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Everyone is still talking about the Oscars and “Jai Ho” from that genius opf a music composer A.R. Rahman. And it is heartening to note that his tune for Jai Ho in the film Slumdog Millionaire has been used for the American “Pussycat Owls.” This one sounds even better. I am now certain that Rahman is going to be flooded with offers from Holywood. Good for him but it will be India’s loss. He has mastered the art of sound pyrotechniques using computer technology. These days he records a single song in days and not in hours as did the former composers from India. The technique is odd but the results are great. Times are changing for the music of the world. The children who did roles in Slumdog are from India who have never even sat on a airplane, let alone visit a foreign country. And they are raving still of their luck to be sitting alongside Brad Pitt and Spielberg! One child still remembers the hug Angelina Jodie gave her when she said “Great Job.” My, things are improving for Indian Cinema.

It is alarming the number of people losing their homes because they defaulted on their mortgage payments. But there is a way you can delay at least a little, maybe 2 to even 6 months. Ask from the mortgage company the original note you signed. As a mortgage defaulter you have the right to ask specially if you are going to face court action. What you will discover is that the company will not in most cases able to produce your note…why, because it has gone for remortgage elsewhere and maybe even traded on Wall Street! One woman noticed this when she innocently asked for the note. In the meantime you seek a job or make some arrangement to pay the loan. How do you like that?

   As I said the other day, only nationalization will help from the financial crisis that America is going through now. Do not allow the banks and insurance to get away with the corruption in them. Only the govt can do this.

So it is all over. The waiting, the excitement, the breathless acceptance speeches from the winners made this year’s Oscars more memorable than ever. The world has gone gaga over that musical genius from South India - A.R. Rahman. When you really go to see the reason for his phenomenal success in 2008 - 2009, it is not difficult to unravel the mystery. Note that Slumdog Millionaire also won the best Oscar for Sound Mixing - for sound recordist Resul Pookutty. This man was on television yesterday and so graciously acknowledged that the sound techniques were actually Rahman’s work as well. Take a close hearing of any important scene in a film which has Rahman’s music. The sounds, music you will hear will be special for this prticular scene only. Rahman has mastered the art of using sound to enhance the value of any scene in a movie. He uses the latest computer technology to get that faint naunces in every song piece that he composes. The overall effect is devastating to even an expert in this technique. Take a look at Ghajini, Dostana and now Slumdog. The common denominator is the sound in the background. Lets not forget Rahman was judged by American standards. Those sitting in the Kodak theater in Los Angeles for this year’s Oscars felt something different about this film. They then gave the award for this talent. Thats all. Rahman is getting tax exemption for all the cash prizes he has won. This is going to be a hell of a windfall for him running into millions of dollars. I am sure the world of music in South India is going to benefit greatly as a result.

Finally the Oscars are over and as expected, “Slumdog Millionaire” has won so many Oscars including best picture, best director, best music director. But the most credit must go to the amazingly blessed man ” A.R. Rehman.” It is clear he is God’s chosen man of this year’s oscar. And he rightly deserves the blessing. And to think he nearly gave up on music because his family had no money left to pursue his creative career. Rehman is the son of Shekar , a musician in music director Ilayaraja’s troupe. Shekar suddenly died leaving his family stranded. They rented the old instruments in the house to make some money. In the meantime Rehman himself began on training in music. He won some kind of a scholarship but could not find work in a big way after even that. He was Ilayaraja’s assistant for a time until he had his break when Maniratnam gave him the task of music for his “Roja.” The rest is unbelievable history. Today his cds have sold more than even Elvis and Beatles! Still talent had to show first and he has in plenty. Still, the best is yet to come from this genius of a music man. We thank God for him. He has done India proud. 

They may look like criminals but they really cannot be entirely blamed. They were doing business by taking money from Tom to pay Peter all the time. As long they made profits for their customers, it was fine. But when the people who were lending them credit stopped giving them credit ( the banks and other lenders), sooner or later they had to default. It went on and on until they could not run their business anymore. This is what happens when the country’s economy depends entirely on just 300 million people doing all the spending. But I sympathize with those people who have lost money with Madoff ( Kevin Bacon, my favorite movie star for one). Many had to sell their houses to meet the loss, many committed suicide and Madoff cooly sits in a multi-million dollar penthouse on house arrest. Where has all the money gone in America? I hear 30 trillion dollars has just vanished into nowhere. So much for freedom to do any business at your terms all the time. The only way to get out of the mess as I said the other day is to NATIONALIZE ALL THE BANKS AND LENDING INSTITUTIONS! AND MAKE THEM ACCOUNTABLE. Californoia governor Arnold has put a freeze on tax refund and increased taxes. This is only postponing the problem. America is in a hell of a jam and they know it. Hope Slumdog Millionaire wins the Oscars. This is the only award it has not won. So much for a mediocre movie showing the slums of Mumbai in India

So with great fanfare and expectation, President Obama has signed the much talked about and controversial bill of the stimulus package, a package he hopes will create over 3.6 million jobs in one year. But will it work? Will it create more jobs, more investor confidence in the markets, will it put more money in the hands of people to buy more goods and services at affordable prices? The idea sounds good but I don’t personally think will do much good except for a marginal difference. Remember the money (789 Bn $ is to go the states. Thats where the problem will come. Who will enforce and oversee how and where the money was being spent? Building roads and bridges is okay for a developing country, but the United States? I think has already made many mistakes, this is one more. Restricting H1B visas to companies hiring foreign workers after availing bailout money will not prove productive. The companies will have to hire less skilled workers at phenomenal wages. Already companies like Infosys, Wipro, and many others in India are talking about laying off hundreds of thousands of jobs in India. God help the United States and the countries that do business with it.

