My Chicken Soup

Ehmm… I dint see much jalwa

The script of Aaja Nachle had lots of faults. The music was hopeless. Choreography could have been better. The dance drama in the end is the only thing I felt was worth seeing in the whole movie. What I never understood was how fast people change their minds in the movie, without valid reason, be it the ambitious businessman or the greedy politician. Madhuri was a delight to watch and the supporting cast was good too. The story fails most of the time – With hardly two weeks of practice, one wonders how the artists in the dance drama managed to put on such a beautiful masterpiece. You find the local “gunda“, a lovesick maiden who lacks the grace and poise of a lady, a husband with no sense of art in any form, a cop as a last minute addition…. Hmmm, the dance guru deserves more than just a huge round of applause . I dont blame the audience for not appreciating Aaja Nachle.

The Bee Movie deserves a standing ovation for the creativity of the storywriters. I really loved the whole concept, about the bee graduation and then their recruitment into the honeybee factory, where they get to choose from the wide variety of jobs like stirring, pollen collecting. The storyline is excellent till the bees start flying the plane !! I felt that and the huge flower at the runway were unnecessary. I mean why dint Mr.B motivate his bee-friends to fly all the way to the flower show instead of making his girl spend all the money for the plane ticket

A month ago, when I came home, I wanted to writing about my trip.. but I got caught up with my work. So this time when I came home for Christmas , I decided to blog about both my trips when Im at home.
Last month my Kerala visit was for the purpose of attending my best friend’s wedding. My flight from Hyderabad was scheduled to take off early morning , so I had to leave home before sunrise. I took the MMTS(metro train) to the airport, hence got a golden oppurtunity to witness the beautiful sunrise on a cold November morning.

The early morning sky

The sun peeping from amidst the trees at me on my way to the airport.
The MMTS ensured that I reached the airport way ahead of time and I took the flight to Banglore. On reaching the Blore airport, I had just half an hour to board the next flight. However the rules of the airport made it most inconvenient for stoppage passengers. I was asked to leave the airport through the exit arrivals terminal and re-enter the airport at the entrance in the departures terminal. I was new to Banglore and its airport and I stood clueless in front of the airport, wondering where the departure terminal was. Once I was inside, I ruffled through the crowd to find the security check, coz thankfully I had the boarding pass to the next flight. The security check turned out to be another nightmare. I had to wait over 15 minutes in the long queue and to top it all,when I reached the head of the queue, I was made to stand aside coz the ladies’ security check was crowded. (Well, there was just one checking area for ladies and 3 for gentlemen… So much for equality!! ) Another ten minutes went waiting for the section to be free, but alas, a lady fainted and all the officials ran around to find a doctor for her. Well, it was past boarding time when I finally managed to locate the gate. Now coming to the point, I had never seen a propeller flight before, which is why I took a snap of it.

Now talking about the flight I took to Kerala last week. My flight to Bangalore got delayed by 1.5 hours,which meant that I would miss my connection flight. The Jet Airways crew is very efficient and extremely cordial. They put me on a flight to Mumbai from where I could get the connection flight to my destination. I had no regrets about this trip even though it meant I would reach my home late. The reason for my glee was coz this airbus had in-flight entertainment, which I never knew any Indian flight had (I ve seen it only in Singapore airlines flights). I have to mention another reason why I like Jet airways – the food is awesome! Mumbai airport had me trying to locate the departure terminal, but I had no problem finding it because I dint ve to leave the airport, there was a way to the departures from the arrivals within the airport itself. The flight from Mumbai was breathtaking. We flew above the blue sea which seemed frozen and the green strip of land that it caressed.The view was splendid that I dint notice the time fly away.

The frozen sea, the green land and a small river with its meanders.

Beginning of the sky or the end of the Arabian Sea?

I was very jolly indeed coz I was going home for the hols.. The Christmas spirit had spread in the office too. Attached below are pics of the Christmas trees in my office, the former cute one near the lift and the latter bigger one at the entrance.

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

Music that touches your heart, food that tickles ur tastebuds, and the superstar to entertain you… thats an unforgettable night

Victim to running nose and throat ache, I was worried if I would be able to enjoy the Microsoft annual party. But when my friends told me that Sonu Nigam was to perform, I knew I wouldnt miss it at any cost. Armed with a dozen tissues and my huuuge,yet comfy jacket, I reached HICC last night.

Before the star of the show arrived, a female singer “entertained” us. She dint do justice to Shreya Ghoshal’s soft number “Yeh Ishq Hai” of “Jab We Met”, one of my personal faves… but she did her jaadu and made the audience dance to her tunes with “Beedi” and “Kajra re”.

But nevertheless, the audience screamed for Sonu… Finally when he entered amidst smoke and weird lights , I felt goosebumps and my heart pacing fasssst….

