Movie Review: Rajneeti

I was destined to watch ‘Rajneeti’ and ‘Raavan’ back to back this Saturday. So, well, I went along with my destiny, though I never wanted to watch ‘Raavan’ because I know Aishwarya cannot act, and Abhishek just overdoes it. Also, Mani Ratnam looks like besotted with this couple and just wanted to make a movie with them, no matter what the story. I will do ‘Raavan’ bashing later.



Overall, ‘Rajneeti’ was an engaging movie though it has received mixed reviews. I kind of liked this multi-starrer. Here’s what I thought about the actors and their roles, etc….


Nana Patekar: I read somewhere that he wasn’t too happy with his role or something. I thought, he had a good role. He was the ‘Krishna’, the strategist, always in control of the situation


Katrina Kaif: Why I chose to write about her first? Because, I loved her. She truly stands out in her role. And she has really learnt Hindi well. So, now she looks good, speaks Hindi and acts too, what else do you want guys?! I loved her effervescent self in the first half and the lady-like persona in the second half. She does justice to her role.


Manoj Bajpai: He was truly remarkable in his negative character. I think he should do more films, he is quite good


Ajay Devgan: Ajay can walk through this role with his eyes closed. It is the same old, brooding character that he has mastered long, long time back. But I don’t want to take away from his acting, he was good


Arjun Rampal: I think, his character was not really etched out too well. I never could decide if he was white or grey! He uses Shruti Seth’s character (why she did such a pathetic role is beyond me, and she really did it horribly) and yet has a certain vulnerability to it. He looks terribly good with his long hair and kurta look, but he looks too urbane and sophisticated


Ranbir Kapoor: He was fine but I think we have overrated him a lot. He tends to do a bit of over-acting but frankly he is okay. He can do better. His role was good but it required someone sharp and shrewd, he looked such a bhola-bhala. A laptop does not make you a scheming strategist (have I let out too much! Anyways, I am sure I am one of the last people to see this movie!)


Naseeruddin Shah: I don’t know why he was there in the movie, and the kiss between him and that lady (her name is Nikhila Trikha – just googled) looked highly inappropriate and uncalled for (‘script ki demand’!!!!)


Thankfully, there weren’t any full-fledged song to break the pace of the movie. Actually, there were too many things happening, so we weren’t bored at any point of time. But at the end, it seems Politics is a dirty business!


And how can I forget, the cameo by Praksh Jha! It was hilarious since I knew it was Prakash Jha, of course, many aren’t so updated about movies!!


But certainly, go for it!

(Image source: IMDb)

A Book can happen to you!

I went to Landmark last Sunday because I had collected sufficient points to exchange for a book, and well, I just needed a reason to go there. So, I persuaded my husband and my friends to drop by Landmark, so that I could pick a book. I prefer “buying” books from online shops but here I wasn’t spending anything, right! So no guilt feelings!



I spent quite some time browsing through books and whenever I actually go buying books, I never can remember the books on my wish list. Most of the times, these books are so rare that even if I am able to remember a name or two, I am never able to find it on the shelf!


Anyways, I finalised on “We are Iran” by Nasrin Alavi and “Deaf Heaven” by Pinki Virani. The first one sounded interesting as it was a meticulous compilation of lives in contemporary Iran through several blogs, while I picked up the other one because I had recently read two of Pinki Virani’s books and I had been impressed by both. So, did not even think twice before picking it up.


Anyways, I went to the billing counter, proudly gave my Citibank card and asked to bill while redeeming my 293 points also. The lady left for a while to check the points, came back and said it is not honouring the points, not even 150 points. So, what to do, I became a fool coming all the way to redeem points and shelling out money. So, I quickly decided, I will take only 1 book and showed that I want “Deaf Heaven”.


I came back home and when I pulled the book outside, what did I see? The book tat came back was “We are Iran”. I was totally mad at that lady – first she told me the points could not be redeemed, and then she billed the wrong book. But after a while, I looked at the other side of this whole event and realised how a book can happen to you. I did not choose this book but I still got it. I would buy “Deaf Heaven” anyways, but I may not have got back to buying “We are Iran” again. That makes me feel nice and positive.

Tea and Will Power

For a while, I had been thinking about quitting something which I absolutely love, almost addicted to. And the obvious answer was Tea! I know, some might find this whole post very funny, but people who know me, also know how obsessed I have been with Tea since very young age. The more my mum would discourage me to have tea, the more it became an obsession. I have gone to the length of being so badly fixated on tea, that the moment mum would go out, the first thing I would do was make tea for myself. What fascinated me more about late-night studies or early morning studies was being officially allowed to have Tea!



But anyways, the point is I have quit tea for a week now and it feels tremendously liberating. Whenever somebody would have tea, I would consciously say it loud that I don’t drink tea anymore! It feels good and it sort of reassures me, it boosts my confidence. I feel extremely proud of myself, and I know it is definitely going to have a positive impact on me health-wise as well.


I’m really not into soft drinks, so when it is the point of having something to drink, I go for salted fresh lime water or plain water. The amount of sugar, I have cut down, as a result is also quite a lot. I used to have anywhere between 2 to 4 cups of tea everyday. So there 


A week back, I thought it would be impossible for me to quit tea, ever. I decided to try this first for a month. In just a week, I’m almost on the verge of quitting tea forever.


As I am thinking and writing about this, what is clear to me is that it is really not so much about tea, as much as it is about my will power to overcome something which I thought was indispensable for me. It is all in the mind. The mind convinces us that there are things we would not be able to do or live without, but if you take it as a challenge and give it a try, you can surely make it possible. Because it is always possible, we should have that much conviction!

Contemporary Indian Design

The first time I got acquainted with ‘Contemporary Indian Art’ was in The Mint’s Saturday supplement ‘Lounge’. It featured a couple of Indian design companies which create quirky / kitschy home and fashion accessories that are essentially Indian. I immediately googled all these firms, looked through their products and since then I have bought several products from their range, and they have all been smashing, beautiful and definitely unique. After that I came across similar write-ups and features in Elle Décor as well as Femina. And it has been one awesome revelation.



After my initiation into ‘Contemporary Indian Art’, I have come across several such firms which promote ‘Indian’-ness in their designs.


