A Christmas Carol

Well its time for the most universal of festivals...its really a joyous time and no other event make u feel more nostalgic..well, at least for me...Christmas means Scrooge...ie the novel Dickens made a household name. The novel which we first encountered in school, still gives you something to ponder about...I remember the times when we were taught this and how it really felt so close to our hearts...it starts with the Ghost of Christmas Past and takes Scrooge to his boyhood and youth...then comes the Ghost of Christmas Present. The Ghost of Christmas Yet to come, takes Scrooge to future which looks very bleak. In the last act, Scrooge wakes up, a changed man, with joy and love in his heart. A simple tale of transformation of a man...but its a wonderful fairy tale. If you really forgot this, its time to revisit the classic again.

Really dont know nowadays how much meaning the novel can give to our kids. When there are cartoon characters like Ben-1o, who fight aliens and stuff, will the kids be interested in such a tale? But u can really show them the 2009 Disney film by the same name and they will love it. So heres wishing you all A VERY HAPPY X'MAS & A WONDERFUL NEW YEAR!

Tees Maar Khan

Farah Khan is a director following in the steps of Bollywood masala entertainers kings Manmohan Desai and Prakash Mehra. Her films are great fun and i love them. So fingers crossed for Dec 24th release of her TMK, without her fav. star, SRK. Or shud be ex-fav.star, cos as per the grapevine, the films a parody of SRKs star tantrums. Sirish Kunder, her hubby dear, is an old thorn in SRKs u know..so hes the script writer for the film. Akshay plays an actor and he constantly complaints of back pain and go for surgery to London, ala SRK and also when a Hollywood director comes to see him, make him wait for more than 4 hrs and then rejects. Anil Kapoor gets the role and wins an Oscar. This is what really happened when Danny Boyle approached SRK for Slumdog, except for the Oscar bit for AK. Well, sorry about the gossipping. Love to do that. But the main reason for the film is...u all know. Its the best item number ever choreographed in Indian film industry. The reasons not cos of any great song or choreographer. Its juz that the gal is Kat. Well b4 kids were asking "Dad, Choli ke peeche kya hai" or "Dad, Munni kyom badnam hui". Now they are asking "Dad, Sheela ki jawani kya hai?". The song is nowhere near good as the first 2. But man, does the temp. soar when its Kat doing the number! Guess this one song is gonna carry that film. So folks tayar ho jao for TMK and Kat! And mayb u will also not fail to notice the poor hero!

Turistas

Been thinking about writing some excerpts from an imaginary book am working on. But like most times, persuaded otherwise cos of the news happening around. We read about crimes daily. Still this one caught the eye. It is something most of us have definitely seen in some movie or read about in a book. Anni & Shrien Dewani were on honeymoon in Cape Town, South Africa. They arrived there on Friday and had gone out for dinner on Saturday evening and after dinner caught a taxi and asked the driver to take them to a nightlife hotspot. On the way the car was stopped by armed gunmen, who asked the driver to get out and then they sped with the car, with the couple inside. At midnight the husband was released and he quickly alerted the police and next morning the cab was found with Anni's body inside. The wedding took place just 2 weeks before.

The reason i thought about posting this is cos we all go to new places and get into taxis and drive around in the night. While in Thailand, we even had an incident when we were late and couldn't find our hotel and was at the mercy of the cabbie. But he was a nice guy and took pain in finding the right address. So ensure that you have studied about the place you are visiting. Dont try to explore places yourself without any info from your tour guide. As you might be knowing South Africa has got one of the worst crime rates in the world. But the world cup was conducted quite peacefully mainly cos these crimes happen in poor neighbourhoods. Unfortunately, while exploring a hot spot, the couple had to pass through one of these, and paid a heavy price. The title I borrowed from a movie about tourists in Brazil, who are kidnapped for their organs. But better watch "The Beach", starring Leonardo DiCaprio, which also got the same message, and still visually appealing. Still better, read that book.

127 Hours

Human perseverance sometimes beat all odds...The will power of man to face the toughest challenges never cease to amaze...this is one such story which was in the news seven years back, but back in the limelight cos of the film by Danny Boyle...127 hrs...

