Strike 2!

I enjoy bowling. Am not a pro. Couple of days ago, went with some of my teamies, and got two strikes(all pins going down in the one throw) in a row….yaaaay! I think I got cold feet, to get a hat trick! :)

I seemed to be getting the technique right at the fag end, so did not have enough throws or more time to practice and make sure I got it alright. Choosing the right weight of the ball, the swing of the throw, the momentum(sometimes the ball goes and hits the middle pins, but all the pins don’t tumble because the ball only gently touches the pins!) all has to go right, to get that beautiful strike! Am going to practice more. Yes, bowling is fun! 

Chitra Santhe...

I came to know about Chitra Santhe - the art mart- happening on Jan 27, 2013. Last year I wanted to attend, but could not. And while looking up on it online, I found it figures in one of the must - dos if you happen to be in Bangalore in January. That turned out to be very true! I had a great time roaming around, checking out the stalls on Kumara Krupa road.

It was a nice sunny Saturday afternoon. Had a good lunch and left home, it is only about 3kms from where I stay. The afternoon sun was not a worry as the road is lined with trees on either side of the road. In the shade, on the pavement there were hundreds of stalls set up by artists showcasing their art. It seems like a wonderful concept - not only making art affordable - since the artists need not pay galleries - but also a platform for the not-so-art-aware general public to check out some wonderful art from all across the country. The street was lined with stalls on either side of the road - most stalls had paintings of all sorts, water colors, on canvas, portraits  landscapes and the list goes on(that's all I can manage to list, with my limited art knowledge, as of now!). One could talk to the artist and know some history of the painting that one wanted to buy. There were paintings that were not framed available, and the person could get it framed the way they chose to - some some amazing flexibility available. Some of the artists were kind enough to share some wonderful information. Like I was wondering whether to buy a certain painting and was taking a closer look at it, the artist told me that was not how to view a painting. You need to place the painting vertically and move back about ten feet from it. I felt quite grateful for the information.

There were lots of vendors selling ground- nuts, popcorn, ice creams, khara puri, fruit bowls and a dozen other things to eat. It looked like a fair. There were also artists selling some jewellery and painted diyas, both made of terracotta. They were so beautiful.

I also saw artists making caricatures of people, mostly of children. My plan was to get a caricature done. I wished I had gone earlier, when the crowd was much lesser(in fact when I reached the venue the crowd wasnt much, but I spent a lot of time checking the paintings and only remembered about getting my caricature, when I saw them being done, by then there was a considerable crowd!). The problem with the crowd is the wait time increases for you to get your picture drawn and you have to endure a crowd of onlookers(probably that is why mostly kids were getting it done, they dint care much who was watching! :) ).
I had not seen so much of art in a day in Bangalore. It was very refreshing. After watching few hundreds of stalls of art work, I kind of felt saturated and got very choosy at the fag end(choosy as in, what interested me very much and least crowded stalls).

I found a stationary shop(not a stall, regular shop) and they were offering discounts on some items because of Chitra Santhe. I bought myself two sketching notebooks, lots of pencils - of all HBs available, fine erasers - for my old-hobby-revived-with-some-new-enthu hobby of pencil sketching. I was so excited to see so much of paraphernalia for artists that I asked a couple of times, if there is anything more I need to buy! It was a child in a candy store kind of a feeling! Am going to be a pro now...yaaaay!

It was a wonderful experience. I would like to go there again next year, and may be with my camera to capture and cherish, how that street looks on that day!

Gran Torino...

Watched the movie, Gran Torino. Directed, produced by Clint Eastwood. He is also in the lead role, Walt. It is a simple, moving story of an old man. The story begins when he loses his wife and deals with how he  lives the bereavement and tries to find peace. There is a car- a 1978 Gran Torino, a dog, and some neighbours of Asian origin. Walt minds his own business and goes about doing his chores, but life has other plans and he gets involved in things he never planned, and how he touches the lives of some people around, without being preachy is the movie. 

