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.

Wordless Wednesdays - Waiting for the Arien

His Dark Materials - The Golden Compass

Had seen portions of the movie when it was telecast on TV but never the entire movie. As part of my "Back to Reading" plan, I selected this book to read because for some reason, I was never able to watch more than a few scenes from the movie. However, because I have watched the first few scenes of the movie many times, I was able to vividly recall the scenes as I was introduced to Lyra, Lord Asriel, and Lady Coulter.

Lyra, an orphan, lives in the Jordan college, with her daemon, Pantalaimon. Her stay at the college and her studies are being paid for by Lord Asriel, her uncle. Lyra spends most of her time playing with Roger, her friend, going into forbidden rooms, and trying her best not to learn what the professors want her to. One day, while sneaking into one of the forbidden rooms, Lyra manages to foil a plan to poison Lord Asriel. Suddenly, things change.

The book is quite interesting and keeps you engrossed and so I was surprised when I found that this book and the others in the trilogy were part of the young adult section. Was I embarrassed? I mean this could be like being caught with a Nancy Drew but it was not and I was not. Though predictable in some places, the book still managed to pique my interest. I only wish I had read it years ago. Waiting to read the rest of the books.

Chocolat -- A review

I read this book sometime in January and lowed it. Its a very small book - almost the size of one of the Secret Seven adventures but the story is - simply delicious. No, I am not kidding - there is so much talk of chocolate, types of chocolate, hot chocolate drinks that you will probably drool over the book - if you are not careful :) So, when I saw the movie on Saturday, I was very pleasantly surprised that the movie actually managed to be as good as the book. Now, the Arien refused to watch this movie with me until I informed him that Johnny Depp was acting in it. He started wondering if it was a thriller and I decided to not tell him that it was definitely not a thriller.

I hinted that the movie wud be like Narnia and by then the movie had begun. I was soon glued to it and surprisingly so was the Arien. Now, for the story -- A young lady, Vianne, and her little gal, Anoshka, walk into a small french town on a windy day. The mother sets up a chocolate shop and soon the entire town undergoes various radical changes. The mayor is very shocked to hear that Vianne is unmarried and does not wish to attend mass on sundays. He considers her as a bad influence and tries to stop the townsfolk from visiting her shop and socialising with her.

The movie is great for two reasons: The first, of course, is the cast. The folks picked to play the role were so well-chosen that you are left feeling very comforted. I realized half-way that the old, blunt, cantankerous lady was M (Golden Eye). Seeing Trinity (Matrix) as the obsessive mother who fusses over her son- was fabulous. I did not make the connection until I saw the trailer for Matrix later in the evening :( Alfred Molina, as the mayor who lives by a strict code of moral conduct, is very good. The second is the story itself. At one level, the story deals with magic, chocolate as a solution for most problems that ail the townsfolk and is a fun story. At a deeper level, it deals with conformance. It deals with a young mother who is different. It deals with a person's inability to deal with something or someone who is not like them.

It is actually a movie to be watched on a lazy saturday evening or read when the house is silent and you are free to go back to your world in the magical kingdom... yummy is how I rate this book :)

Wordless Wednesdays -- Whats in a Name?

The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest

This is the last book in the Stieg Larsson trilogy though I did hear rumours of an incomplete fourth book. This book ties up the loose ends regarding Lisbeth. * Spoilers ahead*

The second book ended with Lisbeth being shot in the head and taken to a hospital. This book starts at the hospital where Lisbeth and Zalachenko are admitted for recuperation. Their rooms are two doors apart at the ICU and both of them figure this out within a few days.

The book traces the entry of Zala into Sapo. The Special section of Sapo, known only as the Section, takes on the Russian defector. After they offer support, they realize that Zala is a drunkard who abuses women and they have to clean up after him or his identity will be revealed. Zala foolishly gives his real name to Lisbeth's mother, Agneta Solander and then makes it a habit to beat her senseless, whenever he visits. During one of those visits, Lisbeth throws the molotov cocktail at him and watches him burn. The Section works with Teleborian to keep Lisbeth locked up as otherwise all their efforts would come to naught. When the Section is again dragged into the latest goof-up, Evert Gullberg, ex-head of the Section, decides that he has had enough, and kills Zala. The rest of the story is interesting and well-written. Paulo is not a part of this book. Mimi is brought in belatedly, as an afterthought. Erika leaves Millenium and then re-joins. Blomkevist has yet another affair and another woman falls madly in lowe with him. Too many things are happening but I cannot say that the book is uninteresting at any point of time. Maybe a bit slow towards the end but uninteresting - not really.

Wordless Wednesdays -- Whats on my mind Lately ??

The Girl Who Played With Fire

This book is the second one in the Trilogy from Stieg Larsson. Because I really lowed the first book, I was hoping that the second book would somehow be as good or better than the first. Also, I was looking forward to completing the book in record time. Usually, when the main character is a woman, most authors make her out either as an arrogant successful woman or someone downright dumb. It was such a relief that the main character was well-defined (though quite complicated), her quirks and eccentricities did not consist of shopping and gossip, and also that she is not quite the fantasy woman of most males.

