Wishlist : A "Guillermo del Toro" Marathon

That's what I love about fairy tales; they tell the truth, not organized politics, religion or economics. Those things destroy the soul.

Pans Labrynthe - Guillerme del toro's contemporary masterpiece exploring parental relationships , opression and loss of innocence bound together by mythical undertones -an amazing portrayal of the immense urge of a traumatized child to escape from reality using her imagination.A far cry from the innocent and yet lavish canvas of imagination that the initial graphics laden trailers might have suggested.
Could I perhaps call it a grown up fairy tale?Ophelia does escape having to live a miserable life.So what if she dies young, she does die happy.Her awakening to the world around her was beautifully portrayed by her transition , from her mesmerization in her fairytale world to begging her unborn brother to be kind to her mother during his birth.What tore me was the scene where the mythical Faun/Pan gave her a magic chalk that could bring to life anything drawn with it -- a door in the wall that allowed her to leave her room.Her desperation to escape from the world around her and her struggle with reality , is but obvious.

The movie made me shudder a bit imagining the contrast ,life then and now.We live in good times.Times when we can afford to focus a lot more on us as individuals.And before I launch of into more emotional statements (well with the recent bomb scares at NCR have left me feeling a bit shaky) let me scream "Hell Boy" !!

A bit of research made me an instant fan of GDT.Anyone who has loved hellboy (and well seen blade 2), and is eagerly waiting for HBpart 2 , would be happy to know that a HB3 is in the plans as well .He turned down a chance to direct I Am Legend and Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince to work on Hellboy II: The Golden Army .Cheers GDT!Send us more orange monkeys.

Mimic (sci fi horror), the devils backbone (spanish/gothic horror) and HB2 immediately jumped into my wishlist.

The directors father had been kidnapped and held to ransom in Mexico, which he later left and moved for a safer life to LA .Interestingly, both PL and HB dwell on the protagonist's relationship with their father.Are these movies self expression in some ways?

They felt happy and made happy felt

It was one of the last summer days.And just when you thought you had found the perfect spot to rest your lazy feet and soak all of it up,the flute yawned and tested a soft note. The music carried vague memories of olive groves, summer wine.Happy thoughts swelled up .Happy feet tapped out.

And they danced.Glided on the soapy white woolen mat, tracing circles and squares and other shapes.And the feet, happy being let out of the shoes and soaked in warm water made happy felt.

Simply put, felt is matted wool. Wool becomes felt when it is subjected to moisture, heat, and pressure.Hot soapy water makes the wool slippery, and causes tiny scales on the fiber to open up. The scales prevent the fibers from backing up again after they slide across each other; with agitation, the fibers get hopelessly tangled together.When cooled, dried and compressed, the scales close and lock the wool into the tough, durable material we call felt - the strongest smoothest lightest and most water resistant natural fabric known to man.

A special event of outdoor dancing was arranged at the Thames festival 2008 along with workshops in spinning, knitting felting and weaving..A pile of dyed sheeps wool, some soap suds and hot water, a lively band and a whole bunch of dancing feet was all that was required to create a pretty carpet in felt.

Beauty and the beast, and a few POWs

Another fantabulous weekend!!
The wild child in me woke up one fine sunday , and decided to pack off somewhere for a few hours.So I decided to visit Kanchanaburi, the home of major remnants of Japanese POWs and the famous river Kwai.A more detailed post describing the wonderfull journey shall follow :D


Bridge on the River Kwai



Sher Khan ki dahad



..aur maine use sula diya



..sherni di chher

You might be a penguin if...

In the running lexicon, the word "Penguin" has come to mean a person who runs more for the joy of running than for recognition and public rewards.Some mean humour I dug out from the net on penguins :D


* ...you have to politely (for the third time) tell the men in the policecar moving behind you that No you do not wish a ride.
* ...during a race, you keep turning around to see if there is still anybody behind you.
* ...the rest of the pack is out of sight before you've run 100 yards.
* ...you meet both the hare and the tortoise running back towards you doing their cool-down after a race.
* ...you recognize all the regular runners on your favorite route from behind.
* ...you get passed on the uphill by a runner pushing a double baby jog stroller.
* ...you shoot a 24-shot roll of film during a marathon.
* ...you are more worried about the porta-potty lines than the start line.
* ...your support crew talks about meeting you for supper, not lunch.
* ...the truck picking up the cones is pressing on your behind.
* ...the awards ceremony is over before you cross the finish line.
* ...you finish before the blind guy, barely
* ...you finish before the sanitation sweepers
* ...you go to the nearest print shop and have a T-shirt specially made with the following words on the back "Hey, somebody has to finish last" that you wear to all your races

Where in the World is Phil The Frog?

