2015 Roundup- "A sheer roller coaster ride!"

The year 2015 was quite a roller coaster ride for me, as I shifted my city and multiple jobs. It taught me too many lessons which can never be forgotten and it also gave an insight in to my heart and helped me understand myself better with each passing day. I will try to maintain the tone of this post not too emotional and the length appropriate :) The year started on a high note, when Imran (my husband) and I decided to shift to Hyderabad from Bangalore. I was actually low but was feeling high as well, as new things make life less mundane! I was also high as I will be near to mom , dad and low as I would have to leave the city I loved the most. I will list down the major events of 2015 in my life!

High Points and Low Points

•  I celebrated Newyear 2015 after visiting God's Own country Kerala - Wayanad and wrote the below lines when the clock struck 12:oo A.M. on Jan 1st 2015 - "A new path is ahead of us. We may not be able to predict to where it will lead us but we know we have to walk it anyway and embrace it and not run away. Wish you all courage, strength, love, optimism, good will, health and fun while you tread along it ! Happy newyear 2015 to one and all" Well it is the same for any newyear. The trip was beautiful and rejuvenated me for the big move to Hyderabad

Taken at soochipara falls - Wayanad

• Hyderabad- The land of Biryani and Haleem and the land where mom, dad and bro live did pull me towards it. I was glad but at the same time was feeling confused as I hate being in midst of too much crowd and too many known people. Fortunately I was and am not a part of many social gatherings but still the very thought, spreads the phobia instantly in my head, due to various reasons, the major one is in the snapshot below :) , My dislike towards "variety" of people and liking towards books and my cosy corner, only increased with each day. Sadly I became more unsocial but I became much better , because who else can be better friends than books ? The best book I read in 2015 is Life of Pi , which is worth a 1000 friends !

source : here

• I joined a new job in Hyd in Feb, and it took it's natural course of time to get acclimatized. It was neither easy nor tough. Started missing my Bangalore office friends as each day felt more lonely. I finally got used to the place, did well in the job and received accolades and managed to get bonded with the team.My Doctor appointments increased due to carpel tunnel syndrome and other general recurrent health issues and naturally I had to mention this at work, but I felt blessed as most of the team was co-operative and polite. They had that rare attitude which wants the co-worker to do the work and go and I feel proud to say that my work always spoke for me. My timings in office, the energy or enthusiasm were measured ofcourse, but never scrutinized a lot, and I was at ease even with tight schedules and micro management only because I loved my work and they knew that fact! I slowly started forgetting Bangalore.

• A big personal blow which happened in 2015, is the breakup of a loved one with his spouse. I visualised how the marriage was broken and what all lead to it and was totally shattered. It still shocks me whenever I revive what all happened and when I keep hearing or seeing what all is happening. It taught me a big lesson, that a sweet smile, education and a beautiful face are not good enough reasons for a marriage. It is very tough to choose the right person specially in India where many people go with the tide and try to work on their broken relationships much later and fail. I appreciate the guts of the person who decided to file a divorce. A loud applause for making the decision to restart the life, because it doesn't make sense to live on broken remains with bruised hearts! My prayer for 2016 is that honesty and truth should eventually win. I want the hearts of all my loved ones who are facing the brunt of this broken relationship to be repaired. I want them to use their hearts again and feel good. When  I think of them, I always remember the below quote from the movie - Home alone and for those who have caused pain, their acts are their own curses !