This book gives us some insight into Lisbeth Salander's character and her past. At the end of the first book, Lisbeth is broken-hearted, angry, and bitter. This book takes off from there. Lisbeth cuts off all contact with Blomkvist and travels for a year before she returns to Stockholm. She has her share of adventures at various places ending the travel at Grenada with Mathilda - the hurricane. We are also given a peek into what happened so many years ago, how Lisbeth had thrown a molotov cocktail at her father and watched as he burned and as a result was institutionalized. Blomkvist, meanwhile recruits a new investigative journalist who is planning to write an expose` on human trafficing. And just when you are wondering Ok.. now what? The writer who free-lanced @ Millenium, and his partner are murdered. And everyone is looking at Lisbeth as the person who committed the crime(s). Soon, there is a nation-wide hunt for Lisbeth. Blomkvist trusts that Lisbeth is innocent and tries to re-establish contact after Lisbeth goes into hiding. The rest of the book is quite interesting and keeps you engrossed. Quite a few new characters are brought in who have interesting viewpoints on Lisbeth. The book ends wen Blomkvist catches up with Lisbeth as she cracks the case wide-open. I had somehow assumed that the phrase "All the Evil" was used to indicate sexual abuse at the hands of some1 very close, probably her father, but was very relieved that it was not so.

New Look

In an effort to get started on my totally-ignored book reading interest, I changed the look of my blog.

Lets hope it helps me read more and watch fewer movies...

Fyi, started on the "The Girl Who Played with Fire" - PDF version.

Never realized that holding a book in my hand meant so much to me. The PDF version is so not like reading a book. But, it is an option which lets me read and because driving to the library becomes yet another chore, I am glad to have the PDF version. My cousin wants me to get a Kindle. He is totally into audio books. Well, lets see...

Am I the only one having trouble with e-books, PDF versions, etc. etc. ?

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

So many ppl have already read this book. My cousins discussed the books till I staged a walkout. Grrr.. After 6 loong months, numerous conversations that had: "Ya, I want to read tht book; No don't tell me the story; Can I borrow your copy?No? Well..; Do you have the first book? No- I do not want the third book;" - I finally picked up the PDF version of the book.

After a loong time, I came across a book where I wanted to know the ending and at the same time did not want the book to end. This book had all the ingredients of a thriller: suspense, an unsolved mystery, a detective who was actually a financial investigative journalist, the girl with the dragon tattoo. Even though the author had quite a few key characters: Blomkevist, Erika Berger, Wennerstorm, Lisbeth Solander, Henrik Vanger, and Harriet Vanger, each of them had a well-etched role. There are two tracks in this story: Blomkevist, while investigating a financial giant, Wennerstorm, publishes an article based on a "trust-worthy" source who disappears and he is charged with libel. As a result, he has to spend 3 months in jail and is fined a huge sum of money. The second track: Henrik Vanger, an ageing member of the Vanger Corporation wants someone to investigate the disappearance or possible murder of his niece, Harriet Vanger. Harriet, before she died, always presented him with a photo frame consisting of a flower. After her disappearance, Henrik continues to receives the photo frames on his birthday. He suspects the murderer of doing this act to make him crazy. He also suspects a member of his large family. The girl with the tattoo, Lisbeth, forms the connection between the tracks.

The book was engrossing, very difficult to put down, and a good read. However, I must point out that it is not a book for all. There is a fair amount of casual sex and quite a few explicit macho-sadistic scenarios. Some of them are scary, painful, and frankly quite disgusting. The author, is quite influenced by an incident that happened to him wen he was fourteen. He witnessed the gang rape of a young girl and was unable to help her.

I saw the movie too, but I rate the book a lot higher than the movie. In fact, I got bored while watching the movie. There are some changes from the book and I did not like the digressions that much.

Lunch at Zoe

After a really looong time, I was meeting with a frend whom I knew and worked with - a loong time ago. We opted to have lunch and a shopping break. The Arien was on a drive to Bheemeshwari with a bunch of other phatphatiya owners. It was the purrfect time to take a break plus no guilt tht I have guzzed the Arien. (I know... I really cannot understand tht guilt thing.)

Anyway, we met at Garuda mall and shopped like mad. The mall had sm arbid singing fest going on and we had to yell on top of tht to be heard. She wanted to have Italian food or a Sizzler and so I settled for Zoe. Zoe is a small restoCafe in Indiranagar that serves yummy food. We had a lot of catching up to do and so we decided to order so tht we cud get started on the catching up. We ordered Loaded skin and Chilli Cheese Fries, first. Between the two of us - we polished it off :D Because we loved the starters so much - we went a lil crazy and ordered a pasta and a sizzler. The pasta was creamy and nice and the sizzler had pineapple which we were amazed at but we simply cud not do justice to the food. We felt so stuffed tht we decided to not have dinner. While I like the pasta served @ Casa Picola, I like to eat out with company @ Little Italy. Zoe, has now been added to tht list -Yeah!

