Bye bye 2010

2010 was a fair year for me both professionally and personally. I had some good stuff happening and a few blaah stuff happening. I usually do not indulge in this post mortem thingie except to laugh at myself but somehow felt that this year - I must look forward to 2011 using the lessons learnt in 2010. Fear not -- This is not a boring post on my lessons. This is mostly to say goodbye to 2010 and I will not discuss onion prices, commonwealth games, or any other potentially life-threatening topics :D

I would like to thank:

• The Arien for being a rock and supporting me when I was overwhelmed by work, stress, or relatives.


• The senior Arien for saying all the right things at the right time and sometimes bluntly stating the truth even when I did not want to hear it.


• The Taurean for his single-minded focus and never-say-die attitude towards his goals which I tried to imbibe in vain.


• My friends who enriched my life by simply being there.


• My colleagues for making life @ work -- fun.


• My blog for providing me an opportunity to share my thoughts, vent, ramble, and for generally being another frend @ times :)

Too sentimental?! Well, it is the end of the year. Wish you all a very Happy and Prosperous New Year. See you all in 2011 :D

The song playing in my head

Was watching TV yesterday and came across this trailer from "7 Khoon Maaf" which had a very catchy song. After listening to it once, cud not get it out of my head. Have been listening to it over and over and over again today since I came home. The Arien has asked me to switch it off now :P

Catch the trailer here:
http://www.nowrunning.com/movie/7526/bollywood.hindi/7-khoon-maaf/trailer.video.htm

Let me know what you think.

Christmas Celebrations

This year we welcomed Christmas with a lot less fanfare. The gifts for family members were purchased in September, when we had visited Delhi and Jaipur. We still had the marathon gift-wrapping session but we did not have to break our heads 'bout the gifts.

The Arien was on leave on the 23rd and 24th. The house was completely cleaned on 23rd. The gift-wrapping was planned for 24th but I changed the date to 23rd. The Arien was not too happy but we went ahead anyway. It took us 3 hours to complete it. Oh yes, b'cos it was my idea - the arien patiently waited for me to come home. Grrr... By the time we finished - we were dead tired and it was 9 pm. We postponed the decoration plan to 24th.

24th was a hectic day: we took my MIL shopping. We got her loong kurtas - she finds the saree pretty cumbersome and so we thot it wud be a good idea. She was in an agreeable mood and so we purchased 5 kurtas. I hope she wears them. (Fingers crossed!) We had lunch outside and then dropped her @ home. We drove by Commercial street and saw that it was decorated with bright lights and a number of folks taking pictures of the street using their cell phone cameras. It was almost 8 pm when we returned home. And then we started with the decorations. We then put up the crib, and by the time it was 12 pm on the 25th - we were not too exhausted (I think!!)

25th disappeared before we realized as we were surrounded by relatives, family members, and friends. Usually, there is so much hungama and tension surrounding X-mas that I dread it. However, this time the Arien was quite patient, did not insist that we follow smthng blindly, and did not kick up a fuss when we reached church a bit late. The Arien gets hyper @ Christmas and this time was quite unlike his usual self @ Christmas.

I am very thankful for that :D

Raktha Charitha

After hearing sooo much 'bout the violence and gore in this movie - I was not too sure if I wanted to watch this. Naturally, the Arien was not of the same opinion. So, on the sunday after the Christmas celebrations, we sat down to watch the first installment of Raktha Charithra. Yes, Raktha Charithra is released in two parts and this is a first of its kind in Indian Cinema. Anyway, now for the movie itself.

The movie is set in a place called Anandpur and starts off predictably with a violent killing. (I mean - else it wud jes be Charithra and not Raktha Charithra :P) As I watched the scene, I was reminded of a similar scene from Nayagan where Kamal violently kills a rowdy. The similarities do not end there but it is a different movie, altogether. The movie is based on the life of Paritala Ravi. Ravi studies in a city college and is meeting with the parents of his girlfriend when he gets the news that his father has been brutally murdered. He rushes back to Anandpur and is informed by his brother that the murder was a politically-motivated killing and how he avenges the murder and becomes a plotical leader forms the rest of the movie.

Vivek Oberoi has done a good job as Ravi. Shatrugan Sinha (moustache-less avatar) as an aging famous actor who wants to become a minister is convincing and his "Topic is over/finished" dialogue is quirky enough to not grate on your nerves. Bukka Reddy, played by Abhimanyu Singh, seen in the picture, was a surprise package. He plays the role of the son of politician Nagamani Reddy. (Nagamani Reddy plays a key role in the murder of Ravi's father and is murdered by Ravi.) Bukka Reddy's costume designer was probably a little confused and made him wear ample gold jewellery and very gaudy silk kurtas. This coupled with a thick mallu-beard was quite scary but does not distract you from his presence which was a good thing.

