NEPAL

Hello my dearies...
                      I know it's been more than a week and i have been busy with college & exams. I have so many things to do. But this ain't the time for that. This post is going to be "photo" post.
I clicked these pictures when i was in Nepal. This place is beautiful and so i am going to share it with you.

SAATH KHOON MAAF- WHEN IT BECOMES UNBAREABLE .

                       Vishal Bharadwaj’s movie is a “literally” adapted from a Ruskin bond book “Susanna’s 7 husbands”. This movie revolves around the pretty protagonist Susanna played by piggy chops, who is in search of true love. Her expectations of true love disappoint her, every time she meets a bunch of men who are selfish, sadistic, immature, materialistic, liars, lustful and yes, boring. Piggy Chops plays the role very beautifully and boldly, and does full justice to her character, not only that she also manages to play the role double her age, with the same charm and zeal.

               She has her own set of loyal servants, who help her in every way possible. Vivaan, her Godson. And her pet vicious snakes are part of her small loveless life. Not only is Susanna bold, sensual, wicked but also merciful. Though when the trauma and torture become unbearable she doesn’t mind throwing her husband to a hungry panther, overdosing superstar with heroine, burying the shayar live in the blanket of snow, feeding her ‘darling’ to her pet vicious snakes, or giving the lustful old officer an overdose of Viagra, or for that matter putting a bullet in pharmacist Bengali husband’s body. She has done it all.

               The movie though manages to get the otherwise predictable movie fast. It seems to jump from one plot to another. The serious depth of killing a “husband” and mourning for him breaks the otherwise stereotypical set up, which is a little difficult to digest. The ending seems very weak, and is symbolical according to the Christian faith which needs to be decoded. Ultimately she becomes a nun, thus marrying God, who has redeemed her from her sins.

                Vivaan, piggy chops godson has made a very confident debut, and konkana Sharma as his wife has done full justice to her role. Usha Uttap has done her part very well. Though Vivaan, Irfan Khan and Neil Nitin Mukesh shine among other male leads. The music of 7 khoon Maaf is a package of everything, from the peppy song- “daaarling” which will make one groove, to the romantic soothing Sufi song – “bekaraan”, which will take one back to the memory lanes. The background score takes a viewer swiftly from the soft light tracks when Susanna meets her supposedly love, to the fast tempo of songs which are filled with intensity and frustration, whenever she makes her kill.

The actors have played their role with full integrity, but the fact is the movie lacks depth and somehow does not fit into the usual Hindi cinema criteria. Vishal Bharadwaj has failed to understand that the conclusion of this movie is something that suits the books, and will not attract the viewers. 

Steamy Idlis and more...

 

 It is a beautiful Sunday morning. Spicy aroma of vindaloo yanked me by my chin and tickled me till I was up. Rubbing my eyes, I hopped out of bed and headed straight to the kitchen. Mum in her  soiled apron was placing idli batter into the steaming vessel. This sight made me so happy, I jumped with joy. Cause there was nothing like biting into a hot steamed idli melting in your mouth on a lazy - lazy Sunday. After hastily brushing and postponing my bath, I stood there, like a beggar, placing my empty plate in front of her. Having a long look at me, she asked "did you brush your teeth, at least". Shamelessly grinning, I showed her my glowy teeth. Mum opened the box and placed five, white fluffy, perfectly round pieces of steaming joy. I couldn't resist the temptation and with my bare fingers broke the fragile idlis into many small pieces. Burning my finger, I blew the cold mouthwash breath on my almost red fingers and continued to do the same with the rest. Seeing this mum smiled and said " We have chairs. and if you continue to stand and eat, all food would go into donkey's stomach". I started getting hiccups, cause of  greedily finishing the first two idlis. She placed the glass of water and left. Sipping from the glass I playfully asked, if she thought, I would believe in stuff like that. But she blatantly ignored cause she saw me sitting down and  gobbling down, the last crumbs.   After I had done, she inquired , If would like a couple more. I giggled, looked at my happy belly and asked If she wanted me to burst like a balloon?