Check out the links and get bowled over by the eye-catching collection each one of these have.


Design Temple

Happily Unmarried
Loose Ends
Play Clan
Fluke By Design
Art by Aarohi


And well, I have also designed a few things for my home, which I have talked about earlier, and which I will surely showcase on my blog some day.

Image courtesy: Happily Unmarried

Movie Review: A Wednesday

‘A Wednesday’ has been on my wish list for a long, long time now. Unfortunately, every time I would catch it on TV, it would be somewhere half way through. I really wanted to see the complete movie. As the luck would have it, hubby went out partying for the financial year closing, so no IPL matches to dominate our living room, as usual I started surfing channels and as luck would have it, ‘A Wednesday’ had just about started on Doordarshan. Yipee!



It is a wonderful movie. Right from the casting to the narration of the story, the screenplay, the whole mood and essence of the movie, everything was good. Though everyone did justice to their characters, including Deepal Shaw (I’m not sure if that funny voice is really her’s), I think Naseeruddin Shah and Anupam Kher matched each other too well. Anupam Kher as the Commissioner of Police and Nasseruddin Shah as the common man were absolutely effortless. Aamir Bashir did complete justice to his role. Jimmy Shergill was good too but may not be perfect as the no-nonsense tough cop. The other actors playing terrorists did not look too menacing but that was not the point. The main thing was that the movie did drive home the point.

My thoughts on why you should watch this movie?


• It is not run-of-the-mill song and dance routine drama, it is different


• The story is engaging and completely hooks you on, even though at the back of your mind you know where all this is going


• It translates the exact same thoughts that haunts everyone today all the time, into words


• It speaks out the feelings of a common man – you, me, us!


• I absolutely loved the monologue by Naseer where he speaks out for common man

Mumbai

Mumbai has always enticed me but I never really explored it when I was here during my first job for more than a year. Whenever I come back, I always feel there’s so much to be explored, to be seen, to experience. Mumbai is so huge, unlike any other city. One gets overwhelmed by just sheer size of it. I have promised myself time and again that next time I am going to spend more time hunting for great deals on books to build up my ever growing collection, some more time for all the quirky stuff I have located in hordes of shops in the length and breadth of the city, some more time catch to the Irish coffee at Prithvi theatres and a little more time to just gawk at the endless, restless crowd of people who are perpetually in mad rush of their life!

Image courtesy: http://travelgyan.wordpress.com

SERIAL - killer!

These days with so much time spent at home, I could not save myself from the hordes of serials on the tube! Here’s a round-up on what I have been watching since last 1 week:



Sania – Shoaib marriage controversy - Yes, I’m guilty of encouraging the intrusion of News channels in the private lives of celebrities, but it does hook you on! And it is getting wilder day by day. If you ask me, I don’t know what is wrong with Sania? I mean, all of us know it is never going to work. But well, all the best to her if after all this, she still wants to go ahead!


Mann ki Awaaz, Pratigya - Briefly, it is the story of a small town, where a goonda-type guy Boy A (rich Thakur) falls for a middle-class girl Girl A and who keeps following her everywhere, and literally makes her life miserable. Finally, she decides to save her family from all the trouble the guy causes, and marry the guy to put an end to all the misery. Well, the girl’s brother, Boy B, asks to get married to the 1st guy’s sister, Girl B. I missed the earlier episodes in order to really throw light on why he does that. But anyways, Girl B is a pretty thing with a hot head and a colorful language. She calls her brother as “kutte”, “sale”. The conversation between brother-sister duo is quite entertaining, though filled with a lot of abuses.


I think they should not have shown marriage between Boy A and Girl A. It will surely give wrong signals to young people in small town and villages, and they would think that through this way they will be able to marry the girl of their choice! I truly feel that in the wake of showing the wrong things prevailing in the society, well we are ending up showing all the wrong things, if not encouraging!


Pavitra Rishta - Ok, there’s this girl Girl A, who is married to Boy A, but they are in the middle of a divorce, so Boy A can get married to Girl B, who is pregnant with Boy A’s deceased brother's child, phew! Strange, isn’t it? Not if you regularly watch these serials.


Dance India Dance - This is the only programme which I really watch….sometimes! All the finalists are amazing, but I absolutely love Shakti. I totally bet on her, she is going to win hands down!


Well, that’s that, I have consciously stayed away from rest of the grind. Those are totally intolerable and extremely, extremely slow-paced. I lose all my patience.

Life's not FAIR!

What is common between Shahrukh Khan, Johan Abraham, Genelia Dsouza, Deepika Padukone, Sonam Kapoor, Shahid Kapoor and Kajol? Apart from the fact that they are all actors? If you watch even a little bit of TV, you would surely know that all these actors promote different brands of creams that promise fairness! I think these days the frequency of fairness creams have also increased manyfolds.


I don’t know what kind of fake culture we are promoting. 90% of the ads would tell you that if you are not fair, slim and without scars, pimples or any other kind of blemishes, you don’t deserve to socialise! Are we giving too much importance to appearance? What kind of ‘healthy’ environment are we giving to our next generation?

No wonder kids have matured much beyond their age. It is sickening to see girls barely in their teens frequenting beauty parlours!

P.S. Read an interesting news

If you look at the film stars who are promoting the fairness creams, most of them are from the current generation. The companies need to expand their market. So where would they sell their product? Guys!

I had read somewhere that the idea of the first fairness cream generated from everyone’s fixation on “gori” bride. So, naturally, all the girls and girls’ parents flocked to buy the cream that could change their lives. The only party to benefit in this scenario was the company selling the fairness cream. Read a related article here.

There’s an interesting (read feminist) book called The Beauty Myth by Naomi Wolf. Read about it here. Needless to say, I’m gonna get it :-) You can buy it from Indiaplaza @ Rs 327. I'm getting it at Rs 299 because I have Indiaplaza Bookclub Membership!

Well, now it seems ‘beauty’ is no longer a domain for women. Hail the powerful people of Marketing and Advertising!

Good Homes

Of all the things I love doing, doing up my home is one of my passions. It is good that my husband does not have similar passion otherwise we would end up fighting on what we want to do with it.



