So, now there is an ad also on television which just substantiates the fact that as far as sports in India is concerned, money is there more in endorsements and not the actual sport! I’m speaking of the recent Fair & Lovely ad where this gal is trying to win some cycle championship and her brother tells her to change the sport if she wants to buy a new house in order to fulfill her mother’s dream. And whoa by the end of the ad, the gal is able to afford any bungalow in that locality because she is all ujli ujli now…errr I mean fair & lovely ;) which has helped her in getting some endorsement deal from a famous sports company. Now when there is endorsement, there is money & when there is money, then maa ka sapna pura karne ka time ;)! And of course this endorsement came to her because she got transformed into this gorgeous, pretty, FAIR & LOVELY gal by applying fair & lovely! Chalo finally maa ka sapna sakaar hua, all thanks to this miraculous Fair & Lovely and the brand endorsement deal. Whatever happened to that cycle competition, who cares?

In a country where Sania is bigger than Tennis, Saina is bigger than Badminton & Vijender is bigger than Boxing, it does not come as a surprise that endorsements and not the actual sport are the main profession for so many of them. Well, there is no harm in earning money out of your profession be it sports or anything else, but commercializing your profession to an extent that you forget your profession only??? And mind it, I have not even spoken about Indian cricketers and their much discussed endorsement deals worth millions and billions of rupees Well, that’s a topic worth a book, Indian cricketers and their success in endorsement market is in fact a case study for marketing students across the globe. It’s really funny when you see this dark truth being shown proudly in the form of an ad commercial too :-). On one hand the ad is speaking of a sports gal but still the concept of bedaag goraapan :P, and to add to that she gets money because she gets that endorsement…LOL, des humara hai rangrez babu :)

Just Generally · Musings

Oh paisa yeh paisa :)

So, now there is an ad also on television which just substantiates the fact that as far as sports in India is concerned, money is there more in endorsements and not the actual sport! I’m speaking of the recent Fair & Lovely ad where this gal is trying to win some cycle championship and her brother tells her to change the sport if she wants to buy a new house in order to fulfill her mother’s dream. And whoa by the end of the ad, the gal is able to afford any bungalow in that locality because she is all ujli ujli now…errr I mean fair & lovely ;) which has helped her in getting some endorsement deal from a famous sports company. Now when there is endorsement, there is money & when there is money, then maa ka sapna pura karne ka time ;)! And of course this endorsement came to her because she got transformed into this gorgeous, pretty, FAIR & LOVELY gal by applying fair & lovely! Chalo finally maa ka sapna sakaar hua, all thanks to this miraculous Fair & Lovely and the brand endorsement deal. Whatever happened to that cycle competition, who cares?

In a country where Sania is bigger than Tennis, Saina is bigger than Badminton & Vijender is bigger than Boxing, it does not come as a surprise that endorsements and not the actual sport are the main profession for so many of them. Well, there is no harm in earning money out of your profession be it sports or anything else, but commercializing your profession to an extent that you forget your profession only??? And mind it, I have not even spoken about Indian cricketers and their much discussed endorsement deals worth millions and billions of rupees Well, that’s a topic worth a book, Indian cricketers and their success in endorsement market is in fact a case study for marketing students across the globe. It’s really funny when you see this dark truth being shown proudly in the form of an ad commercial too :-). On one hand the ad is speaking of a sports gal but still the concept of bedaag goraapan :P, and to add to that she gets money because she gets that endorsement…LOL, des humara hai rangrez babu :)

What a month this has been, traveled out of city almost on all weekends – Nrityagram, Tirupati, Goa & then Mumbai. Phew! Have so many things to share about the books which I read recently, about the recent places visited, about some observations, some changes, and some movies but yet again running short for time. Blogging & writing at other places apart from a full time job is really taking up my time away from this personal space

First thing first, one of my favorite blogger (& a friend as well now), Smita had a baby boy on 9^th Aug! Yayyy! Congratulations to the new mommy & loads of love to the new born. Smita: We’re eagerly waiting for a pic of your baby soon:-)