Aron Ralston, a Mech. Engg. working at Intel had resigned his job to climb all of Colorado's "fourteeners" or peaks over 14,000 ft. high. In 2003, while he was on a canyoneering trip in Utah, a boulder dislodged, crushing his right forearm and pinning it against the canyon wall. Since he had not told anyone about this trip, he knew no one will be looking for him. Five days he tried to extricate his arm and when they were found futile, carved his name, date of birth and presumed date of death into the canyon wall and videotaped his goodbyes to his family. Then, he did something only a really desperate man would do.....with no hope to survive, he started to cut off his arm...after succeeding with his tool knife, he had then to crawl down the 65 foot canyon wall and hike out....he met some holidaying people and they called for help....In 2005, Ralston became the first person to climb all the mountains in Colorado in winter, solo....his memoir is a best seller and ironically named "Between a Rock and a Hard Place". The film is gonna release soon and stars James Franco, Green Goblin in Spider-Man-3, and as my son says, Peter Parker's friend...its worth a watch juz because of him and Boyle...the trailers are already a big hit...

Another story which is around the same theme is the 33 Chilean miners trapped 700 m underground since August 5th and with no hopes of rescue till December... supplies being send down a hole, not bigger than a lemon and they are waiting for the escape tunnel to be completed....I started this around last month and as u all know, all the 33 miners were rescued yesterday..ie 13th Oct 2010 and in good health...

Still more happening with regard to truth and fiction...Its the story we all have been hearing and its been made into film by one of the best directors around...David Fincher....Well am talking about Social Network, the story of Facebook founder, Mark Zuckerberg....how the networking site started in a Harvard dormitory became the most happening site with around 500 million users within six yrs and Zuckerberg is a billionaire three times over at the age of 26...Its based on the book The Accidental Billionaires by Ben Mezrich. So u got 2 great films to watch out for...Social Network is already a blockbuster....Happy viewing....

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY MY LUV :)

We have again reached that special day
reserved for just the two of us
Only to realize that the LOVE we have for each other
has never grown old.
Years of memories
some tearful times; some joys immeasurable.
One by one each year flew by
but still they are ours forever.
Here is wishing you everything good
Today and all year through...

LOVE YOU DARLING :-)

Kangaroo care

Its a miracle some are lucky to witness in life...it only proves what we have known always...a mother's touch is indeed divine...Well now to the story......An Australian mother gave birth to twins after a 3hr labour in March..the doc came in and asked the mother did u name him...she told Jamie and the doc told sorry to say Jamie didnt make it. Born at 27 weeks weighing just 2lbs, the doc tried around 20 minutes to revive the baby and then gave him to the parents for saying good-byes. Kate, the mother, then removed the blanket and held him close to her body and started talking to him and cuddling him....after five minutes the baby started moving...but when nurse called doc he didnt turn up and send mid-wife telling its just reflex....after two hours, when the baby was given breast milk in his mom's finger, he started breathing normally. Thats when the doc came and pronounced its a miracle...

Kangaroo care is a technique which is being promoted at an increasing number of hospitals in Australia and is based on skin-to-skin contact between a new-born and a parent or even siblings. The idea behind the technique-which takes its name after the way kangaroos hold their young in a pouch next to their bodies-is that mothers become a human incubator, keeping the baby warm, stimulated and fed. Pre-term and low birth-weight babies treated this way have also been shown to have lower infection rates, less severe illness and improved sleep patterns.

Its a refreshing to read such stories in todays times of natural and man-made disasters and proves still theres goodness around...

Secret of Happiness

Is there a secret? New studies show that happiness comes from enjoying life with minimalist material things. So the first advice they give is learn to live life with only 100 personal things. That means ur wardrobe and toiletries should be reduced to that number. Well for those who think that we dont have that many, dont complain. U shud be already happy. The studies show that people are happier when they spend on experiences than material goods. When u buy a new car, the joy lasts as long as ur neighbour or relative has an inferior model. As soon as they upgrade, u feel inadequate. But with experiences, this comparison is not possible. Like the trip u had to Europe or some exotic Caribbean island. Skeptics telling this is all due to recession and people just dont have money to spend. On a different take, if u have money u can have the costliest desserts in the world. While the Frrozen Haute Chocolate costs a mind-blowing $ 25,000, the opulence sundae costs $1000. The first one needs to be ordered 2 weeks in advance and the latter, 48hrs. See the snaps. Its 24carat edible Swiss gold with 23 carat edible gold leaf. They give an 18 carat golden spoon to eat, which u can take home. So wat u think??Having millions does help or wat?? To learn more about a simple life, visit www.rowdykittens.com.

