain with style and serve with the the highest grade of proficiency.

We spent over 2 hours with the Geisha and the Geiko and they spoke to us about a lot of things other than how they are brought up, they told us a little about the games they indulge in, the time they take to dress up, its about 2 hours every evening, the kind of make-up they use, the different symbols on their robes. We asked them what do Geishas do when they are no more Geishas and they told us, they get married, infact the ex-Geisha who was there is married with two kids. They told us, being a Geisha is most often a matter of pride as it shows the level of ones education and stature. They are powerful and command a lot of clout in important circles, though this clout has reduced over time as the society has changed.

Overall it was an experience to remember. I have put a link to the video, hope you enjoy it. The one in the brown robe is a Geiko while the other one is a Geisha.

My Nokia 5140i

Everybody always makes fun of how much time I really take to buy a phone, I started with using a 6110, dropped it in a gutter, used a friend's phone for a while den bought a 6100, used that for a while, lost it some 4 times, in cabs, ricks, in hotels but it always came back, anyway, the point is, I never bought a fancy phone and while I moved up the food chain, I had friends trying to get me to buy a fancy phone, but I never gave in.

This time I could not get away from buying a phone, my 6100 totally gave in, it refused to get charged, so I started looking for a phone, almost bought into the K810i and then saw the K850i, totally fell for the phone, now the problem is that its not available yet, but I had to buy something so started to look for a phone which was not very expensive but yet decent.

Chanced upon the Nokia 5140i and quite liked the really interesting looks, apart from that it has some really cool features, ones that you wouldn't have found in phones but in an expedition kit (compass) or a treadmill (fitness log) or a first aid kit (thermometer) Also the guy who sold it to me said this phone is shock & water resistant and frankly it looks it too. All in all, its a pretty good phone and doesn't cost too much, just over Rs 3500. There are the other regular features as well, camera, stop watch, radio, alarm, organizer etc.

So go ahead and check the phone, its definitely worth it.. And about me, well, I had planned for this as a phone till the K850i is launched but if I have to go by what me friends are saying, I will live with this one for a while.

Manorama | Six Feet Under

Its the story of a middle class PWD employee who wanted to be famous in life, he would want to do anything for that. Moreover there was a latent dream of being a detective, this was combined takes him on a trail that reveals a few dark secrets. Some bad blood, some nasty truths and a few bleeding bodies.

Overall, the movie was slightly slow but worth a watch. Don't spend too much on the movie, go to a a cheaper theatre and don't take your girlfriend / wife, you will get beaten.

One best of the movie: Art directed very beautifully along with the camera work that does due justice to the efforts made by the Art Director.

This was clicked at the Great Wall of China, the steps there are extremely steep and the picture here shows the struggle of this young boy dealing with the steps.

Borne Ultimatum

I saw the movie last Saturday and I have already spoken to at least 10 people about the movie and convinced them to definitely see the movie.

Ideally you should have either seen the earlier movies or read the books, only then would you really understand what is going on and what finally happens, but if you have not done either of the above, don't panic, just get a quick crash course on Jason Borne (Matt Damon) and go for the movie, its a treat.

Brilliant stunts and performances by the actors, it shows they have been preparing for their role.

One Best about the movie: It has the most amazing fist fight I have ever seen.

Expenditure or Employment?

In the last week, we have seen crores being spent on Ganesh Idols, pandals, lights & decorations, band walas, security, truck hire et cetra, et cetra, the question is whether is this expenditure is money well spent or could we make better use of the money?

I had a quick discussion on the above with my friend Narayan and he had a point...

Narayan: Why do we spend so much money on all these things, think about the millions that go without food every night, cant we utilize this money to provide them with a better life?

to that while I completely agree to him, I made the point that...

Parag: Look at this expenditure as provide employment to as many people who are willing to work extra in these few days to make some extra money, so in a way this money spent provides employment to a lot of people, who are either making some extra cash to support a better life or this money will go a long way in feeding their families, wither ways it hard earned. And hence, the money spent, is well spent and is contributing to the lives of people.

Narayan: But this is all temporary, these artisans, decorators, band walas may earn some money for 10 days and then return back to the same life, whats worst is that a few people who look upon this as an additional income don't make the most constructive use of the money, they end up going and spending it on booze, drugs, whoring etc. What if we rather spend all this money on rehabilitating the unemployed, educate the children, train the skilled manpower and make them self sufficient for life.

The above argument just about had to come to an abrupt end here cause of food coming on the table but its something that each of us need to think about, are we doing the right thing? Ganesh Chaturti is just one example, every time we spend on festivities, we need to think back could we have spent this money better? Could we have made a larger difference in the lives of a few had we spent this money any differently?

Even if a few of us, the youth of today, who is far more practical and level headed take a step to change the wya we think, it sure could make a difference.

Mount Fuji from the Bullet Train

I would have loved to go to Mount Fuji, but this was the closest I could get... This was while I was traveling from Osaka to Tokyo.