Now coming down to the post, you know I watched Aashayein yesterday, in fact I chose to watch it before Antardwand as the former was a Kukunoor movie. But what a disappointment the movie was! "Rahul (John Abraham), a 35-year-old learns he has lung cancer the day after he won huge sum of money in a betting game. Bitter, dazed and irrational in his grief, he decides to abandon his love of life Nafisa (Sonal Sehgal) and come to terms with his illness in isolation. He heads to a hospice where there are others like him and each of them is unique in the way they are living their last days". It was not that that I completely hated the movie, in fact some of the scenes were quite powerful but then those “doots & bhoots” and all the complications around them completely spoilt the poignant plot. I think the writer was trying to weave the central theme with too many non-coherent pieces. Kabhi kuch, toh abhi kuch…the only thing which holds your attention is Anahita Nair who plays the role of Padma and some strong scenes delivered by John. For rest of it, Aashayein was quite a niraasha for me. Wondering what has happened to the brand Kukunoor!

Aashayein movie review · Movie Review · Movies

Aashayein was quite a niraasha

What a month this has been, traveled out of city almost on all weekends – Nrityagram, Tirupati, Goa & then Mumbai. Phew! Have so many things to share about the books which I read recently, about the recent places visited, about some observations, some changes, and some movies but yet again running short for time. Blogging & writing at other places apart from a full time job is really taking up my time away from this personal space

First thing first, one of my favorite blogger (& a friend as well now), Smita had a baby boy on 9^th Aug! Yayyy! Congratulations to the new mommy & loads of love to the new born. Smita: We’re eagerly waiting for a pic of your baby soon:-)

Now coming down to the post, you know I watched Aashayein yesterday, in fact I chose to watch it before Antardwand as the former was a Kukunoor movie. But what a disappointment the movie was! "Rahul (John Abraham), a 35-year-old learns he has lung cancer the day after he won huge sum of money in a betting game. Bitter, dazed and irrational in his grief, he decides to abandon his love of life Nafisa (Sonal Sehgal) and come to terms with his illness in isolation. He heads to a hospice where there are others like him and each of them is unique in the way they are living their last days". It was not that that I completely hated the movie, in fact some of the scenes were quite powerful but then those “doots & bhoots” and all the complications around them completely spoilt the poignant plot. I think the writer was trying to weave the central theme with too many non-coherent pieces. Kabhi kuch, toh abhi kuch…the only thing which holds your attention is Anahita Nair who plays the role of Padma and some strong scenes delivered by John. For rest of it, Aashayein was quite a niraasha for me. Wondering what has happened to the brand Kukunoor!

A Walk in the Rain..

Thanks to a very old school friend for sending this back to me after so long...this is one of my initial pencil sketches which I had done one fine rainy day on school notebook while sitting in school library by seeing some picture on the opposite wall...friend liked it so much that decided to keep it and mailed a scanned copy of it after all these years...I'm really really touched and so full of nostalgia right now, well rain has always this effect on me :) It's a beautiful rainy day today and so thought of posting this rainy sketch on my blog today.

Just Generally · Rain

Wordless Wednesday: A Walk in the Rain

A Walk in the Rain..

Thanks to a very old school friend for sending this back to me after so long...this is one of my initial pencil sketches which I had done one fine rainy day on school notebook while sitting in school library by seeing some picture on the opposite wall...friend liked it so much that decided to keep it and mailed a scanned copy of it after all these years...I'm really really touched and so full of nostalgia right now, well rain has always this effect on me :) It's a beautiful rainy day today and so thought of posting this rainy sketch on my blog today.

If I was excited to see TBL, then I must say that I’m THRILLED to see Inception. What a movie it was – MIND BOGGLING, FLABBERGASTING & EXHILARATING! I think I can keep on adding adjectives but won’t be able to do justice to the visual experience of this movie.


It’s a sci-fi movie but not on robots or aliens; rather it is on a very unusual topic – Dream Architecture. It’s about technology invasion on human minds while they are sleeping; planting and extracting information out of their brains by getting transmitted into their dreams. Sounds weird, isn’t it? Trust me I don’t think I have ever imagined anything of this sort in my life neither I have read or watched anything like this earlier. It's an imagination extravaganza so to say.

