Music musings!

It was just another evening, I had opened Saavn app on my phone to listen to some songs, a suggestion on the app shows up, and it was the song "Mellaga Karagani" from Varsham movie.  It had been quite some time that I had listened to this song. I just tapped my finger on the play button, well, there it was, the magic unfurled through the words penned by one of the the great lyricists Telugu film industry had produced, Sirivennela Seetharama Sastry. DSP did add more magic to the song through some wonderful music.

The line "chali pidugula sadi vini jadisina bidiyamu, tadabade ninu vidaga.." 
and then this "ee chiru chinukuaina.. nee sirulanu nee chupena, aa varununi ke runa padi pona e paina", oh dear! how could someone put it to so subtly and poetically a situation where the romance between two lovers and the playfulness that the rain brings in share the center stage. It is so well crafted that, you feel the rain, you feel the chill, you feel the romance interwined in every line of the song.

Though this song might not feature in the top ten or even the top twenty all-time great songs of Sirivennela, but it struck a chord to me, not just now, but every time I had listened to this, only now did I feel the itch to talk about it.

Sadly, my mind can't recall any such songs that have made an 'impact' of this sort in the last few years or so. With the movies going more commercial way, I feel that it is crippling the creativity and freedom of the lyricists. Maybe, some songs of Manam and the song chali chali ga allindi, could make one sit up and appreciate good music with an equally complementing lyrics or vice-versa. I did think over a while to list any other songs, but no, nothing comes off the top of my head right now.

Well, how often do we come across these days, some beautifully penned lines like "Sarada mallela poola jalle vennela navvulalo.. Sravana sandhaylu rangarista kannulatho.." or "Udyogam ippinchava.. sooku udyana vanamali ga". All I could hear is, a song whose pallavi begins in Hindi, and then goes on with some Telugu lines, and then adulterate the charanam with some English gibberish. As they say give a man  a fish, he will eat it for the day, teach him how to fish, he will eat it for life, give the lyricists the space and the extra large wings for their imagination so that the songs that we get to listen to can be classified more often under 'Music' than 'Sounds'.

This post might come across as a contradiction to what I had talked about "why this kolaveri di" in the past, I was all praise for that back then, but yes, that was first of its kind and it had to be accoladed. All am saying is peppy numbers can't please the ear, there has to be some kind of music at least once in a while that still upholds the lyrical values and reach the class "Timeless".

Feel like listening to the song? Here it is -

Super Mario comes on the Vespa!

Hello there! Am back here, yet again. Well, I certainly miss this space, don't know how it took over six long months to be back here. Just another phase of 'writer's block' I could say. Ah! I don't like to associate that term every now and then I stop writing, but still, I can't think of a better term than that. Or wait, maybe I could say, my blog was undergoing a phase of 'Development Hell'. 

As Wikipedia says, it's a state during which a film or project remains in development without progressing to production. I can associate this term to many of my blog posts, which are struck mid-way and waiting to be complete and be pushed to production! So, in the mid of this hell thing, the Vespa, yeah, the lime-yellow one had woken me up from my long slumber. To be accurate with my thoughts, it was a colleague's whatsapp profile picture, posing on the Vespa, was the actual trigger.

Ok, so why should the Vespa bring me back to writing? Well, the picture reminded me of the crush I had on it some two years ago and I felt like reading the post I had written about it back then. It felt really nice reading it and there was a sudden urge to write something, thought that something could be anything that would come off the top of my head and hence this piece! Ok, here's some trivia for you, 'Vespa' is the Italian word for Wasp.

Italy has always been a country of special interest to me, be it the God Father series or the Margherita Pizza or the Angels and Demons (Vacitan I know, but still!). As I talk about God Father - I remember this - 'Leave the gun, take the cannoli'. And God Father again reminds me of 'You've got mail'. I am quite a fan of the movies with references to some famous movies. Some movies, some dialogues will never cease to amaze us. Ok let me not digress to movies. It's about Italy. Period.

And yeah the names - the Materazzis, the Sollozzos, the Michelangelos, the Da Vincis, et cetera., are all fascinating, aren't they? Well, our own Super Mario is also an Italian!

As I think more of Italian, I remember this, the Telugu language is described as the 'Italian of the East', lazy to google it up, do any Quora enthusiasts reading this care to respond?

PS: It's nice to leave some comments you see. Thanks.

Hang on, it's Sunday the 13th, good day to publish?? :D

Image Courtesy : Google Images

Translation Courtesy : Google Translate

Rest all Karta Karma Kriya : Cartic!

1 Movie - Whose fault is it?

I finally watched the most talked about movie of this month '1 Nenokkadine'. In one word the movie is 'brilliant'. I wish I had finished writing this post the very next day I watched the movie, anyways, I am glad that I did it at least this week.

This is the only third time am writing about a movie on my blog over the last four years. So there has to be some significance to it. This post is more of a logical defence and justification to some illogical comments and reviews that I have come across, than an out and out review of the movie.

An English newspaper says the second half of the movie has an uninteresting narration. I was wondering what kind of movie buffs make that statement. It is the second half of the movie that unfolds the twists and makes sure that your curiosity levels are never waned at any point. And all these days I thought there were paid reviews only to talk good about a movie!