The name is frog.Phil the frog.
Has run 27 official international races, has hopped across 115 different cities across the world.He is 5 inch tall, has goofy eyes and a kiss on his cheeks, prefers traveling in his own tube shaped pill and has even made a guest appearance in the Sydney Olympics.

Though both Phil and Phil's pill are cute and tempting to keep, once a runner receives Phil he/she is faced with a decision to follow the rules and send him to someone else, or be socially deviant and keep him for selfish reasons.And so , from one runner to another, across the globe, Phil has been passed over for the last 7 years.


Started by 'run planet' team, as what seems like an anthropological project, the aim was to helps break down xenophobia, teaching people to live together and resulting in world peace.

So this November, be it bangkok or delhi, will Phil be Poached Salmons run buddy for the marathon?

Pehchan

Awesome production by UPenn students(Thanks chaitya ;) )..called Penn Masala.The amazing part is..its an entire song without a single instrument..all vocals.Click here to to go the link , and then click play.

On a lighter note...Skye Sweetnam is my favourite musician for today.A great reason for everyone to buy her cd "Noise from the Basement".

The song can be heard here.

And for those who are so drugged with Penn Masala that its still not hit them why this uk based singer is so special...here are the lyrics of her chart topper (hopefully)

Once upon a time there was a girl
You really wouldn't call her typical
Had her own definition of cool
She lived in her own world
She had her own style her own rules
She played along like it was usual
Nobody really even knew her name
Her life was one big game

She got her head up in the clouds
Sharada, Sharada
Don't know when she'll come down
Sharada, Sharada
She can't get to bed
Sharada, Sharada
She's got this song stuck in her head
(her head, her head, song stuck in her head)

Dreaming all day
That's all she did
Ever since she was a little kid
All the teacher's thought that she was slow
She was just dreaming about her show
And when they told her she's delirious
She didn't care
She's just oblivious
She likes to make everyone curious
One day she's gonna be famous

She got her head up in the clouds
Sharada, Sharada
Don't know when she'll come down
Sharada, Sharada
She can't get to bed
Sharada, Sharada
She's got this song stuck in her head
(her head, her head, she's got this song stuck in her head)

She got her head up in the clouds
Sharada, Sharada
Don't know when she'll come down
Sharada, Sharada
She can't get to bed
Sharada, Sharada
She's got this song stuck in her head
(her head, her head)

She got her head up in the clouds
Sharada, Sharada
Don't know when she'll come down
Sharada, Sharada
She can't get to bed
Sharada, Sharada
She's got this song stuck in her head
(her head, her head, her head, her head, her head)

Snapshots from the beach

One off from the list

When I was 12 years old , I had read an article in readers digest that said , "everyone should carry a list in their wallet.Of things they want to do.And each year they should keep ticking off the ones they have, add new ones.When you are 50 years old, review it and see what all have you not even tried yet".
When you are 12, life seems like an eternity.Next year seems to be too far away and the summer vacations seem never ending.So even though I had made such a list,I never carried it around.
Over the years a few things have actually been stricken off.And what happened this weekend is probably one of my most favorite ones.

Packing my bags and just setting off without any plans or itenaries ...

My Saturday started off on a bad note.A conversation on gtalk left me very low and I was angry with myself...for playing a victim to certain circumstances.I decided I would venture out of bangkok, do things that I never get to do in Delhi.

Given the rains in Thailand, the hotel staff strongly suggested Pattaya.But writeups on the net sort of put me off.I just scrapped this indian lady on orkut and she scrapped back that beaches of Hua Hin and Rayong were much better.Hua Hin was flooded with water so I opted for Rayong, which was 3 hours away from Bangkok.
Saturday late night, I surfed the net for hours, before I gave up.
Making detailed itenaries wasnt my cup of tea,I wasnt much of a planner.I decided I'd just set off for Rayong and figure something out on the way.