Zoe is not easy on your pocket but is a nice place to sit and talk for hours - no one hurries you out. And you if you like cheese, pasta, and all tht - you will probably like it here. However, be warned, if you want a quick bite so you can head for a movie, or if you are very very hungry, Zoe is not the place for you. They take forever to serve, fill water in your glass, or even give you the bill.

Endhiran -- Finally

So after all the Waaanh(s) and this cannot be happening(s) - we finally saw Endhiran, on Friday. We were late by 5 mts - thanks to the amazing traffic at 8:55 pm. The Arien drove like he was in an F1 race. I spent the entire drive praying. The senior Arien did his best to maintain an outward calm. Anyway, all that was forgotten as soon as we entered the theatre.
** Spoilers ahead**

First, the Good Stuff: I was very impressed with the look that was given to Rajnikanth - all 3 versions. The graphics was mind-blowing for a bollywood movie - pretty impressive. Return of Rajni as the quintessential villain -- superb touch. No punch dialogues - SCORE!! Picturisation of the song - Kadhal Anukkal - nice. A R Rahman - good, not excellent. Ash - looked pretty slim- quite unlike herself in Action Replay. Some unnecessary display of non-existent cleaveage which was not reqd.

The Stuff that was so-so: Actually, the songs sound better without the video. Somehow the picturisation of some of the songs killed the song. The story was quite slow and predictable in bits unlike Shankar's Mudhalvan. The story picks up speed only in the last 40 mts and majority of tht is graphics. Not much of a role for anyone but Rajni saar- thankfully, it was not Dasavatharam.

Absolutely Fantastic Stuff: Rajni as a villain after a really looong time. He is menacing, scary, and absolutely believable as the evil robot. After seeing him play the good samaritan, the poor lil rich boy, the orphaned servant boy, etc etc. in so many of his movies, I find him a boringly nice actor. However, seeing him as a villain again (albeit for a short time) - makes you realize why he is a demi-god and also why so many ppl worship him, are crazy 'bout him. The Arien(s) totally liked his tongue-in-cheek dialogues as the villain, as well. If you are crazy 'bout Rajni films - his recent ones - you may not like this movie much - tho' it is raking in the moolah. This is strictly for folks who are looking for an entirely different experience. However, in all honesty, this movie jes allowed Shankar to re-invent Rajni. And Rajni delivers and how - Thalaivaa Vaazhga!!

This cannot be happening....Waanh

A colleague casually mentioned "Today, I feel like running off @ 4 to catch a movie". It must have been some kind of magic spell 'cos tht idea got stuck in my head. We do not attempt catching movies on weekdays but hey - I was under this spell. I was hoping we cud mayb catch the 9 pm show b'cos the Arien had a conf call @ 7. The Arien agreed. Woohooo!!! The Senior Arien also agreed. Double Woohoo!! The Taurean asked us to go on ahead - Well.. he had already seen the movie - so it was ok. I left work early (Ok Ok-by my standards). So, there we all were - all set to catch a movie on a weekday. And then the Waaanh part: The Arien was unable to book the tickets online. He kept trying till 7 pm and gave up. His call went on till 8 pm and by then I gave up. I felt very blaah when I called the Senior Arien to tell him tht the movie was not hpng. I was very surprised wen he said: "Its actually good - I was feeling very tired. I think I have a headache. Its ok. We can catch it some other day." Thus ended the evening - I spent most part of the evening biting my nails, calling the Arien repeatedly and ... we are not seeing the movie?!!! This cannot be happening - but it did :( Waaaanh -- Do you think this is the Arien's way of ensuring tht we do not catch too many movies?? Grrrr...

On an aside, I started reading "Girl with the Dragon Tatoo" and I am lovin it :)

TS3 from Net and BEB on Thiruttu VCD -- 2 Reviews in 1

This weekend was going to be Movie Weekend. After Dabaang, I thot we had had enuf of movies wen the Arien insisted that we finally watch Toy Story 3. He had dowloaded the movie a long time ago and was dying to watch it. He wanted to get Dabaang out of his head - me thinks. We also had this camera print of the hugely popular - Boss Engira Bhaskaran movie. We caught Toy Story 3 first.