A wonderful movie. Recommend it. 

To awesomeness...

Well, the title has not much to the actual content of the post! Its the 200th post on the blog and just feels good to know.

I watched 2 interesting movies over the last few days:

One was a Korean movie called "My sassy girl". It was a sweet romantic comedy, the movie felt slow and dragging in some places but overall a cute movie. There were scenes in the movie that feel a little strange, may be due to the cultural difference, but the joy, pain and insecurities that young people go thru seem the same all over the world. A nice watch.

There was a Tamil suspense thriller called "Pizza" that I watched. It seems somewhat like a "Kahaani" kind of a movie. It seems like a horror movie at first, then reveals some interesting psychological aspects and when you feel you got all the plot, the story gets a surprising twist. A good watch. If you are a horror movies fan, it may not scare you much, but for people of my type - who keep away from full on horror movies, this one seems just creepy for a while than scary, go ahead, watch it for the twists.

This post is dedicated to Barney Stinson, one of the interesting characters on TV. It is awesome that this is my 200th post on the blog and what does one think of when one says "awesome"- of course, Legend-wait-for-it-dary Barney! :P

Amelie

Amelie is a movie about a lone child, who loses her mother as a young girl, withdraws into her own world and  grows up to be a young woman with a rich imagination. A chance finding of a an old tin box filled with someones's childhood memorabilia, makes her want to find out to whom it belonged to and the curiocity of what the response would be on finding it. One thing leads to another, with many interesting turns and Amelie ends up finding love. Its a simple story of an introverted young woman, her ways of finding joy told beautifully. 

Confusions....

There are very few times in life when I have felt that I did things like they were the most natural things to do. Felt like a flow. What was common in them was that these appeared wishful to begin with, it did not matter if the ways of realising them was unclear or unknown at the time, but they just seemed like things I wanted and kept thinking about them on and off, weighing the possibilities, dreaming, threatening(to my optimistic self) to give up the idea only to come back and dwell on it a little later. After realising them, some in forms I had perceived and some in others, it sometimes makes me wonder how did I get to want it in the first place!

When what you wanted happens to you, that process would have used your energies in a focused way, either consciously or not so consciously. And you feel grateful. There is a pleasure in applying yourself. Initially if you imagine achieving what you wanted, when the path is unclear, you most likely imagine pride. But when things happen, through effort, planning, it is most likely to make you humble in those moments, just thankful that some of "you" was "usefully" applied!

When you taste these humbling experiences, you want more of yourself to be applied to things that matter to you. There is this crazy desire to make more sense of your being. But there may be times when you do not know what next, when there is no deep desire you know of, which can use up all of you at the moment. You want stillness to hear any voice inside your head to tell you what next. The restlessness doesnt help. 

Even with distractions of people, hobbies, etc in those moments of solitary meditation, the same question of your purpose and being begin to gnaw. It is probably just a matter of acknowledging that such a feeling exists and that it is normal and continue to do what you were anyway doing. Also have an action plan to try something new in that direction(there will be clues, just be on a look out, when things ring a bell, take note) that may lead you some place you want to be.

And it is important to stay foolish and believe that there is something in the future that will use all the energy that you wanted channelised, to be used in a way that would be very satisfying, that feels like the flow and add that "meaning" to life! :)

P.S: I dont know if would make sense to an older me years from now! Should I be even wishing it does, I don’t know!! :P

Raincoat...

One of my favourite hindi movies is "Raincoat", inspired by a O'Henry story. I like the backdrop - Kolkata on a rainy day. The protagonists played by Aishwarya Rai and Ajay Devgan suit the characters and the pace of the story and the way the story unfolds with flash backs from the past every now and then is quite engaging. The tender affection that remains and the sparks of the old romance flickering often during a rainy afternoon that the protagonists spend with each other is subtle and moving. 
Watched it again today. Enjoyed.

