Photographs, French et la vie

Saturday nite - 21.30 pm

Photographs and my obession with them. Some months back I had written a post about seeing photographs everywhere. I have become seriously obsessed ever since I got in my possession a S-700 Cybershot – my own digital camera. People accuse (perhaps a strong word) me of being trigger happy and keep telling me off about my camera obsession. I thought about the reasons why and perhaps my justification for my trigger happy self. I love taking snaps- I am an amateur in every sense of the word- (personal confession time) upto the point where A pointed out to me that I only needed to half press the trigger point in order to avoid blurring. (Shrug of shoulders) I am an ignoramus – wot else is there to say? :)

I will be departing for foreign shores soon. Another 6 months and I will be off. Memories can be found in your head and I reckon in digital cameras too! :) More than things, trees, skies (which acc to my Mom is my fave subject) I want ppl to be there in the snaps I take. People who mean a lot to me and have been a part of my life. I know this time/phase will never be repeated again. Consider it so – friends and family frozen in that moment forever.

Tangent(s) starts - I am desperate to speak in French. All the time I want to lose myself in the language, roll my r's, not pronounce what I can't and not supposed to. Listen to Madeleine Peyroux and know the words of what might come to be my wedding song :) I love French and want to reconnect with it. Know the words of songs, get my accent and tenses right (very importante en la Française) Mahmah has encouraged me a lot and I told her I dream of the day when I can do a conversation in French with her without missing a beat.C'est importante parler en la Française toujours parceque j'aime la langue la Française. (Slight bow I can allow myself perhaps, non?)

At S's partee S spoke about me. It was weird to hear about myself. You behave, you act and perhaps you think you are being yourself. You are not someone else. I sound crazy don' I? But I think most times we are all playing parts – mother, sister, daughter, friend, confidante, lover, music lover, dancer....I can continue but you are getting the point. Sometimes, I overplay my part, I can accuse myself of underacting too. All the parts come together to make me (now I reiterate a friend's favourite lines I think) and they fight against each other too.

Emotions don't get left out. I am at the mercy of my emotions. I recognise that part of myself and live with it everyday. I learn and at the end of the day try to make peace with myself. This I do with friends..my family I suspect knows so little about me sometimes, I am a stranger here who lodges, eats and leaves for work..perhaps a slight exaggeration I can allow myself?

I am possessive and I care too much. I know this part of me too. It will always be my downfall. Always. But making peace happens because I don't live on that deserted island. I live with people who care for me, lift me from where I am broken n weary and bring me back to a place where I allow myself to smile again. Those green meadows are there, waiting for me to walk on, the soles of my feet want to feel the crispyness of the grass blades under them. Crunch crunch..yellow flowers by the wayside..the sun shines on me and le ciel est bleu..so blue the eyes hurt. I am there and yet nowhere..I float along and there will be salvation for me. I know it as much as I know I am meant to make my mark on this world. People are going to remember me with joy, sadness, love and fuck I sound like I am going to die, aren't I? BC, saala that Sacred Games book did leave a mark on me! :)

So blame this post on an awesome book called Sacred Games. Its Vikram Chandra's magnum opus. Took him seven years to write and man, its phatte...good read and worth every pie I paid for it. Je departe pour a partee where I will make merry and drink and eat good food. Excusez moi, s'il vous plaît...

The return of Asok

R.I.P

ICL - Chennai SuperStars Ad

In the stillness of the night

The slight breeze ruffles the flower petal

It moves without momentum

Hesitantly

I have been walking for aeons

Without finding myself

Losing myself in the confines of meaningless sex

Lie down on the soft sand

Wait for a lover to pass me by

Hold hands indulge in soft laughter

Remember bygones time

Nostalgia is a hard mistress

She makes me ache, weep and moan

The promise of what will become another memory

Beckons me into another pair of arms

My weekend

After a very long time I am writing about my weekend. I had a very nice one - did different things and each gave me pleasure of a different sort.

Friday nite I went for an awesome concert. Smritiyaan organised at Shanmukhananda Hall.

Hariprasad Chaurasia and Vijay Ghate

The Pohankar and Ranjit Barot ensemble tht sucked!

Sitara Devi who at the age of 92 rocked ass!

We had amazing Udipi food and kapi this whole day..I loved eet...

Saturday I had to go to Xaviers and found myself overcome with emotion being there .

First Quad with the Basketball Court

Returned home and watched 'Thank you for Smoking'. Good flick. You root for the protagonist even though logically you know he is an asshole who is 'paying his mortgage'. His kid adores him n vice-versa n that actually to me made the flick good.

Saturday nite got drunk with Dee. Whisky sours rock at CL man. We walked for a bit and she said it perfectly, ' Why do I feel like I am floating?' Hahhhaahaha..Niceness that was.

Sunday morning dawned with a fite first thing in the morng re brekkie. My sister got a much larger portion than me and I fought. I laffed at myself at this one - a 26 yr old fighting with her Pop coz he gave the younger sibling more brekkie. :D

I went for dance class on Sunday evening and it rocked..Waheeeeeeeeeeeeee...I love dancing and I have decided am gng to do as much as possible :) 15 more classes of Intermediate to go so I quite look fwd to it.

Here's to more weekends like this. Chin chin ....

Nandigram

The rivers flowed red with blood
Voices of children lost forever in the mists of time

For more the Great Bong here

I walk the empty beaches

The moon shines bright on me

She fills me with her empty splendour

She talks to me of wistful dreams

She makes me smile and yearn

Desire races through my pulses

I want to walk naked through fields of gold

Feel the wheat brush against my skin

Coarse and smooth

It makes me sway

Dance to the music of my own senses

Letting the moonlight rush through every pore of my skin

Goa

Om Shanti Om

GO SEE!

