A very gripping Kahaani

I went to watch Kahaani with great expectations and I must say it more than lived up to my expectations.

A very pregnant Vidya Bagchi (Vidya Balan), lands in Kolkatta in search of her missing husband. She is aided by a police officer, Rana (Parambrata Chattopadhyay). The more they dig for clues of the missing husband, the more deeper and murkier it gets. People who are interrogated are murdered by the contract killer Bob (Saswata Chatterjee). Talking more about the plot will be giving away too much.

Another important character in the movie is the City of Joy, the city of Kolkatta. The color of the city especially during the Durga Puja enhances the movie experience. Watch out for the movie finale with the Durga Puja in the backdrop. Kudus to the cinematographer.

There is hardly any fault in the movie. The editing and writing is very crisp. Watch out for the scene just before the interval. You won't feel like leaving your seat even for a loo break!!!

The supporting cast is brilliant, each person cast perfectly. Special mention for Saswata Chatterjee. But the movie is Vidya all the way. She has once again proved that she is the 'hero' among the heroines of Bolloywood.

Vidya Balan, Sujay Ghosh and the entire cast and crew of Kahaani, take a bow!!! Don't miss this movie.

PS: I had written this review long ago and forgot to publish it...publishing it now.

Power of Advertisements

Vaishnavi disliked gripe water. She just refused to drink it. To make her drink it, we would disguise it in her water glass, in between her meals, give it to her while she is busy playing with her favorite toy, etc. The innovation flowed, and Vaishnavi was quick to adapt to our new innovations.
Then, one day my mother-in-law showed her the gripe water advertisement, where the baby drinks and likes it. Since then, Vaishnavi has started liking gripe water. Now she points to the gripe water bottle and says 'Adda' - in our language it means 'I want' or 'Give me that'.
The power of ads!!!!

Mausam - Oh what an orderal!!!

Even after reading horrible reviews of the movie, I ventured into watching Mausam only because I liked Shahid Kapur's look in the movie!! He the closest we can get to Tom Cruise in Top Gun. Serves me right for I was subjected to a never ending tale of milna-bechadna. 


The movie has its moments though which is most of the first half. The old styled 'chitti' romance is nice to watch. The reference to the major political events is nice but somehow their connection to the movie's story becomes predicable after sometime. Basically the movie is nice as long as it is a romcom. The second half is laborious and very predictable.

In the acting department, Shahid is good in the romcom part. Why the long face in second half after he becomes a pilot. Sonam looks drop dead gorgeous but her acting skills have dropped dead. She is fine as long as she doesn't open her mouth.

The movie could have turned out to be a nice one, had the editing been crisper and had it been only a romcom instead of romcom + melodrama + action + what all!!!

Back Again…

The title ‘After a long time’ got a bit boring and so here is a new one ‘Back Again’

Mobiles again!!!

Time again to chose a mobile...I bought one last year and it turned out to be a very bad choice.

I basically didn't have the money for a good, brand new phone, so thought of buying a Chinese mobile at National Market. Couple of people at office have bought them and the mobiles have turned out pretty good. (They claim it to be fine!!). Then one day, my dad gave a check with a 5 digit amount in it and said that I should buy myself a nice mobile.

Now with the with the first hurdle crossed, I started my research on mobiles. From basic models to smart phones - researched everything!! Finally thought of picking up an android mobile. But again a great Android phone costs >25K, and my budget is <20K. I was almost on the verge of buying a HTC Tattoo but backed out at the last minute. Thank God for it...Its supposed to be a bad phone.

Finally after doing some more Googling, I decided on the HTC Wildfire. Most of the reviews have given the phone a 4/5 rating. The only downside I read about the Wildfire is its display. Its a LCD screen instead of the latest craze AMOLED screen. But it does have all the other smart phone features and falls in my budget. Its supposed to be launched in India sometime in July. Waiting for it.

I did it again

Yes...I hurt my leg again. Last Sunday I had a projector screen stand dropped on my leg and it was a bad soft tissue damage. Its better now...no pain while walking but the region of impact still hurts.

