Inception. The Ending.

The Ending

There are a ton of theories being tossed about the ending of Inception, the two biggest debates being whether Cobb was still in a dream or did he in fact return to his children in the “real world.”

The ending of Inception is meant to leave you thinking and questioning the nature of reality. The important question is not “Is Cobb still dreaming?” – What is important is the fact that the character of Cobb goes from being a guy who is obsessed with “knowing what’s real” to ultimately being a person who stops questioning and accepts what makes him truly happy as what’s real.

But people want more concrete answers than that, lol, so..

After two viewings I can tell you that from the moment that Cobb and Saito (seem to) wake up from limbo, Nolan very purposefully shifts the film into an ambiguous state that leaves it somewhat open to the viewer’s perception and interpretation of that perception – two big themes of the movie, coincidentally enough.

From the moment Cobb and Saito wake, there is no more dialogue between the characters and few shots or images that would concretely explain or prove one interpretation. Is Cobb still dreaming and his team and family (and maybe Saito) are all projections? Or is it the job completed, everyone is back in reality and everything is happily ever after? There are a few pieces of “evidence” that we can address.

• Was Saito truly powerful enough to make one phone call and end Cobb’s problems or was that just Cobb in limbo projecting his subconscious wish to go home? You can argue logistics all you want, but if it’s said that Saito is a powerful and wealthy man (he bought a whole airline on a whim), then there’s reason enough to infer that he could bend the legal system for Cobb. Rich powerful people bend laws all the time.
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• Is there something up with that immigration agent or is he just an immigration agent? After two viewings, the conclusion should be that the immigration guy is just a guy. If he’s staring at Cobb, it’s because his job is to look people over and scrutinize them. You would not want immigration letting people through without face-to-face scrutiny.
  
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• Did Cobb’s father (Michael Caine) arrange to meet him at the airport or is he there because he’s Cobb’s projection? At this point we’re reading way too much into things. There is a phone on the plane, so Cobb could’ve easily arranged for pickup. This was also an intricate plan they were hatching, so arranging for airport pickup would probably be on the to-do list.
• In early dream scenes Cobb is wearing a wedding band that doesn’t appear in the “real world” scenes or the end scenes in the airport – does that mean the ending is “reality?” Details like that are certainly strong evidence that there is a real world and that Cobb does live in it at times – such as when he isn’t wearing a wedding band.
  
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• Does the fact that Cobb uses Mal’s totem mean it doesn’t work as a totem and therefore he never knows if he’s in reality or not? Again, we’re reading a little too deep into things. The only people who know the weight and feel of that totem are Mal and Cobb, and since Mal is dead, Cobb is the only one left who knows the totem’s tactile details. So yes, he could certainly use it as a measure of reality, the totem was not “ruined” by him using it.
  
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• At the end, Cobb’s kids seem to be the same age and are seemingly wearing the same clothes as they were in his memory of them – is it “proof” he’s still dreaming? As carefully documented by our own Vic Holtreman, at the end of the film Cobb’s kids are wearing similar outfits to the ones he remembers, but their shoes are different. As for their ages: if you check IMDB, there are actually two set of actors credited with playing Cobb’s kids. The daughter, Phillipa, is credited as being both 3 and 5 years old, while the son, James, is credited as being both 20 months and 3 years old. This suggests that while it might be subtle, there is a difference between the kids in Cobb’s memories and the kids Cobb comes home to. That would suggest the homecoming is in fact “reality.”
  
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• Will the spinning top keep spinning or was it about to fall over just before Nolan cut to black? Sorry, we will never know for sure, although it does start to wobble and it is never shown doing that in the dream world. Each of us will take away a guess – kind of the point of that final shot.

At the beginning of the film, after the first job Cobb’s team tries to pull on Saito, we see Cobb sitting in his hotel room alone, spinning the top and watching it intently, gun in hand. This is a guy who is ready to blow his brains out if the top keeps spinning, in order to “wake himself up.” That’s how obsessed and paranoid he’s become.

Throughout the film, Cobb continues to obsess about spinning the top and verifying reality – however, at the end of movie, he spins the top and walks away from it before he can verify if it stops spinning or not. His kids come running in and Cobb could care less about about the top or “true reality” or extraction/inception anymore. He just wants to be with his children, in whatever place he can be with them. That emotional connection and desire is “reality” enough for him.

In the end, Cobb walking away from the top is a statement in itself that also completes the arc of his character. In a way, the movie is its own maze designed to plant a simple little idea in the viewer’s mind: “reality” is a relative concept. :) :)

Bill gates gets bitten on his middle finger. (Total Crap) :P

During his day-long visit to the state on Wednesday, Microsoft chief Bill Gates got a taste of rural India when he was bitten by a mouse on his left middle finger while he was taking rest at a circuit house here. This is the second incident of this kind within ten days, with Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar having suffered and survived a mouse bite earlier.

