My Chicken Soup

Im talking about Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s “Saawariya”…. I learnt from the previews that the movie was adapted from the novel “White Nights” (1848) by Dostoevsky. Curious to know the story, I read the novel. Thats when I understood why the audience dint accept “Saawariya”. The ending is pathetic. Taking story from such an old novel was a huge risk, because such a story makes no sense now. However, the setting was picturesque, one would feel caught in a fairytale. It reminded me of  the settings of Disney’s “Aladdin”.

A few words about the characters. I still dont understand why Rani Mukherjee was needed in the movie and this character was absent in the novel. There was not much scope for acting, except the protagonists who just had to act dumb. Emaan looked like a rowdy, one will never expect Sakina to fall for him, yet somehow she manages to do just that.. Sakina’s laugh irritated me , she used to start giggling every other second… Apart from that, I think SLB did justice to the story.

The worst part about the movie were the songs. Every 5 minutes, the characters sprung up with a song. The songs were unnecessary and I guess could be named as the major reason why the movie was not appreciated. Except for ”saawariya”, jab se tere naina and maybe the song thode badmaash, the songs were unnecessary. Out of the ten songs, I liked the title track and “jab se tere naina”.

I have been cooking for the past five months now, still I never attempted making chicken biriyani. Finally this weekend, I asked my mother for her recipe and tried it out. I was scared it wont come out properly, but it turned out to be a huge success. My first kerala-style chicken biriyani.

This is my version of chilli paneer

My first trip to Imax …. for saturday morning show of Om Shanti Om
Big screen… awesome movie..

The songs are splendid,especially my favourites “Ajab Si” and “Dard-e-Disco”.
“Dastaan” is the perfect climax song, but I agree with my bro-in-law, who commented that one needs to see only this song instead of watching the whole movie – its more like a 5-minute summary of the 3-hour movie. “DhoomTana” reminds one of those “Old is Gold” songs, particularly the 3rd stanza with the tennis sequence.
Credit should be given to “Deewanagi”, the reason why Om Shanti Om is unique – first time 31 stars would have all made their appearance simultaneously in a Hindi song.

Shahrukh is his old self..Except for the one scene where he cries,I think he did a good job..and the 6 pack was a sight in the enormous screen..;)
Deepika is gorgeous, her eyes and her dimples stole the show.. and her acting is not bad either.
The 2nd half was superb, and it was backed by a superb background score.

However I felt that the reminiscences which the “new n improved” Om has of his past life was a bit over-the-edge,i mean how can someone
* remember the long speech that he gave in his past life,word-by-word
* watch a scene, that he witnessed in his past life and to top everything, see himself witnessing it in his past life…
Hmm…Another point that I forgot to mention, Om’s flashbacks are in colour,unlike the “negative-print” memories in Hindi movies

Well, I guess one should never question a story

I simply loved the ending,somehow the movie wouldnt have made its impact on me if it dint have such a beautiful ending.
Hats off to Farah for such a fantastic movie!

My Sony Ericsson k790i.
My first expenditure with my first salary.
I have yearned for a cool phone ever since I saw my sister’s and bro-in-law’s phone.
I wanted an N-series phone, but they told me that SE phones had Cybershot camera which was far better than the one with Nokia and the music player was good too.
Thank God I listened to them.
My phone is awesome, the photos I take with it are as clear as if it were from a digicam and Im addicted to the fm and the music player too.The camera is amazing, that I am tempted to capture almost everything that happens around me.
Visit official site of k790i

I love my phone

This year, I celebrated my birthday in Hyderabad. The traditional cake cutting at office and a half litre ‘paal-paayasam’ that i made in my flat.. The cake was yummy and of butterscotch icing , which incidently is my favourite flavour. These icecream cakes are so scrumptious, delicious… and what not.. see it for yourself.

