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I might have mentioned this before - I have a bad habit of watching something on TV while having a meal.  I know there are a lot of new and good shows and movies, but somehow, when watching while eating I like to watch something I have already seen before. 

Shows like Friends, Scrubs, Modern Family, Bones, Castle... Something about watching something familiar that makes my meal more, well, delicious.  The nicer the meal I’m having, the more loved show I need to watch :) 

While I have got a bit bored after multiple reruns of Friends and Modern Family, I am now hooked on to Castle.  Pretty soon I am going to complete this and I’m afraid there won’t be any show left for me to rewatch.

Sometimes, I wonder, maybe the new shows that come out do not have repeat value anymore... Or maybe I need to give them more of a chance.

I went out with 2 colleagues today, who I consider to be my friends as well.  One of them is quitting the company next month for higher studies and since the other one will be working from home for a long time, we thought we’d go out and spend some quality time before we all get busy with our stuff.

While we enjoy good drink and good food, what we really wanted was some good quality time, away from office walls to catch up.   A lot of office gossip was exchanged, old times were reminisced and generally a good time was had. 

One of them did most of the listening while the other one and me did a lot of talking.  The listener, lets call her L, said how the talkative one, lets call her T, and me knew so much about what goes on in the office.  And how we have so many things to share with each other about it.  While L feels, she just comes to office, does her work, complains about co-workers sometimes and leaves.  

I do tell L some office gossip when we catch up over coffee, albeit she is not much into it.  L and I are like good ol’ married ladies who talk about life and people in it in general.  About familial situations or some other thoughts and experiences we have.  

I have always felt I have different friends with whom I have different kind of conversations.  With some, office gossip. Some, about movies and Bollywood gossip.  With some about professional problems and advice.  With some about home and hearth problems and how to overcome them.  With some about TV series.  And with some about travel and beautiful places we have visited or should visit.  Well, you get the drift. 

Man is a social animal, and I always feel I am the best example for it.  I need people in my life.  I love being surrounded by them.  I love spending time with them.  Not everyone is the same and that is okay.  In fact, that is actually good.  I like meeting and spending time with different people, from different backgrounds, with different and newer things to share and talk about. 

After a long time, I watched a movie immediately after its release.  I was really excited to watch it.  Not just because of the eye candies, Fawad and Sidharth 😍, but also because I really enjoyed the director Shakun Bhatra’s first movie, Ek Main Aur Ekk Tu.  So much so that I’ve seen 3 times.  And after watching Kapoor & Sons over the weekend, I am pretty sure I am gonna watch it again(a movie having repeat value these days is really very rare). 

Predictably, the movie is a Family Drama with some humour and light hearted moments that could have spun into a love triangle.  And also, very high on emotion.  When it comes to such movies, you know what to expect.  The grandpa acting like a kid, the parents forever at loggerheads, the kids - one perfect boy, the other a black sheep of the family.  Throw in a girl-next-door for the songs and romance.  

But in such movies, I always look for execution.  I look for what problems plague the people involved and how they react, how they handle.  The execution and the performances were very, very good.  

The first half is obviously lighter than the second half.  It is just setting the premise.  The breeze before the hurricane.  And the way the secrets and lies unfold in the second half, the way parallels are drawn between the characters lives and choices, it was like dominos collapsing.  And collapsing very beautifully. 

The humour in bits and pieces saves you from not being too bogged down by the otherwise heavy family drama.  I liked how there weren’t too many songs and especially how the songs just kept the movie going instead of halting it at a moment.  

The performances were very good.  Ratna Pathak for me stole the show.  I found myself not agreeing/approving with the choices her character makes, but her performance nonetheless blew me away.  Fawad comes a close second as far as performances were concerned.  So natural, so deep into his character, I couldn’t believe this was the same guy who played the ‘prince’ in Khoobsurat.  Sidharth, was okay, rather just good enough.  He needs some work when it comes to his delivery timing.  You know he is ‘acting’ when you watch him on screen. 

Alia Bhatt was very good.  She is a breath of fresh air, a stroke of pastel shade in the rather dull canvas of a painting that is this movie.  I don’t care how young she looks compared to her co-stars.  She does complete justice to her role.  So do Rishi and Rajat Kapoor. 

Families are dysfunctional.  Especially in our society with the ‘what will other people say?’ motto hanging over everyone’s head.  People bury dirt under the carpet just to have that ‘normal happy family’ look.  But what happens when there is no space left under the carpet.  What happens when someone moves it and the dirt is just everywhere.  

How do people cope with knowing something they pretended to not know?  How do people cope with discovering some truths that hurt more than the lies they have been believing?  How do they cope with realizing they will never be perfect, or how they aren’t as perfect as they seem?  Dealing with loss, with lies, betrayal, disappointments.  Dealing with all this in front of the very society that you are trying to hide it from.  