Diwali

The art of vadam making

Diwali day..mahmah made vadams for us. For the uninitiated, vadams r rice papad like thingies..this shall be further elaborated with this ...My mom thought I was insane of course but dude...she makes it like once a year and especially wonly when sister and me sit on her head! :D

So photo essay begins:

Carnival of Rust

I want to be a character in a book

Walk through green valleys and carpets of red n yellow flowers

I want to be able to fly without wings

Yet I am earthbound as can be

I want to lead an electric life

Flashing blue n violet and every sign of the neon there is

I want to arch like a red arrow against the blue sky

Yet am strung back by ties

Creep into the red hazy sun

Walk into the light

Yet shadows play around me

In the death throes of the evening

I gather my courage n

Step out with the chinks in my armour visible

Waiting to be enveloped into loving arms

Bat bombs!!

Tasty has gone into hibernation :( I miss him n his silly acrobatics :D Anyways, I went to Wikipedia to get more info on this and I found this brilliant piece of information abt bat bombs!! I mean the US Army seriously considered using bat bombs against Japan :) I mean total wtf! :D U can read more here

Sunday, glorious Sunday

Sunday 17:12 pm

A friend wanted me to go the temple for her. I haven't been inside a temple in the last 2 years almost. I am not a temple person and manage to have faith in God without going to a temple. :) Sometimes I don't believe he exists because of all the inhumane things that happen in the world. But then I realise its man - so end of story. Anyways that is for another post (or not!) I go to the temple once a year when it is Diwali and last year on account of my uncle passing away we didn't go to the temple and of course there was no Diwali.

Visiting a temple is fraught with things one must do and one must not do. Like for women - not having their periods is a big thing. One must enter clean etc.. Is a woman polluted (which is the popular opinion) because of her periods? I don't like it one bit. I have fought with my folks previously on this issue. This is something physical that happens to a woman once a month and she is called 'unclean'!! Goddamn ridiculous in my opinion. What about men who come into the temple who in their 'other' lives gamble, drink, physically abuse and whore? But of course one doesn't know about that rt....

Anyways, this post is not intended as a diatribe. So shall come back to point – I enjoyed the experience of visiting the temple. I dressed up and walked some 200 odd steps to enter the inner sanctum. It was effort and I liked doing it. I valued it more because I reckon I haven't been inside His house for a long time. It was quiet (unlike Diwali which is horrid coz of the crowds) I prayed the same thing – for friend(s) and a lil bit for me (I don't normally but well this is important to me and its worth asking Him fr it)

When I started off I rang the temple bell softly and by the time I left it had made a very big clang :) I was very privileged to watch something at the temple. There is a Vinayaka idol on the grounds of the temple before one acends the big steps. We had finished and well the vadiyar (priest) was about to do the daily ablutions on the idol. So sistah n me waited n watched and it was amazing.

God bathes – yes ladies n gentlemen – this is a fact :) He bathes in milk, water n milk again (Lucky bugger or wot) The vadiyar did a very nice job and he must have thought we were mad, standing around watching him doing his deed of the day. This God was locked up in his house. The lock is opened so that the ritual(s) can be performed. He was naked before us, we watched him get a bath, being dressed up and then chandan is applied on his forehead and he is done. Ready to face the day under lock n key. Think there is irony hidden here but it escapes my mind at the minute. :)

I came back home, made eggs (after ages again) and made it my way instead of Dad's traditional omlette that we eat every Sunday. I also cooked lunch for Mom, me n sis – made pasta which came out nice (of course!) It felt like a very nice day and I hope it continues like that :)

Update: Sunday nite 9.00 pm - I didn't study the whole day and started off at 7 pm (bad n good eet ees!) Random relatives came over and they talked abt my cooking skills (not appreciated!) Then did fite with Amma (not nice)- we did cry and then hugged n kissed n made up. Ammas r so nice that way :) Now in another 20-30 mins off to Dee's house for khana :D

Update: Sunday nite 11.00 pm – Guava stew – fab ass dessert made by Dee's mom was the perfect end to my Sunday :)

The Flight of the White Pigeon

Alone amongst the multitudes

Her colour a beacon

Attracting more than the human eye

The others looked at her with disdain and contempt

Their commonality their unity

She raged against them

But they stood indifferent

Until she took flight....

Her flight into the skies was a thing of beauty

Her wings moving in tandem

Striking a beat against the currents

Even the wind bowed in defeat...

She soared high

A surprise because her kind hardly ever did

Achieving unassailable heights

Traumerei and Russian History

Read a brilliant article/post on Traumerai..its a lovely piece of music as well and my first Utube video :)

Stage set..lites..action

All the world's a stage,
And all the men and women merely players:
They have their exits and their entrances;
And one man in his time plays many parts

Some snippets frm today's news

I was going to write about Facebook first but read this excellent article abt Myanmar so thought Myanmar was somehow newsworthy than some social networking site (I love Facebook - pls not to doubt it but somehow in the grander scheme of things ...) This writer went to Myanmar and has written about this time spent there. How apt also that Amy Winehouse sings 'Back to Black' at the same time. Read more here

Microsoft buys a 1.6% stake in Facebook for $240 mln. Facebook rules our life. Someone the other day called me a power user of Facebook and I would agree with tht assessment. Have remet hazaar friends frm Ncl times and I loveeeeeeeeeee Graffiti..wot the heck did I do before Facebook happened man?? Read more abt Google not winning this one here

Today's special

The Nine Billion Names of God

Boy sent me this story and its abs brilliant. Arthur Clarke written - can read more here

The humble potato

Changing life/history/economies? Yes eet eees the humble potato we r talking abt..Read more here

A life so well led

We come across people who have never touched our lives but influences millions of others in a different lifetime. I started off reading about something and came to David Astor. Till this very moment I didn't know he existed but he has made such a profound impact on the British understanding of their history through the Observer. This is his story.