Some say, the movie lacked a comic track. Come on, you are not watching Dookudu's sequel here. A person is battling to find his identity, and you expect a bloody comic track there! Please go watch some Allari Naresh movies if you really want your funny bone to be tickled.

There is another set of people who say that the length of the movie is quite long and say that it is beyond their span of attention. So what do you guys want them to do. Let the climax scenes be chopped off and end the movie in a disarray?

I agree, the length of the movie is a little longer than the usual Telugu movies, but it is the same people who would watch the routine sick stories made on the old wine in new bottle formula for some 2.5 hours without cribbing about the time. You are watching a psychological thriller here, and you are expected to be a little focused on what’s going on the screen, and tell you it is not any Inception kind of movie wherein it takes quite an effort from the viewer to figure out what’s going on.

Also, there were some comments that the movie is based on an English flick. Do you think the Director Sukumar would just pull out an English movie from his DVD closet and remake the same in Telugu. Maybe there were a few scenes that would resemble some Hollywood movie scenes. But the movie as a whole is different and unique. Had the same movie been made in Hindi with quite a good marketing being done, the same people would queue at the theatres and would say, 'these kind of movies could never be made by Telugu film-makers'.

There are lot of film-makers in Telugu industry who can make a movie that is on par with Hollywood or world cinema. They have got enough potential but have several challenges in unleashing that. We have been watching the same old stories over and over and say the Telugu film industry lacks creativity and skill. But whenever a movie like this is made, it is welcomed by a bunch of negative reviews and brand it as a zero-entertainer.

A little risk has to be taken by the film-makers too, like what Sukumar and Mahesh Babu did. There has to be a proper spending strategy while this risk is taken, else the Producer would face the wrath. People might not accept these kind of movies right away, but if the people are void of the mass-masala entertainers, they would certainly appreciate movies like this going forward. This should be treated as a step towards more creative cinema in the industry than going for more pot-boilers by the producers. Let the good movies thrive!

PS: No offence meant to Allari Naresh movies, I do like his movies!
Image Courtesy: Google Images

The Phenomenon Called Sachin Tendulkar!

From the moment BCCI announced a test series against West Indies by trimming the more important series against SA in their own backyard, it was evident that Sachin would be retired, though not announced officially by him or the board. And when Sachin finally announced that his 200th test would be his last, I felt a little annoyed that these two tests were accommodated only to help Sachin sign off his illustrious long career here in India.

As they say, no one is greater than the game, a person who is known for his utmost humility could have retired even without playing a so called farewell series. Though that thought was on and off. I still wanted to see him play for one last time, but somewhere I used to get this feel, should he really play? Maybe he wanted the occasion of his retirement more ostentatious and more respectful than any other player who retired in the recent past or any sportsperson ever in India. But, why? he could have still retired, I thought.

The updates on my facebook wall, the two week long series of articles on almost all major newspapers about his 24 year career, the continuous tv shows, the debates on how higher a place he deserves in the cricketing world, the interviews, all this have been making me more turbulent. Somewhere I used to feel that he should have just announced his retirement right away and not after a series or so wherein a lot of hype would be created. I thought he could have followed the way his peers Dravid and Laxman retired, in a low-key affair.

But, I was completely wrong. He could have retired right away, but the thought of Sachin not playing anymore and that Sachin wouldn't be seen on the field one last time would have put the country, the billion people in a state of national mourning. Instead, he made sure that we get an opportunity to witness and savour his batsmanship one last time right here in our country and bid him a grand farewell which he rightly deserves. For many of us, Sachin's career is the timeline of our lives. His debut - our birth. His prime form of the 90s - our childhood and first friends of life. His 2003 world cup run - our teenage highs. His two centuries of the 2008 CB series - our career questions. His 200* of 2010 - our professional challenges. His retirement, 2013 - our lives at cross roads.

Maybe there are exceptions to what I have written above, maybe there are people who are greater than the game. And yes, Sachin is one among them. He can influence a nation. If inspiration can be personified, Sachin would be it's name, a nation like ours with such a huge diversity, the mighty respect and love towards him is the imaginary cord that connects us all. A person of this calibre truly deserves the farewell he got, maybe that was even lesser. If the rules would permit, and a 12th player would be added in a team, just as an honor of respect, Sachin would take that place permanently in the Indian team for ever. Having said that, I feel that the government has gone a little overboard in conferring Bharat Ratna to him, not that he doesn't deserve such an honor but that might open up a whole new can of worms, which I don't want him to undergo. Anyways, that's quite a debatable topic. I don't want to get much into it.

Finally, this post would be incomplete without thanking the master, the cult, the colossus. A big Thank You dear Sachin! You have just retired from the game, not from our hearts. Miss you. 

A Passing Cloud?

It's quite hard when your heart starts getting on your mind, and your central nervous system shifts to the centre of your body from the head.

I thought it must be infatuation but realized I am not someone who just turned an adolescent, hence this rationale fails. I can't give it the name 'love' because for me love means the highest form of emotion, and I believe there is a lot of ground to cover to call it that way.

All I could say is I am disturbed, unnerved, and confused.

You would say, is this something new with you? Yeah, you are right, but this time, the odds are brighter than they were before.