source : here

• Expect the unexpected, I had to leave the job after 6-7 months due to travel plans to Europe and the conveyance issues to office, which were hampering my health but the twist in the story is , I couldn't travel due to few unavoidable reasons and joined another renowned company much near to home after a short gap. I felt it is the solution to all my problems and I can save my time, energy and stay fit but God indeed is a gamer. My health problems increased in a month of joining the new office. The place was unfriendly, work was always random and unclear , and people somehow were too disconnected and I was cheated as there was a  mismatch between the written policies in joining forms and the actual baseless policies which were mentioned to me at work. I somehow failed when it comes to "attracting" the new manager and new people with my work. I always was and am passionate about the work I do but when the boss sucks and when Devil wears Prada doesn't work for long, I felt I should resign . The lesson I learnt is to never ever express the vulnerabilities at work place as the person to whom you report may seem empathetic in the start with the honey dripping tongue but has full potential to be an actual jerk. After too many arguments , verbal fights , and me escalating and mailing the other authorities , I left the job. I definitely am not enjoying whatever happened. It took me 10-15days to recover from the poison spurted out from crap mouthed person who is the sole reason for my resignation. I still am in shock and it will take time but this only made me more strong and when I will be back, I will be back with a bang. She (my manager) for a second seemed to have sucked the soul out of me like a dementor in Harry Potter. When demons invade from all directions , you are shaken and you loose confidence for a while but then you have to come back because you know your worth and no Tom , Dick , Harry can measure it in a span of a mere 2months. To hell with her and to hell with the people who lick her feet. I was never so glad just because of not seeing a person on daily basis! 

I want to suggest a book Big Leap by Gay Hendricks for all who are sailing in the same corporate boat and have to face rude bosses , unhealthy work culture and robotic people around you. I am sure it will definitely help you either to go with the flow or just amend or get rid of the mess!

source: here This is my all time favorite movie- Pursuit of Happyness. I feel so peaceful , when ever I watch it. I watched it after I resigned and regained the faith that I can conquer the world and I will not let any idiot tell me, what I can and can't do

• Another major event for this year is my husband's visit to Belgium as part of his office assignment , for a period of good 3 1/2 to 4 months. Long distance made me miss him like never before and I can surely say it strengthened our bond. Minus point is that I did not plan to visit Europe and joined the new job which I left now :( Biggest learning is to not miss such opportunity if it knocks my door again. I was extremely tensed after the Paris terrorist attack as husband visited Paris just two weeks before the attack! I was quite edgy till he landed in Hyderabad and let out a sigh of relief as soon as I saw him in the airport. At the risk of sounding dramatic, I want to say that as soon as I saw him half of my worries vanished and my faith in myself got restored with him by my side again :) The bonuses from the trip are the Belgium chocolates , which taste heavenly & the gifts I got from Paris!

• I travelled to Mumbai for just 2 days, to meet bloggers and attend an amazing event #BNLF (Blog Now , Live Forever). It gave many memories and made me glad as I travelled with a friend and this is something which I wanted to do from long. I went to watch a movie all alone. This must be a silly thing for many, but I fulfilled it after ages , so making it one of the milestones reached in 2015 :) . I visited Pondicherry, which is blissful due to the beaches, ashrams, and the general calmness around the city! It is the best place to unwind and relax away from the run-of-the-mill life!

Pondicherry Beach Sunrise

The loot from Belgium

At #BNLF Mumbai

Some desires and to-do's for 2016

I don't have any resolutions for 2016 as resolution sounds like a heavily loaded word, but I want to make a to-do list, strive to implement most of the stuff from this bullet list and yes, I do have some prayers!

• To read more and to travel more. I have read around 10 books in 2015 and I definitely want to increase the number. I have challenged myself to 30 and I am really hoping to reach the goal as I am a slow reader.

• My prayers for my loved ones. I really pray they get rid of the evil vibes which are bothering them from long. May the good omens be with you!

• A prayer to not witness terrorism and be a part of some good change and do my bit, giving importance to burning issues and NOT BE PART OF ANY MUDSLINGING on trivial crap over social network.

• To reduce the intensity of FaceBook usage and deactivate my account for a while. Only blogs keep me glued to FB or twitter but excessive usage damages brain at times. I am waiting to take a break from online socialising rituals and see less updates from the entire world :)

• To work in a company only if I feel good about the change and not take any hasty decisions while taking up a job!

• To blog more, cook more, learn new recipes, to continue the gym regime and to just be in good health, be happy and smile a lot.

A very Happy new year to one and all. Have a great 2016 Fellas!