6.15 am in the morning

Walked out into a breaking dawn

AamchiMumbai informed me that the sun rose at 6.31 am

I thought a lot as I walked

About life and mornings

I saw the sun

An orange disc as I turned around the corner

Before it starts to grow fiery

4 mynas espied chattering around a tree

The ache in my legs felt good as I ran

Walked into the bus a bit later

Doing maths

A moth flutters startling me

Its soft wings brush against my face n hair

Before it seeks freedom through the bus window

I stepped off the bus

Green butterfly crashlands near my feet before taking off again

The pink of the African Daisy speaks to the pink person inside of me

Heart melts at beautiful graffitti

The wait for a good day has ended

So T posted something and u read the words and they touch heart...

Kuchh log sote hain
Kuchh so kar bhi nahin sote
Kuchh sona chahte hain par so nahin pate
kuchh logon ki meethi neend
Kaam se thaki hui
Kuchh logon ki disturbed
Din mein hui chhoti chhoti baaton
se mood off
par fir
Sab subah uthte hain
Ek cutting chai
Raat ko bhula deti hain
bas…

For sure go and read more here

This piece was written when I was emotionally upset. I calmed down during the next couple of hours and some amount of fone calls later. Would appreciate no questions.

I live in a world where there are rape epidemics. I am stunned n amazed at how much pain n suffering there is in the world and all I worry abt is if I am going to America or not. Does this mean I don't care? I do but the world's problems are too much for me. Myanmar, Darfur, Congo – places with ongoing conflict but to me and to the average person, specks on the map.

Africa is the mad continent - the place God made with time but forgot to give stabilityt to. One of the world's most beautiful continents is overrun by men who don't care how they live. They will not b answering God as their path to hell is paved with fire. The more I read about articles in that continent the more likely it seems that society as we understand it has broken down there.

I read about the rape epidemic happening in Congo. It disturbed me really badly. Women suffer and suffer and sometimes I think there is no end to this suffering. Constantly being called the weaker sex, they r used, controlled and manipulated. This is not aimed as a diatribe against men. But men close their eyes and forget that they came out of a womb when they indulge in unspeakable acts of torture against women. They are committing crimes against humanity n not just the other sex but this is beyond the comprehension of men who are fuelled by a rage and lust for violence.

I talked about choices with a friend. The first choice is about you being born, your mother exercises this choice for you. You come into this world and keep making life choices which means depending on your circumstances you either have it made or you don't. What is the point of this succeee? 2.5 children, a white picket fence house and a man to call your own - the emblems of success. A dear friend once said to me, when someone u care for makes a hard decision- a decision you don't like – tough luck. What you need to do is be there for that person in every way you can.

Its about support and care and trust. Knowing that I can make a phone call and people will help me no matter what time of the night it is. Its about realising that its your life not yur parents. Sidney Poitier said in 'Guess Who's Coming to Dinner' to his father, “I love you but I don't owe you.” (Bow to you SS for tht one!)

Its weird how Mondays can affect you.

I walked down a path. I was surrounded by greenery as far as the eye could see. Birds chirped and sunlight filtered through the trees. Butterflies abounded. Tasty was there as well doing his usual acrobatics bringing a smile to my face. As I walked further down oer a gurgling brook my mind wandered and every happy thing I had ever done in my life came to mind.

I espied an apple on the path. No apple tree in sight and that left me wondering..I picked it up. Much to my amazement it was a beautiful red apple, perfect in shape n appearance. Like one of those pretty apples in tht diamond commercial except mine was red. I almost didn't want to bite into it. The desire to do so was high n the temptation strong. An existential dilemma over biting an apple.

I bit into it and the taste of the apple flooded me, it essence hitting my taste buds. I bit further in – the apple tasted juicy n succulent. I felt greedy like a child who tastes its first sweet and cannot resist eating everything in sight. I loved the last taste of the apple lingering in my lips. It tasted sweet – of temptation succumbed to...

The realisation always strikes in retrospect.

Myanmar - an analysis

Have been a bit bizzy and not v updated with what is happening in Myanmar at the minute. Boy sent me a v nice article about Myanmar and the politics involved in it. Must read here

Update on Myanmar crisis

There has been severe condemnation re Myanmar and wot is happening out there. A Japanese fotugrapher was shot dead point blank. The streets have been empty but the monks are not giving up....

Read an article about the military junta's most powerful figure, Than Shwe. You can read more here

Myanmar in pictures

Follow up on Myanmar crisis

I still can't fathom why I am suddenly interested in Myanmar and wot's happening out there. Its happening across the world..(shrug of shoulders)

People have been really kind to me and have sent me a couple of articles more on Myanmar. Good analysis of the situation there but impractical solutions. I was talking abt this to someone - I don't see Dubya invading Myanmar to help out the people there inspite of the fact that the junta ruling Burma r among the worst in the world.

How will these people face their God?

U can read here n more here on Myanmar.

Myanmar, protests and their meaning in our lives

Myanmar - Burma of old- is witnessing something that sounds v exciting to me. I don't think it is exciting for the people there but they must be feeling hope. Hope for the 1st time that they might become free of the military junta that has been ruling them since a very long time. I don't know why I have been trying to track the Myanmar story but it feels like a country is coming to life again and experiencing hope and those faint stirrings of freedom.

It started with the rise of fuel prices and has in my eyes turned into something else. You should read more here

Crikait and religion

I saw the match like any other self-respecting cricket Indian crikait fan did! At the end of the match the Pakistani captain comes along and apologises to the Muslims of the world!! I was like whoaa..kyaa bakwaas kar raha hai! That is such a stupeed thing to say considering the fact that Irfan Pathan, a Muslim bowler n batsman delivered for the Indians which eventually got him the Man of the Match award! Terribly dumb in my opinion to mix religion and sports. Not that that hasn't happened before. Falklands War - Argentina and England is a prime eg of this.

