True Hues!

Come exam time and I do all kinds of crazy things as a substitute to good ol’ hardwork! So… This time I decided to take a couple of “candid” pictures of myself, depicting the person who I really am. So, see smile and enjoy my beautiful work of photography!

Attitude!

Forbidden!

All the wrong things

I AM 10

Rip Van Winkle’s God-child!

Dozzzeee!

Vocation!

Monkey business

Profound!

Angel!

 

These are obviously some things that my parents should NOT see… Or else, they’ll positively murder me!
I hope you enjoyed my photographic skills! Thank you!

(P.S: )

Therapy!

Therapy is a word that scares everyone into thinking “Oh if I have to go into therapy then I must be seriously ill.”
Well, the word means a lot more, it’s just rejuvenation.  There are certain things which just make you feel better and hence have therapeutic effects.

Therapy is very subjective and depends a whole lot on why you’re stressed or feeling low and what you enjoy doing. You don’t have to go to spa, or even worse… Rehab to get therapy. It’s a very D-I-Y sort of a thing!
Music they say is very refreshing to the soul. Personally for me, Rahman is my God for any sort of mood I am in. I listen to songs that can pep me up when I’m low or tired or too stressed out. When I’m the mood for something really deep I listen to classical music and just let go of myself.

For some it may be dance. There’s nothing better than just dancing like no one’s watching, that adrenalin pump could do you some real good!

There are a lot of ways one can get in touch with themselves, the usuals being yoga, spiritual learning etc etc…
But there are certain strange things that are very refreshing. I for one, love to clean… I will clean a thing and try to remove all the dirt in it till it’s spotless. I’m generally a neat person but obsessing over a particular thing brings me some kinda insane joy!

There are people who love to wash clothes, mend clothes, wash vessels, drive cars, yell at people! (oh I also do that! ) to bring themselves to normal.

Interesting to ponder over… Now you tell me what is the one activity that you really enjoy doing?!

So Bangalore! So beautiful!

So Bangalore! So beautiful!

I went to two events, very starkly different ones, in the past week.  I was so enthralled to see these things…

First, a dance performance by Nirupama and Rajendra… Part of the Abhinava dance company and Prabhath Kalavidaru.

These are two very famous dancers hailing from Bangalore; specialize in Kathak and Bharathanatyam and more importantly in creative innovation… Why I say that?

This dance performance was a children’s day special and a charity event. It was not this usual music and dance routine and most people are put off at hearing the word “classical!”
There was a story entwined within the performance. It was titled “Rama Katha Vismayam.” The story of how Yashoda Maiya tells the story of Rama to the little lord Krishna.

How Krishna was delighted to hear the story and how he was eager for more… It took me back to childhood when I would ask my mother to tell stories and how I would imagine and dream away about it! With an amazingly colorful display of costumes and very meaningful story, this piece was absolutely moving. It was an emotionally and spiritually enriching experience.

The next time they perform in your city, be sure to check them out!

The next was the kadlekayi Parse (Groundnut fair)

This happens on the last Monday of the month of Karthik in Bangalore. On Bull temple road. For a person who’s never been to a village fair (or even a village for that matter) this was a unique experience. A road full of gimmicks I’d never seen before! Wow!!!

A giant wheel, merry-go-round and all those amusement games that I used to love as a kid (and I still love) And loads and loads of peanuts! OMG! For a big peanut fan like me, this was heaven! There were also all other kinda stalls that sold tiny little accessories etc and loads of food! Freshly fried chips, Chaat etc… Just for you! I’d the best fun in a long time! It was a total treat!

(P.S: I was away cos I was deprived of modern amenities like a computer! But I’m back to read alll your blogs! )

2 states.

Well, if you are a Chetan Bhagat fan then you should continue reading this. And if you’re not… Then you should consider becoming one seriously (and still continue reading this! ).

He is one guy who has redefined the meaning of “reading books” to an average Indian guy. There are a lot of other people who write really good books and win accolades for it, like Aravind Adiga, Arundhati Roy, Kiran Desai etc… What makes Chetan Bhagat special is not his highly refined language or his exceptional story writing skills.
He is one person who me and you can relate with. He has given Indian literature a new meaning. He’s not here to ape the west or anybody else. And he is one person, who more than anyone else represents the true Indian urban!

2 states is his 4th book and is almost as good as his magnum opus five point someone. I didn’t quite like his other two books, one night at a call center and the three mistakes of my life. It is about the story of his marriage… I honestly feel he should stick to writing comedy, that’s his forte. He should stick to writing that and the kind of readers he’s acquired like to read comedy.

