Movie Review - Mausam

Ok, so I haven’t reviewed Bodyguard and Mausam yet. Not that anybody cares, but I consider this my duty as a die-hard Bollywood masala flick fan!

For starters, I haven’t seen Bodyguard. After 15 minutes of the torture called Ready, I didn’t have the guts. I went to watch Mausam on the first day, but the show got cancelled (Yes, stroke of luck!!). The next day some morons entered the mall here and started their protests. That resulted in a lot of chaos. Thankfully they have not resorted to any form of violence as yet. Let’s pray for the best.

Anyway, I love Shahid Kapoor just for his cuteness. So I can watch Dil Bole Hadippa and not feel let down (you have to watch DBH to know the heights of stupidity!). Mausam is lovable for only one reason – the impractical love between Harry and Aayat.

Yes, impractical. How can a boy and a girl remain in love for 10 years just by being together for about 2 months in totality? You can be in love for maximum 2-3 years, be practical and then find someone else. How can they meet in remotest of places (Mallukot[!!], Soctland, Switzerland, Ahemdabad)? How can they not have flings in between? How can they post letters, wait for a response after changing locations and not know about EMAIL in the 21st century?

Bollywood ignores all practical aspects to show how love is above it all and true love conquers everything. While watching the movie I asked the Boy what is true love anyway!? And he just laughed it off probably because he knew I would shower a million questions if he answers that one (which, he has no ability to answer anyway!).

So, if you can ignore Sonam Kapoor and her irritating voice, the not-so romantic songs, all the travelling that they do, you can watch Mausam. Watch it at home for Shahid Kapoor and that sweet thing called love. Watch it for sweet moments that make you want to feel them in real. Watch it for the smiles it will bring on your face.

That Does Impress Me Much!

Sometimes nostalgia strikes and we remember the times when we flipped pages of a real book. We remember those sweet kisses on paper that could only be sent through a letter box. We miss getting blank calls and not knowing who the admirer is. We think about the last time we printed pictures and placed them in a photo album. We hum ek titli anek titlian and instantly remember Doordarshan schedule as if memorized by heart!

But that’s as good as it gets, in nostalgia. Would I want to go back to those times? Not at all. I remember spending Rs. 4.5 for a 1 minute STD call from a PCO and it blew my meager pocket money in minutes. It created such a distance between people. The smell of cards and letters aside, there was nothing good about not having webcams, skype and smartphones that could store locked videos!

I take so many videos of my niece and nephew which they would definitely relish when they grow up. All I have from my childhood is an audio tape which doesn’t even work properly. Pictures are okay, nobody needs pictures of how I looked every second of every day! But videos, I definitely wish I had a few.

Yesterday I was reading a book on iPad. I suddenly discovered that with the help of an application I can just point at a word and it would display its meaning. Remember underlying/jotting down words and never looking them up? This was like a dream come true. So now I can read a book, play ludo/scrabble/chess, take pictures, make free calls, etc etc etc from just one device.

Sigh. Where was technology when I had Rs. 500 as pocket money and wanted to make loads of long distance calls?????

Thank your parents for giving you a nice name.

I love to look up baby names whenever someone close is about to have a baby. I just love the idea that someone would actually use a name suggested by me.

Now that I’m about to become a bua for the second time, I looked up names again. In FRIENDS, Joey suggested to name Phoebe’s brothers son 'The Hulk'! To save the kid from eternal humiliation, it's not a bad idea to know all the crazy names before you finalise on the perfect one.

Before I share some of the funniest names I came across, let me tell you the names of some people I’ve know or would love to know:

Captain Batra (a surd classmate from school. Poor Captain!!)
Rhythm (A distant niece. Really, why Rhythm!?)
Ghamandi Lal Meena (A fellow collegemate of the Boy with the best name ever. Google him!)
Leeba Baby (A fellow classmate. Why Baby, I don’t know!)