Usually, sequels never have the impact the first story does. You may recall Shrek 4, Hannibal, etc. and so I was actually not too keen on this movie. However, I was in for a surprise. The movie, while continuing as part of the series, goes on to have its own story. Andy was going away to college and his toys are mistakenly given away to a Day Care center. What happens at the Day Care center, how the toys get back to Andy's attic and do they get to stay there - forms the story. I do not want to share too much of the movie except that it lived up to high expectations and some more. I was trying to distance myself from the movie b'cos I felt it wud not meet my expectations - but got pulled into the story. There was no room for any disconnect. Some scenes you shd not miss: Ken and his outfits, Buzz in his spanish avatar, etc. If you have not caught it yet - go borrow, download, and watch the movie. Do not miss it. I wish I had watched it on the beeg screen :(

The next movie that we caught was of course, BEB. Rumoured to be Nayantara's last movie before she got married to namma desi MJ - Prabhu Deva, I thot it may be one of those hyped movies which usually fall flat. After listening to a colleague, I decided it was worth checking it out at least. Firstly, the movie is not a full-length spoof like Tamizh Padam but it has a number of these "spoof" moments which will make you break into a laugh in the middle of a scene. Arya plays the role of a good-for-nothing lad who writes his arrear exams annually and lives a happy-go-lucky life. His tongue-in-cheek performance leaves you in no doubt of his acting skills. Nayan has a role that demands little from her and she delivers. In fact, the actors who play Arya's mother and brother must be commended. The ending falls a little flat with a totally silly climax - but it is ok to watch once. Some scenes not to be missed: meaning of the word "pardon" as stated by Arya's frend, Santhanam, the scene following the wedding of his elder brother etc.

After a looong time, caught some movies that I did not regret watching. Want to catch "Endhiran" - probably next week or the week after tht. Do not want to catch "Anjaana Anjaani" after seeing PC in KKK. The Arien thinks we are watching way too many movies -- I have to agree :(

Dabaang -- A Review

I wanted to see Dabaang when it released. First Day First Show. But, we were at Jaipur at that time. It took us this long to finally catch it. The Arien woke me up saying - "Looks like we may not get the tickets if we jes land up at the theatre so I am booking online." I think I agreed. (Hard to tell at 7:00 am on a Saturday). 10:05 am saw us zipping past traffic in the Phatphatiya and we managed to get parking space and walked in during the National Anthem. Thank God!

And now for the movie: Dabaang is a Sallu movie all the way. Its a total masala movie with a teeny-tiny story-line. Sonakshi looks pretty and holds her own in her debut movie - which is pretty awesome for a newbie. Sonu Sood, as Cheddi Singh is good. The movie survives only on Salman - his aviator glasses - and his charisma. With almost a zero story-line, Salman makes you fall in lowe with his bad-boy image of Chulbul Pandey urf Robinhood Pandey. A case of reel life imitating real life. If you think 'bout it - tht was a very clever idea. Sallu is at his hilarious best in the "Munni badnaam hui" song. Well, I am a fan of Sallu and I was really tired of the terrible movies that he chose to act in. Not that this is a fantastic movie. This movie was completely over the top but I enjoyed very bit of it. The more bizarre the action sequence - the funnier it was. The songs were catchy and I was humming the "Dabang Dabang Dabang" as we left the theatre. Dabaang - it was. Catch it if you wanna have a good laugh.

Khatron Ke Khiladi - Thiguna

Fear Factor has been one of my favorite shows, F.R.I.E.N.D.S and Caroline in the City, being some of the others. I was usually found glued to the TV screen whenever these shows came on during school and college vacations. When I heard that we would soon have our very own Fear Factor - Khatron Ke Khiladi, I was impressed. Akshay as the host, was the perfect choice given that he is known for his action-oriented roles and his love for death-defying stunts. Having said that - I must add that Akshay was not the best of hosts. However, there was an innate simplicity in him that has stood him in good stead. Also, he grew on you.

After seeing the latest show, Khatron Ke Khiladi - Thiguna, with Priyanka Chopra, I feel that Akshay was simply great. Not only is Priyanka absolutely boring and completely unwatchable, she has with her "anchoring skills" made Akshay seem like a Demi-God. (Don't believe me? Catch the show). Don't even get me started on her outfits or her "filmy" expressions. She totally lacks spontaneity and that is surprising because she is known to have a bubbly, cheerful personality. At times, she is so blunt - the celebrities are taken by surprise. And, then there are times wen she forgets that she is the host and goes "eeee-yuck" or "Ohhh". If thats the bubbly, girlie behavior - well, the less said the better.

So, if I am so fed up - why am I still glued to the show?The celebrities, of course. Rahul Bose, Rahul Dev, Milind Soman, Karan Singh Grover, Cyrus Broacha, Terence Lewis, Shabbir Ahluwalia, Dino Morea, Manjot Singh ... to name a few. If you are a regular viewer, you may notice that the third level is indeed tougher but then the celebrities are also known for their fitness. The show shd have been great but thanks to PC, it is just about OK. This is only my opinion. If you disagree, drop me a comment.

The Lost Symbol

Robert Langdon, arrives at Washington DC, at Peter Solomon's request to be the key note speaker, at a private gala. When he reaches the Hall, where he is supposed to give his speech, he is shocked to see that no one is there. The hall is empty, save for a few casual observers. The security guards are completely unaware of the event and this leaves Robert puzzled. Then, he recieves a call from Peter Solomon's executive assistant, who had actually initiated the discussion and confirmed the plan. Robert explains that there is no one at the Hall, and it does not look like anyone is aware of the gala. The executive assistant replies, "Peter Solomon has no idea that you are here. You are here, Mr. Langdon, because I want you here."

