Oh yes!

A new blog template. I never changed it since the beginning of time and was adamant that white font against black is the most awesome combo ever.
But it was part laziness, part resistance to change. All that is in the past now. Here's a splash of yellow!

The movie experience

I miss the day's of the single screen theatres where the viewing public would make sure you know that you are at the movies, with their catcalls and whistles!
Each impressive dialogue would be whistled at. Every actor entry would be cheered, with the exception of Tushar Kapoor, whose entry would bring in a hushed silence.
Rumours are, that the latest Vidya Balan movie was titled 'The Picture' until they cast Tushar Kapoor. But let's not get into that since this post is not about him.

My favourite theatre was 'Urvashi' which was very close to where I lived. It had a 50rupee balcony seat and an awesome Dolby surround sound.
Bangalore was also well known for the 'Majestic' area, which along with its - then- state of the art bus station was also named after the most popular theatre - Majestic. I think KG road alone boasted of over 20 theatres at a point!

The MG road area had a few very popular movie screens - Rex, Symphony, Plaza, Bluemoon. Some of them still haven't lost their 'charm', I remember Plaza still had ceiling fans and windows until a 3-4 years ago when it was shutdown.

Then came PVR - with its multiplexes. The ticket cost shot up, the screens got smaller and the experience more diluted. The multiplex movie audience now was more like the cricket crowd watching England play New Zealand at Lord's.
Also ordinary movies(Bodyguard, Ready) started getting called 'big hits' simply because of their collections (not surprising when some tickets are priced at 450bucks!). Sad.

But it the multiplex does have its benefits - If you feel like watching a movie but don't know what movie. The multiplex is perfect.
Certain movies got made, targeted right at the multiplex audience - 'Pappu can't dance saala' to cite the most recent example was awesome!

So all in all I still go watch loads of movies, but miss the whistles and the energy at times.

Rafting in Rishikesh

The trip to Rishikesh was planned for a big group. For once, we had no planning to do and all I needed to do was pay-up when asked to.
Suited me fine. I dislike planning trips with/for large groups....'I would like a single bedroom with double bedsheets', 'I would like a double bedroom with Single bedsheets', 'Why aren't we going on a safari? I want to see tiger.' etc etc

Though the initial plan was to drive down in our cars, it thankfully changed to getting ourselves a mini-bus, that fit about 12 of us. The people with the families got there in their own cars/taxis.

We left Delhi at 4am and The ride took about 7 hours, mostly because the road after a point goes through some small towns and villages which slows down the pace. Our driver, a chap called 'Vishnu', had decided that our adventure trip starts as soon as we sit in the bus. The driving was atrocious and filled with some narrow escapes. There was this once where he decided to over take a slow moving truck at the last minute from the left only to realise there was a slower moving bullock cart on its left blocking the entire highway. Our man then went off the highway into the dirt to overtake the bullock cart from its left, all while maintaining the same speed.

Anyway we reached Rishikesh, via the holy city of Haridwar and Rajaji national park around 11:30am. The plan was to go white water rafting the same day, but we were told that the water gets really cold as late afternoon approaches and the best option would be to raft the next day.

So we started getting acclimatised to the conditions, by taking a dip in the lovely stream right behind our resort. The most soothing experience after a long bus ride :)

Followed it up with some good lunch and then headed out on a mini-trek to a waterfall nearby. The waterfall was beautiful, there was no one around and we decided to take a quick dip. The water turned out to be freezing, but got us rid of all tiredness.

Headed back to the highway to get some kadak chai and fan. Well, a 'fan' is like an outer layer of the cream roll, without the cream. Quite tasty when had with tea, bland otherwise.

On the way back to the camp, we went by the river side, walking on the white sand and taking some time out to sit on the rocks and listen to the river and the odd group of rafters going on their merry way.


Back to the camp and a few games of mafia, followed by some delicious dinner by the bonfire. We ran out of firewood around 1:30am so had to head back into our bamboo 'cottages', away from the chilly night.

The next day dawned bright and cold, and off we went accomplish the main order of business of our trip - River rafting in the Ganges.

We were picked up the rafting guys at the iconic Laxman jhula and headed out to the starting point of our 26km rafting route - Marine drive



All set with our protective equipment, we headed out in a couple of rafts straight to the rapids. The water was cold and the rapids were fantastic! Our raft almost flipped over in one of the rapids and we were allowed to voluntarily jump out of the raft in one of the rapids.
The water was freezing and our hands numb with all the rowing but we had a blast!