I am mostly writing this post because I am soon gonna be hitting the big “three oh!” mark, nonetheless, few thoughts concerning people and their age have been circulating in my head for quite a while now. 

My mind tells me I am 19.  Or wait, 17.  Mostly between the 17-19 range.  I act like that as well.  So, sometimes people might get confused with how old I actually am.  My current colleagues were also shocked when they found out I have 7+ years of work experience.(which might be concerning, cause I definitely don’t look *young* per se, so does it mean they think my work equals to what a 4 yr exp employee does? 😳Anyway, I digress). 

My *permanent roommate* (see what I did there 🙃) thinks, mentally I am 17 and very recently changed that to me being mentally 9.  He constantly teases me that he needs to take me to NIMHANS and get me tested, tee hee. 

Then I see my friends around me with their families, having babies, sending kids to school.  Then I see my college juniors at workplace working so maturely that I feel they are senior to me.  Then I see people younger than me having babies and I’m like wow they had a baby at such a young age.  

That’s when I pause to think, no, they didn’t have a baby at *young age*.  27 - 28 is not too young to be having a baby.  A 25 year old professional being very mature at workplace shouldn’t be surprising either.  It’s just that in my head, I think I am 17 - 19 and that causes me this confusion.  

Another reason for confusion - say I met someone in college, or when I was a fresher, in my head, those people I met, stay the same age.  So when an ex-colleague got married and had a baby, in my head, a *FRESHER* got married and had a baby 😵But then I snap out of it and tell myself, no, it’s been more than 6 years since you were a fresher and well, you get the drift. 

Age, really, is just a number.  The number of years you have been on planet earth.  But what you think, what you feel, things you like to do, things you enjoy, the way you behave, none of that is related to age. No one can guess your age by your behaviour or life choices anymore.  No one is really *old* unless they actually feel so. 

It’s all in the mind. 🙂

The only reason I watch Kannada movies on the big screen is when people recommend it highly.  That’s how I ended up watching Super, Lucia and Oggarane(tempering) in theater.  And the latest is Rangi Taranga(colourful wave). 

The movie was a good watch.  Technically very well made.  The set, cinematography, lighting, background music were all top-notch.  The acting was quite good too.  And the dialogues alternated well with the different dialects of Kannada as spoken by people in coastal Karnataka and Bangalore.  I am not gonna tell you the story here ‘cause even a little more might ruin it for you, but this movie falls in the category of suspense, thriller and a bit of horror in the beginning.  The suspense was built up very well in the first half.  But some songs in the second half slowed down its pace.  They could have been avoided. Otherwise it was good and had a different story line. 

The treatment of the movie was not as fascinating as it was in Lucia, but it definitely had its moments.  Especially the racy, loud background score that could scare the weak hearted.  Also the movie ended nicely without too much drama or unnecessary deaths.  Balanced ending, I thought.

But let me be honest, the way people went on and on about how amazing, awesome the movie is, I expected more.  I am not saying it is a bad movie, just that it is not as awesome as people on my Facebook/Twitter timeline have claimed it to be.  I guess most of them who liked and recommended it are from coastal Karnataka which is where the story takes place and that probably gets the movie as extra star rating from my friends. 

Having said that, it is good to see sensible movies being made in the Kannada Film Industry.  Generally movies here are loud, garish, violent, pleasing the front-row-whistling-crowd.  But now there seems to be few good, sensible, ‘wholesome’ movies being made and that is a step in the right direction.  Hope more such movies are continued to be made. 

S: haan (yes)

Me: Kaisa tha? (How was it?)

When you were younger, you had all these profound thoughts about life & the future, and you took some decisions that made you think you are so effin’ “mature”. Or “grown-up”.

switching between the same three apps for hours

not speaking to anyone for days at a time

listening to the same songs i have been listening to for 20 years

She did not have a house she could call her own.

He took up a job, earned enough and bought a house she could call her own.

She wanted her daughter to have a nice wedding and celebrate it with family and friends. 

His job helped him earn and save enough to give her daughter a good wedding. 

Once her daughter moved to a foreign country, she wanted to communicate with her easily.  She did not know how to use a mobile phone. 

He bought her the latest Android phone and taught her how to use it and recharge balance.  Installed Skype and told her how she could easily talk to her daughter anytime she wished.

She had never been to the movies. 

He took her out to see movies. More than once.

She had never eaten gourmet food. 

He took her out for that too. 

She had forgotten how to cycle. 

He made her sit on a cycle and held it while she pedaled so that she would not fall. 

Sometimes, it's the child who has to look after the parent. 

:')

Saw Baby last Sunday and here are my thoughts on it: 

Was a bit long. They could have edited out a sequence or two and made it shorter, crisper

Akshay Kumar looked good! And for a change was quite bearable

Ditto Danny Dengzopa. Nice to see him on screen in a good role after quite some time

Story line seems extended from Holiday. A little bit been-there-done-that. But still, the movie is good entertainment

Thankfully not much time is wasted in romance and no songs. The one romantic sequence and song that was there was short (thankfully!)

