The Perfect Sun

Sunrise at Algonquin Rd

While driving to work early morning this week, I witnessed this perfect rising. I wish I had a good camera that could really capture the essence of the moment, but my smartphone camera did a decent job. After several days of gloomy weather, this encounter brought warmth in the heart and reminded me that no matter how painful circumstances are, there will always be a new day with new Sun for new beginnings.

Happy new year to all. May our appreciation for life and mother nature rises every day just like the Sun.

Snowday

Me and my snow baby

The first snow of the season came down right on the first weekend of December. Weekends are always great for snow because you don't have to drive to work and fight the traffic and accidents and you can enjoy the snow day the way you want. We started off early at 6 AM with kids all excited to play in the snow. Now, Krishi lives for stuff like this. So he hung around for a long time and forced me to stay as well trying to make snow angels as he had seen on Calliou. Basically you have to lie down and waive your hands in the snow in circular fashion that leaves wings like imprints in the snow.

We came back out in the afternoon with Kabir insisting on making a snow-dog! Having no previous experience to make any kind of snow figure, I tried in vain to make anything out of snow. Youtube saved the day. Basically you have to start by making a small packed ball of wet snow and then start rolling this ball around. When you do that the ball starts becoming bigger all by itself. Pack and round it a little bit and you are in business. So, there you go. I couldn't make a snow dog but did end up with a very cute snow-baby.

In the evening, also ended up going for sledding on the nearby hill. After several trips up and down, it was I who insisted for one more last round while Kabir wanted to go back home.

Overall, it was a great, first snow day of the season.

Sheela Ki Jawani

Most of my memoirs generally restrict themselves to timeframe of 1988-1995 and there is reason to it this was the time when out of teens we were absorbing all things news like a curious child, together we friends tried the goodies which were on offer in our small town of Dehradun.

Alok,me and other pals although totally restricted by middle class taboos still had unrestricted hormones which had peculiar tendency of behaving like a dam bursting at seams with overflowing liquids ready to submerge anything under its way,lack of outlets and strong morality usually meant for us ‘God helps those who help themselves’ or a putting in chaste hindi ‘Apna haath Jagan Nath’ but then born creatives as we were, without props it all seemed quite dull, having exhausted IIIrd grade hindi pulps, we moved to ‘anonymous’ authors in English simultaneously rare dekko @ ‘Hustler’ or rather spuriously printed rehashed versions generally found on pavements outside bus stands and railway stations prolonged the ecstatic creativity for weeks. Lack of much needed solitude and fiscal support meant VCPs and much used video cassettes was option exercised only at max annually but then it had its own issues which I plan to recap later on…………And than we stumbled upon art house Cinema morning shows of French, Korean movies which were devoured to derive the much needed fodder, we peaked our creativity with ‘Sirroco’ all time favorite of all ‘frustates’ I have kept on tracking career of ‘Mr Roman Polanski’ since then.
Again something was missing as desi appetite can only be whetted with Roti, dal, sambhar, rice, pickle similarly creativity needed much sought after Indianness to it and than we discovered ‘ Digvijay’ and ‘New Empire’ two cinema halls in our beloved Doon, Different permutation and combinations of words like ‘ladki’, ‘Jawani’,’Kam’,’Pyaas’,’Junglee’,’Aag’,’Badan’,’jism’’padosan’,’darinda’ did the magic, December winters made for pitch dark entry on a 1800 hrs show for us in the cinema hall and than we started noticing aged males coming helmeted in the cinema hall and we understood meaning of repressions and frustrations of provincial India.2-3 minutes of add on reels were the highlight for which IVth grade 2.5 hrs Malyalam/Tamil movie had to be endured, stock characters of impotant householder, young mistress, buxom servant lady and lecherous politician speaking in offnote sound track made miserable with Vth grade dubbing,it was almost addictive as a gambling forcing us to waste on a meaningless venture repeatedly without anyone of us getting any better creative inputs.

Now years hence suddenly song ‘Sheela ki Jawani’ of ‘TMKhan’ made me situp and recap the misadventures, I have noticed atleast one of the above mentioned cinema hall in Dehradun on my rare visits still exhibiting similar fare I am not sure in today’s age who could be the audience!!!

A different off site @ Nainital 20 years back.

Look at the fashion trends of trendy small town guys , strutting about in MALL of Nainital in early ninties.