The high-point was the cliff jump right into the Ganges. The height of 25 feet, did not seem like a big deal until we stood on the edge of the rock looking down at the river. I just followed the idea of just jumping without thinking and it worked very well!

By the time we were done with the rafting it was evening and the light was fading. So most of the day had gone in getting to the rafting place and the rafting itself. Overall it was a fantastic experience and a highly recommended one. Let me know if you need details!

RA One

So here was a movie that I was expecting quite a bit from. It sucked.
What ra? What a bore you are ra..
Okay it was much better than Bodyguard or some of the other movies that have been called 'hits' in recent times, but still lacked the making of a blockbuster. Its been a long time since I have truly been wowed by a Hindi movie (Dev D being the last that had me go 'woooow') and I think I have a longer wait (don-2 maybe?).

Back to RA One. I liked the stunts and the special effects, though many of them were very 90's. I love the songs especially the take on one of my favourite 'Stand by me'. The first half was watchable, sitting through the second made you realise that, there was not much of a script remaining to be played out.

I thought the script had a lot of scope but it was a big let down due to a few fatal flaws.

A super villain character needs to follow a few rules. Without these he/she is not a super villain. RA One failed on almost all these rules, especially the goal. A Super Villain needs a goal, an overpowering desire to achieve something that if achieved, will result in decimating at least half the world's population. RA One wanted to kill a kid :-|
That's it. That was his only goal and he fails.
To top it the kid was annoying, forget Ra One, I wanted to kill the silly twat. His claim to fame was bullying an overweight kid ins school and acting like an arrogant SOB. I was hoping it would be killed off quite quickly, but nope, the whole movie revolved around the kid.

The only running gag throughout the movie was SRK's crotch. Almost every other scene had the hero holding on to his crotch, or thrusting it towards an unsuspecting neighbour in the guise of 'Power yoga'. Crotch jokes were only funny back in...well they have never been funny. Except the one time when the baby in 'Baby's day out' lights the main thug's crotch on fire and it needs to be stamped out.

The other entertaining aspect of the movie was its references to other movies. One could sit and make a list of what scenes have been inspired by what movies, here are ones I found:
The very obvious H.A.R.T - Ironman
The Funeral scene - Everyone in black, slow-motion rain drops and a coffin being carried in slow motion with a song playing in the background: 'Watchmen', Zack Snyder.
RA one in level 1 as a the Chinese looking chap - Costume inspired by Neo from 'The Matrix'
RA one chasing the car that had the annoying kid, RA one forming again from the road: 'Terminator 2' - Judgement Day
The climatic fight - 'Sucker Punch', Zack Snyder.

So the only thing I have to say is - Its better than Bodyguard.

In flight entertainment.

I've found an excuse for my lack of posting on my blog in recent times. Its the new blogger interface, all white and clean, or so they think. Thoughts don't flow in such spaces. So I've changed back to the old interface and lo behold I am furiously hacking away at the latest post. This one.

My previous post on Brasil has been criticized (and rightly so) and I am being prompted to write a better one about Brasil. But maybe some other time. This one is about movies that I got to watch on the flight to and fro from Brasil.

It was a 15 hour single haul flight from Dubai to São Paulo(and back), which meant good opportunity to watch some of the movies that the Emirates entertainment system(I.C.E) had to offer. Here are a few:

Hanna

Ok. So I am not a fan of Kill Bill. I think its pretty lame, with the exceptions of a few scenes. So when I watched Hanna, I was taken aback by its awesomeness. Here was a movie that Kill Bill should have been but wasn't.
Hanna a young girl, is trained by her dad(Eric Bana), to be a killer. It's her only chance to survive her nemesis - Cate Blanchett.
Why Hanna and her dad are being hunted down is part of the story and I shall not give it away. Just rest assured that the action sequences are awesome. The sound track is brilliant and this is a MUST WATCH.