I have this very 'special' gift of hurting my leg (over and over) x 'n' times again. Once during my college days I hurt my leg 4 times in 2 months. The fourth time when I went to the doctor, he raised his hands and told my mom to take me to an astrologer or get some puja done for me to heal my leg.

During the TTC, (I had a ligament tear then) Vidya was advising me to undergo the past life process (Its a process that you can undergo after doing the Art of Living Part 1 program). We discussed some very hilarious scenes about my past lives and the leg, like - in one of my past life, my last word might have been 'Oh my leg' and hence its still haunting me, or I might have tickled someone's leg and hence am carrying a curse, and many more.

I'm actually going to take Vidya's advice and am planning to go for the past life process. Lets hope that the leg problem is solved soon.

Dosas in Bangalore

A lot has been written about the food in Bangalore. Ab mera number hai!!!
One of my favorite food is dosa. Below is a list of my favorite dosa places in Bangalore. I have, of course, removed Home from the list :)
1. Sai Sagar - 7th cross Mallershwarm. I grew up in Malleshwaram and this was one of my frequently visited places. The dosas are dripping with butter and the chutney is the yummiest I have had in a hotel. High on taste and calories.
2. Vidyarthi Bhavan - Gandhi Bazar. You can easily miss this place if you aren't looking for it. Yummy dosas and chutney. The quality has come down a little from what I cherish. The best part are the waiters who carry around 20 -25 dosas at a time. The interiors are renovated and is much bigger place than it used to be during my childhood.
3. Jantha Hotel - 8th cross Mallershwarm. Its hardly few minutes walk from Sai Sagar. The quality has reduced a little over time, but still one of the best. The aloo paliya is best of the accompaniments, sambar and chuteny being the others.
4. Ganesh Darshini (or Dosa Camp) - Jayanagar 3rd Block. Its a fast food sort of a place, but serves wonderful dosas. They have a wide variety of dosas, with specials for each day. It used to be my daily break fast point when my office was in Jayanagar. They also make good akki rotti and holige.

Next post on idlis.

YES! @ Bansawadi

Just finished a YES! course in Banaswadi last week. The course was amazing and so were the experiences of all the participants, including me. A big thanks to Vivek for giving me this opportunity.



A collection of a few poems written by the YES! participants.

The first two are from Anarghya.

God:

God is everywhere, don't look for him!
God is in your heart, ever look for him!
God is in your soul, never cheat yourself!
God is in your mind, don't be blind!
God is with you, never seek for him elsewhere!

Nature

Nature is God's gift
It has all things bright and beautiful
Somethings great and some small
All things wise and wonderful
God made them all

God gave us a beautiful pair of eyers
A charming face and tounges that we might tell
Got made them all

He made the bird that sings
He made their colorful wings
He made tiny little creatures who crawl slowly
The great God made them all

This one is from Apoorva...

When a cool breeze strikes me
I feel the life so pleasant
But a question arises, 'Is this alone what is life?'

When heavy rays of sun falls on me
I feel the life is so tiring
But a question arises,'Is this alone what is life?'

When I see a fast flowing river
I feel the life is also so fast
But a question arises,'Is this alone what is life?'

But then I feel that this is not alone what is life?
Yes, the life's also beautiful

There are two more...will update them soon

My favorite snap

My favorite snap from the Dhamaka and Utsah. Thanks Pradeep.

Dhamaka and Utsah Snaps

Dhamaka and Utsah as seen through the camera. Finally uploaded them.

Dhamaka & Utsah

Its over and there is a void now. Yes, Dhamaka and Utsah is finally over, and what an event it was!!! We had 194 children participating in Dhamaka and 98 youth in Utsah. Mala, Shreya and Vennela were sources of inspiration and learning.

The first day was Christmas and we had a visit from Santa ‘Ujval’ Claus. It took the Dhamaka kids just 2 minutes to bring him down. He was flat on the floor with some 40 kids over him!

We had boat race, dodge ball, dog and the bone and many more interesting games.

Most of the things went smoothly during the event. The participants had a lot of fun, learnt a lot of things and didn’t want to go back home on the last day…which isn’t surprising in AOL courses!!!!!