Re Shoaib Malik's 'loverly' comment, you can read more here

My weekend

My weekend started on Friday, seems to be the trend these days. :) Went to Kandivali (jesus christ wot a trek that was!) Anyways workwise we had a stall at Thakur College so went there and did stall duty. Studied some GRE and since it took forever, finished like a chapter in Math. So not bad! Anyways, did thing there and then K came along in the latter half of the day. He fought thru an army of 17 yr olds to get me kapi and I thought tht was v svit of him :) Anyways, finished up and then we were deciding wot to do..ie. Spikey, moi n K. Decided to catch a flick and eat some khana. So dinner actually was had at 7.00 pm and you can read more abt dinner here.K told us some exciting stories abt his Dad n him which resulted in us laffing like idiots standing at the ground floor of Raghuleela so much so that I caught a couple of women staring at us open-mouthed :O

Spikey n me saw Manorama Six Feet Under – a more peculiar title I haven't heard in a while. Fab movie. Excellent acting and to top it all it was in Hindi! Abhay Deol gave a stellar performance as SV, the failed writer. But the direction n cinematography took the cake. Kyaa shots the usme – bhai wah kehne ke sivai aur kuch bol hi naheen sakte. Its a must watch and worth the 140 bucks we paid @ Fame. We changed seats after that to the 160 ones and Spikey had existential issues with this! :D

Watched the match Sat nite and omg wot an awesome match eet was! I would go as far as to say that after a long time we r playng like this and consistently at tht! Sreesanth rocked ass- he is a bit crazee in the head as my sistah said. Wot with all the hitting the pitch and yelling abuse at the batsmen! Yuvi of course was superlative. Something I kept sayg the whole nite thru is why the heck do we need those 3 buddhaos if as a team we r dng so well! There will of course be detractors to this but my point of view holds!

Sunday didn't dawn brite n early- hallelujah! :D Did brekkie and cheeled out. Wiped the gas (DD thing done for the week). Raat ko went to see Bourne Ultimatum at Imax with Spikey and K. I am touched they made the effort to come all the way from Kandivali :) Loved it. Action filled and total paisa vasool. Matt Damon rocks ass like seriously! Return to dinner @ Chembur was existential convo abt cinema's charm n rating cinema to the pt of ruining it! I think the taxi driver was screaming in his head – yeh mein kahan aa gaya hoon! Dinner, dropped them till Bandra and came home to see a magnificent movie called Aashiq Banaya Aapne.

Bejesus and other gods shd rescue me. My tolerance for trash is unbelievable. I mean bad bad bad bad...HR singing (mein mar kyon naheeen gayee!!) My sistah reckons scenes were cut. I am like who the heck wld cut wot from this movie. She said kissing scene. Aha went my head – it was on Sony or something. Tanushree Dutta is terrible – and I don't think that has changed since then. Emraan Hashmi keeps aping different ppl all the time. Sonu Sood has a deep voice n nothing else!

Anyways slept and dreamt abt flying buffaloes. Don't ask me why but just did :) I love crazee dreams. Imagination runs so high then its unbelievable. Another week has started ......

Randomness

Cityscapes drenched in green. Horizon tinged with white n grey. Aeroplane zooms over my head. Waiting for a bus. Journeys begun. Love lost. Hurt felt. Friendships staying strong thru the yrs. Parties, drunkenness, sex, no drugs. Tobacco, wine – white not red. Food – Italian, Indian, Marwari. Not liking Kerala type khana. The joy of cooking. Coffee n sex- both good fr system. Withdrawal systems experienced when both unavailable. Work – boring, interesting, maddening, awful. Family going round n round in circles meant never to be started. Want, ambition, desire. Europe, the States, Australia, NZ -destinations. Immigration never belonging and knowing roots lie elsewhere. Indianness how quaint!

Joni Mitchell, Nick Drake, movies, music. Shit good n bad all kinds experienced. Walking down the streets of Amsterdam after a tattoo and knowing that life has changed because one has a tattoo. The feeling never goes away. For months afterward staring at my lower back and still be gobsmacked! Ganapati, classic rock – times have changed. Grandparents loved n lost. 26 yrs of life gone.

Blue pink black red green. Colours. Read a wonderful line today. It came from a Tibetan poet. 'In your alley of maddening multitudes, I will be one more speck of colour.' Found a wondrous site - http://www.graphicpoetry.net/archive.html and it touched me. Loved a particular line from there – I used to live in colour. Until u came into my world. Now I see only black n white and all the shades of grey in between. Colours – I have been seeing butterflies of different colours fluttering abt – green, black, red! Bootiful sight – I even saw a yellow bird today. Item wld have identified it immediately. Someone I knw for yrs is apparently a very good tree spotter. Wot kind of spotter am I? Photographs Think composition and think wot a nice photograph...

Cricket, football. St James Park – being someone else at times. Not being true to yurself. Giving implicit power to someone to hurt u.Remembering that good times do exist. Trying for tht new boy and tryg to set up friends who both make impolite noises @ u. Melancholy. Books. Smell of paper, smell of xerox, Bumbai's distinctive ammoniac smell. Being South Indian, being cosmpolitan. Being yourself at the cost of family. Being selfish. Being patriotic. Reminds me of tht intense discussion @ CCD.

CCD, Barista, Starbucks, Reliance – corporate giants without conscience. Charity purposeless.Big B donates 51 lakhs to Tirupati. God doesn't need it dude! People do. God being benevolent. Nature's fury 26/7. Man's fury. 9/11. Clash of the civilizations. Clash of cultures. Ancient Indian Culture. I studied that for the best 3 yrs of my life. College, youth, lifetime ago.

Memories – wot we do with them. Wot we remember wot we forget. New memories waiting to be made depending on life choices. Living life by the choices we make. Having existential crises. Giving up the crises n because we r at heart selfish & getting drunk. Waiting for that phone call. Singing music out loud. Singing together with yur mom thru a bathroom door when u've just had a fite.

Meaningless random thoughts. A Word doc to be filled up with words. Spat out here. Waiting for oblivion.

