Vacations

Im going on a vacation starting from today. But the only vacation-y thing ill be doing is sleeping-eating-watching tv full time. No visits anywhere, no tours either :-(. But I plan to come back fully bloated up after 7 days of mom's delicious food and sleep :-D and hope I get to watch a few of the movies on my list.
Au revoir then :-)

movies unlimited

One more addition to my movie list :-D - Kingdom of Heaven : Delicious Orlando Bloom + a historical :-D.
I have been watching the trailers of Paheli and they are so good. So much colour, sharukh, gorgeous Rani, and the storyline also sounds really good. But I think the movie will be released after 3 more months :-(. Hum intezaaaaaaaaaaaaaar karenge :-D
Trailers of Kya kool hain hum are nauseating. Ekta Kapoor preaches so much about Indian values and morals in her serials and makes such sleazy movies!
Actually good number of watchable movies releasing this summer! but I hope I get to watch the movies on my list first.
2 days back, I got to watch Veer Zaara. I was crazy about the music earlier. Im in love with the movie too. Alright its all too idealistic and such things dont happen in real life or they are very rare but then it leaves u with a good feeling at the end. I always used to say that Sharukh excels in comedy and romance but he is intolerable in tragedy scenes. But he is much more restrained in this movie and has done a good job. Preity looks awesome :-D droooooooooools unlimited :-D Rani is my favourite star currently. She has so much attitude! Gives so much character to the role she plays.
Guess I should get back to my work now :-D khuda haafiz :-)

Lovely showers

We had a lovely rain latenight yesterday sometime around 1 am. Fierce winds, thunders, lightenings and stuff! It was such a relief after the sultriest day we ever faced in this summer! I was so caught up in the beauty that I forgot to take out my already dried clothes from the clothesline :-D

Summer musings

Summer is here :D Well for us Chennai-ites it is said that we have only 3 seasons around here - Hot, Hotter, Hottest :D So this is the hottest season we are going through ( also called the Chitirai). And being near the sea makes the climate here very sultry. But inspite of this, summer is my favourite season. I always thought winters were gloomy. After a dayful of sweat and grime, a pleasant breeze blows in the evening courtesy the sea again. Summer night skies are beautiful. The gulmohars- also called as May flowers bloom in May. Bright red trees lining the road are a sight to behold. I saw a gulmohar tree in full bloom on friday as I was passing through the city. I admit I rarely get up early in the morning but when I do wake up I love to hear the birds chirping. We used to live earlier in a place which had lots of flora and fauna, and summer mornings were really beautiful there. I was a good girl also in those days :D.

And summer also brings my favourite fruit- the mangoes. Somebody said somewhere that maybe Eve tempted Adam with a mango rather than an apple. Methinks thats very possible. If Eden doesn't even have mangoes, Im not interested in going there.
Plus we have the n number of things to cool it off like the icecreams, the more (Tamil for buttermilk), the coconut water- elneer in Tamil if Im right :D, juices etc. Earlier, summer days were synonymous with vacations too, but those were the days.................... sighhhhhhhhhhhh
So you see - Inspite of the heat and grime, summer is the best time :D
This summer, I have made out a list of movies to watch. Right now the number is just 2 - Paheli cos it has my favourite stars Sharukh and Rani and has been directed by Amol Palekar and Bunty aur Babli cos its an Yash Chopra flick and promises to be real fun.

By the way, I read a very interesting article on summer in Chennai in my favourite newspaper - The Hindu. Check it out.

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I saw the malayalam movie Manichitrathazh yesterday :D and liked it a lot. Im not that fluent in malayalam but can understand it if it is spoken slowly plus I had my mallu friends to translate whenever there was a tough sentence.
Wish I could put in more but I have to go. will edit this post in the eve. Good day :)

Attack of the Pundit !!

Gosh my blog has been invaded by the Pundit and many more such attacks are now expected in future. But really ! I found those comments more interesting than my blog :D. Looking forward to many more such. :D

On my front, never have I waited for the weekend this badly. Im totally brain dead after a rigorous week. But the weekend also will be hectic with many engagements. I hope I can make it back here on time tomorrow to catch the OAT movie which my friend tells me is National Treasure which according to him is a very good movie. Oh when will friday get over !!!!
Have a nice weekend :D

Wanderings..