I’m unfortunate to know only these four names in person. So I hunted for some more kids who would be abusing their parents for torturing them for life. And this is what made me Laugh Out Loud:

Moe Lester (OMG!!!!!!!!! Just say it out loud "Hi, I am Moe Lester.")
Poppy Honey and Daisy Boo (brother and sister probably!)
April May (!!!)
Bud Wieser (Now that’s a cool name to have!)
Dick Hunter (and so many more names beginning with the dreaded D!)
Crystal Ware (apparently a girl who was nicknamed tupperwear, silver ware, underwear!!)
Terry (who became Terry Terry after she married a guy with his last name Terry!!)


I wish there were funny Indian names on the internet. If you do happen to find any let me know. And if you want to read more, go here.

And I though Punjabi was a funny surname!

Musings from the Holiday

When a villager goes to a city, I bet he has similar experiences like me! When I first went to meet the Boy at IIM from my low rated college, I was awestruck. Even the water from the water cooler tasted yum, leave alone my excitement in their colossal library! The Boy still teases me about my enthusiasm.

Anyway, so when I went to France, I was obviously dazzled by a number of things. It’s such a lovey-dovey country. At every metro station, bus stop, restaurant, square, boat, you name it, you would see couples kissing. It seemed like it was their last kiss, so passionate! Wherever I went, I looked with the corner of my Indian eye and aww’ed! It’s ok when young kids were kissing, you know, naya naya pyaar, but the best was when two oldies would lip lock, maybe there too, naya naya pyaar. You never know with these firangs!

I told you how we saw numerous topless babes. We also saw hordes of topless grannies. Ah, how the Boy made faces then! What was more amusing was how these moms would lay bare in front of their kids, not small kids, but grown up teenage boys. I was shocked, to say the least.

Eiffel Tower is world renowned and so is Mona Lisa. It’s virtually impossible to answer the reason why. They both look so ordinary! But when you go to the Eiffel tower and see the atmosphere, you fall in love with it. Maybe not with the structure but the power it has on people. Oh, there were so many kisses all around it as well!




The fitness of the people in both France and Switzerland was worth admiring. It was hard not to compare their dynamism with our desis. Even a 60 year old had such vitality that it left us feeling ashamed. I was inspired and now go for a walk when the Boy leaves home at 7 a.m(yes, that early!). I hope I keep thinking about the energy levels of the oldies and be determined to enhance my own!

I actually said the words that I’m proud of the Swiss government. Their main source of income comes from tourism and boy, you can see why. For every destination there is a bus/boat/train/cable car. The roads are smooth and the technology is unsurpassed. I went to Ladakh last year and had terrible experiences when it came to their roads. Agreed that Ladakh is admired for its raw beauty, but considering the amount of tourists that throng that place, it should be a doted child of the tourism ministry.
We went to a Gorge in Switzerland. While coming back we were directed to a train station. When we reached the point we didn’t understand where the station was. There was a small, lift-like door in a cave. We tried to open it but it won’t budge. A train was scheduled after 20 minutes. We waited only because a small group was waiting as well. When the train came, the engine driver adjusted the door of the train to the station door and opened it. We were blown, literally blown at their innovation.




There will be many more stories that will come till I go to a newer destination. And that won’t happen until the next year atleast. Till then, don’t get bugged!

Movie Review - Mere Brother ki Dulhan

If anyone ever follows my Hindi movie reviews on this blog he would know I'm a fan of nonsensical entertaining love stories! I hate the ones which try too hard to create humour (Ready, Houseful, etc etc), but if it's a decent film, with naturally funny situations, a good cast and light entertainment, I recommend it.

And so I recommend Mere Brother ki Dulhan. It's a cute movie with a love story with a twist. The actors are quite charming (I'm beginning to like Imran Khan!) Most of the situations don't make sense to a normal person, but then in Bollywood, who cares! (Like how wedding cards are published after the bride and groom have reached the guest house!!!Like how Katreena manages to kidnap a sleeping Imran and drag him around town for a whole night!!! Like how everything falls in place to suit the love birds!)