This was our first outing after continous ragging when we joined the Pant Univ and enjoyed the freedom..we did for sure!

Drinking Tibetan CHANG with MOMOs we painted the town red, staying atyouth hostel in upper Nainital..it was friendship at best.

Out of these 4 guys i occasionally meet Bist(One with thatch of hair we called him 'Thatchy') and onec in blue moon talk to Barthwal..rest two others Choudhary (smart one) and Brijwal(The pahari) are lost to me.

Kabir & Krishi's Pirate Ship Story

Story Transcript:

This is my pirate ship.
Pirate ship hit other ships.
I like pirate ship.
The pirate ship has a flag.

Contributors ->
Photography: Krishi Jain
Concept & Story: Kabir Jain

Hoopla 2010 offsite @ Nainital-IV

Our seniormost Deepak sir in a dashing Poster, really made the day for all the field guys, creative stroke from our HR guy who is ex organisation now .

Trip to Mahavirji 7: Jhansi

Photograph of Jhansi Fort taken in 1882 by Lala Deen Dayal
(Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:1857_jhansi_fort2.jpg)

Bundeley Harbolon key munh hamney suni kahani thi,
Khoob ladi mardani woh to Jhansi wali Rani thi.

During the history class while reading about the Mutiny of 1857, the first big size Indian rebellion again the British Raj, the story of Jhansi ki Rani had captured my imagination for many many years. Finally on Nov 5, 2008, I got a chance to visit her fort, the Jhansi fort. Standing on the far side of the fort, where on one side a couple with hands held and lips locked were intimate with the present moment, I time travelled back to 1858, looking at the historic point on the other side of the fort. When the entire fort was surrounded by the enemies and it seemed evident that they would enter the fort and capture her, Rani Laxmi Bai had tied her young son behind her, rode on a horse and jumped right off the cliff on this fort, down the hill to escape to Gwalior and continue her fight from there. Also look at the picture taken by me 2 years ago. It seems the fort has very wll been kept in the same condition as it was in 1882. We didn't really get a chance to go into the Jhansi city with Mamaji being busy at the hospital, but we did travel to Khajuraoh and Orcha while we were in Jhansi. Stay tuned for details and pictures.


Jhansi fort in 2008. Not seen clearly but behind all the modern debacle, the Jhansi fort stands tall and strong in its original form.


The cliff from where Rani Laxmi Bai made the historic leap.

Hoopla 2010 offsite @ Nainital-III

Please find the second paper circualted by me on penultimate day of outing, it was better hit than first one, our boss took umbrage at showing his 25 yr old pics but ultimately told me these kind of papers should be regular feature, its good stress buster.

Updates on the new phone

With all the recent controversy about the Iphone and with Aravind having some basic reception issues and others with it, I decided to go for HTC Aria and what a choice. It's a flawless phone with so much built into its light and small body. My first size-zero (super)model is all set to change my life forever.

http://www.htc.com/us/products/aria-att

Hoopla 2010 Offsite @ Nainital -II

This poster and others were created by my colleagues for ' Bollywood' nite at this offsite, i presented freaky awards in this meet.

Hoopla 2010- Offsite @ Nainital-I

i Created the above paper, produced and edited same for our offsite, it was good effort appreciated by everyone.

What do guys say!!!

Smart phone?

I have to admit I just can't resist the temptation for a new gadget. Currently, the touch screen phone that i have doesn't have wi-fi feature. Therefore, I am out in the market for the one that has one. With At&t, there are 2 phones I am looking at - Iphone 4 and HTC Aria. Unfortunately, none of them are without its shortcomings. While Iphone 4's HD resolution on a bigger screen and mind-blowing sense technology makes it my first choice as far as wi-fi use is concerned, the reception problem with this phone is a turn-off. HTC Aria on the other hand is relatively smaller phone with not so bright screen and reportedly bad battery life. The plus point is Android OS but the rough touch screen experience doesn't make it all that attractive. So, the search continues for the perfect device. Admittedly, there is a good chance, I will go for Iphone 4. I will wait for reviews from Aravind before I take the plunge, though.