The taut storyline, good acting by most ppl are this movie's key strengths. It is a short movie (1 hour 30 mts). The killings are scary and I would advise folks to not watch this movie with young children. After the terrible Phoonk2, I was happy to see a good movie from RGV.

Image Courtesy: Sulekha.com

Christmas is here!

So its that time of the year when:

• the Arien plays Christmas carols on the computer;


• the house is all decked up or at least preparations are on the way;


• we start on the gift-wrapping marathon session;


• last-minute purchases are made for items we will never need and no one keeps tabs;


• we play secret Santa @ work;


• someone dresses up as Santa @ work;


• the US folks are away on vacation and we have no mails from them for almost two weeks;


• sometimes we have a shutdown and sometimes we do not - depends on which you company you work for or on what is their policy that year;

Anyway, the song that the Arien is listening to lately is: Santa Baby. Did not know it was so popular. Almost every female singer has a version of this song. Jes FYI it is not a regular carol or a goody-goody song. If you have seen the movie P2, this song plays in the background. Its a gal's wish-list to Santa somewhat like Madonna's The Material Girl.

Manorama Six Feet Under

A colleague at work had suggested this movie for a weekend watch. The movie was downloaded and ready a week ago, but we finally caught it this weekend. Thankfully, the Arien was not inclined towards any other movie. Both of us had not read any reviews of this movie and the colleague had also not shared any snippets.

The movie begins in a small town in Rajasthan, where the Hero, Satyaveer Singh, who is an Engineer with the PWD (Public Works Department) has just been suspended on a bribery case. SV finds the town desolate and dry - just like his life. He starts his bike and as he is driving, he sees Yana Gupta in the middle of the road only to realize as he drives through that she is just an illusion his mind has conjured. As soon as he enters the house, he is greeted by his wife, Nimmi, who runs a beauty parlour. Nimmi is very unhappy to hear that he has been suspended and tries to comfort him but he cuts her off. She angrily retorts that she wished she had married the guy who had four saree shops instead of marrying him. So begins the fight which, like in most marriages, runs its course till it is way past dinner. A stranger, visits SV at his house just as they settle down to watch some TV. The lady wants to talk to SV alone and is aware that he moonlights as a writer. His first book, Manorama, sank without a trace having sold only 200 copies. The stranger states that she is the wife of the irrigation minister, Rathore, and wants SV to investigate her husband like his detective character in the book. She offers Rs. 10, 000 as an initial payment and offers to pay him a similar amount after the job is done. Because he is awaiting the results of the bribery investigation, he accepts the offer. He also discusses this with his bil, Brij, a policeman. What happens next is totally unexpected and he realizes firstly that the stranger is not the wife of the minister and before he realizes he is deep inside the web of lies, deceit, and greed. There are enough twists and turns to make the rest of the story interesting.

After a looong time, I saw a good hindi movie that had a very good story-line, a love story that was not over-the-top or filmy, actors who did a fantastic job and were well chosen. Although the narrative was a bit slow in places, I enjoyed the movie a helluva lot. In fact, this is the kind of movie you want to watch. The Arien felt the movie should have been edited tautly to make it a good thriller. Anyway, What works for this story is firstly Abhay Deol as Satyaveer Singh. Abhay with a mustache and aviator-like shades looks good and as usual, acts very well. Gul Panag as Nimmi, is amazing. Her stitched salwar suits, the nighties worn with a sweater, and her sharp retorts seem very natural. Vinay Pathak, as Brij, is equally good. Sarika as the mysterious stranger is also good. Catch it over a lazy weekend, as I did and share your thoughts.

Image Courtesy: IMP Awards (http://www.impawards.com)

Wordless Wednesdays -- Where in Indiranagar have u seen this?

The Subtle Knife

This is the second book in the His Dark Materials trilogy by Philip Pullman. I took a really loong time to complete this book. That, however, is not a reflection of the book but more of my time management skills. (I spent last evening playing Solitaire on my mobile phone till the Arien got home :D **Warning: It is quite addictive**) Not that this book is uninteresting but somehow it did not grip me like the first book did. Maybe it was because the focus was on a new character, Will, and not on headstrong Lyra. Maybe I was too involved with my Solitaire :P Anyway, by the time the story picked up speed, I was halfway through the book and was wondering if I made a mistake by purchasing the book instead of reading the PDF online.

