'Yeh Rishta Kya Kehlata Hai'!

For the past few days I have been hooked to this new serial on Star Plus called ‘ yeh rishta kya kehlata hai’!! But before I proceed with this post let me clarify a few things! This serial is not the reason for my not blogging regularly or any other serial for that matter! I am generally not addicted to hindi serials (no offense meant to anyone including my Sasu-ma (mother in law) or my Dadi –ma (grand mom)…!)
This serial is NOT like those ekta kapoor serials where every other woman is a bitch or a wamp…! Well that’s not the only reason for my liking the serial…there are several, but I will not dwell into those details here as that’s not the reason for my post.
What I am surprised at is the fact that they have actually..actually spent 3 weeks on just Akshara’s wedding ceremony!! I mean common- 'ama hadd ho gayi …3 hafte se kya akshara ki shadi hi karate rahoge'…! And if that was not enough – the following episodes are on what is the treatment given to her after marriage-right from the details on how should a newly-wed (all this is expected from the female only) enter the house to what pooja she should do on her first/second day in the new household and how she should do it- one mistake and you are gone! On top of this her husband is in some confusion and is not talking to her properly..! I mean come to think of it –first it’s an arranged marriage, second all ur new relatives are not leaving annny opportunity of ‘evaluating’ you as the new bahu of such a big khandan and top it the only person who could have done something is not willing to talk properly to you! Humf..humf.. humf ..trauma..trauma..trauma!! Poor Akshara! I can only wish her all the best in her new role as now even I am not able to understand ‘yeh rishta kya kehlata hai’!
As for me I will continue with this until I find some other addiction for during my dinner time..!

Bangalore to Coonor and Ooty

The planner that I am …throughout the year I ‘plan’ for and keep some data ready on places we have not visited till now… but always… at the last minute it turns out to be some place, totally un-planned! Murphy’s law I say...but that’s how its been!!

Since both me and my husband had already been to Ooty individually this was the last option for me …more so because I had already been to the picturesque Avalanche and thought that Ooty was nothing compared to that !!

So for the long weekend for Ugadi, I planned for Belur Halebid and there-my husband suggests a trip to Ooty..that too on the Ugadi morning!

After a bit of speculation we decided to go ahead…all thanks to the outlook traveler’s guide- It has a detailed section on the Nilgiris and we decided on Coonor and Ooty, in that order!

Browsing through some reviews on travelmike.com and the likes, we quickly took down some numbers of places to stay…not for once realizing what was in store for us!!

So we started by 9ish, Till Bandipur- its Blore-Mysore-Nanjagud- Gundlupet route. From there onwards, we decided to take the Bandipur-Mudumalai-Masinagudi ghat road to Ooty and not the one via Gudalur as that is a shorter route even though the ghats are really steep!

Considering that, we even booked a place in Masinagudi fearing that by the time we reach there it might get dark and not safe to go on the treacherous Ghat road!!

Believe me, the Outlook traveller’s guide comes very handy specially for people like us- as it has all the necessary information you need to plan your trip, plus it’s not too detailed like the information on the net!! So while one person is driving, the other can plan, check out things to do and do the bookings as well…that too, on the way to destination!!

The road after Mysore is not a two way road but decent enough to drive till Gundlupet. There is also a coffee day somewhere near Gundlupet- in case someone wants a short break. Don’t smile, because while coming back from Ooty this coffee day is a welcome break after hours of driving on the ghat road!

The road after Gundlupet till Nanjagud is really horrible and gives you a feeling that the Karnataka government wants to discourage people from going to Bandipur or Ooty ..!

Finally, when this bad stretch was over we entered Bandipur forest area and voila! What greets us is a herd of deer just after the Bandipur entrance gate!!

Keep your eyes open as there is high possibility of tracking another such herd of cheetals or even elephants on the way- We were lucky enough to find another such herd peacefully grazing in the forest…!!

 

You get a diversion when you reach Theppakadu and this is where you have to make the crucial decision of either taking the steep ghat road which is on the left or going via not so treacherous ghat road via Gudalur, which is one the right hand side.

We decided to take the one on the left for the simple reason we started late and wanted to reach Ooty before evening…!

Even after traveling for some half an hour, the ghats were nowhere to be seen and all we had before us was a serene, beautiful forest on both sides, a scenic way ahead, cool breeze and a very clear blue sky- something you hardly get to experience these days in Bangalore..!

It is only after the scenic road ends is that you realize the ghat road is about to begin- Hair raising experience of traversing the 36 hair pin bends starts!!

