Movie marathon

So between last weekend and this, its been quite the marathon

- Eat, Pray Love
How could I not watch this movie? I mean, seriously. Ever since I read this book, thanks to her reco- I was bowled over and this was exactly a year ago. The book still lingers in my memory...word to word...like a silent echo. Wonderfully, hauntingly sublime! So when we heard this was being made into a movie...we decided we'd watch it together and what could be better than having Julia Roberts playing the lead role? Nothing really.

So a whole year went by and it just so happened that we couldn't be together to watch the movie when it released. But watch it I did. I loved it. This must be one of the best book-to-movie renditions I've ever witnessed. I won't say more...read the book, watch the movie and of course- eat, pray, love!

- Inception
Ok, before I proceed I'll have you know- I haven't watched Christopher Nolan's Dark Knight or the other Batman movie. The ones I really enjoyed earlier have been Memento and Prestige. Usually I tend to do some homework before I go watch his movies...cos...well cos I can be quite dense at times.

So all the legwork helped, I enjoyed the movie and was suitably entertained.

- Peepli (Live)
So, where shall I start? Small budget movie, a rural setting, a very real and raw depiction of India's underbelly. But what a movie! The characters are saddeningly(yea, urbandictionary says this is a valid word) funny, the story and the portrayal of the squalor and destitution is haunting. Anusha Rizvi, who claims has no formal training in movie direction has come out with a product that compares with the best of Shyam Benegal and Ketan Mehta and who better to produce than the very best- Aamir Khan?

If you haven't already, watch it! You won't regret it.

- Lafangey Parindey
Well if you're as big a fan of Neil Nitin Mukesh as I am(don't ask me why, cos I can't explain it), you'd watch this movie. Otherwise, you're better off missing this, cos I don't want you throwing rotten tomatoes at my pretty blog page.

Excuse me, while I get rid of this popcorn overdose.

Hope y'all are having a good weekend. Shabba Khair and advance Onam wishes to all...oh and Ramadaan and all other wishes in between.

Rain-dance

One hot humid morn
Another summer day doeth dawn
And as the hours tick by
A sudden cloud dots the sky
Before long there's more and plenty
The clouds have gathered for a party
Out of the blue descends a downpour
Thunder and lightning O' wait! There's more!
Now who would not enjoy
A rain-dance, boy-o-boy!

So that's exactly what this mint did
This hot summer 'noon she bid
At work a half-day nip
Out in the rain, she did skip!

Summer of 2010

And so here were are, inching slowly towards the end of a few intense summer weeks and months. I finally managed to get rid of the old patio furniture, stain the deck a dark oak and got myself this cheery deck swing. You like?

To say that I have overused it and abused it would be an exaggeration. That would be because it gets real warm very early in the morning and get humid towards midday. The only time I get to enjoy a somewhat cool breeze and lounge on this swing with a book is late in the evening- when the sun has set. Sometimes there is nary a breeze, its warm air stationed heavily in one place like stagnant water.

Bursts of colorful blooms and indulging in that ice-cream sorbet right the container just epitomizes summer like none other. Weekend trips to the trail for hikes, cool fruit juices(watermelon juice rocks btw), salads, ice-cream(I can't have enough of it, as you can tell), shorts and flip-flops, shopping, shopping and more shopping...that's what's been keeping me busy.

Aside of all of that...anyone watched 'Tere Bin Laden' yet? No? Well check it out. I rofl'ed all the way till the end. Also in the movie scene, I am looking forward to 'Eat Pray Love' and 'Peepli Live' and 'Lafangey Parindey'(with my two fave actors-Neil Nitin Mukesh and Deepika Padukone).

Book scene is pretty dismal actually. I haven't read any good/great ones.

So yea, that's about it for now. I'll leave y'all with a song....my current favorite.

Cuatro

Sigh! Late last night I realized my blog turned four and I had to scramble to come up with a celebration. As you can tell, last year wasn't my best blog year. This place was neglected and I wasn't even making an attempt to take good care of it.

Perhaps a birthday is the right season and the right reason to make amends.

So here goes. Many many happy returns of the day my dear blog, and I start the fifth year with a song dedication.

The perfect squeeze

All you sleazeballs, STOP right now and go wash your minds. This is a clean and simple post about making juices at home.

Yes, that is my latest passion, thanks to Amma. For some months now Amma has taken to making fresh juice at home, primarily beet juice for herself. 'I used to hate beetroot as a kid, you know' she tells me with elan. Well, apparently she has hated almost the entire vegetable family, as does my dad- just as vehemently with the fruit family thrown in for good measure. Now, there are two conclusions that can be drawn here. One, Hallelujah, we've finally found the one bonding factor in the union of the two poles! Two, is it a shocker that their off springs have such a hard time taking to fruits and vegetables?