As he claims, in India, love is not about just 2 people falling in love, it’s a lot more than that. It’s a very intriguing plot, especially for one who is in love and probably with a person of some other community.

What is so spectacular about the book is his amazing usage of language, on one hand it may not be like a Shakespearean work but it is probably what we use everyday. The language, the masala and of course Chetan’s crisp wit just makes the book thoroughly enjoyable. Some of his sentences just drip with sarcasm and makes you really laugh!

A light book to read, very entertaining and a somewhat feel good sort of book. Chetan get’s a thumbs up for it! Way to go! And make sure you pick up a copy for 95 bucks (something I really liked! ) and encourage an Indian to write more Indian stories.

2 Fun movies

Wake up Sid!

Is a damn fun movie, nothing really new about it… Just a light hearted rom com. But very endearing.
Shankar Ehsaan Loy back with a bang, amzing music. And Ranbir and Konkona are awesome actors. They make a cute couple also.

Most people would have guessed the storyline by reading reviews and watching promos, that’s about what the story has in store for you. There’s no mystery factor as such.

But trust Karan Johar to come up with likeable cinematography and color schemes, which keep you glued to the movie. Absolute timepass, super entertaining and I assure you, you will come out of the theater with your spirits uplifted.

Rating: ***
Grade: V

Quick Gun Murugun

I watched this one on DVD. Well it’s a superb spoof! Shashanka Ghosh’s brainchild of an Indian cowboy which took 60 seconds of screen space on channel V in the late 90s has been made into a full fledged movie.

Amazing dialogue and characterizations. And it’s a laughter riot! It is really a must watch and it is the years biggest surprise hit. Really fun, this one…

With specimens like Quick Gun Murugun and Mango Dolly and Locket Lover and Rice Plate Reddy and Rowdy MBA! This movie is really awesome!
Slightly bad editing, should say as some of the spoofs get a little repetitive. But really, it’s an earnest effort… Watch it. Cos Indian Cinema has really come of age with this movie, it’s rare that you get such a pataka of a movie!

Rating: ****
Grade: O

Legend:
* awful! Who even thought of making the movie!
** All right. Watchable but you can still do better by staying at home.
*** Decent. Watch it for pure entertainment.
**** Good. Worth the 150 bucks.
***** We have a winner here. absolute must watch

O- Outstanding
V- Very Good
E-Exceeds Expectations
A- Average
B-Bad
T-Troll!

You Know You Grew Up in India in the 90s When…

(Disclaimer: This article was NOT written by me (but only edits here and there!) it was an email forward and I’ve no clue who wrote it!)