The story begins in this world where there are no daemons. Will takes his mother to his piano teacher and requests the teacher to take care of her while he is away. The piano teacher agrees with not much hesitation. Will goes back to his empty house to pack and prepare. Late in the night, he hears people in his house searching every room. He is glad that he has moved his mom away and prepares to run when they notice him and suddenly one of them trips over a cat and dies. Worried that he will get into trouble with the authorities, he sticks to the shadows and keeps walking. He also has his father's leather writing case. He knows that the two men were searching for this case.

Suddenly, he sees a cat disappear and follows the cat, into another world. In this new world, he meets a lot of kids, and also meets Lyra. The adults in this world have had their life-force taken out of them by creatures known as the Spectres, who the kids cannot see. Then follows a series of adventures, a bitter fight in which Will realizes that he is the bearer of the Subtle Knife. The story ends with Will coming in contact with his father, John Parry, also known as Stanislaus Grumman. Yes, in the first book, Lord Asriel shows a head in a box and mentions that it is Grumman's head to the Authority. Ob. he lied. Will spends a brief moment with his father when they become aware of their relationship when the father is shot dead by a witch, Juta. He returns to his sleeping area and sees that every witch has been eaten by the Spectres and Lyra is missing.

Mrs. Coulter does not feature prominently in this book. Lord Asriel is just mentioned. This book is more about Will, Will's quest for his missing father, John Parry (aka Stanislaus Grumman), the witches, Lee Scoresby (balloonman/aeronaut), Lyra... in that order.

MTR @ Forum Value Mall

For once, we reached the Forum Value Mall an hour before the show and actually managed to have dinner there. We walked into MTR because we wanted to have something light. We chose to sit outside in their terrace-like-place because the rest of the place seemed too suffocating but there was absolutely no breeze. The table we chose was yet to be cleaned. A boy came by and cleaned and there was a foul odour and the Arien gave up trying to identify the source. It finally hit us as we both sat wrinkling our noses after the boy left that it was the cloth he had used to wipe the table. The source of the stink was now transferred to our table!! We realized that we could not change tables and so we both sat facing away from the table until the waiter came up.

We ordered for Bisibele Baath, Kesari Baath, Poori Saagu, and Rava Idli. And this was wen we were not hungry :P The Arien wanted the waiter to bring the Rava Idli and Kesari Baath first but he over-ruled us and brought both the Baath(s) 2gether accompanied by a small kinnam of ghee. The Kesari Baath was low on ghee and was yummy. The Bisibele Baath was maha-mashed and yummy too. We had half-an-half so we could try each other's dish. Then came the shocker, there were no more Rava Idli(s). Ob. someone else had been served my Rava Idli. The waiter walked up and asked me to choose something else - no apologies. I knew that the Arien was likely to lose his temper badly and so quickly ordered Idli(s) for myself. As I turned to the Arien, I saw another couple staring at us and they were eating Rava Idli(s)!! Telling the Arien could result in his losing his temper and so I dropped the idea. The Idli(s) and the Poori(s) arrived with the small steel kinnam full of ghee. Somehow I thot it was oil and poured it on my Idlis and totally regretted it. The Arien meanwhile had a really rough time eating his Poori(s). The palya or was it kurma or saagu or whatever it was - was so bland tht the Arien felt nauseated.

After all the enthu 'bout eating here, the experience was totally blaaah and while the food had its pluses, it is not a place I would suggest to friends, relatives. I think the Kamat(s) are way ahead in this aspect.

The Voyage of the Dawn Treader

After a looong, loooong, really loooong time, we were finally catching a movie. The Arien had been out playing cricket and booked tickets for the 7:55 pm show of "The Voyage of the Dawn Treader". I wanted to tell him that he may not like it as much as the first movie but dropped the idea. We completed most of the Christmas shopping for my MIL - who did not join us. Lunch was ob. late but thankfully we had dinner @ MTR on time :) You can read 'bout the dinner @ MTR here.

The movie was slow and a lil boring initially. The Arien was bored and after sneezing like a dozen times informed me in a loud stage whisper that the movie was a lil boring. I had read the series in the chronological order many many months ago and remembered the story in a vague manner which was not very helpful when the Arien asked me queries. I was so happy to be inside a theatre and compared to the various flop movies - this was a lot better and I enjoyed myself to the hilt.

The story is 'bout Edmund and Lucy who are presently staying with their cousin, Eustace who is a major pain. Suddenly, they are all pulled into the painting of a ship at sea. For Eustace who disbelieves all talk of Narnia, to be dragged into the Narnian world, rather a ship which has King Caspian, should have been a bitter pill to swallow but instead of learning a lesson, he continues to behave in a priggish manner and irritates everybody. King Caspian is hunting for seven lords who disappeared during his father's time. They have various adventures in their quest and allz well that ends well. Edmund and Lucy learn that they will not visit Narnia again, from Aslan. They are very sad to hear that.

Image courtesy:Imdb

Hindi Malum?