The Guard
I watched this one for one reason only. Brendan Gleeson. Gleeson has never disappointed and my reasoning turned out to be perfectly logical.
This is one good movie. Directed by Jonathan McDonagh (brother of Martin McDonagh of 'In Bruges' fame), this movie has Gleeson playing the title role, that of a cop. A middle aged, slightly corrupt and seemingly lonely cop.
This dark comedy, follows a tip-off to the police department about a drug heist about to happen in their sleepy Irish village.
The dialogues, the direction and the soundtrack are all top-notch. Please watch this!

Sucker Punch
Sucker punch is Zack Snyder meets Charlies Angels meets Pan's labyrinth. I was very sceptical about this movie, until I watched it. It follows 4 girls trying to escape out of a mental asylum(or is it a whore house?). There is a decentish script and some suspense with the twist in the end, but I won't give it away. The soundtrack, oh the soundtrack is just mind-blowing. The girls are pretty too, but they are very soon overshadowed by the soundtrack. Very watchable.


The Trotsky
Canadian movie about a young guy who thinks he is the reincarnation of Leon Trotsky and that his life must follow the same suit. Hilarity ensues. A good watchable movie.

There are loads of other movies that I did manage to watch, but am not bothered to write much about:
Cypher: Action/Thriller. Average
The Fountain: Fantasy/Drama. Bad
The Dilemma: Confused Genre. Bad
Fast Five: Action. Bad
Midnight in Paris: Comedy/Fantasy. Very Very Good.
Kill the Irishman: Action/Biopic. Very Good.
Last Night: Romance. Alright.
Submarine: Romance/Coming of Age. Average.
Ironclad: Action. Average

So I made it to Brazil...

Not the best time of the year to be out of India and away from loved ones, but well such is life. I am here for 4 weeks, 2 of these are behind me and 2 more to go. Feels like a long time away, but I have quite enjoyed the work.
Brazil in itself I haven't had a chance to explore as much. I am based out of São Paulo, which is one of the largest cities in the world.
It comes with concrete skyscrapers and horrifying traffic with an added bonus of a smelly drain (it used to be a river) running right through the middle of one of the arterial roads.

However, there are a lot of good food options and the walls are covered with some really really awesome graffiti.
Due to the traffic and the amount of filthy rich people, we get to see a lot of helicopters whizzing about, ferrying corporate honchos to and from their offices.

So unfortunately São Paulo is not the best place to get a taste of Brazil. Though we did get to eat some pastels(a local delicacy) at a street food fair behind the client office.

Did get to do a trip to Rio over a rainy weekend and managed to attend the TW away day at Bento Gonçalves (a place famous for its wine). But more on that later.

9 things I learnt from watching 'Bodyguard'

9. Salman Khan pe ek ehsaan karna, ki uspe koi bhi ehsaan mat karna (Do Salman a favour, that don't do him any favour).
If I would have known this simple fact before buying those movie tickets, I would have not bought those movie tickets.


8. Bodyguard Lovely Singh will follow you everywhere. Even into the ladies restroom.

7. When Lovely Singh fights in mid-air. It is always in slow-motion

6. Lovely Singh keeps his phone in Vibrator mode in the back pocket of his trousers. Thus deriving pleasure and laughter.

5. Lovely Singh will fall in love with any anonymous caller after 7 calls

4. Lovely Singh will hug the heroine only when he wants to grab hold of the Villain's hand as it is trying to stab her in the back

3. Never refer to your behind as bum in front of the ladies.

2. Lovely Singh will catch any pieces of chalk thrown at you by your professor in class.
 

1. Lovely Singh can get you to wet your pants just by staring at you.

Short-films of note

So here are a few short films that I recommend, mind you they are not necessarily in my all time list of best short-films, however they are ones that I have watched more recently and have left an impression.

So in no particular order...

1. Asai (Wishes) - Language: Tamil



Why should I watch it? Its wonderfully directed and is bitter-sweet. Brilliant. Easily the best in this list.

2. Get Out - Language: French



Why should I watch it? For the animation and the twist in the end. You would never expect it coming!

3. Do I - Language: English

do I? from Vikram Ahuja on Vimeo.

Why should I watch it? A great thriller. Vikram Ahuja, a friend of mine made this movie in a very limited time with a very tight budget. Hearing him talk through the script and then getting to see the final version was awesome! you can read more about this here

4. Blank Spaces - Language: English



Why should I watch it? A feel good movie. I loved the way its made and the idea!

