Goodbye 2009 - Welcome 2010

It had been a busy last few weeks of 2009. So many things happened that I totally lost track of time, events, and everything. In fact, there were many days when I did not feel like blogging (gasp!!)! I felt we were racing towards 2010 and I really wanted to be in 2009 for some more time... not that December 2009 was a gr8 month b'cos:

Disaster 1:

The Arien had been driving me nuts with his Avatar comments and so I finally said "Yes - Lets go!" on Friday evening. We booked tickets for the late evening show on saturday. I asked the senior Arien if we would like to accompany us. Surprisingly, the senior Arien agreed. Watching it on 2-D was def. a factor in our not enjoying the movie but hey effects are not everything. Plus, I recieved this very funny fwd regarding Pocahontas and Avatar tht totally killed my "Oh my" feeling.

It was a surreal experience but smwhere in the middle - I actually got bored and wanted to know if others were equally bored (first time ever), the senior Arien yawned, and the Arien was a bit surprised tht the hyped movie was not meeting his expectations :(

Disaster 2:

I had my first puncture on my bike. It happened on a Friday at work. Sunday was spent pushing the damn bike up the ramp tht leads to the entrance and the Arien dropped it off at the only place that was willing to fix it - a cycle shop. Since it was my first puncture and had hpnd after 5 looong years.. they had a hard time getting the tube out. I spent a "watthehell" twenty minutes watching the cycle shop owner's assistant do sm weird moves on my tyre as he tried to change the tube... AAhhhh!!

Disaster 3:

A bug(not the multi-legged variety) landed on my desk which required that I use all the diplomacy I had (included heavily borrowing on my reserve) as well as all my time and effort (which fyi were already on reserve). The actual fixing jes took one single day but the entire process was an absolute killjoy - Aiyooo!!

Disaster 4:

Based on the enthu showed by one of my Arien frends who had jes been to Hampi, I jumped into "Lets go to Hampi" mode till the Arien had no go but to agree. Beegest trip disaster in recent times. The Arien got bored and told me he was tired of seeing temples when in actuality we had not visited even a single temple. I got pretty depressed after visiting the ruins and was actually ready to go home. So, it was yet another disastrous turn of events.

While I spent the last few days waiting for a miracle - Nothing hpnd. I finally decided to be happy b'cos Disaster 5 did not land on my desk. For all you folks waiting for my X-mas updates - the Arien decided to get a new crib on 24th December at 8 pm. I was ready to freak out b'cos it was really too late to go shopping for the crib. Why it does not feature under a disaster is that we were suprisingly lucky in our search and the Arien had this huge smile when we placed all the statues in the crib. It was a nice X-mas with the Star attraction being shared by the new crib and the zooming in Star.

Pink Panther 2

After the very boring De Dana Dan, we returned home feeling cheated. I wanted to watch a comedy so I cud laugh at the jokes in the movie instead of at the movie or at myself for actually sitting through tht nonsense. The Arien was glued to his comp and I was reading "a girl like me" by Swati Kaushal. I was not sure why I picked it up... it was 'bout a teen who has moved frm Minnesota to Delhi, and though I continued reading it - I did not like it much. I wanted to get started on "Plum Island".

The Arien looks up from his comp and says "Lets watch Pink Panther 2 after dinner." This is the movie where Ash makes her hollywood debut... and it stars Steve Martin, whom I luvv. I tell the Arien "Lets order Chinese and we can watch the movie now". The Arien does not want to eat chinese. We spent a few minutes in silence. I am trying to figure out where we can order food frm while the Arien is planning wht he wud like me to cook for him :D A compromise saved the day - we can make chappthi and aloo subji at home.

Pink Panther 2 is quite funny in some parts, Ash is Sonia Solandress (hehehehe!!), there is romance in the air for Steve and Emily (Nicole), and quite a few new characters. While Steve Martin was simbly hilarious in Pink Panther - the sequel did not match up. The Arien, for once agreed with me. Ash does not have a blink and miss role but she has almost nothing to do but b there - which she is good at. The ending is tame and very predictable... as I have mentioned in most of my reviews, I like a twist in the story. Well, apart from the scene where Steve Martin dresses up as the Pope and stands at the Balcony, all the others scenes kinda fall short. I got over De Dana Dan inspite of the fact that Pink Panther 2 did not meet my expectations - thanks to Steve Martin.

De Dana Dan

Inspite of having watched Hera Pheri, and really enjoyed it, laughing - the deep down belly laugh - not the obligatory giggle or the short bark laugh - for some portions of the movie, I opted for Ajab Prem Ki Ajab Kahani for the weekend outing over De Dana Dan for our wknd movie watching. Ranbir is watchable and the Arien can drool 0ver Katz :D

We left home around 11:15 and reached the theatre at 12:45 ( 15 mts too late for the show). While the Arien insisted we catch the movie anyway, I opted for De Dana Dan at 2:15. After booking the tickets, we had a long-drawn discussion on where we wud have lunch - a lot of time was spent in shooting down the other's choice - we can b such babies smtms - we finally settled on Millers 46. When we left Millers 46, after totally stuffing our faces, we realized that it was 2. If we did not walk in a fast and furious manner, we wud b late.. yet again. After all the hulaboo, one wud expect that it was a not-so-bad movie, right?? WRONG!!

It was so unfunny that it produced a short laugh for tht reason. It was almost as if they shot a few songs - including the promo number "Paisa Paisa karthi hai.." and then wrote the script to bind the unconnected songs to each other. In fact, for the promo song, Akshay spoke 1 dialogue b4 the song to introduce the song which was one of the many unnecessary songs in the movie. It reminded me of the obligatory intro sentence before a procedure, "To configure blahdeblaah on blaah, do the following:" I am sure you all know wht I mean. Talking of unnecessary songs, there was this waterfall song with katz in a saree ( supposed to b the hot n sexy number) which had absolutley no ooomph quotient at all. I was reminded of Akshay's earlier hot number with Raveena in a yellow saree, "Tip Tip Barasa Paani" which I thot was a scandalous number. This was the absolute opposite of tht song - kats was absolutely robo-like in her precision to cmplt those moves which probably killed Akshay's enthu :D In fact, I felt he wud smhw burst out laughing in the middle of the song. The Arien did with "God!! She is so.. so.. unsexy. " I was surprised tht we had the same opinion :) There is also this titanic-like scene that is oh sooo bad... you are tempted to leave before the credits start rolling.

Rating: 1/5
Why is it that every hindi movie I have reviewed is kinda bad, worse, or worse than worse??

The General's Daughter

As I was browsing through the library yet again, I came across this book which I picked up for my weekend reading. I recall the Arien asking me to watch a movie by the same title with him, while I was busy doing the Sudoku and catching up on my sleep, so ob. I gave it a miss. Anyway, I have always liked the book more than the movie and so I decided to read the book.

You are introduced to the story from the perspective of Paul Brenner, a member of the military CID, who is called in to investigate the death of the daughter of a very famous General. He is assisted by a rape counsultant, who is also his ex-flame, Sarah. Investigation into the house of the general's daughter Elizabeth, reveals a number of skeletons in the closet. It is a case that could easily kill his career, growth, and reputation but Paul decides that he shall do his very best to solve the case. He talks to the various people that Elizabeth knew and finds that each person had a motive to kill her. Paul attempts to reconstruct the crime based on the the details shared by the various ppl involved and zooms in on first one person and then the actual killer.

However, while there is proof that the killer was in the vicinity - there is no proof that the killer actually committed the crime. There was motive but so many others also had motive. There was a lot of circumstantial evidence but that would not hold up in court. So it was actually "We know that he knows that we know" and Paul knew that until the killer breaks down and confesses - the killer cud not be convicted and he cud not solve the case. The story dragged at the end, you are feeling desperate and then it breaks. The ending was kinda expected but the book was fantastic.

Urged the Arien to download the movie, as I kept imagining Denzel Washington in Paul Brenner's role and found out that it was John Travolta instead. The movie does make a few changes. Paul (John Travolta) meets Elizabeth in the movie whereas in the book, he has never met her and is called in after the body is found. For folks, who prefer to watch the movie rather than read the book, it has some adult content and so I advice viewer discreetion. Others, read the book - I loved it :)

Gracie Lindsay

It had been a tiring week and I was looking forward to some serious light reading. Too many weekends had disappeared as part of arbid get-2gethers and I really wanted some time to laze, read, read, laze, and so on in an infinite loop. Naturally, the Arien does not get this and so it is a major tussle. So, I was very surprised wen the Arien was asked to report for OT over the weekend. Always in a mood for drama, I waved a sorrowful bye and a "I will miss you", as he left for work on a saturday. The Arien replied in his usual blunt manner "Uff - don't do all this natak - I know u are going to laze all day with tht book of urs. Jes b ready when I come home - we can go out for dinner." Wooohooo!

