Of movies, news, relaxation and Bliss!

These days all I am doing is watching films. Some great ones like Pay it Forward and some most horrible and gross; in fact so gross that I don't want to name it. Its even more morbid than Requeim for a Dream. I don't know why such movies get a rating of 7+ on imdb. I just fail to get it! And yes I did not like Requiem for a Dream inspite of my sis going ga-ga over it. I had to take a long walk to get over the heavy effect of that one and 2 days back I watched Billu all over again just so that I could get the aforementioned movie out of my head.

Another genre that I have been seeing lately is Horror. Saw some ok types English ones and saw 13B. And this blogpost is about 13B. Just wanted to tell you all that I got the mysterious killer at least 45 minutes before the actual end and the motive about half an hour earlier!! Yeay!! They should make me script writer or concept writer at least :-). Aakhir kuch to fayada ho itni saari detective and mystery novels padhne ka. Come to think of it, I have not read one in a while now. Time to lay my hands on one i guess.

In other news, IPL shifting out of India. Sad. More so for the moolah it would have generated at this time of reccession. General Elections in India. Enjoying every bit of it. Although I won't be able to vote. Actually I have never voted all my life. Shame on me! But then the process of getting a voter id was so complex earlier and I have never lived at my home since I turned 18. Anyways now that its much simpler, I shall definitely cast my vote during the next general elections. And yes, as proof, will definitely blog about it.

Spent the last 3 days at home. I love home. I love doing nothing. I love not having to think of doing something. Absolute Bliss!! As some one rightly calls me aalsi ram...err...sita.

Heartwarming

So I have been away for a long time. Lots of things going on in my life and had I blogged about them, all you would be reading was some senti or philosophical stuff which would not have made any sense to you. So I refrained. (I know this is quite lame an excuse for not blogging but I will stick to my argument!)

Now you must be wondering then that what I am doing here. Well, last night I saw 'It' and something inside me knew that I had to blog about it. 'It' made me think. 'It' made me realize how selfish all of us really are. How easily we say that the world is 'shit' but seldom do something to change it. Forget do, we don't even believe that we as an individual can actually try to bring about a change which would cascade across the world and change it. I guess we have become hard shells. We have lost faith in humanity. What with so much violence and treachery happening all around us.; this is bound to happen. But once in while someone or something comes up in our lives which tells us that all is not lost. We can if we want to. We might fail but at least we tried. Imagine if even half of us got back that lost faith, how much better the world would become.

So I would urge all of you to go and watch this splendid and heartwarming tale of how a class assignment of a young child,Trevor, becomes a country wide movement. This movie is called 'Pay It Forward'. I am sure everyone who watches it will feel differently about their life by the end.

As Trevor would say, " I guess it's hard for people who are so used to things the way they are - even if they're bad - to change. 'Cause they kind of give up. And when they do, everybody kind of loses. "

'Word'y Thoughts

This one has been pending from quite some time now. I have been quite busy since the last two weeks, shopping for C’s brother’s wedding. Now that he is away, I am all free to do whatever I want with so much of time on my hands. It’s just been 4 days but somehow time just does not pass!! I think being busy with you around is any day better than being jobless without you. So come back soon you!

Come back so that we can watch Delhi 6 together. Come back so that we can laze around the whole day on weekends. Come back so we can play another round of Scrabble. But this time it will be just a little different. This time I will ensure that I win!!

Seriously this has been enough. Every time we play, no matter what good words I make or how many points I get, you always seem to get more than me and I always fall short. You always win, every time!

I think we must have played 10-12 games and I have won only 2 of these :-(. Sometimes I wonder what do you eat man. You are too much! Will the law of averages ever catch up with you?

But this time, I am going to beat you fair and square and by a huge margin. Just waiting for you to return so that we can have a match. So be prepared buddy. I am gonna win!!!

Here’s a pic of one of our previous encounters. Of course it is of the one in which I won. After all it’s my blog. I have the right to celebrate my win. To kya hua agar it is only the second time out of so many, that I won. The point is I WON. Period.

Fly high in the sky

Another one of the many firsts I have been having these days. I learnt how to fly a kite. Had never done it before. Thanks to my dear teacher C who it seems is on a mission to make me try new stuff. We did it for 2 days. First day the air was totally still. No matter how much we tried, the kite would no go up. C had to go up the water tank to take the kite to some height.