The Bug is here…

Volkswagen has finally introduced the Bettle in India. But the cost is a whopping 20 lakhs. If only there was one zero less…

Ahh…deeply madly in love with the car On second thoughts, its just a car.

Have you noticed?

There are mangoes in August!!! You get raw mangoes in October!! Watermelons are available in November!!!

When we were kids these fruits were seasonal fruits. I’m not sure if this is the effect of global warming or advancement in agriculture. Both equally dangerous.

Dhamaka and Utsah

All happening and going great!!! Have got the first of the registrations today...awaiting many more.

Obama's Peace Prize - Cartoonized

Got a forward of US media’s reaction on President Barrack Obama winning the Nobel Peace Prize.

Totally hilarious.

Tu Jaane Na…

Currently addicted to this song from Ajab Prem Ki Gazab Kahani. There are some 3 versions of the song…but I liked the unplugged version sung by Kailash Kher and the Atif version. The first because it is sung by Kher and the second because it has great tabla. The other songs in the album are also decent. Tera Hone Laga is a hummable romantic number. Oh By God brings a smile on your face when you hear the shehnai. Main Tera Dhadkan Teri is an average dance number. The others songs are just about ok.

Also trying the a Media Player. (must play Tu Jaane Na, Kailash Kher version)

The player doesn’t seem to be working

Where are you from?

Is one of the most used conversation openers. (after the usual ‘I’m so n so’.) When I’m asked this question I usually answer Bangalore. But when I’m in the mood for some fun (at the other person’s cost) I give an elaborate explanation of my family’s origins. I say something like -

“I’m a half Kannadiga, half Maharastrian. My dad is from Belgaum, mom is from Aurangabad. I was born in Aurangabad, raised in Bangalore. My husband is a Kannadiga Tamilian from Bombay. His family is a Kannadiga family that had settled in Unjuloor, a village in Tamil Nadu. But he was born and brought-up in Bombay.”

This might not be an elaborate explanation, but to a person who expected a mono syllable answer, its a little too much. Sometimes the joke has been on me – the other person has a much longer tale to tell. All in all its great fun.

I changed the template again :)

Sometimes I get bitten by this bug called 'Get a new look for your blog' and I go hunting in internet (or rather google) for new templates, add-ons, widgets, etc. For the templates I recommend Deluxe Templates. The author is a Blogger fan and converts all the Wordpress templates to Blogger. The last 3 templates that I have used are from him.

For the widgets and add-ons - I haven't yet found a single site that is like a one-stop-shop.

For the past few days have been immersed in work. Also have been scouting for a venue for Utsaah and Dhamaka. We have just a little more than 2 months left and venue isn't yet decided.

YES! - My first experience

Just finshed a YES! program in Kaggadasapura. There were very few kids but the speciality of the course was that it was held bang in the middle of exams/tests. None of them missed even a single day, even if it was their most difficult subject's exam the next day.

Arvindh took the course for the first 3 days and later Ashok, Vivek and me took over. It's an entirely different experience sitting on the chair and being Guru ka tota. And when you read the experiences of the youth, you really feel special - special that the Master has chosen you.

Some snaps...

Navratri Again...

Its the time of year when ashram wears an extra festive look. The chants of the mantras, the fragrance of flowers and chandan, the charge in the air...Ah!! all so amazing!!
Its the time of Navratri and following is the Navratri message by Guruji...

There are two attitudes that we have to pay attention to. One is when we go inward, we say everything is Ok. Not a blade of grass moves without Divine intervention. God has kept us like this, so let it be so. Everything is Ok.

This is the attitude when you have to go inward (Nivriti).

When you have to come out and work (Pravritti), then you see perfection in even small details. Wherever you see imperfection, you have to pay attention on how you can correct it. Find out ways to improve on all the things.

So while acting, we see where we can improve and what we can change.
When we retire into meditation and say that everything is perfect, only then we can go in.

Usually when people close their eyes and go inward, they say, ‘This is not ok, that is not ok and find fault with everything’. They can neither meditate, nor be quiet. And in activity, people think that everything is fine the way it is, why do we have to do anything about it? Then, we are at a loss.