True to his comment, jes minutes after he left, I picked up Gracie Lindsay. First thing I noted was that the book had been published in 1978. The book was the size of a student notebook or probably the size of Enid Blyton's Secret Seven or Famous Five. The story was written in a simple, clear manner that is distinctly old style. The story is about Gracie, who is returning to her homeland after having been away for more than 7 years. She had left her hometown amidst scandalous rumours, bad gossip and left behind a broken-hearted boy-friend, a heart-broken uncle and a not-so-heart-broken aunt. In those 7 years, she married a man much older to her, and moved to Cawnpore (yes.. Kanpur), India. The husband dies and she decides to return to her hometown - with gifts frm Kashmir, Calcutta, and Mysore. (Yupp... lotsa Indian places.. fairly gave me a thrill!!)

Gracie is not made out to be the epitome of goodness, selfless lowe, etc., she is self-centered, selfish, wanting her chance of happiness with her old boyfriend, who is now engaged to be married. As the entire town watches, she goes out on secret trysts with her old boyfriend, behaves like a pampered niece to her uncle, neglects to find out more 'bout her child who was given away for adoption, goes out with a notorious womaniser to make her old boyfriend jealous, etc. In spite of the way she behaves, instead of contempt, you feel sorry for her.

I was very curious to know how the story wud end, but was very disappointed at the ending. Killing her off in a vague accident, where she somehow manages to save her son was very blaaah. It seemed more like an easy way out for the author. I was not expecting her to become a changed person but I was hoping for a lil happiness for her. This is the first book I have read of this author. When I mentioned the author's name to the senior Arien, he went "aaaah.. He was a gr8 writer - you must read the Citadel". Hmmm... shd remember tht name when I go to the library next time.

Secret Window

After having enjoyed "The Shining" - the Arien decided to download more movies of the same genre. While I am usually all enthued 'bout thriller movies, this time I was somehow not too enthued 'bout catching it ASAP. In fact, I put it off for almost a month and then suddenly last weekend when we were relaxing at home, I finally decided to watch "Secret Window". *No Spoilers *!!

The story begins very simply at the lakeside cabin of a famous writer. The writer is battling with writer's block and is also in the midst of a divorce. The house is in a mess and looks as if the writer, Mort, has totally let himself go. The man himself looks quite a mess - his hair is uncombed, he is wearing a striped robe which probably belonged to his ex-wife - which has a tear on one shoulder and he is constantly sleeping on the couch. You feel the utmost sympathy for him.

Into this lazy surroundings comes the villain in the form of John Shooter. Mort is dozing away yet again when he has a nightmare of turning over on his couch and almost falling into an abyss. He wakes up to find that he is on the floor and some one is knocking on the door. He opens it to meet John Shooter who accuses Mort of stealing his story and gives him a sheaf of papers (not bound) and asks him to read it. Mort is convinced that the old man must be mad and throws the papers into the dustbin. A few hours later, after one more small nap, Mort finds the sheaf of papers on his desk. The mystery is solved when Mort sees his housekeeper cleaning the house. Mort decides to check the veracity of the claim and reads the first few lines and is aghast to find that most of the information is almost identical except that the style of writing varies slightly. Shooter starts arriving at his cabin at all odd times and threatens him. Shooter tells Mort that he wants him to print a retraction and change the ending of the story. Mort is horrified at the thought of all that bad publicity.

During one of their conversations, Shooter states that his story was written in the year X and Mort instantly realizes that his story was published almost two years earlier in a magazine. In his enthusiasm, he blurts out that he still has a copy in his home as he now feels the weight of the bad publicity lifting. He is absolutely unaware of Shooter's plan. When Mort returns to his cabin - he notices that Shooter has killed his dog. Shooter asks him to get a copy of the magazine and he will leave him. Mort visits the local sherif and hires a private investigator.

Mort decides to visit his home (now the home of his ex-wife and her boy friend) to get his copy of the magazine that first published his short story. After seeing his ex-wife with her boy friend, Mort feels distraught and returns to his lakeside cottage. Meanwhile, Shooter burns down the house. Mort suspects that Shooter does not want him to find the magazine. Soon, the private investigator and the only person who saw Shooter, are found dead in his SUV.

If you liked The Shining - you will totally lowe this movie. The part of Mort is played by Johnny Depp who you will agree was perfect for the part. The tension builds n builds and then suddenly explodes. This is not for the folks who enjoy the college gal in a shower + some vague killer wearing a mask + hazzar murders + sequel after sequel, kinda stuff.

Tea @ Infinitea

After returning frm a rain-soaked pilgrimage, I was looking forward to a lazy day - we were eating at the senior Arien's house - Yippee!! No cooking for me. The cook had prepared the south Indian version of the chinese fried rice alongwith a side-dish of paneer butter masala - that left a lot to be desired. The combo was the least of our concerns because the rice was so overcooked - it tasted and looked very much like pongal. Plus, it had a lot of partially cooked veggies - the cabbage was almost raw and peas was uncooked. Assuming we let all tht go - the salt was fit for a bp patient. I mean it was cmpltly tasteless : I almost regretted my earlier Yipppeee!! :( I was actually suprised that the Arien had not made any comment. I suggested going out and having a good Chai and snack which was vetoed by the senior Arien and the Taurean. While the senior Arien was keen on catching up on his sleep, the Taurean wanted to catch up on his speech. That left the two of us for the snack.

After indulging in sm arbid shopping for the Arien - I decided it was tm to have tht really nice hot cuppa Chai. I was in no mood to go home and make two hot cups and so we tried to cm up with options. The Arien not wanting to drive too far frm home - opted for Shanthi Saagar. My glare was sufficient to stop him from coming up with a list of similar such options wen I got my first brite idea of the day. Infinitea. I was all for the totally chilled out experience while the Arien came up with his standard rejections "Too far - Too expensive - Too late" and a new one "No coffee". But, for once my mind was totally made up and so on sunday evening arnd 7 pm - we made our entry into Infinitea.

We opted for steamed momos, and a pot of masala chai as the Arien was not in a mood to experiment (Alas, on our drive to Infinitea, I had mentioned Progrm's Green Tea scene). While we were still wondering 'bout wht we shd add - I came up with the Tiramisu. The Arien read it and had the best candid camera expression on his face :D He managed "Ladies fingers? Do you really want tht??" with a very audible gulp. I told him I was very clear and the first dish tht arrived was the Tiramisu which was promptly gulped down by the Arien amidst "Hmm.. Nice.. Hmm... Good.. Hmm.. do you want some???" before I cud say "Tiramisu". Well Well Well...

Momos were not so great but the spicy chutney tht accompanied it - sure was. Chai was so-so. I have had better @ Infinitea. We spent a while staring at the pictures on the wall - commenting on the statements made on the paper coaster - observed a college-going couple feeding each other, in one corner... Next to us, were a bunch of four guys chattering nineteen to a dozen who had finished their eats at least half an hour before we did. Somewhere in the midst of all the staring the Arien noticed that we had not yet recd the bill. Well, thts one of the nicest things.... I mean, in most places, the bill is placed alongwith the final dish and a waiter (im) patiently waits for you to pay. It was a very nice experience tht we cud jes continue to sit and chat :) While I have been here b4, it was the first time with the Arien and he enjoyed the experience as much as I did.

Adai - a South Indian Delicacy

After almost two years of not having had Adai, I visited Annapoorani near Cambridge Layout and gorged on one while the Arien declined to take a bite, adding "Its too thick and looks burnt - you go ahead!" While hogging on my Adai, I tried to convince him that not all Adais were thick ... or burnt ... I mean, my adai is not burnt... Grrr...So like him to make a comment tht infuriated me while he continued to eat his Ven Pongal nonchalantly. Ufff!!! Well, I cud have been talking to the Adai for all the attention he gave me!!

For the uninitated folks, Adai is actually a rich relation of our traditional dosai. It is rich in protien, plump but not obese, drinks like nobody's business, and is usually accompanied by avial, chutney, or molaga pudi. Sambrr, as Northies call our Saaambhaar, should ideally not be allowed to accompany Adai because familiarity breeds contempt.

Naturally, I cud not or rather wud not let the issue remain unsettled for looong and so I got Adai Maavu (batter) so I could make Adai for the Arien. The Arien was adamant tht he wud not like Adai and I was insistent tht he cud not make the decision without trying it.

It was almost as if tht statement was sm kinda time machine dialogue which sent me back to the tm when I was cranky kid. I was suddenly part of those old flashback moments used by black and white movies to indicate that we are back in the past! You know the one tht has this doin doin doin circle that meant tht time itself was going backwards.... I was wearing a beautiful pattu pavadai chattai with flowers clipped on my short hair using a hair clip, a beeg boil on my nose, tears in my eyes, while my mom glared at me. The waiter had happily served Thair pachiddi on my Yelai while I was busy making plans with my older cousin 'bout how we cud play in the Oonjhal (Swing) before the Mappilai and Ponnu (Groom and Bride) sat on it. I did not like the look of the dish - I wanted it removed - or I wanted a new Yelai - none of which was likely to happen. Mom came closer and said in her no-nonsense firm tone "Do not make the decision without trying it." Tht was one of the most hated dialogues of my childhood especially 'cos I was a fussy eater. Me saying exactly the same thing to smne else was actually scary!! I tasted a teeny bit and gagged or rather did a decent job of pretending - mom was ready to thulp me for the natak but grandma came to my rescue and tht was the end of the lesson.... Hmm.. Hmmm...

