Raazi is a lot of efforts by Meghana Gulzar as well as Alia Bhatt. Ms. Gulzar has really worked hard to depict a Spy story of a brave girl with all the trappings of patriotism and familial bondings, yet managed to tread the ever shifting sands of India Pakistan relationsip with all the balance she could manage. I suppose that is why she did not attract any wrong kind of attention ( you know what I mean ).
Moreover the huge advertising budget of the movie has pushed the audience to the multiplexes. The non stop Raazi related stories in the Sunday times have done the magic. Alia Bhatt is the main protagonist without any crutches in the movie. I wonder what kind of box office collection makes a female actor a super star ! Will there ever be a female super star ?
… and well , Deadpool 2 is a laugh riot. 😊 One of those kind of movies wherein I would put my money. Go watch to laugh if you can stomach the funny bloody fights and the jokes. The movie is NOT for the uninitiated so don’t take my word for it. 😁
Living Stories
Movie review of 102 Not Out
I had no plans to watch this movie 102 Not Out, but somewhat I booked the ticket and the Cinepolis guys gave me a discount on my ticket. I expected to be one among few but then the seats inside the auditorium were full. It was something like Amitabh’s magic, that seemed to be working, especially for the people of the older generation. Today being a Monday, the staff of the cineplex were groggy and tired and also seemed to be having attention issues. Maybe it was their downtime and an after effect of the noisy earth shattering weekends that they may have experienced especially when they have Avengers: Infinity War running in a few auditorium and an Amitabh Bacchan release running in the other few. The fatigue showed when they actually started showing Avengers in the Auditorium that was supposed to run 102 Not Out. Poor me! I had no patience to watch Avengers falling one by one to the Thanos might, once again. I remembered a comment that I read somewhere on the internet that if Obama were the President, the Avengers won’t have faced such a fate as they faced in Infinity War. Hahah.. I felt like laughing aloud when thankfully other people (mostly older men and women along with their children), started protesting. Their preference for Amitabh was obvious. The sleepy staff quickly changed the movie to the intended 102 Not Out. All this was kind of hilarious. We Indians are so funnily imperfect yet so patient. I love these imperfections since they take off the pressure of a polished existence. We thrive on imperfections I suppose and I do not find it difficult to adjust because it is the hallmark of an inclusive culture that emphasises on coexistence. The plush reclining seat and the soothing ambience of the movie theatre calms the frayed nerves, as it is.
Well the movie was a drag initially, so much so that the entire family sitting ahead of me was having difficulty handling their children. Their constant chatter matched the other chatter happening on the screen. On top of that the salad that I had ordered tasted like lemon pickle. Amidst all this brouhaha, I was trying to figure out whether the movie is a comedy or a tragedy. It turned out be a comedy initially and then tragedy in the later part. So the mood had to be tuned accordingly. Quite an effort indeed! Somehow it did manage to get the family ahead of me interested in the later part. So the silence ensued thankfully.. and I could hear some people sobbing as well.
The story is about an NRI (Non Resident Indian) son and his father and the grandfather. Aspirational Indian parents spend their lives and earnings for the success of their children. Many children go abroad to collect degrees and jobs. Some children never return and never even bother to visit their old parents. This movie is a story of such a family. The movie has a strong message for people who grow old and give up living. They spend their life missing their children who fail to value their parents. It was a pleasure watching Amitabh Bacchan wearing red t-shirt and still looking great at the depicted age of 102 in the movie. Rishi Kapoor does justice to the sad and grumpy character of a father who grieves for his wife and craves for his son.
Watch the movie if you want to peep into the world of father-son duo who are in the sunset years of their lives. This duo represents a sizeable population of the ageing parents in India.
Outsourcing and Offshoring: Preventing cyber security threats is a Challenge for the Leadership
Outsourcing and Offshoring are the two solutions, for lot of issues that businesses face because these solutions ensure cheaper human resources, infrastructural conveniences, knowledge and skills and higher growth potential. But at the same time these solutions bring along with them; the apprehensions pertaining to – data protection and security, knowledge and information security; in a nutshell, cyber security. The threats can range from theft, loss or destruction of sensible information and intellectual property, unauthorised access to the network service, infection with malicious code, disclosure of someone’s personal data and identity theft etc. The reasons for such threats can be varied; for example, at offshore locations the cultural and legal environment is less able to protect foreign investors etc. Nonetheless, outsourcing and offshoring are the realities of today’s businesses, so it is essential for the decision makers concerned to do the due diligence in terms of risk assessment that should involve, a thorough analysis of the existing politico legal and cultural environment of the outsourcing partner/offshoring location is concerned. It is more important to think of a mechanism to prevent any threats in such a scenario, rather than treating the very business models of outsourcing and offshoring as potential threats because that would simply mean that we are trying to put the clock behind or reinvent the wheel. The three areas that can be covered to prevent any such cyber threat event are- technological safeguards through building effective encryption mechanism, authorisation schemes, digital signatures, passwords, firewalls etc.; legal, by putting in strong agreements with the other party; and last but not the least, a set of organisational rules, procedures, and having the right kind of people at the right places to ensure effective implementation of the projects. Business is always about risk but it is important for the stake holders to minimise risk by doing the home work properly because risks should not deter one from taking a well thought action.
(This post is from my blog http://www.deepshikhasingh.org, which unfortunately does not exist any more.. Fortunately I had some of the content covered in an ebook which is available on Amazon & iTunes as well.)
What sets you apart?
Being a leader is difficult since it requires a lot of patience, tolerance, resilience, understanding and most importantly assimilation of the positive energy along with the rejection of the negative vibes.
The world needs such leaders more than ever before, since dealing with people is immensely challenging today , given the fact that everyone owns their bit of internet and would like to believe that they know everything. Their attitudes are fuelled not by the consideration of the impact that their words or actions or both might have on others : rather by their, many times completely misplaced conviction, in their own judgments and beliefs.
Humility is one quality that is the hallmark of a great leader because it is always a result of the realization that one can not be ‘much’, without others. This humility, vis-a-vis the arrogance of many, if not most, sets you apart and on a much higher level of success in terms of being able to lead people.
-Deepshikha Singh
The journey of a leader
The journey that lasts forever – from the realm of our worldly existence, to beyond everything ; can be undertaken only with oneself. When do you want to embark on this journey? It is completely your choice. There is no time barrier or time limit. It is simply that you get a call from within you, and you know it is the time. It can happen early or late in life; and it may never happen for many who fail to recognise the ‘call’.
How is this journey connected to leadership? The truth is that it is only a leader, who is the person, who has already embarked on this journey. This leader might be working anywhere, doing anything, impacting whomsoever, but he or she is onto it. Somewhere deep within themselves they know that their ‘purpose’ is bigger and worth leading others towards it. This purpose, when ceases to be only for oneself and takes others as well into its ambit, is the bigger purpose that is much more meaningful.
To commence this journey one needs a complete evaluation of one’s own beliefs and values, which might spring a whole bunch of surprises at once, and send one on the backfoot probably. Here comes the real mental strength that one possesses and also the ingrained preparedness for getting onto the launchpad of leadership that takes one onto its wings. This is a completely new beginning and also a total break from all the undesirable mental blockades of the past.
-Deepshikha Singh
Deepsh27 