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 ;-)