Mundane Musings

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...

We are all set to usher in the New year and I wanted to take a moment to reflect at the one we are leaving behind today. This year has been very kind to me and has even been very memorable. Principally because I turned forty this year. And since my birthday falls in September, I was 39 for a good part of 2018 - a 39 which felt more like 40. Unlike many people I know, I have embraced the 40s as the maturity that I would associate with it seemed to have crept in during the late 30s itself. So this year has been very nice that way - I have been kind on myself and I have been mature about what life has thrown at me in the past year (which is not much I must say. Touchwood). If I had a word to describe my outlook towards life this year it would be - Acceptance. Another reason why this year has been so special is that we have adopted a very healthy lifestyle, thanks to S and have been reaping the rewards of it. We have both started Intermittent Fasting this year and are alread...

There have been quite a few restaurants I had visited these few months that have so thoroughly satisfied my food cravings. "Quite a few" is pretty big for me as against the ordinary number which stands pretty much at one or zero a month. First on my list of visit-again restaurants is Fromage. Not just for their great mango mojito and beef lasagna, but also to re-order a few other items which were a blur on my taste buds leaving just a tantalizing promise of flavours I could have enjoyed if not for the boisterous company. A visit to Fromage materialized when the darling husband read about it on a friend's FB post and shared it with me. I don't need much incentive to check out a restaurant...especially one serving Continental food. So up I jumped and planned a Sunday lunch with two other friends before S could get cold feet. Off we went from Kilpauk, all the way to MRC Nagar, a good 15 kms away to try a restaurant that had 'cheese' in its name. I h...

I have started zipping over Chennai city in the metro train again. It felt so comfortable and amiable like a forgotten acquaintance, that I immediately got into the groove of things. It was especially useful during the brief spell of rains we faced last week. I almost pray that it remains this way for years to come, which could happen considering the manageable crowd that commutes by it everyday. The other day, as I clattered down the long flight of steps that led to the Shenoy Nagar station, I saw a man ahead of me who had just an umbrella in his hand and looked like he was out for a stroll. Why did that observation interest me, you ask? Well for one, no one really goes out for a stroll at 3 in the afternoon, I think. Secondly, I was going out in the afternoon too and I had a huge tote bag and a water bottle nestled in my hands. The lack of any such baggage on his person stumped me a bit. Why would he pay anywhere between 35 to 45 rupees for a stroll? That was expensive. The lovely...