Mundane Musings

War turned out to be one of the very few Hindi movies that I got to catch within the first week of its realease. It is also one of the very few movies that I have watched without reading the reviews. And it was truly the only one Hindi movie that I have watched in a night show: the movie started at 10:40pm and got over at 2:00 am. It tells a lot about a movie that could keep me awake through out without even a yawn. The only times I opened my mouth was when my jaw dropped. That happened on many occasions I confess, what with the incredible single shot fights on land, in water, in the air and on ice alongwith the minor detail of these jaw dropping stunts being performed by a grizzled, muscled, chiseled, sculpted, edible, incredibly high on testosterone Hrithik Roshan and his puppy cute counterpart Tiger Shroff. Be still my heart This post is not a review of the movie. Nope, you have probably seen the two, two and a half starred reviews online. There are reviews that have thrashed...

Understandably, since it involves me, Intermittent Fasting had nothing much to do with my weight loss, though I did lose some weight when I followed it diligently. But I sure can wear out any self respecting diet or weight loss program - I am that relentless. Nevertheless I had started Intermittent Fasting last year with the noble intention of losing weight before I hit 40. The mile stone came up alright, except it did with the same fat and weight on my person as it was at 39. So yes, this post has nothing to do with weight loss. But it is about the adoption of a healthy eating mindset, thanks to Intermittent Fasting. After trying it for almost a year without doing any exercise, I had managed to lose a couple of kilos. But I haven't pursued it this year, as I have started yoga and exercise and I wanted to use the confidence Intermittent fasting had given me to pursue a concrete and fitting diet plan that will get me through my forties and my binge days. Now what did I...

The Forest of Enchantments by Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni My rating: 4 of 5 stars I had started reading Chitra Banerjee's The Forest of Enchantments with a casual detachment thinking this was a reproduction of Valmiki's Ramayan. Any self respecting Indian has in some time or the other gotten introduced to the story of the valiant and perfect prince Lord Ram and his suave, strong, utterly wronged wife Sita. I didn't expect this book to be different. I empathized strongly with Sita who had to keep proving herself to her husband and his praja (citizens), in spite of wrongs done to her . And though Valmiki's Ramayan is a colossus that deals with a lot of other stories including Ram's unfair banishment from Ayodhya, Sita's story demands empathy and just retribution. So Chitra's retelling of the classic is important and relevant. Chitra Divakaruni's Forest of Enchantment focuses on Sita's side of the story - from the time she marries Ram, taking her ...

Bridge of Clay by Markus Zusak My rating: 3 of 5 stars Spoilers ahead... Since The Book Thief was one of the most stirring books I have ever read, I was more than eager to lay my hands on Markus Zusak's recent book - Bridge of Clay. This book is 579 pages long, which could have been a good thing if the story was worth something. Unfortunately it is not. We don't get invested in the lives of the characters and feel like bystanders of the Surrounds - the now derelict race course which witnesses the lives of the Dunbar family. The story is told by Mathew Dunbar, a school drop out, the eldest of the five Dunbar brothers living in Australia. I don't know if it is intentional then, that it is written in bursts of prose and regular speech. Most of the time it's only his words that tell us to feel something, like - see, my brother is hurting and he is coping the way he can; see, my mother was a woman with some spunk; see, my father felt deeply for my mother. There are...

We are well into 2019 I know, but if I gave this post a miss, I wouldn't feel like 2018 was dusted and left behind. I have been distinctly absent from writing about books in this blog. The absence is not because of not reading books, but happily because of the opposite. I have been reading voraciously the past year. So much so that I was forced to change my Goodreads Book Challenge number from 24 to 27 books. I have been reading so much that I want to slow down and re-read some books. In the heady rush to complete the book in hand and start on the second one, my habit of re-reading favourites is slowly fading. But some of the books that I have listed here have been relished and read with great fervor. This year I laid my hands on an eclectic variety of books. Some of the stand outs have been written under the following headings: Unique and Memorable A Musicophile's Delight Heartwarming Comics Unique and Memorable Lincoln in the Bardo by George Saunders  -  Thi...