5. Six Shooter - Language: English



Why should I watch it? Its directed by Martin McDonagh and stars Brendon Gleeson. reason enough. If names don't ring a bell then you haven't watched 'In Bruges' yet and you should watch that one first!
warning: this is not an easy watch and is quite eccentric, though I liked it quite a bit. The Irish accent and everything :)

Loads of movies on the list...

Its just been too long since I last wrote a review post and there have been so many movies during that period that now it would be just too difficult to write out a review. If you are super interested in any of the ones I have categorised below, then I may just write a specific review on demand :)

MOVIES THAT BLEW MY MIND - It would be a crime to miss these

• The Godfather
• Che Part 1
• Master and Commander: Far side of the world (easily one that I would slot in my all time favourites)
• The Kings Speech
• Cashback (There is just something about this movie that I can't place.)
  
• Scott Pilgrim Versus the World
• Following

GREAT MOVIES - You have to watch them

• Wild Target (Loooove Emily Blunt and Bill Nighy in this one)
  
• Walk the line
• Social Network
• Adventureland
• Almost Famous
• Little Manhattan
• An affair to remember
• The Boondock Saints
• The Extraordinary Adventures of Adèle Blanc-Sec
• Four Rooms
• Heist
• Bitter Moon
• Thirteen - Disturbing, but highly recommended
• Where the money is
• The town
• A beautiful Mind
• Kiss Kiss Bang Bang
• Zombieland
• X-Men: First Class
• The Fall
• Limitless
• Unkown
• Rounders
• Cemetery Junction
• Kung Fu Panda 2
• Moon
• Source Code
• The Exam (Just about made it here, for an interesting plot)

AVERAGE MOVIES - WON'T MISS MUCH IF YOU DON'T WATCH 'EM

• Rope (What! you're calling an Alfred Hitchcock movie "average"? Yes.)
• Perfume- Story of a murderer
• Scent of a woman
• Machete
• RED
• Perriers Bounty
• Book of Eli
• The Matador
• Nick and Norah's infinite playlist
• FAQ about time travel
• London Boulevard
• Chloe
• Rango
• Pirates of the Caribbean: On stranger tides
• Middlemen
• The Eagle
• Thor

MOVIES THAT SUCKED MORE THAN A BLACK-HOLE - If you are in a mood for some self-inflicted punishment

• Crank - High Voltage
• Interview with a vampire
• Dear John
• The killer inside me
• Fraility
• The Ninth gate
• Swimming pool (The French one...)
• The Adjustment Bureau
• Sweet November
• Love and other drugs
• Harry Potter and the deathly hallows -2
• The hangover II
• Men who stare at goats
• Donnie Darko
• The Alphabet Killer

Oh and if you're reading this on Facebook.. I just import my posts from my blog at http://apoorvgawde.blogspot.com/

What I've been reading...

Well, settling into a new apartment means living for a few days without some companions such as internet and the television. I write this blog with some borrowed wi-fi from a neighbour. The connection is not generally good from our room, but standing near the kitchen window allows some browsing. Today, however, the wi-fi network seems to be working from the room and hence the post.
Anyway, the lack of internet has allowed me to catch up on some reading. I used to be a voracious reader back in school and college, running at the rate of sometimes a book a day during vacations.

I still remember being re-introduced to Wodehouse in college and reading the books all over again. Picking up a book in the morning and getting done by evening, when the fragrance of incense used to fill up the house. I still associate that particular fragrance with the World of Wodehouse. Have no clue what the brand of incense stick was and the day I find it, will be a happy one.

So I've been reading. I left a Kingsley Amis book halfway, to pick up a collection of short stories, edited by Neil Gaiman and Al Sarrantonio, its imaginatively named "Stories". Decentish collection of stories and I got through that one quite quickly.
Followed it up with 'Demon Lover' by Lawrence Sanders, I was piqued by the name and thought it was good to catch-up on some sleazy reading, turned out that the story is a drama about a Hollywood movie studio and its supervisor (the protagonist), set in 1927, right at the cusp of sound being introduced in movies. Not a bad read though.
I just finshed a very interesting book called 'Don't ask any old bloke for directions' by P.G. Tenzing. This one's about an IAS officer, leaving his job and heading out on a road trip alone, around India. Its an easy read and not too heavy. The chap writes about people he met on the trip and his experience in general. Highly recommended.