“We are looking into the matter and it seems the same mouse has done it again. This seems a pre-planned conspiracy as this rogue mouse has been targeting VIP middle fingers.” Dharmesh Kumar, the local DM informed, who looked quite worried for his job and was shouting at his juniors to apprehend the finger-biting mouse as soon as possible.

Bihar Police has released a sketch of the suspect

State administration has not ruled out foul play and suspects the anti-social elements or political opponents of Nitish Kumar of having trained the mouse.

“We don’t rule out any possibility. Animals have been used to carry out anti-social activities even earlier with Taliban strapping bombs on donkeys. We are treating this matter as a serious breach of security.” state home secretary said, assuring the delegates with Bill Gates of full security for the rest of their stay.

State government is also planning to involve central agencies for the mouse-hunt as this incident could prompt US to issue travel advisory to its citizens against visiting India. UPA government is expected to cooperate as an unhappy Bill Gates could hamper development work in Rahul Gandhi’s constituency.

“This is a matter of national importance and Congress doesn’t play politics over such petty issues. We would extend full cooperation to the Nitish government. We could even send Black Cats to catch the mouse, if needed.” Congress spokesperson Manish Tiwari said.

But RJD supremo Lalu Prasad Yadav has squarely blamed the state government for the mess. He claimed that the mouse was acting on its own will and biting people to show its frustration with the state government’s policies.

“We are with the mice community in this struggle. These poor, downtrodden and secular (sic) animals have been on the receiving end ever since Nitish Kumar became CM and declared that rat-meat will be served in Bihar restaurants. These are no anti-social or anti-national elements, they are my vote-bank and they are protesting using democratic means, but this fascist government wants to crush all opposition.” Lalu Yadav extended whole hearted support to the fugitive mouse.

Amidst all these regional, national and international politics, state police is trying to hunt for the mouse with lathis and mousetraps. The mouse was nowhere near being apprehended when reports last came in.

Lol.

Hundreds of thousands fail to qualify for admissions into IITs.(Faking News! Lol).

When he got 61.23% marks in the CBSE class 12 exams, results of which were declared five days back, Neeraj could somehow escape the fury of his parents as he had told them about his healthy IIT JEE prospects. But this lull of five days might prove to be those before a storm as the 16-year-old discovered that he, along with more than 4 lakh others, had failed to qualify for IITs too after JEE results were announced earlier today.

“Honestly, I had my doubts. I had not performed so well in the Mathematics paper. But when board results were out, and stupid journalists were interviewing that fat guy in my neighborhood who had topped the district schools or some similar shit, I lied to my parents to placate their feelings.” said Neeraj from Jaipur, who has been in a Cyber Café since morning when he came to check the results and is not feeling like going back home.

Most of the 13,000 students who qualified could soon see their pictures printed somewhere or the other, ending up further irritating thousands others

Neeraj is joined by at least 4.4 lakh other students, who failed to qualify for admissions into 15 IITs, ISM Dhanbad and IT-BHU, many of whom are now concerned over their future and thinking of alternatives.

Tej Pratap, 16, from Patna is another such student, who straightaway decided to appear at JEE next year as soon as he came to know that he had failed, something he didn’t doubt. Tej had already planned to take JEE at least three times before settling for admission in any college of Delhi University for undergraduate studies.

But not everyone is clear in his thoughts and plans as Tej. The immediate concerns of most of the students were how to explain their performance to their parents.

“I wish some news channel raises the issue of mistakes in the IIT JEE 2010 papers once again.” said Farhan, who dreads facing his parents now without an explanation for his failure. “3 Idiots and Taare Zameen Par haven’t changed anything.” Farhan added, who wants to become a Guitarist.

“I simply don’t like to study. And I don’t have any hobbies too. No passion either for any activity. Is that so bad? Why can’t the world accept as I am?” wondered Bunty from New Delhi, another student who failed, who thinks IITs suck because their servers were down today after JEE results were announced.

Despite being such large in numbers, unfortunately the mainstream media focused on 13,000 odd students who had made it to the IITs, with special focus a bunch of guys who topped the list.

“Talk of minority appeasement. This one has continued unabated for ages now.” complained Ravi from Indore, another guy who couldn’t qualify for IIT JEE despite being among the best students in his school.

Hahahahahahahah :P

Never Too Late

Hoping I can run today
And get away faster then ever from here
Another night and who can say
If leaving is better than living in fear

Here's to all the broken hearts tonight
Here's to all the fall aparts tonight
Here's to every girl and boy who lost their joy
They let it get away

You know its never too late
Get up and start all over again
You know its never too late
There's gotta be a better way
Don't settle for the cold and rain
It's not too late to start again
Find a way to smile and never let it get away

Its been too long and we've been down and out without laughter,
No smiling just tears
Were tired of falling down and being such a disaster,
We've been here for years

Here's to all the broken hearts tonight
Here's to all the fall aparts tonight
Here's to every girl and boy who lost their joy
They let it get away you know its.........

Never too late!!
Get up and start all over again
You know its never too late
There's gotta be a better way
Don't settle for the cold and rain
It's not too late to start again
Find a way to smile and never let it get away.