Netaji and doon

I was very small kid made smaller by my thin frame, even brother had not touched the teens, we owned an Atlas cycle which was the sole transportation of whole household and still dwelled at chhukhu mohalla and yet to to even think about Parkash nagar house and it was a Sunday bright and cool as ever that much I remember, pitaji took us on the cycle meanwhile Bansal’s from our neighbourhood joined us on his cycle he was accompanied by Anil his son who was prone to epilepsy attacks, both of these guys worked at AmritDhara a ayurvedic medicine factory adjoining Madhuban hotel.later I came to know outing was to pay tribute to some saint who had recently passed away at Ramakrishna mission near Jakhan, still I found it stange my only console was to discover new facets of doon which I wasn’t allowed so far.When we reached the spot, body was lying and I had seen a dead man for first time peculiarity was his nostrils were closed with cotton, we bowed father lifted me up to see clearly and I could notice baldness of the man..as we came out father told me conspiringly did you identify the man.. and than opened the secret..that was Netaji subhash Chandra bose!!!!!

(From Hindustan time archives) :-----
Did Subhas Chandra Bose spend his days as a sadhu in Cooch Behar and then die in Dehra Dun in 1977?
When Justice MK Mukherjee tabled his report in May on the disappearance of Bose, he had mentioned the Dehradun story as one of the five versions that gained currency about Bose’s life post 1945. A swami resembling Netaji had spent about 13 years in West Bengal’s Coochbehar district before arriving in Dehra Dun in 1973. He settled there and died in 1977.

Trip to Bihar Bengal in summer of ‘10

Day before morning AI plane had overreached the Mangalore airstrip, we were about to touch down at Bagdogra airport…..”C’mon private operators always employed the best, they are not like Sarkari carriers”hardly able to convince innerself,I was really in B-Ve mood
Waft of fresh straight from rain drenched tea estates breeze hit my nostrils as we came out welcome change from ‘Loo(As in hindi) at midnight’ weather of Delhi, we were little wary of entering Siliguri with recent violence but images of smart young Nepali boyz and girls beating hands down any punks gen X of S’pore or rest of SEA in fashion trends lifted whatever burden of NCR I carried.
Although Siliguri and uphills is a fashion hub but as you enter Bihar through Purnea chowk thing which hits you is latest trend in Rural Bihar,its sporting gawdy mobile phones with latest chartbusters from Bhojpuri blockbusters blaring out and wearing garish red half sleeved Roopa Banian………Apna luck pehen ke chalo!!!
I named this off beaten track ‘Cornwala Road’ Blatantly lifted ..oops …inspired from numerous ‘Lord Cornwalis Road’ of Lutyens Delhi, taking a left from Katihar it’s a whole new world inaccessible by road till last year this remote place was an eye opener and as our car cruised through sheets of rain it seemed we waded though ocean of Corn fields as far as eye can see it was tall proud standing of ‘Zea Maize’ fondly called ‘Makki’ by all of us.Nitish kumar has brought this culture of mettled roads to Bihar and people utilize it fully early morning ablutions to late night soliciting everything is done here, in mid day it serves as corn drying platform, lack of flat dry pucca space is really an issue in Bihar Bengal.
Entering Begusarai I was strictly warned not to wear my seat belts to avoid being thought of as ‘Pappu from outtowns’ , strange thought process, that says how things operate here, it’s a place full of make belief and bragging is way of life.
Hasanpur is quaint little Kasba but it certainly boasts of a sugar factory and a small screen local theatre which sported big posters of ‘Cheetah’ a Mithun starrer from early ninties, it was about 10 in morning a fairly large crowd of crotch scratching, masala chewing males eagerly gawking and drooling over posters prominently displaying Joginder(Crack pot villain of yesteryear made famous by canine friendliness of Dharmendra whenever he growled …Kutte mein tera khoon pi jaonga…he meant Joginder) as usual trying to make his day on much exposed village belle and hero Mithun Chakraborty relegated to small background.
Night at Khagaria was blissful atleast from point of view of array of mosquitos which infested my room and feasted on me, not even Puri Bhaji of morning..of course ..served with all time classic Parwal could replenish the loss.
Derailed Rajdhani at Naughacia was not any news item for me it was reality which I saw in front of my eyes but than across the platform Bengani’s rake loading was on..it business as usual my friend.

All izz Well!!!

Trip to Mahavirji 6: Road to Jhansi

Barren land was the constant feature of the trip. I was longing for the greens of Doon.