1789 A.D
Princess Aria looked far out to the horizon, where the sun was setting. Her family was far away in the east fighting at the border of their country, X-Land, against their enemies. The war had been going on for the past 2 months now. Both the sides were losing their soldiers, yet no one seemed to be winning. She missed her parents, having to stay back at home with her maids. She had insisted she will fight, but they said she was too frail and delicate to lead an army.
She was fed up sitting alone at home, and she slipped out the palace,without the knowledge of her maids. She got out her favourite horse, Amber and galloped to the horizon without any destination in her mind.
Suddenly, she caught sight of thick cloud of dust coming her way. She took her telescope from her belt and fixed her gaze in the direction of the dust. Alarmed, she recognized the Z-land army, Z-land was the country lying to the west of X-land. She took her crayon from her belt and scribbled “Attack of Z” on her hankerchief, on which her mother had stitched a beautiful daisy. She folded it and tied it to the leg of her pet pigeon who was perched on her shoulder. She sent her pigeon flying and headed towards the trees on her right, to hide from the fast approaching army.
‘Oh what can I do… How wil I attack them…’ She opened the string of her bag. All she had was her sling, and a small knife which she had bought from a merchant, without letting anyone know. How can she defend herself against a huge army with just these two. She hushed her horse, who was beginning to get scared like her.
She saw her pigeon come back. She saw a note tied on its leg, she took it and opened it. It was a note from her parents.
‘Dear Aria,
Dont be frightened. Defend yourself. We know we have raised you to act to situations. Be brave and fight for your safety. We trust you,honey.’

She kissed the letter, closed her eyes, remembered her parents. She kept the letter into her belt, and held the reins firmly. She bent forward and rested her face against her horse’s ear and whispered “We can do it,boy..” and she galloped forward to face her enemies….

November 15th, 2007

Situation is similar. The war between two worlds….. Humans and rodents. Story is similar. Delicate and fragile Aaru alone against the huge army of cockroaches. The weapons, Mortein gold spray and a broom.

Seeing the cockroaches scrambling all over the kitchen, she phoned home..scared. Her parents advised her not to be scared. ‘They are so small compared to you. How could they possibly harm you. Use the spray, smash them using your broom. We are here if you need us’. She kept the phone and wondered, ‘Hmmmm..30 hours away..how can they come running if I need them..Should I cook something or just order a pizza. Maybe they will disappear tomo’ …. Hmmmm….’Na, I have to be brave…’. She took the spray, spotted a cockroach…. ‘SSSSHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH…’ went the spray… and she saw it running all over the place… She took the broom and brought it down strong on the running rodent. ‘Splaaatttt….’ She killed it.

‘YEESSSSSS,I did it… ‘ She heard the applause and the cheer in her mind as a huge audience applauded her bravery… Well, then everything seemed easy. Hundreds trembled to death at her hands…

The war never ends …. It goes on… the war of humans and rodents… I was very scared in the beginning, my sister was shocked to know I actually killed cockroaches … But now I have sprayed the pesticide over all the pits in the house that lead to drains, even kept napthalene balls in those corners which might get infested by rodents.

“Better to prevent rodents breeding than worry when they attack “

Diwali was never special to me… coz we dont celebrate it back in Kerala, as the rest of India does.

When I was in college, my friends and I used to decorate our hostel with lighted candles..and burst some crackers..ehmm..others used to..Im terrified of crackers..

In Hyderabad however.. Diwali is celebrated in a span of 5 days, with pujas, loud crackers and lighted diyas.. and the houses, shops and office buildings are adorned with light bulbs. Diwali fever was all around me and inadvertently, I became addicted to it too. I guess it was the forthcoming holiday that thrilled my colleagues and I more than the festival itself . To add the glitter to the festival, our employers gifted my colleagues and me with a box of dry fruits. For us it meant our hard work and dedication finally paid off

The day before Diwali, owing to work, I had to remain in office till late hours. On my way home from work, I was delighted to see the smartly lit buildings and varicoloured fireworks, that decked up the night-sky. It was a wonderful sight, I wish I could have taken a picture then, but sorry,guys.. I was exhausted from the day’s work.

I have attached the pics that I took this Diwali – The box of dry fruits and its contents

        
Alone at home, I was happy watching the reality dance shows on tv. The truth is I was pretty terrified of going outside, due to my fear of crackers. Nevertheless, that dint stop me from taking part in the festivities.I cleaned the whole house, and of course lighted my diya, the picture of the diya is what I have attached.

Sweets being the essence of Diwali, the “Mitharia” virus are predominant at this time. Even I got afflicted by it.

Rangolis play a significant role in Diwali. The one in the pic below is the rangoli that was laid at the reception of my office

Diwali provides a complete treat for our senses, with the colours, sounds, sights, tastes and smells and this year, my Diwali was truly dazzling.