I hate to draw plots, form situations, create plans but as I said in the very first line, my heart is getting over my mind, and as a great soul once said 'People destined to meet will do so, apparently by chance, at precisely the right moment'.

Maybe it was the right moment, I was drawn to the place just for the meet to happen. But, am I reading more of what had happened? They say listen to thy heart! Yes, I am now, but it is completely screwed up at this moment!

If this sounds like a teenager's ramble, boy! am I still young at heart? :D

Well, my question here is, do I have a word for this in the English dictionary???

PS: This was lying in the drafts from over four months or so, just thought of publishing it today, as my blog has gone down on the popularity levels by few rungs! :D

The Kodachadri Trek

The first weekend of this month had been the most eventful, after the bland weekends of May and June. As the monsoon season arrived, and heavy rains lashed all over, my friends and I thought of exploring the Western ghats, and set our foot to trek the Kodachadri peak.

We started from Bangalore late on the Friday night and took the Tumkur-Tiptur-Arsikere-Shimoga-Hosanagara route to reach Sampekatte, a village which is some 15kms from Kodachadri. We had booked a reservation at a home-stay there, it did live up to what was shown in the pictures of the home-stay's website.

                                                 On way to Sampekatte

                                  Parvatha Home-stay, the home-stay where we stayed

After getting freshened up, we reached the base, the start point of the trek. There is this stationery-cum-bakery kind of a shop at the base, where we bought some biscuits, water and some plastic sheets which we customized to fit in as full body rain jackets. With those quick-and-dirty jackets on, each one of us looked like some alien beings, two of us in orange, other four in green. Quite a colorful picture that would make!

We hired a local guide, a sixty plus man named Gopal and we were all set to go. He directed us to the mud road which the local jeeps ply over to get to the peak. After walking a half kilometer on this road, we were asked to get into the woods, the trek was a walk in the park until now. After a few meters into the woods, we were greeted by a fast running stream, it was knee-deep and we crossed our first hurdle with great ardor.

There came our enemies for the day, the blood-sucking bloody leeches. Before we started the trek, the local people at the shop advised us to apply zandu balm on our legs, it would act as a leech-repellent they said. I thought I would google and know whether that would really work, but my phone was off network coverage, hence we went with the locals' opinion. However, the bottle of the cream didn't do any magic on us, maybe the cream got washed off our legs as we crossed the stream or it doesn't really work.

Our trek journey would come to a brief halt whenever any of us was attacked by a member or two from the leech community or when the smokers community in our group wanted a break. We progressed further fighting the rain, the leeches, occasional crabs, water pools and slippery rocks.

After an arduous four-hour trek into the woods, we reached the Hidlumane waterfalls. As they say perseverance pays, the spectacular sight of the falls just took the pain away. The force of the water was so high that if your foot gets slipped on the algae-accumulated surface of the rocks or the wooden barks there's every chance that you get washed away by the gushing stream that flows down the falls. However, moving into a spot, right below the falls would be a safe option to experience and enjoy the fresh water falling on you.

Our guide asked us to speed up as it was getting late and we still had a long way to go, to reach the peak of the hill. We started over again, the rocks and the tree barks were extremely slippery around the falls area, I slipped over twice, but was lucky enough to hold on to some rock or someone in the group.

The next few hours were even more grueling, and there was this point during the trek, wherein you have to walk on a narrow path, the width of the path was just enough to place a foot, and a look towards the left would cast a fiery spell of acrophobia on you, as you are at an altitude of over 1000 meters above sea-level.

Once that stretch was done, we were onto some steep grass lands, the grass wasn't fully grown yet. As we climbed further and farther, it seemed like we were up against a never ending ascent. The grass lands were quite vast, and were mist-covered as the rain was coming down uninterrupted. We still had some distance to reach the Shooting spot, where they say some Kannada movies were shot, it is also the spot where the motor-able road to the Sarvajna Peetha (Sarvajna : Knowledge, Wisdom ; Peetha : Throne, Seat) passes through. But with the stamina levels hitting almost zero, it took an eternity for us to reach the spot.

We were supposed to be picked up by a local jeep, however, we couldn't reach the driver on the phone, hence we were made to walk till the Sarvajna Peetha (The final point of the trek). The Peetha  is some 2km from the shooting spot, however, it took us over an hour or more to reach there as the last remains of energies in our bodies were burnt in reaching there. Also, the rain turned into a heavy downpour and it took us some productivity enhancing techniques like screaming, shouting and singing in accomplishing the last part of this exciting, yet tiring endeavour.

To sum it up, after an adventurous six-hour trek, there we were, at the Peetha.

We didn't explore the Peetha much as we were extremely tired and hungry. There is a small canteen up there, we hogged on every possible edible item available there, and were in the jeep back to the home-stay. We couldn't take many pictures as it was raining unprecedented and also it was mist-covered all the way. However, the wonderful times spent on this trip will be ever cherished! :)

The Universe Unravelled

I remember reading a line on the cover page of the book, The Lord of the Rings - "The English-speaking world is divided into those who have read The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit and those who are going to read them."

Well, for me, the world is divided into two, those who know about The Big Bang Theory and those who do not. If you happen to belong to the latter part, then I am sorry, please go watch it :D .