You Know You Grew Up in India in the 90s When…

1) You know the words to ‘In-pin-safety-pin’ and ‘akkad-bakkad’ by heart
2) Cricket is almost a religion for you, and you idolize at least one of Kapil Dev/Rahul Dravid/Sachin Tendulkar/Saurav Ganguly
3) You have read at least some Chacha Chaudhary or Tinkle comics
4) You’ve watched Shaktimaan on TV at least once in your life. And you can immediately recognize the character when you see him.
5) You have some ‘NRI’ relatives.
6) You couldn’t wait for it to be December so you could have the Toblerone chocolates your NRI relatives brought you 7) You watched Cartoon Network, and then the late night movies on TNT that came after Cartoon Network ended.
You watched corny dubbed versions of Small Wonder, Silver Spoon, and I Dream of Jeanie
9) You were THRILLED when McDonald’s opened in your neighborhood (or even eight kilometers away)
10) Your first burgers were at Wimpy’s or Nirula’s.
11) A visit to Pizza Hut used to mean a special treat
12) You have seen Kuch Kuch Hota Hai and Hum Aapke Hain Kaun at least 5 times each
13) You still remember the theme song to Hum Paanch.
14) You have played hours upon hour of running and catching, chu-chand , lagori, gilli-danda, ‘Doctor, doctor, help us!’, ‘Lock and key’
15) You have played ‘Oh ma goshi eh eh eh’ more times than you can remember. (And you still don’t know what it means!)
16) Dog ‘in’ the bone was your favorite co-ed game.
17) Much of your free time in school was spent playing UNO.
18) You collected trump cards of wrestlers, cricketers, and airplanes, and did not quite understand why your younger siblings were obsessed with Pokemon and the other Japanese trends that followed.
19) Your summer vacations were often synonymous with visiting your grandparents 20) Your parents, at some point, told you ‘Dark Room’ was a bad game to play. But you still loved playing it.
21) Bole mere lips, I love uncle Chips!
22) You know the song ‘Made in India’ by Alisha Chinai
23) You have seen many many many episodes of ‘Antakshri’ on Zee TV and know the only thing constant in the show is Annu Kapoor.
24) Many evenings have been spent watching little kids gyrate vulgarly on Boogie Woogie on Sony.
25) You were the coolest thing in class if you had a computer in your house while it was still the 90s.
26) You learnt LOGO and BASIC in school!
27) You couldn’t wait to start 4th standard so you could start writing with PENS instead of with pencils!
28) You often use terms and phrases like ‘two-say’, ‘same to you, back to you, with no returns’, and ‘shame shame, puppy shame, all the donkeys know your name.’
29) You most probably saw Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge at the cinema at least once. You also fantasized about singing songs in mustard fields as in the movie.
30) You have seen David Dhawan and Govinda movies and laughed at them. 31) You have said ‘haw’ or ‘yuck’ when you saw people kissing in English movies
31) You have seen Titanic at least 12 times.
32) You thought seeing English movies and speaking English made you the coolest thing ever.
33) You remember the Orissa cyclone, even though you didn’t know what a cyclone was.
34) You remember the Gujarat earthquake very clearly and could possibly tell everyone EXACTLY what you were doing when the earthquake occurred (yes, this happened in 2001, January 26, 2001, to be exact — but this group is about the things that Indian kids that GREW UP in the 90s remember and identify with).
35) Barbies for girls, and GI Joes for boys were the ultimate status symbols. You just wanted more more more and more. And how can I forget Hot Wheels, for both boys and girls?
36) You have worn weekender kids and wearhouse clothes while growing up. And you thought ‘imported’ clothes were definitely way better than ‘made in India’ clothes (never mind that a lot of clothes brought from overseas by NRI relatives were actually made in India, before ‘Made in China’ started appearing on EVERY existing thing)
37)You used to watch figure it out and legends of the hidden temple on nickelodean once you came back from school. 38) At some point or other, cool was your favourite, and therefore, most overused word.
39) Captain Planet was your first introduction to environmental consciousness.
40) You have tried to convince people around you to not burst crackers on Diwali, and then gone straight back home and burst them yourself.
41) You have had endless packets of Parle Gluco G biscuits, and of Brittania Little Hearts biscuits.
42) You loved licking off the cream from the centre of Bourbon biscuits.
43) There were no Nike, Reebok, Adidas, Puma- Bata and Liberty was the way to go for your sports shoes.
44) You have probably consumed more Frooti in your lifetime than there is oil in Iraq.
45) You watched Baywatch on Star World even though (or because) your parents said you shouldn’t watch it.
46) You bought packets of potato chips for the specific purpose of collecting Tazos. And you had Tazos depicting everyone from Confucius to Daffy Duck to Daffy Duck dressed as Confucius.
47) For the longest time, the Maruti 800, the Premier Padmini, THE Fiat, and THE Ambassador were the only cars you saw on the road, and the Contessa was cool because it was bigger.
48) You would literally jump up in excitement if you ever chanced upon an imported car (Oh my gosh, is that really a MERCEDES?)!
49) You spent a good part of 1998 drooling over the Hyundai Santro and the Daewoo Matiz , debating which one was better.
50) You used to Fuzen gum. You also chewed Big (big) Babool and/or Boom Boom Boomer chewing gum. They were bright pink and disgusting tasting, but you loved them for the temporary tattoos.
51) Talking of temporary tattoos, you sometimes had contests with your classmates about who had more tattoos on their arm, leg, knee, hand, forehead, wherever.
52) You thought Mario and Tetris were the coolest things ever invented, especially if you were a boy.
53) You knew that having the latest Hero or Atlas bicycle would make you the coolest kid on the block.
54) You can imitate Sushmita Sen’s winning gasp to perfection.
55) You have, at some point of time, worn GAP clothes (real or fake) like SRK in KKHH.
56) Seemingly senseless acronyms like SRK, DDLJ, KKHH actually make sense to you.. 57) You have at some point debated who was more beautiful- Aishwarya or Sushmita.
58) If you lived in Bangalore, The distant thought that there would be a forum mall one day would bring a twinkle to your eyes!
59) Baskin Robbins ice-cream was THE thing to have!
60) You know what Campa Cola is. And you also knew that Coca Cola was THE drink.
61) When you would watch WWF keenly every evening/afternoon and really think that Undertaker had 7 lives and he made an “actual” appearance in the Akshay Kumar- starrer Khiladiyon ka Khiladi.
62) When all backpacks (or ’schoolbags’) and water bottles and tiffin boxes had strange cartoon characters that were hybrid versions of seven or eight different characters, and you still bought them, because a green man wih a water pistol, boots, a jet-pack, Johnny bravo hair, a rajasthani mustache, gloves, and underwear (long johns) over his pants, called ‘Mr. X’ was OBVIOUSLY a status symbol.
63) You remember the Nirma tikia jingle.
64) You remember the Nirma girl.
65) You remember the ‘doodh doodh’ ad and also the ‘roz khao andey’ ads.
66) You grew up reading, if you read at all, some or all of Nancy Drews, Enid Blyton books, Hardy Boys, Babysitters Club, Animorphs, Goosebumps, Sweet Valley series, Judy Blumes, and Tintin, or Archie comics. Because naturally, reading foreign authors made you much cooler than reading Tinkle.
67) Towards the late 90s (1998-99) at least some of us started our Harry Potter obsessions!
68) You absolutely HAD to go to Essel World if you wnet to Mumbai! “Essel World mein rahoonga main, ghar nahin nahin jaaonga main!” (I never went but always dreamed of going there!)
69) You watched the Bournvita Quiz contest on TV pretty religiously. The smarter ones amongst you actually took part in it and had your entire school and your entire extended families watch you on it!
70) “Jungle jungle baat chali hai, pata chala hai. Chaddi pehen ke phool khila hai, phool khila!”
71) Maggi 2 Minute Noodles = ultimate snack (and tiffin, lunch, dinner)!
72) If you grew up in the early 90s, you recall the nation’s obsession with Mahabharata on TV
73) In the later 90s, you religiously followed Hip Hip Hooray on Zee. Maybe Just Mohabbat on Sony too.
74) You eagerly awaited Friendship Day, so you could give friendship bands to all your friends, and get bands from them in return. Then, of course, those with the most bands loved to show them off .
75) This list made you smile.

