Feels great to cross the 100 strikes milestone :) It does go on to give me an assurance that someone is actually vella enough to read my blog, even though about a quarter of the 120 strikes would be from me only! Even though one blogs for his own self, things cannot be the same without an audience.
Apart from this, nothin much to write home about, except that my Mom has finally reached Sydney with an excitement of visiting a new country and meeting new people, but I am sure that at the end of her 10 day visit she would be itching to get back home. Took her around the city a bit, and yesterday we visited the famous Sydney Aquarium, where I clicked my first pics in Sydney... can you believe it, 3 months here, and I did not have a single photo to prove that I was actually here, and not in Tihar Jail.
Its just 9 days before I head back to the long and exhausting holiday waiting for me in India!
Wednesday, June 29, 2005
Monday, June 27, 2005
Getting hooked ...
Dont know if it happens with anyone else, but I am quite prone to it. It has happened to me several times that I have heard a song, and got hooked on to it for a reasonable length of time, in which I keep playing it again and again till I finally get tired of it, and get a new song to get hooked on to.
In the recent past, I have been successfully hooked to a lot of songs including Coming Back to Life (Floyd), the Swades title song, Nothing Else Matters (Metallica), Bhool Ja (Shaan), Bandein (Indian Ocean) etc etc. I was even hooked on to a song called Karishma by Bombay Vikings for a short time.
But one song which I have pioneered and with which I have managed to irritate quite a few people is 'Tum to thehre Pardesi' by Altaf Raja. There is something about that song which I immensely enjoy, and I have long had the lyrics of the mammoth 14.5 minute song memorized.
The latest tune that I have hooked myself to is called Aadat by a Pakistani band called Jal. It has a catchy theme and tune, and I have kinda fallen for it... lets see how long it lasts!
In the recent past, I have been successfully hooked to a lot of songs including Coming Back to Life (Floyd), the Swades title song, Nothing Else Matters (Metallica), Bhool Ja (Shaan), Bandein (Indian Ocean) etc etc. I was even hooked on to a song called Karishma by Bombay Vikings for a short time.
But one song which I have pioneered and with which I have managed to irritate quite a few people is 'Tum to thehre Pardesi' by Altaf Raja. There is something about that song which I immensely enjoy, and I have long had the lyrics of the mammoth 14.5 minute song memorized.
The latest tune that I have hooked myself to is called Aadat by a Pakistani band called Jal. It has a catchy theme and tune, and I have kinda fallen for it... lets see how long it lasts!
Sunday, June 26, 2005
Driving thru Sydney
Today was a quiet day by all standards, and a kind of day I like! After partying till 5:30 AM, I had crashed on the couch at my place, and woke up straight at 1:00 PM, only to go back to sleep and wake up at around 3:00PM. Simran, one of my colleagues had asked me to drive her and her mom to the airport, to see off her mom back to India, and I had readily agreed because I had nothing better to do, and I liked driving in Sydney. The only issue was that I didnt know the route to the airport, and wanted to know it coz I will have to drive to pick up my Mom on Monday morning (yeah... she's coming over for 10 days or so)
So I surfed the net, asked a couple of local friends, and mapped out the way, and also reached the airport without any mistake... Sydney as such has great road infra, and all you have to do is be guided by the road signboards, and you'll be there. However, I had to goof up somewhere, and so I did when I parked in the domestic parking lot... and we had to drive out, take another route and then go to the international parking lot.
After the farewell, we teamed up with another friend of ours Sachin, and had dinner at a great Indian place called "A Thousand Spices", and I hogged away, coz all I had in the day was a Maggi which I had reluctantly made in the evening when I couldnt stand the hunger any longer. Anyways, after the dinner, and the masala chai at Sachin's place, I managed to drive us all back without getting lost again.
The more I drive in this city, the more I love driving here. I just realized today, that I have never used the horn in my car, and its such a striking contrast to India. Also, the driving rules here are pretty much similar to India, with a few exceptions. One is that the pedestrian always gets the first charge... so if there is a guy crossing the street, the car is supposed to stop, even if it disrupts the entire traffic. Another is the amber or yellow light. In India, you are supposed to stop or get ready to brake when the amber light flashes... but here, you are supposed to cross on the amber... and if you dont, its a traffic violation!
