The meeting which became a HIT: Jab we met

After a long time I saw a movie which was really sweet. An extremely simple and believable story. That's the way life is sometimes....if you believe in serendipity. Shahid Kapoor and Kareena Kapoor have both done justice to their roles. Though as an industrialist Shahid's character looks as if he is playacting wearing those biz suits. He looks too young..... as if the suits are too big for him and hence awkward. Though ofcourse Shahid has come a long way from when he was a puny young man in music videos.
The story is thus: Aditya is the son of an industrialist. After his father's death he's at the helm of a sick industry. He's also lost his girl to another man and doesn't have any interest in living. One day he just up's and leaves everything. He finds himself at the station and boards a train. Here he meets Geet. She's a bubbly Sikh girl, who's going back to Bhatinda. She saves Aditya's life when he's contemplating suicide. At one station Aditya gets off and thinking that he might commit suicide Geet gets off the train to get him back and thus they both miss the train. This is when she tells him that he has to get her home to Bhatinda as she has missed the train due him. She's going home to elope with her boyfriend. When they do finally get to Bhatinda, Aditya is accepted by her family. Geet still wants to elope and one day they elope. Aditya leaves her to go to her boy friend.
He comes back to Mumbai and gets back to building his empire. After many months, he gets to know that Geet never went back to her family. So he sets out find Geet. He finds her living in a Hostel in Simla and working as a teacher. Her boy friend refused to marry her and she's lost her effervescence. Aditya has to reunite her with her family. He makes her call her boyfriend Anshuman and tells her to give him a piece of her mind. Due this Anshuman realises his mistake and wants to get back with her. The three of them come back to Bhatinda. It's here that Geet realises that her feelings have changed. She has gotten over her infatuation with Anshuman and has started loving Aditya.
The humour in this movie is well written and the timing is good. No slapstick (thank God). Especially the Hotel Decent scene where Kareena is mistaken to be a call girl. Also scene where she blasts her boyfriend Anshuman for leaving her. I liked Dara Singh's character as the grand old man of the family who thinks that he knows everything and predicts that Aditya and Geet would marry. A simple movie without unnecessary dramatics. The songs have become a rage as one can hear them on all the FM channels especially Mauja, Nagada baja and Ye ishq hai. Though Mauja is a total item number which doesn't have anything to do with the story at all.
I would like to request Mr. Laloo prasad Yadav to make Shahid and Kareena the brand ambassadors of Indian Railways. He would probably mint. Most men wouldn't mind taking the train if they are going to meet someone like Bebo! :) Likewise for the women with Shahid Kapoor.... total eye candy. Will not comment on the gay community here as they have made Ranbir their poster boy as per the news in TOI. Also in the song Mauja theres a firang lady in a Coolie's uniform. She could be made brand ambassador for the Coolies (that would really upset Mr Kingfisher) as the colour combination would be the same and well one mode of transport could be mistaken for another. Hmmmmm!!
Anyway, bitching apart loved the movie..... paisa vasool.

Welcome Sleep

Sometime back I was going through a very stressful phase. It got to be so bad that I couldn't sleep nights. Though I tried to deny the fact that i was turning into an insomniac. There were times when all I could think of was sleep and when i did lie down I couldn't. It started taking a toll on my health. That was when I finally accepted that I required treatment. It was a toss between taking sleeping pills or an alternate therapy. I decided to take the alternate route. I had read about and attended Pt. Shashank Katti's music therapy programme. It was here that I came to know how sitar (a stringed instrument made famous by Pt.Ravi Shankar) can be used therapeutically. Panditji was doing a lot of research in music therapy and was also administering it. On meeting him, he advised me to use his CD on insomnia. (Manufactured by Guru Ganesh cassettes and CDs under the title Sur Sanjeevan.) The concept and music therapy is administered by Pandit Shashank Katti himself under medical guidance of Dr. Himalaya Pantvaidya M.D and ayurvedic guidance of Vd. Sanjay Chhajed M.D. The first time I listened to this CD I needed to listen to the full CD before I finally slept. After that I was sleeping better and within a couple of days I could sleep within 5mins. of playing the CD. Not only did I sleep better I would wake up alert. There was no sluggishness. I didn't need 8-10hrs sleep. The 5-6 hrs were refreshing. I would look forward to my day. It was really a weight off my chest so to say. After taking this therapy, I really got interested in this therapy because it's non invasive. There are no side effects. Music is never bad for anyone. As panditji told me and which I agreed to in Hindi our music is called Hindustani shashtriya sangeet..... which when translated in English actually means Indian scientific music. In earlier times there was a solid ayurvedic base to our music. Thats why the particular timings maintained for renditions of different raags. It's a very interesting and path breaking therapy. Panditiji not only gives therapy for insomnia but also for different ailments like High BP, Diabetes, Asthama, Arthritis, Depression, pain relief,also for increasing concentration in students. Panditiji has a lot of success stories to tell. He has also done research in pre mature babies. Music therapy for pregnant women and during labour. Seeing is believing as is said.... and in my case listening to music therapy turned me into a believer. After my experience I recommended this therapy to a friend who had high BP and his BP which for months had been high got back to normal.With the National Seminar for music therapy coming up on the 9th September I thought I should write about this therapy, to create awareness.