 

The ghat road is extremely steep and that’s why you have this feeling of achievement as the number of hair pin bends come down and a feeling of a winner when the board shows 0/36!!

And that’s when you enter the road to the queen of hill stations- Ooty!! Its an amazingly overwhelming at the same time relaxing feeling from the over stressed life of Bangalore, as you enter Ooty, through the sky touching Eucalyptus cover on both sides of the road!

It seemed that even god shared our feeling so he decides to greet us with some lovely showers from the top and what this leads to is a wonderful view of a rainbow covering the valley… a spectacular sight by all standards and we are on our way to Coonor by 4 p.m. in the evening!!

After checking a few places- by some luck we managed to get a home stay owned by a retired air-force officer… Assuming it to be some place owned by someone we anyways decide to go ahead as we had not done any bookings earlier… plus we wanted to get off our asses and relax…but the road that led us there was that of any normal over crowded town with lots of big, small shops scattered here and there, traffic and a lot of people everywhere..!

Anyways, totally cribbing we went ahead, asking for directions with passers-by and checking the route on phone… But as we gradually made our way through these populated slopes we discovered that we had entered an amazingly clean, well kempt, utterly beautiful place somewhere between the same slopes. A place that is populated by extremely beautiful bungalows, some that remind you of the Raj era and some completely new! This is the army area of Coonor, also known as Wellington…

Our home stay turned out to be a very beautiful house on the immensely beautiful slopes of Coonor overlooking the Dodda Betta peak and tea plantations!!

We had a very relaxing time there – we even had our dinner with them talking and chatting, and that’s how the time went by. Breakfast was part of the package and we were served with litchi juice, cornflakes and milk, aloo paranthas and dahi!

Basically Coonor is not so crowded as Ooty and is a colorful and relaxed town as compared to Ooty (see pics).

 

 

 

We spent the day sight seeing and started with Sim’s park where we spent not more than 5-10 minutes! It had loads of beautiful flowers and various tree but we expected the same at the Botanical garden so postponed it for later.

Next, we went to the Tea factory which was quite an interesting experience! We even bought a few teas from there and they do taste the same even in Bangalore as they did there!

After that we had our lunch at ‘Quality’ restaurant…you can go by the name as they served a buffet at 80/- rs. per head and that included Roti, Daal, Rasam, Sabzi (2), Plain Rice, Jeera Rice, Salad, Papad, Chowmein, Mushroom Manchurian (very tasty) and Seviyan Kheer (ok)….

From there we then headed towards Ooty. In between, I think we spent sometime buying some plants from a nursery. But we reached Ooty in max half hour! As it was a long weekend as expected most of the known hotels were already booked by then. We checked a few places like the Ooty gate, Oak vile etc etc – some were either full or not so good.

Finally we found a good place to stay which was close to the main market but situated away from the hustle and bustle. This was an extension of Darshan hotel and was newly constructed- the rooms had a beautiful décor and bathrooms were sparkling clean. It seemed that this place was newly built and we got a good room with a balcony over looking some farming area in the slopes..! On our way to this place we also passed the much talked about lake in Ooty, which had a lot activity beyond expectation!

We spent the entire evening at Charring cross and at Ooty’s commercial street. As the legend goes – the king star chocolates are really worth every penny. We also bought chocolates from elsewhere but they weren’t as good! Any time of the day you pass this shop and you will find it as crowded as a mithai shop in festival seasons!

We were specially recommended a place where you can buy good leather stuff at genuine prices, so we got ourselves a ‘few’ things there! Then we had our dinner at the Nahar restaurant...It gets really really chilly in the evening, so please carry your shawls, jackets and sweaters! After that we spent sometime strolling here and there and then headed back to our hotel..!

Next day we went to the botanical garden, just to lazy around a bit and get some more fresh air and sunlight. This was followed by some more shopping as per the orders we received from home, over the phone! The spices you get there are really genuine quality and at a very good rate…!

We had our lunch again in one of the restaurants in commercial street of Ooty and were speculating on whether to stay another day and head towards the beautiful Avalanche and the Red hills. That place is really to die for and you would NOT find another place easily in India like and I wanted my hubby to visit that once at least…! But as it was one way 30-37 kms in the slopes we decided to postpone that for our next trip to Ooty and decided to say goodbye for now..!

This time we took the not so treacherous route via Pykara-Gudlur to Theppakadu.

On our way to Pykara lake, in the middle of nowhere we found a lot of vehicles parked at a place overlooking a hilly pasture. The reason was this was the place where films like Raja Hindustani, Raaz, etc etc were shot ! (basically imagine any jungle scene or a scene which demands a lot of sprawling empty green land and it was shot here ! )

No prize for guessing, we also got down there and spent sometime just basking in the sun, enjoying such huge open space below the clear sky!