Its already 1 AM, and I plan to do my wEek's laundry, and then watch some Wimbledon and then have an early and uncharacteristic Saturday night (though I am enjoying it)... maybe I am growing old too fast :)
So I surfed the net, asked a couple of local friends, and mapped out the way, and also reached the airport without any mistake... Sydney as such has great road infra, and all you have to do is be guided by the road signboards, and you'll be there. However, I had to goof up somewhere, and so I did when I parked in the domestic parking lot... and we had to drive out, take another route and then go to the international parking lot.
After the farewell, we teamed up with another friend of ours Sachin, and had dinner at a great Indian place called "A Thousand Spices", and I hogged away, coz all I had in the day was a Maggi which I had reluctantly made in the evening when I couldnt stand the hunger any longer. Anyways, after the dinner, and the masala chai at Sachin's place, I managed to drive us all back without getting lost again.
The more I drive in this city, the more I love driving here. I just realized today, that I have never used the horn in my car, and its such a striking contrast to India. Also, the driving rules here are pretty much similar to India, with a few exceptions. One is that the pedestrian always gets the first charge... so if there is a guy crossing the street, the car is supposed to stop, even if it disrupts the entire traffic. Another is the amber or yellow light. In India, you are supposed to stop or get ready to brake when the amber light flashes... but here, you are supposed to cross on the amber... and if you dont, its a traffic violation!
Its already 1 AM, and I plan to do my wEek's laundry, and then watch some Wimbledon and then have an early and uncharacteristic Saturday night (though I am enjoying it)... maybe I am growing old too fast :)
Friday, June 24, 2005
Technology...
Till I started blogging, I didnt even know the people in my institute who are regular bloggers, barring a few.. but now, I am slowly getting a hang of it. However, as I got around to visit different blog sites, the fact got rubbed in even more vigorously, that I am hopelessly technologically challenged.
Well, I could probably work great with office tools like excel, project, powerpoint, etc.. but beyond these applications, technology fails me. Well, other blog sites have all different links, tag boards, etc etc, and I have struggled so far to even upload my picture. It took me a week to figure out how to instal site meter at my blog. (If someone reads this and knows how to put up a photograph on the site, insted of laughing at me please help me out)
The background to this is probably the fact that I am a commerce student, and have never played with these gadgets much before, and maybe part of it is just a mental block (though I am not known for having any mental blocks ever)... but well, to my credit, at IIMB, I used to manage our internal site for the placement committee for quite some time where all the resumes, etc were uploaded and where all the links were put up.. and I did it without knowing a shit about what I was doing... all I did was memorize all the procedures, and then it was all too easy :)
Well, I could probably work great with office tools like excel, project, powerpoint, etc.. but beyond these applications, technology fails me. Well, other blog sites have all different links, tag boards, etc etc, and I have struggled so far to even upload my picture. It took me a week to figure out how to instal site meter at my blog. (If someone reads this and knows how to put up a photograph on the site, insted of laughing at me please help me out)
The background to this is probably the fact that I am a commerce student, and have never played with these gadgets much before, and maybe part of it is just a mental block (though I am not known for having any mental blocks ever)... but well, to my credit, at IIMB, I used to manage our internal site for the placement committee for quite some time where all the resumes, etc were uploaded and where all the links were put up.. and I did it without knowing a shit about what I was doing... all I did was memorize all the procedures, and then it was all too easy :)
Thursday, June 23, 2005
Holiday Planning
Today, finally, I finalized my itinerary for the 10-odd days that I am going to spend in India on vacation. I am in Sydney on a 3-month Business Visa, which expires on 10th July. So I leave Sydney on 8th July, and return on the 22nd. Now, in these 12 days that I have in India, I have a lot of things to do, and a lot of places to go to because of a variety of reasons.
So making up my itinerary was also an exhaustive task, and finally when it is done, it is indeed a piece of art. The following is a high-level summary of my holiday plan.