What were your #Talesof2015 and do you have any plans for 2016? Do share :)

I’m sharing my #TalesOf2015 with BlogAdda. 

Thanks to Blogadda Team for this topic as it helped me to reopen my blog :)

Salute to Mumbai Martyrs (26/11)

Saw a Spine Chilling documentary on 26th Nov 2015,of the Mumbai terror attacks and the Siege which lasted for more than 60hrs from 26/11/2008 to 27/11/2008 and was too shocked to speak or have any opinion. Excerpts from Ajmal Khasabs interview in Hospital shown on HISTORY channel are shared below.
Police: Whom are u asked to kill?
Kasab : Logon ko (People)
Police: U know what is meant by Jehad?
Kasab: Nope!
Police: Then Y r u killing?
Kasab in a satirical tone: For the money sir (Paisa milta hai baau)
Police: Dont U feel guilty for doing so many killings? Havent U questioned your trainers that?
Kasab: Yes. At times I feel so, but they do wash our brain and in 3 months make us ready for sacrifice.
Other than this, all the live conversations on radio phones between the handlers from Pakistan who were coolly giving instructions to each Terrorist to kill, to not get diverted, and to scare people by throwing grenades or burning the dome were recorded. They also passed continuous instructions on how to fight till the end and not get caught by police men made me too dejected , helpless and my eyes and head were boiling by the end!
I was not aware that they also had put Rdx in taxis which took some more lives . Looking at the feed of surveillance cameras made me silently cry. Hearing to stories of survivors did not make me courageous. At one juncture the handlers from Pakistan over the radio phone, when the attackers were amused by the hotel were exchanging conversation like below:
Attacker : “You know here they have computers with 30 screens or so, masha allah ! So amusing!”
Handler: “Don’t get distracted . Have you put the rooms and dome on fire or not? I should see them on TV Live . Do that ASAP.”
They were discussing their agenda and passing orders between each other simply like we do in case of an office project or some sport played for fun or a good cause :( I watched the massacre on TV for more than an hour and couldn't sleep properly the whole night as the scenes and voices kept dancing infront of my eyes!
8 terrorists or may be more in groups of 4 destroyed the city like never before. They are doing it with out any thoughts or feelings , like robots who are keyed and loaded with evil programs. I was too terrified when I saw that the terrorists made it a point to kill till their last breath. Not sure if it is right to feel this, but when a guy called Fahadullah said that his partner died just beside him, I felt pity - Pity on their nonchalance, the life they lived, the parents who gave birth to them, the country(ies) who nourished them. I felt weak and hopeless when they were chanting the beautiful words like Insha-allah and Masha-allah for these evil deeds. Again the same questions bothered me! How can they be brainwashed? How do they become so evil? What can stop all this? How can we uproot terrorism? How to do our part in uprooting it?
I know there are many Indians too who are recruited by all the terrorist organisations like ISIS or Al-Qaeda or any such inhuman organisation which makes me shudder. How and what can stop all this ? Can we be united and come up with a strict agenda to end the evil? It was Mumbai or Hyderabad then. Peshawar or Gaza later, Paris and Mali now and the places like Syria, Palestine, Nigeria, Gaza, Pakistan, Iraq, Afghanistan and so on , so forth who always live under the canopy of terror."Saddest fact is that the main motto of these people who call themselves saviors of Islam is to destroy Muslims like me and many." The terror waves are getting bigger with each day and How ? What ? Why? When? - such questions keep flogging the mind as always.
Wish the youth gets a right direction. Wish God takes the lives of terror creators in worst possible way. Wish initiatives like this - http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Islam-and-terrorism-now-in-madrassa-course/articleshow/48383137.cms keep increasing. How I wish everyone can prefix the words Non-Islamic to all the terror organisations, instead of tagging “Islamic” with all attacks. How I wish I can live a life where there are no questions bombarded at me about the religion I follow!
But for all the perpetual questions, the only answer I have is- " I am a human and any human who does an act which I can't even fathom for the betterment of humanity is God to me!" I am not sure how to end this post but I just want to salute all the brave hearts , like Vijay Salaskar, Unnikrishnan, Hemant Karkare , Tukaram Omble and many more who have lost lives during this massacre - http://www.ndtv.com/photos/news/a-tribute-to-mumbais-bravehearts-982#photo-9649 . Whether or not it counts this is my tribute to all the “HEROES”