So when we are acting, we see what we can do and when we have to retire we say everything is Ok. This attitude will help you go deep in meditation.

I want nothing nothing
I do nothing
I am nothing

These are basic principles of meditation. We have to pay attention to this thing.

So Navratri will start from tomorrow. These nine days are nine days of inner connection to the Divinity.

In these nine days, let us keep all our small, petty things, petty desires, requirements, our small small issues that bother us - all in one side and just say to Divine, 'Let thy will be done. I am yours, let thy will be done'.

With this conviction, when you move forward, doing your practices you will lack nothing. All that you need, will just come to you naturally, spontaneously.

So we move into our sadhana, our practices with a trust that we will be taken care of, we are being taken care of.

Navratri is a time when all those needs- physical, mental and spiritual, are taken care by the Divine. At the same time, help each other, help all those people who need your help. It is nine nights, it is very auspicious and it is uplifting to the spirit.

Yagyas (pujas) are done from thousands of years to bring peace, prosperity, to dissolve all the negative karmas and to uplift the human spirit. It has been practiced from a very long time.

It is best not to engage yourself in all other socializing, talking wordly things with people. Just be with yourself. If at all you speak, only speak some knowledge or bare essential things. It is better not to sit and gossip. But these few days its best to be in Divine knowledge.

Q. Once you said that by doing seva all our problems are solved. I have come here for seva, will my problems be solved?
Sri Sri: Yes, definitely they will be solved. For all our problems to be solved, two things are needed: one, is our effort (purushartha) and the other is Grace (krupa). God is within us. We are the embodiment of absolute consciousness (chaitanya swaroop). There is nothing separate from us. It is within us, in our form. What we do outwardly, to do pooja, is to create an atmosphere. But the purpose of all this is to be bring the vision inwards to the self.

Q. Could you please explain why we pray to Shiva, even though Shiva is called the destructor?
Sri Sri: Shiva is not just the destructor; Shiva means the transformer, the consciousness which is advaita, which is non-dual, the one consciousness, Mahadeva. The Shiva pooja- Rudrapooja is the most ancient yagya which unites all the five elements, through chanting and using the five elements. This ceremony is done to uplift the human consciousness.

Q. What is the goal of our life?
Sri Sri: This is a question you should ponder on. What is it that you want? It is a very important question. Ponder on the answer - what is it that I need? Then all that is important in your life will stand and the unimportant will fall. Then what you think is important, within that (category) you prioritize again and again and again. And when you ponder on that and when nothing remains then you are the goal. Till then its good to keep doing this.

Q. I don’t know how to pray, I understand meditation but I don’t understand prayer. How does one pray?
Sri Sri: Meditation is the finest form of prayer. Prayer is ‘Oh God give me this, give me that’ or ‘Oh, I am so thankful to you because you gave me that or this’.
But meditation is just reposing and that is the best form of prayer. Prayer happens when you are utterly helpless or when you are very grateful. There are two situations in your life. Either you are so helpless, when you have no other way. Like if you are very thirsty and you need water, you say please give me some water. Please help.

Asking for help is one form of prayer.
Thanking is another form of prayer.
And the third is just reposing, being quiet.

The third is the most supreme type of prayer.

You can be grateful for all that you have had, that is a sort of prayer. You don’t have to use particular sentences or phrases or verses for it.

The yagyas that are being done here is not just some sort of prayer. It is a technique, a procedure. You don’t need to understand what those chantings mean. The chantings, the vibrations have an impact on our whole body, mind and the environment. That is the most important thing about yagyas. It is not asking God for this thing or that. It is just chanting those shlokas. Hearing the chantings is even more beneficial. You don’t need to chant with them. Simply listening to it, itself creates the vibrations in the consciousness.

Q. Where are Shiva and Shakti?
Sri Sri: Both Shiva and Shakti are within us. You sit as though you are sitting in an ocean of bliss, in the ocean of cosmic energy, Divine energy, Shiva energy, Shakti energy. That is what is meditation.

For more knowledge from Guruji visit the Wisdom Blog.