Friday 8th July : Leave Sydney
Saturday 9th July : Reach Delhi
Sunday 10th July : Reach Mumbai
Monday 11th July : Apply for Visa, Forex, Insurance, and do other paperwork
Tuesday 12th July : Reach Bangalore
Wednesday 13th July : Chillout in Bangalore
Thursday 14th July : Chillout in Bangalore
Friday 15th July : Reach Calcutta
Saturday 16th July : Fun in Calcutta, re-union with old pals
Sunday 17th July : Leave for Shikharjee (a religious place for Jains in Jharkhand)
Monday 18th July : Reach Shikharjee, worship God
Tuesday 19th July : Leave for Mumbai
Wednesday 20th July : Reach Mumbai and pack
Thursday 21st July : Leave for Sydney
I am so proud of this itinerary :) Only issue is, that the concept behind a holiday is to recharge batteries, and to get all energized again for work... but in this case, even if I manage to survive this break, plus the 13 hour flights to and from Sydney plus the time-zone adjustments, I would be anything but raring to go to work again.
So making up my itinerary was also an exhaustive task, and finally when it is done, it is indeed a piece of art. The following is a high-level summary of my holiday plan.
Friday 8th July : Leave Sydney
Saturday 9th July : Reach Delhi
Sunday 10th July : Reach Mumbai
Monday 11th July : Apply for Visa, Forex, Insurance, and do other paperwork
Tuesday 12th July : Reach Bangalore
Wednesday 13th July : Chillout in Bangalore
Thursday 14th July : Chillout in Bangalore
Friday 15th July : Reach Calcutta
Saturday 16th July : Fun in Calcutta, re-union with old pals
Sunday 17th July : Leave for Shikharjee (a religious place for Jains in Jharkhand)
Monday 18th July : Reach Shikharjee, worship God
Tuesday 19th July : Leave for Mumbai
Wednesday 20th July : Reach Mumbai and pack
Thursday 21st July : Leave for Sydney
I am so proud of this itinerary :) Only issue is, that the concept behind a holiday is to recharge batteries, and to get all energized again for work... but in this case, even if I manage to survive this break, plus the 13 hour flights to and from Sydney plus the time-zone adjustments, I would be anything but raring to go to work again.
Wednesday, June 22, 2005
Fire!
Today, they had the fire drill at office... Whew! the funda with the drill is that its date and time is kept unknown from everyone, so that the surprise element can remain, and then, suddenly you would have a voice blasting on the PA system that there is the fire drill and everyone has to follow protocol and evacuate the office building.
Of course this meant that bang in the middle of a busy day, we found ourselves climbing down 27 floors on foot. The steps would never end, and by the time I was down to the ground floor, my legs were tired and wobbly. I was kind of amazed at the lack of strength in my legs, and it made me even more determined to have some sorta physical exercise from now on... maybe some aussie footy, which a few doods play in office... or maybe just jogging... but i dont think i'm determined enough to execute it.
Though, what was more amazing was the drill. It was incredible to see 2500 employees of the office down in the park opposite the building following the drill, while the wardens did their job of taking the headcount, and the sweepers scrutinized all floors. One hour of unexpected break from work, and while we were down, we did a quick guesstimate to the loss in revenue due to this sudden inactivity, and even with the most conservative of assumptions, it ran into hundereds of thousands of dollars.
Its good to see the company so serious about the drill, but thats the way it works here. The fire systems are truly remarkable. The smoke detectors are very sensitive, which means that if someone is not careful while smoking or even cooking parathas, the detectors would be triggered off and the room alarm would go off. In precisely a minute the floor would be alerted, and within 5-7 minuted the fire trucks would be there, notified through the detectors.
But today, all of that for no smoke and no fire as well... and it contributed to lengthening the day by a bit... and as we went up again after an hour, we were wondering, what if there was a real fire break-out immediately after the drill ... god... to have had to go thru that again would have been deadly :)
Of course this meant that bang in the middle of a busy day, we found ourselves climbing down 27 floors on foot. The steps would never end, and by the time I was down to the ground floor, my legs were tired and wobbly. I was kind of amazed at the lack of strength in my legs, and it made me even more determined to have some sorta physical exercise from now on... maybe some aussie footy, which a few doods play in office... or maybe just jogging... but i dont think i'm determined enough to execute it.