So now I know what Doctor Who is, what virgin cuba libre is, what Monkey and the Panchali story is, what an attosecond is, and also know how to calculate the area of a curve, how to mask a lie by roping a non-existing cousin who would turn a drug addict because of the ill-treatment given to him in the Philippines, how an action called suicide would be an exception to the definition of practice (v) - repetitive action would result in excellence, how a slurpee is not an icee, how giving someone a gift means putting the receiver under the obligation of giving something in return, how Halo3 is much better than sex, and know about several other things that are above, beyond and part of this Universe.

Thanks to the big bang theory for taking my IQ to the next level. I know many of you might have watched it some years ago, but I was bitten with this bug just a few days back. And I shall now proudly say I am part of the BBT world!!

My nights have gone longer from the moment I have started watching the series. The wonderful concoction of Sheldon's dry humor depicting a close case of Asperger syndrome, Leonard's love trials, Penny's sweet looks and smart remarks, Wolwitz's How-to-flirt lessons, Raj's selective mutism has made me glued to my laptop and watch the series with great excitement. However, I get worried after finishing up every episode like how one feels after emptying the potion of a limited life-saving medicine.

I believe one should savour each episode, dissect each dialogue than watching it marathonically. Else, within a week or two, you would end up watching all the episodes and you would need to find some other alternative. My friend says, Two and a Half Men would do, but come on, where do I find Sheldon in that! 

I know Sheldon would not like me here, because of my non-conformance to English grammar, 'marathonically' is a colloquial usage of the noun - Marathon.

Ok, let's get talking more humane now.

To get the best out of the BBT, I visit here, read, revise every episode again, laugh and also register some key 'take-away'(s) in my mind, rather, to be more specific or to be more Sheldonic, I would register them in the temporal lobe of my mind.

Out of sheer curiosity, I read through some information about Chuck Lorre and Bill Pardy on the internet, the head writers of the show. I didn't see anywhere that they were interested in Science nor associated with it through any form. In fact, Chuck was a drug addict till 47 and he is on a recovery currently. That's quite an interesting fact, considering the level of intelligence that has been shown in the narration, plots and the characters.

Though, not all the facts that are said or shown are 100% genuine, but the radius of their creativity is humongous. And the ease with which they talk about diverse topics, from Bhagavad Gita to Hollywood, Bible to Bollywood, Physics to Physicalities, is something that would draw very high levels of admiration.

I am on the verge of completing the second season, and I hope my knowledge quotient keeps expanding at a very rapid rate. And am hoping that Sheldon would find a companion of his own species in the near future, other than Leonard's Mother though. Also, I owe a big thanks to the BBT for putting me back on the writing mode with this post.

PS : Do we say 'Conformance to' or 'Conformance with'? I was lazy to search on the internet, your thoughts are welcome.

Uncomfortably Numb!

I have been off-blogging for quite sometime now. I don't say that I was busy, rather I would say I was being a couch potato over the last few days, indeed, the last few months.

It has been a phase of inactivity in terms of many sorts, the weekends in particular have been really unproductive. The evenings are spent watching IPL, and during the day the hot Hyderabad summer would make sure that I am numbed and lets me do nothing than making me laze around. It is this time of the year I curse this city the most. I think the guard at the ATM centre has got a better job this summer than anyone else!

Come April-May every year, there would be a lot of talk about the Summer and then the IPL. Just like last year, there have been many conversations on my Facebook wall about CSK, with the fixing scandal going around, the number of posts are more in number this time.

With the South-West monsoon winds arriving ontime, the drizzles over the last few days have produced a calming effect. Hence, I am able to continue this post that was started sometime last month.

I was off from blogging not just in terms of writing posts, but also in terms of reading blogs of other bloggers whom I follow regularly. There are some of them who have stopped blogging of late like me, some have managed to write a post or two like '10 reasons why I didn't blog' and some have got married, at least they are doing something :)

I don't know in which category I should tag this post, but I hate to tag it under 'Comeback post'. Anyways, I shall be back sometime this month (hopefully) with a post of some 'significance'.

PS : There's one interesting fact here. Though I didn't post anything last month, my blog has got the highest number of views this year! Also, it is the second result that google shows up, when you key in 'lubberwort', rewards for using an uncommon name you see ;)

Image Courtesy : http://team-pocket.blogspot.in/2010/07/its-too-hot.html

Some thoughts!

A friend read my last post on the blog yesterday and mailed me asking was I really looking for someone? It was then, I was alarmed that it's over a month I had penned something here. Adding to that, there was something that happened at office yesterday which I thought I should be writing about.

I had nominated myself to be part of the fun committee at office. The committee had asked all the nominees to fill a questionnaire on why we would want to be part of the committee, and those were to be written on a paper unlike an online form.

It had been ages that I have used a paper to answer something, being used to hitting the backspace and clearing out the sentences while writing through the computer, it was a hard time for me in answering those questions. I couldn't complete a single answer without striking out a word or a complete line.

I wondered at the fact that how I was so clear while writing in the answer sheets during my engineering exams. Writing with ink makes one to be doubly sure about their thoughts, I think the clear lines written in one's diary sets an example for that. Let me digress a bit here, a love proposal letter would be a final product only after several test copies reach the dustbin, because the state of love means a state of several hundred thoughts running in the head, and the space for some clear thoughts is very less.