Dad and my culinary faux pas

It’s August. It was in August that my father had his birthday. I feel blessed to have known such a person. It’s nearly 20yrs since his passing but I remember him everyday. I prefer remembering the fun times we had of which there were many. Today I write about those. Especially the ones that revolve around my culinary experiments.
My father never told me that I had to do something just because I was a girl. He never had this bias. He would get up and make tea for all of us out of consideration for my mom,as he always said that the homemakers are the ones who worked the most. He did want us girls to learn cooking, not because we were supposed to but for survival. Ofcourse I had absolutely no inclination toward anything culinary. No motor co-ordination in the kitchen and I took up homescience. I am telling you that I am an adventurous person.
In college, I learnt cooking the scientific way. I was very eager to show off these new found skills at home. So I decided to start off with a very simple receipe. The potato bhaji. I mean what can go wrong in following this receipe. I took out the weighing scales and my granny almost fainted. She was like, who ever measured potatoes to make a simple potato bhaji. I told her, well this is how I have been taught. So she just gave me a wide berth and left the kitchen. I got down to making the potato bhaji scientifically. After going about the receipe, I found that half the bhaji was yellow and the other half refused to turn the same colour. I fail to understand, how when I had added the exact amount of turmeric, the bhaji refused to turn yellow (or rather half of it refused to). After adding more turmeric, same result. When I served this double coloured vegetable, my dad only said… “oh good, you have taken care of the ones who can eat the normal yellow bhaji and also the ones who are fasting in one shot.(cos the white variety of potato bhaji is made for the ones who are fasting).
After this episode I didn’t venture into the kitchen for quite sometime. When I finally did get my nerve up enough to go there, I decided that this time I’ll try a non-veg receipe. I picked the kadhai chicken. It had tasted pretty yummy when I made it in college. Again I followed the receipe to the T. Ofcourse, it totally escaped me that I should taste the receipe for the hotness. I added the exact spoonfuls of chilli powder. It never struck me that, in college, we used kashmiri mirch which is a mild variety of chilli powder. At home we used the normal red chilli powder which is pretty potent. Ofcourse I never tasted it myself. Pretty pleased with myself I asked my dad to taste it. My dad put a spoonful in his mouth. Then he asked me “should I call the fire engine now or would it be better to call them when everyones mouth’s on fire. My mom had to put in nearly a whole coconut in the chicken to make it palatable. So what started as a north Indian dish finally ended up in the south!
I was pretty much disheartened, though I didn’t give up. I decided that maybe the normal cooking was not my forte, but what could go wrong with a cake. So for my dad’s birthday, I decided to make the coffee cream sponge. It had looked absolutely delicious in college. I got all the things ready. Made the batter and put it in the oven. For the first hour it never rose, after that it wouldn’t stop rising! My dad was patiently waiting. In fact we all were gathered round the oven collectively watching the cake. It had a mind of it’s own. Finally, I got the cake out from the oven at about 11 o’clock in the night. After which I had no enthusiasm left for decorating it. My dad told his colleagues that his daughter baked a cake for his birthday!
It’s sad when his daughter finally got her culinary motor co-ordination he wasn’t there to taste the fruits. Whenever I make the potato bhaji I end up being nostalgic about my first experiment, and about my dad who never rubbished any of my efforts. He was able to make me laugh about my faux pas...... which I really appreciate.

Let's Enjoy

Hey the title of this movie says Let’s Enjoy…. So I thought well I should have a dekko and see if I can enjoy. It was a mixed bag. All new artists… (that means don’t ask me the names I can’t remember them )…. Except maybe one or two…. Well that’s Ashish Chowdhry and Arzoo Govitrikar.
These days theres a trend of having parallel stories and then all the characters come together for the grand finale. This is one of them. So this chap (Ashish Chowdhry) is a rich guy who's back from the US to seek his roots and also his former girlfriend Arzoo. It’s been 4 years and after going to US he hasn’t communicated with her at all. So this party at his farm house is an attempt to get her there, so that he can see whether he still has any feelings for her.
Then there’s a village bum who wants to make it big in the world of fashion as a model and so when he hears about this party he makes up his mind to gate crash it. At the party he meets a fashion designer (you got it right… the fashion designer is gay…. These days movies use this trump card…..) the designer is attracted to this guy… but the question is.. Is this chap ready to get into a relationship to promote his career?
The other story is about college sweethearts. This is their 5th anniversary and they decide to go to the party so that they can get some space for themselves. As they are being thrown out from a cinema due PDA they need somewhere to go and the party is the place. They manage to get some space only to find that the guy hasn’t brought a condom with him…. So part of the movie is about will they or won’t they…..!! Is this coming of age of hinglish movies, I wonder.
There are 3 guys in search of girls. So they want to go to the party to get some girls…. And they lose their way. ….
To go back to the main story….. Arzoo Govitrikar wants to go to the party but when she gets there and meets Ashish Chowdhry she can’t make up her mind if she still feels the same about him and then she meets a mysterious guy… a musician…..
The premise of this movie is good… but well lets just say that Arzoo is no Kajol (to give a more recent actor’s name)… through out the film she has a constipated look on her face… wonder if a person looks same when constipated or confused (that’s what she’s supposed to be) she should have asked her elder sis whos a doctor for some medicines before shooting. Well she couldn’t have asked elder sis Aditi for acting tips as they are nothing to write home about but she could have asked her medical advice. Ashish Chowdhry is OK as the guy throwing the rave party…. Coming to terms with his feelings and his roots.
Well this movie is definitely not a classic but if you have a couple of hours to while away… you can see this one. Music is nothing to write about, so will not.

