THE END.

It was a historic moment.It was a moment of immense pride and dream come true for him. It was a moment of ecstasy and jubilation for him.

It happened when the Serbian prince Djokovic knocked the Frenchman Tsonga down in the grand finale of Men's Singles Australian Open 2008 at Rod Laver Arena. Novak Djokovic is the first Serbian to win a Grand Slam title and that too at just a young age of 20. In fact, he made his name in the history book as the youngest male tennis player to win Australian Open at Melbourne.

What a pride moment for him, his family and his nation!

Men's tennis has gotten better with Federer,Nadal,Djokovic and likes of Tsonga threatening each other for the coveted position of Rank 1. It might well be the beginning of a new golden era with new players reigning the turf.

It was fun watching games at wee hours, only to get late for class & job:)

Sadly , it's now THE END of Australian Open 2008.

She couldn't make it..But She can.

Ana Ivanovic couldn't match Sharapova's prowess in the glamorous finale at Melbourne, AO 08. She lost 7-5,6-3 in a 90 minutes battle.It hurts!

She was in tears at failing the expectations of the Australian crowd - a grand slam win by Ana Ivanovic. But she is just 20 and has immense potential. She is surely set to win the next grad slam she plays.

I like her. I like her play. I like her personality. She is a woman with great heart and impeccable talent. She will go a long way.

Her diary note on her loss to Sharapova is so touching and testament of what a beautiful woman she is.

She is still smiling and expecting to beat Sharapova when they meet again!

Yet Another Stunner in AO '08

The Federer Tennis Machine was brought to a shocking halt by the Serbian Djokovic on Day 12 of AO 08!

Djokovic tread past Federer to set up a clash with the unseeded Frenchman Tsonga in the Australian Open 2008 Final. None of them have won grand slams ever!!

Surely a bad day for the Lord of Tennis!!

My prediction of Federer winning the Semi went wrong but am still sticking to Tsonga clinching the Final! Lets see what happens!

Two Serbains in two different finals! Country must be proud of Djokovic and Ivanovic and praying for their wins!

Tennis couldn't have got better! I am loving it!

Australian Open 2008

Nadal left helpless and shocked.
Unseeded Tsonga making it to the Men's final.
Ivanovic resurging from 0-6 down to send Slovakian Hantuchova packing home.

What a day in the AO 2008! It was day 11 at Rod Laver Arena in Melbourne.

I am dying to see Ivanovic, my favorite tennis princess, outclass Sharapova in Women's final. You might not predict so. Neither they predict so. But I am rooting for her, only for her.It's already being called as "possibly the most glamorous grand-slam final in history". Clash of drop-dead gorgeous tennis princesses!

Then awaits the blood bath in Men's game. I am afraid that Federer will find his nemesis this time in Frenchman Tsonga - the find of AO'08. Frenchman's strategic tennis intelligence coupled with immense physical strength makes him a great contender for this year's AO.

I predict Fed vs Tsonga in the Men's final with Tsonga as the winner!

If Djokovic could take on Fed in US Open 2007 , Tsonga can obviously in this Australian Open 2008.

let the game begin.

Bravo! Federer is the Lord of Tennis!!

It's Australian Open 2008. It's Rod Laver Arena at Melbourne.

An epic battle between rookie Siberian J.Tipsarevic and the best of the bestest Federer just ended in a result so relieving to me! 4.5 hours upwards game . A 5 setter. 50+ combined aces. What a nail biting match!

What more you accept out of a game?

Federer won the game to advance to the 4th round of Australian Open. It was a hard fought victory against the immensely talented Serbian Tipsarevic.It ended in 6-7,7-6,5-7,6-1,10-8.

Go Federer! Go! Do watch out for the Spaniard bull though. He is lurking there.He is Rafael Nadal!

New Year,New Things.

I was in India this dec for a short trip. It was great to spend some quality time with my lovely sisters and mom n dad. I also managed to visit my maternal grand-ma and grand-pa who have been very close to my heart.