And I miss that age, it was sooo awesome!

Dasara

Dasara or Navratri is celebrated for different reasons in different parts of the country in different ways and forms…

In south India we have a tradition of keeping dolls. I am not exactly sure why though… We just keep and I’m usually excited about it. As dasara marks an end I leave you images of dolls in my house!

Tell me how they are… Not as elaborate as other people might have seen (people go up to 9 steps)
But simple and pretty!

What’s your Rashheeeeeeee…

After what seemed forever, the movie finally got over! I can’t seem to get over the fact that it was exceedingly long. Oh, I got so irritated by the end!
For Ashutosh Gowarikar’s standards, this movie is a big dud. Absolutely not comparable to Lagaan, Swades and Jodha Akbar.

Ashu, really you’ve got to stop experimenting with everything and just stick to what you do best. Make serious cinema with good story lines and music. All this new bling(!) isn’t for you!

This is just a story of a Gujarati boy who studies in the USA who is summoned to India to get married in ten days, irrespective of what. It’s like a sentence put on his head. So he decides to look at 12 girls from 12 different Rashees and choose the best.

What I didn’t like about the movie:

1) Made it clear, it’s 4 hours long, anyone will get annoyed. Really!
2)  Point above implies bad editing.
3) The story line is wobbly. It’s not strong and there are gaping holes in between!
4) I don’t know why Ashutosh chose Pritam instead of his usual ARR for this one, but Pritam’s done a terrible job. ARR would’ve worked wonders for the movie, especially since there are a hell lot of songs (which were not even necessary.)
5) Tooo many characters, there’s quite honestly too much of Priyanka Chopra. There are 12 different people and not all 12 all are really different. Some of the characters seem a little repetitive.
6) The end was a little anti-climax if you ask me…
7) Some unnecessary subplots were added to the movie to make it even longer.

What I did like about the movie:

1) Priyanka Chopra of course cos portraying 12 roles. Very very hard.
2) Some of the character sketches have turned out rather well.
3) There’s some fun factor about the movie, I generally have a soft corner for light movies where you know the end will be a happy one .
4) And curiosity is generated at the very fact that there are 12 characters played by 1 person. So watch it if you want to satisfy that…

Wouldn’t really recommend if you aren’t in the mood for something mindless!

Rating: ** 1/2
Grade: A

Legend:
* awful! Who even thought of making the movie!
** All right. Watchable but you can still do better by staying at home.
*** Decent. Watch it for pure entertainment.
**** Good. Worth the 150 bucks.
***** We have a winner here. absolute must watch

O- Outstanding
V- Very Good
E-Exceeds Expectations
A- Average
B-Bad
T-Troll!