I absolutely love Interior magazines. There are so many inspirations in so many different forms, one thing leads to another and you get something absolutely perfect for your home.


I am also a cleanliness freak. Everything has to be absolutely on it’s place whether or not there is anybody around to see it that everything is laid out perfectly. The last thing I do before leaving home for office is put everything in place (as much as possible, in whatever little time I have while rushing to office). And well, the first thing I do on entering my home, no matter how tired I am, is put everything is place. Starting from shoes, to cushions to our lunch boxes, the rug, the several remotes, newspaper, magazines, moving on to putting away the clean clothes inside cupboard…..and I do not settle for my cup of tea, before making everything picture perfect. Yeah, I’m very much like Monica (from FRIENDS). I remember, once Phoebe said about living with Monica, “yeah, eating cookies while standing on sink, is fun!” yeah, I’m like that too.


Sometimes when I find my husband cleaning the kitchen and putting everything in order, I feel overwhelmed. How one person gets conditioned to live with the other person! But frankly, I feel too grateful to whatever he does, because cleanliness is my one of the passions (read vices) not his!


Anyways, reading and skimming through hoards of interior magazines, I cut-out whatever colors, items or accessories appeal to me. I have bought a lot of things by just getting a glimpse of it in any of those glitzy magazines like BBC Good Homes, Living etc, Ideal Homes & Gardens and Elle Décor. These are some of my favourites, but I absolutely love BBC Good Homes. It is fabulous.


Since I’m also on to collage and scrapbooks big time, (I will share some of my collages sometime) I am right now working on my dream home scrapbook. It has color combinations, home accessories, etc that I would like to adapt into my home. I buy a lot of photo frames and wall frames. I love retro-style posters. Right now, my bedroom has the huge collage done by me on our special moments over he years. It is quite huge, about 4.5 ft (w) X 2.5 ft (h). My guest bedroom showcases, another collage done by me with colourful cover page of books (well, I did not cut my books, these are cut-outs collates from different newspapers and magazines). I have recently bought a colourful Mario Miranda poster (inspired from one of the ‘real homes’ showcased in BBC Good Homes), and it is just waiting to be framed. I also intend to have a lot of smaller frames for both our families’ photographs, which I will put on wall.




Perhaps I should seriously consider home styling as an alternate career option. It is truly fun!

Trip to the romantic city - Udaipur

Since I am on to travelogues, here’s a quick round-up on my trip to Udaipur recently. Udaipur is a quaint, little town in Rajasthan – no crowd, beautiful palaces, heritage hotels, no traffic, not too many places to go….what else can you ask for on a holiday!
Usually, people want to check out as many places in and around the city as possible; but we don’t get into that maddening urge to see anything and everything. A holiday is a holiday, so the most important thing is to slow down the pace, just go wherever you feel like, no plans, no hundred places to see. As a rule, we neither plan, nor attempt to check out all the ‘popular’ tourist places. We shortlist 2-3 places and take our time to go around those only.
Day 1We selected the hotel on our own. Just visited a couple of sites, read a few reviews and zeroed in on The Rampratap Palace, and it really looks exactly like it does in the pictures. It is a beautiful heritage hotel with excellent service, and just 25 rooms so there are never too many people around. I fell in love with this hotel, the moment I saw it. The structure is completely reminiscent of the old times, and the framed pictures of maharajahs, old advertisements, etc add to the aura.

We got a room in the first floor, which also had a quite decent balcony overlooking the road. Just outside our room, was the tiny restaurant that served breakfasts in the mornings – Continental and Indian. Outside the restaurants were lounging garden chairs and little lanterns. Right next to I,t was the hotel’s in-house shop of local items and also a spa. The spiralling stairs led to an open and spacious terrace, which had a fabulous view of around the hotel.

The first day, we hired a cab and selected a few places closer to our Hotel like Nehru park, Saheliyon ki baadi, which, everything said and done, are all parks. There is nothing to ‘see’ as such in these places, so we decided no more parks, and we straightaway went to the beautiful ‘City Palace’. What to say about this beautiful place, it just takes you back to many centuries ago. The Palace is huge and cameras are not allowed inside. We got a guide with us, so that he could tell us about the story around that palace. Apparently, a lot of movies or parts of movies have been shot in this palace like Guide, Hum Saath Saath Hain, a song from Hum Hain Rahi Pyaar Ke, etc, etc. There are old weapons too stacked in a room. Read all about City Palace here.

The Palace keeps hosting a lot of events and marriages. In fact, Udaipur had been in news for hosting Raveena Tandon’s marriage and Vikram Chatwal’s marriage. Now who’s Vikram Chatwal?! That’s the reason, I say, read PEOPLE or Page 3 more often, guys!
Well, anyways, I was so drawn to the place that I wanted to buy a book on the City Palace, and luckily there was a little shop within the palace. I bought a book called “Udaipur”. It has everything told by the guide to us and a lot of information about the city as well – about its festivals, generations of maharajas, etc.

That day we did a little bit of shopping in the local market and bought the usual batik print dress material, kurtas and the jaipuri razaai!

Our Hotel had a beautiful restaurant, located across the road. The hotel had their own collection of vintage cars on display. The combination of candle-lights, cool breeze, the heritage hotel in the background, made an extremely romantic setting. It was one of such moments, when you don’t think about anything and the moment stands still, which you would want to hold on in your memories forever!

Day 2
The second day, we visited the “Aapni Dhaani” , which is on the same platform as “Chowki Dhaani” and encapsulates games, culture and food of Rajasthan.
We also did a little bit of shopping of the rajasthani mojris. I bought 2 footwears – 1 in reddish leather and the other is quite colourful, but haven’t had chance to wear any of those in last so many days!
There is a Monsoon Palace at Sajjangarh, which is in the outskirts of Udaipur. It is not as big as the City Palace but is frequented by tourists to catch the mesmerising sunrises and sunsets!
There is a small cafeteria there to take a break while coming back to the city after watching the sunset.
Dinner again was at the beautiful restaurant of Rampratap hotel!
Day 3
We had an early morning flight for home. The airport is quite nice at Udaipur and not too many people boarding from there. We saw Dia Mirza, Priti Janghiani, Prachi Desai, Shweta Kwatra and Manav Gohil coming in to board the same flight for Mumbai. Apparently, there was some event the previous night.
It usually happens to me that whenever I see any celebrity (so to say), I don’t know what to do. I feel like staring at the person but feel embarrassed to do so! So, we checked in with all of them, without trying to stare too hard at them.