Well, this post might sound quite bland, but yeah, sometimes the most creative Havells advertisements too lack vigor!

There was one more thing I should write about, a question that was asked in the questionnaire, it read - what profession would you have chosen if you weren't in IT? Good question, isn't it?? 

Marriage v/s Grammar

I had started to check some profiles online over the last few days. Yes, the matrimonial profiles (be it out of personal interest, parental pressure or peer pressure). Well, there have been some interesting profiles that I had come across. Though not many were really interesting in terms of taking a step further, but certainly there were many profiles that were interesting in terms of flawed grammar and some bizarre requirements, some of them are listed below -

a) "I used to be friendly and respect traditions"
So, young lady, did you stop respecting our traditions and started being unfriendly of late?

b) "I had one elder sister, and one younger brother. Sister is married recently and brother is studying Engineering"
I am sorry about the first two. So you were 5 siblings before and 3 now! Is my Math right?

c) A girl who holds a Commerce degree and whose profession reads as a Designer says, "My Father is an IITian and works for Central Govt"
 Are you hinting that you are genetically intelligent? Also, I thought that the profile was about you and your education and not about how your Father graduated or how your Brother dropped out of college! *Sigh*

d) "Looking for guys who have BTech/MBA from IITs, IIMs, NITs"
And all this while I thought it was a requisite for a top notch company's job than for a swayamvara! Anyways, they must be humble enough not to mention what score/class they are expecting the guy to have obtained in his Degree.

And hang on, are you looking for 'guys'? I am a strict monogamist. How about you?

e) "He has to be tall, and seeing good"
I am quite tall, and I can see without glasses and lenses but I am a mirror cracking material. Are you game?:D

f) And the best one that kept me laughing for a while-
A Father writes, "Looking for a boy who is caring and who would make love to my daughter!".

I really got nothing to comment about it. I have got a big 'Thank you' for you, for the great laughter you provided!!

PS: I don't mean to treat someone with contempt over their writing skills here. What my point is, when you are projecting about yourself over an Internet profile, it is advisory to present the information correctly such that you avoid some utter embarrassments. Hence, leaving no room for someone to make a mockery of it.

PPS: I am not a grammar expert. You would definitely find some mistakes on my blog, I would be glad if you notify me on my mail if you find any, than bashing me in the public :) Thanks!

A picture speaks a thousand words. How about this? -

Image courtesy : Google Images

The Snowdrop!!

Those mood swings are unfathomable, 
yet not unbearable.. 

Those words could be harsh, yet the innocence of them would mean those are unsaid.. 

Those riveting eyes flare up in anger, 
yet they get calmed down as a tidal wave..
 
Those smiles could be less,
yet every smile is cherished like a three year old.. 

Those thoughts could be paranoiac at times, 
yet once you trust, you trust until the end of the time..

Those days could mean nothing, 
yet they mean everything..

For some you seem an enigma,
but only for some you seem an open book.. and  I am glad to belong to the latter part..!! 

PS: They say some people could only be seen or read about in novels.. maybe they said it on seeing someone like you!! 

You once asked me whether 'Insanity Continues' was about you, well, that wasn't, but this post certainly is!! :)

Contemplation 2012 : #3 experiment [GROW]

WEverb12 : experiment [GROW]

Soon I finished reading the prompt, the one thing that came striking to my head was the long ride that I had gone in the last month to attend a friend's wedding at Gulbarga (North of Karnataka), 210 kms off Hyderabad.

It was a ride of about 420 kms overall which I did for the first time, though I rode around 120 of that as a pillion. I never did that long a distance before, it was a wonderful experience. And to tell you, my beast did really well. I almost thought of chucking him before this ride and this ride has reinforced the trust I had in him!

will you do it again?
Certainly, would love to ride down the NH7 (now NH44) once.

PS: A long ride does teach a lot of things - to stay focussed, to take a little risk, to be patient, to gauge and better one's skills.

Contemplation 2012 : #2 watch[LIVE]

At the time when I was looking forward to write or reflect upon the year that is soon going to unfold fully, I found WEverb12 that gives a series of prompts.

And I am breaking the rules right away! ;) I will skip the first prompt - Composing a Haiku, as I am not comfortable writing poetry or anything that is remotely close to it.

Prompt# 2 - watch [LIVE]

It should be 'The Dark Knight Rises'. Though I rarely watch the Super Hero stuff, this movie certainly awakened a lot of interest and enthusiasm and I loved every bit of it.

Tom Hardy as Bane, who looks gigantically huge and brutal was the one who stole the show for me.

Eega should be the second movie that I would recommend. I don't recollect any other good movie that made an impact on me of any degree other than these two movies.

Found the site from a fellow blogger - Archieunplugged

Of Weddings!

At the beginning of this year, I made a resolution that I would publish at least a post every month.

Well, I missed it in July and October, and was thinking that I might be giving a miss this month as well.  But hang on, I have got something to share and for the first time on my blog, it is about weddings!

I had attended a friend's wedding, a North Karnataka style of wedding the last week.

The one aspect about the event that attracted to me the most was its mere simplicity.

