D(h)oom(ed) 2

For this one, I seriously blame the movie junkie in me. Being averse as I am to a certain slinky blue-eyed “beauty”, I seriously questioned my initiative to get tickets for this latest flick for a Sunday afternoon. But, I must admit I was curious about the movie, especially after watching some previews.

The story line like its predecessor sort of had the entrapments of the quintessential Hindi movie. So here are the characters

• a slick, smart and ingenious thief (Jr. Roshan)
• a smarter and efficient policeman(Jr. B) who stays a step ahead of the criminal but never manages to catch hold of the guy
• the policeman's ignorable sidekick(never have/will like him) and his even more ignorable lady love(dusky Ms. Basu)
• our beloved blue-eyed leading lady((aka Ms. Rai) who is very predictably a small time thief in love with the big time thief
• yet another brief but really futile role for Ms Basu(I kind of like her and no, its not for the nonexistent acting skills)

I need to accept the fact that it was a really good attempt on the part of the movie makers to force me to give a second glance to Roshan junior. My ego hurts, but I need to admit that he looks stylish and suave in the movie. The movie is pretty tolerable in the first half.

Slick robbery scenes not so surprisingly, were like an assortment of several Hollywood flicks. The Doc and I had fun guessing which one resembled which one; we did see the movie too. My apologies if you were the guy next to me, you appeared disgruntled that we spotted the lack of originality! What could we do anyway when, the “super hero” robber's disguised antics seemed to have an uncanny resemblance to The Saint and Entrapment and... Oh! And theres this gadget that he uses to steal a gem right under the nose of the guards. Well this gadget is so big and obvious... the impossible nature of this stunt does not even motivate me to question it.

The thief, like super heroes must have a signature, a trademark, a little something to identify his piece of work. He should have an eye and passion only for the priceless, unique and perfect. He should also rob in a pattern only obvious to the heroic genius cop. Surprise, surprise! So the cop chases the thief & his blue-eyed sidekick to fabulous locales across the world. The cop should always be a step ahead, but never catch the robber.No, not even when he meets the guy in person merely inches away. Some more surprise!

Nothing much to say of the blue-eyed lady who initially is in the services of the copper to catch our thief. But alas, the love-struck woman is torn apart with the guilt of giving up her lover and avoiding her pending indictment thanks to the copper!! Our cornered superhero jumps down to his death. His lady is left behind in Rio and so is the cop's weirdo sidekick. But wait, the story is not over still. Several months later... in the picturesque islands of Fiji....In a very Hindi filmy style our superhero resurrects. He is not dead. His lady love and he fooled the cop to opt for a normal life and our genius cop of course who of course claims he knew it all the time

The epic** is generously interspersed with not so funny slapstick comedy, bikini clad women playing beach volleyball in Copa Cabbana, a Brazilian fanfare and a few mesmerizing locales and of course the forgettable songs.

I always had Rio on the top of my “must see” list, the movie at least enhanced that for me though the travel channels showcase the place better. Now that I think of it, should I have stayed home and watched some TV with my favorite cup of tea and relaxed. But the Doc and I did have our moments of fun, commenting and sharing our notions of the movie.

This time I should've listened to the critics.

**Epic like is how it felt, and the size of this entry convinces me.

PS: Apologies to the readers who are yet to watch this very forgettable flick. Take it from me you aint gonna miss nothing !

Chetty's Corner

My hunger pangs were simply intolerable last evening and the drive back from work seemed like a long ordeal and every fella on the street irritated the life out of me. As I mentioned this to the Doc while picking him up, he gave me a brilliant snack idea that made me salivate almost instantaneously. So we went to this little nondescript place in a very upscale part of the city. “Chetty's Corner” is on a lane that is very aptly named Serpentine Road. Its strategically located opposite a huge playground/park and dishes out the most simple, healthy and fantastic snacks. The location is probably appropriate since you can never return from the place without having overeaten and will probably be compelled to burn out the extra calories. The walk in and around the park is quite a pleasant experience. Come 6 o'clock in the evening, the place is flooded with senior citizens, families, teenagers and bachelors. The area was a “no parking” zone until a couple of months ago. But the joint seems to have won over the hearts of the traffic authorities too and there is ample parking** available here.

Anyway, let me quickly get to the most important part. You will find the most amazing chaat at Gullu's and the best veggie bun nippat** combos next door at “Chetty's”. The latter was what made me cheer up and I am taking the chance to go public in writing to say that I owe the Doc a big one for merely suggesting this last evening!!