So starts the book.. Actually, all of this happens in the first 10 chapters that also contain detailed descriptions of Washington DC, the landmarks, etc., typical of Dan Brown. This is the latest offering from Dan Brown, and it totally falls short of my expectations. I feel that the book started off interestingly enough but failed to capitalize on any of the interesting bits.

I thot Da Vinci Code was a good book because it combined a murder, cryptic clues, a thrilling chase, an intelligent professor, with some information that some ppl considered anti-christ. I think the fact that we were not aware of that information and the subsequent controversy, helped increase the sale of the book. But, I doubt if the controversy was the reason the book was popular.

Now, in this book, while he has most of the same concepts, the moment you figure out the truth and this is way before the author reveals the truth to you, you get bored. Then, your patience gets stretched as he tries to show you something more which you either already know or when you get to know it, you are not too impressed. I was wondering where he was going after the murder and kept reading, only to be truly disappointed. I had a lot of expectations riding on both these books, and I am now :( Any suggestions for a book that does not disappoint?

Nine Dragons

Michael Connelly is one of my favorite authors. I never seem to have enough of the main character, Bosch. I usually re-read most of the books over and over again. Sadly, this is one of those books, I did not like as much. *Spoilers Ahead*

In this book, Nine Dragons, Harry has had enough of his partner, Iggy, and is contemplating if he shd ask for another partner when they are pulled into a case. The case involves a robbery which also resulted in the murder of the man behind the counter, accidentally or so it seems. The clues they notice point them away from the accidental "murder" theory. First, the missing tape that recorded the robbery/murder. This pointed to the murderer having prior knowledge of the shop, the camera, and the tapes. Second, just behind the counter, slightly above it, sat a shelf containing very expensive alcohol which was untouched. Third, there was a gun taped to the under-side of the counter which the victim would have reached for if he was suspicious. He had not. Because the victim was someone who had offered Sanctuary to Harry at a time when it was very dangerous to be a cop and to be outside, Harry feels he has a debt to be repay and takes on the case with full enthu. After some very quick jumps, Harry with the help of another detective from the Asian Crimes Unit, catches the person who they think has committed the crime (murder of the shop-owner). Everybody including Harry, have doubts regarding the criminal. I, too had some doubts if he was indeed the person who killed the shop-owner. In fact, I felt that Harry was botching up the case big-time because he seemed to have taken major leaps from very basic clues. Amidst this, he receives a phone threat. When he checks his phone, he notices that the message sent by his daughter is actually a video clip. She has been kidnapped.

While it is racy and gripping until the kidnapping, somehow after the kidnapping of his daughter, the book does not do justice to either the kidnapping or the rescue. I was left feeling very blaaah. I am not sure if it is because of the movie, Taken, that handles a similar scenario, of a detective father going in search of his kidnapped teenage daughter. The movie was very very good and somehow I feel that the comparison did not work in the book's favor. Also, I think we all had harboured a hope that Eleanor and Harry would get back together at a later date, and so by killing her, the book evokes "You cannot do that. You did?? Oh come on!" reaction. Somehow that the daughter could actually play such a prank on Harry was a major shocker. All in all - I would rate the book 2.8 out of 5. Do you think I am over-reacting? Read the book and let me know :)

The Veg Zinger

For the folks who are blinking at the name -- Zinger burger is the name of the crunchy chicken burger that most non-vegetarians love to eat at the Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC) outlets. I know because the Arien is total Fida over a Zinger burger. Whenever we visit KFC, I usually have the veggie burger to give the Arien company.

Yesterday, we went to the KFC outlet on Commercial Street and the new veg option was the Veg Zinger. When I stated that I did not want a zinger and I would prefer the veggie burger, I was told that the other option was a veg snacker. Now, a veg snacker is a teeny, tiny, burger that def cannot be my lunch. I decided to try the Veg Zinger. The picture on the right is for representation purpose only. After I finished it, with great difficulty, I had the following questions for the folks at KFC:

• Why would anyone create a Veg Zinger at KFC?? (Considering that KFC caters primarily to the non-vegetarians.)
• Was it maybe a marketing strategy gone wrong? (Lets fight competition (read McD) with the all-new Veg Zinger.)
• A survey whose results could not be verified? (Vegetarians want to have this crunchy taste and look for their burgers as well)

I was totally uncomfortable with the Veg Zinger. I want the veggie burger back which looked and tasted the way I wanted it to. Has anyone tried the veg zinger? How do you like it? How does it compare to McVeggie? Share your views as comments.