SALE

.................................................................................................................  She played with her hair strand, then pushed it behind her fragile ears. She had hopes in her heart and twinkle in her eyes. Her face was bright and lit up, as if she had seen the guy whom she had been crushing since high school. Managing her skirt, she entered the room. It wasn't any ordinary room. It was her wonderland. It was her heaven. The smell of the unexplainable yanked her by her nose into the the small entrance. She couldn't believe what she was seeing. She was caught up in quite a predicament ,she did not know from where to begin. This 23 year old women had turned into a her younger self.She anyway looked younger her age, her wavy hair was tied up in loose bun, that made her look seedy. The beauty spot above her perfectly shaped lips drew attention to her smile. Her infectious smile was the only makeup she wore on her face. The first glimpse of the room made her joyous, It was crowded than what she had expected. With lighter paces she took her footsteps and adjusted her empty bag, which kept falling from her narrow shoulders. As she Entered the room she couldn't believe her eyes, She took a deep breath,fiddled with her gold chain, pressed her lips and moved towards the counter. With hesitant voice she asked politely "where could I get the basket to keep the books". But her voice was drowned in the hustle of the book shoppers.Gathering a little courage and feeling sorry about disturbing the volunteer she repeated her query again, but this time only to be heard.The Curly hair lady behind the counter gave her look as-if-she-had-asked-her-kidney.But she called for someone and got her what she needed.The short guy in blue uniform bought her the basket. She held the basket as if she was holding a baby, with care.A minute later she was humming to the 'let it be' which was being played softly in the background. She moved forward the half dozen counters and came towards the map that would guide her towards the book sale. It was a maze full of books. Various genres were divided equally among the room. her eyes glided over to history, music, art, war, military and stopped wandering after she saw literature. She located the section and realized it was at the far right end of the room, paving her way among the uncles discussing about war to reaching towards kids who wanted coloring books .She smiled and made her way carefully with the basket in one hand and her empty bag in other.However she had to stop as the line couldn't move forward, everyone took their time to pick up their friends and she respected it. she stayed there for a minute or so, browsing carelessly through the Arts section. the sunlight that had managed to shine through the cracks of the old wooden hall, made her tiny nose pin shine on her sharp nose, which would have gone unnoticed otherwise.She drew her hand towards her face to avoid it, but gave in eventually. Her eyes changed color in sunlight,they appeared to be dark drown and watery, complimenting her rubicund skin. She looked at the line and realized that now she could reach to the desired section, she hurried cause she never wanted to miss out on any book. this section was less crowded than the bestseller one. She placed her things down, pulled her t-shirt and started running her delicate fingers on the books curiously. She stopped, picked a book placed in the basket and carried out the task again.Reading the details and sniffing the old pages of the books every now and then, she looked around just to make sure nobody was noticing her do that. She did this till her basket was over flowing with 'Jane Eyre', 'Moby Dick' 'Wuthering heights' 'Ivanhoe' and many more. after she had filled her basket and browsed painstakingly every book they had to offer, she removed the only thing in her bag and sipped it. wiping those droplets of her head, she manged to push the basket all the way to the counter, almost kicking few people in the way. They didn't seem to mind, her hushed sorry, sugar coated with the soothing smile worked like an vanilla ice-cream topped with chocolate sauce on a sunny day. She submitted her 18-19 books on the counter no. 3, to the man in yellow crocs. He smiled and weighed her books. The only part that she hated was paying for the books, actually paying for anything. As he was busy weighing those heavy books, a thought crossed her mind. "what if i steal the books and run away..." she smiled at this thought and realized it was too late. He gave her a pink bill, after opening the bill,for the first time in her life she was actually happy paying for it.She removed the crisp 500rs note from her bright yellow purse and gave it to the man on the counter, thanked him and left having one last look at this hall. Her happiness after this knew no bounds, this time her happiness was in bundle of books, big,small, yellow, brown, hardcover, paper back, neatly packed. The empty bag had now become extremely heavy and this terrible singer took her next steps humming, singing and swaying. She reached home in the evening, still contemplating about which book she would read first. It had already become dark, carrying the load of almost 20 books, she reached her society. Her mind was still caught up, day dreaming about a personal library that she would love to have, about other beautiful little things. With the other step of thought, she tripped a stone and fell on her knees.Everything went blank for few seconds or so, her knees had started to bleed and watery eyes were filled with tears. It took her a while to get back on her feet. But she did, wiping the mud off her legs,she straightened her self up. And with baby footsteps she entered her house, still with books in her bag.Coming home she placed her bag on the chair and went to the washroom to wash her wound. After she had nursed her wound it started burning, it had faded her twinkling eyes and charming smile.After settling herself and fighting the pain she made coffee for herself, sipped it slowly picked up "Jane Eyre" from the depths of the bag, sat next to her window, placed her burning knee on a been bag and read "there was no possibility of taking a walk that day..." she looked at her wound, smiled and read further.