The second day was mast. There was the lovely breeze characteristic of Bangalore evenings. I tried my hand at the Purple one and managed to get it stuck in the overhead wires. The next Big Black one was much better and stable. So it was easier to manage. C’s friend and his friend’s friend also joined us. This one went high up in the sky. Whenever one of us would not be able to handle the swooping and falling of the kite we would promptly yell for C to rescue it. High point of the day – I brought the Big Black one down slowly and steadily and it was so perfect that it landed straight in my hands!

The next was a Colourful Plastic one with a cute tail. It took its time to go up. But when it did, it just went up, up and away……it went so high that all the string was used up. It was a beautiful sight. You could see the string for some distance and then it vanished and long way ahead was a tiny speck of the Colourful one wagging its tail as if enjoying the journey among the clouds.

Watching a flying kite makes me thoughtful. Our lives are so much like Kites. We fly away as the winds of our lives and careers take us; we stay there floating in the success and glory for all to see; all the time tied and supported by our roots. Sometimes we break off and fly away. But mostly in the end we return back to the ground, our roots, our values, our family.

Interesting Fun aCcount

This long weekend was quite a happening one. Some plans suddenly made, some plans equally suddenly cancelled. There was kite flying, roller skating, temple visiting, and a visit to the Innovative Film City. This is a recreational park newly opened on the outskirts of Bangalore in Bidadi. It is built on the lines of the Ramoji Film City in Hyderabad and numerous other such parks all over the world.

So Saturday evening it was decided that we will be going early next morning. We were four of us and we started from out place at 8:30 in the morning in a car. It was a foggy Sunday; ideal weather for a day long trip. The drive on Mysore Road was quite good and we pretty much managed on our own with a little help from an auto driver and a very-happy-to-help bus driver. During the journey we just stopped for breakfast at the famous Kadu Mane restaurant. I say its famous coz all review sites mention this place for breakfast. And boy it was crowded. But just 3 items to choose from and fast service made sure that we did not have to wait long. After a filling breakfast we were ready for some action.

We crossed Wonderla, the famous amusement park (and my next destination for a day long trip) and reached Innovative Film City or IFC for short. The entrance is quite remarkable with Greco-Roman architecture. We purchased entry ticket (Rs 50 per person) along with tickets for some places we were sure to visit thanks again to review sites which all of us had cared to read.

This place is not yet fully functional. Work is going on still mostly at the Main Street and we hear that more activities are going to be added soon. The entrance is supposed to have shops on both sides. Only few of them are open now. After crossing that the fun starts.

Our first stop was at the Mirror Maze. We were given disposable gloves to be worn inside. This was one awesome place to be. On entry all you see or rather don’t see are mirrors and red light illuminating the whole place. We had a whale of a time searching for the exit by running into mirrors, and sometimes people! At dead-ends we would stop and test our photography skills. The environment was nice and cool inside and we did not want to get out into the hot sun. So after deliberately overstaying we finally came out.

Then we went inside the Ripley’s Believe It Or Not. This was one long walk viewing many Believe It Or Not stuff on the walls and some specimens. The best part was the rotating cylinder which we had to cross through a bridge. It sent us all into a roller coaster ride in our heads. It was wonderful! Also the one way mirror had us in splits. It so happened that during the start there is a video about how to roll your tongue. And there is a huge mirror by the side. When we were almost at the exit, we saw there was a one way mirror and we could see people showing their tongues to us! That’s when we realized what it was and we had a great time laughing at the antics of people and remembering that we were also at the receiving end sometime back!

We were tired out after the long stay. So we thought of watching the 4-D movie to relax. But since it was an hour to the next available show, we whiled away our time posing for photos with the video gaming equipment. We got some priceless photos on helicopters, tanks, large scooters, with guns, with bow and arrows. After some refreshing ice cream it was time for the 4D movie.

I had never been to one so was curious as to how it feels. The hall was a very small one and we got glasses for viewing. The movie was set in 2080AD and had a deep sea adventure. It was a ‘different’ experience if I may say so for lack of any other fitting adjective. How would you feel if fish spat on you, mice ran across your face, sharks swam right in front of your eyes and you actually blasted off from the base of the sea with the narrator!! Very interesting but too short :-(
Next was a visit to the Louis Tussaud’s wax museum which was quite a disappointment. The only Indian was Mahatma Gandhi. And most of the other folks did not look the least bit like themselves. But we had a good time taking pictures with all of them namely Forrest Gump, Clinton, Bogart, Harry Potter and Gang, Einstein, Shakespeare and some very interesting ones with Sleeping Beauty, Hitler and Julia Roberts.

