Amberville in a new setting ?

"There is a certain inexplicable joy in seeing a creation of yours inspire someone else." - Me.

It's been awhile since I had a story from the 'land where all is not as it seems'... Amberville.

Amberville's a fictional land I'd made up for writing crime thrillers of a 'filmi noir' style.

Amberville still remains the most read story on the short fiction publishing site d.ustb.in ( In case you're wondering if I'm blowing my own trumpet, let me reassure you - I ain't just blowing my trumpet - I'm lifting my collar and doing the cha-cha-cha in the middle of the roadside too as I type this !! )

Follow ups to Amberville included Payback, Guardian Angel and The Confession, besides an extremely long prequel Chasing August, written in 2006, that is still among my personal favourites honestly and was actually inspired by a 'alternative form of prayer' I witnessed on a local channel back then.

Anyway, I was happy to recieve a mail from Dr Rohan, a fellow blogger, asking me if he could use my town for his own interpretation on what life in Amberville would be. I loved the idea of getting to see it from another blogger's point of view and really enjoyed his take on it too when I finally read it.

Without further adieu, I present to you "Murders at the Hospital".

Do tell me and him what you think.

Posted by Dr Roshan R

on -

The Rabid dog

A puppy sits in a corner. A pudgy kid comes along and throws a stone at it. The puppy retreats. The kid laughs proudly at his achievement and saunters off. The next day, the same event is repeated. Everyday, stones are thrown at the pup. Finally, one day, the pup, bruised and bloodied, turns around and growls menacingly, teeth bared in anger as the child approaches. The kid dutifully calls everyone around and points the sight of the bloodied dog to them. He clarifies to all who will listen that he always knew the pup was rabid and that was why he did the things they did. They all congratulate him for his foresight and join him, stoning the pup till it dies. Proud of themselves for saving the town from being attacked by a rabid dog, they all go home.

For many years, I have witnessed this metaphor played out in real life in front of my own eyes. People with bad intentions in their heart constantly grate those who are just looking to get by and when they retaliate out of frustration, they are accused of always having been evil within.

I don't have any answers to this ; no solutions. It is just an observation that has always angered me. People bringing others down to their level of indecency and then destroying them with experience. I wish I knew a cure. I wish I could help.

Posted by Dr Roshan R

on -

My 'Urban Shots' Silver Winner

For those who don't know, Urban Shots is a collection of short stories by 13 Indian authors who told simple stories in their own unique, refreshing way. I had the pleasure of meeting 2 of these authors, Prateek Gupta and Sahil Khan , during my stint in Pune.

Earlier this year, I had taken part in the Urban Shots 2011 Short story Competition.

So did I win and will I be getting published in the next edition of Urban Shots ? That's a question to be answered at a later date. For now, let's just stick to the present topic.

One of my entries did get selected as a Silver Winner for this year's Competition. A Silver Winner is one that does get noticed and discussed, but doesn't make it to the final collection.

I'm providing the link below to the Silver Winner, Heartstrings, a story which when I first posted on this blog, drew a lot of debate on whether it was real or fictional.

I think that's the best part of writing a story for me : when people can identify with it easily and sit back and wonder how much of it is based on truth and where does fiction start.

Well, read it and decide for yourself.

Posted by Dr Roshan R

on -

Most rewatchable movies list

Ok guys... we've done movie lists before where we've discussed best movie endings ever and goosebump moments in movies.

So here's today's topic of the day : Which are the movies you don't mind watching again when they come on TV ?

Here's my list.

1. Terminator 2 : For me, it was iconic for it's time and remains immensely enjoyable even today. Two decades have done nothing to make it any less watchable.

2. A Few Good Men : This court room drama involving Tom Cruise, Demi Moore and an iconic cameo by Jack Nicholson had no action as such but the tension that builds up as the trial progresses is brilliant.

3. Con Air : What can I say ? A lovely romantic starting and ending ( mainly because of Trisha Yearwood's 'How Do I live' ) with the right mix of action and humour in between. Starring Nicholas Cage when he still cared about the movies he signed up for.

4. Shawshank Redemption : Slow. No action. No women. An entire movie set inside a jail. A Stephen King movie. Wow ! You wouldn't have given it a chance. And yet, even though it flopped initially, this movie went on to become a huge favourite of those who appreciate good thought-provoking movies.

5. Love Actually : So many films try the "linking many stories together" tactic. But none of them does it as well as Love Actually. Such a romantic gem. Trust the British to show us how it's done.

6. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaben / HP3 : This is the first movie to give up the childrens movie pretense and instead portray the Hogwarts world as dark with moody hues. But it isn't that : it's the brilliant story and the climax towards the end that appeals to me. It was after watching this movie that I took an interest in the HP series and started reading the books.

7. Andaz Apna Apna : You have to bitch slap all those who made this film a flop when it released. You could show this film on Tv any number of times and everybody would still sit to watch this Salman-Aamir starrer which had us all laughing from the start to ending. So many memorable lines and characters.

8. You don't mess with the Zohan : I don't care what you say. I love Adam Sandler and John Turturro in this movie as Zohan and Phantom. The comedy is in your face and perhaps not for kids, but it's hilarious nevertheless.

9. Independence Day : What's not to love in a movie where you have Will Smith in his debut role taking on a bunch of aliens ? Seriously though, we've seen so many alien movies before and since, but for me, this was thright mix of action and emotion.

10. X men - First Class : I gave this movie no hope whatsoever. No star cast. Trying to show the origins of two old characters with no other famous mutants. But it pleasantly surprised me with a good storyline, multiplthemes of discrimination and acceptence, a lovely background score and some fine acting.

Runner ups : Aladdin, Die Hard, Face off ( How could I not add a John Woo film in here )

I'm sure I've missed many obvious ones in here. So now as usual, it's your turn to add to this blogpost. Tell me the movies you've 're-watched' the most ?

Your additions :

Quakeboy - The Social Network

Dr Sinu Raz - Pretty Woman, Gladiator

Naveen - The Social Network, Armageddon, Rang de Basanti

Rohan - The Godfather, The Uusal Suspects, Transformers, Gone in 60 Seconds, Hum Tum, Rang de Basanti, Dil Chahta Hai

Nags - The Truman Show

Anonymous - Philadelphia, I am Sam, Pretty Woman, Nadodikattu, Godfather ( Malayalam ), Ramji Rao Speaking

Anita - Finding Nemo

Ankita - Godfather 2, Casablanca, Under the Tuscan Sun, The Terminal, Finding Neverland, P.S. I love you, the Harry Potter series, Get Smart, One Fine Day, Hidalgo, Anesthasia, Finding Nemo, Stepmom, King's Speech, A few Good men, The Pianist, Life is beautiful, Saraansh, Jaane bhi do Yaaron, Choti si Baat, Daddy, DDLJ

Prateek - Chupke Chupke, Golmaal, Anand, Chalti ka Naam Gaadi, Choti Si Baat, Notting Hill, The persuit of Happyness,Wall Street, A beautiful mind, Paycheck, Sixth Sense, Matrix

Simply me - Jhankar Beats

Farila - Ice Age series, Madagascar, Up, Kungfu Panda

Suruchi - Love Actually, Andaaz Apna Apna, Sweet November, Lake House, When Harry Met Sally

Purba - Music and Lyrics, Roman Holiday, Matrix, August Rush, Bridges of Madison County

Posted by Dr Roshan R

on -