Overall, the trip was short yet memorable. Though a popular tourist place, yet Udaipur is still not such a hot spot. The quiet, little, laid back town is just the right place to spend some peaceful time. Hope I do get an opportunity to go back there again!

Goa again!

Yeah! Believe it or not, I’m just back from yet another trip to Goa! I hadn’t had a clue about this trip till last week but opportunity knocked in and I was asked to attend a Seminar in Goa, with another friend from office. I was not too keen because I had just got back from Goa and secondly, I am too homebound. I hate leaving my home for long period. Quite recently, we had been on a holiday in Goa. Succeeding week, my hubby went on another office incentive trip and hey, while he was still there, I got the news that I have to attend this seminar in the week after that.

Nevertheless, what you gotta do is what you gotta do! Usually, when I had been reluctant in going on such trips, it has always turned out to be fun. So, I thought, let’s not think about it much, and just do it.

The journey to Goa was painful! I would say whoever thought that overnight buses are comfortable and most logical option, don’t know what they are talking about. It absolutely did not work for me! I had the most horrible experience of my life, and I’m still so much in pain because of that one journey!

Anyways, we reached Goa at 6.30 am, and checked into Hotel Mandovi. What can I say! The story goes that once this hotel was the pride of Panjim and even Lal Bahudar Shastri has stayed there during his visit. It is well located, facing the Mandovi River and the entire stretch of road around it, is a delight for any tourist or culture enthusiast. You just need to take a walk down the lane. There is the famous Ferry boats taking off from close by, the lanes are cosy and charming, reminiscent of old times with buildings of yesteryears lined up along the roads. There is Entertainment Society, Kala Kendra and a lot of branded stores too.

The first day we took a little time to get used to the fact that the hotel was not upto our expectations. My friend was keen on even trying to change the hotel, later in the day; but I was quite OK. The hotel obviously has seen better days, but the hospitality is good, bathrooms are good and location was perfect, since our seminar was at Goa Mariott, which is quite close. We did check out ‘Fidalgo’ in the evening but I did not find it too appealing. It is a typical modern hotel, and looks just like that. There is no charm. It could be anywhere in India. It is quite good but then it is not special. And yeah, though Mandovi definitely has seen better days, it still has that charm. I had no issues about it. It was cosy and comfortable!

The seminar used to stretch from 9 am till 6.30 pm during all three days. We used to rush back to the hotel, put on our sports shoes and quickly get off to do some shopping because shops in Goa get closed very, very early by any standards.

The first day, we strolled around the hotel, bought the usual dose of Kajus. Then my friend bought some cute, little clothes for her daughter, we bought a little bit of knick-knacks and settled for dinner at ‘Rajdhani’ (which is almost next to Mandovi Hotel). Filled with excruciating pain of last night’s journey and wearing heels for the whole day at seminar, I just wanted to doze off (which I did)!

The second day got a little better of us. We slipped into our shoes and walked down the lane to check out Mandovi market. I bought some wooden coasters (which I had been looking for quite sometime now) but it was surely overpriced. Bought it anyways. We also bought the cowboy hats for our husbands (now we really don’t know where they would wear it! Well, that’s what they need to figure out!) I also bought cute Hot Wheels car for my hubby (well, yeah, I collect books…he collects toy cars…big deal! To each, his own. ) We also bought Mario Miranda Postcards about Goan life from our Hotel bookshop. It is a set of 16 Black and white post cards, and absolutely adorable! I also bought a book on Goa lifestyle and culture, and a magnet with wooden auto rickshaw that said “Goa”. So we played “tourists” to the hilt. This time we settled for an open restaurant just opposite Hotel Mandovi called “Quarterdeck”. It is facing the sea and you can just look at the water for hours!
My friend was keen on the Ferry but I did not want to go so late in the night on our own. I admire her enthusiasm to try new things, but I’m a bit cautious by nature, so we gave it a miss.

The only thing which was missing from my list was a nice Mario Miranda Poster. I had seen one in BBC Good Homes, and I really wanted to get hold of one! I must say, I have been infinitely lucky in this one. By checking a lot from our local friends, we came to know that a retail store near our Hotel stocks those. That’s the reason I have no questions that there is God! We almost ran to the place after getting back from the last day at Seminar, I did not want to miss it after getting so close. I must say, the price was exorbitant, so we just settled for color Posters, which we can get framed later. At Rs 800 each, I think it was OK. I also loved a notebook there but I put it back looking at the price of Rs 600. They had truly interesting stuff.

I also had plans to strike a good deal for some handful of Archies comics with the raddiwallah, sitting next to our Hotel. I had seen Tinkle with him while crossing, but they were closed for Mahashivratri. Imagine!

Catching the return bus was another experience in itself. When at 8.45 pm, we reached the rickshaw stand to get a ride to catch the 9 o’clock bus, guess what! We were welcomed with no rickshaws!!! From somewhere, we located a private taxi, even had the guts to negotiate rates for the drop at that hour! I must confess, I was extremely scared of getting into that taxi. I am not the one to do something like this! But he did drop us to the place, only to see the back of our bus…………….leaving! I made quite a spectacle, running after the bus and even hitting on one side of the bus, but to no avail, the bus just wheezed off. I was totally aghast at what happened! We missed the bus! When I returned, there was another bus standing there. The driver checked with me, which bus were I looking for. I said, ‘sleeper’ and simultaneously realized that the one which was standing, actually was the Sleeper bus. See I did tell you, there is God! No doubts about that!

My friend had a great laugh at my expense but I really had no energy for finding another bus for our return journey! So, I was just happy to be in that bus! When we settled in, then did we see that it was 9 pm then, so that bus could not have been our bus anyways!

Well, I would say, it was quite a trip. We did so much in such little time. Let’s see when I return to Goa again. By the way, we totally missed the Carnival, which begins today right in front of our Hotel. Such losers! And we also missed the Gala Dinner at Cita de Goa, since we had to catch the bus back.