Lunch @ High Note and a Movie

On a boring saturday, the Arien decided we had to see Predators (the movie) and I agreed if only for an excuse to go out. I have been wanting to eat at High Note for a while and so I tried to sell that idea to the Arien. After stuffing my face, I may fall asleep during the movie and miss it completely. Thats like a double yeah!! (I am so evil ;P) Planning, planning, and more planning - which show to catch? Do we ask the Taurean? Does the Arien still want to catch Predators? Can we catch the 4 pm show? There is no show at that time... Grrr.. In an hour, it was all settled: We were having lunch at High Note, catching Inception (yes, not Predators) at 6 pm.

Lunch was not the yummy affair I wanted it to be - the Arien did not like the food very much (Dragon Chicken and Lamb chops) - but then he is very much a kebab person. He liked the ambience though. The Taurean freaked out on the Veg Melange and Bruchetta. I had the Potato Au Gratin and could not do justice to it. After a while, it was simply too much of cheese, helluva lot of potatoes and I was ready to Guz it. When the bill came, the Taurean offered to treat us and I accepted his offer graciously (I think).

The movie experience was so awesome that I did not obsess over the unclean restroom facilities, the awful seats, a bunch of north-indian guys who for the life of them could not understand the movie, or any other stuff that I usually obsess over. The movie was simply that good. In fact, while Shutter Island solved the mystery for us and we all had this Whoa?!! feeling - in Inception, it was open for interpretation and you never really get rid of the Whoa feeling. The Taurean had already seen the movie but was game for watching it again - I could totally understand why. The Taurean and myself spent the drive home, discussing - nah- fighting over what we considered was the actual sequence of events in the movie while the Arien decided not to join the fray. This is the second movie this year that has totally exceeded my expectations - Ya, the first was Shutter Island. So, if you have not caught it, yet - DO NOT MISS IT.

Dinner for Schmucks

This was supposed to be a laugh riot. In the trailer that I had watched, Steve Carell looks at a picture of Nelson Mandela with the home owner and says "Wow - this guy is frends with Morgan Freeman", and I thot - tht is seriously funny! Ufff!!! I think I laughed maybe thrice and never uproariously.

Ok first things first -- if you have already seen the movie Bheja Fry, and did not like it much -- do not go for this movie. If you have seen Bheja Fry and liked it - do not go for this movie. If you have not seen Bheja Fry but are willing to get ur bheja fried - go for this movie. Both Bheja Fry and Dinner for the Schmucks are remakes of the French movie (The Dinner Game). Most folks have mentioned that every dialogue is funny and blah de blaah.. but seriously, NO! Maybe you can crack a smile... but after the Intermission you are thinking of walking out! I stayed and watched the entire movie :(

Counterfiet Notes - How to identify

I had been delaying the writing of my 100th post for some time. I wanted to write something that was useful to my readers for the 100th post but I had no new ideas. It was the Arien who gave me the opportunity to write something useful but b'cos of the surprise result of the "I write like.." quiz - this has now became my 101th post.

The Arien wanted to deposit Rs. 10, 000 in his account in the branch near our home. Because the bank employee was taking forever to individually validate each note, he was slightly irritated until he was told that one note was a counterfiet. Naturally, being a very curious person (in a good way) the Arien wanted to know how to identify a counterfiet note. The banker showed him two easy ways to identify a counterfiet note.

First, all notes now have this really funny cloud like design which seems to have a lot of commas on the left side on the vertical band. When you turn the cloud design towards the light - you will notice that the commas actually denote the denomination.

Second, there is a specific geometric shape associated with each denomination, triangle for a 100 rupee note, a circle for a 500 rupee note, and a diamond for a 1000 rupee note. There are actually 12 ways of identifying if the note that you have in your hand is a counterfiet or not.

One of the easiest ways to identify a fake note, one that I use is the missing year of printing. A note that does not have the Year of Printing is clearly a fake. When I find that missing, I check for the first two options. I noticed that there are a lot of fake notes in circulation. In fact, more than twice, I have received a fake note from an ATM. I have never really paid attention to the Notes that I receive from shops, ATMs, ppl but the teller refusing to accept that note had me shocked too.

After googling for additional information, I found that this year, Bangalore was in the news for the counterfieting racket and the police have nabbed a gang that circulated them. Scary eh?? Well, anyway, I also found this useful web-page:
http://jaanlo.com/howto/how-to-identify-counterfeit-currency-notes

Share this with everyone you know so we are all more aware of this menace. Take a printout of the images for the higher denomination notes - and share it with ur ofc junta. You must consciously check if the note in your hand is genuine or counterfiet - after all - it is our money.

Really??

My pal Nish, took this quiz "I write like..." and though she did not like the results, she asked us to try it. I was very sure that I would get a totally blaah result when I was surprised with this:

I write like
Stephen King

I Write Like by Mémoires, Mac journal software. Analyze your writing!

Yupp - I am still going "Really? Really??" I think this is my shortest post till date.

Dressing Style of Phatphatiya Riders

The Phatphatiya is not just a bike - it is a status symbol - most ppl gawk at you if you own or drive a phatphatiya. Maybe they jes gawk because they can hear the phatphatiya from far and have to move out of the way. :D But, if you look closely at the teenagers, boys especially, - they have this look of worship for the bike combined with a look of pure envy directed at the rider which is almost funny to watch for a pillion rider like me.