Next was the mammoth task of having lunch. After long queues for taking coupons and then for the actual food, patient waits for catching a table to sit, we had a horrible thali meal which tasted heaven after the whole ordeal and the fact that we were famished.

Post lunch we put on our skates and off we went crashing to the ground in the Skating Rink. Only C knew skating and he showed us how we should be actually gliding across the rink but sadly the rest of us were content latching on to the side railing and taking a round of the ring. C tried to teach me the simple technique of keeping your body tilted in front, feet going outside and knees bent. But I fumbled many times falling twice, once taking C along with me to the ground!

Finally his patience paid off and I was able to hold his hand and go round the rink 2-3 times. I could not feel much as I was trying to concentrate on the three step technique and prevent myself from falling over again. But I have to say it felt great graduating from a ‘railing holder’ to a ‘hand holder’ :-). I hope I get to practice skating soon again. It was fun.

After this we were all sweaty and tired. Next we went to the Haunted Mansion. This was a big let down. It started quite well, giving a scary look and feel but it did not have anything which would have at least made us jump. It was just very dark with scary looking dummies and skeletons. Total disappointment and complete waste of 100 bucks a person.

After this we took a round of the places we did not see. We wanted to try our hand at golf on their mini golf course but it was a small place and it did not seem inviting enough to any of us.

So we planned to return. The return journey took longer because of the traffic. After 12 hours of leaving home we reached back, ate the packed dinner we had got on the way and crashed out. I don’t know what we had done there but I slept for most of the next day.

IFC is a place worth visiting only once. It is not even half as large as the map makes it out to be. All the activities are right next to each other. I guess once this is fully functional there would be more to do. In all a very entertaining day.

Beautiful Genius

Saw a remarkable movie last night, A Beautiful Mind. Don't know how I had not seen it till now. It is based on a true story of a brilliant professor. Russel Crowe was amazing as the eccentric schizophrenic professor, John Nash. So was Jennifer Connelly as his lovely wife, Alicia, who is forced to face the dark side of her husband and cope with it.

There have been criticisms that the movie deviated a lot from the original life of Nash as written in his biography. Irrespective of the factual errors I thoroughly enjoyed the journey of Nash from a Princeton graduate to a Nobel Prize winner. It was truly a heartwarming performance by Russel Crowe.

Some dialogues from the movie that caught my attention:

John:

Find a truly original idea. It is the only way I will ever distinguish myself. It is the only way I will ever matter.

Hansen: You scared?

John: Terrified. Mortified. Petrified. Stupefied... by you.

John: Classes will dull your mind, destroy the potential for authentic creativity.

John in his acceptance speech after winning the Nobel Prize:

I have made the most important discovery of my life. It is only in the mysterious equations of love that any logical reasons can be found. I am only here tonight because of you. You are the only reason I am. You are all my reasons.

And the most beautiful:

John to Alicia: Alicia, does our relationship warrant long-term commitment? I need some kind of proof, some kind of verifiable, empirical data.

Alicia: I'm sorry, just give me a moment to redefine my girlish notions of romance.

Alicia: How big is the universe?

John: Infinite.

Alicia: How do you know?

John: I know because all the data indicates it's infinite.

Alicia: But it hasn't been proven yet.

John: No.

Alicia: You haven't seen it.

John: No.

Alicia: How do you know for sure?

John: I don't, I just believe it.

Alicia: It's the same with love I guess.

And the Heavens smile

About a month back, December 1st to be exact, C and I were walking near our place. I have a habit of glancing towards the nightsky whenever I am outside. And that night I saw an amazing formation; two brightly lit stars in one line with a crescent shaped moon right below in the middle just like a smiley. This celestial arrangement was breathtaking.

The two stars were actually the planets Venus and Jupiter. They appeared to be in a single line although they are far apart from each other. Apparently this happens very rarely, almost once in a lifetime!

And I sure was lucky to have witnessed it. I hastily took a pic on my mobile which has a VGA cam(at times like this and only at times like this I wish I had a better phone!). I badly wanted a nicer pic of this 'Smiley'.

So today I get a mail from C and I was so pleasantly surprised. This is what it said:

"Even the heavenly bodies failed when they tried to replicate your smile :-)
(I wonder if galaxies are capable enough to replicate your laugh)."

And I have been smiling since :-)