Facebook and twitter highlight ways popular to quit any job. Most people dream of the day when they can say to their tyrant boss' face to just zip off. But a flight steward became the hero of millions when he quit his job in style. Steven Slater had an argument with a passenger while the flight was taxing and got pissed off. He just went to the airplane intercom called profanities, took 2 beers and then pressed the switch for the emergency inflatable slide and bounced out. Well he got arrested later and was out on bail. Any grand ideas u can imagine to better this one??

To dream or not to dream

The movie "2012" was a visual treat. Roland Emmerich is known for such films and u never know what hes gonna blow up next. Still u knew its juz fiction. Its when such stuff really happens ur really scared. I mean how would you react if u knew that one intersection was fully swallowed in Guatemala or some drivers had a close shave with death when the highway opened up below them???Dont believe??Juz have a look ...

The phenomenon is called "sink holes" and they juz pop up in least suspected areas afer a major storm. The incident where u see the SUV happened when a man-hole collapsed cos of a storm. Well to give u some relief, none of the above incidents had injuries.

The reason these things came to my mind is cos of the debate now raging about a film i saw recently, "Inception". Its about dreams and the hero is a thief skilled in stealing other persons dreams, or u can say meddling with their dreams. The film was like any other ordinary film with some spectacular CGI effects. Was wondering why it took Nolan 10 yrs to make the film. Then came some highly mind-bending reviews. Have read lota reviews, but never such great debate after a film is released. The funny thing is that i thought its really a stupid idea to see a film again to understand it. But this film is really worth a second viewing. You see it is to clear the blur between dream and reality....ie which scenes are real and which are not. The scenes where hero's wife is shown jumping of a hotel room and the scene in a chase when he gets stuck between two walls are classic dream sequences, even though they are shown to be real. The first scene is really strange cos shes sitting on the window ledge opposite their room and hes telling her to come back by waving his hand towards the room, even though this is impossible cos the only way to do that is to jump. These two scenes are the main points of argument to convince us that the whole film is a dream. Reason???Its juz to show that film making is about selling dreams....even the caption for the film is tricky...The scene of the crime is your mind...you decide!

Oops! Got carried away by Inception. But friends....do see it! Films about dreams should be more spell binding. Just thought Nolan could have used stuff like sink-holes and zombies and all to scare us more. Thats where it disappointed me. A black couple also still trying to decide if they are dreaming when their third child turned out to be white, with blue eyes and curly blonde hair. Doctors are as baffled as the parents and doing genetic research to find the reason. The baby's siblings are not amused.

Ugly Ellie

It happens only in US!!A week before, the world's ugliest dog died, aged 17!!When i saw the headline was really curious....Expecting a really ugly dog, was shocked to see a poor old dog...the news confirmed what i feared...it was having cataract in both eyes, only some back teeth and pimples all over the body!!And the most ironic thing was the owner was shown as Florence Nightingale for her efforts in bringing a dog from wilderness into the spotlight!!I mean surely she did the right thing in buying it from the previous owner who had no use for the dog. But why she didnt make Ellie participate in a normal dog show??? If she knew the truth, the dog would have chased the owner with wat remaining teeth she had!!!I mean would they cast a really ugly actress as "ugly Betty"??? Its out of the question!!Maybe am in the minority here....but i really only felt pity for Ellie!!Before i go further, juz wat the owner had to say about this was she really wanted to show that pet owners should not always go for looks...well, that one i agree!!

While we are on pets, some people love to keep pythons and a boa constrictor killed his owner by juz being playful...he juz squeezed his owner's neck, again in US....our Mallika Sherawat was in Cannes with these slithering pets to promte her movie HhiSs, little knowing the pitfalls.....

Last week also saw a small fox climb the stairs of an affluent home in London, walk into the bedroom where nine-month old twins were sleeping in their crib and mauled them. Fortunately the twins' mother heard their screams and arrived in the nick of time. People were of the belief these things happened only in rural places in developing countries.