Well,one cannot change ones nature.I will never be a person who plans things out.But high risks have high rewards.And this weekend I discovered "Koh Samet". :D

Saturday night fever

Yeah...it was fever for sure.
Ruining my well laid down plans.Couldnt get out of the bed all day, and at 9pm I finally realised I would regret going back and not doing things I always keep cribbing that I dont get to do in delhi.Backpacking.

So I dragged myself out of the bed, went for a long walk, bought some tea at starbucks and picked up a local mag trying to figure out where I could go, for just a day.

Thailand has plenty of hills and beaches, all 1-2 hours away from bangkok.A bus ride is quite cheap, and you can leave early morning and come back in the evening.Perfect for a lonely traveller like me.All I would need would be my camera,ipod and sketch pad to have a good time.
My ideal choice would have been lesser commericalised beaches like hua hin or krabi.But its raining a lot in most places and the hotel staff strongly recomended pattaya.

sigh.what if the neon lighted bars and skinny thai women and foreigners with beer belly just put me off?What if I dont find my secluded abandoned beach where I can just sit and sketch.

But its already pretty late in the night, and I decide for starters maybe I should just make this one trip.Maybe next week hua hin-one of the oldest beach resorts and a currently abandoned small town.

Which reminds me, I need to beg or bribe someone get me a fabriano sketch pad and a water brush.Both are absolutely unavailable anywhere I look.And the crappy sketch book I managed to buy, is pretty bad for water colours.The paper just soaks up the water and messes my sketches up.I spent 30 minutes at B2S, the largest stationary shop in bangkok, spanning over 2 floors, just trying to explain what a waterbrush was.


speak softly-People will listen.Take your time-The world will wait

Sketch crawls start

I wonder why the crawling bug always bites me in bangkok.Its 11.30 pm and time for me to hit the sack.Spent the day yapping with old friends on the net (bless orkut and the likes).



Later in the day I sneaked out for a few supplies (a brand new hard bound sketch book and a jazzy pencil holder :D)
Today being first of May, was a major holiday , leading to serious traffic jams.Bangkok, as any visitor would have learnt,quite painfully, is worlds largest parking lot.

Airtel mourns the day

It didnt make it to the national news, or the major tabloids.Unknown to millions, airtel suddenly lost one of its major customer.

A slight dip in Airtel's revenue, a major dip in someones life.

The Solo Fork

When I moved in to delhi 3 years back, I had a bag full of excitement for a life all by myself.My own apartment, my own rules ..just me incharge.
However, there was just one thing that would I would dread the most.And that was eating out alone.
But given the foodaholic that I am, ignoring the smorgasboard of flavours and tastes that a new place has to offer,is just impossible .It feels like im insulting the spirit of the place, if i settle for a safe takeaway sandwich .
But eating out,all alone?

But fret not fellow gastronomically challenged readers.Help is just a click away.Welcome to the world of Solo Dining

Pull up a chair and join in. The company's fine. Sooner or later,everyone faces the challenge of eating out alone"

This website introduces you to 'food clubs' in different parts of the world, that single travelers can join and sample the local cuisine .These clubs are very unique in what they have to offer and will be more of a addition in your sightseeing itenary than just a simple meal.


One of such intriguing clubs is the Home Food project,a homecooking organization in Italy.

Started in 2005 by The Ministry of Agricultural Politics ,in collaboration with the University of Bologna this project allows you to become guests of Italian families who have signed up for this project.It is a very unusual way of getting to taste the typical Italian cuisine,learn about their culture, and maybe even pick up a few tips to improving the pesto sauce, all at the home of a Cesarine(The empress or the lady of the house), in company of her family and a few other members.

The menu is pre decided ,the atmosphere is warm and inviting and you will definitely go back feeling that you were a part of Italy for a few hours and not just a tourist passing through.

Risky Business

Tennyson hit the nail on the head when he propesized "It is better to have loved and lost than to never have loved at all".