During all of this, I started off on 'Bone' a brilliant graphic novel series by Jeff Smith. Please please read this one.

Now I have a choice of reading, ' The Banker' by Dick Francis (who writes thrillers set in the world of horse racing) or 'An April Shroud' by Reginald Hill (whose police detective duo of 'Dalziel and Pascoe' come second only to inspector Morse) or 'Whit' by Iain Banks.

I think I am going to go with continuing to read the currently ignored Kingsley Amis' 'You can't do both'.

Early adopters get to shout: 'The emperor's not wearing clothes!'

I love early adopters! They help save my time and energy. Google+ has arrived with the same fake 'invitation' business that makes you feel like you are amongst the privileged few to have access to some path-breaking technology. We think of ourselves as 'visionaries' and 'early adopters'. Just a more marketing friendly name for Guinea Pigs. This seemingly irrational behaviour of standing in long queues to buy a product that will not only halve in price in a couple of months, but also have significantly fewer defects (à la iphone), apparently has a reasons.
Studies show that people do this because of what it conveys about them to others. Not sure why studies were required to figure this out, but there you have it.
But again, I am not complaining too much, since these people saved me from the likes of Google Wave. I am just quietly smiling :P
The one place I am an early adopter in, are the movies. I love to watch most movies before somebody else spoils it for me with a review. But there are some movies where I do wait for a review.
Other than this, I am happy for someone else to see the proverbial emperor in the nude and tell me about it, so that I can give the spectacle a miss.

First movie in Delhi and a review of 'Zindagi na milegi dobara'

We headed out to Movietime in Westgate mall, in the Rajouri Garden area. Quite easily accessible via the Delhi Metro.
Now, the first thing you will notice in malls in Delhi are kids bouncing about on bungee trampolines. Most kids are expressionless during the whole experience. I am guessing this is because it must be a weekly routine for them. Parents take them to the mall and then trampoline time for 10-15 minutes. Must happen every Saturday/Sunday, experimenting with gravity must only be so much exciting.

Any which ways, the mall we did reach and due to it being super crowded the harried looking attendants let us into the hall with us just showing the sms we'd received when we booked tickets online.

So here's what I thought about the movie...

Firstly some sweeping generalisations and gyan:
Our parents' generation was one where the middle class folks had one aim: a good job and a simple, happy family life. So most movies were about bad people trying to take this simple life away from the protagonists.
Our generation seems to have more disposable income at hand and almost all of us want to break the shackles of our seemingly boring lives and get rid of the daily monotony, by traveling the world (a lot of which we have seen and read about from a mouse's length away via the internet).
'Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara' is aimed at just that. Three friends enter a pact. They will do a trip where each one will choose an adventure sport -which will be revealed to the other two only at the last possible minute- and they will have to partake in the adventures that follow.
Kabir(Abhay Deol) proposes to his girlfriend (Kalki), leading to the trip materialising, in the form of a bachelor party trip to Spain. Imran(Farhan Akhtar) a seemingly happy go lucky chap "with sad eyes" and the Workaholic, serious, running behind money, London based financial broker, Arjun (Hrithik Roshan) complete the triad.

Most road movies have a script where the protagonist have some challenge to face and end with the protagonists getting to know more about themselves than they knew before. This one follows the same rules and does quite a good job of it.

Farhan Akhtar gets most of the good lines, Abhay Deol underplays his role and Hrithik fits right into the character of a serious guy who wants to make as much money as possible before he retires at 40.

Kalki has a bit part really and is average. Katrina adds a bit of freshness to the film, but then this film is not about romance and love. There is a bit of that too, but this is a film about travel and broadening your horizons. So if you love to travel, then this is a movie for you.

Will you identify with the characters à la 'Dil chahata hai?' possibly not, for the whole set-up does not seem very real.
Will you enjoy the movie? Yes you will. But be aware that there are some parts where the movie just drags along at a slow pace.

But overall, this is a movie worth the watch, who knows you may just head out for the trip that you've been postponing all this while :)

Delhi-Gurgaon: Week 1

This is how I am set-up. I live in the Southern(South-Western?) edge of Delhi and I work in the Northern Edge of Gurgaon.
I am beginning to suspect I have a challenge on my hands in terms of conquering this city. My conquest of most cities begins with long walks and usage of the public transport.
Gurgaon does not have any public transport worth mentioning and the current weather means that long walks are close to impossible.
Delhi does seem to have decent amount of Public Transport, and I have the weekend to try most of it out. What little I have seen of Delhi is very impressive in the daytime and a little dark and depressing at nights (Though I confess I have only been in one of the not so 'happening' areas of Delhi).
I feel like the long days (there is light till almost 7:30pm) are wasted since one can't do much when the sun is up, unless it involves an activity in a heavily air-conditioned area.