Was back to College Station on 27th dec.

Winter break and you in College Station. A very pitiable situation!!

But fortunately, Anshul one of my Rurki friends was here in Austin for a business trip from AMD India and so I got to celebrate the New Yr in style:)

Austin, the Music capital of America, was a great place to be on the New Yr eve. Melodious music pervading the Austin Downtown, street performances by talented break-dancers ( am in lack of word here:)), electrifying African-Brazilian dances, THE crowd to 6th street and not to mention, the 15 minutes of spellbinding Fire work - everything happening around gave the New Yr celebration a true Austin spirit - the spirit of music, the spirit of living life!

With new yr comes new things in life. People make resolutions to formalize the newness they want to bring with the new yr. I too made a few resolutions but in an informal sense. Yeah, in the stricter sense, they may not be called New Yr Resolutions but they are a few new things I want to achieve in this new year. They relate to my studies, my extracurricular activities and my love for playing guitar. Specifics better be kept to the diary so that at a later time I don't find myself amidst the battle of defending myself for not able to keep my resolutions. This way, I get the exclusive rights to amend them and follow the way it suits me:) goofing around!

Feliz Año Nuevo! bonne année! ein gutes neues Jahr! nav varsh ki subhkamna !

I love the people of America. I love the people of Europe.

It's been a year when I came to USA to pursue my higher studies. Honestly, those 365 days have been a great learning experience. I got to experience the new education culture, the new social structure, the new people, the new fashion.... a lot of new things:)I love the people of America for their honesty and straightforwardness. I love the fashion consciousness of Generation-Y. I love their helping nature.

How do I know Europeans in real life? Mainly as an observer at the Frankfurt Airport on my flight journey to India. You get the snapshot of the whole civilization at an airport as humongous as Frankfurt's. And that's where waiting for 4 hours for the connecting flight to India, I got the glimpse of Europeans in masses - from all over the Europe - Dutch, English, Russian, Belgian, Italian, French. I was most fascinated by their fashion style. how great they are when it comes to fashion! beautiful gals being the ambassador! I long to travel to Europe and experience its beauty!

Being a patriotic Indian, I need not say the OBVIOUS:)

A state of "Mixed feeling"

it's 6:46 am CST and I should be better off sleeping. But am blogging.Emotional eruptions, u see.

You don't get sleep when you are down.You don't get sleep when you are unhappy with yourself.This fall semester has so far been not a satisfactory ride.I am not impressed with myself and how I have managed my precious grad time.Am sober and unphilosophical;)

On a positive note, I did make some great and fulfilling decisions.

1. I joined CRY TAMU as an active volunteer and have been democratically accepted for the VP position. I look forward to bring great and positive changes to our CRY TAMU chapter with my awesome team mates.

2. I bought an acoustic guitar at the start of the sem and am desperately trying to learn playing some tunes. Plain White T's -Hey there Delilah - should be the first. I am though horrible with remembering music lyrics.

3.I bought Football Sportpass this sem and have been a loyal 12th Man watching A&M winning all of their home games.Last game against OSU (24-23 win) was a thriller.

4.I have been going for most of the Women's soccer home games and am proud of our smart gals. Today is the big day!! t.u vs A&M. rank 1 vs rank5.

5.I frequent gym with passion. I love working out.

I don't wanna miss the beyond-the-study thrill of the grad life and am pretty happy with what I have been doing at this front.

BUT.A big BUT. I am not satisified with how I am doing with my academics. I have not made good progress with my research. I should have had.I am not making good use of the classroom lectures.Assignments get done invariably on the last nite to submission. Guess that's not uncommon. Usual grad life.Yet , I can try to do better but have not been putting a good effort towards that.

BUT Sem is not done yet.It's half way to its finish line and I plan to make the BEST use of the remaining time.

We come to tryst with such a state of "mixed feeling" a lot of times in our lives and in my opinion, we should use these oppurtunities to contemplate and move on with a positive note.