Surprised to find out that the role of Pakistani villain was essayed by a Pakistani Actor. And he did well

Quite a bit of dialogues that got the crowd cheering

Good humour too. The comic timing was very good

All actors (barring one) did a good job

Taapsee Pannu is pretty and makes for a good action hero!  Hope to see her in more movies with meatier roles

Poor Rana Daggubatti was in the movie just to carry the heavy villain around

Logic flaws exists, but the movie is well made and so these flaws can be forgiven

Last but not the least, Thank you Neeraj Pandey for introducing us to Mikaal Zulfiqar, who not only is a good actor but is quite a HOTTIE! 

Read more books.  I now own the entire ASOIAF collection.  Yaay!

Traveled to USA and Singapore.  My first ever trips abroad. 

Lost a close family member to Cancer :( 

Re-bonded with my friends from all walks of life. 

Traveled to North India, to cities I had never visited before. 

Flew alone in a 2 hour flight.  In a foreign country. 

Started watching two new TV shows, Selfie & Jane the Virgin.  The former got taken of air and I lost interest in the latter. 

Got high-speed broadband connection at home.

Professionally - I learned a lot of new things and now have hunger for more

Personally - I think I have become quite lazy and need to rectify that.  Also, took a step towards being fit and will continue. 

Finally found the Chicken Uruwal recipe I was hunting for and cooked it to perfection.  Twice. 

My colleague Sharmi, forgot her lunchbox in BMTC Bus(Bangalore's public transport). And on any other day she wouldn't have given a damn about it, but today she absolutely needed to get the lunchbox back.

Now let me tell you why.

Tomorrow is the last working day of another colleague, Sandeep. He loves fish. Sharmi loves to cook what others like and bring it for them. As we all had plans to go out and eat tomorrow, she wanted to bring yummy fish curry she makes today. And she did. Only she forgot it in the bus. :(

What's worse is, yesterday she put in a lot of effort than she normally would. And since tomorrow is Sandeep's last day she HAD to give him the fish today, which is why she was upset as well as hellbent on getting back the lunchbox(consisted of 5 boxes in black bag).

She came to me with the predicament. I googled and found toll-free helpline number of BMTC. Since I know Kannada I did all the talking. The guy who spoke was extremely polite and tried his best to help. He asked if we still had the ticket since it would contain information about which depot the bus would go to so that we could retreive it from there. But as usual, my colleague discarded the ticket once she was out of the bus. I then gave him the bus number and told him the time my colleague boarded it and what time it would have reached the final destination(Shivajinagar). He told me if drivers/conductors find any unattended things in the bus, they inform the depot and leave it there. And the depot this bus belongs to is very far(Hebbal!!!).

I then got the number of the office at Shivajinagar bus station. This man I spoke to was rude and said there is nothing there but he did give me a number for enquiry. I called that number and the guy told me, the only hope is to go to the last platform in the bus stand and maybe she could get the lunchbox.

So Sharmi and Sandeep left office, and when to the bus station. There they met another helpful man who told them the bus would arrive again at 12:30 pm and he would look into it to see if the bag is still there. He gave his number and told they could call him later to find out if he got the bag or not. At this point, Sharmi realized, if the bus arrives at bus station at 12:30 pm, it would arrive at the stop near office at 12 pm and so she went to the stop. All the while she waited, she knew there is a chance the driver/conductor would eat the contents of her lunchbox but hoped and prayed to God the they would be vegetarian. :D

As luck would have it, the bus arrived at the stop at 12 pm. She climbed in and found her box on the floor of the bus next to the driver. She told the driver that the lunchbox is hers and asked him to pass it on. He gaped at her and coyingly told her "Nashta Khaali", which meant he eat her food. Her heart sunk, she felt like slapping him, but anyway just took the bag and got down.

She then opened bag to find that only 3 of the 5 boxes had been emptied and the 2 boxes that contained the fish curry were still there! :D Her prayers were answered! The driver did turn out to be a vegetarian (or probably thought he'd have the fish later, who knows) and had eaten only the rice, dal and brinjal fry she had prepared. The fish was left there, untouched. :D How awesome is that!

And thus concluded the maravellous adventure of Sharmi ka Dabba ;-) and she told me, in her usual filmy way, "Koi agar sacche dil se kuch bhi maange na, toh woh mil jaata hai!" (If anyone really desires something FROM THE HEART, they will get it)

Paapi Paet! :D

OB: Where were you yesterday?

LM: I had gone to the hospital

OB: Which one?

LM: St. John's

OB: Why there?

LM: My friend was admitted. Went to meet him

OB: (surprised) You took a day's leave to just go meet a friend in hospital?

LM: Ya. Why not? One should always be there for a friend in need.