Anyway, back to the future, the Adai was looking golden brown and so I quickly turned it over and tadaen - the Adai was ready!! After having the first Adai, the Arien said "Its interesting - not so bad" and I was doing the Yippe Yippe Yeah Yeah bing dance when he decided to christen our Adai. While I waited for wht seemed an age - he came up with Masala Dosa. Because he had so sweetly tried the Adai, I tried very hard not to burst into giggles. Adaingappa (pun unintended) ~ What an idea, sirji!!

Jack Nicholson Vaaaram

After seeing Unnai Pol Oruvan a week ago and being more impressed with Mohan Lal, I decided to dedicate the extended weekend towards catching up on some ole movies that I truly enjoyed. I surprised myself by picking 3 movies of the same actor and then decided why not see 5 movies of the same actor and dedicate the week to one of the finest actors, Jack Nicholson.

The first movie that I saw of Jack Nicholson was "The Shining" and I saw it when I was in my early teens, sitting on the floor, late at night, with cousins. The movie completely terrified me. An older cousin had purposely made us sit on the floor so we could experience the movie from the psychic son's perspective. All I could remember of the movie was a hotel, a kid cycling, twins in blue, and of course the dialogue "Danny boy, Danny boy". Seeing it again, it was not as scary but it definitely gave me the chills. Its not like the horror movies of today where a creaking sound, a scream, a door slamming happens every second jes to create fear and to prevent U from getting bored. The movie started slowly, fleshed out the characters, and then let the movie take over.

The second movie that I saw was the amazing "A Few Good Men" which also starred Tom Cruise, Kevin Bacon, and Demi Moore. I spent most part of the film, agonizing over how Tom had to achieve the impossible. Towards the end, in the last courtroom scene which was supposedly the winning scene for Tom, I was floored by the honesty that Jack Nicholson brought to tht scene. I have seen the movie a zillion times but I can never forget Jack's famous dialogue "You cannot handle the truth". Over the years, whenever the movie came on TV, I found that Tom and Demi seemed raw and barely impressive and I would surf channels until the final courtroom scene came on. Watching the movie again was like a super treat.

The third movie that I truly enjoyed was "As good as it gets". He was brilliant as a famous M&B kinda writer with a serious obsessive compulsive disorder who falls in lowe with the waitress who waits on him everyday. If you have not caught it yet, catch it on a lazy saturday afternoon and I am sure you will fall madly in lowe with him and his fantastic potrayal of the OCD writer.

While the next movie I saw was "Departed" - I felt it was more a Matt Daemon and Di Caprio movie. Though I liked the movie, I would rather discuss "The Bucket List". I heard that Jack Nicholson had actually shaved his head for the role. When two men (Jack Nicholson and Morgan Freeman) are diagnosed with a terminal disease, they work on a list of things that they want to see or achieve before they die. Their sojourns also includes a short trip to India - to visit the Taj Mahal and Morgan Freeman is actually wearing a pale white embroidered Sherwani.

The last movie that I saw was the totally unexpected "Somethings gotta give". Jack plays an aging senior citizen who likes young women and unexpectedly falls in lowe with the mother of the young woman he is currently seeing. Its actually an "Apoorva Raagangal" with a dollop of humour and of course Jack Nicholson.

Of Injuries, Pain, and finally Relief

Have you ever had agonizing pain in your foot everytime you stood up after sitting for a while? Have you ignored it for over two months telling everyone that you are in the middle of a release? Have you limped all the way to the dias at Weddings, smiled at everyone like you are Colgate's brand ambassador and then hissed "Where the F are all the bloody chairs??" to ur near and dear ones who are accompanying you to the wedding? After a painful walk in your stylish shoes at the latest mall - have you sat in the car, hugging your feet so they do not pain so muchh... Well, well - you have lived the past two months of my life :(

When I finally decided to visit a doctor to check on the misbehaving right foot - this was jes after my book was approved for the release - I find that the foot behaves perfectly normal at the clinic. I had been worried 'bout this and the Arien rushed up and turned the foot in a diagonal manner and I let out one of those blood curdling screams which I had on reserve. The doctor managed to look nonchalant and asked the Arien why he had to twist it tht way and smiled while we both stared. He said smthng tht sounded like "metatarsal" and asked me to get an X-Ray jes to rule out any fractures. So, we got the X-ray. Well, the bones were fine - perfectly normal.

I was now more worried than ever. When we returned to the clinic - we were sent to a shop to purchase a "metatarsal silicon cushion". It looked ughhy! I cud not believe I had to wear smthng like tht. I was actually embarrassed to carry it in my hand :( When we met the doctor, he gave me more information on my bad right foot. He said tht either by wearing shoes with heels or shoes that have a tapering end, I had caused the toe bones (digits) to press the viens - resulting in the pain. So, essentially, in college parlance, my bones were ragging my veins and by wearing the scary silicon cushion, I was introducing a warden who would not let the bones rag the viens.

He also showed me how to wear my ugghy cushion. The relief was immense and immediate. The Arien had noticed the change in my expression, the moment I stood up. Usually, when I get up after being in a seated position, I have a pinched expression and then I hobble for 5 minutes before I can actually walk normally. When I stood up, the warden jumped in and provided support for the veins. The bones dared not rag the veins in the presence of the warden. I was so surprised, I actually said "I can walk - n its not paining". The doctor made me walk around the room and told me to wear the cushion for 15 days at least. He also prescribed some anti-inflammatory tablets, asked me to soak my foot in hot water, perform sm stretching exercises for the foot - in water, and asked me to see him after 15 days. I was still repeating "No pain" when we were asked to leave.

When we were driving back, I was dreaming 'bout new footwear when the Arien, in his typical sarci-cum-astute manner, said "Do you know that we jes spent 1000 + bucks on your right foot? Why is ur right foot troubling you - oh yes!! Ur shoes. " All my plans for buying new footwear quickly vanished.

For the folks who are interested to know more 'bout this particular ailment, it is known as Morton's Neuroma.

Change is ....

I decided to change the look of my blog and decided to use one of those templates that I could freely download. While attempting one of the changes, I lost some of my widgets :( While it was entirely my fault.. I am still a lil waaanh 'bout it. A small change has made me feel so blaaah is surprising. Actually, I have never attempted changing the look using a template that I downloaded and so it is actually a change after a loooong time. I liked the template but I am not happy tht I lost my widgets. I am also surprised 'bout how easily one can get used to a lot of things in life. While one can wax eloquent 'bout change - it is all 'bout how one handles change when you first face it that defines you. You could:

• cribb endlessly (like tht makes a diff.),
• fight change passively,
• fight change aggressively, or
• live in denial

Well, I have decided to add the widgets again.. can I really do anything else??!! It will take a while before my blog looks like my blog once again but I am willing to use the time to see if I really needed those widgets :) Talk of learnings.. this had me groaning! And btw, this is not like the "Dhaag achhe hote hain" ad. Honestly, Dhaaag acche nahi hothe - ask your mom :D

MJ

I know I know.. wht was I doing all this while? Hmmm... well, everytime I wanted write a tribute to him - I postponed it till it got 2 late. I know I know ... why now? Most saturdays I tune into Vh1 and 29th August was no different. Too late - I realized it was MJ's b'day (he wud have been 50 today) and it was raining MJ songs.

The first time I saw MJ was on the Grammy's show smtm in 1987, in Bangalore. The curly long hair, the apparent grace in the dance moves,the slim legs and thin frame had me convinced tht MJ was a woman. It was my cousin who educated me otherwise. The following year, I moved to Chennai and I was introduced to loads of english music, including MJ's. I was a Cliff Richards fan and so MJ was almost a culture shock but I was soon singing along with the cassette whenever I cud. Usually, whenever I make new frends, my first question after the pleasantries is "Wht books do you read?" - tht changed to "Do you listen to MJ?" Yupp - it was tht drastic.

I met my soul-sister later tht year - we convinced our family junta tht we were into "combined study" - tht was the term used those days - and managed to watch all MJ videos and sing along till I flunked World History. Mom went hyper and insisted "No more all this combined study rubbish or Mykhel Jakison nonsense". Yaa mum was pretty sharp :( Well, all tht meant was improve my grades n I could go bk to MJ.. my soul-sister was a gr8 frend and teacher n taught me Russian Revolution and 1857 so well tht my mom gave me permission to go bk to listening to Mykhel :D I also listened to Madonna, George Michael, Bruce Springsteen, Stevie Wonder, and a host of other musicians during this time.

Have you ever noticed that movies, videos tht impressed you when you were a kid, look tacky, totally blaaah when you re-visit them? I remember being impressed by the movie Khoon Bhari Maang when I saw it for the first time. When I saw it again, a few yrs later, I found tht the editing was not slick enuf, the story line shd have been tauter - you know what I mean. With the passage of the years, the technology has changed so much tht the old movies, videos are not as impressive. So, if the movie or video stood the test of time, it essentially took on cult status.