Dom Cobb (Leonardo DiCaprio) is a dream-thief and specialist in the art of extracting information from sleeping subjects. He and his friends hook themselves up with wires to the drugged targets and creep into their subconscious mind. He does his job of digging out information skillfully and always perfectly, but lands his toughest challenge when he's hired by a powerful businessman, Saito (Ken Watanabe) to plant an idea in a rival's head, instead of stealing one. And thus starts the tale of Cobb and his team entering into Robert Fisher’s (Cillian Murphy) dreams which gets followed by dreams within dreams within dreams within dreams…oh my god, the layering of the dreams and complexity of the plot just leaves you transfixed to the screen. You can’t afford to lose your attention for even a fraction of second in the movie. No more update on the story in the interest of those who are going to watch it but trust me even if you would have read the whole story then too the written content for a movie like this just can not act as a spoiler, for this is a movie which you really need to see (and that too maybe more than once) to understand it clearly. And the ending of the movie is such that it leaves you with a desire to watch it again in order to understand it better, that spinning but only slightly tipping top leaves you wondering if it was a dream or reality in the end.

From my side it’s a must watch, in fact me and husband are already planning to catch up with it again as soon as it comes on DVD. If you were thrilled by Memento & loved The Dark Knight, then go and watch it as Christopher Nolan won’t leave you disappointed with this engaging, gripping and a really different movie.

Inception Review · Movie Review · Movies

Inception: A dream extravaganza

If I was excited to see TBL, then I must say that I’m THRILLED to see Inception. What a movie it was – MIND BOGGLING, FLABBERGASTING & EXHILARATING! I think I can keep on adding adjectives but won’t be able to do justice to the visual experience of this movie.


It’s a sci-fi movie but not on robots or aliens; rather it is on a very unusual topic – Dream Architecture. It’s about technology invasion on human minds while they are sleeping; planting and extracting information out of their brains by getting transmitted into their dreams. Sounds weird, isn’t it? Trust me I don’t think I have ever imagined anything of this sort in my life neither I have read or watched anything like this earlier. It's an imagination extravaganza so to say.

Dom Cobb (Leonardo DiCaprio) is a dream-thief and specialist in the art of extracting information from sleeping subjects. He and his friends hook themselves up with wires to the drugged targets and creep into their subconscious mind. He does his job of digging out information skillfully and always perfectly, but lands his toughest challenge when he's hired by a powerful businessman, Saito (Ken Watanabe) to plant an idea in a rival's head, instead of stealing one. And thus starts the tale of Cobb and his team entering into Robert Fisher’s (Cillian Murphy) dreams which gets followed by dreams within dreams within dreams within dreams…oh my god, the layering of the dreams and complexity of the plot just leaves you transfixed to the screen. You can’t afford to lose your attention for even a fraction of second in the movie. No more update on the story in the interest of those who are going to watch it but trust me even if you would have read the whole story then too the written content for a movie like this just can not act as a spoiler, for this is a movie which you really need to see (and that too maybe more than once) to understand it clearly. And the ending of the movie is such that it leaves you with a desire to watch it again in order to understand it better, that spinning but only slightly tipping top leaves you wondering if it was a dream or reality in the end.

From my side it’s a must watch, in fact me and husband are already planning to catch up with it again as soon as it comes on DVD. If you were thrilled by Memento & loved The Dark Knight, then go and watch it as Christopher Nolan won’t leave you disappointed with this engaging, gripping and a really different movie.

Writing about movies after a long time as feel like definitely writing about this one :-). Watched ‘Tere Bin Laden’ last weekend and man, what fun! This movie reminded me of an old program – MTV fully faltoo. Ya, it was fully faltoo types, totally bakar yet fun. Tere Bin Laden is a comedy film about Ali Hassan (Ali Zafar), a reporter with some godforsaken TV channel DANKA in Karachi, he is desperate to go to US for better career prospects and a better life and keeps on dreaming of making it big one day. But unfortunately in some comic series of incidents, his visa has been refused six times in seven years. One fine day while doing a coverage for his crazy channel, he comes across Osama Bin Laden look alike and thus starts Ali’s humorous journey of becoming rich and famous using Bin Laden. And as I always say, won’t be a spoiler by revealing more of the story in the interest of those who are yet to watch it :-).

