Drizzle...mmmm

Drizzling in Bangalore. Feels nice. Awesome weather, may cause a few hiccups with traffic, but today feels like - "So what"? :)

Lucia..

Movie name : Lucia
Language : Kannada

I just enjoyed watching this movie. The movie deals with lucid dreaming. The story movies back and forth between reality and the dream that Nikki, the hero lives and dwells in. The script is great. The actors are apt for the roles. The movie is very engaging.

Now and then I would get a couple of doubts, like the hero tells the heroin, that she will know why he is against her wanting to be an actress, and tells her when she realises, she'll come back. Of course she comes and she seems to have realised what he meant, but as audience you have no clue, why! I am not sure if I wasn't paying enough attention or this was really not dealt with.

But overall a landmark movie in Kannada and deserves an applause for the effort. I would highly recommend watching the movie.

And btw, I liked that "Tinbeda kammi, tin tinbeda kammi" song, very catchy and enjoyable! :)

The lunchbox...

The lunchbox movie was a good watch. The story is set in Mumbai. In the rush of life, things are forgotten. The purpose of life begins to fade away if we cannot experience and share. Life isn’t all that lively if we don’t care.

There is a line, which went something like “if you don’t talk about things(from the past and even the present), they cease to exist”. Excellent performances. It seems slow at places. Just make sure you watch the movie in a quiet place. I happened to watch it in the theater and for some reason strange reason the audience was somewhat a rowdy crowd, who kept commenting now and then. To me the ambience makes as much a difference to watching a movie as the story does. So I would have liked to watch the movie in a quiet place. 

In the land of apples and apricots...

I had some of the juiciest apples in Leh! The fruits seem to be grown in almost everyone's backyard there. There were also lots of apricot trees in the gardens. Having fresh apricots were a very tasty experience!

The local markets had all the fresh produce of fruits and vegetables. I guess all these are organically grown and much cheaper! No fancy packing, and taste heavenly.

Local market

Movies I want to watch...

Want to watch "Lunchbox" and "Lucia". Seem like two quite interesting movies I would like to catch up...

Playful shadows...

There are wonderful shadows cast everywhere on the beautiful landscapes of Ladhak. The clouds cast shadows on mountains. The mountains of the plains and roads and other mountains. The trees on the roads. Airplanes on anything underneath. The shadow play of the lights was a photographer's delight. 

Many a times, the shades from these shadows were a real relief for a biker from the scorching sun.  

Just amazing :)

Mountain biking....

I was on a holiday to Leh, Ladhak, Jammu and Kashmir for the last 11 days or so.  What was I doing? Well I was on a mountain biking trip J How cool is that! The bikes aka the geared cycles were extremely good for the terrain and it was a wonderful experience. The best part of biking in the mountains is the meditative aspect. The terrains are tough and the weather in Leh is ruthless to the extent of literally sucking up all the moisture your body dares to expose. If you breathe through your mouth instead of the nose, the food pipe dries up! The dehydration left to itself can cause depression is what I heard, so even to keep oneself sane, one needs to hydrate as often! The early mornings and late evenings are chilly and the late mornings and noons are unbearably hot(for a Bangalorean i.e) and dryness is irrespective of day or night. Given the fact that I had all the time in the world, I became very aware of the body and mind. Any physical activity under extreme weather conditions is a mind game to begin with. 

The first day of the trail run(it was about 25kms!) I just wondered what on earth made me enroll for this, it felt very tough and I felt very unfit. The next day I was far more comfortable and by the fifth day the bike and me were almost so much in sync it was difficult not to believe I hadn’t done mountain biking before in my life. I learnt to synchronize breathing patterns with pedaling the bike, handle the steepness of the mountains with the bike, learnt to negotiate the hair pin bends. 

The roads - the roads in Ladhak deserve a special mention. They are extremely good, better than the roads in metros may be! The biking experience in Leh can be said to be of supremely high quality because of the excellent roads! Three cheers to the roads! :)

The azure skies provide a sense of calm that can only be experienced.

And the sense of accomplishment is so awesome. Imagine climbing mountains with your raw physical power for a fuel, what in the world can match that! The travel and the adventure add to the fun. The whole ride was on NH1 and most of the route was next to the Indus river! Scenic. Fantastic. Breath-takingly beautiful. I would highly recommend the experience. It is a doer’s delight. At the end of it all, you not only get a sense of accomplishment, you also get a toned body – that is a big bonus now, isn’t it!

Looking forward to...

Everyone needs a break, and what makes for a good break - travel of course! Pretty excited! :)