At that time, MJ was the hit of the season - I realize now tht he and sm musicians were able to re-invent themselves, stay ahead of their fans expectations and remain on the top longer than the others tho' MJ took it some weird levels at times. For instance, apart frm the ole videos (Jackson 5 videos) which appear dated - all his other videos were actually way ahead of time and they continue to impress me. Thriller, Black or White, for instance.

After watching MJ videos hundreds of times, I could actually yell out the kind of outfit he was wearing as I heard the opening notes of any song. The Arien decided to test me on it and here goes:

• The way you make me feel - navy blu shirt, white vest, a white cord with a kinda bow in front.
• Smooth Criminal - all white blazer, hat, shoes, and the paris tower lean
• They don't care 'bout us - colourful red v neck shirt teamed with a blue jean
• Bad - black outfit with buckles on the side
• Beat It - Orangish-red space jacket, blue t-shirt, wite socks peeping out.
• Say Say Say (with Paul McCartney) - navy blue cap, suspenders, blue sweatshirt
• Billi Jean - red bow tie, leather blazer on shoulder, lite pink shirt, very old style formal leather shoes, black leather trousers.

I actually got most of it rite - down to the smallest details. The Arien was pretty surprised that I could still remember the lines of so many of MJs songs. Actually, I was pretty surprised at that too :) Thanks to MJ, I belonged to the hip crowd at school instead of the nerdy junta I was usually a part of. I truly enjoyed his music and felt sorry for the poor lil rich boy as he got weirder and weirder. I shall miss his music, his monwalk, his passion for the songs he wrote and danced for... Adieu!

Ten Tadennnn Taen aka Kaminey

Was in Mumbai last week, visiting an Arien aunt. Being particularly close to this aunt since childhood, I was sure that we would have lotsaa fun. Too late we realized tht it was rainy season, aunt had gone all spiritual and TV was going to be our companion as aunt had not taken off from work. Talk of piscean persistence coupled with Arien enthu - the Arien aunt had no escape. We picked her up from office in her car, after buying tickets to a movie in a nearby multiplex. If you have ever been to Mumbai, you will know that that is quite a daunting task but the Arien is pretty good at driving the car and I am pretty good at remembering routes and navigating and so we surprised my aunt by driving up to her workplace and informing her tht we had got tickets to the movie she wanted to watch - Kaminey.


Kaminey is a totally watchable movie inspite of the old wine in a new bottle storyline. I was actually glad tht they escaped frm the "Maaa.." aspect which has by now become a mandatory part of any indian movie - frm Amitabh's maa, Nirupa Roy, Salman's maa, Reema Lagoo, to Imran's maa, Rathna Pathak Shah. In this movie we have a Paa. The twins (both played by Shahid) do not have a maa and do not have fond memories of her which we are subjected to as a flashback. Shahid1 has a stutter while Shahid2 has a lisp and when they spoke, it took a while to understand wht they meant, after which it became hilarious.

Shahid finally escapes frm the "mister-goody-two-shoes" image of Jab We Met and Vivah. Priyanka is good. The slick editing is reminiscent of an english movie and the storyline is taut. It was a well directed movie and the script enabled Shahid to rise like a phoenix and show his detractors what he is capable of. Music was essentially hummable - Ten Tadan was pretty good tho' it loses sm of its life as the song progresses.


While my aunt was shocked at the violence, Arien and self were wondering if we had missed something. Aunt has spent too much time pursuing her spiritual goals was our joint verdict for her which she laughingly accepted. When I mentioned to a frend tht I saw Kaminey in Mumbai - I was told tht the Mumbai experience was not complete until I saw sm Kaminey (s)!!! Tht was simply too punelicious that I cud not resist adding it here.

Verdict: Not path-breaking or Earth-shattering but amazing nonetheless especially in the Bollywood space. A good movie after a loong time. Shahid excels in the role of a lifetime that seems to be crafted for him. Must watch at least once.

Kandhasamy

Am blogging after a really looong tm and I thot I must first share my opinion on a movie that has been hyped to glory. So far, all movies that have been publicised extensively usually fall flat after all tht hype... but hey, I am getting ahead of myself. Lets start at the beginning...

It was a hectic monday morning and I had jes started serious work after replying to various arbid mails when the phone started to ring. I was sure it was a credit card salesman and picked it up only to hear my bil ask me if I was at work. I managed a Yes and was informed tht the entire family junta was planning on watching Kandhasamy and would I join them for the 8 pm show? I said Yes. All too soon it was tm for us to get to the theatre. When we reached the theatre, I was a lil zapped to see two full rows occupied by my extended family. My bil is very enthued 'bout get2gethers and movies and so here we were (arnd 30 of us), sitting in the last two rows and hoping to enjoy a Vikram movie. Hoping is the right word... in the first 10 mts, Vikram in his Kozhi avatar killed all my interest.

Totally predictable - script must have been written on a paper napkin frm a cheap takeaway -movie was a mish-mash of Shivaji and Anniyan without the script, a la Swift Dezire. Vikram is totally wasted in a role where he sleepwalks as his various avatars. Shriya, the less said the better. Songs - not even hummable - a Poda Podi song tht no self-respecting tiny tot will sing even with a bribe, an Allegra song tht was supposed to showcase Shriya's dancing abilities but showcased more of her size zero figure than of anything else.

Most folks left after the interval when they saw tht the movie was going nowhere. We were not as lucky as we were a huge group where sm folks believed the movie wud get better and so we stayed put and endured the longest, most boring tamil movie ever. It was so pathetic that I wondered at Vikram's wisdom in signing on the dotted line after the script was shared. I have liked most of his earlier movies but this is simply too huge a blooper for the actor to commit. I have always thot he was an intelligent actor but this movie makes me wonder 'bout tht as well. Anyways, if there is anyone who has not yet seen this movie, this is my sincere advice: Pls do not watch it even if smne gives you a free gold class ticket at sm hi-fi multiplex in your city.

Ganesh Chaturthi

The day dawned bright and sunny at 7 am. Ahem!! Well, thts dawn for me on a sunday! The Arien was missing. Was he kidnapped by aliens? Nah!! The mystery was solved 5 mts later when the Arien walked in holding a plastic cover and said "Oh.. you are awake?! Well, then you can get started.." Usually, I do not attempt normal conversation until I have a nice cuppa chai but this time curiosity took over and I imm. walked up and peeked into the cover. The Arien had this "I did it!!" gleam in his eye and so I had to ask "What is it?" The Arien quickly shared his morning adventure. He had been to a nearby hotel to get Vada Maavu so we cud make Vadai(s) for Ganesha. I was so surprised and happy that I did not bother 'bout the technicalities such as wht kind of hotel, where exactly is it.. well, you know wht I mean. The guy at the hotel had laughed when the Arien presented his request, but the term 'Ganesha puja' made him change his mind. I was glad that this time we would have a grand Ganesha hubba as opposed to my earlier efforts.

The rest of the morning disappeared so fast, I cannot recall much of it. First, the Vadais were ready. Within minutes, we started on the Payasam. I did not realize my Chai was getting cold as I moved arnd the kitchen cooking black channa for the shundal, helping the Arien as he mixed the batter for the Kozhakattai, and arranging the flowers around Ganesha for the puja. By the time, we finished with all the items and the puja it was 1 p.m and I realized that we had not had breakfast yet. Surprisingly, the Arien had not gotten all worked up and cranky and so it was fine.

We were having lunch at the senior Arien's place and we carried all the goodies to their place as well. Of course, the Taurean did not feel tht our kozhaikattai matched the ones that paatee used to make. The Arien actually got us an Achhu to ensure that our kozhakattai did not end up shapeless :) The Achhu was garlic shaped and so we had garlic-shaped kozhakattais and we had used sugar instead of Jaggery and so the Taurean did not like it much. But who cares, I liked my kozhakattai and I am sure Ganesha did as well.

The Ganesha clay idol that we had purchased this time, seemed very close to my heart and I did not want to perform the Visarsan but of course, that was not right and so with a heavy heart, I performed the visarsan on Thursday with the Arien's help. It was a lovely Ganesha Chaturthi, unlike the earlier ones and I enjoyed every lil bit.

Eve of Ganesh Chaturthi

The day before Ganesh Chaturthi was a busy day - house was swept and swabbed by yours truly with a lot of help from the Arien. With all the help and support, the cleaning was actually complete only by 5 pm. Naturally, it was 6 pm when we finally left to shop for the ganesha idol, flowers, and other misc items that form part of what we know as Vinayaka Chaturthi.

The next 3 hours were spent in:

• haggling over the prices, vendors usually hike the price of the items on the eve of a festival;
• identifying stale items that the sellers try to sneak in;
• walking up and down a narrow street that already had too many ppl on it + a few two-wheelers+ some autos, and of course, an occassional four-wheeler and;
• lugging an amazing amt of stuff that is required for the festival and of course, the chief guest of this festival, the cute Gannu (Ganesha Idol).