It is not cynicism to find a special beauty in what hasn't yet come to pass.

BMW's n food

Me n Spikey went last to check out the BMW exhibition. Andy Warhol n Roy Lichtenstein have painted a couple of BMW's and they r on display at Jahangir till the 16th. So I decided tht I would go yest and knew if tht if I didn't go then I would never go. So went, and it was theek. Nothing spectacular but theek. Think the lighting was all wrong for that place and the full fundooness of the cars could not be appreciated. Some of the dinkys were way better with one having this on the dinky. She of course was in black n white on tht dinky.


Anyways, we wandered arnd another gallery where we stared at random things n left there soon. Dragged Spikey to Gateway to which he hasn't been to since as a child. He loved it of course! Since I love expounding on town, I did :) The Taj looked ethereal in the nitelite. Phir hum gaye food safari par. That u can to b reading here

Nice day eet was :D

Homage to my green shoes

I loveeee eeeet!! :D

9/11

6 years on, I don't think we have learnt any lessons!

Body Shop founder passes away

I am a big Body Shop fan. Their beauty products cruelty- free which basically means no animals r used. I b tres triste abt this. Anita Roddick was a wonderful person who propagated what Body Shop stood for. I remember reading an article once abt her - she went underground as a homeless person to see wot kind of life it was - they did a docu abt tht - it takes great guts to do something like tht. U can read more here

Scary times in Mumbai

I took permission from a friend before I posted this. To me, Mumbai has always been an extremely safe city. I have never felt threatened, scared of the fact that I am walking the street at 1.00 am in the morng or travelling a rick at random time alone in the nite. Then said friend sent me this. Please read - u can write it off as an one-off or be careful or wotver u choose to do. But it makes me angry tht my city has fallen prey to the Dilli syndrome. (No offence to Dilliwalas)

Said friend was alone with a gurl (who was driving) in car and got chased not by the cops but by random goons. Lucky escape did happen but if things had gone wrong, for sure, the friend would have not written this out here

The account reads like a film story and also because the places mentioned are familiar haunts. Read n don't fall hostage to the fear.

Foood Safari has begun

I have also started blogging @ Food Safari. Food Safari was started as a project a long time back and I sincerely hope it takes off :) I think its a stupendous idea to cover as many places as possible between a diverse range of ppl. As eet ees hardly any good reviews of places exist except for Sigfood

GO SEE :D

My weekend

Started Fri nite with S n T. Went out fr a couple of drinks and literally for me it was like tht. Got done with tht and next morning after much existential angst, managed to catch a 10.30 show of Ratatouille. Was fabbbbulooous. Loved the theme behind it and yenjoyed myself v v much like tht. For a 10.30 show the theatre had abt 20 seats left. Very nice graphics and very nice storyline too- perspective etal....

Did shoppin with Dee aftr tht- we bought the same pair of shoes- loverly green n beige they r! So kicked abt them!! Of course me and she bought similar tees as well :D Its v weird coz I was on this green trip yest and she told me (so weird tht I didn't knw this) tht she has this weird fixation fr olive green much like my blue fixation when I go shopping. I have known her for 10 yrs and didn't knw this abt her!

Anyways, we maxed Max out (as Mahmah said) then went fr lunch to Nandos. Purportedly African cuisine- bleh. For a one time experience it is ok but am not gng back there again for sure. It was like gng to TGIF the first time (in town) and getting chappatis instead of tortillas. So the ingredients r right but the style of cooking is still Indian. Tht sucks especially when u r paying good money for your food. Anyways, peri peri cuisine made Indian style is horrible.

Left and did more shopping. Dee bought a hat and we have come to the profound conclusion tht she is a hat person (checks out hats everywhere she goes)! So done with shopping homeward bound at 6 pm. Very nice eet was. Home at nite (wowwweee n on a Sat nite!) and then next morning dawned brite n early in my house.

Ordered pizza (Valentino's Delite) from Garcia's. V nice eet was- loved the sundried tomatoes bit -yumyum.. Dad made pulao and of course tried with with tomato pachidi (v nice eet was too). Slept 15 mins after luncheon and then went onto I-Rock happening at the Andheri grounds. It sucked- nothing more to say :( I wish I had seen I-Rock in its heydays when it was unsponsored and meant unadulterated rock instead of the corporate shebang it has become. I understand why FW sold out to some extent but feel its just crappy rt now.

Anyways, crowd was all under 21 and tht of course made us feel like dinosaurs. Everyone smoked and smoked up as well. There were a few mohawks around. Everyone gushed at PDV. They have celeb status amongst the crowd – their kind of music personally doesn't appeal to me but wotver. Chiks and guys all over these guys – 'excuse me, one pic pls'. The guys smiled politely and did duty. :) T took a fotu of the bassist's tattoos without realising who eet was :)

The Dinosaurs of Rock disappointed. FW – decent. Gary Lawyer was good. The chik Shazneen was terrible. She tried v v v v v hard but didn't make grade. The highlite for me – Zephretta live by Dem Clones. Was soo happpppppppppppy abt tht. A actually called up so he cd listen to them sing the song. Reminded me of the time Chris called me frm Holland to get me to listen to my fave Welsh band – Stereophonics. And of course how I missed tht call to my everlasting regret!

Ate tht bhurjee Haris keeps talking abt n pav bhaji at this roadside place near Amar Juice Centre, Irla. I loveeed it and tht Egg Tawa Pulao was to die for esp the aftertaste which we kept talking abt. My stomach didn't unfortunately agree and tis the end of my never begun love affair with tht place :(

Ek pyaali

Ek pyaali chai ki
Kaafi naheen hoti
Do pee lete hain

Ek pyaali zindagi ki
Kaafi naheen hoti
Do pee lete hain

Par yeh shayad zyaada ho jata
Is liye aaadhi aadhi jee lete hain

-- Moi with last line credits to Baghdadi

Hyderabad

Back from my weekend at Hyderabad. Insane city eet ees :) Malls abound, greenery, Hindi speaking Gulti junta and of course Asia's largest Reebok store! Yes, I kid u not...I saw this- 3 fucking floors of Reebok in Hyd and a couple of brands I haven't seen even in Mumbai - some fancy ass name like Lladro n another tht escapes the mind rt now! Fucking, there is even a Wedding Mall (which I didn't tell my Mom abt - surprise surprise) and a Sari Mall too!! Wot the heck is the world coming to!