Whats with the number anyway! :)

I just realised there have been 49 posts this year, the maximum for any year since the time I started the blog. One of the reasons for the higher number of posts be that I did a blog marathon- one post a day- mid this year and also tried to post some interesting stuff from the travels.
I now feel I want to hit the half century post mark for this year! (Whats with the number right? Well, why not please myself with the numbers as well!)
Yaaaay to the 50th post of the year! :D

So wishing everyone on the blogosphere a very happy new year!  :)

Wish list for the coming year...

• Lots of love
• Good health, for all my near and dear ones as well.
• Peace of mind! 
• Travel for pleasure
• Some good books read
• Creative satisfaction - will I finally write that book? :)
• Memorable conversations with friends
• A new skill acquired. 
• Maintain a healthy weight, some kilos lost would not be missed.. :P
• Loads of positivity
• Some fun, some celebrations.
• Some good job done..
• Watch some great, good and some not so good movies! :)
• Learn a new language - may be an Indian language. 
• Blog more!

Happy 2013! :)

Oh my god!

Watched the hindi movie - "Oh my god!". It was quite entertaining, a novel idea - a middle class businessman in Mumbai trying to get his insurance amount cleared after his shop collapses after an earthquake, but the insurance company denies the claim as they do not cover losses caused by "act of god"! How this man wages a legal battle to get his claim is the story. Although it is not completely convincingly translated on the screen. There seem to be some logical loopholes.
Paresh Rawal does a good job as an atheist businessman. Akshay Kumar looks good, but is more a bollywood hero, than the lord Krishna he plays in the movie. "Govinda ala re" song is peppy and Prabhu Deva with the unconventional choreography has done a good job, but you keep wondering why it is in the movie in the first place!
Overall something refreshingly "hatke" for a bollywood movie! One time watch. Recommend it. 

Newspapers? No, thanks!

Reading newspapers used to be a fun thing to do early in the morning over the weekends. But these days, I avoid the newspaper as long as possible during the mornings and read them only around noon, that too because I feel a day at home is incomplete without reading the damn newspaper. It is no fun reading reams of pages reporting crime! Such a sad state of affairs! Even the supplements cant lure me to picking the newspapers up and reading.

 I hope the coming year, brings in a new hope for a better and safer society, where people behave. And those who don’t, are punished on time. I hope more children get educated and more people get employed or create employment opportunities for themselves and others, women get more involved and have an equal say in building the family, community and the country.  

And hope all the positivity will get reported and make me want to pick up the newspaper in the morning and want to know what is up with the world again!

Poochampalli sarees...

As a kid I was fond of one of my mothers silk sarees because of its patterns. As an adolescent I got to know that it was called the Poochampalli design.
Usually silk sarees have the patterns done in gold color threads but the silk sarees with the Poochampalli seem more vibrant and patterns are in several colors. Poochampalli designs are also available in cotton and other kinds of sarees.
I like the angular patterns and it is my favorite among all the other kinds of sarees.

My pencil sketch of a Poochampalli pattern:

One of my mother's Poochampalli sarees:

Some chairs now!

Tried my hand at sketching some furniture...

Pencil sketches!

I have been interested in pencil sketches for some time now. I used to do sketches during lectures in college. They wouldn't be elaborate, just enough to help me not sleep in the classes after lunch! I used to also sketch at (very long) office meetings for the same reasons!

I made a few sketches of some of my ear rings. Am fond of junk jewelry. I just started off sketching them and realized it is actually fun – I still need to work on the relative proportions, the shades. I could only find an HB pencil and a sharpener at home. I need to buy some lighter and darker grades of pencils and of course an eraser(yeah really, dont have one right now, LOL!)!!! Am planning to get myself a pencil sketching tool kit - and I just hope I remember to keep using it! I move from one interesting stuff to another and then much later wonder why I dint pursue an interest when it is so much fun! 

Neelam is here...

There is a cyclone. The sky has been overcast all day and has made me dreamy. Drizzles, chilly wind, dark clouds. Such a perfect weather – well, not for a working day though! Want to be tucked in bed reading a book by the window, right now! 