(Parallelism ki jai !!)

We spent the next 1 hour worrying if the idol would keel over everytime the Arien hit the brake, turned rashly, or did sm arbit stunt. However, nothing untoward happened and we reached hm safely. The Arien had decided that we would make kozzakattai and vadai as well. I was ready to faint. So did I make the kozzakattai? Chk out next post which has the details :)

The Milk Cooker

T'was during the same weekend, that the Arien found the milk cooker. I remember receiving it as a gift a long time ago and moving it to the back of my kitchen cupboard. During weekends, the Arien gets into this cleaning frenzy and so he ends up finding stuff tht were kinda hidden from him. The week before tht he found the Eyah-chombu, which belonged to my mom. Thankfully, I did not bring the Puttu pathram or the filter with which amma made her decoction (pronounced dekokshun).

So on sunday, after the Koshy's visit, while I hoped to have a lazy sunday the Arien pulled out the milk cooker and decided to boil milk in it. This one was a stainless steel milk cooker unlike the older aluminium type which amma had while we were in some remote part of Karnataka, known as Thangadige. I still recall, the Taurean, a toddler at tht time, would either run for cover or hide under the bed whenever he heard the milk cooker shriek. The Arien gave me some gyaan on why milk boiled on a milk cooker never spills with sm details tht totally escape my mind right now. Anyway, I retorted that if milk was boiled in the Sim flame, it does not spill over and shared with him the gory details of the Taurean's milk boiling exercise. The Taurean decided to boil milk and as specified by me, left it at Sim flame, and forgot all 'bout it. It was two hours later when he called me - to inform me that firstly all the milk had boiled away and secondly, the vessel was charred beyond recognition and the good news was that none of the milk had spilled!! Yupp... his sense of comic timing is deeply flawed :P The maid was ready to murder him b'cos it took her a week to get the vessel back in usable condition.

Anyways, the Arien poured two half litres of milk in the new milk cooker and went back to his browsing. I got busy reading the newspaper. It was a solid 15 mts later that I heard this shrill whistle and looked up from my newspaper to realize that it was the milk cooker. Milk was all boiled - Tada!!! And, no spills. Super Tada!!! In all this enthu, totally forgot to make breakfast and we hoped to catch Harry Potter at the Forum Value Mall at 12 ...Waanh!!Grrrr!!!

Brunch at Koshys

It was a lazy saturday after the Bank strike. The Arien had to transfer money urgently as one of his post-dated cheques was likely to bounce thnx to the sudden strike. He had also suddenly fallen sick and as a result was short-tempered and feeling very tired. After giving me a looong lecture on why I shd opt for online banking, the Arien decided to get going - dragging me along after only a cuppa chai. It was while we were driving on MG Road, that I decided we must have brunch at Koshy's. Lotsa folks (especially the non-veggies) loved the food at Koshy's. Having lived here all his life, I was surprised that the Arien had never been to Koshy's. After completing all the bank related work in 2 absolutely boring hours, convincing the Arien 'bout having brunch at Koshy's, finding a parking spot near the British Library, we had no clue 'bout the where the entrance was. We actually spent a few minutes walking all around and were told by a kindly shop-keeper that the place we jes walked out of was the entrance. Well, Well, Well...

We happily waited outside until a group pushed past us and we realized thats how it works. We walked in and I was instantly reminded of my college cafeteria - the plain wooden chairs, the beeg fat fans, the old old walls, and some really old pictures. The only difference was that the cafeteria was usually empty while this place was bursting with ppl. We made our way to a table near one of the various pillars and plonked ourselves on the chair without speaking a word. We observed the groups around us, a bunch of college gals occupied a corner and were making an absolute racket which we cud not hear as the general voice level of the place was pretty high. Diagonally opposite to us, on one side were two college guys who were busy guzzling beer and on the other side, we had a bunch of oldies (7 - 11 in number, most of whom wud step out for a while - probably for a smoke n come bk in later). I found this lovely sketch by Jai Iyer on http://iyermatter.wordpress.com/. I totally lowed his latest sketch on the transformers aka auto hilarious... chk it out when you have the time :D

It was when we slowly began to wonder if we would actually see a menu when a waiter walked by and dropped off the menu. We took altogether too loong to select wht we would like and he vanished. Finally, the Arien decided on a chicken steak and a drink while I opted for a spanish omelette with toast. We decided to continue observing the others while we waited for our dishes and we noticed quite a few foreigners as well, tucking in and guzzling away. I hoped the Arien liked the food - he is pretty fussy 'bout the food he eats. The food was ok. The Arien did not go ga-ga over the food - he felt that Millers46 offered absolutely amazing steaks and this was not as great. The spanish omelette was good - though with a lil too much cheese. We decided to try the Koshy's Hot Chocolate Fudge, which was a total waste. First, it came late and so it was all gooey and then it had peanuts instead of nuts which totally killed the taste.

While the meal was not our best, I feel we ought to give the place one more chance. The dishes we chose did not give us the opportunity to really sample the place and so another visit is strictly the order of the day. Convincing the Arien would of course take a lot of doing.... Have a happy day!!

Time for change

Yes Yes Yes... it is that time when I feel like changing the theme for my blog. After previewing some of the options, I chose this. Not my best - not one that is close to my heart - not even one that best describes how I feel - not my fav colour - well, you know what I mean. For the ones who did not know wht I meant- Sometimes a change is all that matters.

This is my change for the day :D

An Evening of HahahahaHehehehehe

It was a lazy Friday evening when I received an sms for the S Ve. Shekar drama to be held in Bangalore. I was immediately transported to the years I spent living in Chennai. I was introduced to S Ve Shekar's brand of humour by friends and cousins. We spent countless afternoons listening to his cassettes and laughing at his jokes. We actually even knew some of the dialogues by-heart. "Yenna Mirugam Aakathe" was a personal favorite that was usually uttered by the actor who played S Ve Shekar's father in the drama. I soon liked his clean sense of humour and his comic timing, which was an amazing contrast to the Sendhil-Goundamani comedy style that was sweeping Tollywood. I wished I could attend a live performance - but alas that never happened while I was in Chennai. So, receiving this sms was like a "Wah Wah Woo".

I pestered the Arien to book tickets but he was not too keen. Finally after a lot of rhona-dhona, usually a major part of all tamil mega serials, I got my way. The Senior Arien was going to be all-alone over the weekend as the Taurean was away at Chennai. Used version 2 of rhona-dhona and managed to get a Yes from him as well.

Sunday, 4:10 pm, saw us (the senior Arien, the Arien, and self) happily driving to "Ghana Sabha". I had amazingly deleted all the smses and so was not sure of the name of the place. An auto-driver informed me that there was no "Ghana Sabha" in K R Road and that I am probably looking for "Ghayana Samaj". After reaching K R Road, and taking various detours, we finally reached Ghayana Samaj at 5:15 pm. While the Arien goes to park the car, I get the tickets by sharing the online booking id and the senior Arien is asking ppl standing outside if the show has begun - we suddenly spot the comedian himself sauntering past us. He has not changed much. He is extra-ordinarily fair in person and he speaks in a typical tam-bram accent when he informs the organizer that he does not want to make the audience wait any longer. Both the Senior Arien and self are busy gogling at him, beaming at none in particular, when the Arien walks up and asks us 'bout the tickets - we tell him in hushed tones that HE jes walked by.

At 5:30, the play titled "Periya Thambi" began. It was a new experience for the Arien. The Senior Arien and self were laughing away to glory. It was funny, familiar, laced with political inundoes, and naughty as well. The auditorium was one of those "Thaatha Kalathu sabhas" and soon it was pretty warm inspite of the fans. We were seated 5 rows away frm the stage which was perfect - I spotted certain improvisations made by the artistes tht would not be visible frm say the 10th row. The grandfather who uttered senseless proverbs was hilarious. Its usually pretty tough doing a live show and I was pretty impressed at the way they performed. A young gal in the third row was recording the play using her cell phone and S Ve Shekar caught her and waved a No! from on stage. While it was pretty embarrassing for the gal and her companions, I was surprised he could make out smne was recording with all tht light on the stage and the near darkness that the audience is in. The play was 2 hours short and had an intermission for 10 mts after the first hour.

After the play, S Ve Shekar introduced all the cast members and he was at his funny best at tht time. He also thanked the audience for encouraging drama artistes by coming to these plays when temptation such as multiplexes lured you. He also shared details 'bout his first play in Bangalore. It was complete wholesome entertainment and we had a Hahahahahehehehehe evening. Both the Ariens enjoyed the different experience inspite of creating all tht fuss earlier :D

Not Without My Daughter

It was a hectic saturday and after checking all the items on my To-Do list, I reached for my "If-Possible" list. The only item on that list was to visit the library. Happy that we had completed all the tasks planned for the weekend on a single day - we went to the library. After picking up 3 books (all fiction), I was drawn to a book on the Non-Fiction section titled "Not Without My Daughter". I added that book to my collection and the Arien added 1 magazine to this collection and we were all set.