Traffic tht could rival Bumbai's soon is there too. Construction - not too mindlesss but don't knw how long the city is gng to last if it keeps at it like that. Loved the rickshaws there- yellow in colour but so bootifully painted at the back nice it was. Hopefully my fotus will come out so junta can c wot I am talking abt. Slite mishap with camera where roll has rolled back :( so am praying to gods tht I don't lose fotus...

Had a nice 3 days there..drank so much on 1st day (by my standards) and was out by 3 am. P, C, S finished up at 6 am I was informed the next day. :D I feeel so oldddddddddddd! :( Anyways, next day wanted to go see places but P was hesitant given the blasts had occured a week back. So we grabbed a rick and he was nice fellow - we made him our tourist rickshaw. :D He took us to Charminar n then to Hussain Sagar (totallly loved tht place and remembered Murty's Hussain Sagar story of course) The Buddha there looked like he was dng a Heil Hitler (no offence to Buddhists n other secular junta out there)

So every time I saw something I made rick man stop..P didn't even bother and took fotu frm inside rick. Rick man must have been like insane Mumbai types hai..Spending time with P was amazing..she is one of my closest friends frm college- a yr younger but batty as hell and Maths major and Acturial Sciences and all tht jazz and looking at her of course no one is ever gng to think tht. Wondrous it was to spend quality time with her. Love u P :)

That done, went back home and then met Item and R in evening. R is one of those ppl I wish I had met earlier in my life. She is gng away to study and well u knw how eet ees..U meet someone and u think wtf man..why didn't u knw this person earlier coz yur life wd have been richer for sure fr knowing tht person but am glad I met her! V funny she is and v sarcastic too (Everyone knws how 'unsarcastic' I am!)

Seeing Item was loads of phun. She is phundoo and v v funny (unintentionally of course) Next time, we do the vishesh tipni thing tht u desperately wanted to do :P Oh yes U can find Item here btw and also here. She is all over the place isn't she?? :P

Anyways, luncheon over and S departed leaving us chiks to go to Shilpagram. Much like Dilli Haat eet ees. Bought pretty green sari fr Momma and a ganapati statue tht spoke to me :) Flites got delayed so entry back wasn't as smooth as going away was. Got back pooped and was an effort to get up next morning. But tis done and now I am dreaming abt Goa where Cutlet will cook fr me and daru awaits :)

My first limerick! Yaaaaay

So yest I posted my 1st limerick here :

City streets lashd wth rain.
The wind howls in pain.
There's nothng left 2 lose.
Whn u can get wet as a goose

Mr Baghdadi has been kind enuf to help me out further this morning:

Whn u get as wet as a goose
There is nothing at all left 2 lose
Except feel a little bit of abashy
And a whole lot of insanity

I am going to Hyd..wheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee :D

Facebook in its glory

Marshall sent me a really good article on Facebook. Must read it is- more here

Last nite, morning run n ride to work

Last evening had a harrowing time with Sheeelpee getting rick etcetc..Finally managed and we enticed the dude with ride to Sion - which is why he came along. Was supposed to meet Laughing Buddha n Creature and well no call, so figured plan ditched. Halfway home, got call frm Creature asking me where I was. So was total mins wot eet ees, anyways, went home n then to Bandra to meet Laughing Buddha n Creature. Was great to see Rao- its been ages since I espied the Laughing Buddha so was supercool to meet n do chat :D

Went to McD's. Chiken in stomach (Ah satisfaction) n then fwd to Barista. On way, smelled the most divine prawns. Jai Jawan which this man keeps telling me abt in Bandra, Linking Rd. My stomach was utmost happy after consuming 200 grams of Prawns Fry :D Onward to Barista and wot a shocker that was. Linking Rd Barista @ the Junction gone forever. :( So many memories and always tell junta who don't knw Bandra for directions - aa jaana udhar jahan woh Linking Rd wala Barista hai! Now fuckng they have moved it to this place Dee n me used to frequent- Cuisines nearby wonly. Even tht is gone now :(( In place stands a smaller and I don't like it Barista!

Took bus home. Morning got up and went for run. Had a completely existential experience this morng. Near Golf course in Chembur, was walking at this time. Arnd 7ish in morng. Loud rick passed by. Then there was nothing. Just silence and me. I heard it - the sound of silence today. Was absolutely fabulous and I realised it as I walked what I was experiencing. You don't get opportunities like that in Bombay and I was extremely lucky today :) Saw a myna fly past and again the colors on the myna were so clear - accha tha.

I almost left when it started pissing down. Parents yelled at me. Mom and Dad were benevolent and since I'm kadki types, they took pity and gave me 100 bucks. So took rick and of course at HN Hill, it broke down. So walked downhill and took another rick. Something needs to b done atb the HN Hill -road repairs something, anything!

I can't wait to get out of city now :D Hyderabad is dng beckoning.