And so what I am doing. Hoping for good days ahead!!

Serbs have arrived !!

Djokovic stunned Federer in Men's game and Ivanovic overpowered Nadia Petrova in Women's game. What a day for Serbians!! After Russians, it's now the Serbians who are hogging the limelight for their tennis prowess!

Novak Djokovic crushed Roddick and Nadal in straight sets in his way to set up the meeting with Roger Federer in the Final of Rogers Cup in Montreal.

Defeating Roger might have been the sweetest thing he did but with this much deserved win he also became the first player to beat the world’s top three ranked players in the same tournament since Boris Becker defeated No. 3 Michael Stich, No. 1 Pete Sampras and No. 2 Goran Ivanisevic in 1994 in Stockholm.

His intelligent game of tennis with balanced talent made Rogers gasp for life on the Big Day. Djokovic is the talent to look out for this Summer!

And then came the Serbian beauty at LA in style and walked away with the Trophy stabbing all her opponents.

Ana ,19,pulled a deserving win against Petrova in the final of East West Bank Classic in Carson, California and propelled herself to a career high of rank 4.Her forehands were deadly and accounted to 21 of 31 of her winners.

Petrova was overwhelmed by the majestic game of Ana Ivanovic who is sometimes compared to legendary Steffi Graff for her forehand shots.

She is the upcoming nemesis to the present tennis princess Maria Sharapova. Maria better be working on her shots!!
Above all,as stated in Wikipedia, Ana Ivanovic has been called the prettiest female player to ever grace the Wimbledon courts by the British tabloids. Way to go damsel!

US open series is getting interesting by each passing day and more amazing is the emergence of hidden talents to the world stage.

i am loving it!

She came, she conquered

The tennis princess Maria Sharapova clinched her first title of 2007 by wining the Acura Classic tournament @ San Diego. It was not an easy final against the 11th ranked Swiss princess Patty Schnyder but Maria kept her nerves and clinched the title 6-2,3-6,6-0.
This win gives her the confidence to move ahead elegantly towards the US Open and repeat the victory story of 2006.

Go Maria, Go!

"lethologica"

As WordWeb dictionary defines this word, Noun: lethologica ; the inability to remember a word or name.

I feel I am suffering from this psychological disorder and that worries me. This comes in the path of effective communication and sometimes I have barely escaped from putting myself in unfathomable embarrassing situation. I feel I am still in the infancy of this disease and am struggling hard to nip it in the bud.Cure is surely fuzzy.

I learnt more about this disorder on Wikipedia and was shocked at its widespread infliction to the Westerners.It's considered a 'lifestyle disease' and is primarliy caused by strenuous mental exercise leading to an onset of memory loss.The other factors which contribute to the disorder are physical fitness, social interaction and base memory capacity.

I fail to understand how I qualify to be one of the victims of this disease? Stress??Physical Fitness??Social Interaction?? dunno!! Base memory capacity?? May be!! Hope not!

Sounds worrisome but thankfully it's just a "lifestyle disease" and is reversible.

Fate of the Flight 93 and the people on-board( 9/11 )

Sometimes it's hard to contain your emotional outburst.Blogging is one way to let it out!

Today, in the evening I was watching a documentary airing on History Channel on the heartrending story of the crash of United Airlines Flight 93 on 9/11.I can't resist writing about it.

Flight 93 was the only one of the four planes that didn't hit its intended target, instead crashed in an empty field just outside Shanksville,Pennsylvania about 150 miles (240 km) northwest of Washington, D.C. The intended target was presumably the White House or US Capitol Building.

It was the only one of the four planes from which a good number of approx. 10 fone calls were made by the passengers to their loved ones.There were 38 passengers (including the four hijackers) and 7 crew members on-board the plane.No one survived the crash.

The one hour documentary was so touching and gripping that I couldn't leave my couch until it finished. The series of unfateful events on the Flight 93 leading to its final crash were reconstructed for this documentary based on the phone calls made by the passengers and data from flight data recorder and cockpit voice recorder.