JOURNEY:-

Rhea could have very well flied to Hyderabad that night and avoided that grisly experience. She could have taken the safer and an easy way out, But she didn't. She took the tougher way, which she thought will be fun and a new experience. To an extent it was, but what happened or could have happened that night would have changed her life for real. She wasn't like the girls who jump on the sofa after seeing a flying cockroach or the girl screeching after seeing her girlfriend in a mall .Nor was she the stereotypical classy rich girls that we often see in Karan Johar movies. She was different, she was smart, edgy, spontaneous, always looking for an adventure, and she was the quite essential "bindass types". Her mum often referred to her as "the one who invites trouble with "open arms". Her family always wondered where their only 18 year old daughter got so much nerve and courage from. She was the weakness of her family. After convincing for 15 minutes, her dear dad glided like butter on toast and agreed on sending her alone to Hyderabad. Being an avid traveler that she was, she wanted to try something different this time. Do something that she could talk about even after years. Rhea wanted to do something unforgettable. She wanted to be on her own for a change, and make this trip alone to meet her dear uncle and aunty. Finally the day arrived; she was so excited that she couldn’t get her siesta. She was anticipating the things that could happen tonight. Good things. After all this was her first long distance train journey. The whole truth that there was no one to watch over and tell her what to do and what not to, made her joyous. She was wondering those new friends she would make on the journey, those garam chai that she could have on the station and maybe jump back into the slow running train before it caught speed. It was all too much exciting. Half a dozen people were on the station to see her off. Her parents were worried, but choose to hide their feelings, and the traditional “did you carry that, hope you didn’t forget it” reminders begin, with last minute advices of not eating from anyone’s tiffin and not talking to strangers end in a jiffy before the train could pick up speed. She boarded the Hussain sagar express departed at 21.40 IST. It took her 15 minutes to get comfortable, and she was travelling in a cabin where there was no one except her. She was ecstatic to look out of the window and see so many lights. It was like night had brightened only for her, she drifted in thoughts as cold winds danced with her hair. Half an hour into the journey and she was disrupted. Ticket Checker entered her cabin, the uniform and expressionless face made her happy for no reason, she was happy to have a ticket and show it to him. It sort of gave her a responsible adult feeling, after seeing her ticket and going through the list he had. TC told her she had boarded into the wrong compartment, and that her compartment was right behind. She enquired if she could stay here instead. as she was already comfortable and didn't want to shift. But the TC politely told her there were reservations and people would get in here after few hours and would need to shift sooner or later. She had a lot of luggage. That smile turned into frown as she carried her 3 heavy suitcases to the second last compartment. Lesson 1. See which compartment you are entering. Her hands were paining by now, and seeing a young, attractive girl all alone, guys tried to offer her a helping hand, she refused at first but then she thought –what the hell! So she gives all her bags to this fair guy in goa shorts and ice blue shirt. This is how she breaks the basic rule of not talking to strangers. This handsome stranger happens to be doing a lot to help and so as a pay up he asks her personal sort of questions and tries level best to hook up, after 20 minutes of carrying heavy luggage he realizes that this wasn’t going anywhere so with a scorn he tells her this all that he could do, and has to get back now. She feels bad letting potter go away but then is happy when she realizes that her compartment was just 10 feet away. She happily makes her way through those cramped up compartment, reaches her cabin takes her bags inside and locks it. But when she takes a look at it she realizes, she has jumped out of the hot pan into the fire. There were 3 dark men, broad, unfriendly and dressed in shorts and vest. Cold feeling of fear gripped her. That untidy hair, those blood shot eyes made her extremely scared. Somehow she adjusted her luggage; none offered help but their vacant eyes and cold expressions gave a bold statement about them, she parked herself on her seat and told herself to relax and to avoid any eye contact. She thought may some TC could help her. What made her confused about them was they did not speak language that she could remotely understand. So when these guys looked at her and laughed, she tried her level best to pretend all was okay, she was fine, but well she wasn’t . Her fear had changed into mild fever. She thought she should go to sleep, so she removed her bed sheets and tried to get sleep but the constant stares by these men made her so uncomfortable that it became impossible for her to close her eyes. She thought maybe she should call home after all it was just 11.30. So she took out her phone and became angry to see she was out of network. She said a genuine prayer and swayed as the train picked up speed. The lights flickered in the cabin, her heart stopped beating for a while. The short guy among the three got up and poured out something in glasses, everybody said cheers and had a sip. After seeing this from a small hole in the bed sheet she covered herself like a dead mummy in the sheets. The tension was growing after every few minutes these guys looked at her after few pegs they switched off the light, and were still sitting and chatting with each other. Rhea closed her eyes and told herself to gather courage she hoped a TC would come, but no one turned up. So she made a strong decision to sleep instead, her troubled eyes were closed forcefully by her mind and her courage drew as a blanket on her, with those battles in her mind she slept. Only to get up next morning to see those horrendous looking men suit up in front of their laptops smiling at each other and discussing something serious, which thought would be about business. She got out of the cabin smiled at herself, said thanked God and realized how wrong her predictions were. She brushed her teeth and had a face wash,It somehow did wash down her terrible feelings of last night. Had coffee and continued her journey.

