Friday, December 21, 2007

Break.

Neither I nor Shweta have updated this blog in a long time. I have been swamped with work and Shweta is busy planning for her future ;-)
Meanwhile, there are some updates. I am going on a vacation to Las Vegas, Death Valley and Grand Canyon for 10 days and would be back with lots of interesting stories and pictures.
~Ciao

Shweta!!!!!! You should really post something.

Monday, November 12, 2007

Letters to the editor.

Here's a puzzle for you:
There is an article in an online news portal about OSO and Saanwariya releasing on the same day(diwali). The comments section of the article go like this:
Commenter 1: OSO seems like a masala movie, Saanwariya might be boring
Commenter 2: OSO will be a bigger hit, SRK rocks
Commenter 3: SRK is crap, he has always been doing the same roles in all his movies, he should retire
Commenter 4: Yes C3 I agree SRK is crap, in fact all Muslims are spoiling our country...they should be sent to pak
Commenter 5: All you bloody hindus don't realise that all industrialists and great people of India are muslims
Commenter 6: kaun hain yaar ye C5, isko pak bhej do and send Raja sen(a movie reviewer) back to kolkata..he is crap
and the thread continues with more pak/india and other people bashing, whereas the article was a harmless piece contemplating which bollywood movie will do better! Guess which news portal am I talking about?

Ok here's another sample:The article is about the India and US nuclear deal...all very serious business people. And what happens in the comments section? Yeah you guessed it - more pak bashing, this time along with US and taliban and how all countries except india are not 'doodh ke dhule'. And what else do I see here in comments? 'If you failed at 5th standard or uneducated, do not worry. Go to Andhra universities. You can get BE, MCA, MTech degrees for few thousand rupees and go to the USA to spoil their economy'. &%5E$*&%5E#@*&$^*& what does that have to do with the article, you say? Well I say the same thing!

So now from the samples provided above, tell me what portal am I talking about? Yeah you guessed it right fellows! Its our dear rediff.com! While I really admire the instant gratification provided by online news sites to people who want to convey their feelings about a particular issue, I am taken aback by the way this is misused by some people(and almost all rediff commenters). Its all nice that you don't have to wait for your letter to reach the editor, and then get published a month or more after the issue was raised but people! Is technology enabling us or just making us stoop to a level where we have to bash those who are not like us? Why do we have to succumb to the urge to verbally assault someone we don't even know? (why should you get that urge in the first place?). And don't even get me started on the irrelevant comments(the AP education type!).....As far as my memory goes, responding to an article is a literary activity and should create an atmosphere of debate and perspective...not meaningless chatter that is intended to spark raging tempers!

Note: The comments are a 'direct lift off ' from rediff.com.

Monday, November 5, 2007

Fultoo Dhamaal!

This review might be a little too late but the movie is good enough to warrant a review, late or otherwise. So this weekend we got the Dhamaal DVD from an Indian store. I was expecting a half-baked attempt at comedy, with lots of sexual innuendos and double entendre, a la Masti style but was pleasantly surprised. Before I delve into the depths of brainless slapstick, a word of caution: Dhamaal is a remake of 'Its a mad mad mad world', with a few scenes lifted from 'Roadtrip'. And if you have not seen the above mentioned films, you are in for a great time.

Its a fantastic story of four good for nothing friends who, while attempting to save a dying criminal(a completely bald Prem Chopra ofcourse!) learn that dus carode have been buried in some park in Goa. Thus starts the mad fun-filled trip to Goa, complete with a pagal-khane wali bus full of mental cases, a hanging from the cliff rescue, a daku following Riteish(BTW i observed that its the nth time Ritesh Deshmukh has changed the spelling of his first name!) and the like. Most of the gags work superbly without trying too much(a tribute to the original movie i guess). The gag that takes the cake is when Arshad Warsi, when confronted by a pistol-toting Sanju baba, drops to the ground to show his fear and remorse, and starts collecting mud in an attempt to blind Sanjay Dutt (like Dharam paaji does to Gabbar in Sholay) and by the time Arshad has thrown all the mud in the air, Sanjay has already moved away and he says "sholay maine bhi dekhi hain"....hahaha. One thing is for sure. If you want to enjoy this mad movie, better leave your brains at home(or at work if you are watching at home) and grab that snack and cola and be ready to be entertained bollywood ishtyle! And hey! there are no women or songs to take your mind(didnt you stow it away?) away from the fun!

Tuesday, October 23, 2007

Happily ever after!