Though, what was more amazing was the drill. It was incredible to see 2500 employees of the office down in the park opposite the building following the drill, while the wardens did their job of taking the headcount, and the sweepers scrutinized all floors. One hour of unexpected break from work, and while we were down, we did a quick guesstimate to the loss in revenue due to this sudden inactivity, and even with the most conservative of assumptions, it ran into hundereds of thousands of dollars.
Its good to see the company so serious about the drill, but thats the way it works here. The fire systems are truly remarkable. The smoke detectors are very sensitive, which means that if someone is not careful while smoking or even cooking parathas, the detectors would be triggered off and the room alarm would go off. In precisely a minute the floor would be alerted, and within 5-7 minuted the fire trucks would be there, notified through the detectors.
But today, all of that for no smoke and no fire as well... and it contributed to lengthening the day by a bit... and as we went up again after an hour, we were wondering, what if there was a real fire break-out immediately after the drill ... god... to have had to go thru that again would have been deadly :)
Tuesday, June 21, 2005
Taking Notes
All through my academic life, I have never believed in taking notes. It was something I just couldn't do. I remember having been thrown out of classes in college because I used to walk in empty handed, without any scrap of paper or pen, and then snore off at the slightest opportunity. Even at the coaching classes that I went to, I always forgot to carry any notebook or pen. I remember being proud of the fact that I had survived the entire Class XIIth carrying just one notebook to school.
Anyways, the matter now is that, notes-taking has hit back at me with a vengeance. In 2.5 months of work-life, I have filled out a couple of note-pads (large sized) with everyday notes, to-do lists, minutes, etc etc. I had never imagined myself being so documentation oriented... but 2.5 months into work, I have realized that the document is THE most important thing. And back I go to taking notes... but the difference is that now I do out of choice something which I dreaded for most of my life
Cheers!
Anyways, the matter now is that, notes-taking has hit back at me with a vengeance. In 2.5 months of work-life, I have filled out a couple of note-pads (large sized) with everyday notes, to-do lists, minutes, etc etc. I had never imagined myself being so documentation oriented... but 2.5 months into work, I have realized that the document is THE most important thing. And back I go to taking notes... but the difference is that now I do out of choice something which I dreaded for most of my life
Cheers!
Saturday, June 18, 2005
The Friday Moods
Come Friday evevning, and you can easily perceive the switch in the mood of the entire city. Never have I seen a city which parties as crazily as Sydney does (partly to do with the fact that its only the 2nd city I have seen outside India, the first being Kathmandu), but veterans who have travelled possibly to every corner of the world, are also amazed by the energy amassed by the city on weekends.
Say you are Rip van Winkle, and you wake up from a deep slumber which has stretched on for years, and the moment you wake up, you will be able to tell whether its a Friday/Saturday in Sydney or not. On Fridays, the locals start leaving office at around 4:30... and start thronging at bars, pubs etc by 7:30. If you start your party after 11 PM, chances are that you won't find a decent place to go to, or maybe any place to go to, coz all of them would be full.
I have had the fortune of having been disallowed entry in several places, coz we were late and all that the bouncers say then, with a grim face is "Guest Lists only". One night was specially crazy, when we would have hopped over 8 pubs and bars without being able to enter into any one of them. 4 AM on Friday or Saturday night in Sydney is like 8 PM in even Mumbai! Its totally buzzing, and ol' Rip van Winkle, if he wakes up at night, will never be able to tell the time.
This weekend, I have sworn that I am not going to work... I have loads to complete for the coming week, and if I dont do anything on the weekend, then I might get killed Monday onwards with the work I have to complete. But for once, I have decided not to go for the logical and practical solution, but to blend with the city's moods. Friday night... here I come!
Say you are Rip van Winkle, and you wake up from a deep slumber which has stretched on for years, and the moment you wake up, you will be able to tell whether its a Friday/Saturday in Sydney or not. On Fridays, the locals start leaving office at around 4:30... and start thronging at bars, pubs etc by 7:30. If you start your party after 11 PM, chances are that you won't find a decent place to go to, or maybe any place to go to, coz all of them would be full.
I have had the fortune of having been disallowed entry in several places, coz we were late and all that the bouncers say then, with a grim face is "Guest Lists only". One night was specially crazy, when we would have hopped over 8 pubs and bars without being able to enter into any one of them. 4 AM on Friday or Saturday night in Sydney is like 8 PM in even Mumbai! Its totally buzzing, and ol' Rip van Winkle, if he wakes up at night, will never be able to tell the time.