My weekend n morng run

Started Friday nite. Went to H20, Khar with office types. Rather went to Bananar Bar, saw the inside and ran away from there towards Cabana which has shut down and back towards H20 again. :D Nice time was had by all concerned. From there, some of the junta went the famous/legendary of T's stories- Merlins. 30+ uncles with beer bellies, singing Hindi songs with nasal voices. Wah wah it was! One uncle tried to chat with me (as opposed to chat me up) and said things abt a dude standing in front of me- His name is J**** C****** . He loves Metallica but he loveeeeeees Hindi songs. I sagely nodded as uncle was v drunk and previously been observed by me air guitaring to a Hindi song! :D

Next morng, didn't get call frm home, asking me where the f*** I was etcetc..why r u always like this (that happened on Sunday afternoon). Was extremely surprised, thanked stars, God and other ppl and went home. Made dal like nice gurl. Drove Dad to random place in Dadar called Endolite which does lite callipers. Traffic was so fuck all- wasn't remotely funny. Got back, went for class (bad it was- esp couple salsa) and then went with Rani to CL. Had a really nice time there, didn't drink much (wot deliteful Whisky Sours they make in the kind of glasses tht me n Ranee want!!) and had khana and even dessert – sizzling brownie :D

Sunday morning dawned brite n early. I was thinkng abt gng to Ranee's place fr lunch but sistah deterred me. She said no no,wah wah..sniff sniff so gave into the blackmail and we decided to cook Chinese. Wot a fucking disaster tht was :D Too much of Madame Karen Anand's Schezwuan Sauce led to hotter than hot noodles and veggies. We died, our bums would burn if we consumed type scene happened. Mom did chaavi, I lost temper- lunch went wasted (inspite of the sugar tht sistah added to concotion (no other name fr it) and it went downhill frm there. Said a few hometruths- not liked but didnt really care at that point.

Told sistah lets get out of home. Drove to Palm Beach Rd- hit a 115 and wot a fucking awesome drive tht was. Felt like pushing car some more but didn't want to push my limits. Sistah loved it of course. Went home, had a bath and got ready fr class. Had loads of phun in class- my last one eet was! :( There r 2 more but I's gng to miss it coz I's gng to Hyderabad to see Prankie baby! Wheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee

Anyways, went to meet Bronzoe for kapi. Had a nice time with Dee n Bronzoe. Drove Dee to tailorman. Came back, she had rasam and watched senti video tht P made fr us. Drove her back and my weekend finished with a firm decision made due to lovely conversation that I had with my beloved K. Totally love ya for tht one darling. Hug :)

Got up this morng and ran..Wheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee..v v kicked abt tht too..Nice it was..3 images stand out in my head from the morng run- u knw those veggie trucks rt which carry veggies into the city. Anyways, the first truck I saw the dude at the back had no place. So he was stuck like Spiderman to the top of the truck. The 2^nd veggie truck I saw the guy no place at all at the back of the truck – so he was on the roof of the truck. The 3^rd one – the dudes were standing like soldiers, all in a straight line, holding onto the rope hanging from the top of the truck. I retained those images, felt like drawing cartoons but well I suck at drawing so anyone reading this wants to take it up, to be telling me and I shall describe scene like tht to get into ink :)

Oh to have a dress like tht!

http://www.magazine.org/editorial/40-40-covers/32.jpg

The Grey Glory of Solitude

Nothing

stirs

in this stillness.

so it's possible to forget motion.

Possible
to think
birds
grow on trees
and ledges

and window-hinges
are rusted
shut.

One can believe

that the puckered lips
frozen on the sill
never speak

that the doughy thighs
nailed to the chair
can't tremble,

or part.

And the snapshot hours pass
frozen in guttered frames:

All through the day I work.

Filed away for future reference
the days pile up.

Partho Chakrabarrty

The weekend

Began on Fri nite. To Vashi I went to see Transformers. Fuck all story, fuck all ending but excellent effects. Loved the parts where they transformed into the machines back into the robots. The coolest robot of course was the Camero – Bumblebee and the semi which was Optimus Prime. Phatte tht was. For once I was on time with A and we actually stood for the whole National Anthem [remembered patriotic discussion of course- think am gng to remember it every time without fail now! :)]

Saturday morning – brite n early at 8.40 am – did DD things. Bank- oh the bank is a brilliant story. Go to old Chedda Nagar bank- where they knw me and my family for generations type scenario. So had to withdraw money for sister- a 1000 bucks was the grand princely sum. Took me 45 fucking mins to get the money out. I don't knw if they were rushed, inept. I was totally WTF at the end of it all. Mins wot eet ees wonly happened. So anyways something tht shd have taken me 5 mins took me like 45 mins...so totally mindfucked at the end of it!

Shaam ko dance class jo phatte tha as always. A's last class- rather poignant with the byes gng arnd but the best bit. He came dressed formally as everyone in class was supposed to. Of course no one except him was dressed formally. Also made the grand entry into class late so everyone turns to look when the instructor points out!! Was totally howlarious and there is no doubt he looked totally posh unlike us bhangis in class :)

Went to see Chak De yest. Was fundooo and totally loved it. SRK is restrained beyond belief. He is too good in it. The chiks r good too and it looked totally realistic which was the point. Some of the men were slimy beyond belief in it which of course proves how hard it is for a woman's sport to be accepted in the country. Accha flick and total paisa vasool. Best bit – people in the audience becoming a part of the film and entering into the emotional mood of it all. I mean the audience cheered, clapped along and was generally such a feel good movie coz of course we were the underdogs in it. The underdogs winning of course makes anyone heart blossom (sorry if cynicism is showin). Sheece reminded me of 'Titans' and I remember tht also abt the underdogs coming out on top and that perhaps strikes at the very heart of our emotions.

Came home, crashed and got up at wonder of wonders 10.30 am. :) Am stunned tht no one yelled, screamed and woke me up generally. Anyways, no one was ready to cook today. So we did joint effort and made pulao and pachadi which came out brilliantly. Told my family tht the efforts tasted svit :) No class today and can't meet up with Dee coz she got work. Poor her workin on a Sunday :(

Did some fruitful emailing yest to univs and am happy with tht. GRE date lena baaki reh gaya hai so need to get going on tht. Saw a phatte movie yest nite – Out Of Sight – Clooney- my abs fave actor n JLo. Thye have such fabb chemistry and the movie is a good watch. U can read more here. Of course its based on a book by Elmore Leonard. He is a brilliant writer and wot fundoo stories he writes. One of the first books I got hold of by him was Tishomingo Blues – drugs n Civil War reenactment put together make a crazy combo anyways and its not even a movie- he makes it so interesting. Phatte and if u guys get hold of any of his books, do read. :D

Late nite profound realisation that in life, one always desires the things one can't have. Its the nature of things and people...