Indian news media, over the last few days, has been agog over the developments in the Chiranjeevi household, what with his younger daughter eloping to get married to her young lover. I was amazed at the media circus being played out the the expense of these families in trouble. Here is my 2 cents about the issue.
Now, I am all for the young generation in India taking their own decisions in life but what surprised me was that she had taken this huge step all of 19 years old! Then I started thinking about why she would have done that. Indian parents would never let their kids date. A relationship is taboo. A young couple in love would have to wait to reveal their relationship to their parents until they are financially/emotionally independent. If by any stroke of bad luck the parents come to know of the 'affair'(I hate that word), then the couple can do one of three things. 1. Convince their parents that both parties are 'good families' and the 'boy' and 'girl' are truly committed to each other, whereby the parents would want them to get married asap, 2. If the parents aren't convinced, elope and get married. In this scenario they would face indignation and rejection from both sides and would have to depend on each other. They would really have to understand each other and care for each other for it to work, but if unfortunately the marriage fails, there would be I-told-you-sos going around, and the girl would be doomed forever,3. If the parents aren't convinced, break up, and marry whoever the parents 'choose' for you and live 'happily' ever after!
(Don't get me wrong, I am not against love marriages(heck why would I be?) or eloping(hee hee), what I don't like is how the couple in question decides to get married really young(19-20??) or 'give up' when the going gets tough. I feel they should wait till they are of an age where they understand what it takes to be married and be really sure that they are not just 'in love' but are in sync with one another. But then that's what I think, it could be all wrong for all you know. )
Now this logic could probably not work on the 'Chiranjeevi' situation because the following reasons make the dynamics complicated:
1. there is a rich girl, poor guy situation where the guy in question has a criminal record(which could be real or fabricated)
2. the girl's family is a very powerful one.
Parts of the media project the idea that the rich family trampled on the love and the young couple HAD to take this extreme step. Some others are of the opinion(thanks to his criminal record) that the guy in question is a fraud and is only taking advantage of the poor girl and her family. We would never know the truth, but as people with feelings, we should probably leave the families and the couple alone to sort their mess out. I only pray that everything is fine and that the couple would live happily ever after.

Tuesday, October 16, 2007

Saturday, October 13, 2007

Happy days...made me nostalgic...simply gr8..!!

huh after so many days iam posting something ...well thxx to my sister :-) Anyway let me start HAPPY DAYS movie was toooo gud.Everything seemed so real bunking classes,ragging etc.

After decades saw a good movie which included student(btech) life now i can say that iam PROUD to be a btech student :-)... n credit goes to shekhar(director and producer) of the movie for making such a realistic movie otherwise got tired of the K movies which included the same old boring romantic types which included SHARUKH for EX--KANK which was a big shit.

Now coming back to happy days its all about college life,confusion,ragging,friendship,love,carrer,teachers,canteen and so on...
so mainly it includes STUDENT POWER.

finally all i can say is that this movie will remind u of ur HAPPY DAYS with ur frnds..a good mvie evryone must watch it..!!!

Tuesday, October 9, 2007

Leisure

LEISURE

What is this life if, full of care,
We have no time to stand and stare?

No time to stand beneath the boughs
And stare as long as sheep or cows:

No time to see, when woods we pass,
Where squirrels hide their nuts in grass:

No time to see, in broad daylight,
Streams full of stars, like skies at night:

No time to turn at Beauty's glance,
And watch her feet, how they can dance:

No time to wait till her mouth can
Enrich that smile her eyes began?

A poor life this if, full of care,
We have no time to stand and stare.

- William Henry Davies

So true is it not? The last time I stopped to look at a tree or a squirrel was when I was in the eleventh grade, the day I read this poem in my English book. I remember thinking how true this poem was, even as I decided I would allocate some time to nature walks and bird watching every week. And I remember sticking to that decision for exactly a week. Life caught up with me, as they say! Here I am today, again thinking of how I have stopped paying attention to nature around me. I see trees when I travel to the office, get a view of the river from some parts of the office, hear birds chirping while I am waiting for S to pick me up in the evening and see squirrels crossing the road all the time. But I never pay attention. All these scenes just flash through, with me zooming past them.
So here I go: I shall stop to admire nature every once in a while. And I shall stick to this decision this time.

Monday, October 1, 2007

Happy Gandhi Jayanthi!

(This is not an essay on Gandhi)
This evening while channel-surfing we happened upon Richard Attenborough's Gandhi on AMC and started watching it. Aside from the fact that it is such a wonderful movie that encompasses all nuances of the Mahatma's personality, and India's freedom struggle right from Champaran to Jalianwala Bagh to the Quit India movement, we were impressed at how small funny moments crept into the movie. Snippets that make you chuckle and marvel at how Attenborough tried to make the movie more interesting. Here are a few for our dear readers:

1. Nehru and his 'anglicised' friends visit Gandhi after he comes back from the 'India trip', the men are outside feeding the goats (of course, on Gandhi's insistence), and talking about how tyrannical the British Government is. When Kasturba calls Gandhi inside for something, Gandhi runs in while telling the men "you see, even here there is no escape from tyranny".

2. At Champaran, where Gandhi is imprisoned and taken to a magistrate, the magistrate asks Gandhi to not leave his village ever and Gandhi says "this is my country and I can choose to go where i like". Not to be shaken by this, the magistrate then says "I grant you bail on a bond of 100 rupees", Gandhi very coolly replies "I refuse to pay the money", beat down, the magistrate says "I grant you bail for free"....priceless!