As I walking to a bakery near my home, I saw this woman and kid accost a young gal on a bike, with those exact same words. I was very tempted to do various things but I resisted them all and walked away.

Ages ago, when I was new to Bangalore, I remember hearing the exact same words and I had stopped to reply. I was soon rummaging in my bag for spare change and gave her all the money I had. She had said that she needed money to buy a ticket to some place in North India where she lived. I walked away with a spring in my walk because I had done a good deed. Of course, I had just been conned. She was lying. I met her exactly a week later and she did not even remember me or my money or my change :)

So now, anytime I hear "Hindi malum?", I walk swiftly away. Has anyone had this experience? From what happened today, I know I am not the only one :)

Music Mania -- a saturday evening special

Both the Arien and myself were looking forward to the weekend -- we had some minimal shopping planned and we wanted to catch a movie. All that changed after the Arien received a call from his brother who lives abroad. I could hear the Arien utter "Yes.. Of course ... Sari... No problem... Yes, yes" and was quite curious. Well, the Arien had decided, all by himself, what we would be doing on Saturday evening. We were going to a musical gala at his nephew's school. We had not been to see him since he joined over 6 months ago and so this was a good opportunity. The program was scheduled to start at 5:30 pm and after picking up the folks who were joining us - it was 4:45 pm when we actually got started. I had almost given up hope on our reaching on time wen the Arien surprised me by reaching the venue (beyond Electronic City - after Elevated Tollway) by 5:45 pm and the program was yet to start. The stage was all decorated and we walked right upto the first row and settled ourselves in th seats meant for the kids :D

The school campus was huge and the number of parked cars informed us that we were the last ones :( The first to come on stage were the Prep 1 kids. The kids were actually lil more than tiny tots. They were 3 rows of kids (15 per row) and of them two would introduce the group and then join the others. Some of them were watching the guy who was playing the casino. Some of them were following what their friends were doing - at a very slow pace. I think we have never laughed so much. I had tears in my eyes. Only a small group was intently following the teacher who had a chair facing the stage and was miming the actions for the song. They sang and mimed for Popeye the Sailor man, Noddy, Sound of Music and kept us entertained. And then the capricon, Arien's nephew, came on stage with his first group (First Standard). The Arien settled down right next to the Stage so he could take good pics.

The capricon seemed so alone that all of us felt very bad. He is such a naughty kid that it is usually very tough to get him to do anything we want and seeing him like this - had us all go awwww. As he did his steps, he kept an eye out for us in the Audience and though the Arien was sitting right in front of him - he did not notice him till the very end. He did his steps very well and luckily for us - for some reason the mike did not work too well for one of the girls who was the star singer and so the teacher wanted a Repeatu of the song. I called the Arien because sometime earlier, we were asked to vacate our seats for the kids and told him to take more snaps. We were seated at the back -- close to the projected image and so we actually had a clearer shot of the stage.
And just wen the second round got over, we noticed that the capricon had seen the Arien because a brilliant smile shone on his face. He also did a quick step for the Arien as if to say "Oh.. I knew I wud come - How is this?" before he was shooed off the stage alongwith all the others, by his teacher.

The program got over around 7. The kids were given some coupons so they could eat something at the stalls. We had also purchased some goodies and so he was at his naughty best. He ran all around and refused to eat. We finally left around 8:10 after visiting his dorm, seeing two of his three room-mates and spending some time with them all. He is the youngest in the group and in the school. As we returned home, everyone had an opinion on the naughty capricon and if this was really what we wanted for him. It was 10 pm when we reached home.

A song a day makes my day

It has been a while since I listened to songs on my mp3 player and I had totally forgotten the calming, soothing effect it has on me. Yesterday, I was feeling a lil stressed and wanted to focus on my work. However, almost everybody and everything seemed to work in co-ordination to ensure that I did not complete any work. The ringtone from the neighbouring cube, the anxious mother calling up her kid's playschool every 15 mts, a pregnant woman discussing the food she had packed for lunch, another annoying ringtone, some senior employee giving gyaan to the junior employee, the loud discussion 'bout english speaking classes between the security guards, and more such distractions had me wondering if I should have worked from home rather than visit the fish-market that was my cube :(

I rummaged in my bag for my headphones and then Bliss! I was soon tapping my foot to match the song and before I knew it - my work was done. I still had a whole hour left - Wow!! Thts a first :P I really miss the headphones we had at my previous organization - it looked like we were air traffic controllers :) Anyway, I like what I have right now and all I am looking forward to now is to keep my mp3 player updated with the latest and greatest so that I can end each day with a beeeg smile. Howzaatt??!!

PS: Last song heard today was Pretty woman by Roy Orbison.