Chennai had very pleasant weather last two days. It rained heavily and cooled down the temperature considerably. Everything wears a clean look now. The leaves look greener than usual and the yellow flowers on the trees look awesome against this bright green background. Even the stars are shining with a vengeance tonight since the clouds stole their show yesterday. My hunter, the Orion is in full glory today with the jewels in its armour trying to outdo each other in brilliance.

:D I guess its alright to think like this at times. But such thoughts always remind me of Wodehouse. I dont remember which novel but there is a lady in one of his fiction who thinks that the morning dews on the leaves are tears of the fairies and her other thoughts are also along the same line. Maybe I sounded like her earlier :D but I think fantasy in life makes it more colourful. So believing in Tolkien's elves, hobbits and Aragorn gives a charm to the daily monotonous life :D, with the nasty people we come across every other day playing the role of orcs and such wholeheartedly. :D

Baithak

The community IPFC Snobs on Orkut has come out with a homepage of their own where anybody can contribute their works. Do check it out. Its called Baithak. I liked every aspect of it. The concept, the name, the design, the contributions.... I am thinking really hard as what to send in there. After this weekend Ill send in something :D
Happy weekend folks !!

Tsunami alert..

The news that had been foremost in everybody's mind here yesterday night is the earthquake in Indonesia. That country is being battered again and again this way. Hope this is the last.
The memories from the previous tsunami being still fresh, this earthquake caused a great deal of panic here. Messages were sent across to alert anybody we knew who could be on the beach at the moment. All those who need not be alerted were also alerted. But did the remote areas on the coast get these warnings ? I hope they did. I was thinking that if cellular network services and radio-stations like Suryan FM, Radio Mirchi which are very popular everywhere here also broadcast such alerts, it will reach so many people.

Weekend movies

With an extra holiday on friday, the weekend has been fun. I slept my fill and enjoyed to the max. I watched Black on Friday. It was my advisor's treat :D. Its a really good movie. Awesome because of so many things. The kid Ayesha Kapoor has given a mind blowing performance. Everyone else had also acted really well. SLB impresses again. But one face that really stands out in my memory is the lady Shehnaz Patel who acts as Mitchell's mother. She has such a gorgeous face. Striking eyes, sweet smile. She was even more gorgeous in her younger days it seems. The movie was very intense, not the kind I watch generally. But its a must-watch.

The other movie I got to see was Aviator. Now that makes it two intense movies in a row. So I didn't watch it fully. I felt that Leo's enactment of the role was too real. That made it even more impossible to watch. This man (Howard Hughes) is too rich, too brilliant but oh-so-lonely. Very depressing ! So I came out and watched Hum Hain Rahi Pyar Ke instead on TV. Now thats a mast-watch movie. :D
Hey do read Asterix and the Great Divide. At one point, Getafix gives a menu description which sounds very tasty but means very nasty :D. I love that comic. Another favourite comic is Calvin & Hobbes. :D

Lage Raho Indiaaaaaaaaaaa

The decision to sell Pakistan the F-16s highlights the already known US hypocrisy. This is so out of place with its wish to be a peace-mediator in the region. I believe that it should never be allowed to play a role in this region. On the same breath, US talks about defence collaborations with India. Im sure we can do without that.

The same news edition had a report about plans of launching PSLV from a second launch pad. This was indigeniously made and is the only versatile Vehicle Assembly Builder (VAB) in the world. One feels so proud of such achievements. India on its own is getting to be technologically advanced and is excelling on all the other fields.
Slogan of the day could be
Lage Raho Indiaaaaaaaaaaaaaa :D

Amazing pics

I came across these amazing pics today.. Im also interested in photography but Im nowhere close to this :D

Alexander

I watched Alexander this weekend. This made me realise that Im almost illiterate in History. There is so much I dont know much about. Alexander's achievement at that young age is really impressive. I felt that the movie was more like a documentary. There were so many parts in the movie which I did not understand. I have resolved to learn more about Alexander.
Colin Farrell looks awesome :D

Last week I got to read an Erich Segal novel called Only Love. I thought I had read all his books. This came as a surprise. I didnt find it as good as Doctors but it wasn't as bad as Love Story or Oliver's Story either. I really love his writings. I have loved all his other books except the two mentioned above. After reading Doctors, I infact scanned the list of my childhood friends for a potential Barney :D. Unfortunately couldnt find any :D. This book is one of my alltime favourites :D