Anyhoo, Amma has concluded the best way to get beetroot into her system is by making a juice of it. Seren has procured a small and cute juicer for this purpose and with utmost dedication and diligence, Amma makes beetroot and pomegranate juice with a dash of brown sugar(for fiber or protein or some such nutritious value, she would like to insist). Ever since she made the first glass of this concoction for me(this happens in the evening btw), I've been hooked.

So one morning, on our vegetable market trip, Seren and I decided to mix it up a bit. We got some oranges, kiwi and chickoo along with the standard fare beet and pomegranate. When we declared our wares, Amma's face didn't exactly gleam. Come 6pm, I was handed a glass of a brown-hued drink- your sapota juice she declared wanly.

'What about you?' I ask. 'I'll make my beet+pomegranate juice' she said in sotto voice and slid away. 'Hmmm, daal mein kuchch kaala hai' signals go off in my head. Within minutes she is back with her glass and as we clink and drink, she looks at my glass and goes 'How could you like sapota juice? I've never taken to the fruit, you know!'. Sigh.

So, when I got back to the US of A, I ordered myself a good decent juicer after reading 100s of reviews on Amazon and finally landing on one whose bad reviews didn't far outnumber the good ones(that's the way to pick an appliance on Amazon by the way. If one were to read all the reviews of all the appliances, one could never get to buying anything).

As I unpacked the contraption, I realized the piece looked bigger than I expected and had more parts than my mixie. It took me a few days to understand how to piece the parts together and operate. Then it took me another week to finally 'plan' my juice mix. The recipe booklet that came along with the appliance said my first launch should be of orange, beetroot and carrot. Awesome! That'd make Amma proud, I figured.

Day 1 : It took me 10 minutes to bring the parts to one piece. Another 10 minutes later it was whirring convincingly. Then came the master stroke. I added the ingredients and in the jar was a mixture of purple and orange with a grand total of purple fluid. The beet had won. I whipped in a tablespoon of brown sugar, and finally it purred to a halt.

In my excitement to indulge in the freshness of my creation, the latch on the appliance was hastily taken off. With a light thud, the pieces had come apart and I had purple spots on my favorite Gap jeans and on the hardwood floor. Sigh!

Day 2 : Rinse, lather repeat. Follow the same steps as day 1 till you get to the 'purred to a halt'.

Again, in my excitement, [no it wasn't the latch this time, I'd learnt THAT lesson], I ejected the juice jug and as I poured the purple concoction into a tall glass- I tilted the jug too far. The lid came out and I had purple juice all over my counter and dripping over the cabinet doors and right to the floor. Here we go again!

Day 3 and onwards: Well, by now I had realized that this thing is not exactly one can take lightly. Its not like throwing something into your microwave and walking away. It needed TLC, it was like one of those high-maintenance fashionistas. I lovingly followed the procedure and patted it often and used it gently. All was good. I've been producing glass after glass with relatively few mishaps.

My next mix is going to be apple, peach and grapefuit, wish me luck!

Unfortunately I don't find chickoo that often in our farmer's market. But you know I'll be having that soon enough, much to Amma's chagrin, don't you?

A pink spot of glee

This dawn, bright and early
On the drive to work, daily
Sighted : A shot of bright pink
A lone balloon with a lost link
It sways and sashays
A mild morning breeze plays
Soaring gently
Diving mildly
This carefree little thing
What a joy with a zing
Couldn't we all just be
Like this lone little pink spot of glee?

Hey Ya

Heard this yet? If you haven't, you should! :)




My movie for this weekend happened to be 'Karthik calling Karthik'. So this is Farhaan Akhtar's third movie and three time's always a charm. I'm officially hooked and I now know exactly what I like about FA's movies. His stories are mostly urban contemporary, the themes are very relevant to the times and his lines are crisp, cool and witty. So there you go- its a typical FA movie and I thought him and Deepika Padukone had great chemistry. I liked the storyline, though as always in a movie- some parts dragged, mature and normal. The characters FA plays are not exaggerated, no distinct black or white persona- that makes the people and the stories very relatable. I won't say much else, give it a shot. It's worth spending a weekend evening.

In my neck of the woods

When I hear about new initiatives such as this, a part of me tingles with pride, cos you see the entire route for this walk meanders around places in my neighborhood that I have literally grown up in. An entire section of my locality that certainly had a huge hand in shaping my persona. Another part of me surges with mixed emotion. That part of me that can't imagine walking through the neighborhood as a tourist. I wonder 'will this walker see what I see and feel what I feel when they make a visit to 'Dodda Ganesha'[Big Ganesha] temple- that monolithic enormous Ganesha idol or the neighbor- the Bull temple? For me, its about my daily walk to college, a customary drop in at these temples, more so during exams- to pray for success.