Greatest Of All - GOA

It may appear like I am no more blogging here, but I’m very much ‘active’. I sew million of thoughts together hundreds of times, but they never got expressed into words. I have had a very hectic 3 months – work, travel, books, movies….I did it all…and ironically, what I did not do, is what I love the most…write!

Last couple of months have been good. First there was a quick vacation to the romantic city, Udaipur and last week, we went to Goa (finally!).

Goa is just 12 hours journey from Pune but it took us ages to plan one. I’m not a sea person, I love the hills. I hate frolicking in water. I would much rather, sit back and marvel at the expanse of green hills or beautiful, faraway mountains. But this trip was fun.

It was a family visit – cum – pleasure trip. One day was entirely dedicated to spending time with family there. On day 2, when finally we picked up our bags and left for our resort, we decided on taking Non-Stop local buses, rather than a taxi. Buses take longer routes and take you around the place, while taxi would drop you to the resort without bothering much about so-called sight-seeing.

It was fun to catch a bus after so long, and it did not really matter because the bus had only one final stop. I was enamoured by the brightly colored houses, along the way. From dark purple to deep pink, from bright yellow to bottle green, there were brightest of hues. There were quite a few quaint churches, as well. Unfortunately, I did not get opportunity to visit any church this time, but next time I would surely keep more time on hand.

The bus journey till Madgaon, and then yet another bus to Panjim were one of the most cherishable memories of Goa! Our place of stay ‘Colonia Santa Maria’ was yet another beautiful colonial style resort. It was just 2 minutes away from the Baga beach. The rooms were cozy and comfortable. I was amazed to see that 80% of the crowd was of foreign tourists.

We hired an Activa and rode to Calangute beach. We, atleast I, had not planned on any water sport. But just as we entered the beach, we were continuously hounded by those people. So, we finally decided to go for Parasailing. We were taken on a boat towards a Motor boat, which was already inside. We had to shift into the bigger motor boat. There we took turns to go up and fly. That is what Parasailing is all about!

Soaked in salty water, we decided to make way for our resort. In the evening, we took a stroll on the Baga beach and it was one of the most picture-perfect, romantic moments of life. You look at the sea and even at night the ambience is breath-taking with chairs and tables lined up along the sea with cute candle-lights! I always pictured Goa as a noisy, crowded place but all such moments made this trip worthwhile.

We went back to our room quite late. Not really wanting to go to the restaurant, we ordered Sandwiches and Tea for dinner at our room! Our room balcony overlooked the pavement and you could listen to the live music playing at the restaurant, so there was really no need to go there.

Next morning, we returned to enjoy the sun and to look at the mesmerizing beauty that is the Sea. So far, I had always associated beaches with noisy, cramming people, a lot of garbage and humidity. Goa was absolutely the opposite. Looking at the blue-green color of the sea, the short and high waves, everything was breath-taking and beautiful!

Our return trip was quite an adventure too. When we sat for dinner at 1.15 pm, our return tickets in Train were not confirmed. So, we were looking for bus tickets. The Sleeper, Semi-Sleepers were not available. The basic AC Volvos were charging 1400 bucks for a single ticket. We thought why don’t we hire a car, if it anyways will go upto Rs 3000. We got the shock of our lives when neither of the cabbies was ready to go below Rs 9000 for the trip. I even told them “we are from India only”. And suddenly, at about 1.40 pm, we came to know that our Train tickets were confirmed. We got our ordered food packed, called a cab and checked out from our room - all in a frenzy. The station at Vasco was about 1 hour away. Since we booked on sleeper, so that atleast we can get some confirmed tickets, so we had to bother about blankets as well. Finally, we reached station at 3 pm for the 3.10 pm train!

We had some interesting co-passengers. Since, those were foreign tourists’ quota seats, we had only foreigners as co-passengers. The one guy, who started with us from Vasco, was from Chili and has been traveling since last 1.5 years! From Greece to South America to entire Europe to India and then plan was to go to Nepal and few more countries. We asked the obvious question – “don’t you work?” He said, “I worked for 4 years, saved some money and started traveling.” Then we said, “so you must have saved a lot of money!”. He said, “the idea is to travel cheap. If you are careful in what you eat, where you stay and how you travel, then you can save a lot of money!” Great wisdom indeed, and I have seen this in a lot of foreign tourists who come to India.

As a culture, we don’t encourage traveling without proper plan, while these foreign travelers, just go on their own (many times alone) to explore unknown countries and unknown culture. Really inspiring indeed! I would not go on unknown excursions but I surely understood the advantage of traveling cheaper.

If I look at this Goa trip; since we booked tickets etc at the last moment, we spent 40% of all expenses only in traveling, another 30% in hotel room and rest all miscellaneous. Just 2 day trip! In fact, we stayed 1 day at home and only 1 day at the resort and ended up spending almost 14-15K!

Well, this is just our 5th trip in 2 years, and we are still learning. I want to travel across India and then, Europe ;-)

'All is Well' with 3 Idiots

It is 2.45 am and I'm just back from the show of ‘3 Idiots’ and absolutely loved it…I mean, what’s not to love in the movie, guys! Aamir has done it again and Raju Hirani has also done it yet again. In any case, I love Aamir, I have never been out of love with Madhavan since the first time I saw him on Banegi Apni Baat ;-) Well, I kind of like Sharman (he’s a little goofy but that’s OK). I am also not averse to liking Kareena these days because sometimes she also acts well (inspite of herself!). I loved the fact that the movie did not stick to ‘Five Point Someone’ storyline. I have already forgotten the story in any case. Well, I loved the screenplay, and I loved the perfect proportion of flashbacks and momentum of current story.

I don’t care if Aamir has edited the movie in his favour. I don’t care if the songs don’t really stay with you. I don’t even care if there have been any unexplained loose ends (I did not even notice, even if there were). I just know, after a very, very long time, I did not look at my watch even once during a movie. I just know the movie made me laugh, made me smile, made me go crazy and made me cry as well.