Chile and Haiti: A few thoughts

Recently, the world has witnessed two very disastrous Earthquakes. One in Chile and the other in Haiti. The one in Chile was as extremely strong and powerful. Measuring 8.8 on the Richter scale, it was one of the most powerful earthquakes ever recorded. Powerful enough to shift the axis of the earth and shorten the duration of a day! No, Im serious! The Haiti Quake however was not as strong but the destruction and devastation it caused was much much more.

The Chile Earthquake happened on 27thFeb. It tore up roads and reduced buildings to the ground followed by a tsunami. Saw some mindboggling pics. It was REALLY BAAAD! Chile’s president promised to see whether the tsunami warning systems had failed and vowed to restore order soon. But I read in the newspapers that Chile’s gleaming capital city remained unaffected by the quake. I wondered why. Later I read on the web that Chile was a rich country and well governed enough to insist that buildings be constructed to withstand Quakes. On the contrary Haiti Is neither. Thus In Haiti over 2 lakh people died in contrast to just around 800 in Chile. Im not saying it’s a small number. But comparatively the diff. is quite huge.

There are lessons to be learnt. I feel the biggest threat to human life WAS Natural disasters. Now its our own shortcomings. To walk through Chile’s unbroken capital is to learn that although earthquakes coupled with dire poverty can do terrible harm, WE HAVE THE CAPACITY TO MITIGATE IT. Don’t you think so? When the earth shook under Chile, the country’s workers were at work in Haiti. Now they’l have to return and focus on their own wounded country. Its Really Sad, but you have to ask the Q’n… If India experienced a Quake.. How well would Indian Authorities react? How good and fast would our disaster management be? I remember doing a project on disaster management in Xth Std. It is not that easy. The last major earthquake in India was the Gujarat one in 2001. I still remember the day. We felt the tremors in Andheri! Its tore apart Guj. Are we prepared If one hits us now?

When things are broken, Chile reminds us that they can be fixed. Better still, carnage caused can be reduced with good governance.

Tought Provoking...?

Cheers!

Parliament MP's Walk Out When they FInally Understood Something In the Budget speech which was completely Beyond their Understanding :P (FAKING NEWS)

Budget Speech - Pranab mukherjee on why Solar rickshaws should be introduced: A rickshaw peddler would need lesser muscular energy to drive a solar rickshaw. We want all rickshaws to be converted into solar powered ones, so that the demand for muscular energy, which is derived from nutrition and food, goes down. This would mean lesser demand for food, which will bring down the rising food prices. Wow! Awesomeness. LOL!

The Union Budget, as inscrutable and insipid as it has been for years, proved to be of some difference this year when MPs could actually make sense of one sentence in the speech of the finance minister Pranab Mukherjee. As soon as the minister said something about restoration of basic duty and enhancement of Central Excise duty on stuffs like petrol and diesel, the opposition MPs could understand that it meant price rise, and walked out of the Lok Sabha.

“It was awesome! I always thought that no one in the parliament understood a thing about Budget, because I always saw people sleeping during the previous speeches. But boy, don’t they know what is being talked about?” said Ravinder, a final year MBA student at FMS Delhi.

The move by the opposition parties has also come as a pleasant surprise to many other people, who thought that budgetary and financial matters were beyond the ken of parliamentarians, and such decisions were taken by bureaucrats and technocrats. But parliamentarians have disapproved of such points of view.

“Yes, there are some things that we don’t understand, for example, I have no idea how does finance ministry budget for non-planned expenditure, when they are non-planned by definition. But we understand things like petrol and diesel. We also understand sugar.” said a walked out BJP Member of Parliament.

But many members of the parliament were candid to admit that Budget remained a mystery to them.

“I thumped the benches whenever I saw someone like Chidambaram or Madam Gandhi doing the same, but honestly, I don’t really know what does all this mean.” said a Congress MP on conditions of anonymity.

Not only MPs, many people outside the parliament too thought that they never understood a thing about budget, maybe with an exception of income tax rates. Others thought that the whole exercise was meaningless.

“We too make plans and budget for our company and within a couple of months everything goes for a toss. How can they plan for the whole country?” said 37-year-old Karthik, who runs his own toy manufacturing company, adding, “some news channels are saying that toys will cost lesser; no way I’m going to lower down the prices.”

A solar rickshaw that will cost lesser now is being seen as the vehicle of development

Meanwhile a lot of peopled searched for images of solar rickshaw after the budget speech, as they are supposed to cost lesser and bring relief to the common man among rising prices. In an exclusive interview to Faking News after his budget speech in the parliament, Pranab Mukherjee was kind enough to explain the rationale.

“A rickshaw peddler would need lesser muscular energy to drive a solar rickshaw. We want all rickshaws to be converted into solar powered ones, so that the demand for muscular energy, which is derived from nutrition and food, goes down. This would mean lesser demand for food, which will bring down the rising food prices.” said Pranab Da.

Hahahaha

:D