You know who will marry whom from the very beginning. But still the movie is racy and keeps you gripped. I remember laughing really hard atleast twice in the movie and I smiled quite a bit (but then I'm always smiling :P)

Ah, the review is slightly confusing so you'll need to judge the movie yourself. I would definitely want you to go though :)

Best Holiday Ever

Holidays are fun. You can go to Nainital, hog, play cards late into the night, take innumerable boat rides, walk on the mall road and call it your best holiday ever. More than the place, its how you feel on a trip that matters most.

I stepped out of Asia for the first time. Paris was a big city for me. Riding the metro, taking buses, walking lots, saying Bonjour/Merci/Au revoir just to make the French happy, living on sandwiches and basin water was new to me. I had heard stories and read reviews of places, but the feeling was fresh.

My fave moments were the romantic ones. We took the Seine river cruise and kissed under every bridge. There were 7-8 bridges, so to and fro, in front of people, on a chilly night, I loved those moments.


From the Seine river cruise

We went to the Eiffel at 10 in the night when it begins to twinkle for 5 minutes. The square we saw it from was lively buzzing with people. We found a corner and sat close for more than an hour and saw it twinkle twice. Priceless. We took an uncovered bus tour and it started to drizzle. Getting wet in the rain with your partner and riding through picturesque Paris – unbeatable.



A pebbly village in Paris.

We went to an ‘artistic’ strip club. The show wasn’t that great but much better than a Lido or Moulin Rouge. Later during the trip, we went to a shady strip club in Switzerland also. We were the only audience and the ‘show’ will remain the funniest and yuckiest for the rest of our lives.

After seeing all the touristy places we went to Nice, South of France. The place was a party. People would start singing, playing music and dancing just about anywhere. The beaches were pebbly but that didn’t stop the women to lay topless. For the Boy it was a real treat! We went to near-by Antibes in search of sandy beaches and fell in love again in the shallow of the ocean. Oh, and I also wore a bikini for the first time in my life and felt the need to lose some weight!

And then I fell on the road. It was horrible. Both my knees were badly scratched and I felt like crying like a little girl. The Boy clicked many pictures to distract me. And I would go ‘ooohh…aahh’ in search of some sympathy! The pain was there for a week, but that didn’t stop me from having the best holiday ever.

We went to Monaco and saw how the rich lived there. The F1 streets were amazing. So were the yachts and the cars. In the evening we walked into the liveliest place in Nice, a square with plain cafes with outside seating, buzzing with men, women and wonderful music. Leaving Nice was the saddest thing.

Switzerland was scenic and very expensive. Yes, that’s no news! Two happy meals that cost Rs. 700 in France, cost Rs. 1200 in Switzerland, a plain chapatti costs Rs. 200 and a chicken curry costs approximately Rs. 1600! We are foodies and this was a huge disappointment. Another couple friend joined us from Bahrain, and we would hunt for the cheapest beer so that we can afford good food!

Thanks to them, we enjoyed Switzerland. Otherwise me, the Boy and the scenery wouldn’t have lasted long! We love nature and the greenery and the lakes, but not for eight days and certainly not with such expensive meals!


View from a swiss train.

We went to Aare Gorge. The caves and the water gushing through it sent a chill through the spine. The mountain rides were beautiful and the weather was a delight. Again, my fave moment was sitting beside the lake with the Boy and discussing life. Another fave was singing over a 100 hindi songs at the top of our voices on a lake cruise. We rode an Ice flyer over Mt. Titlis, the joy that it brings you is heavenly.
We plucked apples from roadside trees and loved them. We had chocolates, cheese and fondue. And we rode innumerable trains. The views were breathtaking.

After day 12(of 16!) my muscles gave up. I couldn’t deal with all the walking and wanted to come back home. I love the Boy for his patience and support without which I wouldn’t be living the life I have. I love him for giving me the best holiday ever :)


When we hired a car and walked into a scenery...