I did not see women carrying KGs of gold on them, they were wearing minimal gold, and they weren't decked up in jazzy silk sarees.

Coming to the wedding venue, it wasn't lighted up with colorful electric lamps, but the stage where the couple were seated  was lightly decorated with some fresh flowers in the background.

Though I was at awe at the simplicity of the wedding, other people who had attended had a completely different opinion  and they felt that the wedding arrangements were "bharjari" (bharjari in Kannada meaning lot of pomp).

And if I had to talk about the bride, for the first time ever I had seen a bride who was so less conscious about her make-up, as she allowed her mother and other women
to apply turmeric and kumkum at will, which was a part of the wedding rituals.

And about the food, it was served about right and not less and not more where in one could finish up all the items without letting something go waste.

Coming from a Telugu family, and having witnessed a lot of Telugu weddings, I could say that there happens a lot of wasteful spending during the weddings. A wedding is treated as a platform to showcase one's social status, and it is believed that the more pompous and 'rich' the wedding is done the more respect they garner.

Instead of spending so much on a day's event, it would be wise to cut down the expenses and one could channelize the same for "good".

Image Courtesy : Google Images

When I raved about Hyderabad!

The sight of the calm Buddha amidst the Hussain Sagar lake , the taste of the Biryani, the Tollywood movies, the summer flares, the occasional thunder-storms, the agitations, the Charminar, the local dialect  - Welcome to the city of pearls, where history meets high-technology!

The affair with this beautiful city kicked off some two years ago, and it has been great going since then. I never quite believed in 'Love at first sight', be it with people or places, and it took me around a year to profess my love towards this historic city.

It was after watching the movie Ala Modalaindi, arguably the best entertainer of 2011, followed by the bike ride late in the night, that particular moment, I felt that longing towards this city, the Pyara Shahr!

This post is a long pending one, and I thought it has to come over at least now as the city is getting decked up for the Bio-Diversity meet.

Here are some of the To-Do's, when you visit here-

# A lunch at Paradise, featuring Biryani, followed by a falooda.

# Watch a Telugu flick of a popular star in one of the local theatres, preferably at the theatres around the RTC cross roads. The packed theatre, the frenzy of the fans, the whistles would certainly account for a movie watching experience that's beyond the obvious. People from Chennai or other places of Tamilnadu can give this a miss.

# An evening ride on the Necklace road, and a stop at the Lumbini gardens to catch the LASER show, would certainly leave an indelible mark about this beautiful city. And I tell you, it is not Just-Another-Show, so don't miss it.

# Want to taste the spice of Rayalaseema? Then you must have the jonna roti with the Gutti vankaya kura (Eggplant/Brinjal curry), served with ghee at Rayalaseema Ruchulu . You would need to stop by Creamstone to neutralise the spice.

# Get close to the heritage, history and the Hyderabadi dialect by visiting Charminar and Golconda. Once you are done taking the pictures, go do some shopping. Men - If you fall short of some gifting ideas to surprise the women in your life, there you are, buy some pearl jewellery from the shops lined across the streets of Charminar. You will definitely find the jewellery adorable and wallet-friendly! Visit Mangatrai if you need some branded stuff of the same.

# Also, sip on the Irani chai with some Osmania biscuits. I will buy you a lunch at Chutneys if you manage to eat five of the Osmania biscuits!

# RFC. Though it's a long time being here in Hyderabad, I couldn't visit the film city yet. But those of my friends who visited say that it is worth a visit. Of course, being the world's largest film studio, it shouldn't disappoint anyone. And yeah, some of my friends were lucky to catch Vidya Balan shooting for the oo la la number.

# One final stop - Don't miss the Borugulu masala (puffed rice), at the road-side eatery near the Malaysian Township circle. Give me a ring if you aren't able to locate it!  I bet, you will feel like visiting it a second time.

I will come back and update more on this space, as and when I explore something new and interesting about this city.

PS: I have seen many people writing 'Hitech City' for HITEC city. Check here for more.
Image Courtesy: Google Images

...And they lived happily ever after - Part 1

I suck at writing fiction. A first of its kind on my blog. Bear with me! Bouquets on the blog, brickbats on the mail please ;)

Time : 7 PM something
Day : Just another day

He checked his watch, and thought that he should be leaving office in a while, and opens the mail inbox if there were any mails that needed his responses before he leaves the office for the day. There comes a call, and the name "Niki" flashes on his mobile, his eyes lit up in surprise.

He picks up the call with alacrity and she says "Hey, shall we meet up for dinner?" even before he says yes, she says "OK. 8PM, the Rajasthani hotel, next to our office. Come soon, I would be there at the hotel."

"OK, I will start in a while" he replies.

He still couldn't believe that it was she who had called him up and asked to meet her for the dinner, as it was the other way around for the last one year, as he was the one who used to call her up every damn evening and ask her if she could meet him for the dinner, even though he knew that the answer would never be pleasing for him to hear.

He thought his perseverance has paid off that day and he was off to the hotel in a jiffy.

They both meet and as they settle down at an empty table, she pulls out a chocolate from her bag and gives him. Another surprise!

And she says, "Every time you used to get one for me, and today I felt like getting one for you!" He was again put in a state of disbelief.