This weekend, I have sworn that I am not going to work... I have loads to complete for the coming week, and if I dont do anything on the weekend, then I might get killed Monday onwards with the work I have to complete. But for once, I have decided not to go for the logical and practical solution, but to blend with the city's moods. Friday night... here I come!
Friday, June 17, 2005
Ze Art of Blogging!
Realized yesterday that blogging is a lot more than just penning down thoughts and events. Its a commitment and its probably a passion for those who are good at it. Yesterday, there were a lot of thoughts which I had wanted to capture and put into my blog... but never found the time to do it. When finally I got a free moment and some peace of mind, it was close to midnight, and I desperately wanted to go home and sleep, coz today was supposed to start early too.
So, there went my commitment to write at least once daily, and today I can't recall what all I had wanted to write yesterday. The abstractness and spontaniety of blogging make it imperative that one is regular and prompt with it. And I am kinda afraid that if I lose the promptness, I would lose this thing, almost as soon as I have started it.
Today looks like being a busy day. A couple of days back, late working nights returned with a vengeance, and I am just hoping that working weekends do not follow suit. There was a time, when I was on my own in Calcutta, and then I used to work weekends without any issues, and failed to comprehend why anyone would have problems doing the same. But now, my mindset has changed.. I guess thats the difference between an entrepreneur and an employee... when you work for yourself, you don't see the difference between a Friday and a Saturday, between 6PM and 9PM.... but when you are working for someone else, you want to play by the book.
Anyways... so long for now... will write again today and over the weekend (I am speaking as if theres a lot of people reading my blog... hehe)
So, there went my commitment to write at least once daily, and today I can't recall what all I had wanted to write yesterday. The abstractness and spontaniety of blogging make it imperative that one is regular and prompt with it. And I am kinda afraid that if I lose the promptness, I would lose this thing, almost as soon as I have started it.
Today looks like being a busy day. A couple of days back, late working nights returned with a vengeance, and I am just hoping that working weekends do not follow suit. There was a time, when I was on my own in Calcutta, and then I used to work weekends without any issues, and failed to comprehend why anyone would have problems doing the same. But now, my mindset has changed.. I guess thats the difference between an entrepreneur and an employee... when you work for yourself, you don't see the difference between a Friday and a Saturday, between 6PM and 9PM.... but when you are working for someone else, you want to play by the book.
Anyways... so long for now... will write again today and over the weekend (I am speaking as if theres a lot of people reading my blog... hehe)
Thursday, June 16, 2005
Desi Khaana.. Nothing like it!
Ever since coming to Australia, the cuisine that I have experienced the most has been Indian. If you have lived all your life in India and have gorged over spicy, greasy, good ol' Indian food, then its very difficult to lose touch, even in a place like Sydney, where in a small span you can get more cuisines than you knew existed. Ok, agreed that being a vegetarian gives me an added bias, but then my colleagues here, all of whom are non-veggies would stand by whatever I said.
Guess what, today the short run is over!! After a couple of relaxed weeks, seems like the grind has returned... When I called up Maya da Dhaba to place the order tonight, the guy was delighted to hear my voice, and said that ie had been a long time and all... :)) And in went a good meal consisting of dal makhani, paneer-da-salan and chicken chettinaad (not for me ofcourse), and you just thank the good god for making you an Indian!!
You can get anything you want in India, but there are so many things specific to our country which you cannot get anywhere else... dont want to delve deep into a topic close to my heart... and with this I am nostalgically reminded of the emotional discussions me and a few friends had at Guru Gardens (a bar kinda place in Bangalore, very close to IIMB) on the movie Swades ... I am sure they would remember these discussions too (Gattu??)
Anyways, the bottomline is : India Rocks!!
In my first month and half in Sydney, which was characterized by late working nights, we used to order dinner at office almost daily, and there is an Indian restaurant called Maya da Dhaba, which was our favourite. It had good Indian food, which was good by even desi standards, leave alone the firang-desi standards. We ordered so many times from that place that we got tired of the excellent food, and vowed never to order from there again... at least in the short run.