Slapstick, satirical and silly, yet the movie clicks mainly because of its content. It has an entertaining plot and some really funny moments to make you laugh off your seat. Though may not be one of the best comedies from Bollywood, but nevertheless far better than so called comedy movies like “All the Best” or “De Dana Dan”where one has to wonder whether to laugh or cry on those nonsensical acts and absurd dialogues. This movie definitely has some originality when it comes to execution. Not even a single known actor, no songs, no clichés but still the movie manages to hold your attention from start to end. From my side it is definitely a one-time good watch, for you need to see how a movie can sail through nicely based on its content even if no big name is attached to it. Happy to note that content still rules in some cases when it comes to Bollywood.

Going to watch Inception tonight, hope I like it as much as I have heard about it.

Movie Review · Movies · Tere Bin Laden review

Tere Bin Laden: Once again, content rules

Writing about movies after a long time as feel like definitely writing about this one :-). Watched ‘Tere Bin Laden’ last weekend and man, what fun! This movie reminded me of an old program – MTV fully faltoo. Ya, it was fully faltoo types, totally bakar yet fun. Tere Bin Laden is a comedy film about Ali Hassan (Ali Zafar), a reporter with some godforsaken TV channel DANKA in Karachi, he is desperate to go to US for better career prospects and a better life and keeps on dreaming of making it big one day. But unfortunately in some comic series of incidents, his visa has been refused six times in seven years. One fine day while doing a coverage for his crazy channel, he comes across Osama Bin Laden look alike and thus starts Ali’s humorous journey of becoming rich and famous using Bin Laden. And as I always say, won’t be a spoiler by revealing more of the story in the interest of those who are yet to watch it :-).

Slapstick, satirical and silly, yet the movie clicks mainly because of its content. It has an entertaining plot and some really funny moments to make you laugh off your seat. Though may not be one of the best comedies from Bollywood, but nevertheless far better than so called comedy movies like “All the Best” or “De Dana Dan”where one has to wonder whether to laugh or cry on those nonsensical acts and absurd dialogues. This movie definitely has some originality when it comes to execution. Not even a single known actor, no songs, no clichés but still the movie manages to hold your attention from start to end. From my side it is definitely a one-time good watch, for you need to see how a movie can sail through nicely based on its content even if no big name is attached to it. Happy to note that content still rules in some cases when it comes to Bollywood.

Going to watch Inception tonight, hope I like it as much as I have heard about it.

Not that reading bizarre news in newspapers surprises me anymore, in fact I can safely say that when I pick up newspaper in the morning, I do expect to read at least 3-4 such weird news which just leaves you thinking – aisa bhi ho sakta hai kya! But when you read some news piece like this, not only it leaves you amazed at the plight of things around us but it also makes you think about the state of human behavior in current times.

Frankly speaking I had no intention to write any gyaan post today but this news did effect me a lot. Earlier I had read it in newspapers, and last night when I saw some coverages being aired on news channels about kidnapped babies rescued in TN, the visuals impacted me all the more! As per the report – “two more babies were recovered yesterday in TN on the basis of the lead given by the two gangsters who were on police custody. In this connection Jayaprakash, Chennai based middle man and Ramalingam, an accomplice of Dhanalakshmi were arrested by the Krishnagiri police. Police sources said that the accused in the baby kidnapping case, Dhanalakshmi confessed that she had kidnapped a four day old male baby belonging to N. Mumtaj hailing from Tiruppathur at the Tiruppathur GH and a two and half year old boy of S. Sangeetha of Pernambattu Colony on July 23, 2008 and handed over to Girija another accused in the case under the police custody. In turn Girija sold the four day old baby to Puzhuthiraj-Mekala couple in Jainagar in Bangalore for Rs.99, 000 and another baby was sold to Periyasamy-Kamalam couple living near Salem in Krishnagiri for Rs.50, 000”.