Maybe because the Arien now owns a phatphatiya, nowadays, I notice every guy who drives a phatphatiya. I also observe their dressing style. Today, as I was driving to work, I heard rather than saw this guy on a Phatphatiya. As he drove alongside me for a few seconds, I noticed that his hair was curly, unkempt, and he had on a nice cool pair of shades and wore one of those muffler thingies around his neck. His whole look was kinda wild but cool at the same time. Interesting. Most guys wear the tried and tested classic look: white shirt, jeans, cool pair of shades and a nonchalant air as they drive past us common folk (those in bikes tht are not Phatphatiyas) while the rest of us chew dust as we can def not drive faster than them.

Well, what I did learn at the end of the day was that Phatphatiya riders are as eccentrically well-dressed or badly dressed as the next person. Whaaat?? You expected sm punch dialogue?? hahahaha :D

Bangalore Elevated Tollway - a guided tour

On Saturday evening, after a sleepathon that lasted a solid 4 hours, I woke up completely re-charged. The Arien immediately jumped into action. The story so far: He had installed SQL Server and was trying to create some alerts that would notify him if the server instance crashed.. (I think) and so for most of the morning - he had been very busy. Now, he was fed up and really wanted me to get up and so we could go on a drive.

After calling the senior Arien and getting his assurance that it was indeed a good day to check out his tollway. It was a loooooooong loooong drive and I was quite exhausted. The Arien was taking a break from breaking his head on SQL so he was not complaining. I cud not believe that the Taurean and the Senior Arien travelled this distance on a daily basis. We went to the senior Arien's office. After a very loong time, I was visiting the senior Arien at his site. The senior Arien was of course full of enthu. He asked us if we wanted Chai - I did - but I also knew that he was eager to show off his elevated tollway that that question was a mere formaility. The senior Arien then asked us to leave our car at his ofc and asked us to get into his Scorpio. The Arien was now full Khush.

Anyway, the Senior Arien started showing off the hi-fi tollway - first he showed us the 4-lane flyover that could easily accomodate most of the Electronic City traffic and improve their cuurent traffic situation. The lanes were indeed quite wide. I asked him what happens if there is an accident or someone has a breakdown. In a fast lane, that is usually a very frustrating moment. He showed us the laybyes created in case of a breakdown. We actually stopped at one of the laybyes. The driver signalled that others can carry on as most ppl slowed to watch us. There was space enough for at least 3 cars to be parked at the same time, at the laybye.

As we drove on, there was quite a few vehicles using the tollway and I jokingly asked the senior Arien if the project was on profit mode and he said that there were issues resulting in a hit on the profits. First of all, only a minority of the folks at Electronic City were actually using the tollway as opposed to the original plan. Second, folks who used their own transport seemed to consider the toll quite expensive. During the free run, everybody enjoyed escaping from the traffic chaos but when it came to paying up for the service, they were fewer takers. However, he expected this to change in a short span of time. Especially, when they notice the ease at which they can easily traverse the usually messy stretch. I also felt that it was just a question of time. No tollway is free. I recall in Mumbai also, we have these tolls and while it is a realtively new concept in Bangalore, I am sure it would pick up too.

The senior Arien also showed us the phone booths from where ppl cud call if there was a traffic jam, an accident, or if they needed some help. When we had visited, the phone was not yet connected. It still looked pretty hi-fi. I asked him why tht was required wen almost everyone has a cell phone these days. He explained tht most ppl are concerned 'bout their bills, incoming, outgoing etc. and so rather than assume tht one of the folks with a cell phone wud call, it was always better to have these bhooths. The logic made a lot of sense if you think for a moment that the person who may be at the juncture could be a driver of the Electronic City buses or can be a driver of these indicabs. I mean, we always assume someone will call, but usually, these drivers may have a mobile phone but may not be able to make any outgoing calls. Hmmm.. so that was taken care of as well.. Gr8!!

We neared the actual tolling booth and we watched the ppl drive past the booth, either driving too slowly or driving too fast. The folks standing around the booth, were having those lamp-cum-stick kinda thing which they waved to ask a speeding person to stop or a slowing down driver to keep moving. We stayed and watched for a while.

I think it is a boon who those who travel to Electronic City on a daily basis. For the others, it is more like a tourist spot - quite far away from the city but still who does not want to say - "Yes - I travelled on the 10-lane Elevated tollway. The first of its kind in Bangalore" - I sure do :)

We really wanted a Chai now as it was growing dark and so we did what we usually do - walked into Indiranagar's Shanthi Sagar for a hot cuppa of Chai and spent the next twenty minutes complaining 'bout how the standard of Chai at Shanthi Sagar had fallen. Have you been on the Elevated Tollway? Write to me 'bout your thots on it :)

Proud Owner of a Phatphatiya

Ok Ok.. so the Arien is the actual owner of the Phatphatiya. I am only the pillion rider when the Arien feels like it.. but Proud Pillion Rider of a Phatphatiya does not really sound like the title of a blog post, does it ... does it??