On our way further we stopped at the Pykara lake. From there we headed further- this road turned out to be more picturesque and beautiful. It seemed the road was newly built and was in excellent condition and we passed a few lakes, green pastures, tea gardens, then huge eucalyptus tree belts on both sides till we reached Gudalur!

Though this was more scenic it took us really double the time to reach Theppakadu! :-(

As I would like end this on a happy note ,  I would skip the details after Bandipur…! On our way to Bandipur, we were lucky to spot some deer, an elephant who appeared out of nowhere and peackocks dancing and that made up for our trip- so much so, that for a few minutes we even wanted go on a safari!! But as we had to cover a distance of around 230+ kms, and it was already 5 in the evening,we postponed this for later and headed further to our known land!!

Slumdog, slumgod yeah whatever??!

For an opinioned (if this term doesn't exist then assume its coined by me) person like me...it was difficult not to write on this subject when the entire world is going gung-ho about our (?) slumdog becoming a slumgod!! Even Amitji mentioned about this in his blog.. but then who says he isn’t opinioned (These days he seems to be having an opinion on almost everything…and the good thing is that he is freely expressing the same in his blog as well)..so how can I be left behind..!
So to start with.. there is nothing new in this movie compared to other movies made on the infamous Mumbai slums..except that this ends on a happy note!! I had a strong déjà vu feeling watching this movie and I could relate some of the scenes to Salam Bombay…So the conclusion is that nothing has changed so far!! :-( Some of us are ashamed about the underbelly of India being highlighted so shamelessly in a movie of Osacr caliber but the ones who could have done something to reduce this underbelly are busy overly stuffing their bully (read Indian politicians!).
However, if I just see this movie as a piece of entertainment without thinking about the slums (which is difficult) then clearly one person stands out!! He could not be seen there in the movie like the Anil Kapoors, Frieda Pintos who are making the best of their 2 minutes of glory!! Be it Bafta or Gloden Globe, Mr. Lakhan ( Anil Kapoor) was jumping as if the entire weight of this movie was on his shoulders..!! (probably I would have done the same had I been there in your place?) But lets make a few facts clearer here – To start with, the movie would have been a hit anyways whether Anil was there or not! Second thing – this is not an Indian movie. Just because there are few Indian actors in the movie does not make this movie a bollywood movie!
Lets face it…It’s an English movie directed by a hollywod director with an Indian story in the background! Only thing that is Indian is the story! The story that deserves every bit of appreciation for the way it’s written and told…kudos to Vikas Swarup for that..!!!
Then the movie could not have been showcased like this.. had it lacked the direction, so hats off to Danny Boyle for the treatment given to this subject!
Finally that one Indian person who stands out and who deserves this adulation, and attention is Mr. A R Rehman!! He is truly an Indian of international capabilities and I would say all he needed for the world to realize his brilliance was a Danny Boyle! ‘Jai ho!’ to Rehman!!! I would also specially like to mention our Mr. Gulzar for his superb lyrics year after year to the Indian cinema!
This post would not be complete without a mention to the kids who played the kid and adolescent roles and entertain the first half of the movie with their outstanding performance! I think they deserve to attend every award function more than any other actors!
p.s.: I would not be surprised if this movie gets nominated in the Indian award functions!! ;-)

Ok…this one is for Pappu….PAPPU “CAN” DANCE SALA!!
After a long time we finally found the courage to go and watch a movie in theatre….the last movie we watched on the big screen was OM SHANTI OM….we shelled out some 1000 bucks for Shanti ..only for the tickets!!..phew and the setback was too much to recover ever since!
Moreover, then there were movies like Jodha..., bhoo”th”naath … Welcome (uff)..slew of Yashraj’s …tashan (OMG!!!- guess that coveys all!)…some pyaar vyaar types movies..!phew! phew! phew! You need an immense lot of courage to even attempt something like that … !!;-)

