Holidays / Sundays [I dont have two day weekends :-( ] are few are far between these days (ofcourse Sundays come after regular intervals, but with the workload everyone has, they seem to be a distant reality atleast for the first 3 days of the week).
Now when these holidays or off days do come, they also disappear way too fast for our liking and end of it we realise that there's so much more we could have done or had to do but we just spent the day sleeping (which is not a bad thing in itself - catching up on lost sleep). Well atleast happens with me quite a bit, so I have decided to put down a short list of things that could be done on such an off day -
- Clean your room
- Arrange your cupboard
- Do that pending shopping for the house
- Catch up on the book you started reading ages ago, while muching on something inconsequential and sipping something chilled.
- Watch that movie thats been lying around for quite some time, begging for your attention
- Do some cooking for yourself
- Or just go eat out at that joint you've been wanting to
- Call up friends you haven't talked to in a long time
- Go wash your car / bike / scooter / cycle
- Cut your nails, get a haircut, take a long bath
- If you have a garden, water your plants
- Go for a drive with your favourite music on (if you aren't fed up of driving to and back from work and if you don't live in a metro where you'll be stuck in a traffic jam)
Ofcourse there are lot's more that can be added to this list, but then this is as far as I could stretch my perspective based on my lifestyle and living conditions.
O and please don't do all of the above together, as it would turn to be heavier than a work day.
Tuesday, August 28, 2007
Sunday, August 26, 2007
Chak De....
An Inox opened up in Raipur finally, the first multiplex of this 'state capital' and they don't put up Chak De...Weird. Well this post is not about that, but about the movie itself, which I finally managed to watch in one of the regular theatres or 'talkies' here.
Whatever else the movie may do, one thing is for sure, it will definitely help generate slightly more interest in the next hockey tournament where our team will play.
However, its not just about that. It is more than just a movie about the sport. It highlights various issues related to sports (not just hockey), like the corrupt administrators, the facilities, the gender bias, the short public memory, the role media plays in deciding public opinion, the fanticism a sport creates and its effect on the players etc.
More importantly though, from a movie goers point of view, it is a very well made movie. Sticks to the theme without adding any masala of a typical bollywood flick.
Shahrukh Khan comes back to the world of hockey as the coach of the National Indian Womens Hockey Team after his fall from grace some years back. Its a bunch of different state champions, each with their own prejudices and quirks. He follows the age old leadership style of getting them to hate him, so as to be united amongst themselves.
After a motivating game against the National Mens hockey team the administrators finally relent and send them to the World Cup. And even here, like cricket, our biggest nemesis - Australia. This bunch of girls, who don't even speak the same language, manage to do the impossible.
The focus that Shahrukh as a coach brings to this team is that its the Indian Team and not various state teams playing together. There are no personal goals here other than playing the game you love for your country. Personal records are of no consequence whatsoever. A message to TEAM INDIA maybe??
Although let me add here, that the movie is not at all preachy. Just highlights a few realities and leaves it at that.
The direction is quite good, and its good to see a big banner making a movie in this genre after a long time. The background score is also quite good. The only part I feel could have been slightly better was the climax. Although when you go in to see such a movie, you already know the ending, but I felt the movie reached the anti climax a little too soon during the final penalty shoot out.
All in all, I finally saw a good Bollywood (a term not liked by many) movie after a long time.
Whatever else the movie may do, one thing is for sure, it will definitely help generate slightly more interest in the next hockey tournament where our team will play.
However, its not just about that. It is more than just a movie about the sport. It highlights various issues related to sports (not just hockey), like the corrupt administrators, the facilities, the gender bias, the short public memory, the role media plays in deciding public opinion, the fanticism a sport creates and its effect on the players etc.
More importantly though, from a movie goers point of view, it is a very well made movie. Sticks to the theme without adding any masala of a typical bollywood flick.
Shahrukh Khan comes back to the world of hockey as the coach of the National Indian Womens Hockey Team after his fall from grace some years back. Its a bunch of different state champions, each with their own prejudices and quirks. He follows the age old leadership style of getting them to hate him, so as to be united amongst themselves.