Pic Courtesy: Telegraph India. Almost dry Chembarabakkam lake Water, water where have you gone? We search for you in deep wells and dried up lakes. Through hard, unyielding sand and tough rocks, Our searching pumps come up coughing dusty air. Water, water where have you gone? We see you tumbling against our coastline In a joyful profusion of frothy waves and forgotten litter, But not a drop can we drink, thanks to your salty disposition. Water, water where have you gone? Leaving us sinners bemoaning our fates Our thrones are wobbly without you to flush The refuse begotten by excessive tastes. It is now a luxury to wash our sorry asses. Water, water where have you gone? Our lakes are dry, the birds long gone, All that is left are buildings and houses standing tall. Drink that you fools, see how it quenches your thirst, This edifice you have built out of brick and stone. Is it too late to change ourselves? To look beyond our selfish gains? To spare a though...

Cocooned in my womb, as part of me Breathing the air I breathed, absorbing the food I ate, Using my blood for your sustenance, I would think you were happy in there. But it was time for you to come into my waiting arms. You did short work of the whole process, Coming much earlier than expected Raising your tender little fist up, saying...here I am! A miracle is what I call this. From a cell to a body, from a breath to reality, Every moment of your presence in my life Is a reminder of a miracle that is you. People say you are a carbon print of me Imagine that! A print of me in you... A part of me is in you, etched in your DNA forever, Passing it on to your progeny, just like my mother before me. Was I ready to be a mother? Yes! Did I know how to be a mother? No. Absolutely not. But step by little step, we got our own mo-jo, Learning and unlearning through trust and unconditional love. You have taught me things no book could record Making miracles look ...

One minute into episode 1 of the bold and brash Four More Shots Please that is right now streaming on Amazon Prime, and I was hooked. The reason: an extremely sexy Milind Soman features in one of the protagonist's dream. Seriously, it has been ages since I have seen a role do justice to his innate sexiness. He appears in pristine white briefs, looking absolutely delicious, rocking a salt and pepper look. Oh...keep still my heart. I am instantly hooked. Hot Milind Soman in Four More Shots Please But just like how he disappears after the very promising scene where he ravishes Damini right on top of her office conference room table, the series nose dives as it wants to do so many things in 10 episodes, very much like the four hip heroines. What a pity that the makers of the show didn't think of milking workaholic Damini and sexy stranger/boss/ board of director angle (which was done pretty well in Rani Mukherjee's Aiyyaa) during the course of the series. He is none of ...

With the house repair going on in full swing, it will be a wonder if I could get a romantic thought edged in. But fate has its way. After the day's work when I relaxed in front of the TV I happened to catch some really good movies, movies that filled my heart and made the whole experience so complete. I was lucky to have caught up with Jerry Maguire (for the 1000th time), Trouble With the Curve (a nice, feel-good movie), Shape of Water (a well-done, different theme movie), Trumbo (an awesome biography elevated by Bryan Cranston's acting). February is Oscar month and viewers like me who have been seeing very little of the insides of a theater and lesser of my subscription of Amazon Prime or Netflix, get to watch older movies on TV. February is also Valentine's month. Yes, I got around to it. And I don't have any plans for tomorrow just in case you were wondering. I should be happy if I were to catch any one of my favourite movies at night with S's super yumm spani...

This year is seriously pulsating with new promises and new goals. I have been so busy, so swamped with work that it is ironically, getting addictive. I juggle my work commitments with my house work; one of the reasons why I freelance. It feels as if all the years of neglecting the house following Ana kutti's birth, has caught up with me now. There is so much to do. Repairing broken cupboard doors and hinges, cleaning and organizing cupboards one room at a time (oh how many things we accumulate!), cleaning and cleaning and cleaning the grease and dirt out of the kitchen (that never seems to be over) and of course constantly cleaning up after Ana kutti. Somehow as I whizz about doing these things, I actually like it. Looks like my Virgo trait for cleanliness and tidying up is bubbling out only now. I also feel compelled to try some new things this year. This I attribute to having felt energized and happy when I had tried a few new things last year. Last year I had tried trampoline...

I know my first post of the new year has been 24 days into the month, but I am just back from one of my first trips (of hopefully many) in 2019. A dear friend had got us booked in a forest guest house at Nagarhole National Park or Rajiv Gandhi Tiger Reserve and we friends just grabbed the opportunity without a moment's thought. The road leading from Hunsur through the forest I love going to such off beat places as the experiences are different and the crowd is less. My Kotagiri blog post is one of the most read posts here, and Nagarhole is as wild and beautiful perhaps even more than Kotagiri. We are talking about a real forest here. It is the real deal. And like all good things, it is kind of hard to experience. The dark, misty forest Nagarhole National Park is home to one of the most vulnerable species of animals in the world right now - the magnificent Tiger. Statistics show that there are very few tigers in the world. You may be sure that a good number of those...