I wouldn't call the car trip from Mahavirji to Jhansi a pleasant one. First of all, the road couldn't be worse. It didn't seem it was ever maintained once built. Surprisingly we didn't spot any cars throughout the journey. Perhaps, that's the reason the road wasn't maintained because it was hardly used (or perhaps the bandits of chambal once terrorized these roads resulting in complete deserting of this area). Also, there was not a single village, hotel or rest stop anywhere on the road until after almost 5 hours into the trip. Finally when we entered into MP, the scene got a bit better and the new highway system near Gwalior gave our bruised bodies from bumpy road, some rest. The driver made a quick stop right after we hit the Morena region and we noticed of couple of guys closing in on us. Suddenly, the images of the bihaad days became fresh. The likes of the Phoolan devi and Malkhan Singh appeared before the eyes. We were standing on the piece of land that was once frequented by the bandits riding on their horses carrying big rifles with extra cartridges wrapped around their bodies. Nothing evil happened this time though and we peacefully moved towards Jhansi.

We spotted this temple on the top of the hill. Why are temples always at the top of a hill? Phoolan devi must have frequented this temple with his crew to get some piece of mind.

While passing through Gwalior, I thought it was a nice and posh city. In general I liked MP; this was my first trip in that region. We once again entered UP towards the final stretch of our journet to Jhansi. It took us almost 10 hours to cover Jhansi from Mahavirji. By the time we hit mamaji's house, it was almost 9 in the evening. We settled down comfortable in mamaji's new house and ate some good food served by mamiji.

Next - Jhansi

Trip to Mahavirji 5: Mahavirji

My last visit to Mahavirji took place about 20 years ago, and not too much has changes over these years. The temples remain equally beautiful, clean and well maintatined. Outside, though number of shops selling religious artifacts have come back and some really bad restaurants have taken prominence, over simplistic dhabaas, in the name of posh ac restaurants. We ate our dinner in one of these and I can tell you right away that that was the worst food we had ever eaten. Masala milk and lassi remained tasty as ever though and these are must have if you are there.


Dharamshaalas have become more modern, as well. The bathrooms were very well mainted with a geyser and separate taps for hot and cold water attached to a shower. It was no less pleasuring as a shower in the west. The next morning, after taking darshans in several other temples, we arranged for a taxi which was not an easy job to do with lots of taxiwaalas present on the scene and we being the only customers. Our next stop at this point was Jhansi, town on the outskirts of UP. We wanted to rush
since it was a long distance journey and we wanted to be there before it was too late. Yet, we couldn't start before 1ish and decided to gulp down thick aloo paranthas - disgrace to their cousins, the chatpate paranthe of Mussorie. We bowed to Mahavir bhagwaan one last time feeling the satisfaction of a paapi having washed all his sins and started towards Jhansi settling down comfortably in the nice ac blast of the taxi.

Nine Lives..a Good reading

(Picture Archives from Joshita rawat)

I have been a bed time reader all along but certainly these last two months i have developed a voracious appetite, I finshed 80's fiction novel of James Clavell "whirlwind" which is on Iranian revolution and a mast reading, than in continuation iwent through Larry collins "The road to Armageddon" again on nuclear bomb building efforts of present day Iran.Last week in finished a text book and political history "The Dragon and the foreign devils" which is by Prof H G Gelber and talks about China 1100 B.C to the present and its relations with outside world, recommended reading.

This Good Friday i was going through road side book markets on Mehrauli- Guragon road and managed to lay hand on William Dalryemple's "Nine lives" which as the cover says is " In Search of the sacred in Modern India" , I managed to finish it same day, went through some chores on Saturday and today managing to recommend it to you guys, as one critic says about this ".... it is and artfully weaving together of travel, history and legend", as author puts it "...is conceived as a collection of linked non fiction shorth stories , with each life representing a different form of devotion or different religious path" since Alok you are already wirting of Mahaveerji travels would say you should go through the chapter "Nun's tale" for sure.

