Weekends over weak ends - Orissa getaways - Chandipur, Devkund via Shimlipal.

Recovering from a bug bite (the travel bug of course!) is often something that involves sound sleep. Some sounds affect that elusive sound sleep, but then, recent delusion and disillusion(ment) meant that elusion - of sleep or anything else will just have to be put up with.

Mohalla tripped to Chandipur via Balasore and then went to Shimlipal/Devkund before returning to Hijli.

Day 1

Balasore is where you train to for about 2.5 hours from Hijli and then you hit the road to Chandipur, about 16 kilometres away. Mahindra Autos and SUVs - take your pick/pic depending on wallet and group sizes.

The ride from Balasore to Chandipur is somewhat like that Roadrash road - countryside. And look up Roadrash if you never once played it when you should have...

Aah...That Balasore is actually a degradation of Baleshwar is what you will realise when you get outta the Balasore/Baleshwar railway station...

We missed the sunset at the Chandipur beach, but walked for a total of about 1.5 hours (to and fro) in the dark, wanting to see the water that weirdly recedes 5 kilometres every now and then...Orissa tourism says that Chandipur is that beach where the visitors wait for the waters instead of the other way round..

The moon (crescent) and Venus looked good during the walk, letting one think or dream of anyone else in another part of the world, near or far, distance and otherwise, who could potentially be looking at it at the same time and plausibly remembering or forgetting you.

Food at Shubham Hotel's Swagath restaurant was good, and while yours truly appreciated the Paneer Capsicum and the Egg pudding, others of the Mohalla fedback about the Pomfrets and prawns. The feedback was that the latter dishes were "amazing!!" !!

Day 2

The drive from Chandipur to Balasore is best undertaken in a commercial vehicle like a Jeep or an SUV and we did accordingly.
We didn't really spot tigers at the Shimlipal Tiger reserve. May be that was because we really only wanted to get to this place called Devakunda and Shimlipal was the means.
Not wanting to get into the debate of what amongst {ends, means} is superior morally or otherwise, let me move on to Devakunda that was certainly our means to enjoyment. "Getaway" is the one word that captures the feeling, personally. Trek up the hill, stop points with a temple thrown in. And water of course! We got to see water at three outta the five points there are..
Whatta trek! And what an "Escape" from all kinda thoughts that one gets and originates...Philosophy definitely has its origins in the hills. Things become as crystal clear as the water that flows down the hills. Even a pseudo-thinker and pseudo-psychological ( I always thought I was only being an amateur and original, building up on what I had learnt through reading and listening...but then, no one wants to be pseudo-anything, so, I should just get over this taunt anyway!)


Hope the prayers at the temple work. Injuries of all kinds seem to be happening in spite of prayers to all kinds of Gods.
Even the Nimishamba temple near Mysore has ignored similar prayers.
And idiots like me always get away lucky to enjoy everything. Pressures, elementary or alimentary don't really come in the way of the "enjoyment".
"Escape" if I can insist.

Looking forward to Hijli Break. For reasons of feeling good and bad. Good about the past and the possible future. Bad because of the lost future and the present which will soon be lost...
88 days...at once seems too few and too many...

Movie Review: Slumdog Millionaire

After a few address changes (blog URLs) and about 50 movies, the itch to talk about a movie brings me back here...I may or may not have been missed around, and people may or may not be wanting to read what I have to say..But then, this is my blog and I can say what I want :P

And then, if people can read what Shobha De has to say, they can read me with a feeling of moral superiority...Afterall, I watched the movie in a multiplex paying 190 bucks and didn't watch it on a pirated DVD like how this celebrity columnist did...Somehow Shobha De somehow always reminds me of that Oscar Wilde remark about some people who are famous for being famous ;-)

Well...I wont get down to a movie review in the traditional sense...(The post title is to that extent misleading, since the real intention of calling it a movie review is one of driving traffic towards the blog...Search string likelihood to be factored in you see!)

You watch this movie and realise what an Oscar nomination for screenplay is all about!
I mean...three different time-slices in the lives of the lead characters woven beautifully together keeps you absorbed for the entire duration of the movie...
After all that has been said and written about this movie and the music, there is no point in trying to review either the movie or the music except maybe understand Oscar nominations backwards... (most of life itself is understood backwards anyway!)

That all the three different actors who play the role of the lead character Jamaal Mallik seem to make a perfect fit is beyond doubt.. Its tough to not fall in love with any of the three actors who play Jamaal Mallik....and before you start thinking otherwise, let me assert my orientation in admitting to finding Freida Pinto to be "refreshingly beautiful"...as refreshing, and I am extremely apolegetic to both for this comparison...Freida Pinto is as refreshingly beautiful as Prachi Desai who debuted in "Rock On!" last year...
After watching people like Prachi Desai and Freida Pinto, or Dev Patel and Farhaan Akhtar for that matter, the average movie goers have to reassure themselves that life is not all that boringly cruel, and not all the time!

Wokay...so...no movie reviewing or spoiling here...Except that I have to (in the interest of anyone accidentally or incidentally reading this post!) say that

1. Fame Cinemas, South City Mall Kolkata has great leg-space: one reason to watch movies there!
2. Please watch the English version - no heavy Brit or American accents, so no worries for the average Indian English speaking "junta"...
3. Moviemarks (extending Bookmarks, and hullo! this is my original idea which dawned upon me when travelling in the rickety buses of Kolkata) -
Moviemarks (personal of course!) are -

a) "Dont worry about her, she will be fine. " - This line is actually in Hindi - "Woh theek rahengi"..Beautiful piece of advice to anyone in a situation like that!
b) "So what?" This one shocked my system enough to change from slouch to sit up. I hope you don't miss this line, although I am sure you will miss it if you don't empathise with Jamaal or Latika...
c) " I thought we will meet only in..." Man! Touching...Hope all love stories end happily despite such thoughts!...

I am reasonably sure that the post in general and the Moviemarks in particular dint spoil it for you! If I am wrong, do tell me I spoilt it for you and we can watch this movie again and revisit all the thought-points of the movie and compare notes ;-)

Oh yeah! Forgot to mention this..You come outta the movie hall and then you realise that there was unnecessary newsprint and TV talk about India being portrayed in a particular manner..Its a movie after all man!