Note: This is an FB note I wrote on 26th November

The pics courtesy : https://www.facebook.com/Indianarmy.adgpi/photos/a.154174701445834.1073741939.123788044484500/437212886475346/?type=3
http://drop.ndtv.com/albums/NEWS/2611bravehearts/1ff.jpg

The biggest "Tamasha" called Life

After a dilemma to choose from some new movie releases (like Cheekati Rajyam & Size zero ) I finally zeroed on Tamasha.

Film: Tamasha
Cast: Ranbir Kapoor, Deepika Padukone, Piyush Mishra
Director: Imtiaz Ali 
Writer: Imtiaz Ali

Tamasha - After watching it, I felt reviewing is tough because  not every one can be an Imtiyaz Ali who can explain all the complicated emotions in such a simplistic way ! Like some one told in a review , only he can understand the complicated heart matters like no one else and also succeeds in letting the viewers understand them! 

Tamasha makes you go in to a pensive mode. Fun and emotions are blended well and it presents to U the finest PAIR OF THE YEAR Ranbir Kapoor and Deepika Padukone heart emoticon - Both have evolved beautifully and Imtiyaz brings out the best in both the actors. Deepika is drop dead gorgeous and Ranbir is no less. His demeanor which naturally gets transformed, his expressions, the Dev-anand act , the very acting prowess will just charm you.They both complement each other perfectly well.

Story line, songs and my views: 
Tamasha is a fantasy world created by Imtiyaz which is not actually full of fantasies and depicts the real tamasha we all face called life. It is an off beat movie which suits only a niche audience. It is like a stage show from start till the end where you get enchanted by the characters dancing on the screen and also the characters which come to your mind from your real life experiences :) 

If the song Chali Kahani kick starts the story showing the little Ranbir who gets intrigued by all the magical stories embedded in the universe and happily lives in his world, the song Matargashti gives you a picture of a fairy land and fills a kind of zeal in your heart which makes you want to go out and be the free spirited person, you actually are from your heart. The song Heer to badi sad hai shows the transition and transformation of characters which evolve in a period of years. The song Safarnaama sung by Lucky Ali, shows the path to your own heart and describes the journey.

The imaginative narration and unique story telling technique used in songs will definitely create happy and sad emotional waves in you! In the first half the bonus is the beautiful Corsica in France where our mystery boy and girl meet. 

image source : here

Deepika is more or less like Ranbir from heart, who loves stories and Asterix in Corsica is the reason she travels to the place which shows that she longs to live the stories she reads or hears. She gets totally awestruck by the hero. However, as per their pact of not revealing their identities, they separate without the knowledge of who they actually are and the second half of the story shows the transition of hero who gets used to the maze created by the world, becomes a product manager and lives the same day every day and is tuned to being monotonous and boring! I loved both the story telling DON in the first half and the robotic Ved in second half, who is more realistic and strikes a chord with 90% of population who kill their hobbies or passions to earn money for a smooth life! Ranbir showed his excellence in both the roles.

 You may occasionally remember the Jordan of Rockstar where he finally succeeds in making passion his career but doesn't succeed much on the personal front. There are glimpses of Ranbir from Yeh Jawaani hai Deewani as well in the movie!

The story is all about the journey of the boy Ved, who loves hearing stories and dwells in the spirit of all stories but eventually gets burdened by the education, mathematics, management and in general the life which makes him do everything he dislikes. Meeting Tara creates ripples in his head and he ultimately decides to explore his own story and embrace his inner self. The way hearts are broken and distanced is also so beautifully shown , that you almost want to go in to the screen and hug Tara and Ved during the song , agar tum saath ho and the book shop scene. However I would have preferred a more supportive Tara who could have helped Ranbir when it’s traumatic for him!