It was Wednesday when I got around to reading "Not Without My Daughter". As I read it, I was reminded of one of my childhood nightmares that would occur everytime I saw a horror movie. It is a sunny evening and I am happily walking hand-in-hand with a frend into a huge crowd. Suddenly, the crowd disappears, there is a huge storm and I am all alone with my friend.. who is now a monster. The fear that wud grip my heart was smthng I wud feel even after I woke up frm the nightmare. There are many places in this book that feel like I am walking into the same nightmare only in slow motion.

The story begins with Betty, an american woman married to Mahmoody, an Iranian doctor, going on a two-week vacation to Iran with Mahtob, their daughter. From the beginning of the vacation, Betty feels that they may never come back to America. Betty, Moody, and Mahtob stay at Amee Bozorg's house. Amee Bozorg is Mahmoody's respected older sister. Betty finds the entire stay at their place very difficult but is willing to compromise as it is only a two week holiday. On the day of their departure, Betty is all dressed to leave when she realizes that there is some issue with the tickets and that they will leave in a few days time. Days change to weeks, and Betty learns that Mahmoody has lost his job in the US and has no plans of returning to the US. He also wants to admit Mahtob to an Iranian school. The rest of the story is about how Betty gets back to the US.

The story evokes a lot of sympathy for Betty, especially the sections where she describes how her various escape plans are thwarted time and again, when she is not allowed to call her family in the US and find out how her kids from her former marriage are doing, how her dad, diagnosed with terminal cancer, is doing. And also, towards the end where she has described her perilous journey from Iran to the US. While Betty has potrayed herself as an intelligent, astute typical american, she has potrayed Mahmoody as an evil, illogical, violent Iranian man prone to fits of depression. I feel she was playing it safe by sticking to stereotypes. The book was also made into a movie starring Sally Field, Roshan Seth and others.

Mahmoody has also presented his side of the story in another movie titled "Without my Daughter". His grouse is that he can never enter the US - thanks to Betty. And he states that he is the one without the daughter. Betty has not allowed Mahmoody to contact her or Mahtob.

Maid in India - Boon or bane of working women

With the topic title like that - I am sure you are reminded of class VIII debates that one wud b forced to participate in. Well, this is not a debate and neither is it a post 'bout the notorious Shiney Ahuja case tht grabbed eyeballs. In fact, now that it is clear that the not-so-shiney Ahuja did indeed rape a minor, I must admit that I had not pegged him as an offender at all. Surprisingly, almost everyone who knew him said tht he was incapable of such an act, including his poor wife, Anupam. Or shd I say poorer maid? Anyway, thts not the subject of this post.

When my maid wanted 3 days leave to help out a distant relative around Christmas last year, if we had had any idea that we wud never see her again or how quickly our well-managed household wud fast become a mess - we wud have begged n pleaded with her to stay. Of course, since we did not know, we happily gave her leave to go. In the past 6 plus mnths - I have realized the important role a maid plays in the smooth functioning of my house and also how very difficult it is to get a good maid.

We have had maids who kept their own timings, demanded naashtha (breakfast), wanted Cha (tea) before they started work, or spoke too much. If they washed the dishes well, they did a bad job of sweeping and if they did a good job of sweeping they did a bad job of washing the dishes. It seemed so difficult to get a maid who did a good job of washing the dishes, sweeping and swabbing. Punctuality, cleanliness, gossip soon became the least of our concerns. They actually seemed trivial in comparison.

Some Gems:

• Stains? I cannot see any stain on this tea-cup. I have worked for marwadis. Do you know how clean they expect their cups to be? [This was in response to my pointing out a very visible tea-stain on the inside of a white cup.]
• Do I have to swab everyday? [This was a week after negotiating the salary based on the 3 things she has to do everyday: wash vessels, sweep the floor, and swab the floor.]
• I will work only wen you are there. [This comment had the Arien jumpin up n down. He said "Does she think I am another shiney?? Grrrr" A trip to KFC and a lot of "She did not mean tht... Its ok" helped him calm down n decide against kicking this maid out.]
• I am part of the ladies club and we meet at 4 pm every sunday. Can I just do the dishes for today? [Do I have to say anything?? ]
• Aunty, has uncle gone out??? [Whaaattt??? She was the mother of two toddlers and I was the aunty? Grrr..]
• When do you plan to have children? [Whoaa???]

Pfhwah!! Phew!!! Blaaaah!!! GRRRR!!! We had had enuf of it. We even did a pilot without having any one for close to a month. By end of month, we were praying for a maid. I was ready to accept all her conditions. I decided not to have any conditions of my own. As you can see, I was pretty desperate for a maid to help me out with some of the household chores. I brought this topic up at general get-togethers and this is what I found:

• No Maid?? Are you kidding me?? I have a toddler and in-laws staying with me. We have a cook, a maid, and a driver.
• Why wud I want to do all this menial work?? My brain will be pakaoed. I have a life.
• My maid cooks, cleans, sweeps, swabs, and washes clothes as well. I pay her well and she is almost like an extended family. She has breakfast and lunch at my home and packs some for her kids as well.
• Initially, when my MIL insisted that we don't need a maid for the two of us, I agreed. Our marriage almost crumbled under the pressure that I was going through. I don't care how the older generation managed... I cannot manage on my own. The maid brought a lot of peace in my home.
• I think a housewife does not need a maid. If you are working, it is better to opt for one. It also depends on the kind of work tht you do, and the support-system you have. Some one who has a stress-free life with fixed timings can take on additional tasks - if she so feels like it.

Interesting huh??!! So, what do you think??

Terminator Salvation

After having watched Hugh Jackman sleep-walk through X-Men Origins: Wolverine and waiting for something unpredictable to happen - I really did not think I would like Terminator Salvation. This was another one of the most hyped movies of the month but the Arien is completely crazy 'bout action movies and so I decided to go along, yet again. The only plus I cud see was Christian Bale who was fantastic in the Dark Knight and Illusionist. He plays the part of John Connor. The minus was tht some of the machines looked like the ones in Transformers but lacking the colour n the personality. It was a tie n so I went with the Arien's optimistic frame of mind.

For the folks like me who started with Terminator2 and then watched Terminator1 and missed Terminator3 alltogether - it was good. For folks who have not watched even one of the Terminator series - the graphics are cool, you may feel you are a part of sm JigSaw puzzle which you can solve only if you have watched the earlier parts but for most part you follow wht is going on. We were on time, thanks to the Arien's persistence. The movie started well. There were scenes when I wanted to whistle or shriek alongwith the crowd. There were a few surprises - making this movie really worth watching. *Spoilers ahead*

Wah Wah

• This was the movie tht made Arnold Schwarzenegger's career. Not seeing him in this movie was not ok. However, Christian Bale (John Connor) and Sam Worthington (Marcus Wright) were pretty good.


• The scene where Marcus attracts a magnetic mine; when he realizes tht he is not human and is a cyborg with the goal to bring John Connor to Skynet were taken very well.


• Seeing an almost lifelike Arnold (T-800 model 101 terminator), who starts fighting with John Connor gets full points for the surprise element and the computer generated graphics.


• The machines: they played different roles.

Blaah

• The look of the film was dark, dusty, and gloomy. I guess tht is the result or after-effect of the nulcear holocaust.

Verdict

****

X-Men: Origins of Wolverine

This movie is one of the most hyped action thriller of the month. Most ppl have been looking fwd to this movie especially after the Multiplex vs Single-screen theatre wars. Does the film live up to the hype?

X-Men: Origins of Wolverine

Before I start, I must share that we arrived late at the Hall and missed sme of the crucial childhood scenes of Wolverine. Naturally, the Arien was pretty bugged 'bout tht and wud have cribbed 'bout it till we left after watching the movie. The fact tht he did not, expresses wht he felt 'bout the movie. Missing some of the scenes however does not change my opinon of the movie. The movie was completely predictable. Somehow, Logan did not connect with the audience. Hugh Jackman is famous for his connection:- You feel his pain when he is unable to recall his past. However, when he loses his gal friend, it seems pretty much expected. You are waiting for him to get over it and get on with it. You do not feel the pain.

Wah Wah

• This story begged to be told - Logan's haunting memories and his inability to remember his past was, I believe a crucial part of the X-Men series. A movie that dealt only with Wolverine's past was a smart choice as the base for the movie.


• Hugh Jackman in his body-builder avatar in blue jeans n a vest.


• Ryan Reynolds as DeadPool or Weapon XI.

Blaaah

• I like Hugh Jackman. I liked him in Swordfish, Kate and Leopold, X-Men series, and The Prestige. However, I did not like him in this movie tht was all 'bout him.


• The movie stopped short of being anything spectacular and was a completely predictable, boring account of his totally forgettable past.


• The dialogues did not have the impact you have come to expect frm a sought-after movie. They seemed a tad cheesy in some of the important scenes.