I have seen Avatar, a technical masterpiece, but I slept through quite a bit of it. Ajab Prem ki Gajab Kahani was hilarious in bits, but it was slightly over-the-top and not consistently funny or emotional. It was quite flat in a lot of places. It was OK. I loved Paa, but Wanted was more hilarious than an ‘action’ movie! However, ‘3 Idiots’ is certainly a class apart and gets 5 stars from me. I can watch it over and over again.

What do I say, I love you Aamir :-) You rock!

(all you other people, go and watch the movie. It surely deserves to be a hit!)

Old times sake

I had a true-blue nostalgic time today, and I loved it! It started with listening (and watching) one of my all-time-favourites on YouTube “Mujhe raat din bas muhe” from Sangharsh. Well, it took me to the old times, one song led to another and whoa………I kept listening to songs of those times one after another – from Dil Hai Ki Manta Nahi Title Track to Ae Mere Hamsafar from Qayamat se Qayamat Tak………from Pehli Pehli baar Baliye from Sangharsh to Tere Dar Par Sanam Chale Aaye from Phir Teri Kahani Yaad Aayi….and throw in a Tumse Milke from Parinda..........it was blissful!

Where have those songs gone! We don’t get to listen to Kumar Sanu, Udit Narayan, Alka Yagnik, Sadhna Sargam too often these days. The days of any single singer ruling the Music industry has truly gone, now we have new set of singers in every movie!

I will leave you with one of the most beautiful songs of those times :-)

Tere dar par sanam chale aaye

Tu na aaya to hum chale aaye

Bin tere koi aas bhi na rahi

Itne tarse ke pyaas bhi na rahi

Oh, bin tere koi aas bhi na rahi

Itne tarse ke pyaas bhi na rahi - 2

Ladkhadaaye kadam, chale aaye - 2

Chale aaye, chale aaye

Tere dar par sanam chale aaye

Tu na aaya to hum chale aaye

Dil ko dhadka laga tha pal pal to

Shor sun le na koi paayal ka - 2

Phir bhi teri kasam chale aaye - 2

Chale aaye, chale aaye

Tere dar par sanam chale aaye

Tu na aaya to hum chale aaye

Tere dar par sanam chale aaye

Tu na aaya to hum chale aaye

Yup back for more......just re-discovered Hum Aapke Hain Kaun. I think it was the first movie that made casting entertaining. I can just keep looking at Salman and Madhuri over and over again, and both look absolutely captivating in this movie. Even S.P.Balasubramanium’s voice sounded heaven to me (I never really liked it)! Ended up listening to all the songs. I have never been a Salman Khan fan but he looks so adorable in this, and Madhuri looks lovely and sensuous! Check out songs at YouTube.

Movie Review: Wake Up Sid

Just came back from a show of Wake Up Sid. Well, mmmm I thought it would be one of those hip, cool movies. It is kind of OK but it is very, what shall I say, lukewarm.

I always thought Konkona is a good actress but increasingly she is getting type-casted as the late-20s, frustrated, finding-her-identity-kind of girl. She has become quite repetitive, even her hair and looks have become quite done to death; she really needs a different kind of role. She was good as an independent stand-alone character but then we have seen her do the same thing so many times that it gets kind-of stale. I think the director really should have casted somebody else, to make it look fresh.

So, what I loved about the movie?

• Ranbir was good. He is slowly converting me into a fan. I have never really liked him. People thought he was cute, but I always thought the opposite but in this movie, he certainly looked cute J
• I loooooooooooooooooooved Konkona’s apartment…it was fabulous
• Design Temple has done some fabulous job in Publicity designs and these guys are really good. I have read about them and have been through their website earlier. Really cool Indian designs.
• There were so many similarities I found in Konkona's character and me - like her cosy home (I like to believe that mine is too), her love for books, her ambition to become a writer and most importantly, the way she gets irritated to find her home in mess after coming back from office.
• I absolutely love the song “Iktara”
• I liked the theme of the movie, the way story progressed

What it lacked!

• A high point – there was no “the moment” in the movie. And in any case, you already know what’s going to happen! It needed a certain amount of innovation.
• It was way longer than required
• There were some unwanted characters in the movie, floating around. There were some moments which could have been edited. The director certainly wasted important screen timing in all these.
• The ending was totally filmy and not required, could have been handled differently.

People, don’t let me dissuade you (some critics have given it 4 stars)! Go and decide for yourself. I will give it say 2.5 - 3 stars out of 5 because it is an average movie. It is not a ‘Dil Chahta Hai’, and I have not seen ‘Lakshya’ so cannot comment on that but it surely falls in that genre.

Another day, another thought

There are times when I start thinking about everything in perspective – what I am doing and why I’m doing it, its relevance in my entire life, is it the way I would like my life to go on. One day is no way different than the other day.

And then there are times, when I feel so happy and exhilarated, sometimes with hubby and sometimes while with friends; I just want to pause the moment and capture it fully into my heart. It becomes a moment forever. You know this moment will never come again. I mean life will move on, there will be different moments and may be happier ones, but that one small, beautiful moment will become a part of memories.

I hope I am making sense!

Frankly, every day has its share of accomplishments and disappointments. I’m still struggling to get back to exercising. I am still trying to organize my life better. Good thing is in last couple of days, I have improved quite a lot in my driving. I take every opportunity to hit the road because driving is like any other thing, the more you do it, the better you get at it. I am truly happy about learning something new. Swimming is going to be next. But right now it is so breezy and cool here, I will wait for some more time.

I would also like to work on my language, the way I used to while preparing for MBA entrance exam.

There are so many things to do really, and while you are busy learning things, life is moving on!

Festivities galore

Of late we have been celebrating all festivals with a lot of enthusiasm. We had a great time on Ganesh Chaturthhi, Anant Chaturdashi and also on Dussera (Happy Dussera, by the way!). We make it a point to get together and celebrate with all rituals. The point is what are we going to teach our next generation and in any case, these festivals mean a lot to all of us, have always meant to be great family time.

Last 3 days have been absolute fun. On Saturday, we went to a couple of places to see Durga Puja Pandal. But I must say, it is absolutely nothing to the way it is celebrated in East. Durga Puja reminds me of school days. We would have new clothes and everyday, starting from Saptami, we would be out with friends, gorging on Paani Puris and Chaats. Well, on Saturday, we were also able to catch this cute dance by a few kids in one of the pandals. Later, we had a nice Italian dinner at Soho’s (can’t remember the restaurant’s name though, starts with “T”). The only dish which turned out good was the one that I ordered- Mushrooms tossed in Olive oil with cheese Garlic bread.