Nostalgia- this area sure exudes oodles of it, whether its gastronomic delight centers such as Brahmin's cafe, Vidyarthi Bhavan, Dwarka Bhavan[famous joints for breakfast, masala dosa and butter dosa] or stores such as Subbamma for nippattu, kodbale, chutney pudi and sundry items, whether its educational institutions such as National College and BMS College of Engineering, whether its temples such as Bull temple, Dodda Ganesha temple, Karanji Anjaneya temple, Raghavendra Swami muttha, Shankar Muttha....the list is endless. This list is my childhood. An intrinsic part of me is weaved heavily into these now tourist centers. Which is why sometimes I feel like a part of me is on display. It makes me curious into what these walkers see and what they read into these visual delights.

Will they smell the lingering aroma of fresh flowers as they eat masala dosa at Vidyarthi Bhavan, like I do? Do they look up to identify which classrooms I have been at for Physics and Chemistry lessons in National College, like I do? Will they recall amusedly standing with an orange bucket at the BWSSB office adjacent to National College with Amma, arguing about why there was no water supply as promised? Will they remember like I do, not the beauty and serenity of Ramakrishna Ashram, but sitting at the Telephone office(then called PnT I think, NOT the BSNL its now been renamed as) next door complaining about the 100th time the phone has gone out of order? Will they realize that fruit juice at Ganesh fruit juice center is the cheapest and best in the area? They can never know that the Shiv Sagar on Gandhi Bazar Road is now gone, but it was one of the first and greatest chaat places in the area. Butter Sponge, Jyothi stores and West End stores have been around for as long as I've been, run by the same management for years and how many ever years later- when you do drop in, they recognize your face and smile understandably.

Do they get to listen to Vedic chants from the Karnikara Paathshaale across from my home? Will they be able to understand little things such as missing the cobbler who had set up shop right at the corner of Vani Vilas Road and Uttaraadi Mutt road who has long been evicted thanks to the megalithic flyover that has sprung right at that spot? They will never get to know that Vani Vilas Road was once a tree lined avenue, much like Diagonal Road, but not any more.

See I have been on walking tours- like in Colonial Williamsburg and in London. I admire the architecture and sometimes try to imagine the life of the people who inhabited those areas in times bygone. But this above walking tour brings a whole different perspective for me. I want to go on one of these. Perhaps I can trace back my wonder years. Perhaps this time around I will try to hang on to every bit of emotion that emerges, to be captured for posterity.

Cos you see, one's childhood is hard to recreate. Why would you consider hanging on to the delightful taste of the chutney from Brahmin's cafe if you lived in the area all your life? You wouldn't, but when you do step away from the very same comfort zone that created you- you realize how such an intrinsic framework provides stability and grounds you with strong ties of nostalgia and a tingling sense of pride.

My neck of the woods, it appears, has now officially gotten a sepia tint and I certainly ain't complaining!

A blurb from this walking tour of traditional Bengaluru goes thus:

" Come and discover Traditional Bengaluru!
It takes only 3 kms and 3 hours to realise that amidst Bangalore as an IT hub and roaring pub city, there is the other Bengaluru - the Bengaluru that was the genesis of Bangalore as we know it today, that evokes nostalgia, and poetry. The bastion of traditional living, a life of grace, goodness, and breeding ground of the quintessential Bangalorean who effortlessly shuttles between several seemingly contradictory worlds.

Walk through the rocks that Bangalore was founded on. Discover the sprawling streets of the old-new city.

Get ready for an assault on the senses; tradition comes in colors and sounds. Treat your taste-buds. This is Bengaluru: Up close and personal.

If you really want to understand traditional Bengaluru, join us on this walk through the neighbourhoods of Basavanagudi and Shankarapuram."

Cover page

One of the very first things I do when I come home is to start reading TOI. I love the Indian print media and goes well with my breakfast coffee :). Even more so the New Year's edition has so much to looked forward to.

So yesterday, as is customary, I grabbed the paper and sat down with what must've been my 4th cuppa for the morning. What does one usually expect? A 'TOI wishes all its readers a very happy new year', correct?

Wrong!

Here's what I saw(statutory warning- please don't throw stones at me for the bad pics, I was in a rush to take the pics while packing, unpacking, repacking, weighing etc- after all I was about to leave in 24 hrs)....

Like the second pic rightly says, it felt odd. What kind of cover page was this- was my first reaction. But as I started reading, right after 2 stanzas, I was floored. I was ready to offer pranaams to the entire team at TOI for this wonderful start to a new year. See- I am the eternal sentimental fool. If one were to tell me that Love is God, I will truly believe and agree. I will have nary a counter argument or logical/rational argument on why and how I don't believe it is not so. See- words, anger, hatred, violence all get nowhere but to more anger, hatred and violence that is eventually just destructive. In the end, who does love and enjoy destruction? No one does, at least no on in their right mind does.

















I love this tagline - 'Aman ki Asha'. There were 2 or 3 more pages with more details on the entire drive across the country wishing and working towards peace and harmony. After all, isn't that what everyone would like? Cliched it may sound, but the fact is undeniable. 'Aman ki Asha' it is for 2010. An idea whose time has come. I'm sold- hook, line and sinker.