Guess what, today the short run is over!! After a couple of relaxed weeks, seems like the grind has returned... When I called up Maya da Dhaba to place the order tonight, the guy was delighted to hear my voice, and said that ie had been a long time and all... :)) And in went a good meal consisting of dal makhani, paneer-da-salan and chicken chettinaad (not for me ofcourse), and you just thank the good god for making you an Indian!!
You can get anything you want in India, but there are so many things specific to our country which you cannot get anywhere else... dont want to delve deep into a topic close to my heart... and with this I am nostalgically reminded of the emotional discussions me and a few friends had at Guru Gardens (a bar kinda place in Bangalore, very close to IIMB) on the movie Swades ... I am sure they would remember these discussions too (Gattu??)
Anyways, the bottomline is : India Rocks!!
Wednesday, June 15, 2005
Negative Energies
Hmmm.... its just one of those days, when something just doesn't feel right. Dont know what it is, but there's some piece missing somewhere. It has happened quite a few times with me, when you just wake up on the wrong side of the bed, and the whole day seems like a waste. Its probably more psychological, and happens when you begin the day on a wrong note, and then it seems to you that nothing is gonna go right from now on.
Am just trying to figure out what could be the incident which triggered this feeling today. Umm... guess it started when I got a little late in waking up. Well, over the past couple of months, I have trained myself, much against my natural instincts, to wake up between 7:30 and 7:45 in the morning, so that I can reach office before 8:45, which gives me time enough to plan my day through. And today, I barely could wake up at 8:15, and rushed to reach office just after 9:00 and straight into the grind. It kind of left me at loss coz I didnt get those precious 15 minutes with myself at the beginning of the day, which I have gotten used to.
Its not that the day at work is totally packed, and I do get time off and on between work, but its nothing like the first 15 minutes of the day. Other than that, I dont see any reason why I should have all the negative energy hanging around me today, especially since nothing is going wrong in terms of work. Lets hope the day ends early and I can go back and find some positive energy in my life.
Cheers!
Am just trying to figure out what could be the incident which triggered this feeling today. Umm... guess it started when I got a little late in waking up. Well, over the past couple of months, I have trained myself, much against my natural instincts, to wake up between 7:30 and 7:45 in the morning, so that I can reach office before 8:45, which gives me time enough to plan my day through. And today, I barely could wake up at 8:15, and rushed to reach office just after 9:00 and straight into the grind. It kind of left me at loss coz I didnt get those precious 15 minutes with myself at the beginning of the day, which I have gotten used to.
Its not that the day at work is totally packed, and I do get time off and on between work, but its nothing like the first 15 minutes of the day. Other than that, I dont see any reason why I should have all the negative energy hanging around me today, especially since nothing is going wrong in terms of work. Lets hope the day ends early and I can go back and find some positive energy in my life.
Cheers!
Movies - What would we do without them?
Well, I am back... in just a few hours!
Anyways, am back to just scribble about my favourite pastime here (umm... actually anywhere). Yesterday was a holiday in Australia (thanks to the Queen.. it was her birthday), and I used it incredibly well in watching movies.
The first on the block was Mr. & Mrs. Smith, which was on at Hoytz Cinema which is a stone's throw from my place. I woke up at around 12:30pm and decided to call one of my colleagues to find out what was the plan for breakfast (or lunch) and was told that the plan was to catch the 1:30 show! The movie was a nice 'masala' flick, with a lot of hindi film elements, especially the way the protagonists handle innumerable villains with limited weapons and come out kind of unscathed... but it was a good way to start the day with a mindless fast comedy movie, which had the gorgeous Angelina Jolie to feast your eyes on ... my god... she does look absolutely stunning, and is one actress who is irresistable :)
Anyways, we moved on and by the time we were back in our apartment after coffee at around 6:20, another friend and me decided to check if there was a late show of "D" somewhere around Sydney where we could possibly drive out, and were disappointed to find that the last show was at 5:00... but there was a 6:45 pm show of Parineeta, which we could catch. Without thinking twice, we dashed out and were lucky to reach just as the opening titles started..