Parents interested in selling their own babies out of need is a different topic, maybe their financial penury is so overpowering that they decide to sell their own kids for any money ranging between Rs. 10,000 to 1.5 lacs. Yeah, 10k – that’s the cost of a human life in India! But imagine people STEALING babies and then selling it in the market to the willing ones? Can a human really do this? Human trafficking anyways is growing at a phenomenal rate in India and right from women being used in sex market, to kids being used for child labor or kid-sex market, we have seen and are seeing it all. Human trafficking is actually an organized industry which has been observing growth rate of no less than 20-30 per cent year on year basis. But kidnapping new born babies or so called baby-trafficking has to be really the worst form of trafficking I guess! More than my anger on rackets kidnapping new born babies, I feel disgusted on these affluent people who out of their parental hunger are actually paying money for those stolen innocent babies. There are so many orphanages in India, why not adopt one from there and why resorting to this ugly act of inhumaneness? Is it because they definitely want a new born baby only or they are ashamed of adopting one from orphanage? Frankly speaking I am quite curious to know more about their reasons of buying babies this illegal way but whatever might be the reason, I think nothing can be worse or more shameful than participating in trafficking of innocent new-born infants!

human trafficking in India · Musings

Human trafficking in India – Now chor bazaar for kids?

Not that reading bizarre news in newspapers surprises me anymore, in fact I can safely say that when I pick up newspaper in the morning, I do expect to read at least 3-4 such weird news which just leaves you thinking – aisa bhi ho sakta hai kya! But when you read some news piece like this, not only it leaves you amazed at the plight of things around us but it also makes you think about the state of human behavior in current times.

Frankly speaking I had no intention to write any gyaan post today but this news did effect me a lot. Earlier I had read it in newspapers, and last night when I saw some coverages being aired on news channels about kidnapped babies rescued in TN, the visuals impacted me all the more! As per the report – “two more babies were recovered yesterday in TN on the basis of the lead given by the two gangsters who were on police custody. In this connection Jayaprakash, Chennai based middle man and Ramalingam, an accomplice of Dhanalakshmi were arrested by the Krishnagiri police. Police sources said that the accused in the baby kidnapping case, Dhanalakshmi confessed that she had kidnapped a four day old male baby belonging to N. Mumtaj hailing from Tiruppathur at the Tiruppathur GH and a two and half year old boy of S. Sangeetha of Pernambattu Colony on July 23, 2008 and handed over to Girija another accused in the case under the police custody. In turn Girija sold the four day old baby to Puzhuthiraj-Mekala couple in Jainagar in Bangalore for Rs.99, 000 and another baby was sold to Periyasamy-Kamalam couple living near Salem in Krishnagiri for Rs.50, 000”.

Parents interested in selling their own babies out of need is a different topic, maybe their financial penury is so overpowering that they decide to sell their own kids for any money ranging between Rs. 10,000 to 1.5 lacs. Yeah, 10k – that’s the cost of a human life in India! But imagine people STEALING babies and then selling it in the market to the willing ones? Can a human really do this? Human trafficking anyways is growing at a phenomenal rate in India and right from women being used in sex market, to kids being used for child labor or kid-sex market, we have seen and are seeing it all. Human trafficking is actually an organized industry which has been observing growth rate of no less than 20-30 per cent year on year basis. But kidnapping new born babies or so called baby-trafficking has to be really the worst form of trafficking I guess! More than my anger on rackets kidnapping new born babies, I feel disgusted on these affluent people who out of their parental hunger are actually paying money for those stolen innocent babies. There are so many orphanages in India, why not adopt one from there and why resorting to this ugly act of inhumaneness? Is it because they definitely want a new born baby only or they are ashamed of adopting one from orphanage? Frankly speaking I am quite curious to know more about their reasons of buying babies this illegal way but whatever might be the reason, I think nothing can be worse or more shameful than participating in trafficking of innocent new-born infants!

Oh how I try to walk along with the flow, how I try to hold on to the pace, but life seems to be just slipping underneath my feet...
Pic: Taken during one of my recent trips to Pondicherry

Just Generally · Musings · Time

Wordless Wednesday

Oh how I try to walk along with the flow, how I try to hold on to the pace, but life seems to be just slipping underneath my feet...
Pic: Taken during one of my recent trips to Pondicherry

Got this image as a forward yesterday, and the first section of the picture immediately reminded me of the driving stretch between Sarjapur Junction- Agara; a stretch which unfortunately I need to drive by daily :(. How painful that stretch is can only be described by people who commute on it daily.