Yesterday was good too, we went to watch “Wanted”. No, that was not at all my idea. The guys wanted to see this movie (I don’t know what kind of pleasure guys get in watching gory movies). I would say, “Wanted” was a good comedy, worth watching once. The true Tollywood style action, dance and dialogues, really kept us in splits all the time, and add to that Salman Khan dancing like Prabhu Deva!!! You can’t even imagine what it truly means, unless you watch it yourself. While coming back, we went to eat Momos in Vimannagar.

That was not all, we had to get Marigolds for Dassera. The phoolwalas were quoting such ostentatious price (one garland for 50 bucks!!!), so we just got the flowers and made garlands ourselves. Actually in Maharashtra, the tradition is to deck up your house and vehicles with Marigolds. We have never done this back home, but there’s no harm in it, so we also did all of it. All of us made nice colorful rangolis at our floor and actually got carried away a little bit. At the end of it, our entire floor was covered with rangolis J

So, this weekend was definitely smashing, now waiting for the next one. Though I have a working Saturday, but it isn’t so bad!

Wake Up Sid "Iktara"

Recently I caught this very hummable song from 'Wake Up Sid' on TV: O re mann tu to bawra hai, tu hi jane tu kya sochta hai..........(better known as "iktara"). It is a beautiful rendition by Kavita Seth.

Here's the lyrics:

O re manwa tu to bawra hai
Tu hi jaane tu kya sochta hai
Tu hi jaane tu kya sochta hai
Baware

Kyun dikhaye sapne tu sote jaagte
Jo barsein sapne boond boond
Nainon ko moond moond
Nainon ko moond moond
Jo barsein sapne boond boond
Nainon ko moond moond

Kaise main chaloon
Dekh na sakoon
Anjaane raaste

Goonja sa hai koi ektara iktara
Goonja sa hai koi ektara
Goonja sa hai koi ektara iktara
Goonja sa hai koi ektara
Goonja sa hai koi ektara iktara
Goonja sa hai koi ektara
Goonja sa hai koi ektara iktara
Goonja sa hai koi ektara


Sun rahi hoon sudhbudh kho ke
Koi main kahani
Puri kahani hai kya kisi hai pata
Main to kisiki ho ke yeh bhi na jaani
Ruth hai yeh do pal ki ya rahegi sada
Kise hai pata
kise hai pata

Jo barsein sapne boond boond
Nainon ko moond moond
Nainon ko moond moond
Jo barsein sapne boond boond
Nainon ko moond moond

Kaise main chaloon
Dekh na sakoon
Anjaane raaste

Goonja sa hai koi ektara iktara
Goonja sa hai koi ektara
Goonja sa hai koi ektara iktara
Goonja sa hai koi ektara
Goonja sa hai koi ektara iktara
Goonja sa hai koi ektara
Goonja sa hai koi ektara iktara
Goonja sa hai koi ektara

(Source: lyricsmasti.com)

On the Road

The other day when I was riding my scooty, there were quite a few things which left me infuriated. This post is actually an inspiration from that day.

Things which leave me cursing on the road:

• Where there are no dividers, people who drive on the other lane even when there are enough vehicles coming from the opposite sides.
• The sharp, sudden holes surfacing in the middle of the roads (no wonder I have fallen twice, back to back)
• People driving with high beam on.
• Poor street lighting – what are we paying taxes for!
• Some chauvinists, who try to show off that they can drive faster
• The slow pace at which the roads are made, and the fast pace in which it gets deteriorated
• The way autorickshawalas never give proper signal while taking a turn, it would always be sudden, abrupt.

I will surely keep adding my woes (because all the ideas crop up when I am on the road)

Paranoia

It is all so surreal. As if I will wake up one day and all this will go away like a nightmare. Just yesterday I was telling my colleague, I never thought I would see this day in office (90% of the people are in masks by the way). Even a month back if somebody would have said that we would be working at office in masks, I would not have believed it. It brings back stories of ages ago, when villages used to wash out or eaten up by a disease. Our technology has progressed and our diseases have become more complex and even more fatal.

I think the government totally missed out on declaring curfew this weekend. I have seen people moving out of the city on vacations, and it is definitely going to be dangerous. It is good that people from all classes are aware enough to wear masks while venturing into public. But every thing said and done, people are meeting other people, commuting in public transports and there is only so much precaution can you take while going out of home. In fact, there is even greater danger for people at home when some of the members go out daily. We needed a total cut-off, for this weekend atleast.

I had a great day today, for I did not wear a mask in last 24 hours! We did have a small party with a couple of friends, which I was immensely skeptical about, but then I finally let it go! Perhaps media is making me paranoid. Perhaps a little caution and precaution is enough to keep you safe.

Hope this gets over soon!

The Fear Factor

Friendship Day was good and Rakshabandhan was scintillating but Swine Flu has taken daylights out of all of us. Not so long ago, chickenguinea, Bird Flu, SARS….looked like something which happened to other people in other countries. But the ascent of Swine Flu is so palpable. I think 90% of the people on roads are wearing some or the other kind of Masks.

It started with a couple of cases in schools in Pune, then we heard how couple of schools were shut for a few days. Slowly, the disease became rampant, with every school and college closing for 7-10 days. We were still enjoying ourselves. In last 2 days, we are so gripped by the thought of Swine Flu during every waking hour that there is really no respite.

I am giving my driving classes a break for a couple of days. We even started wearing masks at office. These masks are really not the ones which are recommended (N95) but anything is better than nothing. This mask is actually out of stock in all medical shops and people are ordering these from outside. I don’t know when will I be able to lay my hands on those, till then we are all wearing the regular disposable masks. Read more on the right mask here.

The so-called good news is that the vaccine will be out by December in India. If ‘that’ is good news, then what is bad! And hey, right early in the morning, I read this news in Paper and my spirit ebbed like never before. Something needs to be done, and real fast!