“Sach hein ki dil to dukha hein….. “

I dont usually run to join the crowd in front of the stage, but yesterday I cudnt help myself.. It was unbelievable, he was standing just a few feet away from me… I am a huge fan of all his songs, (listening to pal pal, when Im writing this ) , generally all those soft melodious ones that are made beautiful thanks to sonu nigam and shaan. ( I was lucky to attend shaan’s concert few months back.. )

The audience went mad when he started the peppy numbers like “Nachle Ve” of “Tara Rum Pum” and “Bijuria” and swayed to his soft numbers like “Main Agar Kahoon“,of OSO, which is currently my favourite song. I have to mention about a 4 year old who was rolling on the floor and doing somersaults rocking to the music, his parents were having a hard time trying in vain to control him.

To sum up, the performance was awesome… im a huge fan of the word awesome….but in fact… “Kisi zabaan pe woh labz hi nahin“, last night i realised how apt that was I couldnt find the perfect word to describe how good the show was.. So I came up with a new word… ooooooohhhhhhhsome…  – ooohhhh + awesome…  but still it fell short of what I felt…

The reason y i love his songs is coz he sings with so much emotion.. Take Tanhaayi for instance, it actually made me nearly cry… and even kal ho na ho.. was ammmmmmmaaazing. Thats what makes sonu nigam the king, his songs are too good..

Well, dont get me wrong , Im not a die hard fan of his … Im just a ardent lover of music and dance in any form and last night was one of those moments that I will never forget .. All thanks to my friends at Microsoft.

What motivates people to work hard? What is it that employees want? Is it a hike in pay, or good cafeteria and pantry, or indoor and outdoor game courts?

One month back, work had turned real hectic, that I had to put in more working hours. The whole team was waiting for the hectic period to get over, and of course, for the team treat . Finally the hectic period passed, and manager went to US for our product demo. When he got back, I dint get my anticipated treat. Instead, I was given a bag and a pack of chocolates. There was nothing exceptional about that gift, but I felt a thrill, coz then I realised that my hard work had paid off. Well, maybe a treat wouldnt have given this special feeling.

This made me think, what do employees expect from their bosses in return for their hard work.

I guess what employees need is appreciation of their work. Occassional “good work”, “great job” will leave us craving for more praises and hence incite us to work harder. For those employees who dont deserve praise, a few words of advise wont hurt either. Employers might think that having gyms, and indoor games might reduce the efficiency of employees. Nope . Everyone needs to take time off work once in a while, and playing will help in relaxing. Of course, quality of food in the pantry and cafeteria matters too. I get hungry when I work a lot, and relaxing for me means having a snack :) . An employer who takes care of every need of the employee will definitely get the employee to work harder. Of course, I feel that challenging work and cooperative teammates also make us put in more effort. Work environment is a significant factor,but ehmm..lets not forget another important factor, a hike in paypacket .

Manichitrathaazhu is my favourite movie . When I heard that Priyadarshan was going to remake it in Hindi, I knew it wont hold a candle to the original. Take the case of all his Hindi movies

Hungama made from superhit “Poochakkaru manikettum”, Kyon Ki made from superhit “Thalavattom” , Chup Chup Ke from superhit “Punjabi House“, Hulchul from superhit “GodFather“, Hera Pheri from superhit “RamjiRao speaking“, Phir Hera Pheri from “Mannarmathai speaking” and now Bhool Bhulaiya from superhit “Manichitrathazhu” , the malayalam ones were awesome.. but the Hindi ones… The worst of all remakes was Kyon Ki… I nearly cried watching it, like I did watching the original… but this time for a totally different reason

But one might wonder why he never remade any of his films that were superhits , Vandanam, Chitram etc.

Bhool Bhulaiya might be entertaining for those who havent seen the original and by original I mean the Malayalam one. Akshay tried to imitate Mohanlal a lot. But the manner in which he delivered the speeches were hopeless, devoid of any emotions , apart from the gravity on his face. He overdid all the comedy scenes, that few serious scenes were also handled comically. Shiney Ahuja was like he was expected to be – nothing more nothing less. I liked him better in Woh Lamhe. Now to Vidya Balan. She is a very talented and graceful dancer. She looked artificial as “Manjulika”. The voice of “Manjulika” was also pathetic.. there was no anger in it… just a rough tone. But she tried her best. Paresh Rawal was awesome as always. No one else can deliver such a beautiful performance. Rajpal Yadav also did a good job. Amisha Patel was her usual self too with her emotionless face..

The songs were ok. “Alla Hafiz” wasnt apt for the situation. “Labon Ko” is a wonderful composition but totally unnecessary. “Mere Dholna” was not scary enough…. try listening to “Oru Murai” …. I still get goosebumps listening to it

On the whole, I would recommend those who love the movie Manichitrathazhu not to watch Bhool Bhulaiya.