Some of the scenes which will stay with me:

• The scene where Ved’s storyteller from his childhood- Piyush Mishra mocks him, when Ved requests him to give an ending to his story. He shouts, ” Kaayar , apni kahani kaise khatm hogi mujhe poochta hai. (You are such a wuss, you ask me your story’s ending?)” It is like an eye opener to all the viewers who seek advice from others and wait for approvals!

• The entire Corsica episode and the fun and frolic side of Ved and Tara which is beautiful and heart warming. 

• The scene after the stark realization Ved has , where he narrates a story of Heero to his dad (Javed Sheikh) , mom , Sushma Seth (grandmom). You should go to theater and hear to the actual story which makes you question yourself!

• All the songs of the movie which are unique. I loved the way the wat wat song  (sung by Arjit Singh & Shashwat Singh) is shot (the auto driver whose passion is singing is shown in this foot tapping song).

Even if this is not something which You haven't watched before, You gotta watch this just for the unique "story telling" style! Three cheers 2 the team! Jab we met is undoubtedly Imtiyaz's best to me . The music of Rockstar and Highway is heart touching and the music and story of Tamasha is like Chicken soup for the viewers' soul which is soothing and nerve tingling and definitely helps in clearing your head :)  "Tamasha is the best possible reason to divert yourself from all the Aamir Khan's Tamasha" 
tongue emoticon smile emoticon Go for it glasses emoticon . 

All those creative people who are more or less like Ved, can identify with Ved’s character; who is mesmerized with stories but has outgrown his imaginative self due to the mundane life he chose. The film definitely helps them to recognize and revive their old self. The concept of the movie is rather appealing, but it may not every time work in real life, because a lot of home work needs to be done before turning your passion into a full blown career!

PS: You may either love or hate this movie but cannot have any mediocre feelings after watching. You will definitely get high on emotions! I end the post with my favorite song.

Originally Published at The Views Paper

For the love of Maggi...

I think almost all the Maggi lovers will mark the date and time of the return of Maggi. After all the hoopla around the ban happening from about 5-6 months, Maggi has finally come back like a boss in full confidence, flanked by its fans. Snapdeal invited Maggi with much love by packing 12 packs of maggi with freebies and a 2016 year calendar. I felt I was insane to register myself for the Maggi 2 minute Masala noodle Welcome kit sale but once I received it , I felt glad and nostalgic. Nestle's Maggi did create ripples with it's come back. 

Maggi is back :P Image source : here

image source: Here

Though not all, atleast 60- 70 % of Indians have a story associated with Maggi. The ads are touching and real coz many people have such emotional bonding with Maggi. Before you frown, let me share my Maggi experiences and journey with Maggi so far :)

It was in school when I first tasted Maggi Noodles brought by an aunt from Bombay. I had my introduction to Maggi during one of those summer vacations and I didnt become much of a fan then. Even in the later years Maggi was not frequently consumed at our home as we preferred traditional breakfasts / foods like idli, dosa, bambino semiya or many more to Maggi. Slowly Maggi seeped in to our minds as it was easier, tastier and was fun too. It used to be fun to dig your fork and roll your noodle around it and eat with a slurp sound and it is fun even now :) I realized the importance of Maggi in my life only when I started living away from home.

Maggi is a blessing to all those like me who cannot cook but want to eat something which doesnt taste like hostel food (I claim that I can cook now though Maggi is the only thing I can cook with confidence ;) ) . Hostel food usually is a riot of colors which all taste the same. There are many pale yellow liquids of different texture. You can name them only after tasting them. Sometimes it is rasam , sometimes sambar and most of the times it comprises of different kinds of Dals! Some deep fried Indian curry which is brick reddish or brownish in shade and totally not eye pleasing is also served. A white curd, a red pickle , burnt paapad or fryums, a boiled egg or a bowl of oily chicken (which actually used to be heavenly after a week's torture) usually are part of the menu. Whenever my taste buds used to become thick and fail to serve their duty, I used to find my peace in this magical yellow packet with a taste maker.