This might be the stories of people on the farthest extremes of religious ecstasy, but as i finished this book i was just reflecting that the Indian middle class that worker ant which has been backbone of this Indian shining story is one too steeped in religiosity and never lets off "Manu smirti" off its Radar scanner.Indian Child is born and welcomed with set rituals which become so repetitive over the years that most of the Indian middle aged householders can repeat mantras witn rote with never fully understanding the meaning. Daily Diya lighting in Puja corner is a must in every hindu household, visiting temples on tuesday, saturdays, avoiding Shaving on tuesdays, Thurdays..lines of Fasts.Appeasing the protector Vishnu with 'Satnarayan Katha' or the destroyer Shiva with monday fast it all comes naturally.

Move from 'Grahsth' to 'Van prasth' or coping with retirement blues is most easy.. " Om Jai Jagdish" is replaced with "Dhyan exercises"..new age and new line of Sudhanshuji, Asaram ji, Ravi Shankar ji, Goenka Ji make it very simple, these are gurus different from Elites of yesteryears who looked for foriegn clientle and when MNCs are realising the potential of burgeoning Indian middle class why would Gurus ignore such mass and let me tell all of these holymen are accesible propagate very simple ways to achieve salvation.

So For Mr william it should 30 cr lives which he should be writing about who are in throes of changes never ever happened to this country in last five hundered years and managing to get magical 8% GDP year on year of course with 33 cr deities(Devi Devtas) its all the more easy.

Trip to Mahavirji - 4: Darshan

Nov 3 contd, While strolling back and forth at the Nizamuddin station, we also bumped into Jagdish chachji. He was also to board the same train to Mahavirji. Once the train got going, there was no further delay and we prayed that we reach there right in time for the evening aarti that was the highlight of the trip. The village of mahavirji is several kilometers away from the train station and there is a free shuttle service back and forth at regular hours. When we reached the Mahavirji station, we noticed the shuttle was ready to leave. We hurriedly got off, but because of large group it took us a while to arrange for the coolie. By the time we stepped out of the station, the entire station was empty and all we could see was the cloud of dust left behind by the shuttle. All pilgrims including chachaji were smart enough to board it on time. Karte kya na marte we had to hire a small taxi and stuff all of us in with our bodies in twisted positions. The road to the temple area isn't the greatest you have seen. It's full of pot holes and worse than that speed breakers. With each speed breaker, it appeared that our neck would break into two by the impact of the bump, but luckily we made it to the temple. There was confusion around the aarti time when we reached there. When we enquired, couple of people told us that the aarti hadn't begun yet. So we decided to arrange for the dharamshaala first. Once done, we proceeded towards the temple only to find that the aarti had just finished. This was quiet frustrating and a major blow to our years of planning. In the deepening dark of the evening, I saw chachaji stepping out of the temple after participating in the aarti. He was one step ahead of us all the way.

The main Mahavir bhagwan's temple at Mahavirji. This is where Mahavir bhagwan's statue was found more than 200 years ago.

Once we went inside the temple, the serenity and the presence of Mahavir bhagwaan washed all our stres away though. We performed the darshan and then sat down in the courtyard to particpate in the live bhajan sessions performed by local musicians.


TBC....

Latest from stable of Joshita

Soft colours and soft flowers, feminine shades are apparent.

The Gauls can be inspiration for first steps towards animation.

The 'Grid Painting' latest in experimentation.

Nunaces of colour are better understood.

The 'Decorative' style of painting, all water colours with gloss, it can embroidered as well.

The 'Warli painting' as taught in school, Lord Shiva was just a great colouring opportunity.

Sceneries are getting better.

Trip to Mahavirji - 3: Train to Mahavirji

Nov 3, The worst thing I hate about journeys is the part of getting up early in the morning. I hadn't even recovered completely from tete-a-tete with glam doll Zeenat that I was woken up. Then started the flurry of activities with everybody pushing everybody else to finish the morning rituals in any order possible and get ready on time.

The Sumo arrived right on time which was good because we didn't want to be late for our train. We dumped all the bags in the back seat and stuffed our bodies in the front with kids seated on the elders' laps and I resting half of my butt on the door handle. When I coudn't take it anymore, I made room in the back with all the bags themselves and was able to stretch my legs in comfort. There is something about watching the road and slower vehicle getting left behind from the back window of a car and I relished the rare treat.

Hazrat Nizamuddin station near New Delhi
(http://wikimapia.org/112748/Hazrat-Nizamuddin-Rly-Station-NR)

We were right on time at Hazrat Nizamuddin station without battling much with the traffic. We started off the usual baragining duel with the coolies with both parties measuring and weighing each bag to fix an optimum price. When the coolies didn't budge, Sandeep jijaji threated to lift the bags himself in true saleman pitch and eventually all parties settled on a good price.