A quick trip to Delhi and Agra

After a very long time am back to blogging. Last week we had a long weekend and that’s when a colleague and I decided to visit Delhi and Agra ( I know you all are collectively rolling your eyes…. And you are right…. It was toooooooo hot as the airhostess informed us almost gleefully on landing that the outside temperature was 46degrees C. ) As soon as we got out of the airport we were enveloped in heat. That was when I started sympathizing with the chicken (from the freeze to the oven).
We were eight of us including 4 kids. We had hired a car to take us around. First stop was the Kochar International hotel at Karol Bagh. It’s not much to look at from the outside but the hotel is definitely ok to spend a couple of days if you are not looking for 5 star accommodation. The a/c was in working condition and there was hot/cold water. There’s no restaurant but room service is available round the clock.
It was late evening by the time we got there. So after freshening up we went to the green park area and had dinner at anand bhavan there. It’s a good restaurant. The “chat” is def yummy there. After dinner we browsed around a bit and got back to the hotel.
The next morning we left for Agra. It’s about 220Km from Delhi. The roads are good. There are quite a few tolls on this highway NH2. Once you leave Delhi border you have to pay the out of state Rs500 tax. In between there are a couple of tolls where you pay about 50 and 25 Rs. On the way we stopped at the Manglam restaurant. It’s a rajasthani restaurant at Bhulwana (if I remember correctly). I liked this restaurant as the food is good and most important the rest rooms are extremely clean.
Once you hit UP you get to see people traveling on bus tops. It reminded me of all the emails with these pics which I thought were a bit too much. Seeing is believing. The rickshaws were also ferrying people many times over their capacity. I guess even the manufacturer would not be aware of the capacity of their rickshaw. Being Sunday it was market day at most places. There were trucks carting unbelievable amounts of fodder. The amount in each truck defeated all laws of gravity/ Newton and whoever else came up with any laws in physics.
It was past noon when we reached Agra and the Taj. There’s a lot written about visiting Taj on a full moon night . We were the ones to visit it in peak hot season in blazing sunlight!!! As soon as you enter through the main entrance it’s a feast to the eyes. After getting our fill of looking at the Taj and when the eyes did wander a bit we were puzzled by the sight that met our eyes. People were running. At first I thought they must be kids playing. Must be a school trip as we were pretty far off. But then it looked as if mostly everyone was running. We were now definitely puzzled. As we neared the Taj we realized that one has to remove footwear and then go up to see the Taj. Imagine 46degreesC is the temperature….. the marble is HOT and you just dip you feet in a small pool of water and then walk on that surface. No wonder people were running!!! The kids were disappointed that we had come all the way to the Taj and couldn’t go in. As it was too hot and even though they did try to walk without footwear their feet were soon burning up. So my friend and I decided to go out again and get the protective covering that was worn by some over their footwear. Were we in for a rude shock when we reached the main entrance. We were told that since the ticket was only Rs 20 for Indian tourists there were no footwear covers given. For foreign tourists since the ticket was much more, they were given the covers and a bottle of mineral water. My only grouse is the least the board of tourism can do is that put up a proper board saying that one has to remove footwear prior entering the Taj. So a person is prepared. The other thing they could do is keep a counter selling the footwear covers for Indian tourists. They will definitely make money. We walked out for 20mins in search of a shop selling these covers. No go. Finally we managed to get some covers and came back. Then we got down to actually going inside the Taj.
Whenever I visit a historical monument I always wish I could get into a time machine and visit that era and see the grandeur.
Just a point here. You cant take your car all the way up. So you have to park it at the car park quite a distance away and get a ride in either a rickshaw or a cycle rickshaw. The kids wanted to travel in a cycle rickshaw and after seeing the way the autorickshaws were being driven at break neck speed we opted for the cycle rickshaw. It’s Rs30 each way. On the way back we bought some of the renowned Agra Petha (which is a delicacy of Agra).
As it was nearly 1430hrs by the time we left, we were really famished and we stopped at a South Indian vegetarian restaurant (yes we did have south Indian food in the north).
After leaving Agra we visited Fatehpur Sikri. Just as we were reaching Sikri a man almost jumped on the bonnet of our car. We were shocked. When we stopped he introduced himself as a guide. So I asked him why he nearly committed suicide. He told me that it was off season. So he had not got a tourist for nearly 2 days. It really saddened me. So that was the way the guide found us instead of us finding a guide. Here too one has to remove footwear. So we left ours in the car itself. Though it was 1700hrs it was still hot but not as bad as earlier. The fatehpur sikri fort is immense and the Bulund Darwaza as the name suggests is really huge. I love this place. I had visited it in 1988. As the story goes… Akbar the great had 3 wives. First one was a Moslem, 2nd hindu and 3rd Christian. So the architecture of the sikri fort has all three styles. The pillars are in the hindu style with Islamic scriptures and the dome is in the Christian or Roman style. Inside the fort is the durgah of Shaikh Salim Chisti. Akbar did not have an heir and it was only after he took Chisti’s blessings that he got a son. After that Akbar built the durgah in red stone and later Jehangir (when he came to know the story behind his birth) rebuilt the same durgah in marble. Even today many people visit the durgah with the hope that their wishes would be fulfilled.
We left sikri and reached Delhi at midnight. The next day we were all a bit tired and decided to take things a bit slow. So we just visited the Qutb Minar. Then Humayun’s tomb. Saw the Lotus (Bahai) Temple from outside as it is closed on Monday.
A bit of shopping and lunch and we headed back to the hotel and then to the airport. Our delhi/agra sojourn over. It was back to good ole Mumbai and to the grind. I must mention here that even though it was so hot the kids enjoyed themselves and there were no complaints about the heat. It’s important to remember and drink water continuously in that heat even if you do or don’t feel thirsty as one can easily get dehydrated. An enjoyable long weekend.