3. After Champaran, Gandhi is invited to Jinnah's house for a meeting with Jinnah, Nehru, Patel, Kripalani and Azad, and everyone agrees that the Indian struggle for freedom must move beyond passive resistance upon which Gandhi talks about peaceful resistance that will NOT be passive, will embarrass the British, and force them to listen to Indians. He then gets up, takes the tea tray from Jinnah's servant and starts to make tea for all, embarrassing them all in the process!

4. Gandhi is in prison and his good friend Charlie pays him a visit. Charlie says, "they are calling you bapu, doesn't it mean father?", Gandhi says, "yeah it is, we must be getting old".

5. Before one of his speeches at a gathering he is asked by the police about the subject of his speech and he says "the value of goat's milk in daily diet, but you can be sure I will talk about Indian independence too".

6. A People magazine photographer visits him to take a few of his pictures for the mag and to interview him. Gandhi says "with all the charismatic people in the world I cannot imagine what attraction I hold for your readers", the photographer says "you are the only man I know who makes his own clothes", Gandhi replies, "well that is not much of an accomplishment for me", referring to his meagre loin cloth!

I was really bowled over by the Mahatma's sense of humour and his courage.

On a related note: Today is Gandhi Jayanti in India and I'm sure atleast good old DD is showing Gandhi. While I realise this post does not do justice to the gem that the movie is, I hope it would at least entice my readers to watch the movie today, and enjoy!

Saturday, September 29, 2007

Too old for 20-20? Huh!

By now everyone who knows my dear sister knows that she has become a big fan of the new version of one day(?) cricket....the 20 overs a side game! I remember during the world cup in 1996, I and my friends were watching the final match between Srilanka and Australia and our tuition sir said 'kya ye one-day cricket...asli cricket tho test cricket hain' and I remember thinking granted that test cricket is real cricket watched by die-hard fans but one-day cricket is more interesting and quick and you dont have to watch men in whites run along slowly over the course of 5 days. Of course, the fact that one-day players had colourful uniforms was an added attraction. Surely test cricket was for the oldies!
Cut to today. Shweta, who normally doesn't care much about cricket suddenly tells me over chat that she's hooked to the new 20-20 world cup! Here I am, a big cricket fan myself not really feeling excited about 20-20. 'How is a game that finishes in 3 hours, cricket? Whats the point in both teams just breezing thourgh the overs, hitting hard with no technique at all(thats my view people...dont get all jumpy on me)? Is it that I didn't like 20-20 as much as my sis because I am getting old? Like my tuition sir? Is 20-20 next-generation cricket and I am far behind in the last?

Wednesday, September 26, 2007

Twenty 20 IND vs PAK...the match was too gud..!!!

INDIA the world 20-20 champions..!!celebrating their victory against PAK.


























Sunday, September 23, 2007

Kerala nostalgia

Whenever Shweta shows me her Kerala trip pictures I am instantly transported to my TCS-Initial Trianing Program(ITP) days of mid 2002. Thats when me and a 100 others were put up at this deluxe TCS executive hostel in Trivandrum for 3 months for our training. Fresh out of college and with dreams in our eyes, we instantly lapped up all the excitement and adventure offered by the place. Not a weekend went by when we didnt visit all the great places in Kerala. Starting with the 'usual' places like Kovalam and Varkala beaches to awesome treks like munnar and Thekkady to the 'romantic' backwaters of Alleppey, we saw them all and wondered at what nature had done to the place. After that experience I can safely say, and I'm sure Shweta will agree, that Kerala IS truly God's own country and I can go there bar bar bar bar..........Thanks Shwets for uploading those awesome pics.
Aside: Kerala also reminds me of those days of sleeping during the training because we were up talking all night about movies, politics, society and stuff and making fun of the trainer uncles and aunties...hahaha.....those were the days! End of aside.

water bed..too gud..!!!

Saturday, September 22, 2007

Kerala pics


My class photo..!!



Vivekananda rock memorial
in Kanyakumari.


Tea gardens at munnar.



Periyar lake.





again kanyakumari






mountain view









kovalam beach



At kanyakumari...a wonderful place!!!

UTSAV ROCKED!!!!!


Hey just wanted to tell about our traditional day in the coll..named UTSAV.It was simply gr88..enjoyed a lot..gr88 food.Got bored with same old pakau routine. So today it was so good to see everyone in colorful sarees atleast for one day we got a chance to wear a saree.
ahhh finally the point is that today we had loadss of fun...:-) ....gonna miss college life.. :-(

Tuesday, September 18, 2007

The first post

Well, what is the very first post in a new blog called? The First Post ofcourse! Ok I know that was a poor joke.
So here it starts! The first ever Sisters' blog(I'm guessing there aren't any sister blogs out there in the blogosphere..atleast i'd like to claim so). I am the older one(and the old one) and the younger one is 6 years younger but we are not here to talk just about us. We are here to talk about life, school, work, movies and anything else that pops into our mind on any given day. It could be just a rant about something or something well thought about but post we will!
I shall let this post be what its meant to be, the very First Post!