But does this philosophy hold true across matters other than love?

In the Tom Cruse starrer 'Risky Business',Joel finds out the hard way that a few bad decisions can lead to all kinds of problems and possibly ruin your future.
However I can happily vouch that it is 'better to have made impromptu travel plans and failed than to never have come up with any wild ideas' :D

From falling in love to seeking a career change, research shows that the more you take risks the more content you will be.

According to Psychiatrist Dr Harish Shetty "Taking the easy path is playing safe and that never gives you the hapinness that taking a risk and succeeding does".
Well what about the few hundred billion individuals that I know who are extremely happy without having attempted anything remotely risky?What about the content few who are already on the path of nirvana. Is this exclusive 'hapinnes' that risky adventures have in store, meant only for the crazy few who need to dip into uncharted waters to get that extra high?

Research goes onto show that
1)Tall people are more prepared to take risks than short ones.
I have always agreed with this very obvious logic.However, I just need to convince everyone else that I do not fall in the 'short ones' category.

2)Women are more carefull than men.
No one can even possibly dream about questioning this cardinal rule.

3)Children of more eductated parents are more likely to take risks.
As long as risk is defined as 'calculated/intelligtent risk'.Otherwise this seems counter-intutive.

4)Smokers are more willing to take risks than non smokers.
Given that the world is divided in active smokers and passive smokers, this statement is definitely null and void.

5)A habitual risk taker will in probability marry a person with similar traits.
We normally talk about divisions in terms of geography, caste, age, gender etc.Charactarestics that can be very quickly verified.However, a 'risk' taker is not very easy to indentify by sight.
Would life be easier for countless couples who have had a rather unhappy fallout if they knew their risk aversion levels from day 1?

Also,if risk takers marry only other risk takers, society will get neatly divided in two groups based on appetite for risk.And indeed, risk taking is considered a family trait!!! So, even though end of the day we all might be able to break the social norms and marry who we want, our internal programming will ensure we follow certain genetic laws.
Talk about free will!!

Coffee Breaks

I'm not too fond of the taste of coffee.I cannot stand the bitterness at times, and the coffee our vending machine at work spits out...seriously seems like a residual of boiled cigarette butts.
But somehow coffee , over the last few years, has become an inseparable part of life.

The gorgeous warm smell.
The feel of a crowded cafe bursting with coziness.
Snuggling up to someone with a glass of cold coffee,after a hard days work ,on summer evenings.
Walking down a windy road with a coffee cup warming your hands.
Dissecting life, professors and everything around you , with friends over ten buck cold coffee after tiring lectures.
Pouring out a cup from the vending machine on days when the work load is too much and a coffee break is a valid excuse to steal a few minutes away from the laptop.
Catching up with buddies at work who otherwise are too busy ,over a cup of coffee that you will either gulp down in distaste or will just pour and never drink.

Coffee breaks have a whole different dimension to them , which is way way beyond just the beverage itself.

Bangkok Sketch Crawl

This time, on a business trip to bangkok, when my digital camera fell apart...i decided to pick up a sketch pad and have a sketch-crawl of my own.
Sketch crawl..for the uninitiated, is this phenomenon started by Enrico Casarosa, an sketchboard artist at Pixar. In one of my older posts I had mentioned about this sketching marathon, and now I hope I get to be a more active participant.For those interested about the origins of this event, read here.

Last Friday evening I had roamed all over Siam Paragon, one of the local shopping malls and raided this place called "Read and Write". This extremely helpfull floor assistant had helped me pick out cheaper but damn good quality Folio and a raphael mini water colour box.



The next saturday morning, inspite of planning a day trip to the city I ended up spending a few extra hours in bed, trying to recover from something I had no clue about.To add to the pain, my digital camera stopped working.It just wouldnt respond to anything that I would do.There were these crazy red lines across the LCD which tore my heart.It has been only 3 years since I have bought it. I sat near the window trying to convince myself to get up and go out for wa walk and jotted down the birds eye view of the Hotels entrance from my window...and watched the tour bus, which otherwise would have had an excited me in it, leave. :(

Later in the day, I picked up some maps and decided to venture out on my own.I took a 'tuk-tuk' and asked the driver to take me to the Grand Palace . Soon, the extreme humidity and heat took its toll and I had to take shelter near a temple dedicated to budhdha, called 'The Emerald Budhdha'.



