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