Chess and I

A couple of days ago I came across the news that Viswanathan Anand became the world number 1 in chess. That brought back memories of my own chess playing days. Well more misses than hits… but who’s counting..had great fun.
I came by chess accidentally. I read a notice on our school board stating the start of the sports week and asking for students to take part in different sports. I wasn’t much into sports (one could say sports and I kept a safe distance from each other). I suddenly had this brainwave of taking part in the chess tournament. I got my name down and came home and told my parents that I was taking part in the chess tournament. To say that my father was aghast is an understatement cos at the time I didn’t even own a chess board. After my announcement father and daughter went shopping for a chess board. Then my dad taught me the basics of chess. In a couple of days I was all set for the tournament.
In the first round I don’t recollect how I won… but the 2nd round win proved extremely funny. I guess my opponent must have been equally green. We started playing and there was a crowd of students around us following our game. At a certain point everyone was quiet and suddenly one boy says “hey that’s a check mate”. I wasn’t even aware that I had won the game. I am trying to figure out who won. Then my opponent said “congrats”. That’s how I realized that I had won that round. Obviously I didn’t last long in the 3rd round.
Heartened by my success in the first 2 rounds, I got a book on chess and started learning the game. Read a few books on it and studied the games of Bobby Fischer, Karpov etc.
Our school had a good reputation where chess was concerned and one of my class mates had won a lot of junior/senior/state level tournaments. She was ofcourse the no.1. There was another girl who was the 2nd seed. She always thought she was cat’s whiskers and would look down on all us freshers in chess. The 2nd year that I took part in the chess competition I got a rude shock when I checked the list. I was pitted against this girl in the first round itself. She was riding high on her success in the inter-school tournaments. All the teachers were wishing her the best. I wanted to quit. Then I said to myself “that’s cowardice”. No one expects you to win and if you don’t win well you have nothing to lose. Like they show in the movies …. I posted a surprise win. That girl was so shocked…. She just couldn’t come out of it. There was collective jaw dropping around us. The other students didn’t know how to respond. They were conditioned to clap for her. After 15mins of staring at the board she conceded her defeat. After that winning other rounds I reached the finals where I lost to my classmate. But well there was never any power struggle or jealousy with her. She was always a very helpful person when we practiced. The first round surprise win is something that I’ll always cherish.
Though after school I never really pursued chess. I did play for the fun of it. On my first visit to France I played chess with my host( a guy who had actually played with a known GM in an exhibition match) . Though he didn’t know much of English and I didn’t know French at all, we spent many an evening playing chess and really enjoyed ourselves. When I visited him 5yrs later I had learnt French and was fluent and that time too we played chess and actually held a meaningful conversation about chess. I guess chess is a religion for some. Doesn’t have language barrier. Requires a lot of calm and cunning :D
After quite a long time, now my nephew’s got hooked on the game and expects me to play with him. It does bring back fond memories. During our school days we never had coaches coming home to teach chess. Now there are lots. I hope India will get many more Vishy Anands.

Open letter to Abhi-Ash

Hi darlings (see how I got the moua-moua lingo right :D ) Congratulations on your engagement (I know it's quite late in the day to wish you). The world and it's wife are looking forward to your forthcoming nuptials. Ofcourse theres competition as Aru-Liz have also decided to tie the long pending knot just then (and this has gotten our very own Parmesh's knickers in a twist arranging the mehendi wine party.... sorry about that but the article did say that all wines flowing toward the Godrej mansion...no am not quoting verbatim...but something to the effect.) Just a note here for a friend...hey sal you could be in biz here..... get that wine you make ready, could be required and then you would only tango with the hoi-polloi of Mumbai.
Coming back to you darlings... must say you make a glam pair. Just the other day I read in a newspapers that you'd be tying the knot on the 19th March and the invitation cards would cost upwards of Rs.5000/- (per card). Now...now.... you might be the first family of bollywood (or is it still the kapoors...in that case second family) but do you think it's really nice spending what a lower income group person earns in a month on one invitation card. Many in India don't even earn that much in a month. The newspapers are already doing you a favour letting everyone know when the wedding is... the only thing for you to do is to let the people you want to invite know. What are emails for babies? They are absolutely free... send as many as you want( you do look comp savvy). This way you would save your money. Do give that to a good cause and you won't need to go visiting all the temples in India for God to bless your union. Millions of Indians would do that. Would do a lot for your image and stock.
I hope you take my humble advise. Wishing you all the best... may the Bachchan factory (on the lines of Ram Gopal Verma's factory) prosper and may your union celebrate a golden anniversary.
Affly
Shruti (an email invite would do just fine...huh darlings! )
p.s. How remiss of me that I didn't even inquire about Mr Bachchan... I hope he's in the "pink" of health (just read this yesterday that he can wear pink with panache and looks very metrosexual and sexy) Hai rabba all those Indian men around and we can't find a young sex-symbol. Imagine the pressure on the Big B? Poor chap would soon need psycho support...one day romancing Hema.... next Jiah... I mean a person could lose it. So Abhi darling do look after you pa in his old age. Abhi, abhi tumhe he sab samhalna hai na?

Anniversaries.... bane of my life.

It’s Shivaji jayanti today. That’s the birth anniversary of Shivaji maharaj. I have every respect for him and would love to read the stories about his fight against the moghuls as a child. This blog is not about Shivaji maharaj but about the fact that these historical dates were the bane of my life during childhood. I would love to read historical/mythological stories but was never able to remember the important dates. History exam would get me into a sweat… even mugging couldn’t help me. I could get the century right (well whats a 100 here or there!! ) but the exact date… well that was an entirely different story.
Here I couldn’t remember one birth date and these people would have 2. I mean why wasn’t a consensus taken so that each person whether living or dead could have just one birthday. Shivaji has 2 birth dates… oh well the Queen of England too celebrates 2 b’days…. I really don’t mind them celebrating any amount of days they want to….but why did I need to learn each and every one.
The only school year that I really enjoyed history was in the 8th standard and that too because we had history of architecture which I used to love and no exact dates… well this was my cup of tea… cos I would def get the centuries right.
That’s the reason why I cannot accept the way history is taught in our schools even now. When I see the text books now… it is full of details which have absolutely no connection to our day to day lives. Why should I know how many children the Deshmukh’s during Shivaji’s period had or what their names were? Why cannot this be taught to the children as a story and the questions asked accordingly. When I am hard pressed to get the details beyond my great grandfather from the municipality why would I want to remember the names of the children of Shivaji’s mavalas. Can someone explain this to me? The question papers have these questions and not about the actual cause that Shivaji fought for. Not every one has the chronology cell in their brains and this makes taking these exams a major aggro.
I myself lack this cell and sympathise with all the kids in this similar position. Each person has a like and dislike for certain subjects. It’s interesting to note that I would love maths but could not get these b’dates right.
This blog came up as I happened to look at the calendar and the date was in red so went to check what the event was and I remembered that a few days ago I had seen the BMC people cleaning Shivaji maharaj’s statue to get it ready for his jayanti. Ask me next year and I will still not be able to tell you the date…. I love watching the history channel…. The world events…etc…. can some one help me here… how I could start remembering the dates…. PPPPLLLLLEEEEAAAASSSEEE!!!!!!!!