The terrorists boarding the plane.The terrorists taking control of the plane.It was so horrible.

The unbelievable shock and fear of the passengers. Their struggle on the plane.Their phone calls to their loved ones saying them good bye.Their One Last effort to overpower the terrorists.And the uneventful Final outcome.Everything was so heart wrenching.

Those bastard Islamic terrorists! .Islamic Terrorism is so pervasive.Hope we soon see an end to it!

More about the Flight 93 crash is here...

I felt so good...

Yeah, I can't resist telling this even if this may not sound so tell able...

I am living on a sublease this summer.For that matter,I was in spring too. A true wanderer I have been.Changing homes every semester!! Anyways. In the present apartment, I have 1960 Zenith color TV in my own room.I have an Universal RCA remote control too:)

Now I had a situation today in the evening.I went to sleep around 6 pm- a short evening snap.And woke up at 7. And then carried out some personal work till it was 11.It was time to take dinner.Sat for dinner with pizza on plate in my room and tried to hook on my TV.But things were not fine. The remote control wasn't responding.I played with some function buttons on the remote control but to no good.I had to manually turn on the TV and select a channel.Remote control to my agony was dead.

Anyways, I enjoyed the pizza though with the thought of dysfunctional remote control on the back of my mind throughout.When I was done with my dinner, I set to resolve the problem.

I first tried out figure out what could have caused the problem.Battery drainage seemed the most probable cause.Fortunately, I had two spare batteries with me but changing them also didn't help.I was wondering what on earth made the remote control go berserk when it was very well functioning in the morning!! I was getting really desperate and anxious with no clue how to get around the problem.Manual shuffling of channel is unthinkable with the present living style.Probably, this was the first time I realized how revolutionary it would have been when remote control first came to the market.

However, I was bent on fixing the remote control.So I googled the web to seek some help.And to my relief, I found a few pages on RCA remote control support.I tried the instructions but apparently it was for remote control with a different set of buttons.Not all remote controls are the same:(

I kept breaking my head on the problem.But you know, hard work pays.To my ecstasy, eventually with hit and trial , I could manage to apply the instructions from web on my remote control and could reset and re-program the remote control.it's working now!! I am able to shuffle through the TV channels.What a relief!!

I felt so good!!

And on hindsight, I believe I apparently slept in the evening with remote control underneath me and probably some magic combination of buttons got pressed rendering the remote control dysfunctional.Whew!!

too young to marry

Life is Beautiful! isn't it?

people fall in love. they do crazy things. for a moment they forget the whole world and want to be left alone with each other. it's so romantic.

then there is marriage. something very sweet but at the same time it tests people's love for each other. many wonder why 18- is too young an age to get married. when married , one realizes that.

it's a sweet love story.starts with passionate love between two 18yr lovebirds. lovebirds who are smart,beautiful,ambitious & intelligent. she makes it to Harvard but he just misses it. but that doesn't come in their way to get married and so it happens. though in a hard way - against the wishes of Max's parents and Jessica's dad. whatever.

married life begins.Max chooses to move to Boston (Harvard) with Jessica and plans to work full time till he too gets back to school. and here starts the true test of their love.

it was entertaining to watch how they battle with their immaturity which was apparently killing their "bond of love". they go through the phase of immense marital pressure. too young to marry!! situation gets dirty. they separate for a while to save their relationship. but of no help. it finally gets to the point of "divorce". and all this happening between two 18 yrs old passionate lovers.

but you know, true love wins over everything. intensity of love and not the age , is the measure of maturity.

they ponder for a few days. they realize they can't live without each other. that pays.they finally resolve to get over all the fallouts. and they do get back to each other. Max applies to Harvard again and this time makes it. and then resumes the beautiful life of the modern Romeo and Juliet.

this is a sweet story of the movie " too young to marry (2007)" that i just finished watching on Lifetime network on my tv.

i know i am gonna screw up my project and the next meeting with my research adviser coming later this week. but then it was too good a story to resist blogging about.