But all is not lost, the weather will soon change, and hopefully I will get my car here soon enough, removing my current dependency on any other modes of transport and opening up more avenues to explore.
Also, the office is just fantastic! There seems to be scope for getting it to just the same energy levels that the Bangalore office had when it was newish, There is some way to go though.

Of course the icing on the cake is that there are a whole lot of weekend getaways to experience. Soon Soon.

Top 5 music moments in films by Quentin Tarantino

As far as I am concerned, the sound track of a Quentin Tarantino movie is always its best part, here are my favourite moments of music, in ascending order of awesomeness.

5. Never can tell - Chuck Berry
Movie: Pulp Fiction



Scene: Wallace order's his henchman Vicent Vega (John Travolta) to take his (Wallace's) wife (Uma Thurman) out to dinner.

4. Woohoo - 5.6.7.8's (Japanese Girl Band)
Movie: Kill Bill Vol.1


note: The video is a montage, could not find the original

Scene: The bride comes to confront the crazy 88 (and Gogo) and the girl band is playing at the restaurant. What better music than some Japanese teen pop song to precede a carnage.

3. A little bitty tear - Burl Ives
Movie: True Romance


Did not find the video from the movie, so you will have to do with the song :)

Scene: Dennis Hopper finishes work for the day (he works as a security guard) and heads home with his dog, this song plays out in his car (maybe on the radio). Brilliant. I loved the movie mostly because of its sound track.


2. Hold tight- Dave Dee, Dozy, Beaky, Mick & Tich
Movie: Death Proof



Scene: The crash scene. The girls are in a car and have asked the radio jockey to play this song, the song plays, the crescendo builds up while the stuntman drives his car head on into theirs. Just the perfect song.

1. Two Hearts - Chris Isaak
Movie: True Romance



Scene: This plays during the closing credits of the movie. Its awesome!

Review - Shor in the city

This started as a Facebook status update, but then I realised that I had so much to write about it that it might as well be a post on my much ignored blog.
So here goes - The promising trailers followed by some strong recommendations from friends, meant that 'Shor in the city' had to be watched.

The movie has 3 parallel story-lines whose characters briefly interact across story-lines. There is Tushar, Nikhil Dwivedi and Pitobash Tripathy who are generally engaged in activities that just lie on the other side of the law. The newly married Tushar has a printing press that makes illegal copies of books and sells them on traffic signals.
Then, there is Senthil Ram Moorthy who has just come back from the US and is in the process of setting up a small business in India until he starts getting harassed by the local mafia. Preeti Desai plays his love interest.
Finally there is Sandeep Kishan, a budding cricketer, who has 2 problems - trying to get selected into the Mumbai team, but needing money to grease the palms of some unsavoury selectors to do so and to win the hand of his girlfriend (played by Girija Oak) whose parents are pressurizing her into an arranged marriage.

The movie promises a lot and delivers some. Firstly, the movie fails due to some horrible casting - Tushaar 'Wooden' Kapoor cannot express, Senthil 'Oily' Ram moorthy is an idiot and Preeti 'Plastic' Desai needs only 3 scenes to let us know that she sucks.
Secondly, the editing is bad. Directors Raj-Krishna better look up some Chris Nolan movies to learn how to tell 3 parallel stories and knit them together.
The pacing is slow, despite having a decent plot, the movie seems to take ages to move forward and I for one never got the underlying philosophy of the movie (if there was one).

However, the movie does have its plus points -
Some characters are brilliant: Radhika Apte (playing Tushar's newly wed wife), Pitobash Tripathy (plays Tushar's friend) and the menacing local mafia who harass Senthil ram moorthy. The music is great (especially 'Saibo').
Dialogues are well written and most importantly the movie makes a decent attempt to follow in the footsteps of some brilliant new age Hindi cinema (Ishqiya, Peepli live, LSD, Dev D, Manorama six feet under, Ek chalis ki last local).

