All play and no work makes any Krack a sick boy...

So, no excuses..an hour of running...same old place..Same old company...Maya..a different song on repeat ;-)
half an hour of staring into the wildnerness..alone on a lonelier rock...Even I wud look like a philosopher!
And Krack can go and play everyday...but Jack took a break from playing today...He got some work done...no matter how shoddily...he got some work done!
Not bad for a Monday! ;-) Nostalgic charms (of working hard on a Monday)....they just don't seem to leave me..
Haunted! Life is almost haunted by nostalgia!

Super Sunday - "Happy Days" (Telugu; no review)

This Sunday should have been exhausting really...But it wasnt exhausting one bit! Dont get me wrong.,It wasnt a lazy Sunday...A sunday when you leave home at 9 am and return at 10 30 pm is anything but lazy!
Come to think of it...this was the first time we were all having Buffet breakfast at this restaurant..We ve been living here all these years and never been to this restaurant for the buffet breakfast although we were only 3 kms away! I guess Better late than never ...And better here for breakfast than wherever!
You have all the SOuth Indian delicacies for breakfast..Idli, vada, Pongal, Khaara baath, Kesari baath, Shavige(noodles), Masala and other dosas, Rotti, fruits, juice...and all of this for only Rs. 60...Man! Why dont we have more Sundays in a week? ;-) Or why does Kamath Bugle Rock have buffet breakfast only on SUndays???
Later this morning...I meet this kid..He is a kid alrite! Anyone who is 8 years younger is..if he isnt a kid, you're probably a kid yourself! ;-)
So..the only thing I have in common with this kid is my name ;-)
Sharp...sharp is an understatement...I know I wud be making a note of his email Id in the very first minute of talking to him...After all..this next generation..I need to know how they think...and man! they think..I first need to know how to think...and then try and know how they think what they think ;-)

So...with more driving around town with a younger cousin around..he is also a kid alrite! With more driving around town and checking out houses and people, I thought I would be closing the day with this movie in the evening..
Happy Days..a Telugu movie..neat, sweet college story...More than anything else, a clean Telugu family movie!
Definitely a must watch if you know Telugu...After all you dont get to, often...
We all return, and just when I was about to retire, I get a call from 2 others who missed out on the dinner last evening..These guys actually kinda knew me more/better/worse (take your pick!)
So, we chat away for 1.5 hours or so...A CCD after 4.5 months! They ve even changed the menu...They no longer have the Ethiopian Qahwah or the Columbian Quest...I settle for an "Aztec"...Thank god, with some friends you can philosophise even over coffee...I mean...all sober and still philosophise!
One of us comes across as less emotional...Not too many other apparent/noticeable changes...I am not sure if I should thank God..One has to thank someone only when one knows whom to thank and why, if at all!
So...."come across"...and "noticeable changes"..Remember! Lifes not too unkind...the truth...the plain and simple truth..never really simple..and almost never plain! But then, dont we all change...every moment? Howsoever little? ;-) :-D

High school friends giving up an evening's high!

5 of us... high school friends met up this evening...And almost as if it were magical, we changed our plans..We changed our mind and instead of the going to our regular hang out, we went out to only a restaurant...A Saturday evening for most IT professionals is an opportunity to "feel good"...
And high school friends went without a high...For me? Undeservingly if at all? Hmm...not sure...not sure either way...if it was for me...or for me and undeservingly so...
But there is one thing I have never forgotten..That it should have always been easy for these guys to not count me in...I was not really one of them...I studied in this school for only two years...They all grew up together...But never once did I feel like an outsider...They ve always made me feel like I was one amongst them...And its definitely not to do with me....Not completely atleast! May be I shouldnt over analyse some things...Things like friendship...what friends can do for you...its as puzzling as much as it is comforting...and sometimes you always wonder if you have actually really interacted or met these guys everyday for only two years...But then there is something about school friends...They always remind you of your past...They know what you really are :-)
So...Thames in Jayanagar 39th cross it was...for dinner...A looooong time since I had spent 250 bucks for dinner :-D
A funny feeling really..pinches your pocket coz ur no longer earning...But then you used to do it every weekend if not more often...So, it has some nostalgic value as well..
Luckily for me...I ve been undeservingly lucky this evening...Lucky pig!
We find a gelato place...and all of us have gelato...What a Saturday evening!...Man! I should go away and come back more often ;-)

Movie review : Dus Kahaaniyaa.