Manish! BACK to STUDIES.Seriously! u can save your ass.

History was made @Wimbledon today

Throne was at risk! Stakes had never been so high @ his homecourt !

It was a classic final.It was such an enjoyable experience to watch the champions battling giving their best.Did you miss it?

Yeah, it was gentlemen's final between Federer and Nadal at the center court of Wimbledon. Federer won it 7-6,4-6,7-6,2-6,6-2. He equaled the Bjorn Borg's legendary record of winning Wimbledon title for 5 consecutive years.History was made today.
It was the first time in the last 5 years that Federer had to battle for 5 sets int the final to prove his dominance.Infact this was the longest final ever played at Wimbledon since 1985.Federer had never looked so unnerved.He was pushed to the limit and had tears in his eyes at being luckier on the judgment day.Yeah, he himself said to Nadal at the nets, " You equally deserved it.I got luckier today." The match was so close that you couldn't predict who's gonna make it today.Nadal was at his best and at a point seemed to be better of the two.But then a winner out of two champions is the true champion.And Federer proved the world that he rules the grass! he is the King of Grass! Wimbledon is, his home!
The score itself speaks the quality of the game that was played.Nadal with his power strokes, his forehand and backhand winners made Federer sweat for the title.At a point, Federer was outraged at the Hawkeye's decision before going 0-4 down in the 4th set. He demanded it to be shut off. He was heard saying during the changeover, "it's killing me.I can't believe it(shot) was in." Never have we seen Federer so threatened.It was so uncharacteristic of this great champion. But then he kept his cool and turned the fortune in his favor by playing superbly in the 5th and the decider set.

It was surely an unforgettable game.Nadal though lost showed the world that he too has the potential to win championship at the grasscourt.

This only makes the coming US Open series a more interesting tournament.Is Federer gonna live up to the challenge of the Spaniard? Is he gonna win the US open series for the fourth consecutive time?

Only time will tell!

Sharapova Vs Venus @ Wimbledon

What a match it was! Tennis Princess Sharapova battling to survive against the Mighty Venus . Sharapova had played some great matches in this Wimbledon before this meeting and was clearly the favorite. In fact, she had an overall record of 3-1 against Venus prior this match.

But it wasn't her day today. She was overpowered by Venus's power game and had a little chance at any point in the match to make a comeback.

But despite the unfortunate result, match was not a disappointment. Sharapova though subdued showed some great fight.She saved 7 break points and rallied for 13 deuces to win a game in the second set to lead 2-1.A big thing in ladies' game!

She surely was not at her best.Her serves were no match to that of Venus. Sharapova's fastest was the average of that of Venus.At the end, better playing lady made it to the QF.
But it's not the end of her world.She is just 20 and young and beautiful and athletic and a great tennis player.


Come 20th August and US open series will lay down red carpet for her.May she show her charisma there!

A weird thought came to me....

Yeah, it's not the best time to blog when you are at work and that too with supervisor sitting in the same room. But what the heck, I want to blog and I will.

Begin

{

I was just going through Orkut accounts of some of my friends.(Orkut as you know is the most popular social networking site among the Indians .Americans have Facebook on the contrary and though I hate to say , it's much more better than Orkut). And I was wondering why do some of my friends completely erase their scrap book and start afresh. Yeah this is the weird thought that came to me- why do they do so?.I wouldn't do that. Ofcourse, I do clean up the grabage (spams/unwanted messages) but have never thought of erasing all the scraps. Not because I will go through them someday but because I don't want to.

I remember, Orkut was a craze in my undergard years. But I didn't join the movement then ! I joined it only when I moved out of the college and got into CSC. And it was surely one of the best things I did at that time. Orkut has helped me to unite with almost all of my yesteryear's friends. And I love to make the most of it afterall friends are the most treasured possession of our lives.When I joined the Orkut, I had already many of my friends very active members of the group and had "1000+" scraps under their belt. Yeah, I believed it as an achievement! I thought that I too on one fine day will surpass that mark!