He was totally elated. He asks, "What has happened to you? You are giving me a surprise after surprise. What's the matter?" .

"Let us order the dinner first, I will tell you! And yeah, it's my treat today!" She replied. He nodded in accordance, though quite unconvincingly.

Soon the dinner arrived. Some hundred thoughts were running in his head. She was busy finishing the paratha, he was busy biting his nails.

"You didn't tell me yet", he asked again, in a tone that was a little demanding now.

"I have got my transfer to Bangalore. I will be leaving in two weeks time."  She said bluntly.

He was shocked, not with the news of her transfer, but for the fact that he has only two weeks time to patch up a broken relationship.

(Yes, they were in a relationship some two years ago. Some situations/misunderstandings/circumstances made them quit. In fact, he never wanted to let go, but she desperately wanted to get out of it.)

She looked at him and started laughing, and said, "Well, that was a joke. How did you think a transfer request gets processed that easily and quickly! And anyways, why do you need to put such a sad face even if I leave this city. Some or the other day, I would be going to Bangalore. I would like to stay near to my home-town".

To be continued...

Image Courtesy : Google Images

First Love gave me Pain! First Bike gave me Back-Pain! ;)

Let me talk about the latter statement of the title, instead of the boring love-pain stuff. I have completed a two-year long affair with the golden beast. Well, the first year was pretty awesome, as you could expect in any other relationship. I had welcomed him with a post on my blog, rather it was him who triggered me to start this blog. And hence I feel, my blog and my bike share quite a special relationship among themselves.

Though I was all praise about him and had some wonderful time for the last two years, there started wear and tear, hold on, not for him but for me.

The Apache is certainly a superb bike when it comes to its looks, pick-up, power and more importantly the engine sound for which I had fallen for! But when it comes to the ergonomics it's quite a miserable machine for the rider. And a ride to the Charminar on a traffic-filled Saturday evening means, your Sunday is spent with your back-rested comfortably on the bed.

At first I thought it was my quite a lean frame that was causing this, but I did a little survey of the people who are using the Apache for about two years now, and everyone responded that they are facing some back issues lately, irrespective of how huge or how tall or how strong they are. Thus, confirming that there was an issue with the bike's seating comfort level.

As I had observed, one has to lean a few degrees when you are riding an Apache, as compared to other bikes, where in you could manage to keep your back straight.

The primary reason for this is, the rider's seat gets dug inside a bit and the distance from the seat to the handle-bar is significantly longer compared to other bikes in the league (Pulsar/Unicorn/FZ).

My Mom has been constantly whining to chuck my bike and buy a new bike that would fit in my frame and most importantly a different color this time.

But that's quite a big ask owing to the fact that, it is my first bike and I share an emotional bond with him. My friend Viggy suggested me to take him to a mechanic who would try and bring the handle-bar a little further and raise the seat such that there wouldn't be much of leaning and would help me have a comfortable ride.

I wish the problem would be resolved with that. However, am showing some signs of infidelity towards him these days, as I am fascinated with the retro, the new Vespa (lime color, a shade of yellow again). Lets see whether I would still hang on to the beast or fall for this new chick! ;)

B E A U T I F U L. Isn't she?

Signing off the post with a weird thought that struck me recently.

How weird it would be when a CSK Supporter wearing a yellow jersey, who is sitting on a yellow apache and posing for a photograph in the midst of a farm full of Sunflowers!!?? :D

PS: The color yellow somehow makes me crazy, first CSK, then my bike and now this new one!

Image Courtesy: http://www.vespaindia.com

I am Back!!

Let the drums roll and the fireworks burst, as Cartic is back, with the "Liebster Blog" award!! And this time around, it's not a witty post or a ten-pointer post, but it's a question-answer post for a change. As one of the budding bloggers, Ashitha, had woke me up from a long slumber with the Liebster award (indeed the first one for me), I am back here again writing a post after two months.

Rules

The Liebster Award is for bloggers with less than 200 followers. Award winners share 11 facts about themselves, answer the 11 questions asked by the blogger who tagged them, come up with 11 of their own questions and tag 11 more bloggers with the award.

Thank you Ashitha for the award and most importantly for helping me overcome the writer's block I was facing lately.

I will skip the 11 Facts section as I have already mentioned many a facts about me in an exclusive page on my blog. Hence, it would be redundant to put again some facts here.

Here goes the 11 questions from Ashitha and my responses -

Yet to grow up or Grown up?
Growing up is an ever evolving process. I am still growing up. Meeting new people, gaining new experiences, facing situations, all these would help me keep growing.

Well, that seemed like an answer I would have given in an HR interview. But that's what it is.

Forbidden fruit- is tasty or bitter?
I would say bitter.

Fantasies or Real?
I am a person more into fantasies than reality, indeed, fantasies attributed with sheer weirdness.

Most prized possession?
When it comes to something materialistic, it is the golden beast, my bike!

Others include my blog, books(I consider books as non-materialistic, as what we derive from those is not physical in nature), and loved ones.
 
Person who most influenced the way you are?
Paulo Coelho. Reading around ten books of him should certainly influence anyone. What say??

First thing that attracts you to others?
I think others gotta say this.

Ever been ditched by a girl? 
An unanswered question for me too[Shrugging my shoulders].