Award! :)

Ashish gave me this award!

Rules:
The award, post it on your blog together with the name of the person who has granted the award, and his or her blog link.Pass the award to other blogs that you’ve newly discovered.Remember to contact the bloggers to let them know they have been chosen for this award.
Cheers!

I pass this tag on to Pixie, Lively and Mandira.

And why… Cos I love them! And cheers to girl power!

The phenomenon of Chitting!

Q. Elaborate on the phenomenon of Chitting (full marks!)

Ans: Chitting is the process of chit (Small pieces of paper containing answers) making and taking into internal examination halls to score marks.
Chitting extensively occurs in VTU colleges (autonomous and BNM excluded) across Bangalore, only during internals. Never seen during externals. It is also very famous among final year and pre-final year students, not so popular with second years and literally non-existant among first year students.

Types of Chitters:
The not-so-bad chitters: These will copy only 1-2 answers from chits. They take chances and write down only important answers on the chits. They will score badly/know other answers if the questions don’t come from whatever has been written down.

The lazy chitter: Knows absolutely nothing and will micro* the whole chapter and take it with him.

The Nervy chitter:  Takes a whole BIG sheet, the size of the blue book, with full answers in it and copy down.

The Pre-Prepared chitter: Will have the question paper beforehand and prepares the chits at home. Why he does not study is being researched upon. But as of now, the question remains unanswered.

Example of chit use and how certain specimens get caught/ almost get caught and how they manage to escape.

Characters used: Chit lady (CL) , Chit lady’s friend (CLF), Islamia** (Issy), Dumbfounded juniors (DJ)

Act 1: Scene 1: CL(Gender: F)is crammed between 2 DJs. She’s a pro at this… She’s the first kind of chitter, the not-so-bad chitter, she would’ve studied, unfortunately she had more important things to do last night. She was watching an award function. Award functions come only once a year, internals come 6 times, she thought.

Enter Issy- The starer. He just stares at all the people who belong to the above mentioned gender. CL was obviously one among them and so was poor CLF!
So she was naturally the object of his actions. So poor thing was desperate to copy, else she would not do well. She was trying her level best. Sandwiched between two DJs wasn’t helping her. Every time she opened the chit to look, the DJ would give her shocked looks, she wasn’t in the mood to return them with dirty looks.

CLF on the other hand wasn’t as brave as CL. CLF was also being stared at. CLF and CL exchange glances. In the gentle eye contact, they are developing a fully evil strategy as to how to make Issy go away… They try all kinds of things, just then a huge mishap occurs.
CL’s chits fall off on her lap. 2 seconds and Issy would have realized. CLF immediately moves to catch Issy’s eye. She does it successfully. In the meanwhile, CL’s partner DJ stops writing to stare at CL’s chits with absolute shock. CL almost has a cardiac arrest thinking she will be caught any minute and the DJ will blab to Issy. In a split second, she picks up and arranges her chits in order and decides to get up and go.

CLF had already given up hope that she will be able to copy at all. She submits her answer books and gets out of class, to go to the other class where CLF’s Friend (Also CL’s friend!) was sitting- CLFF. CLF waves frantically to CLFF, who waves back irrespective of where she is! CLF almost got caught with another invigilator. After which she decides she has had enough drama for the day and resorts to loudly screaming out the answers that she wrote to the others (Much to the benefit of people Like CLFF who were sitting in class blankly without writing anything!)

CL comes out after a near death experience shouting curses at Issy! CLFF in the other class hears them, in the middle of her very bad test and is laughing to herself (The invigilator now, seriously suspects that she’s a retard!) decides to give up on her also bad (but chitted successfully) paper and also join her friends.

Then they go out and drop their chits into the chit-bin*** and walk off into the horizon. Happily ever after (Well, until the next internal atleast!)

GUIDE:

* Micro: Micro-xerox… People who have done/doing engineering in these parts extensively use it for the above mentioned purposes.

** Islamia aka Issy: cos he claims to be an IIT passout. We have strong proof that he’s from Islamia institute of technology (no offense to the students of this college!) and not from Indian institute of technology.

***Chit-bin: Is like a regular dustbin used to dispose off chits. All chits are thrown here, atleast in CL’s dept!

In conclusion:

People who use chits: Are the kinds who will first use chits, write blogs about it on the same day and use chits again the next day!
(STATUTORY WARNING: DO NOT TRY THESE STUNTS AT HOME, THEY ARE PERFORMED BY EXPERTS. IT CAN BE HARMFUL TO LIFE)