Rating: Lies somewhere between Watchable and Good
(Scale = Avoidable/Watchable/Good/Very Good/Must Watch)

This is not your regular Bollywood flick.
Watching a movie on the day of the release, without waiting to hear or read reviews is an experiment no less.
And when the movie is in itself an experiment (10 stories and 6 directors), expectations did not bias my movie watching experience.

I don't want to compare the movie with Darna Manaa Hain or more recently, Life in a Metro...The former had 6 horror stories, some of them rather comical...and the latter was more like a compressed K serial telecast on Star Plus (I particularly associate this teleserial "Swaabhimaan" with this latter one).

Why I really don't want to compare Dus Kahaaniya with the previous two, is that, in my opinion, Dus Kahaaniya is really going to be enjoyable for those amongst us who have a short attention span. For those amongst who have little or no patience for the song and dance routines of the typical Bollywood flick, Dus Kahaaniya seems to cater to our tastes - a movie should be more about the plots or stories or even acting, rather than revolving around mistaken and nonsensical notions of romance etc.,

Barring 2-3 stories, Dus Kahaaniya is really worth watching, of course with the consideration that this is a movie experiment...
The stories are good..not really gripping or thrilling, but they do manage to hold your attention for the entire length..howsoever short..

The movie has probably failed to fully capitalise on great actors like Nana Patekar, Naseeruddin Shah, Shabana Azmi, Sanjay Datt, Manoj Bajpai, and 6 directors!
But having said that, some consideration should also be given to the fact that each story plays out for about 10 minutes on an average, and it is really difficult for both the directors and actors to pack in really powerful performances, irrespective of their potential.

Given that my last watched movie was "Dhan dhana dhan goal" , I might be tempted to rate this as "Very Good"...but then, in a conscious and conscientious effort towards being objective about an opinion, I guess I will have to rate this movie as being between "Watchable" and "Good"...and if allowed to take sides, suggest that the movie is much more than just "Watchable" and closer to "Good"..

And given that I was watching the movie at a single screen 5 minutes away from home;and that 3 tickets cost as much one normally pays for a single ticket at a multiplex, I am certainly not doing a "cost-benefit" analysis...After all..what are holidays for! :-)

P.S: I have consciously avoided giving any of the plots or details away in this review. So, please don't review my movie review saying that I really haven't told you much about the movie!

Bisi Bele Bath @Ballal, the company of books and a bibliophile...

Ballal Residency off Residency Road serves good Bisi Bele Baath, which in my opinion is a must have for Bangaloreans and visitors alike...Bonda Rasam and Masala Dosas are also good there....but Bisi Bele Baath being a Bangalore speciality, one just cannot afford to miss the opportunity of having it!
Crossword Bookstores, still has its charm for me, and this time around, I realised that it has more charm now than the building complex it is housed in ;-)
Books...for whatever little I have read them...( I have read more of books than books themselves I realised!) along with the company of a bibliophile can just make your day! Even if it were to be less than a third of the day!
The Jayanagar Ganapathi temple was a must visit, having remotely prayed, it was time for payback ;-)
And yeah...almost forgot this...Death by chocolate is still as good as it used to be at Corner House, and what more could ask for apart from ice creams and good company...books or bibliophiles..or better still...both!
Finally, I get to lay my hands on Maister's two books..Yet to find a good bargain on an old "Trusted advisor" copy...Hope to get lucky sometime...for now, there is enough and more to read!
In all, a good day! A very good day indeed :-)

Aloo Parathas, Bangalore's traffic, the uber rich; South Indian marriages

Breakfast = 5 Aloo Parathas (my personal best is 7, but today I could not afford to be drunk on food!)