Humko Ishq Ne Mara

Today while coming back from office, I found myself singing – ‘Kab se bekraar the sunane ko….’. This song is from a movie called “Humko Ishq ne Mara”.

I remember I was in school then, and we were all crazy about songs of this movie. Right from the popular “Jaadu Hai Ye Naya Naya, Dil hai Deewana…” to the title track "Humko Ishq Ne Mara”, all songs were our favourites for Antakshari.

I vaguely remember it was a college flick about these 3 girls and 3 guys. The name of the cutest guy in the picture (sitting at the centre) was Kiran (in the movie), he is mistaken as a girl and allotted a room with 2 other girls (can you believe that!). Back then it did not feel weird at all! Ah! Teenage………! You can catch all the details about the movie here.

It was a cute, teenage flick. The only lady missing from this poster of the movie is Rakhi Vijan aka Sweety from Hum Paanch. I think this movie came before that serial. You would also notice Amrita Saluja, a common face on the ad scene. She is the “Mummy” in Whirlpool’s ‘Mummy ka Magic Chalega Kya’ campaign. I have not noticed the third actress, Charmy much, though apparently she has done couple of movies in South.

Amongst the guys, only Ashish Chaudhary can be identified more readily. The name of the guy on the right handsie at the back is Huroum Mirza. I think I have seen him somewhere but cannot recall which serial or which movie! The third guy (who is at the centre) has been seen is as latest as the movie ‘Mumbai Salsa’.

A little research showed that the movie was directed by Arjun Sablok of ‘Na Tum Jano Na Hum’ and ‘Neal n Nikky’ fame.

It is strange how a movie or a song opens a box full of fond memories!

Air Brushing

I have been on the Product shoot for the last two days. It is absolutely no fun. I have been bored too death. We were shooting this product in which we needed to enhance the sleekness of the product, we felt that the product was looking fat, and were discussing whether we can ‘enhance’ that sleekness through Photoshop or something.

It suddenly dawned on me, how similar thing would be happening while shooting models or film actor / actresses. In fact, people who are in Media or Communication would know how each and every commercial picture is enhanced and ‘modified’ – that flawless skin, such perfect hair (even a strand of hair gone astray can be corrected)! But sometimes, I think people cross the limit. I remember, I had seen Rani Mukherjee on the Cover Page of a popular women’s magazine. It was clearly visible that the picture was ‘airbrushed’. Rani’s head and body were looking mismatched and she was looking far too thin. Read the article on 'Airbrushing the Photographs.'

It is really unfair for all the innocent people around who don’t know that the perfect picture that they see in glossies is really not the true picture. Many women buy what these magazines try to sell, an unreal picture of perfect beauty!

So, gym can really wait till tomorrow, or may be the day after J

Image Courtesy: Telegraph.co.uk

Pet woes!

With all due respects to all the people who have pets, I am really against the idea. Please people, don’t be judgmental. I have nothing against those poor animals (if I may say so!), they are fine…but only in other people’s homes who are strangers and in homes I do not need to go. I have atleast 2 friends who have Pet dogs. They can be forever assured that I would never give them any surprise visit. I would always call up before landing on their place, that too very discreetly. I tip-toe to their main door, press the bell and hide inside the lift, until I’m completely assured of my safety (the pets locked up safely inside one of the rooms). I do feel sorry for them. In fact, I have even offered that I be locked in a room and let them roam around, but in any case, some distance is essential for my health.

Everyone keeps pestering me and telling me that their darling pet would not do anything. They don’t understand. It does not have to ‘do’ anything to scare me. I am just paranoid about them.

Besides, there is a practical reason why I do not like pets. I cannot stand their hair (I’m talking about dogs and cats) everywhere and on everything around the house. I too feel all lovey-dovey from a distance, but I’m not too keen on playing with them, they jumping all over me.

It is almost like a habit for me now. My friends just have to live with it. Poor guys!

The Weekend that Was!

I don’t know whether this weekend was a good one for me or a real bad one. It is all perceptual you see. So what happened?

• My Weekend started with the rashes on my wrist looking filthier (Yuck!) which did wonders for my spirit.
• I fell from scooty, when I was lost in my day dreams and suddenly got accosted with a big, unexpected pot hole. Good thing is I got minor bruises on my hand and knee, and I also got pampering and TLC from my hubby…so it was not that bad actually. Thankfully, I always wear helmet. I was so mad while coming back at the condition of the road that I hurled a lot of abuses to the Corporation.
• We had great fun watching ‘Hostel’ together with friends on TV. Although a gruesome movie, thankfully, all such scenes were cut.
• Dinner was lavish, for we and our next door friends decided to have it together, so it turned out to be bonanza……hmmmm….. Sumptuous!
• Finally on Sunday morning we went to the Gym. I’m going to be steer clear of weights, because I know I will not be able to be regular. So I just want to stick to cardio. We also planned how we will go cycling once the roads are all done. Dreams!
• We finally saw “Ice Age 3” and I slept somewhere in the middle. It was OK and since I have not seen any of the earlier ones, may be that could be the reason of my boredom.
• I had lofty plans of joining Driving school, but all went into the drain as I hurt my plan and my spirit plummeted to a new low!
• Next 2 days are going to be hectic, as I have to attend Product Shoots and also complete all the follow ups with all the vendors, give some approvals, negotiate some rates…….woooh!
• Pune is really a laid back city in all sense, even the professionalism is a little laid back. When I was in Mumbai, we were trained to be on our toes for whatever Client asked for; in Pune, despite being on the Client side, I have to be on toes with my Vendors (read agencies). People really have some high notions here. The kind of work agencies pass on to Clients would have been unimaginable for us in our ad agency in Mumbai. And after that, they have guts to cross-question us!

I remember, how we had been told that you have to be smarter than the Client. You must know all that is to know about their brand in order to inspire confidence in Client. Ah! Mumbai is definitely in different league when it comes to professionalism!

· Today I tried some fast cooking with my brand new Microwave. It is really quick. You just microwave your veggies for couple of minutes and then sauté. It really saves a lot of time.

· This week is going to be special…..won’t tell right now. Work is going to be as usual. I am looking forward to Rakhi and till now, not sure what to gift the bestest brother in the whole world J