To end on a good note, a favorite old movie has been remade with a fav. actor...am talking about The Karate Kid....while in school, the movie really was a blockbuster and made me wanna learn karate, but parents forbid. Ralph Macchio and Elizabeth Shue were really cool...so am gonna watch the new version cos it stars Jackie Chan!!Jaden Smith, son of Will Smith, also there. For those of u who missed the original one, dont miss this one!!Story is about a kid being in a new place and falling in love with an elder girl and thus garnering the attention of the local bully. How he learns to fight, with the help of his building janitor and truimphs is the story...

Ignorance is Bliss

To start with a cliche, knowledge is power. But going by the headlines we get nowadays, cant blame if u skip the news altogether. Near misses, major accidents, tornados, tsunamis...oh the list is endless...Turn to ur inbox and forwarded mail is the only thing u get and then u realise, wasnt old fashioned snail mail better??Its the guys who really think all the spam they get is the gospel truth and bring out their own versions that make u scratch ur head...the latest one's that the cause for all recent air crashes was some guy forgetting to turn off his phone...am not contesting the fact that communications get hampered by use of mobile devices...but isnt it a
little far fetched????and why would u put ur name under such a claim and forwarded it to one and all????...well then we got people warning not to eat KFC, dont drink colas, do not use shampoos, dont use hair-bands...well to clarify the last one, it says at least not from China, reason???cos its used condoms they use inside!!! how they get these used condoms by such bulk quantity is a mystery....well then this site claiming to dispel such urban legends says its not used ones u stupid...its juz faulty ones...so at least they agree its condoms....and dont forget the creepy ones....HIV syringes left in cinehall seats pointed towards the approaching bums....rat piss in cans....really do we need this stuff???and wat about those sadistic ones....real life accident pics with guys or gals without arms or legs or even heads from the spot itself, ironically posted by the emergency rescue teams....one guy is still fighting a case cos his daughter's gruesome fatal crash snaps were posted on the web, with taglines like she deserved it...guess by now u agree, rite?Ignorance is indeed bliss....but not all headlines are scary...some add spice....like the one about the Latino banker butted out of her job, cos her male colleagues cudnt handle the hot pants and skirts she wore to work...it happened rite in the Big Apple and none other than Citigroup is invloved....well its being hotly contested by the employer...or the guy who accidently shot his own genitals....apparently he had placed a gun inside his pants...OMG! thats really the pits and indeed scary!

Up In The Air

Fear of flying is something we all have and it never diminishes....in fact the older u get, the more it becomes! The past 2 weeks were not really good for flying and three incidents were notable. The first one was something we all dread of, but it really happened and a plane fell almost 18000 ft, before the pilot could take control. Even thinking about it , gives u the goosebumps!!Thank God, the plane landed safely, albeit injuries to some passengers. One enterprising young chap from Gods Own Country was the cause of fear for passengers of another flight. The flight from Banglore was about to land in Kochi, when the crew and passengers were horrified to see this chap, coming out of the toilet without a single stich of clothing!!Yup!!in his b'day suit!!Apparently he took the ad "king of good times" literally and had a ball before and on the flight. Nobody was able to persuade him to wear clothes and finally after landing, seeing the security force only he complied. The last incident occured on the flight from Heathrow to Cayman Islands.Passengers on the 11 hr flight were told to stop drinking water or eating anything, 2hrs b4 landing. Reason???Well apparently aviation services at Heathrow forgot to empty the tanks and all six toilets were jammed. All were relieved when the flight finally landed(pun intended). Well we dont want to end any topic on heady notes. So hope u dont mind including two minor skirmishes with a major incident. The fact remains we all fear flying, at least I do! Hope u had a nice time.This is your pilot signing off...........