Interview = 1 hour
(think about what happens before South Indian arranged and rearranged marriages...I wish I could write as well my Guruji Sidin Vadukut...but, I am still an amateur, and an immature one at that...So, I will give you a link to know what kind of an interview I am talking about...) I can tell you only this much..I was not the interview candidate! I was on the panel ;-)

Link??? Link!!!!
http://www.whatay.com/2007/09/17/marriages-are-made-in-thrissur/

So....if that was a good way to start the day, the rest of the day was no bad either!
Driving Mom and Dad around was in itself a voluntary undertaking...Yana and I have been away for too long...And long distance relationships need a lot of intense bonding for the periods when people meet...So...I just wanted to drive, drive and drive!
And driving mom and dad to the uber rich was more than satisfying for the senses...Materialism is something that is as worthy of appreciation as art of any other form ;-)

5 pm : Masala Dosa at Vidyarthi Bhavan...
Well...if you haven't heard about this place...here is what Wikipedia says under "Basavangudi"...
Vidyarthi Bhavan, a quaint little restaurant located in the heart of Gandhi bazaar makes the best Masala Dosa in the world. The aroma wafting through the air is a good enough indication that you are in the vicinity of this gastronomic heaven. This awesome restaurant is perennially jam-packed and still the most sought after hotel in the town.

I close the day with a wedding reception...Enough for a hectic day eh? You bet!

Movie review: Goal."Dhan dhana dhan goal".

Actually, I don't even want to review this movie!
I am doing it for exactly some of the 'reverse justification" rationale I use for blogging...

So...here goes:

Rating : Between "avoidable" and "go ahead, watch it you moron!" ;-)

I don't know why I watched the movie really....Little Sister only asked me if I would come along..with her friends to watch the movie...I wouldn't even have to bother about the tickets..
And given that it was a multiplex located close to ReallyNice, my old office (name disguised for obvious reasons!)...I agreed....I could negotiate to leave early and spend some time at the consulting office where I had worked for 22 months!

Why am I not talking about the movie?

Coz, I didn't like it one bit...I could have spent more time at the office, with people continuing to gape and look at me with awe, about how I have lost a lot of weight and some hair!
Man! I felt like a celebrity! I guess this was the closest to being a celebrity I will ever be ;-)

Movie review: Aa dinagalu (Kannada movie)

Thanks mom for watching this ahead of me and reviewing it for me, Dad and Little Sister.

Rating : Must watch (if you know Kannada)

This is not “just another” Kannada movie…I will leave this “just another” qualifier comfortably vague…I don’t even want to think about elaborating what most Kannada movies are like…So, let me just get on with reviewing this movie..

This movie, is set in the Bangalore of 1980s and centres around the dons of those years…For a movie centred around rowdyism, extortion and crime, it has been made very well…It doesn’t have “in your face” sort of violence that puts most of us educated, urban mortals off…And it is exactly this that why I liked the movie on the whole. Apart from this, it has been very carefully shot (The screenplay is by Girish Karnad, so no wonder! And just in case you haven’t heard of Girish Karnad earlier, he is a playwright and has won the Jnanpith, Padmashri and Padmabhushan awards) Any critic would not miss to appreciate certain things about the way the movie is shot….Set in the 1980’s, it must have really been painstakingly shot..Apart from resurrecting the Yezdis and Rajdoots for the movie, a lot of care must have been taken while shooting….You cant afford to show the Pulsars and Victors or the Honda Citys or other cars on Bangalore’s roads! They ve even taken the pains to resurrect old analog phones where the dialing had to be done without push buttons! The long cigarettes (veteran fellow viewers point this to me!) used to be fashionable those days and the screenplay and direction is that detailed!

There are only two songs in the movie, and both are good….The movie has a sub-story with a romantic angle to it, fitted very well into the movie, not distasteful a single bit…so much so that I almost repented not having been in my twenties during the 80s! May be I could have met my dad and befriended him somewhere down the line! Not that Dad and I aren’t friendly now….But I guess Dad and I would have influenced each other much much more if we were peers! ;-)

Coming back to the movie, the music is by Illaiyaraja…another reason to like the movie!