Infact that's how it started.The motivation to achieve a big scrap figure only helped me. Specifically, it helped me to be in constant touch with my friends. It's not always about first hearing from them.It's also about being you the first to say your "Hello". This continued. Now with 1000+ scraps under my belt, I don't have the same motivation driving me. But being in a differnet country and away from all of my friends back there, that itself drives me to log onto Orkut and scrap them. So the figure anyways keeps growing.

I would love to see the number growing. A large number reminds me of my achievement to surprass that magic figure of 1000 scraps. I wouldn't make it ZERO and erase that moment from my scrapbook. I guess many of my friends don't think this way!! Otherwise why I would they clean up their scrap book.But then thinking from a different angle, it's just an online messaging tool and so why so much of hooplah. It's like Messenger Online! Message your friend and forget about that! Only I haven't started thinking this way!!Sometimes it's helpful though. You realize that when you have a deadline of assignement/project and you don't care about Orkutting/Facebooking. Scrapping is surely a filler in the busy schedule of a grad student. So sometimes an alternative thinking style helps. A more unlike my style of thinking attaching too much of importance to Orkut and Orkutting.

But then that's how it is and life goes on!


}

End

A weird thought indeed that came to me! I should better return to working now! Multitasking is so tough!

Art of reading "Research Papers"

5 p.m., Evans Library

It was Friday evening.I got an e-mail from my Prof (research adviser) asking me to let him know by Sunday evening if I have gone through all the research papers I was supposed to.If "YES", we would have a meeting on Mon.This would be my just second meeting with my research adviser.I am still new to "Research".

It's now Sunday evening.But the good thing is that I can reply "YES" to him.

Now, reading 10 research papers in a span of 36 hours isn't an easy task. It's not anything like reading Dan Brown's Da Vinci Code or Watching "Friends"/"The Apprentice".Then you can do it in a non-stop style. This art is all together different. It requires a strategy, strong commitment and above all interest. No doubt I have the interest as "the interest is specifically my research interest". So, one criterion is already met.But unfortunately it's not a sports interest.It has something to do with sapping of mental power and there comes the problem.

We need to commit to a strategy and execute it with concentration.Not an easy task.

For me, studying at home is the best thing.It's your own home.You can study with some soft music on.You can take snacks break or bathroom break anytime you want.It's convenient.It worked out well till now for me. BUT not any more. Research study can't be done at home.Bet me.The cosiness of the home kills your reading concentration and induces sleepiness.Writing/working on computers and reading are two different things.At least for me, I can do writing assignments with music on.It poses no distraction.The cosiness of home doesn't hamper the productivity.But reading research papers and that too for a long period is surely very opposite.It's a daunting task.

So, I chose to do the reading in our Evans Library.You have nice ambiance.Silence.Not the sleep inducing cosiness of home.Yeah, sometimes some beautiful girls do become the cause of distraction :) but then more often you visit library for studying, less distractive they become to your concentration.At least I could almost complete studying my research papers.May be I will have to visit the place more often now till I get an office of own for research.

I should better go trough a few of the remaining ones.cya!

I fell in love with Rebecca...

Sunday,10:20 a.m.

I have been watching "The Apprentice" Season 4 for the whole yesterday night and today morning.I finished just a few minutes back.Huh, I don't believe that even now I don't feel sleepy.Rather, I am dying to scribble something in here.Reason.This 14 week reality show is so inspiring.18 US talented guys(gals) fight for being "the Apprentice" under Donald Trump.U know what it means? It means unbelievably & awfully something very BIG.

I had watched a few weeks of Season 4 while I was back in India but then yesterday, I completed downloading "Season 4" from BitTorrent and had a ball watching the whole 14 week episodes back by back in a span of 8 hours.It was hell of a night-out!!