Clash of the Titans

The right to protest is indeed a fundamental right...but shud it be trampling on the right of free movement of others??Its tiring na, hearing pros and cons of hartals and bandhs and still everytime one of those are called or uncalled for, u juz feel depressed! I mean while at school and college, it was really fun....but after that what fun u can have sitting at home and not able to roam about, worried that the next flying object is gonna land on ur windshiled or ur head, depending on mode of transport. Then why is that our so-called leaders resort to such pre-historic means of protest??well its juz for that....u need to be poked and shown ur place to realise that they are protesting for u....and wat u do in return???keep on complaining...so why dont we juz forget about it and move on...well thats when the latest form of protest caught the attention of the media....An young American blogger decided to protest against a cleric's statement that earthquakes are caused by women who dont dress modestly, how, well by asking fellow women to wear dresses showing their cleavage on the 26th. Over 200,000 women joined her and strutted their stuff and lo next thing u know Taiwan is rocked by a massive quake. Well she was shaken, but not stirred. She had called her protest "boobquake" and in protest against that there was another group calling themselves "brainquake"calling on women to show off their résumés, CVs, honors, prizes, and accomplishments. OMG!! so u see there are many ways to protest....juz need to choose the right form.....now those who are in any way offended by the above, dont protest against me...juz sharing protests!!dream on...........

Masti ka Padhsala

We r very proud to proclaim ourselves from the state of cent percent literacy...reading newspapers is a fad and u will be surprised to find people from all classes and social status devouring not one, but all the different newspapers with a fervor which is hard to explain...in short, news is our daily energy drink...but then how do u explain the phenomenon that we top the list for being the most duped??well two recent news headlines underline this fact..one's about an internet geek who seduced girls and women by the dozen, married them and then left depleting their bank accounts. He was using chat rooms for this purpose and was found to be very effective with his eloquence. Another enterprising mallu, called up young and upcoming VJs and models and posed as famous film diectors and asked whether they were interested in joining films. When the nubile maidens replied in the affirmative, he told will send son to take snaps and believe it or not these movie crazy gals accepted the offer. Well, u cant blame them, rite??After all they are innocent and not aware of the predators prowling around...and their parents???...so wat do we read in papers???is it sports???is it only about the latest potboiler or is it about politics??and wat about all the Manasaputhris u see on tv??they spread the message that its ok to kill and maim as long as ur ends are met...then why we r still duped with goat,teak,japanese mattresses and god knows what all schemes!!Guess we read cos we want to find new enterprising ideas to trick the public into scams so-hard-to-believe-its-true!!After all wat can be so bad in Gods own country!!do we see a light at the end of the tunnel...well to quote Navjot Sidhu...we do..but thats the light of an incoming superfast train...Live on....

Turn Back the Clock

Thats the title of one of my all time favourite songs.....how many of us have wished that...living in the past is something we all do time to time...but some like me gets bogged down by errors made in the past...well its not about making things rite...its that even though technology is taking us ahead, making things easier, it has also made life more stressful! how??well to cite an example u r not safe to go to any trail rooms in shops or rest rooms in hotels without fear of being CIA ie caught in the act!!Another ones the way sports played nowadays...take IPL...is that cricket??i mean after the first week really whos interested in following all these 8 teams playing each other 100 times or more....anybody can bowl and bat and be the star of the day....that wonderful nite still lingers on ur mind..in front of the tv and Mohinder getting the final wicket and taking the stumps to proclaim us as the World Champions....it was the full team which took the credit...then take tv....the wonderful Doordarshan serials...Hum Log, Buniyaad, Yeh Jo Hai Zindagi, Rajani, Udaan...will we get some gems...never...now only Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Vamp Thi...Movies were about stories and not situational comedies...Songs were about lyrics and not words without meaning...so I wish that i could turn back the clock...bring the world of time to a stop....back to the days when love was so much better....and the errors i made...well its juz that i wish i could have kept my friendship with all my friends from school onwards...never was able and now find myself singing this Johnny Hates Jazz number...

The Japanese Wife

The first time u met....the first outing ..holding of hands....looking in the eyes...and the thrill of a joyride...the countless phone calls....and u juz cant wait for the D-DAY!!so how can anyone wait 15years...that too to meet ur wife for the first ime???oh yeah.......am talking abt "The Japanese Wife", Aparna Sen's latest movie starring Rahul Bose.......based on a short story by Kunal Bose, its the tale of a Bengali man who exchange wedding vows with his Japanese penpal and they continue to exchange letters for 15yrs!!!Enter the scene a young widow and her child and the rest is about the change in the hero after he gets first glimpse of family life...so can 2 people, who have never met, remain apart for such a long time and still be in love??that too in this age of webcams and MMS??only if they are in PANDORA!!!i mean u wud catch the first flight, rite??now u know why the wife's Japanese!!she aint easy catch!!so how they sustained their love??what did they exchange in their letters??well my guess is abt world war-II and atom bombs....dream on.........