Cloud 9 :D

Guess what !!! my bro hit the jackpot with AIR 6 in his exams.. :D blisssssssssss. :D

Absurdities and fantasies

Another M&B of the same kind !!!!! This lady had watched NatGeo Max and had put in everything that her meagre brain could gather from it. So in the same novel the same people had moorish customs ( with a very wierd expalnation about the God of Islam ), had come from India, worshipped goddess kali, were gypsies, danced around the fire, were filthy rich too ( thats an essential qualification for an M&B hero) and what not. I was very sleepy when i read that..maybe I was hallucinating. Somebody cant be this absurd !!
Our TV got repaired yesterday and I also got to watch the last part of Fellowship of the Rings :D. Once in my life, I would like to watch all the three parts in one go. But then, for that to be possible, I should also have a home theatre system with comfortable cushions, popcorns, chicken etc close at hand. Dreams unlimited :D ..

East and west

I was reading a Mills & Boons novel yesterday. The story was about an Arab Sheikh who was filthy rich and who falls for this girl who is an Arab but has an American mother from whom she gets her red hair, slender form etc. Now I know MBs are not supposed to contain any sense. I find them the best stress busters. - one place where the grey cells are redundant. But this was the worst of them all. The whole novel associated the sheikhs with goats, camels, parrots, slaves, medieval customs and not to forget the 10s of ladies who are ready to *offer their services* . Now I haven't had a first hand account of how they live, but this I found too much to digest. In many other places, I have found this tendency of these writers to belittle the east. I remember a dialogue in the movie My Big Fat Greek Wedding where the father (who is a greek) says My people were composing poetry when your people were hanging from the trees (or something similar to that effect) and this is so true. Its the same case with the east/middle-east. The middle-east had a renaissance long before the west had theirs. The major religions of the world originated from this section of the world. East can be proud of so many great scholars and very rich cultures. Just putting up one's nose doesn't make one superior in any way.

swear words !

I had an education in the swear words in Hindi this weekend. I didnt learn it willingly so dont mistake me ! It so happened that two guys who looked very young (musnt have crossed their teens or must have been early twenties) and looked like navy trainees were sitting behind me in the bus. Unfortunately for me, the bus had got stuck in a traffic jam so I was forced to hear them. They were talking pretty loudly and that 30 mins has been an education, believe me ! I dont see the charm in using such words. It doesnt even make them look posh or chic. IPFC on orkut is also one of the education centers nowadays for such people. Seriously, orkut is so boring these days. One either finds such filth there or fanatics who preach at the drop of a hat.

Last week had been a freak-out week. I saw a movie, attended a friend's marriage, went home, sms-ed endlessly. Now I am trying to focus again. Could not see Black as planned. One of my colleague went to Delhi today. I was feeling so nostalgic. I had always thought that I'll go to Delhi someday soon. I still think so. That city has been my favourite (after Chennai, of course ) :D.

I end this by quoting a couplet by Mohsin Naqvi :-
Tez hawa ne mujhse poocha
Ret pe kya likhte rehte ho

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The real good thing these days has been getting in touch with my school friends. I should have done it long back :D

The god-send Power cut

I started the day by being very punctual and determined to finish a chunk of work. But it wasnt to be.. There was a powercut early in the morning which stayed that way till even lunch time. Very frustrating. But then we found out that matters will not improve even till 2. So we went out for amovie :D Now comes the interesting part. We were desperate to watch a movie cos it was a long time since we had the chance to freak out this way with someone or other being busy always .
So on reaching the theatre, Page 3 seemed like the only movie worth watching there. It turned out to be one awesome movie. Too good. Leaves an impression on you. It was a simple story of a journalist who usually writes for the Page 3 of a magazine which is just the gossip section. When she actually gets down to do the real journalism, she is chucked out. A character in the movie says : U have to live in the system to change the system. Do watch it. Im so happy that our gamble payed off else we generally go to watch the timepass shahrukh movies with happy endings.
By the way Kisna seems to have flopped terribly cos we couldnt find a trace of it in the whole chennai.
We should have such power cuts once in a while :D

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The day finnaly didnt turn out as bad as foreseen.. There wasnt any lab either cos there were no students alloted to my experiments today.. I loved sailing out of the lab in front of that nasty teacher :) blissssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssss
We will go in the evening to get some gift for one of my friends who is getting married on 18th. Almost all my friends are getting married .:( well Ill finish my phd and then think abt that. bye now :D