The money pot's awaiting you! Here comes the rainbow.

Money…money… money! That’s what makes the world go around. For a few months now I have been reading these ads in the newspapers how one can earn thousands sitting at home… part time/full time etc. Without fail there would be these small classifieds. I was intrigued. Oh well I thought with glee… may be I could get a nice income sitting at home. So today (since I was feeling especially lucky…. My feeling lucky and being lucky has abs no connection) I called this girl up. She told me how LUCKY (see even she thought it was my lucky day) I was, that they had an orientation programme just this afternoon and I should attend it. She just wouldn’t divulge any details about the product etc. She told me that the entrance fee was just Rs.30. As that was very reasonable I decided to attend the programme. One should note how carefully they guard the identity of their product till they have herded the unsuspecting people inside the conference room. So I paid the enrolment fee and got myself enrolled. Then went in to attend the programme. I never thought I would see live what I normally get to see on the telebrands shopping channels… where they speak about how extremely good a product it is and that there has never been and will never be another.
So this speaker comes up and tells us how he made it big. He came from a lower income group and used to live in a “chawl” and never thought he would buy an apartment of his own and then this company happened and today he had an apartment of his own, has traveled to foreign shores..etc..etc and etc.
Then there was a huge line of people who had used the products and how it had helped them lead a healthy life…. Then again the same people telling us how after a healthy life the same company has made them wealthy…. (don’t know about the wise as yet ).
As an outsider what I found most interesting were the speakers. Talk about marketing. It was a lesson. Bring on the middle class… people who don’t speak English well… they speak to you in hindi and this gets the lower/middle class/housewives. Throw in a CA so that the educated ones are hooked. When the middle class people hear about an all expenses paid trip to say Goa, it will definitely excite them . For some it’s a dream to even get away from Mumbai. Away from their humdrum lives…. Away from the crush of bodies that try to fit into a 10x10…. Just to be away from people.
It’s quite remarkable that these companies use just one basic of psychology to grab people. That’s body language. They point to the fact that the people who are sitting in that room with their arms crossed are close minded people and they will remain where they are because they will not open their minds to new avenues of making money and getting ahead. Suddenly you find people sitting up cos no one wants to be “narrow minded”. There you are…. Half battle won! Then the guest speaker came on. He was a great orator. He could have sold ice to an Eskimo and I am not even exaggerating. Now our minds were opened…. And we were told how abs lucky we were that there was a success training programme coming up the very next day. I mean when I felt lucky I never thought I would be THAT LUCKY!!! Once you enrolled with their company after paying about 4000 bucks you get to go to the programme in a 4 star hotel abs free (Read the last line in an excited kind of orgasmic voice… the way they say in the TV show)
The speaker said that we earn what we dream of. Our value remains at that level. So if we dream of living a clerks life we will remain that. To get out of that thought process we had to start dreaming big. This line I considered to be worth the Rs.30 I paid as the entrance. Yes what he said was abs right. You have to define your own value and work towards reaching that goal.
No I didn’t enroll for the seminar. Maybe for them I am a close minded person…. But I don’t believe in selling herbal/medicated products to anybody. I don’t have faith in miracle products which helps you reduce/gain weight within a few days when you don’t know about the long term effects. All the agents from the company were seen sipping these products ( makes one wonder if you can get addicted).
Untangling myself from dreams of mansions and dream cars, I got away from there…. My “narrow mind” and middle class values intact. Figured that I am not an adventurous person at all nor “open minded”. Guess entrepreneurs are made of diff stuff!

metamorphosis of the "ghaten"

A few months ago I was invited for a wedding. It was a maharashtrian wedding. Now, middle class maharashtrians were never known for their fashion savvy. They have been always categorized as “ghatis”. No offence to anyone as I myself am a maharashtrian. So when I went to the reception I went with the normal concept of a maharashtrian wedding. That the ladies would be wearing at the most “paithanis” or the “shalus” from their own weddings. Was I in for a shock! When I got there, I thought I had gate crashed a balaji telefilms set. The ladies were in “kundan”(crystal) work chiffons. Draped in the latest of styles, with matching accessories. The metamorphosis of the ghati woman into a fashion “plate” has completely passed me by. I never realized that these days there are package deals for everything. The groom package with all the clothes required for the different rituals, the bride package. Glad to know that the marathi girls didn’t get left behind in this fashion race.
There were a couple of girls,whom most of the men were ogling. One was wearing a black saree (black till recently was a complete no no at our weddings) which had golden sequins and she had draped her saree in a gujrati style, but the pallu was left lose and she was wearing a very miniscule golden sequined bustier. That was when I realized that I have been relegated to the gen-prev (previous generation as against gen-next)…. Cos all I could think of was wardrobe malfunction. This girl was smart and could really carry off her outfit. But well…. In my mind all I could think of was wardrobe malfunction…a janet jackson moment… till recently I read an article that wardrobe malfunctions are also staged to get maximum effect and footage.
The second girl was wearing a lehenga choli. It was a bright orange outfit with a nice deep cleavage showing round neck with a tattoo proudly peeping over the neck line. She also had glitter stuck mehendi (Henna tattoos) on her hands.
I was proud to note that the ghatis have atlast arrived on the fashion scene. BRAVO!

Dial "D" for Doctor.