Happy B'Day Chweetheart !

Happy Birthday Darling
I don't always tell you,
but YOU ARE THE BEST
and I LOVE YOU !
May the sun always shine on u
And the ray of the sun reaching u
decorate ur life with good health,
happiness & success.

Always be the STAR that shines BRIGHT !!!

Lotsa kisses 'n hugs ....ur chweetiepie (wait 4 my call !!!!! )

Dad, Happy B'day to you.....Love U ! Muaaaaaaaaaaaaaah... ur cutiepie :-)

"Kama" yogi

Thought have seen the last of them....but guess thats juz wishful thinking!!Another guru caught in bed with a tollywood starlet(acted in mallu superhits too) is the latest 24X7 channel news! Even though still to be confirmed if the guru is the real one or juz a reel one, the broadcast of it on all major channels really tells u that what sells best is the er...three letter word!!I mean do they show this so that people are more cautious...bull......they juz want more TRP!!Well cant blame them. So wat u think ??wat punishment to be given to the said karmic??Well one of our minsters told a certain punishment..but er...cant find words to translate...BuT its more prudent to punish all those folks who worship such people...when are they gonna learn???IS it some kinda fantasy they cherish to be with such people??why they are willing to prostrate b4 such "mahapurushs"??is it cos they are able to provide divine interventions??well looks like the only lessons they can provide is from KamaSutra!!

The Customer is King !

How many times do u walk into ur local bakery in a week ? it's almost daily in my case as i 've a 6 yr old kid. But am also very much tempted by these cakes and stuff. Know many must b 'ving lota advise for me " Beware, if u eat too much ..u 'll get fat and ugly". Well thts not the topic for 2day. then wat ? Ok first tell me how you guys wud react if u get ripped off in a shop ? mosta of you may not go bak to tht shop again and even might tell everyone not to buy stuff frm there , rite ? Now here is my story....I am a regular customer of this particular Bakery. Numerous times i found checking the labels(of course @ home )tht they 've over charged me . yea...they robbed me everytime I did shopping there. do you think I have said anything? yes u r rite, being an aggressive one i just could not ignore. It is common for shopkeepers to double the prices of products out of sheer greed or general wishful thinking. The best way to deal with this sort of situation is to be equally unreasonable. Grabbing courage from colleagues and friends i visited the shop again just to bring him back to reality. At the expense of my vocal cords i started questioning the shopkeeper tht too when the shop was really crowded. I know its a bad way to go about things, but he demanded the situation. And even before i started conversing the shopkeeper was getting ready to pay me the excess money which he took from me on several visits, which makes things pretty clear. Finally i stepped out in high spirits (i hate being cheated !!!! ), ofcourse wid my wallet filled and didn't forget to warn him tht i will b bak again often to check if hez any better at maths ;-).Primary strategy of any business shud be never dare to make the customer unhappy.

On tht note ....."happy shopping " and don't hesitate to leave a comment .....thanks to all for pouring in comments for the previous post . Good Job Sang ...luv u !

Wannabe chef, blogger, author

Well how to start....wanted to start my own blog b4...but after reading wifeys posts, realised am not upto it...but then found courage to ask her permission........to use her page.....wow!!but shes gonna be there checking wat i post...if unedible, will change password...so little stage fright!!well u have read about people using recipes online for cooking or getting help from friends..but have u heard of using spouse's blog for cooking???thts exactly wat i did and my room mate still frowning how i suddenly became an expert cook...means b4 really didnt know anything except make tea...so now making veg curry, fish curry, chicken, fish fry and wat all...so darling, this post is for u....i mean all the posts...cos ur the inspiration....well if u allow me to continue...ambitions know no bounds....first wanted to be a film director....then thought of being an editor...then journalist...but now finally settled for author...

friends....havent u read all her poems posted??well it beats me how she does it! i mean so wonderful words and so meaningful.......and what prose 2...how can i beat that??but u know we can be like Jonathan & Faye Kellerman...they started doing books together...but for that my better half shud start a book...so wat say???why i shud i be the one doing this...need to get out and let her continue...so that u all can read good stuff and i can get my recipes....