Verdict

**1/2

Boyfriend's Jeans

It was one of those lazy saturday mornings when I came across this article on "Boyfriend's Jeans". It was all 'bout how cute Katie Holmes looked in them and how the said pair of jeans was soon going to become a popular fashion trend. Firstly, there is all together too much hype and hoopla 'bout TomKat. I felt Katie looked very cute b4 she married Tom. Kinda goody-two-shoes but sweet. However, she totally lost all sense of dressing after her marriage to Tom and she looked dowdy most times - blame it on scientology or Suri - but its a fact. Anyways, wanting to know what other ppl think of the latest fad - I took this up as a conversation starter to find out what ppl think.

Overheard at the Gym:

"Boyfriend Jeans???!! I wouldn't fit into them" said Thunder Thighs Tina. "I prefer borrowing their T-shirts - I can easily fit into a size M while I wud b a XXL if I had to buy T-shirts meant only for women. "

Overheard at the Pantry:

"Boyfriend jeans... Chah" exclaimed Sneezing Sneha. "I prefer borrowing their kerchiefs. Have you noticed how beeg they are? Perfect for my cold. These chuntu, lacy stuff - wht use are they? I ask you Aaah... Achoooo!!"

Overheard at the Mall:

"Jeans? Why on earth wud I wear my boyfriend's jeans? I spend so much time Gymming and doing Yoga to get this amazing figure - why would I want to hide it in a pair of boyfriend jeans?" asked shopaholic Sweety. "If I had to borrow something from my boyfriend - it would be his wallet for my shopping."

Over the course of the day, I found that most women want to borrow something that belongs to their man, but it was not their jeans. Hmmm... Well, do guys want to borrow something from their women?

Shared in strictest confidence
"I used to borrow my gal's Fair and Lovely cream for years" whispered Vijay. "That was until John Abraham endorsed Garnier Mens Fairness cream."

All names have been changed to protect the identity. If you would like to share what you would like to borrow, send a comment and I shall include it here.

Sea of Poppies

When you have a library membership, a pretty good one at that, you rarely buy books. I miss owning a book. So, last year when I received a Crossword voucher for my birthday, I was happy that I would be finally owning a book or maybe sm books. Of course, I forgot all 'bout the voucher and it languished in my cupboard until the Arien, while doing a routine clean-up, found it. We then made plans for the subsequent weekend for book buying. I still recall a time when smne asked me what I would with my first salary and my answer was "Buy a book". Hmmm... So much has changed.

The Sea of Poppies is one of the books I purchased using the voucher. So, at long last, we have a book review :) It took me a while to get started on this book. I was worried that it maybe a lil too intellectual for me as I had read one of his essays a while ago. While I found the essay well-researched, excellent to read - it was not smthng I would recommend as a light read.

So when I started on the Sea of Poppies, I was not sure if I would like it. On the contrary, I liked it. The book was actually pretty good. In fact, the first chapter kinda draws you into the life of Deeti - one of the central characters of the book. The other characters are introduced from the diagrammatic representation of them as drawn by Deeti: be it the simple giant, Kalua, the american sailor Zachary or the others. As the story unfolds, you appreciate his style of introducing the eccentricities of each of the characters, the difference in the language of the lascars and the malums, the concept of girmits, the voyage undertaken by the coolies and the sudden change in the direction towards the end. Its a good read.

Blah: The only blah part of the book is that it is part of a trilogy. I, after reading the first part, want to know what happens next but he is yet to write the next book :(

Angels and Daemons

It was a boring Friday evening and suddenly I decided that I had to watch "Angels and Daemons' on Saturday. Managed to convince the Arien tht it was ages since we saw a movie in the theatre and so off we went to Fame Lido to book tickets. Well, considering that the Innovative Multiplex has rats and had recently suffered a pretty bad fire, Fame Lido was a reasonable bet. So, imagine my shock when I am told to come back next Friday. I am so zapped - I do not question why. I recall having read that the movie was released on Friday and assume that all tickets are booked for a week. The Arien comes back after parking and I tell him the news and so we exit amidst a loong boring lecture 'bout how I must have checked earlier blah blah blah.

The Arien calls "Just Dial" and finds out that the movie has been released only in single screen theatres and so we decide to catch the movie in Rex. While the Arien attempts to find some parking spot in the ultra-crowded brigade road, I rush in to book the tickets. Imagine my shock-cum-surprise when I am told that the tickets costs Rs.60/- a head. Yes... thts right! I book two tickets and come back with a stoopid grin on my face. Meanwhile, the Arien has actually parked the car on Castle Street and expected me to join him there. Its not an interesting walk and so I am fuming. The Arien is so zapped at the price of the tickets tht he completely ignores my rants. Grrr...

Anyway, we make it on time for the movie and actually manage to park in the Parking Lot provided by Rex. The Balcony is packed. The usherer and the person who serves snacks - come to stare at us during the Intermission. I guess its been a while since Rex was this crowded. Hmmm....

Wah: Tom Hanks sans the wig as Robert Langdon, the story was non-conterversial almost simple in comparison to the hue n cry generated for Da Vinci Code(I have not read the book and so I may be wrong here), editing was slick and quick, fast-paced, the grandeur of the churches and the beauty of the sculptures was almost ostentatious or maybe shown in that manner. However, the city itself has been beautifully shot.

Blah: Not much really. Haven't read the book and so I guess I did not have any issues. Folks who have read the book did not like the movie much.

Conclusion: Lukewarm water on a cold day. Not a edge-of-your-seat thriller.

Dinner at Copper Chimney

Was away on vacation last week and got drowned in work when I returned tho' neither I nor my brain was aware tht we were bk. Ob. had to re-do most of the stuff tht I attempted early in the week :( And then out of the blue receive a call frm my Arien aunt who wants to catch up with everybody and soon everyone is happily planning a dinner.

Almost everyone had a reason to celebrate - Leo sis has got an admit into Moore School for Business, Capri Aunt is happy she is back in Bangalore again, Arien aunt wants to meet everyone as she is here on vacation, Libran uncle and Aquarian aunt are ready to break their 7:30 deadline after a looong tm, the rest of us are jes glad to catch up with the others which according to us was a reason to celebrate.

The Leo sis is in charge of finding an appropriate restuarant n booking a table for 10. The whole day goes by and we do not hear frm her - she is probably busy with her manager - its always difficult to state tht you are leaving and I am sure she was finding it tough. The Arien aunt starts panicking and asks me if the place is decided - I opt for Samarkhand as I have never been there. Its an option, I tell her. Arien aunt is kinda mollified tht we have a place to meet. Finally, my sis calls.

We talk for ages... We catch up pretty rarely and so any conversation lasts an hour or more and this also did - almost messing up my schedule for the day :D We finally arrived at the topic of discussion and she wanted to go to Copper Chimney - the place had rave reviews and she was totally in favour of it. I had not been there as well and so we decided tht tht was the venue. She made the booking, missed her bus hme, and I informed everybody of the venue.

We were all supposed to meet up at 8:30 pm. The Aquarian aunt and the Libran uncle are known for their punctuality and are usually the first ones to arrive at any get-together. The Arien aunt was the hostess for the evening - and she wanted to reach the venue earlier and by luck and a lil help frm the usually punctual folks - she managed tht. Knowing me, we started at 8:29. We decided to pick Senior Arien and Taurean on the way and in the process got pretty badly delayed. We reached the venue at 9:30 pm :D

The ambience was nice - food was good - the Dum Biriyani was particularly good. The regular Biriyani was bad. We are generally a very talkative group and there is a lot of ribbing, teasing, and jokes made at each other's expense - all of tht hpnd - however, all the older members seemed tired and did not talk much - wen they did- they discussed sm philsophy, a TV serial titled "Yengey Brahmanan", and some gen talk. The main conversation was lead largely by the kid - who was 17 - ya, not really a kid - the youngest Arien in the family. Usually, it is the Libran uncle who holds sway over the entire conversation. We have always been kids to them and this inspite of the fact tht the oldest of us, the Capri cousin in Chennai, has a daughter of 5.

When we started for the dinner it started raining, we cribbed 'bout the traffic, the distance - but the moment we met the rest of the family - all tht was happily forgotten - everyone was so happy we made it inspite of it all. We talked n talked n talked or rather yakked n yakked n yakked till we cud yak no more. My eyes started to close towards the end of the dinner - the sizzling Brownie with Ice-cream dessert woke me up :D

We saw tht they had these cute two-sm options for couples outside - on the balcony - it looked awesome - a worthwhile option for a romantic dinner I hinted to the Arien. He tried very hard to hold back the yawn as he agreed with me. And then we were off - we still had one more day before the weekend - everyone was saying their byes amidst gigantic yawns - it wud be a while before we all caught up with each other again. Had a Ni-YAWN-ce evening.