Thinking about a visit to the doctor makes me break into a rash. My BP goes haywire as probably does the sugar and cholesterol. So am an abs sitting duck for the local GP. I have to mentally prepare myself before. Thats the time when I remember the names of probably a crore (from the 33 crore) Hindu Gods. I send up a prayer to each one and barter with/argue with /threaten each one. Just to save myself a visit to the doctor.
Just the other day I had to make a trip to the doctor…. Before leaving the house I did all the relaxation/deep breathing exercises taught to me. No change. I landed up at the clinic. There were a few patients before me. There was this adolescent girl in particular who grabbed my attention. She was actually trying her skills of flirtation on the doc. I had this flash (like they do in the cartoons)… that I am a walking cadaver and this girl is making eyes at the doc. How come she isn’t scared of him….. when I was having the shivers. My antenna went up. After getting the giggly bit out of the way….. she asks the doc…. Did you get my good morning message (followed by another burst of giggles) Doc confused…. When did you send it……. Ms giggles…. Oh I sent it to you this morning….. as soon as I woke up…. I sent you a “Good morning Doctor” sms (proudly pointing to the latest model of a cellphone)….. doc told her very calmly…. How would I know who sent me the message….. the poor girl was abs shocked that doc wouldn’t have her cell no. stored in his (or his cell’s ) memory. Me thinks that the latest cell model became obsolete for her then… cos it didn’t do the most important thing of supplying the doc with the most vital info. I could see her good morning go down the drain like so much slush. BUT this is gen next… so she rallied at the speed of light and told Doc….. save the sms so that you know who sends you a message the next time. Talk about being forward…. This was fast forward!
This entertainment (free of charge…. Otherwise nothings free at the doc) brought a smile to my lips and helped calm me. Don’t know about Ms. Giggle’s morning but mine was made. Went through the visit in a jif (which normally seems like years).
I hope Ms. Giggles (or some one of her ilk…. That’s the beauty of being dark haired….. you cannot be categorized as being blondes!!) is present whenever I have a doc’s visit. I will be eternally grateful to her.

And the winner is....

Just thought I should put this thought down before I forgot about it in the rush. Heard that Shilpa Shetty won the Big brother! Oh well.... with the whole of Britain of Asian origin wishing her well this was a given anyway. This is what one means when it is said that "Your luck will turn". Otherwise can you imagine an actor whose acting career or rather the hits that she's given is shorter than the minis that she sports goes to foreign shores in search of fame (or rather money.... I mean why beat about the bush.... better to call a spade a spade) and creates such a storm that the British couldn't wait to pack her up with the programme as well. Though I haven't watched the actual programme I did follow the news about the racial slur and when I saw her competiton so to say... well they looked pretty "DUH". Unfortunately quite a few people from the First world don't know much about the Indian sub continent at all and as a friend rightly told me they still ask questions like "Are there any snakes/ elephants?" " Do you ride elephants?" One smart alec answered "Yes we do share the elephant taxi (like share-a-cab)"... I abs loved this one.... so thought it deserved a mention.
Coming back to our Shilpa... tell me dear do they teach you how to react.... like the exact degree the jaw should drop to show the surprise/excitement/disbelief and happiness, and the exact number of tears one sheds along with the jaw drop. Since 1994 I have seen the exact reaction from all our winning beauty queens and thought I should also learn how to get the degree right, only I could use it on the traffic police when he pulls me over for speeding:) to show utter disbelief and the hurt feelings. Do send me the contact details... be a darling. Shilpa has now become an international star if the breaking news feeds are to be believed. Suddenly they have realised that she was a STAR here as well. Amazing! So I guess now Shilps armed with 100,000GBP prize money will land up in Hollywood. Hope baby your career takes an upward swing rather than the hemline taking it. All the very best.... do take hollywood by storm the way you conquered Britain.
BTW Rahul Roy won the big boss..... I can't say whether his career will take an upward swing.... and with the 50lacs he got, it would be rather difficult landing in Hollywood as well. Rahul you should try Big Bro if they are still up to going into another season. A real gambler would throw in the whole lot..... so go for it what do you have to lose anyway!

Pasta on the run.

Being Sunday I decided to get up a bit late in the morning and my schedule just went haywire. I had promised my nephew and neice that I'd make pasta for lunch. I tried getting out of that, tried bartering, promised gastronomic delights for the next week..... to no avail. I was the focus of accusatory looks. This recipe was born from that desperation... 1st to make pasta and 2nd to make it fast. So it's a mix of Indian, Mexican and Italian.... so we'll call this recipe Indimexicalian!! I just brought out the ingredients my fridge had inside. So here goes.
Recipe for Indimexicalian Pasta
Pour some olive oil in a pressure cooker. When it's hot add coarsely chopped garlic, green chilli, mint and corriander to it. Then add chopped onions, bell peppers, carrots (you could also add mushrooms... or just about anything you want to)..... sauteed for a couple of minutes and then added some salsa sauce. Then mixed it all up. Then added the spaghetti sticks (which I broke into halves) and added enough water to cover up all the spaghetti in there and some. After that add salt/sugar and paprika to your taste. Put the lid and weight and cook till you hear the 1st whistle. After about 10mins. Pour the contents into an oiled baking dish. Add bread crumbs (to mop up any extra liquid) and top it up with cheese. Bake in a pre heated oven at 200 Deg C till the cheese turns a nice brown. Voila!!! You are ready to serve the Pasta. Did taste good ... international integretion huh!