Barfi!!!!

Barfi is a fun movie. Although the lead character is deaf and dumb, there is no overdose of sympathy for the character. It just does not matter who you are, if you want to have fun in life, sure, you can seems to be the motto of Barfi! Ranbir Kapoor and Priyanka Chopra are quite brilliant. The supporting cast is also good. The visuals are wonderful, the music is good, the lyrics of the songs are brilliant. I watched the movie, on the first day. Not a single minute of boredom. Very engaging. 

I later read that there are comparisons to Chaplinisms in some reviews, but it is a work of art at the end of the day. I wouldn’t take away any credit from Ranbir for sure. A refreshing Bollywood movie and I would love to watch it again!

P.S: Happy birthday Ranbir! :)

Israeli love song...

We were on our way from Govind Ghat to Badrinath which is about 25kms drive. It was a small bus. Big buses cant take turns easily over the winding road. We met an Israeli couple from Tel Aviv. The man was a shy type, but the woman forthcoming. We introduced ourselves. Got to know that he taught music and they were on a two month vacation to India. It was their last week, they had been roaming around Leh, Ladhak, Valley of flowers etc. All the places covered were in Nothern India. They were excited to know we(me and three of my friends from Bengaluru) are from Southern India and told us they planned to visit this part on their next trip to India.

I asked the music teacher to sing a song for us. He declined politely saying he taught percussion and not vocal music. We just insisted a little more and the couple started singing a song for us. It was very melodious, may be in Hebrew. Their voices sounded good together, it felt they must have sung together many a times before. They were generally facing us as they sang, but would look at each other almost at the same time, as they sang some parts and their eyes seemed to light up.  They seemed to share some secret thoughts even as they sang. It felt so good watching them sing. After the song got over, we clapped in delight. It was quite evident, but I asked them what kind of song was it, and the woman told us it was a love song. One of the most melodious love songs ever, she said. It must be so good singing one of the most romantic songs ever, with the person you love the most! :)

Chaat burger!

We were walking around Joshimath. There was this big copper colour container tilted in a weird angle, such that its big base was visible. It was placed inside a mobile cart with tomatoes, onions, chilies, lemons at the base of the standing vessel. Was very curious - it was most definitely some kind of eatery, but what? Could not find the vender. I was hoping we come back on the same road, and we did. It was a "chaat burger" stall! The vendor had all the veggies- onions, chilies, tomatoes, boiled potatoes and channa ready. He mixed them all with some masala and lemon in the big copper container to make a tangy, spicy saucy mixture, slit the bun and filled it with this. Every bite was surprisingly delicious! hmmmmm yummmm!

The mobile tea shop!

It was a busy, narrow, winding lane of Rishikesh, on either sides there were small shops selling all kinds of things - jewelry, clothes, bags, books, items of religious significance like rudraksh etc. I noticed a tea vendor serving tea. What was different was how he was preparing tea freshly as he moved along and served both shop keepers and their clients alike! He had a covered kerosene stove on top of which he had placed a kettle of milk. There was another plastic bucket in which he kept his milk can, disposable tea cups, tea powder packet and a container along with a filter to prepare and serve the hot tea. The tea tasted very good. His shop was amazingly mobile and was a good business idea compared to the stagnant shops. Given the fact that the streets were quite narrow, a mobile tea shop works thoroughly well for some of those lanes of Rishikesh. 

Ice Age 4...

Watched "Ice age 4 - Continental drift". Was in 3D and I am fond of the Ice age characters. Enjoyed the movie. It is about Manny the mammoth dealing with his paternal feelings for his teenage daughter. Diego finds a partner. Sid meets his family! It is sweet that way. There is a crazy ape for a villain. All this set with continental drift backdrop. 

Looks like it is a season of sequels - with Spiderman, batman, Madagascar and all. I am not even comparing Ice age to its earlier movies. This movie is short and did not bore me at any time. But I would like some fresh animated movies now! Sequels are ok, but new ones will be fun. Anyone listening? :)