They had to arrest those people opposing the  celebration of valentines day. Where is the situation heading in India? Is it  the talibanization of India? Women cannot show  their affection in public? This   is  surely the handiwork of  a fundamentalist  political party that is bringing its  own agenda   of  Hinduismin India. God  save this coun  try  if   this party forms the national govt after the elections in April.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               

It must be really a terrible time for Americans. First the near accident on the Hudson river last month and now this air accident in which 50 people have died. We hear one possible reason for the plane  to go of course and crash the way it did was icing. How can this alone cause the plane to explode in seconds. Remember they were in contact with ATC till the end. How did this airplane nosedive onto a single house? Very strange indeed. I hear one passenger ( I don’t remember her name) was going to commemorate the death of her husband in the 9/11 terror attack. Now she too had to go. This is a double tragedy of her family.

   Pakistan has at last admitted that the Mumbai attacks were planned from Pakistani soil and that at least one terrorist Kasab is a Pakistani. What a relief. As expected India is asking for Pakistan to do more…like dismantling the terror camps. Have you seen what the Laskar is now saying? Ha! Ha! They will continue the terror attacks in Kashmir! Ask any Pakistani govt official about Lashkar. He’ll say ” What Lashkar?…What the hell are you talking about? We ain’t knowing any Lashkar!”  I think the idea to restrict H-1B visas for foreign nationals to work in the United States is not a good idea in the long run. I know Americans deserve jobs first for its citizens, but how many jobs are they going to save? These are part of the outsourcing that the U.S. is doing to countries like India which offers quality labor at chicken feed prices. The United States will only lose in the long run. The idea to take away the bank assets is also not a good one fiscally. Poor Obama is confused with the magnitude of the economic crisis. Ain’t gonna work. 

A man, William Young, has written and self published a book “The Shack” with just a handful of copies. He wrote it only to give it as Christmas gift for his 6 children and had no intention of publishing it. He self piblished it only when friends asked him to do it. And do you want to know what happened? The book has sold more than a million copies! It is all about a man realizing and experiencing God as the Holy Trinity - Father, Son and the Holy Spirit. I will not want tell you the story or the plot lest you miss out the excitement. Hurry up and look for the book “The Shack” by William P. Young.

Saw a movie yesterday with Gene Hackman in it. I didn’t get the name of the movie but having Gene in it was enough for me. He still is a treat to watch. Remember “The Poseiden?” There was another film I remember where Gene is a police officer saving a witness who has seen a murder committed from being silenced by the victim’s enemies. He was superb.

And did you know you can reduce stress by one breathing exercise of inhale and exhale? The next time you feel like strangling your boss when he gets upset at you, do not growl and say ” Watch it Man, but for my wife and children, I would have sent you to Hell”; instead, get alone if you can and take a deep breath and the stress will go. This is not my advice, but one from a well known doctor who came on tv yesterday.

There they were…all of them wonderful people, the crew and passengers of U.S. airways Flight 1549 that sank into the Hudson river last month after birds hit the airplane soon after takeoff and destroyed its engines. A prominent television network had them expressing thanks to God on live television. There was captain Sullenberger, his co-pilot, the flight attendents and the passengers for the world to see that they were alive and kicking. Sullenberger was grilled to narrate his trauma and experience while using the waters of the Hudson river as an emergency landing runway to pilot the plane and the passengers to safety. There were visible tears in the eyes of the passengers as they narrated what was a life saving achievement on the part of the captain - how he steadied the plane not allowing it to sink, how he managed the brakes without the plane somersaulting, how he assured the passengers to remain calm all throughout the near crash and how quickly they all got out on the wings to be rescued by the ferry boats. One person was horrified when he noticed they could open the emergency doors. All of this happened only because of a man who had the years of aviation experience and nerves of steel. Hats off captain Sullenberger! Trauma? Not captain Sullenberger… He was so cool that he had not even shifted the tie he was wearing all the time he was heading this incredible and heroic feat!

Elsewhere thousands of miles away, Pakistan has finished its so called cooked up enquiry of the 26/11 mumbai terror attacks and quite expected has not found anything conclusive. It is asking for more time. What else does Pakistan want as evidence? It is time for India to call off this farce, recall its High commissioner from Pakistan, cut off diplomatic ties, stop business activity with Pakistan. And the take up the matter with the UN for imposing sanctions against this rogue nation.