So the movie is definitely watchable, but don't go in expecting a lot.

The response

I received a sms which I will find very hard to forget, it read:

"Superman ud raha hai
Batman dushmano se lad raha hai
Spiderman diwaron pe chad raha hai
aur doberman sms padh raha hai"

Now, the dilemma was around how to respond to such wonderfully expressed sentiments. I could respond with another joke ("an old woman died in her childhood" types), but I always feel obliged to be appreciative of the sms sender's humour (or his makers in this case).

Now this brings me to another set of choices, which always confuse me:

LOL/ROFL - It apparently seems to suggest that I am doubling over with laughter, when in reality I am just typing 3 letters with a poker face. So it feels a little patronizing

VERSUS

Haha - everybody likes a good onomatopoeia, give that one knows what it is (no, it is not a medical procedure). But how many haha's ?
'haha', seems short, almost sounds like a sarcastic laugh, but 'hahaha', seems like a laugh that starts promisingly but ends suddenly, again indicating sarcasm. hahahaha, or anything longer makes me feel like I am beginning to sounds like an idiot.


For the life of me, I haven't yet cracked yet what the apt response needs to be - I normally tend to alternate between the two responses, but wish there was a better way of expressing mirth via sms.

The complexity of ordering food

If I come to think of it, ordering food in a restaurant always involves some complex maneuver's. Firstly you need to tackle the group you are with - At times everyone wants to order, shouting out orders and interspersing it with conversations with each other. This always gets me annoyed. Then there are times when no-one wants to order and everyone goes "Anything's okay".
Over that I am always suspicious of the guy taking the order, I am always certain that he's never got it down correctly! So I am restless until the food arrives.
But in all this, the most complex food order has to be ordering for 'Lime Soda'. Unless people on the table have known each other for year's, ordering lime soda is tough.
Here is how the order goes:
Someone - One 'Lime Soda- sweet' please
someone else - one more 'Lime soda - salt' please
me - 'Lime soda -sweet and salt', please
another person - yeah sweet for me too
last person - lime soda
bah!
Ordering lime soda is always messy

Some cricket...

When in school and college, we had all the time in the world to play cricket, the biggest issue used to be -
1. Risk of losing the cricket ball or damaging the bat as we would rarely afford to keep buying a bat or a tennis/cricket ball.
2. Lugging the cricket bat on a crowded bus all the way to the ground and back.

Nowadays, we can buy an entire cricket kit without worrying about cost and the kit sits in the car which forms our modern transport, but, the biggest issue is finding time to play cricket :)

However, today we did manage to find some time. The same gang from school/college gathered together (well, at least 4 of us did) at about 7:30 am, however we realised there was just no place to be found to play cricket. Most grounds were occupied by school kids for Republic Day (which was quite cool).
It took us close to 2 hours to find a place where we could play. This place turned out to be 7 kms away from our planned ground.
For Raj this ground was 40kms away from his home, for Dilip and Naveen it was about 25kms away!

Anyway, we finally did get to play cricket and just like we have been promising each other since school, we said "Guys, we should continue playing cricket and playing it a little more regularly "

While we may not find the time to get together to play cricket as regularly as we used to, its good to see that we are still willing to travel long distances and take a few hardships to play a game of cricket . Just like the old times :D

Three from the road

Okay, so in last class we learnt how to cross the road. In this class we shall learn what to watch out for when driving.

1. The airplane landing gear

Modus Operandi:

This is frequently observed in non-geared two wheelers. At the first sign of traffic, the rider (most probably a saree clad lady), will put out both legs from the scooter in mid-air in anticipation of stopping; Just like the aircraft landing gear that comes out right before landing.
But this person will rarely stop and most probably will continue cruising down the middle of the road with their legs out and at the slowest possible speed that will still allow forward movement.

Why they are bad:
The more hilarious they look the more dangerous they are. Just like circus clowns brrrrr.

How to overcome them:
Overtake them from a careful distance at the first opportunity. Unless you want to loiter behind them clicking pictures to show your friends

2. The case of the invisible bus-stop

Sounds like a story from the memoirs of Sherlock Holmes eh?