10 things tht make me SMILE

I have ranted, cribbed, poked fun at numerous things most of which have become funny posts but I have never written 'bout something as simple as wht wud make me smile - wen I am stuck in situations tht I have cribbed so much 'bout. Thinking 'bout such an apparently simple thing has taken an amazingly looong time. Well, here goes:

1. When my niece tells me the long version of the "Thirsty Crow" story over the phone and everyone arnd her is trying to get her off the phone.
2. Waking up in time to see the sunrise - a cuppa of hot, sweet chai in my hand - the whole day stretched out ahead of me. On a weekday, I am rushing to complete the cooking, cleaning and so I really cannot have a lazy morning and on a weekend, I am snoring my morning away :P
3. Listening to Yesudas's rendition of "Maha Ganapathim". Carnatic music has a major soothing effect on me.
4. When I wake up pretty late, am crabby, and I find tht the Arien has made breakfast and lunch for us. Beeg Close-UP smile comes up. Crabby, who me??
5. While struggling with multiple deadlines and worrying over my possible goof-ups, I recieve a loong appreciative mail from a senior reviewer and she has cc'd my manager on it.
6. I am in the middle of a "Its ur fault" fight with the Taurean or the Arien when I recieve a call frm an ole school/college/work friend. We spend the next 2 hours on the phone oblivious of anything else but the conversation. I return to the present with a smile n wud have actually forgotten the fight and may even accept tht I was at fault.
7. Recieving a Ganesha statue as a gift - I am always happy to recieve one irrespective of the number of Ganesha murthis I have with me at any given time.
8. When grandma, dad, and other oldies get nostalgic - you have heard the same story a zillion times n you actually know it by heart by now but U let them repeat it so they enjoy the experience once again.
9. It has been a boring day at work, I am bugged and want to go home when I happen to find tht smne has commented on my post and has included a link to my post frm their post. Full Khush - I now don't want to go home anymore.
10. Last but def not the least, when someone tells me I have lost weight even though I know I have not :D

Well, it has taken me almost 2 days to get this list right. Of course, there are a zillion other times I smile or feel happy but currently this list is the Top 10 in Town. Already, hazaar other items are trying to make their way into this list and so will append them or create a latest Top 10 list smtm later. Have a Happy Day!!

What do I have against Borrowing??

1. When someone borrows something beeg - they never ever return it to you in the same state. For instance, the Arien is forever borrowing the bike from me. When he takes the bike, it is overflowing with petrol. When I get it back, I spend the time driving to the nearest petrol bunk praying that the petrol lasts untill I reach the bunk.
2. When someone borrows a popular/favorite item - you may never ever see it again. For instance, when you lend your new book to ur cousin who is visiting - the cousin lowes the book as much as you do - you hold late-nite sessions to discuss the twists, the cousin is unable to finish the book within the visit - you are coaxed into lending the book- the cousin leaves and you will never see your book again.
3. When someone borrows a trinket - you automatically move it to ur museum of small things. For instance, when you lend your fav pair of ear-rings, the chunky bracelet, or other small cute accessories that you own, you will find them returned sans sm chuntu part. The ear-ring will come back without the snap-on, the bracelet will miss the lil stones, 2 of the 12 bangles will be broken.
4. When someone borrows a common place item - you will always be running short of it. For instance, when the person standing next to you in the queue borrows a pen from you - you are forever walking arnd without a pen. When the colleague frm the nxt cube borrows your Post-IT, you will never have them when you need them.

So how do we deal with this issue? Do we behave like kids and state bluntly "I won't share"? Tht seems childish. Do we tell ppl tht the item means a lot to us? Well, try explaining why the Reynolds pen given by your company (Rs. 5/-) means a lot to you. You will be considered weird by one and all. Do we jes accept what happens to all our cute and not-so-cute stuff? I hope not. What do you do??

Bangalore Rains

One of the best and worst things 'bout Bangalore rains is that they are absolutely unpredictable. I still remember when we used to visit B'lore for holidays: we wud set out for a walk on a sunny evening and come home dripping wet b'cos of the unpredictable showers.

So last week, when all of Bangalore had been dying a slow death b'cos of the scorching summer, I was surprisingly happy when we had some sudden showers. The plus was that all of them happened pretty late in the day and so I did not get drenched even once!! However, on Friday, when I left work, it was raining cats and dogs. I was really glad that I was not going home on my two-wheeler. Considering I spend most of my time on my two-wheeler, I usually hate the rains. You either have to find a nice place to park or you keep driving - either way you end up getting totally drenched and bugged. Driving in the rain is a pain. Folks who drive four-wheelers enjoy the rains b'cos all the two-wheelers are off the road during rains. Considering that I am going to be drenched n bugged anyway, I usually drive home when it rains. I don't like it - but rather than stay in the office, I prefer going home.

In my previous organization, we had a cab service. We would get picked up from our homes and dropped back via company cabs. Ya ya... it was a luxury :D Sitting inside a cab while it was raining outside was gr8 fun - but then its not like a fun ride - its more a lift home and the driver wants to drop you off as soon as poss so he can get back home. Obviously, you spend a lot of time listening to his rants on Bangalore, Traffic, damn rains, and what not. Of course, I have also had fun times.

So when the Arien picked me up that Friday, I felt strangely relaxed. He lowes to drive and is usually not a crabby person to be with when it rains. So, I was all smiles and the drive home was very nice. The Arien played some gr8 music. We got stuck at the Railway signal but did not lose our tempers. We were staring at the rain and enjoying it for the first time. The Arien turned nostalgic and spoke 'bout the hazaar times he was caught in those rains while he was on his way home after meeting me, 'bout catching dreadful colds b'cos of the drenching, 'bout going to watch Vantage Point at Lido when we were dripping wet after one of those sudden showers and shivering in the AC while cribbing 'bout Bangalore rains, etc. etc.

After listening to him, suddenly I was not so sure I hated the rains. We have tooo many experiences associated with these Bangalore rains. Not fair!! :D

Awful Friday

Fridays are essentially Wooohooo!!! days. Ask anyone whats on their mind and most of them are planning their weekend. Some people are waiting all week for Friday.... I have a frend whose gtalk status message is a countdown until friday. For some people, what you did last weekend is a conversation starter of sorts. While some folks laze the weekend away, some travel, others watch movies, and still others visit their hometown. I was recovering from a cold and cough that I had somehow managed to catch in the middle of a particularly wicked summer in Bengalooru. Naturally, I was totally looking forward to an amazing weekend and I was determined not to waste it. When I was leaving for the day at 6pm, it was raining cats and dogs.

The Arien picks me up frm work and we had a lazy evening. We relaxed over a cuppa chai, mulled over general stuff, changed channels a lot, watched a bit of IPL, had dinner, when we had a power cut. We were pretty chilled as we had a generator and so waited for the security to switch it on. Yes... this is the same person who metamorphises into a traffic policeman when I drive out of the apartment. After impatiently waiting for 15 mts, we realize that there must b sm problem. The Arien speaks to the security guard and finds out that the generator is under repair. It was soon pretty warm and suddenly there were zillions of mosquitos for company.

I was surprised at how quickly a nice day turned pretty bad with a power cut. All the enthu was long gone. I was cribbing 'bout the security guard who takes forever to switch on the generator and if he knew it was not working, he should have informed us. The Arien was cribbing 'bout the mosquitoes. We decided that maybe falling asleep wud b good and attempted tht. It was stifling hot as there was no breeze at all and so sleep was really hard to come by. Because there was no power, we could not switch on the mosquito mat. We managed to have a short nap for 20 mts before we were awoken by the buzzing of the mosquitoes and the lack of air.

I decided to sit in the balcony and left - as I walked towards the balcony, I could hear the Arien shriek in the background "Lock the balcony door after you - I cannot handle any more mosquitoes." I curbed the urge to retort.

The power came back at 2:30 am on Saturday. I rushed back to switch off the lights and try to catch a bit of sleep when we heard the unmistakable sound of a wire going up in flames. In 5 mts, we had the next power cut. The Arien decided to check out what had happened. He left carrying a candle as we could not figure out where we had kept our torch. He came back 20 mts later. A truck had hit the transformer of our building as it tried to navigate a particularly difficult turn and the wire went up in flames. So, there was no chance of the power coming back until BESCOM folks turned up which would be - 10 am. The generator was garam aagidhe according to our security guard and so we were likely to suffer for the rest of the nite.

I didn't know if I cud handle any more of the power cut or the mosquitoes. It was 4:45 am. I sms the Senior Arien asking him if we can visit him and sleep over. The Senior Arien is a habitual early riser and for once it was going to be of sm help for us- Yeah!!! The Arien was also thrilled that we had a way out of the current scenario. No response till 6 am. I decide to make coffee for the Arien. I make the coffee and feel overwhelmed with sleep. I fall asleep at 6:45 am. When I woke up, it was 11 am. The Senior Arien had finally replied to my message "Please go ahead" at 9:55 am. I burst out laughing n woke the Arien up.

One power cut and we were so damn vulnerable. You never realize how dependant you are on the electricity that serves you day in and day out until smthng like this happens. Saturday was spent catching up on lost sleep. I felt that this Friday was the worst Friday ever. All the enthu for the wknd evaporated with a snap of a finger. At the time, I was pretty bugged. In the larger scheme of things, people lose family members, jobs, money at a snap of a finger. What I had lost was hardly as valuable as all tht. Still, it is the lil things that bug us way more than the beeg ones, am I right?