Unlike what I had expected, no one registered any curiosity at the sight of me with my sketchbook, eaves-dropping the guided tour narattions and sketching everytime id get tired.
Finally I decided to call it quits.Too much of grandios is not exactly entertaining.After a point the lavish castle and the gold roofs began getting on my nerves.

As a reward for my brave attempt ( :) ) the crawl ended with a nice sprawled out buffet watching the boats sail by.Tremendously relaxing, with Nityisa, a tiny waitress who had gotten used to me insisting on sitting on the same table near the pier every time I came down for breakfast, refilling cups of warm fragrant tea.Tea, incidently, is an excellent soother of confused tummies that have been treated to too many alien gastronomic delights.

Footsteps

Over time people start forming associations between absolutely irrelevant things and the most important people.
Like footsteps.
I can recognise some people by their footsteps even when im half asleep.

From a flippity-flap sandal slap on the floor as my mom used to buzz all around the house , to the current drag-thump .
One bad knee ruining the rhythm.

February ...the month in which the palash trees bloom.

We used to have one right outside our house in bombay , and each year around my birthday it would be ablaze, a riot of red.
And as years pass, you forget the little trivial incidents, perhaps pack them up/put them away in small boxes in ur memory, making space for the new ones.

My dad says nothing goes waste, your mind forgets nothing
Everything you have ever seen, heard , tasted, smelt or felt becomes a part of you.
Its is you who forgets that you own them.

Whenever my parents are visiting, they draw the curtains aside from the window in my bedroom, at 6am.
Ma says, see how lovely the sky looks, switch of ur bedside lamp.
And I keep wondering how I never miss this soft early morning sunlight, the rest of the year.

A few seconds ago I was walking past the open window and I saw a palash tree I never knew existed...
next to the house in the paralell lane...full bloom.Without its flowers I could have never recognised it.
And then I remembered, it was still february.

Worlds grossiest looking cooking tool

Peter Petrie (egg separator)

You take Petrie and an egg


crack it inside his head, and while the yolk is blocked by the nose,the albumen tastefully drips through the nostrils and into your bowl.


Coo-hoool!!

Crunchy Crunchy Yumm

Cacao attack!

Exceptionally chilly winter evenings.
The last time you saw the sun, was on the chillier morning ride to work.
When the 7'o clock alarm had rung, the animal instincts hidden deep within your primitive genes had cried out 'its time to hibernate'.
And when your back home,at the end of the day...your blanket and room heater seem like what today was meant for,warm cuddley lazed sleep.

And who the hell asked you to parent the kid in you,put down rules.Life was so much fun without them.
So drag yourself across the flat, change into your sneakers and dive inside your jacket and out you go.
Its unhealthy, you tell yourself, to turn into a chair-worm.

20 minutes is the max you last.Yah its one of those days when you can shut your eyes and almost sleep even while your feet are pounding the gravel.
What the hell! 20 minutes is more than zero minutes.

And then when you feel you have paid your dues...you'v worked, and you'v worked out, and now its time for you to grab the pillow and the remote...bang it hits you!

Stupid chocolate cravings.
You try to fool the kid in you.
Buy kellogs choco.its breakfast cereal...how bad can it be.
munch munch, two bites and you know it.
who the hell were you kidding.

caramels, dark chocolates, crusty wafer loaded with milk chocolate, crispes,nougat..even the otherwise detested peanut variety.
Their immaginary forms and flavours seem to fill your mouth.

Think 'that black top',
Think 'mutton chops',
what the hell, think of the 'cute guy'.
nah..nothing works.

Ghosts of all the burnt umber devils eaten over the last two decades haunt your mouth and palate,mercilessly tickle your tastebuds.
And then you just succumb.


My roommate has just returned , and has a giant stash of twix, hersheys, champagne n strawberry filled delight,
and more.
Lets say we had quite a time tonight. And I had to eat quite a bit before I could re-affirm my true love.

Bitter dark chocolates rule.