The beginning:

Hello! I am back as promised. Excited and very much here. Well i have to accept beginnings are difficult. Second day of the ritual and I am thinking what do I blog about? hmm... last night on the bed many thoughts passed by like birds in the air but nothing concrete that made me say "this is it". After a lot of pondering and countless hours of watching various movies and sipping strong cup of coffees, I think I know where I could start from... I was seeing this movie based on 1966 NCCA basketball championship “Glory Road”. I don’t really enjoy any kind of sport but a movie is a different tier. 10 minutes into the movie and I knew some part of me was excited, inquisitive and absorbed in a story like that. I don’t really know whether it’s the story line, the sport or the coach Don Haskins. I liked every aspect of the movie, it was real. It played a cord and made a connection. Coach: the spearhead was not only passionate about the game, but also his players, about fundamentals, rules and discipline. I always wondered what made a good leader and why would bunch of people follow someone? cause as far as I have seen and known, No one likes to be told what to do and they definitely would hate a insistent leader. Ain’t this true? Then why…? I never actually had and answer to that but I tried to reflect and see if I had a coach, a guide or maybe a mind shaper that I followed. It dint take long for me to understand that I did have a coach whom we followed in spite of countless discrepancies and disagreements. His aggressive, irksome, tenacious, impulsive ways could tick anyone off. Yet what made him so acceptable was the fact, he was our professor, whom we very fondly referred to as Crazy old man (COM). His countenance was stern yet so easygoing. He is force behind many students, he thought us to push our limits, to fall and rise again, criticize till one can take it, follow the rules and break them at some point of time. He is a grandfather figure to me, he made us Question and find ourselves. He is the reason why I started writing. I owe to this big old coach whose motivational letters and one to one sessions, rap songs in the middle of the class, built our personalities. By shaping our crazy-tivity into productivity, he brought discipline and laid fundamentals. I would not really believe that I followed him but yes he definitely he was a ray of hope in lives of many students, he designed young adolescent minds. Not everyone has a gift of a coach or guiding star. I am glad I did, I don’t know if you guys had someone in your lives. If y’all did, do take time to thank that person, cause well it’s been ages I messaged the COM, I shall call him right away to let him know he has been missed and would thank him to give me start which was the bitter, grim and the best. But what the hell I wouldn’t want it any other way. *hugs sir*

New year's resolution

Hey! Its been a year or so that i blogged, its been really long, but with a help from my dear friend and a movie that i saw today. I have made a resolution. Hmm... yes yes a new year's resolution. It's something i hope to do very often, something that will 'bring me back on track' and so i have decided I WILL BLOG. often. Blogging is just me or may be a part of me who wants to say something, The hushed voice which is overlapped with my giggles. It is a promise to myself i will write to become a better person. or maybe to escape from reality. frankly i don't know the reason why i started writing in the first place. That short time when i did was bliss, it gave me a head start, it gave me something to finish, something to read and well something to think about.I realized i would be a fool to let go and so with this sweet realization i shall say bye only to come tomorrow with a new post.