It doesn't exactly take two minutes to make and I never complained for whatever time was spent in making maggi, because by the end of it , it always pleases all my senses :)

Image source : here

We at hostel used to feel like master chefs when ever we invaded the kitchen with Maggi packets in hand. The hostel cook and his staff politely used to allow us to use the utensils and all the ingredients. There are different Indian-versions and variations of Maggi. Some make it with egg, some with boiled chicken, some with onions, tomatoes and peas and some like it just plain. As there always is a problem of a mixed crowd of vegetarians and non-vegetarians we mostly used to cook it with veggies and matar . The end result may not be as beautiful as in the ads but it was delicious enough to soothe our taste buds and get our senses back! Like this, Maggi became a forever warm friend who used to bring smiles during the dull, mundane hostel life. The partnership with Maggi only became strong with passing months and years. Different people want it differently. Some like it in a watery texture, some prefer it semi solid and some want it to be dry. Maggi is wonderful at marketing as it keeps coming up with varieties of maggi for various consumers. For health conscious public, maggi introduced vegetable atta noodles and oats maggi. Now whether they are actually healthy or not is an open question but the only answerable question is that every living being on planet can easily make maggi. If you train your pet it can make maggi too :-) . This makes maggi the most sought out food and the most favorite food for people living away from home!

During many instances Maggi came to my rescue and so many encounters with maggi are forever memorable. Some are listed below!

1.) I still remember all those lazy days and nights in Infosys Mysore Training Center spent with Friends and Maggi. I do miss those long mid night talks and violation of the rules by boiling Maggie in the kettle. The fun quotient of training days increased due to the boiled maggi in rooms and spending endless nights with friends sharing life goals, horror stories and love stories :P

2.) I remember the day I had high fever and couldn't eat any thing till 3 A.M. in the morning and was suddenly hungry when the soupy noodles brought back life in my eyes and I slept peacefully much to the bliss of my mom

3.) My husband's maggi recipe is super hit at my place. The one made with scrambled egg and onions. A sunday which starts with that maggi can never go wrong. 

4.)  Most memorable maggi incident was when we went to Rohtang Pass , a high mountain pass on the eastern Pir Panjal Range of the Himalayas (Source: wiki). When every one was suffering from Acute mountain sickness and suffering from headaches and falling sick , Maggi and a hot piping chai felt like elixirs of life  .A plate of steaming maggi was the only solace when our empty stomachs were growling! There used to be a maggi ad in mountains which exactly matches the scene we were in that day with tired bodies and sick faces!

Rohtang pass vaali Maggi

5.) Mountains , hillstations, rains, sleepy towns and maggi go hand in hand. You can find a maggi stalls in any quaint little town. Maggi is the quickest choice of food during your long journeys . I found solace in Maggi during my trips to Nainital, Munnar and many other places

There are many more anecdotes which can be narrated here, that describe my fondness for maggi but I will stop here and end the post on a happy note , with the pictures of my snapdeal package and a funny video made by some fans on FB. Now all those who have removed cooking, under their hobbies, can add it back in their biodata as Maggi is back ;) There were many whats app jokes floating around during the ban and now too which are outright hilarious- 

Boy- I Love u…

Gal – but I don’t love you…

Boy – agar kal tum ne mujhe i love you nahi kaha to…

Gal – to kya karo ge? 

boy – to main Maggie kha k apni jaan de dunga…
 

(A boy is threatening a girl that he will give up his life by eating maggi if she doesn't accept his proposal)

Snapdeal Welcome package - Quite impressive

                               
PS: My breakfast today was Maggi which gave rise to this post

Maggi might be not the healthy choice of food . It might be having Lead but it has not lead to any serious consequences so far and I hope it continues to please our palates and hearts. This post is dedicated to all those students, people staying away from home and each and everyone who survived on it many a times!