We were to take the 2060 Kota-Janshatabdi this time to Mahabirji from here. We had to wait for the one coming down because the same one would take us up there. However, the train got delayed by several hours. I didn't mind the delay as much as what the damage it's ripple effect did later on. More to come on that in the next entry.

A Coolie doing his routine
(http://www.indiamike.com/india/attachments/10274d1243669447-luggage-on-the-shatabdi-express-bag-snatcher.jpg)

Trip to Mahavirji - 2: Kick Off

Nov 2, the night before we were to begin the journey, I fell sick with high fever. When it appeared that we would have to cancel the trip, papa’s favorite Dr. Rakesh Mittal came to the rescue. After examining me with his worn out stethoscope in his tagore villa clinic, he prescribed an assortment of pills and capsules, as is customary in India. I gulped them down with a nice glass of water, sweated heavily all night and was up in good shape at 4ish in the morning. In half an hour, we were speeding away in a three-wheeler leaving Govind Garh in the morning slumber. Jiji and Saju were already at the nostalgic Doon Railway station, impatient to get going.

Source: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/ca/Dehradun_India_2006-4.JPG

Nov 3, for the first leg of our journey, we took the 5:10AM Janshatabdi express from Doon to Meerut where my other sister waited for us. This was kids’ first train journey and they enjoyed every bit of it. By 9:30, we hit the Meerut station; Sandeep jijaji was waiting for us there. While Manisha drove in the car with him, I decided to give my American kids a taste of tonga ride. Poor animal left his lunch in the middle and battled through the heavy office traffic and pollution to satisy our whim and bring us home.


In the afternoon, Sandeep jijaji and I went out to the local internet café to finish booking the rest of the tickets and take printouts of the electronic copies of the same. We took advantage of the Indian railway’s site to make all our bookings online. Earlier that week we struggled hard to find an agent to do the same for us but couldn’t do that because the site was unoperational during the day. We used this fact to our advantage and I got on the phone with Sandeep jijaji at midnight to get this done during off peak hours while most seats remained unbooked. At this point I would also like to sing the praise for the Indian railway's call center. Being used to the grumpy CSR's of the 80s, it was a treat to talk to these young fellows who had an amazing patience to attend to me for as long as I wanted and spoke standard call center lines of the west perfectly copied in Hindi - 'namaste, mera naam pradeep hai. main aapki kis tarah se sahaita kar sakta hoon. Also, they were quiet knowledeable and were able to suggest several trains to me within minutes for our complex route.

After securing the tickets, we went to talk to the local taxi waala to arrange for a big size taxi that could take all of us to Nizammuddin railway station, the second stop of our journey. After mulling over all possible options, with his idle drivers sitting around and dropping suggestions, in a small dingy room, the manager gave one final sweep to his moutache and decided that Tata Sumo would be the best bet of the day. So, Tata Sumo it was.

Rajesh jijaji joined us in the evening after closing his shop at Doon. He and I decided to hit a local bar across from baby’s house. There is something about the ambience of an Indian bar that’s just hard to find in the US. We chilled in the hazy room under dim lights watching sultry Zeenat Aman in ‘Yadon ki baarat’ on the big projection screen.

TBC...

Trip to Mahavirji - 1

My next India trip is shaping up, already, and I think it's time to wrap up my last one in 2008 that remains incomplete without the mention of our maiden journey into the center of the great country. The prime destination was Mahavirji, the holy city for Jains. A place of solace and peace, it's situated in Rajasthan, not so far from Sawai Madhopur, on the banks of the river Gambhir. We also travelled to Jhansi where my mamaji lives and then to some other nearby places of interest. It was quite an experience and a trip to remember. In the next few entries, I will try to capture this experience.

Epics..the Doon connection

What does VEER Salman Khan…Crowe the GLADIATOR, Bradd pitt of TROY and Queen of NARNIA have in common……….get it?...okay! each one of them wield the weapons made in Dehradun factories, the arms made in Doon are making waves in Bollywood and Holly wood equally and to top it U S Army uses the perfect replicas for its ceremonial outings , it’s a thriving industry and known for its quality products, the Dehradun’s love with same started pre independence era and its continuing.