Parineeta is a classic movie, impeccably made and superbly enacted. I loved the way the characters were handled, and even though it was a storyline quite predictable, I loved watching the movie... and it even reminded me and made me nostalgic of good ol' Calcutta. It was quite facinating how the movie was so similar to Devdas, yet so different. And a very few people would actually relate it back to Devdas. but the truth is that Sarat Chandra Chatterjee had written this classic based on the same setting as Devdas, but with a happy (though fictional) ending... anyways, all the history aside, a good and well made movie.
Nothing like watching a Hindi movie in a cinema hall... thats ultimate bliss :))
Anyways, am back to just scribble about my favourite pastime here (umm... actually anywhere). Yesterday was a holiday in Australia (thanks to the Queen.. it was her birthday), and I used it incredibly well in watching movies.
The first on the block was Mr. & Mrs. Smith, which was on at Hoytz Cinema which is a stone's throw from my place. I woke up at around 12:30pm and decided to call one of my colleagues to find out what was the plan for breakfast (or lunch) and was told that the plan was to catch the 1:30 show! The movie was a nice 'masala' flick, with a lot of hindi film elements, especially the way the protagonists handle innumerable villains with limited weapons and come out kind of unscathed... but it was a good way to start the day with a mindless fast comedy movie, which had the gorgeous Angelina Jolie to feast your eyes on ... my god... she does look absolutely stunning, and is one actress who is irresistable :)
Anyways, we moved on and by the time we were back in our apartment after coffee at around 6:20, another friend and me decided to check if there was a late show of "D" somewhere around Sydney where we could possibly drive out, and were disappointed to find that the last show was at 5:00... but there was a 6:45 pm show of Parineeta, which we could catch. Without thinking twice, we dashed out and were lucky to reach just as the opening titles started..
Parineeta is a classic movie, impeccably made and superbly enacted. I loved the way the characters were handled, and even though it was a storyline quite predictable, I loved watching the movie... and it even reminded me and made me nostalgic of good ol' Calcutta. It was quite facinating how the movie was so similar to Devdas, yet so different. And a very few people would actually relate it back to Devdas. but the truth is that Sarat Chandra Chatterjee had written this classic based on the same setting as Devdas, but with a happy (though fictional) ending... anyways, all the history aside, a good and well made movie.
Nothing like watching a Hindi movie in a cinema hall... thats ultimate bliss :))
Starting Out
Well, My first blog entry. Never believed I would be doing this one day... I had always thought that blogging is something I am not capable of... partly because I am not so comfortable sharing my thoughts with the whole world, and partly because I suck at creative writing. But then, there is always the "why not give it a shot" funda..
If I have to look at what inspired me to start blogging, well, it would be partly my being in a faraway (though beautiful) corner of the world, far off from friends and family, and in search for an outlet to my thoughts... and it would partly be a few other bloggers, whose blogs i keep reading off and on... especially my good freind from IIMB, Fart!
Well, Fart, aka Sudheer Narayan has been blogging for some time now, and it felt so great to be updated about his life sitting here in Sydney, while he slogs away in Mumbai (he's a consultant with Accenture).. and it made me think that even I should do something to ensure that people who want to know about my life can get an easy update. One day, after reading his blog, I wanted to comment on it... and when I tried, I found out that only members could do so... So I created my own ID and blogspace... and then forgot what I wanted to write in the comment... So I thought, what the hell, now that I have my own space, lets scribble something on it.. and here I am!
I had tried keeping in touch with the other part of the world through mails and all, but seems that the blog could be a better option, coz it gives people the freedom of choice... i always had this doubt while sending long mails to friends, as to whether they are actually interested to know about it or not... but with the blog, the ball is in their court. Plus it gives me the freedom to key in about my life, my reflections, my thoughts as and when I get time.... so ok... "lets give it a shot!"
But a few ground rules about my blog... It will, under no circumstance have anything which is directly about work. It will be quite random and arbit at times (what else are blogs for anyway) and the frequency and/or continuation of this activity is something about which I have no idea. I have decided to continue this as long as I have time and I feel comfy... and at a frequency which again depends on my time schedule and comfort.
And... it doesnt matter how many people read it (this doesnt mean I wont tell my friends and family about this... or remind them to read it too).. I will go on writing it as long as I am happy with it. So much for my first blog... will update it soon enough... at least in the first few days when I am excited about it :)
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