Modus Operandi:
A bus-stops is supposedly meant to be a pre-determined location by the side of a road which will allow passengers to alight and hop onto buses conveniently, while allowing other traffic to pass by smoothly. Well or so the grand plan was. Only, someone forgot to tell the bus drivers this.
Resulting in chaos every time you happen to trail behind a bus. The bus at times decides to stop right in the middle of the road without any warning, most of the times parallel to the bus stand, but some way away from it, thereby stalling all traffic and if you are driving for the first time, it will give you an opportunity to crash into the bus.

That is not all, it may happen that a convoy of buses have stopped by the road and one of them suddenly decides to pull out of the convoy - again without any warning - at an akward angle.

Why they are bad:
The bus, by design, is a large vehicle. Due to this property that it possesses, any trailing vehicle has no means to see what lies ahead of the bus. Therefore your driving solely depends on staring at the tail lights of the bus. Any sudden moves by the bus can cause havoc!

How to overcome them:
Memorise the bustops on your regularly taken routes, the bus stopping pattern must become a part of your muscle memory.
Once this is the case, then you can use the bus stopping pattern to your advantage. laugh at the stalled traffic as you whizz by!

3. Maruti Ritz

Alright time for what may seem to some like a sweeping generalisation, but rest assured it isn't.

If you ever see a Maruti Ritz in front of you, then be aware that you are in for a torrid 5-10 minutes. God forbid you should have one in front of you on a highway, then you can happily shift to 2nd gear and enjoy the scenery.
The car itself looks like it has recently acquainted its rear with a truck's front, and this could be a reason for its weird behaviour.

For those of you who own and drive a Ritz and who at this moment may have certaing negative feelings creeping in your mind about me, I have just one thing to say: Get a new car and go get a driving instructor!

Tagged: 11 of my favourite romantic songs

Okay Amu has tagged me and I need to come with a list of 11 of my favourite romantic songs.

1. Choo kar mere mann ko - Yaarana (Kishore Kumar)
Why:
Tu jo kahe jeeva bhar,
tere liye main gaaun
geet tere bolo par
likhta chala jaa un

2. Pal pal dil ke paas -Blackmail (Kishore Kumar)
Why:
har raat khwabon mein
tera aachal leheraye
har raat yaadon ki
baarat le aaye

3. Phoolon ke rang se - Prem Pujari (Kishore Kumar)
Why:
Saason ki sargam, dhadkan ki veena
Sapno ki gitanjali tu
Mann ki gali mein, meheke jo har dam
aisi juhi ki kali tu...

4. Dooba Dooba - Silk Route, Mohit Chauhan
Why:
Koyi jaane na, pehchane na
Yeh hua kaise
Tum aagaye, khwabon mein aise

5. Chandan sa badan - Sarawasti Chandra (Mukesh)
Why:
ye kaam kamaan bhawe teree
palako ke kinaare kajaraare
maathepar sindooree suraj
hothhon pe dahakate angaare
saayaa bhee jo teraa pad jaaye
aabaad ho dil kaa wiraanaa

6. Sab ka katega - Bodhi Tree :P
Why:
Teri yaadon mein kal ki raina bitayi thhi
Meri aankhon mein phir se aas bhar aayi thhi
Shaakhon se phool toote, raahon mein jiske
Dil dooba, numm hua pyaar mein uske...

7. Sabse peeche hum khade - Mohit Chauhan
Why:
zamane ki baaton mein uljho na
hai yeh aasan jaan na
khud se agar tum jo puccho
hain hum tumhare ki nahi

8. Aap par arz hai - Lucky Ali
Why:
Aap par arz hai,
laakhon karodo arabo salaam
Aap na hote toh yeh dil
Jaane kisko deta salaam

9. Bade acche lagte hai - Balika Badhu (Amit Kumar)
Why:
Tum in sabko, chhod ke kaise
kal, subaha jaaogi
mere saath, inhe bhi toh tum
yaad bahut aaogi

10. Chal chale - Woh Lamhe (James)
Why:
Na jaha bheed ho, na jahan bhar ke log
na sheher mein basey, laahkon logon ka shor
chand lamhe tu inse mujhe duur kar
chal chale apne ghar, humsafar

11. Humsafar - Mohit Chauhan
Why:
Sur se saji, geeton si teri yaad
Tum bin sanam, bhaaye na koyi baat
Kaise kaho, akele chalun aaj
Aao sanam, Soone hai dil ke saaz


Feel free to pick this tag :)