And finally, its based on a true story…the movie has been made based on part 1 of a three part Kannada book called “Daadagiriya dinagalu” which translates to “Days of rowdyism”..

In all….a fresh and refreshingly good Kannada movie in a looooooong time! A must watch for those who have even a passing acquaintance with Kannada….

Bangalored!

Paranoid, as I am ( I am not sure if this is a congenital defect, because I don’t really remember being any different any time else!), I had asked for a cab to pick me and the Lord up at 2 15 am…I hadn’t slept partly because it would be pointless and largely because I wouldn’t be able to sleep even if I wanted to anyway!

So, we reach the village railway station platform (a very long one indeed!) in time, to take the 3 am local to the City of Joy exactly as I had planned it out in my mind. Now, often times in our lives, and especially mine, we realize that the best of plans could backfire. (Murphy’s law?)
Reason had suggested that at 3 am, the locals would not be crowded. And I had also been told that locals get preference over the other trains and would therefore never be delayed. Only the latter turned out to be true, so I have to thank this friend for the reasoning.
My own logic would fall flat on its face, and the Lord and I would have to make do with sitting on our travel bags near the door of the local train! This would still be fine…until….flowers, fish and the mixed fragrance of the two hit us hard with people transporting them..and the next thing we know is that the fish are being carried by people in bags placed right next to us…In a while we also realize that the water hadn’t been drained from those bags and the fishy water was wetting our very travel bags on which we were sitting! YUCK! YUCK YUCK and YUCK!

7 am…that’s when we reached the airport, with a good 2.5 hours away from departure. We may have reached atleast 20 minutes later if not for the psycho of a taxi driver who got us there from the City of Joy’s railway station (bridge!)
The Lord fell asleep while we were sitting at the Arrivals section of the airport, and yours truly would not be able to sleep, would not even be able to read business magazines..He had already been emotionally transported to the Garden City..He would soon be Bangalored!

The last thing that could have happened to us was a delayed flight, or worse still a cancellation…and thank the good Lord (I mean, the Lord apart from my companion, the Lord believed widely to be a resident of the skies), we wouldn’t be victims any further….Our flight was on time, and I forced myself to stay awake, lest I miss the opportunity of reading the in-flight magazine.
I would eventually fall asleep for about an hour in all, and that despite having the window seat, from where the view was simply….breathtaking!

Bangalore’s pleasant weather, described very ordinarily in terms of temperature (which was at 23 degree centigrade) was exactly as I had remembered it to be…Salubrious..May be it was just the psychological feeling…admittedly so…but then, what the heck! I had been away from this place for less than 24 weeks, and that could not possibly have taken away memories, dreams and nightmares of 24 years!

After saying “Bye for nows” to the Lord and another friend who happened to be on the same flight, I was destined to be reminded of the notorious characters of Bangalore – the autorickshaw drivers who mob you and start speaking in Hindi, just because you are coming out of an airport. Not to mention being asked to pay 5 times the regular fare!

Little would they know that I am a local, and a veteran at that ;-) Yeah..this word “local” and “localite” has, especially in India, at times negative connotations, but I have never cared less! I am a localite. And a proud one at that..So, I ask the rickshaw guys to first talk to me in Kannada (why don’t I look like a Kannadiga?? I mean, I really am not one but why do I get mistaken to be a Mallu and even a Bengali but not a Kannadiga or a Gult!) …So I tell the rickshaw fellas that I am a localite and they cannot take me on a ride literally…not on excess fare atleast! I only would have to walk a small distance to find a guy in his right mind to charge the correct fare according to the meter and would, to my good fortune happen to be ready to go where I want to go…

For first time Bangalore visitors…this needs some explanation…The auto rickshaws seldom bother about where you want to go…It is where they want to go that matters!
I am headed to Little Sister’s office, so that I could technically be picked up and from (well, near) the airport. The space-time separation between the airport and Little Sister’s office is typical to the separation between most places in Bangalore…Things haven’t changed much since I had been away…A few kilometers or even meters can still take a long time to displace oneself amidst the chaotic choc-a-bloc traffic.

Familiarity, as they say, is comforting..And the traffic only made me feel at home..Bangalore’s way of welcoming me I guess!