Chettys' serve more than 50 or 60 people every 5 minutes and everyone almost always go back for seconds. The veggie bun nippat is a rather deceptively simple creation from a soft bun and a surprise ingredient. The bun is sliced in the middle and generously coated with a wonderful coriander chutney and a sweet and spicy tamarind chutney. This is then stuffed with finely chopped onions, tomatoes, cabbage, some sev** and finally the piece de resistance – the nippat is added and topped off with a load of cheese which of course is the sin you can opt out of. All this washed down with their masala cold drink** which is another amazing concoction that is simply a must try.

I am satiated, at least until the next time.

**Parking: The severe space crunch for parking in Bangalore seems like the deciding factor for going anywhere.
**Masala cold drink: Your favorite carbonated drink mixed with the some freshly squeezed lime juice, chaat masala and a special jaljeera mixture. The formula is usually unique to each place and most often kept secret.
**Nippat: Flat round crispy snack made from a dough of roasted and powdered chickpeas, groundnuts and sesame seeds with a little chilly powder, salt and a dash of dessicated or freshly ground coconut.. This can either be deep fried or baked.
**Sev:Spicy and popular crispies made of riceflour and chickpeas

"Little" Big Pleasures

Sometimes there is nothing like rediscovering the present. And we did exactly that on Sunday. After 3 years of living where we live and doing what we do, we have seldom stopped to notice the small things that we would have otherwise enjoyed had we been a wee bit more patient and less cynical of everything here. We went driving on the route I normally take to work. I have been meaning to get some snaps clicked over a 4km stretch of a fly-over. Its really the simple and mundane things here that really seem to appeal to me. As I go to work the sites of people cycling and walking, stretching out on their terraces, the city market with the different sounds, colors and smells; the other drivers who pick the early morning hours to get to work at a leisurely pace, some really old and appealing building and finally the wonderful multifarious hues of the sky as the sun sets on my way back from work. This is one of those simple but big pleasures and an even bigger release that I enjoy each day. So the Doc strapped himself to the passenger's side and I drove slowly along the entire route and recounted each thought and each moment of pleasure through this little journey. I felt the rush right back...it was a simple but overwhelming pleasure !

Diwali - past & present

My parent are extremely enthusiastic about any sort of celebration. They have the incredible stamina and loads of energy to go the whole hog for every occasion. Right from preparing the numerous delicacies that is typical of each Indian festival to calling friends and family for elaborate and well thought out dinners for each occasion and just being able to celebrate every occasion with a lot of style and fervor. It was always very overwhelming and heart warming to see the detail and effort that went into each little thing while planning for such occasions. Diwali was the special”est” for us kids.

Each Diwali began at 4:30 am with a loving but really loud wake-up call from Dad. Coming from a typical Tamil Iyer family we had a typical Deepavali Ritual. Our day began with Mum massaging gingelly oil onto our heads, giving us our new clothes and finishing off the routine with a tasting of the sweets and savories prepared in advance with a lot of patience and care. That was then followed by the “ganga snanam”, more a ritualistic oil bath than a dip in the Ganges. After we were dressed in our new clothes and took the blessings of the elders at home we had to burst some crackers and all this had to be done before the sunrise.

Diwali came and went. We never expected that we would celebrate or use the holiday to spend some time together. In fact, we never thought we would be together for Diwali this year. I guess I got really lucky and the Doc dropped in for a flying visit. We actually ended up having a blast on the eve of my trip to Saurashtra. We woke up really early to have a long long day. We began the usual rounds of calls to wish close friends and relatives as is the routine for every "important" festival and something as simple as that had me spiral back in time as you just read above.

Well, we did manage to light some diyas and I made a nice rangoli, saw lots of folks bursting crackers. I must say that we're totally averse to the noise, smoke and smell they generate as a result. I am personally extremely sensitive to the noise and scared of all the "fire" works. As a result, we stayed indoors through the day except for a few short drives to our friends' homes. Our day culminated in a fantastic party at our favorite couple's home and we finally saw the end to a Diwali pretty well spent for the likes of us.

The many comebacks

So I am finally back after a really long and wonderful Diwali holiday. The Doc is back and I am back at work. The break was really long pending and truly well deserved in my mind. It was refreshing and one filled with many beautiful experiences of visiting a different place for the first time. Theres more on that coming later. I took the time to write in my diary, indulged in an excellent "gourmet" experience, finally invested in some pretty and unique pieces of jewelery (pretty rare for the likes of me) and clicked away on my camera(another prized possession).

Now I am back and ready to start afresh and ready to conquer the world !! It does take very little to get that feeling - I realized that in the last 3 weeks. I am all set for a heady concoction of lots of challenges and several happy beginnings and endings that I am eagerly looking forward to through the rest of the year. Amen to that!