So next time you go watch an epic, as soon as a sword is raised..just pray for our magical hometown.



Amen!!!

Wake up Sid

After watching theater prints for years, I finally gave it up. Most of the prints were so bad, that even a good movie left a bad taste in the mouth. Finally, last month, when I couldn't get a bad print for Kaminey, I eventually ended up watching the original DVD, and it was an eye opening experience. Hands down, I decided not to watch the bad prints anymore. Rest of the desi popultion (big part of which came from the VCR era from of the 80s) never complains though and in fact many of them are ok with watching an even worse print on the internet to save a few bucks, but that doesn't whet the appetite of a movie afficiando like me. The point anyways is that the dvd shops typically dont buy the original because by the time the original arrives all desi junta has already watched the movie and there is no demand for the orignal.

So, eventually I looked up a few desi online dvd rental companies but none offered a plan that would fit my need. Finally, the old timer netflix saved the day for me. A few years ago, it would take months for the new desi dvd to arrive here, but now when I looked it up, they had all the new and old titles. Nothing could be more exhilarting for me. Both hindi and english movies coming from the same place at a convenient plan of 9$ a month with an extra buck for bluray format. I am back in the movie paradise. Of course, now I have to wait for several months before I can watch '3 idiots.'

The first desi movie I ordered was 'Wake up Sid'. What a print!! We were swept off the floor by the sheer clarity of Mumbai shots as watched on our 46 inch widescreen tv with bluray player that upconverted dvd to 1080p format, and displayed amazing stillness, beautiful colors and contrast that dazzled the eyes. The best of the shots were the one on marine drive at night time. At once, I got transported back in time, when in 1992, I stood on the shores of Arabian sea at Chowpatty, my first day in ‘Bombay’. Looking across the ocean, ornamented by the lights of the Queens Necklace, I had found the tall Air India building surreal. Now, that's the magic of a good print.

As for the movie, as the title suggests, it's the story of Sid who has been living in a fool's paradise thanks to pampering by his dad who shows him out of the house when he refuses to act responsibly, and then how he wakes up and comes to the realization of true life. I am too old to have my emotions stirred by the movie, but I am sure it’s appreciated by teens, but the fact that the movie is directed by a teenager makes it appreciable. Music is uninspiring, too, except for the Ek tara song that once again is composed by the man of Dev D, Amit Trivedi. Worth watching is ‘kya karoon’ that sounds good, has got good lyrics and succeeds in showcasing the carefree life of Sid and friends and gives goosebumps here and there. Otherwise, it's a pass, I think.

Dilli ki sardi!!!!

The below 3rd class lyrics, IVth grade chreographed and in a 5th grade movie the song was an item number from movie Zameen, Amrita arora performed it and it was an hit!!!..i mean song ????
The temperature here these days certainly is causing problems not only with air traffic but with so many homeless ..recapping the midless song for you guys

"..........Ho Ye Ye Ye YeHo Ye Ye Ye Ye
O Koi To Aaye Jo Garmi Laaye Pyaar Teraa Dilli Ki Sardi
Dilli Ki Sardi
Pyaar Teraa Dilli Ki Sardi O O O O
Pyaar Teraa Dilli Ki Sardi
Dilli Ki Sardi
Chaahat Ki Aag Jalaa Le, Kambal Mein Mujhe Chhupaa Le
Chaahat Ki Aag Jalaa Le, Kambal Mein Mujhe Chhupaa Le
Chhupaa Le
Tadpaaye Tarsaaye Re
Tadpaaye Tarsaaye Re
Saari Raat Jagaaye Re Pyaar Teraa Dilli Ki Sardi
Kohraa Kohraa Chaaye Re Ye Dil Dhadkaa Jaaye Re
Pyaar Teraa Dilli Ki Sardi
Pyaar Teraa Dilli Ki Sardi
Mere Joban Ko Bahkaaye Re Shole Pe Barf Lagaaye Re
Tan Man Ki Pyaas Badhaaye Re Rah Rah Ke Suee Chubhaaye Re
Tadpaaye Tarsaaye Re
Tadpaaye Tarsaaye Re
Saari Raat Jagaaye Re Pyaar Teraa Dilli Ki Sardi
Pyaar Teraa Dilli Ki Sardi.............................."