But my faith is back to bollywood ..and the credit goes to Aamir “uncle”- coz what a debut it is..!!
If it wasn’t for aamir the movie would have been a flopp!! Why? To start with...there is nothing much in the storyline…reeely… not much appeal of any sort in the heroine but everything lies in the presentation and the veteran actors in the supporting roles!!
And that’s why the credit goes to Aamir uncle..!
Ok … now coming back to the movie… The beginning is quite a drag! And you start getting a feeling of eh eh eh ..a "shok" ceremony for a billi?!! And there goes AR’s melody for waste (Aditi song is for that in the movie)!!
But then the not so there story starts building up and you get to see Maya Sarabhai delivering another power packed performance effortlessly…Hats off to you Ratna!! We need more actors like you…:-) And who could have imagined that an actor like Naseer agreed to just hang on the wall in a photo frame and yet deliver a powerful performance…?
Yet another amazing act by Naseerudin Shah…after a very long time …and nothing goes for waste…not even a single dialogue…!!!
Few more reels... and I am amazed at this incredible set of new age parents- yes Jayant Kriplani and Anuradha Patel…Wow! Go watch this movie for their chemistry and that cameo!!
Then there is Paresh Rawal, the svelte and suave Kitu Gidvani, Rajat kapoor in a very small impressive cameo...Smita Patil’s son giving his first screen performance with such ease, Jai’s friends...and yes for the khan brothers Suhaeil and Arbaaz… if it wasn’t for the way the story was told- none of this would have made sense at all and this movie would have become just another love story..!!
You wouldn’t go and watch the movie if I tell you that there is a dead man ..yes a dead man and he talks and dances through his photo frame, that this is love story of a Rathod of Jhalor from Rajasthan and that there is the same old scene of hero and heroine in the end...in the airport…that too.. hero riding a horse on the streets of Mumbai to stop the heroine from flying to US..!!!
But go watch the movie and still none of this would sound familiar or weird or strange because of the way the story has been conveyed – marvelous, witty, funny and completely unusual for a Bollywood movie!!
So welcome a new breed of story tellers – finally they are in India and I am looking forward to more such movies!!
Go watch this movie for Aamir and make him recover the money because he deserves the credit for telling a story like that and that’s the USP of this movie!!

single female traveller..uff what all you have to bear...!!!

I am writing this 'short' blog for those people- specially for all the DESI MEN who are soo keen on having a group photo with every single girl they meet or see abroad....and the sentiments that I wish to convey can only be felt and understood in my MOTHERtounge....so this is how it goes...

क्या मैं आपके साथ एक ग्रुप फोटो ले सकता हूँ क्या? मन तो किया की कहों @#$@!%^ काहे की फोटो .. अभी जुमा जुमा मिले हुए एक आधा ट्रिप भी पूरा नही हुआ है और ग्रुप फोटो ? लेकिन यह ग्रुप फोटो के लिए पूछने वाले जीव आपको हिन्दुस्तानियो के अलावा शायद ही कोई और प्रजाति के मिले ..बाकि और जनता को मतलब नही है की तुम कौन हो कहाँ से आए हो ... लेकिन नही जहाँ हिन्दुस्तानी लड़कों ने अपने देश के बाहर देशी या विदेशी बंदी को देखा नही की lagi लार टपकने ... टप टप टप ...अरे भइया जैसे तुम विदेश भ्रमण पे निकले हो उसी तरह हमें भी भ्रमण का शौक हो सकता है और हमारे और तुम्हारे भ्रमण की definition भी काफी अलग हो सकती है ... इसिले कृपया हमें मांफ करें ... !!!

So through my blog - I would sincerely request such guys to think twice before approaching any girl with such a downmarket line that can we have a group photo .... if you were worth anny photo ..by now a girl would have definitly asked you out..or would have atleast asked you for one photo.. so.. please excuse!!!

Uff.. the temptation of using AWESOME..! :-)

It seems that now days appreciating things in English language is too easy… Everything is either awesome or amazzing (with an extra zing). Like everyone who has done a good job is either rocking or rocks!

But tell me aren’t we a little bored of hearing these words again and again? Be it any forward, mail, blog it’s all awesome, awesome and awesome!

I think that I am personally a little fed up of this word… probably I hear people around me using this word so much that now I am also going to the extent of deleting all forwards out rightly which contain an ‘awesome’ in the subject line!

Imagine you are at the heights of some discussion and there is some good repartee going on among your friends and suddenly one of your colleagues describes your ‘bright’ thoughts as ‘Awesome’! That’s it!! …For me the full josh comes down then and there…! Imagine ‘awessome yaar’ as an appreciation for something which you thought was bright and may be good (?).... Then you feel like telling the other person how BORING yaar......that their style is so uncool and so stale they ought to do ‘something’ about it.. that they do need to get over this temptation of using AWESOME... NOW!!! :-)

Well this is what I thought and felt and I think it was kind of taking a toll on me so I thought of taking out my frustration here…
I am sure that a lot of people will not relate to this …but for those who do- they can comment on it… but without using – rocking, awesome or amazzing! ;-)