If you are writing a book about yourself, what would you like the last lines to be?
"It doesn't end here. All the hell broke loose just now. Wait for the second part!!" :)

Premeditated or Spontaneous?
Premeditated.

If you had only six months left to live, what would you do with the time?
Go around the world. Eat. Drink.

Rate your blog out of 5
This is left to the readers. For me it is always a 5. He he!


11 Random Questions for 11 other bloggers [This must be an easy part for me] -  
I thought I would keep the questions simple. Here goes the questions -

1. What is your blog to you?

2. The most funny incident that had happened in your college days.

3. The last call you made, the last night, before 11PM.

4. Your favorite quote.

5. Who comes to your mind first when you think of 'The Dark Knight Rises', Bane/Batman/Selina Kyle(Anne Hathaway)?

6. Road Fighter/Super Mario/Adventure Islander/Mappy/Lode runner?

7. The book you are currently reading (Or the one last read)

8. What is your cousin's neighbor's daughter's son's pet-name? If you don't know, please call up your cousin, let him/her take the trouble and get the name for you! ;) 

9. First follower of your blog?

10. Believer of Love at first sight?

11. What was the facebook status update done by you that recevied the most number of likes?

I have nominated 11 other deserving bloggers and have informed them on their respective blogs.

The Title!

Well, there goes yet another competition, and me not winning yet again! It is quite hard to digest a no-podium show when you had put your 100% and shown your at most enthusiasm.

It's been quite a long time that I have won some competition (competition here would refer to any contest that would test my creativity and skill, say, forming a collage, painting a face, making a mad ad or a skit). And winning a quiz has been an 'out'standing dream since college! ( I suck when the questions are about the cartoon characters! Who would know the color of Tintin's hair or Uncle Scrooge's bank balance!! That's a question my non-existent eight-year old son would have loved to answer, if he had a chance to watch those old cartoon series, if they were still aired on the TV! )

When I had introspected and checked about what could have possibly gone wrong, I got to know some mistakes I did. I had always put in more-than-required amount of creativity, which would have won me a competition on any given day, if the competition was a debate or an essay-writing contest. But projecting the same creativity/concept on a collage or a face, demanded my presentation skills to the fore and not my communication skills.

The other reason or a flaw is, the way it is judged, or in short, the role of the judges. At times when I get overly out-of-the-box, it would become hard for me to make the judges educated about the concept, owing to the abstractness associated with it.

And with the judges who would always be in a hurry, as they would have some 25-30 teams to be judged, they wouldn't pose many questions to get the concept cleared fully. Then, one would say, why don't you keep that simple? but then, it would be like, your theme is no different than the other participants' themes.

I would want the judges to be patient enough to spend a few minutes with each team, know what the theme is, pose questions if they couldn't comprehend by themselves, and JUDGE it correctly, and not just preside over as a guest.

Another aspect, rather the primary reason behind all the long list of failures is - showing a casual attitude! I lack the intensity until am on the floor. And there is zero ground work done most of the times. And once the contest starts, the intensity would shoot up and make me feel that I could have better prepared before the event had kick-started. Well, that should sum up this lessons learnt document! than a blog post and hoping for a better show in the near future!

PS : It is more a page from my diary than a post on my blog, apologies for making you read a little boring post! Welcome June!

PPS: Shouldn't the PS be the first line of this post!!?

Image Courtesy : Google Images

CSK! The Source of Envy!

Albie Morkel hits 28 off an over, (that includes two edges,and also four genuine cricketing shots). If it was any other player from any other team, they say, 'What a player he is!' And about the edges, well, they are part of the game!', just because the team is CSK, they say 'Did you see those edges? That's just sheer luck! '

And when people talk about luck, I get reminded of a quote, 'Luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity!'  There you go, the opportune moment came in the form of an inexperienced bowler in Virat Kohli, and Albie Morkel was well prepared to cash in on the freebies! And if you call that luck, well I agree on the above premise! But how many would say that, that was a sheer tactical mistake of Vettori!!

CSK picks up seven wickets in the last five overs, there comes a comment 'CSK is riding on luck!', and they lose in the last three balls of the game, then comes another comment 'CSK's luck ran out!'

So what do they mean? A bunch of lucky blokes with no cricketing skills or a team headed by a man who is branded lucky, and who have won three titles just by luck!? Then I would say, you just heard a fantasy story!

And there comes a spectator flashing a placard - 'Tendulkar - God of Cricket, Dhoni- God of Luck', I don't want to say anything more about it, as I have already mentioned about it here.

Well, if CSK is so much riding on luck, they would have preferred playing Casino in Vegas and would be earning millions of dollars just by the so called LUCK, than wilting in the heat of Chennai and playing 20-20 cricket.

With the IPL completing four seasons, people have definitely taken sides, be it on the grounds of cities, regions, players or owners. And with the phenomenal record of CSK, they are certainly the source of envy and hence a lot of criticism! But its utterly ridiculous to brush off someone's competence and winning ability in the name of luck and hence this post!

Well, with three titles in the kitty, we could let go off one this time!! Let's wait and watch what's in store this season, till then, whistle podu!

PS: Yes. This post was intentional!

Image Courtesy: Google Images