Originally published at ViewsPaper

Random Conversations with the Smartest Kids

image source : here

After a long satisfying walk with i-Pod still plugged in my ears I walked to the elevator of my apartment where two smart and cutesy kids were waiting for the elevator. The little girl totally scanned me , my face, my hair , I – Pod, sweat and everything and the little boy was lost in his world of Narnia. I felt, the girl spoke something to me after her scan. I stopped the music, removed the ear plugs and looked directly at her.
Me: “R u talking to me?”
Girl: “Yes . Ofcourse. From looooong and U r like humming loudly and dancing, unaware of it.”
I smiled mischievously at the lil drama queen and replied ;) : “Was I ? Ok. Tell me? What is it ?”
Girl : “ Which floor do You stay?”
Me: “6th and U ?”
Girl : “2nd. So how many rounds do You run / walk on an avg?”
Me: “ 8-9. If I feel like I do more than 10.”
She smiled appreciatively and I felt proud by the genuine glow in her eyes.
I asked, “ Which class are you in? Are you coming back from tuition? ”
She replied, “I am in 4th . He is in 2nd, pointing at the boy still in Narnia . I am in Oakridge , he is in Glendale (Or some such name she took). No tuition. Just a chit chat!”
I smiled appreciatively this time as I was super impressed by her sing-song English! :D
Me: “Cool . Is that your school project?” I asked pointing at the bottle with leaves which she was carefully holding.
She thought for a second and again replied in rhythm , “ Yeahh . Actually I am making a project out of waste materials, waste means not waste as such, we collect leaves , colorful papers and put them in bottles, put some lights in them, decorate them a bit more and we just hang them.”
I replied, “Wow . That’s awesome.”
She was quite happy and enthusiastically added, “We assemble to do the same every day.”
I replied, “Great.”
The boy returned from Narnia and shouted loud in a giggly tone, “It is not her school project.”
The lift arrived and we got in.
She promptly hit his head gently with the bottle she was holding and said, “ Dumbo, you think U know everything . You are in Glendale. I am in Oakridge. How do you know about my school stuff ? If you gonna say something , you gonna make some sense!”
I was looking clearly bemused at her!
Then she faced me and said, “He is a bit of cock - a – doodle – do . if U say some thing to him he is gonna say to entirrrrrrrre world , hence I kept the secret from him. As you asked, I just had to say.”
*I mentally noted the word , to check for the meaning after I reach home*
“Cock- a – doodle – do: The loud crow of a cock. (used as a conventionalized expression to suggest the crowing of a rooster, as in stories for children.)”
Me quite unsure of how to react, said , “Err. I am sorry.”
She: “That’s al right. No problem.”
Then out of the blue she said loudly, “I Just love your shirt (some old black tee) and that shrug. I have a similar one. Not a shrug but a dress!”
“Oh. Thanks!” I smiled broad at her. Finally we reached her floor. She was getting out. I just wanted to hug and kiss her but instead said, “ALL THE BEST for your project!”

She said an official Thank You and I felt like I am talking to a colleague :-o ! They both waved bye energetically to me. That moment I felt like be-friending her and equipping my vocab skills. I felt, I can learn better English by talking to her everyday rather than talking to many of my age or folks elder to me at office!
PS: This was a FB note written by me after a recent incident in my apartment. I later felt, I should preserve this in my blog too :)

Kanche movie review

I went to watch the movie Kanche with out any pre-plan. This post is not necessarily a review. I just wanted to write it for two reasons. 1.) It's been long that I blogged on movies which impacted me and 2.) I rarely write about Telugu movies which I always think, should be done often as I love watching a good Telugu cinema! Needless to say Kanche falls in the category of good cinema. It has a unique script, a thought provoking story, powerful dialogues, a good director Krish and a fresh star cast who did manage to do their best!

Kanche - Who's who!