The French connection

Since I started this blog "n" number of people have asked me why I changed my name to Shruti Pense (read Pensey as in a Maharashtrian surname). Earlier on I was feeling extremely smart about having been creative about coining a blog id for myself. How flat it fell!!! I had to keep on explaining about Shruti being one of the names given to me in the cradle and that pense is def not Pensey but a French verb which means to THINK.... so literally it means that "Shruti thinks".... Oh well she can certainly do that huh..... surprising as it may sound to some! Being a Francophile I thought I could give my blog id a French connection but did not consider the fact that there would be a cross connection much like the way it is thrown up by our MTNL.
My French connection started when I was in the university and we had a cultural exchange between the 2 countries. I was a part of the group that visited France and earlier to that we had a group of French girls visiting India. Quite excited about going to a country of which I had only heard..... I landed on the French shores. Though I had travelled within the Indian subcontinent had never been to a Western country. I reached there all wide eyed... complete FOB....though I had taken the time to learn a bit of French just to tide me in case of emergency. How I thought it would tide me over is beyond me cos the first time I decided to use my meager vocabulary to ask for road directions it sent the Frenchman into an outburst of such volatile gesturing and rapid fire French that it could have competed with the TGV for speed. I realised I was lost in "all" ways! The pride I felt at having mastered a few useful lines from the travel books and having taken some tuitions from a French speaking aunt went to dust.... completely.
I stayed with a nice French family. Most of the other girls stayed in normal dysfunctional families (which was more the norm than having the required set of parents and grandparents). The girl.. I’ll call her Fifi... had this boyfriend... well we'll just call him BF (very original)... who was TFH ( that’s Tall/fair/handsome as against the pre-requisite in mills and boon TDH tall/dark/handsome). Since Fifi had visited India earlier I had a bit of know how of the French customs. The form of salutation being a hug and kiss on the cheek. Fifi introduced me to BF and as was the custom he approached me to hug me..... and Fifi screeched a loud "STOP" (read that with a French accent). BF stopped mid stride ( well you have to start men on house training very early if you want them to respond to the orders).... he had this big question mark on his face.... he asked Fifi what the problem was..... Fifi's profound answer being "She's Indian". I am telling you my Indian sensibilities always desert me in stressful times. For the life of me I couldn't get the connection. I was as puzzled as BF. So Fifi elaborated "You can't kiss her as she's Indian and they don't kiss". BF, the poor chap had no knowledge of India (probably only knew the latitude and longitude) went red in the face. It was then that I realised how good it is to be dark skinned. However embarrassed you are it doesn't show (after that I never touched Fair and lovely.... and after I told my friends this episode fair and lovely lost quite a few clients and devotees). Here I was in a Sita like situation wanting the earth to open up and swallow me but it didn’t show on my face at all, while BF’s face resembled a ripe strawberry.
There was another moment when BF went all fire engine red. Fifi, BF and I visited Lille. When we reached there we spent a long time searching for a car park. Finally we parked and when we went to the apartment, I saw a huge car park right in front of the building. I was surprised at having parked at a distance (cos it was very cold and my Indian bones had still not acclimatized and I was shivering, and after having braved the cold, I was a bit put off that BF had not used the car park close to the building). So I definitely did have to voice my question…. Which I did very politely and BF’s reaction was resembling a strawberry… finally when he got back to being TFH he told me that the car park opposite was used as a pick up site by gays. So he didn’t want to park there. In the 80’s I wasn’t even aware if there were any gays in Mumbai….. and imagine having a pick up site for them in France or rather in Lille which was small town compared to Paris….. really the difference between a developed and a developing nation has never been brought to me so starkly. As is said that whatever happens in a developed nation happens in a developing nation after about a 10-15yr gap, they were already out of the closet so to say where as I wasn’t even aware whether the closet existed in Mumbai. After that I kept my counsel about asking BF embarrassing questions and enjoyed my stay in Paris.
It was an enchanting 2 weeks for me. This was the time I fell in love with the very Bohemian Mont Martre. It’s my dream that someday I can go there armed with an easel and different colour mediums and of course with a bottle of lovely dry white wine and paint La Guee Paris in all it’s splendour. I just love the view from Mont Martre.
Getting back to Mumbai I would regale my family with anecdotes from my visit. Once I was visiting my uncle. He had a friend who had also visited Europe around the time I was there. This man was in his 40’s. He had also been an FOB as this had been his first trip to foreign shores. He was telling my uncle how things were in Europe and then he said when he was in Paris all he heard everywhere was (this conversation took place in Marathi so here goes) “Chakchuk chakchuk”… so my uncle was puzzled. He asked him what he meant by that. His friend replied that anywhere and everywhere he looked he would see people kissing/smooching etc(which certainly bothered his Indian sensibilities as the generation then was used to being shown two flowers meeting up instead of the hero and the heroine enjoying a romantic clinch). My uncle looked at me and said but she never told us about that. All eyes were on me and I felt as if I had been caught coming out of a cinema after watching an adult film. Very clinically I explained the rules of kissing in France as explained to me by Fifi. If you are just introduced to a person then on parting you give one kiss on the cheek….. if you meet up again and you have started knowing the person socially… 2 pecks on the cheek… on becoming better acquainted 3 pecks and if you become very good friends then 4 pecks. If you want to check this out all you do is take a metro ride. When a station approaches the sooner you hear the kissing sound the better friends they are… otherwise it’s just a peck and off the train :) I thanked my stars that this person had not visited the Latin quarter. Otherwise the poor chap would have been rendered speechless and had he mentioned the scene I would have had another Sita experience.
So here I end the story of my French connection. Hope you guys haven’t dropped off…. And if you are reading this line then you haven’t ,so I must thank you for bearing with me thus far. :)

Rules to be broken.

Over the years whenever any of my friends from foreign shores have visited me, they cannot get over the mind boggling mire that is Mumbai traffic. First thing that hits them is the blaring of horns. Then the blinkered way the rickshaw/taxi drivers drive totally ignoring the other drivers and getting their way... literally. The size of the other vehicles don't bother them at all. The bigger the other vehicle .... more thrill cutting through his path!
The RTO rules are always meant to be broken. Partly I feel that the authorities are also responsible. Just to show people that "we" have given you a four lane high way, if you draw lanes, which are tailored for minis then obviously the heavy vehicles are already in your path.
Talking about the rules. It is mandatory to wear a helmet while riding a two wheeler. Other day I saw the pillion rider holding the helmet in his hand. I couldn't help laughing as a thought struck me. He must be holding it so that when they did sight a traffic police officer he would dump the helmet on the driver's head so that they wouldn't have to pay the fine. 80% of the riders don't wear the helmet, which incidently is for their own safety. Unless each and every offender is fined this rule will be taken as just an irritation to be swatted away.
Similar is the case of seat belts. Some drivers just take it over the shoulders. It's not even taken across the body. Some smart alec came up with the idea of wearing T-shirts which had a black stripe going across which looked like a seat belt...... so that the police wouldn't know the difference. How would it be possible to make people understand the importance of these rules? Some years back a lady went to the RTO to give her driving exam. When the police officer asked her what a particular sign meant. She told him she couldn't remember. I guess the officer had a great sense of humour. He told the lady..... madam you are right..... these days no one takes this sign into consideration. By the way for your information this is the STOP sign. :)
He was so right. Stopping at the red signal is an ego prob with many a rickshaw-wallahs.
Only a person who drives in Mumbai knows the kind of reflexes one requires. It is like playing chess. You have to be at least 10 moves ahead of the driver in front of you. You have to be a mind reader, chess player and a Houdini to get through the traffic and still get to the destination on time and in one piece.
Even then I guess being a pucca Mumbaikar.... I will say theres no place like Mumbai.