I instantly fell in love with Rebecca. A 23 yr old journalist.An intelligent,smart & drop-dead gorgeous beauty.She was an awe to the other 17 contenders.She never bitched around.She played cool and earned immense respect in the eyes of Mr. Trump.And that means a lot.She was unfortunate to break her ankle early in the 14 week fierce battle but then she continued.Not only that, she rose to every occasion and proved she could kick the ass of every other contender even being on crutches.

The stage for the Grand Finale was awaiting her and she made it.Mr trump was so impressed with her and Randal , the two finalists, that it seemed he is gonna choose both of them as his Apprentice. Randal was MIT and Oxford educated.A great leader with charismatic personality.Both of these guys had immense respect for each other.I loved this part.

Mr Trump chose Ronald as his Apprentice and asked him if he wanted Rebecca also to be hired.To everyone's shock, he refused it. He was called selfish while a few minutes back he was a hero and a selfless guy in everyone's eyes. But his decision could have been right also.Otherwise Donald Trump, a 'big opportunist' wouldn't have let Rebecca go so easy. Rebecca could only shake hand with Donald Trump and say, " That's unfortunate". I know baby.U also deserved "The Apprentice".

Hats off to her.A 23 yr old lady making it to so big.She inspires me in many ways.

Have much to do.It's race against time.

A few good movies....

I have been watching a lot of good movies these days - thanks to the following

1.it's summer break and I have no tension of submitting an assignment the next morning
2.my room mates (Lamby,Rajat) already had a Blockbuster rental when I moved in to live with them
3.sites like peekvid.com and movieforumz.com

This is an era of digital revolution.One gets psyched keeping pace with what's happening in the digital word.But pervasiveness of DVD quality movies is one gift of this revolution.

Tom Cruise starer "Risky Business" comes the first in the order - of watching the movie.I remember I had great fun watching this movie.Tome Cruise's fresh teenage look in this movie fits so properly to the whole plot of the movie.It's a movie about a college going kid.His parents go out for a vacation for a few days and hand over the keys of the palatial home to him whom they "TRUST" big time.Poor Parents!! In such a setting starts the "ultimate entertainment" and " the "risky business". I fondly remember the delivery of this dialog( to Tom Cruise from his one friend). It goes like this

"Often say what the fuck.It provides you freedom.Freedom provides you opportunity. Opportunity makes your future."

Second movie I watched was "Blood Diamond". I have a habit of first seeing the IMDb rating of a movie and then watching it. A rating more than 6.5 , I consider , approves a movie to be great. This movie has a rating of 8.0.It stars DiCaprio & Jennifer Connelly in a story which is at times gruesome but overall thrilling and moving. It's based on a real event. It's in the setting of Civil War of 1999 in Sierra Leone.About the illegal mining of conflict diamonds in Sierra Leone and the atrocities met out by the rebel force (RUF) on the locals.DiCaprio (Archer) plays a role of a mercenary and is in hunt of the "Blood Diamond".He cuts out a deal with Solomon who would lead him to this priceless diamond in exchange of the promise that Archer shall find Solomon's son with the help of Maddy( Jennifer),an American Journalist. It's an awesome movie.

"The Cranes are Flying" is the third movie which I liked a lot.It's a Russian movie made in 1957 in the setting of World War II.It's black and white.It's a love story with a cruel ending.War reckons her lover to go to the front and fight against the Germans while she awaits,gets harassed, marries some other guy only to find later how deeply his "brave" boyfriend loved her.It's a touching story.A movie made in 1957 with superb direction.Go for it dude!!

The fourth movie which I shall recommend watching is "The Battle of Algiers". It's a French movie depicting the fight of Algerians against French Rule for their Independence. It reminded me of our Independence movement against the British Rule.The characters and events in the movie look so much real.The battle of extremists group ,National Liberation Front (FLN as in French) against the French rule is one main draw of the movie.The tactics of FLN insurgency is worth watching.In the end we find, as in our Independence movement, a mass uproar only brings freedom to them.

Nice movies they are.I really enjoyed them.With lights switched off,a glass of wine and sound surround system turned on, go and enjoy these movies.