After a motivating game against the National Mens hockey team the administrators finally relent and send them to the World Cup. And even here, like cricket, our biggest nemesis - Australia. This bunch of girls, who don't even speak the same language, manage to do the impossible.
The focus that Shahrukh as a coach brings to this team is that its the Indian Team and not various state teams playing together. There are no personal goals here other than playing the game you love for your country. Personal records are of no consequence whatsoever. A message to TEAM INDIA maybe??
Although let me add here, that the movie is not at all preachy. Just highlights a few realities and leaves it at that.
The direction is quite good, and its good to see a big banner making a movie in this genre after a long time. The background score is also quite good. The only part I feel could have been slightly better was the climax. Although when you go in to see such a movie, you already know the ending, but I felt the movie reached the anti climax a little too soon during the final penalty shoot out.
All in all, I finally saw a good Bollywood (a term not liked by many) movie after a long time.
Saturday, August 25, 2007
Photos from Kodaikanal
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The grass is always greener on the other side....JPG)
Oh no....The earth has tilted...
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Ray of lightFriday, August 24, 2007
Kodaikanal
So we finally went on a trip......after quite a bit of deliberation about the location, Kodaikanal was where we landed. Or rather we landed in Bangalore and then took a bus.
It was a good break from work, a good break to meet up with frenz and a good break to try out my new camera.
The journey to Kodaikanal was an overnight bus from Bangalore. Pretty comfortable except that the bus didn't stop anywhere for food. We didn't care too much though as most of us were sleeping anyway.
The place we had booked for our stay was okay too. Had seating arrangement for food etc. in a little garden with a nice view.
The place as such is like a normal hill station. A few places to see, which we visited on a guided tour, a trek of about 5 kms one way to see a rock shaped like a dolphin's nose. Don't know why people walk all the way for that, but our gang made the most of it with the ample number of photos clicked on that nose. There's also those double cycles available on rent which you can ride alongside the Kodai lake. Nothing much to shop for except for things available at most hill stations in south - coffee, home-made chocolates, some oils etc.
The difficult part was getting a decent meal. Except for one village we stopped in during the guided tour, where there was some very good typical south indian food, all other meals were quite disappointing.
However, the worst part about the place was the blaring loud music playing everywhere. It was extremely irritating especially since we didnt understand a word of it.
And then came the return journey. It was a bus journey from hell. Rash driving would be an extremely subtle description of it. And everyone other than us seemed to be quite used to it. Well, we reached.
One thing revived during the trip after MDI was dumb charades. Once we started playing, we continued till the time we boarded the return flight from bangalore.
As for me, tried a few things with my camera and tried to put some reading on photography into use, as my frenz would tell you :). Some of it was quite useful as well. Will try and upload a few photos here as well when I can.
It was a good break from work, a good break to meet up with frenz and a good break to try out my new camera.
The journey to Kodaikanal was an overnight bus from Bangalore. Pretty comfortable except that the bus didn't stop anywhere for food. We didn't care too much though as most of us were sleeping anyway.
The place we had booked for our stay was okay too. Had seating arrangement for food etc. in a little garden with a nice view.
The place as such is like a normal hill station. A few places to see, which we visited on a guided tour, a trek of about 5 kms one way to see a rock shaped like a dolphin's nose. Don't know why people walk all the way for that, but our gang made the most of it with the ample number of photos clicked on that nose. There's also those double cycles available on rent which you can ride alongside the Kodai lake. Nothing much to shop for except for things available at most hill stations in south - coffee, home-made chocolates, some oils etc.
The difficult part was getting a decent meal. Except for one village we stopped in during the guided tour, where there was some very good typical south indian food, all other meals were quite disappointing.
However, the worst part about the place was the blaring loud music playing everywhere. It was extremely irritating especially since we didnt understand a word of it.
And then came the return journey. It was a bus journey from hell. Rash driving would be an extremely subtle description of it. And everyone other than us seemed to be quite used to it. Well, we reached.
One thing revived during the trip after MDI was dumb charades. Once we started playing, we continued till the time we boarded the return flight from bangalore.
As for me, tried a few things with my camera and tried to put some reading on photography into use, as my frenz would tell you :). Some of it was quite useful as well. Will try and upload a few photos here as well when I can.
Thursday, August 02, 2007
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