Guru hoja shuru

Over the past few days I have heard a lot about the film Guru. Went to watch it this evening. It's a well made film. Mani Ratnam in his element. Open secret being that it's a film on the life and times of Dhirubhai Ambani. It's about how a village boy Gurukant wants to make it big and builds a huge empire. It's about how a man didn't let the rules stop him in his quest for success.
Abhishek Bachchan has done justice to his role as Guru and Aishwarya Rai has also done a good job. The last time I thought about Ash doing a good job was for her role in Kandukondein Kandukondein. The cinematography is really breathtaking.
A few small things that strike a wrong chord are that in the songs picturised there is a south indian ambiance rather than a gujarati one. Especially in the song "Tanna re".
After a long time one saw Mithun da in a role in which he could get his acting prowess to the fore rather than his pelvis. It's good to know that the talent didn't get lost in all his disco dancer roles.
Though seen in a cameo Vidya Balan stands out. This girl is real good. She's a natural. R. Madhavan was good too. Mallika Sherawat does an item in this movie.
On the topic of Mallika... I recently watched the film Pyar Ke side effects. Mallika Sherawat and Rahul Bose star in this movie. I really liked it. It's humour has the bite of say "When harry met sally" (which incidently is one of my most fave films). I guess these movies work more with urban audiences. Rahul Bose is a good actor but I guess his personality is such that he is more suited to this kind of cinema. This film is about a live in relationship and how things change when the couple get engaged. The doubts on the part of the man. The girl wanting the 3 tiny words. The break up and the coming back together. This movie has given Mallika a chance to act and she has done a good enough job. For once she isn't the "item" in this one. Theres another "item". Someone called baby doll who spoke as if she had difficulty mouthing her dialogues ..... well I don't know her name and didn't have the urge to find it out either.
Talking about "item" reminded me of the film "Dhoom2". Technically a well made film. What exactly Bipasha was doing in the film is open for debate. I guess one can't say no to Yash Chopra. I mean I didn't understand what one Bipasha was upto and imagine she had a double role. Abs amazing! This film had just about everything..... thrills/emotion/comic relief.... all put together on a cinematographically beautiful canvas.... but it was just that! Abs cold! They all looked good... did their job well and even then it wasn't the best movie I have watched. Even the much hyped kiss between Ash and Hrithik was just that..... like the director saying...... the script needs a kiss here... so lets put it there. The story reminded me of the Mandrake comic i had read as a kid. I still remember there was a story wherein the thief who if I remember right was called Camel and he would leave a small camel as his signature at the place of the theft like Hrithik leaves an A. He too was an ace at disguise. I think Yash Raj films have shifted focus from Mills and Boon to Mandrake.
I like watching Marathi films as well. Though there has been a dirth of good Marathi films in recent times. So this film came as a surprise. "Yanda Kartavya Aahey". When I started watching the film I thought that I was watching a wedding video. The story is about arranged marriages. In this film the hero has to get married because his granny is ill and she wishes to see him married. So he has an arranged marriage. The adjustments that the couple has to make. This film has a lot of innocence and middle class values which are completely lost in todays times. In hindi movies today no one bats an eyelid when the hero and heroine live together. The psyche of the urban Indian has changed and thats why this movie came as a surprise. Which showed how delicate the relations are and how a strong bond is forged between the married couple. How the focus shifts from the father being the most important person in a girl's life to her husband taking that place. The only jarring note in this film being the songs. Some are def not required. I feel the director shouldn't get into the rut of trying to fit in the songs ..... they just don't! All in all a nice CD to watch on a dreamy sunday.

Sound bytes

Hi folks... trust you are all in the pink of health. Have been away from blogging for a month now and it's good to be back.
Yesterday as I was getting home from work I was listening to the radio .... 93.5 Red FM to be exact. Lets say it's not like I am an avid radio listener or anything but just to enliven the drive and since I had forgotten to get a good CD I put the radio on. There was this Saturday night live English music programme on. The RJ was some Jose. He was taking calls for the requests. There was a call and the callers spoke in Hindi. This charlie Jose actually told him that it was an English prog. so he should speak in English. The caller didn't sound as if he knew English and was probably too embarrassed and ended up just saying 'hello, hello'. The call ended and this Jose actually had the gaul to say that these are the hindi listeners of our prog. I was really disgusted. I wanted to tell him "buddy.... let me remind you we live in a country whose national language is hindi"..... be glad that the "aam junta" who speaks hindi actually listens to your channel or you might just be out of job.
After another song I guess Sir Jose must have realised his faux pas... rather he had put both his feet together in his mouth. So when again another "hindi " caller called he said that since it was an english music prog. he was asked to speak in English and show that he couldn't understand hindi. HA... Amazing isn't it. Can't a hindi caller tell him in hindi which ENGLISH song he wants to hear. he wasn't going to translate the title in hindi as well.
We make a big hue and cry about Ms. Shilpa Shetty being at the end of racist remarks...... but can we stop our own babus from making snide remarks against the "vernies"?