Anyway, last month, the Arien brought home the T-bird or the Phatphatiya. This has been one of his dreams and after having various mini-squabbles with me on the expense, do we really need this now, what 'bout ur CBZ - none of which fazed him - he took me to the showroom so we could drive it home, together. Two ppl cannot really drive it but the idea made me go aww... (Score for the Arien!) and so there I was with him at the showroom. For the folks who are bulbing, Phatphatiya aka T-bird is actually Thunderbird -- not the Ford Thunderbid which is a luxury car -- but the Royal Enfield Thunderbird Twinspark.

The Arien chose the silver coloured T-bird while I totally fell for the red one - shown here. The Arien realized on our first drive that he cannot drive it the way he drives his CBZ. After a month of driving, he tells me that the first month was akin to taming some wild beast. The bike is indeed quite powerful and heavy. You shd chk out his huuuggee smile as ppl openly gawk at the person driving the T-bird. As far me, well, I am the proud pillion rider of the T-bird. I have driven the CBZ but this is a whole new species, and I really don't want to test my skills on this beast.

Raavanan

First came the hype, then the Cannes fiasco - where Deepika outshone Ash and Ash was compared with Mallika Sherawat for speaking with an interesting accent. This was followed by the audio release, and then finally the release of the movie in two languages - Hindi and Tamil. The moment the movie was released, we were bombarded with quite a few bad reviews, surprisingly nasty reviews, and a few good reviews. With soo much going on, we decided not to catch the movie the weekend following the Friday when the movie released. So it was a week later, that we finally caught the movie.

The senior Arien was on a visit to Chennai to attend 1 wedding, 1 shashtiyapthapurthi, and 1 Upanayanam. Both the Taurean and self were not accompanying him because he was on a four-day break starting on a Wednesday. The weekend dawned bright and sunny and for the first time, the Taurean agreed to join us for Raavanan. Ya.. in the last week, we had decided tht Vikram was a safer bet in comparison to Aby baby.

Without further ado - I liked the movie. Vikram was the perfect choice for the role of Raavanan. As you probably know by now, the movie is based on the Ramayan. However, the interpretation of the story by Maniratnam was different and more believable. The cinematography was spectacular. Prithviraj was amazingly good-looking with a cool pair of shades and without his moustache. Priya Mani was good. Almost everyone except Beera (Raavanan) had a small role but their roles though small were meaningful and each actor did their bit well. Ranjita who was in the news for all the wrong reasons (Nityananda scandal) played the role of the wife of Khumbakarnan (Prabhu).

The first half was a chase - that seemed to go on forever. After the chase, the story was slower but not uninteresting. The falling off the cliff scene was well-done and for an Indian film, it was superb. However, considering tht most of us catch a lot of hollywood movies, you feel we still have a loong way to go. Case in point being the jumps performed by Karthik as Hanuman. Aishwarya is beautiful and manages to mouth some meaningful dialogues and honestly this is one of her better efforts. In some places, she lets out a few high-pitched shrieks or yells which is slightly painful on the ears :) All in all - worth a watch once - if only to blog 'bout it - but hey its really not tht baad as most of the reviewers are saying but its not an amazing piece of Art either as the director believes it is. Paisa-vasool.

PS: A R Rahman has done a fantastic job, again. As usual, it takes a while to like his songs but I liked Kedakkari and Usure Pogudhey a lot. Khalvare was awful and totally unnecessary. And instead of being beautiful - everything 'bout Khalvare or Kilire seemed forced.

And Thereby Hangs a Tale

.. is Jeffery Archer's latest offering of short stories. It is also the title of the second book that I purchased at the Odyssey Store at RMZ Infinity. I would like to blame my sudden book-buying impulses on Sir Jeffery Archer but thats not really true. It would be more appropriate to say that when I am in the book-buying mood, he has a new offering sitting on those shelves :) I remember buying Prisoner of Birth, almost a year ago. You can read my review of the book, here.

And Thereby Hangs a Tale consists of 15 short stories - of which 10 of them are based on true incidents according to the Author. While I completely enjoyed some of the stories, this truly did not meet the level, he had set for himself after A Twist in the Tale. For the folks who have read his earlier books, I am sure you agree with me. For the others, if any, I probably sound unfair.

Usually, the difficult part is picking a few of the stories but that was not as difficult as I thought. I liked the way the Author has handled "Why we never ask a woman her age?" in The Queen's Birthday Telegram. It seemed but natural that the story was based on a true incident. :) I also enjoyed the Double Cross, which had a nice twist at the end. Blind Date was a little too literal for my taste but I still liked it. The insurance hoax that was foiled by the wife of the investigator in the High Heels, was quite interesting. I felt very sorry for the Undiplomatic Diplomat and did not like Caste-Off all that much. Read up and share your view... Happy Reading :)