Little Sister is now a pro on Bangalore’s roads, and Yana (my Santro for those who forget!) has got along with Little Sister quite well indeed! Little Sister has been taking care of Yana quite well when I have been away and Yana transported us smoothly home in less than 30 minutes over around 10 kilometers.
Little Sister thinks I have been “out of touch” and combined with sleep deprivation, I was disqualified enough to be allowed to drive!

Home! “Home is where the heart is”, or so I had read as a young and gullible kid, and I don’t know why I remember it…But, at times (as Oscar Wilde has suggested), the plain and simple truth is rarely ever simple or plain! I can vouch for the fact that my heart was back here, in Bangalore, at home..

The squeaky clean floor, the familiarity for my feet…I could just lie down on the floor and kiss it…

Home food; Even simple rasam and rice tasted…heavenly!

And then came this without warning: Talking talking and more talking…for a little over 4 hours…when we finally decide to go out for dinner…Naah….not at one of those classy restaurants where the classy families indulge in family dining…Simple pleasures…the simple things are what fascinate our family..now, earlier and probably forever!

VV Puram’s circle is famous in Bangalore for having a street full of eat-outs..Some of them in shops; some of them made by street hawkers…Those Masala Dosas and idlis, those Bondas (deep fried snacks, called “Chop” back in the village)..those Churmuris - the south Indian equivalent of Bhel for the uninitiated…Man! What all had I been missing for these 136 days!

I eventually get the better of Little Sister and despite being asked by all to reconsider driving after a night’s sleep, I have it my way (I am a guest getting royal treatment remember?)…Well….a few glitches…I have indeed lost my charm..I can drive very well…..But the camaraderie that I used to share with Yana needs renewal!

After putting Yana to sleep, I decide to get myself some sleep…Sleeping at home…after 136 days! I could sleep for 136 hours continuously!!!

Hijli Break!

Hmm…I guess the origin of this term needs some explaining before I actually start explaining how the break happened.

The Acumen guys, the 4 of us were on this “express” train from our village to the City of Joy and we were talking about how this Institute of Management in the City of Joy used to joke about themselves and their Joka, being located in a locality called Joka.

We then decided to come up with a funky name for our own debate and quiz teams, and yours truly, even when he was half asleep, came up with this name ;-)

Before people start using this for their team names or as status messages on instant messaging applications, or captions for pictures or elsewhere, I had to put this up on my blog just so that I can claim the credit for having come up with the name ;-) And all this without having watched a single episode of Prison break :-)

Of all things familiar.

Hi Samiksha,

I just realised that its been more than a month since I wrote to you...I can't even excuse myself for having not written...Yeah, I did have my end semester examinations, but the amount of time I wasted while doing/not doing the exam prep, I have lost the moral right to use exams as valid excuses...Now that I am not going to get either a 5 pointer or a 10 pointer, I guess I will have to settle for something in between...Let's kill the discussion on grades right here!
I can go on no end about looking back at how this semester went and blah blah blah...

But, the only thing that comes to my mind is that I am only around 36 hours away from a place, which feels almost as long as the 136 days I have actually totally been away from there..

Familiarity, they say, is blinding...and I can bet I am sure that I knew myself too well before coming here...If nothing else, the MBA , apart from being a nice timepass (4 months just flew past!), is a self-discovery tool. Well, it has been one for me at least...
We'll leave the discoveries for another day since the recovery from the discovery is itself still on ;-)

Unfortunately, the only things I can think of right now, are seeing Mom, Dad and Little Sister after 136 days, and going back to the familiarity of my room, home, the weather and the food...
A strange feeling of simply not wanting to think of anything else has conquered my mind I am in complete surrender and submission...So, before I start blabbering what I would otherwise normally do, let me just end this ostentatious "milestone" post here...
See you in Bangalore! You were born there (in my mind really, but your birth certificate will still need to have a location as required in this country..); so..may be coming back to your birthplace (and mine!) gives me more to write about! 36 hours...
For now, I don't have anything to write home about....I mean...write about ;-)

Love,
Vishwas