Directed by	Krish
Produced by	Saibabu Jagarlamudi Y. Rajeev Reddy
Written by	Sai Madhav Burra (dialogues)
Starring	Varun Tej Pragya Jaiswal Nikitin Dheer Sowcar Janaki Singeetam Srinivasa Rao Gollapudi Maruti Rao
	Source : Wiki

About Kanche stars

I watched Gamyam and Vedam  made by director Krish and became an instant fan. I trusted him and hoped this to be a watchable flick and he did not disappoint me. Kanche has Varun Tej in the leading role. It is quite a bold and modest attempt by Varun Tej, taking in to consideration, the biggies of film industry who back him up and who mostly do meaty and massy roles to allure the audience. I am not saying the mass impact is not important but I applaud Varun Tej for picking a story which actually suited him, instead of being under the stress of out shining the uncle or cousins! For those who never heard of him like me, he is Chirenjeevi's brother Nagababu's son. So it is natural to have the immense peer pressure which might have lead him to mimic what his seniors in family are doing but I appreciate him for trying to gain his USP, and for standing out of the crowd ! I did not watch his debut movie Mukunda . I only saw posters and hoardings which showed an intriguing fresh face. He does have a spark in eye which is charming. If hero is around 6 ft tall, the villian Nikitin Dheer is equally appealing who stands tall at 6ft 3" or so . Both seemed apt for their respective roles. Varun Tej who acted as Dhupati Hari babu in the movie is calm, docile, poetic yet strong and bold. Nikitin as Eeshwar is rude, crude, angry and violent. Pragya Jaiswal as Sita Devi is a fresh face who looked a bit like Nargis Fakiri and played a passionate role as the lover of Hari babu. All other veteran actors Sowcar Janaki , Gollapudi Maruti Rao are all known faces who were just fit in their roles.

source: here

Kanche Story line and Review

Kanche starts with a war backdrop and a monologue in the background where the context to the movie is set. You will get a fair idea in the opening scene that movie will revolve around a no-nonsense serious theme. The story oscillates between past and present , presenting to viewers , lives of people set up in two totally different locations and conditions but the problems , ignorance and wars waged with in a society are quite similar. Kanche, a Telugu word means fence . The entire movie shows how people demarcate the society with many fences laid due to various reasons like caste, creed , religion , region and status and how these fences can lead to disaster. The male protagonist Hari (played by Varun Tej) falls in love with Princess Sita Devi. They both hail from same town where the feelings of demarcation are strongly imbibed in all the dwellers. Hari, a person from lower caste and Sita Devi belonging to a royal family try their level best to persuade their elders , society and also the brother Eeshwar played by Nikitin Dheer but Eeshwar stays stubborn which leads to a outrageous fight between hero and heroine's brother leading to some tragic consequences. The story is set in the year 1936. After 3 years , in 1939 the hero and villian are seen to be serving Indian military forces and supporting Italy during the world war when Hitler and his followers are ruthlessly slaughtering people. The hero and villian have same amount of valor but their ideologies differ.

The scene where Hari saves months old baby girl whom the German forces are vehemently planning to kill as she is born to a jew and non-jew, is quite touching. The plight of people during second world war makes us shiver and the viewer can effortlessly draw an analogy between the world war battle field and the fights across the fences in the small town to which Hari belongs to. It dawns on every movie watcher that it is just a matter of time to witness an unfortunate event like world war 2 if people don't wake up. Director subtly connected both the stories and the way Hari breathlessly tries to erase the borders and shows us the big picture of humanity is like a wake up call to all of us. Be it 1936 or 2036 the problems we face were, are and will be similar is the gist I got from the movie!

By the end of the movie you feel tragic but you leave the theater with a contentment in heart which makes you think that with a strong resolve and a pursuit to change the wrong doings around us, we can actually do miracles and make our life worthy!

Varun Tej's role and most of the sensitive dialogues will be etched in the mind.

Few loopholes in the movie

• Direction and editing are faulty at some places. For instance war scenes are  repetitive and will bore the viewer. Editor should have put some more effort in making it flawless!

• Srinivas Avasarala's light tone and jokes work some times and fail some times

• Not every one understands German or English. I felt subtitles should have been provided for every viewer to understand the conversations.

All in all the movie is an engaging watch which will impact most of the viewers :)