Envy

• When u espy tht Ipod u always yearned for
• When u watch tht person sleeping with head lolling and mouth open on a jerking, fucked up potholed road bus trip
• When u watch ppl eat like peegs n don't see any effect anywhere on the body
• When u hear tht perfect note from someone and knw u cant sing to save ur arse
• When u see couples cosying up and u r single
• When u have the worst cold in the history of colds and watch tht child @ Naturals eat Mango icecream
• When u have the worst stomach upset and can't have Lamba's prawns and of course duniya is eating it
• When the dance instructor has a bigger diamond nose ring than yur very own
• When the dance instructor can dance better than u (for obvious reasons)!
• When ppl have seemingly picture perfect rosy lives
• When u read tht blog online and yur life is encapsulated in words far better than u ever can pen them
• When yur sister can rhyme in poetry and u can't again to save yur arse
• When the girl next to u in 4^th Std drew better than u ever could in yur entire life (she also did drawings for u for which the drawing teacher gave u 8/10)
• When the sky turns the most perfect shade of cerulean blue and u knw it cant be captured either on camera or in paint, u wonder is it possible to envy God?
  

Where have our voices disappeared?

Everyday I fear our apathy increases. To do something about this, Singh saab n AmitU have come together to create a platform where u can speak about stuff that matters to you. :)

It is called Some Pickle - news for Indians, stuff that matters. I liked the pickle part - an essential ingredient in Indian food :) So please go check it out, contribute and most importantly start speaking. Here is where you can get them so go go go :)

Movie marathon time n other asides

I watched Tezaab the nite before last. Dil touch ho gaya. I was 8 yrs old when I watched tht flick for the 1^st time in the Matunga house. It was late at nite and I watched it with Urvi, another friend of mine (now a married mom if u pls) Anyways, we bought a video casette and rented a player and watched the movie. This movie was made in 1989 the yr my sister was born :D Anyways, I remember scenes, lyrics r of course child's play and oh my god, the movie is so unbelievably 1980's – u gotta watch it to knw wot the fuck I am talking abt. The clothes, the attitude, Mandakini, the acting, Anil Kapoor's hairy chest, shoulders (yeww) and with a villian called Lotiya Pathan and item numbers like 'Ek, do, teen' the movie had it made.

Last evening saw Simpsons the movie and totalllly loveeed it. Wot an amazing story line and it was like phenomenal...a hr and 16 mins of total entertainment with sister n me in splits! Then said wtf and watched another one – Haasil starring Irfan Khan, Jimmy Shergill and Hrshita Bhatt. Wahiyaad tha – bas uff! 2 hrs, 40 mins on utter shit. Supposed to be abt UP politics then they go fuck it up with a love story and then it goes to hell from there..random Bombay track add kar diya – Rajpal Yadav shows face and then u r like henh, I fastfwded....I mean I contrast this with Saher – wot a phatte film and Arshad Warsi was superb in tht one! UP politics but dealt with with police efficiency. Here the subject just went into the gutter (to use a bad simile) and then doesn't resurface back.

Today is Chak De India's turn. Or rather wasn't as didnt get tickets at all so am stuck at home right now and bored out of my skull! Arrrgh....and tht childhood friend ditched so am now like wotver...:(

Yahoo Emoticontest 2007

I am a big fan of Yahoo emoticons. I lurrve them and lurrve using them. So of course when the chance came to make an emoticon I jumped at it and with the help of colleagues from work and Puttar we got together and created some emoticons. Unbelievably we have made it to round 2!! Yehh..wheee..etctc... Sheece and me have been selected amongst 19008 entries or something. I am putting in links here so u guys can check it out and go vote for the pair of us. Pls pls pls do :D and I promise to love u forever :D

http://bix.yahoo.com/entry/120456

http://bix.yahoo.com/entry/120457

GET THERE AND VOTE FOR US!!

My weekend n morning walk

Good. Watched Cash - a spectacularly bad movie and I recommend it purely so junta realizes how good Shootout was in comparison :D

Drank..not good of course..well except for that dinner with Dee. Phatte piya and laffing insanely like lil kids. Wot a blast tht was :D The restaurant Ivy recommendation came from him

Met Cutlet who visited for 2 days. Did breakfast with her and tht was a whole lot of fun. Dee, me and Roch - the 3 Musketeers, the 3 Chembur bitches and other various names have come for us. I cannot believe at times she has gone away married etal (much to the severe disappointment of all the men who msged me on Gtalk and asked me who the babe was!! I swear without exaggeration must be atleast 20 plus men who asked me whose the babe, whose the babe...:D

GRE grind shall be started in the upcoming weeks and my reading will stop. Something that makes me sad :( Oh upside, this morng, walk - phatte tha..things r soo green..bootiful eet ees :)

Abt heritage n wine

Baron Elie de Rothschild is dead at 90 screams the headlines at me (Actually it screamed at Dawood was in ISI custody - superlative news tht one) and of course if u like wine U knw the Rothschild name. Read more here

Someone from one of my Facebook groups sent this brilliant article abt Jamaican heritage...very nice read..More here

The Karl Jung Personality Test

Please take it here I am not sure wot to make of the results though. I am a ENFJ and that apparently means this

The Watchmen

Read the Watchmen. I loved it. Its boootiful artwork and some of the panels are gloriously filled with colour. Storyline is dramatic as hell and u SHOULD read it as quickles as possible. For more on the book read here