Most of the days I end up cribbing about traffic woes and the miseries of flyover construction all over Bangalore, though at the same time I also keep on thinking as to what I as an individual can do to avoid adding up to the already existing mess on roads. Trust me all the traffic problem in Bangalore is not only because of municipal issues, I seriously think that and firmly believe that a good part of the chaos is also due to highly undisciplined commuters here. Even if the percentage of such irresponsible drivers will be low as compared to the sincere ones but the problem is when there is not even an extra inch available to divert then even slight digression and other smart acts by few fellow drivers can really lead to larger chaos on the roads. Tired of driving (read crawling) on that route daily, I always think of opting for some public transportation service for my daily commuting needs. One it would save me all the hassle of meandering my ways on that horribly packed road, second at least from my side I’ll be reducing one car which occupies the road space with only one passenger in it! But unfortunately there is no good bus service available directly from my home to office. And taking auto daily is simply out of question – one needs a special training all together to deal with auto walas in Bangalore.

When I saw this picture yesterday and read a tweet about monthly bus day today in Bangalore, I thought let me try to travel by bus today. Last month also we had discussed in office about taking the bus on bus day as our contribution for lesser traffic from our side even if it meant for one day only. I knew this would mean at least extra 30 mins (6 mins to walk till nearest bus stop from my home, 14 mins to reach my office from nearest bus stop again & another 10 minutes to wait for bus to come assuming there will be at least some bus every 10 minutes). And taking out extra 30 mins in morning rush to reach office is a task in itself. But still determined to travel by bus today, I reached the stop dot on time as per the timing suggested by BMTC website. Two auto guys came and very proudly I said NO to them. Waiting, waiting and lo no bus at all for 15 mins. Hmmm, some more waiting and after approx 22 minutes saw a bus coming. Happily tried to enter the same and well the bus was jam packed so much so that not even a single passenger boarded the bus. A minute or two and the bus was just gone! Waiting commuters looked at each other with a wry smile. Waited for another few minutes and then along with others decided to succumb to auto wallas once again. And when we approached those auto guys whom earlier all of us had said no, you should have seen their ironical smile! Yes, once again we were at the mercy of them and knowing well that we have already wasted our time for 25-30 minutes, all of them asked whatever money they wanted to. Depending upon our negotiating powers, kannada speaking skills and urgency to reach office we took the autos at all random and highly inflated rates. Finally reached office quite late than planned and at a quite higher cost than estimated! Despite the intention to contribute my bit towards lesser traffic, the bus day was sort of dampener for me!

Though I am in total favor of initiatives like Bus Day or Carpooling drives in Bangalore, but I wonder do we have enough infrastructures to support such initiatives here? What’s the point in tom-tomming so much about initiatives like bus day when not even enough buses are there to support the needs of the commuters? If facilities are there but still public is not opting for it out of luxury or bit of convenience then I can still understand it, but here not even the basic facilities are in place for people to opt for? Can I as an individual really do anything towards easing out the traffic problems in Bangalore or am I just supposed to have more patience to cope up with it each & every day?

Bangalore Traffic · Bus Day in Bangalore · Musings

Bus Day - Is it really feasible?

Got this image as a forward yesterday, and the first section of the picture immediately reminded me of the driving stretch between Sarjapur Junction- Agara; a stretch which unfortunately I need to drive by daily :(. How painful that stretch is can only be described by people who commute on it daily.

Most of the days I end up cribbing about traffic woes and the miseries of flyover construction all over Bangalore, though at the same time I also keep on thinking as to what I as an individual can do to avoid adding up to the already existing mess on roads. Trust me all the traffic problem in Bangalore is not only because of municipal issues, I seriously think that and firmly believe that a good part of the chaos is also due to highly undisciplined commuters here. Even if the percentage of such irresponsible drivers will be low as compared to the sincere ones but the problem is when there is not even an extra inch available to divert then even slight digression and other smart acts by few fellow drivers can really lead to larger chaos on the roads. Tired of driving (read crawling) on that route daily, I always think of opting for some public transportation service for my daily commuting needs. One it would save me all the hassle of meandering my ways on that horribly packed road, second at least from my side I’ll be reducing one car which occupies the road space with only one passenger in it! But unfortunately there is no good bus service available directly from my home to office. And taking auto daily is simply out of question – one needs a special training all together to deal with auto walas in Bangalore.

When I saw this picture yesterday and read a tweet about monthly bus day today in Bangalore, I thought let me try to travel by bus today. Last month also we had discussed in office about taking the bus on bus day as our contribution for lesser traffic from our side even if it meant for one day only. I knew this would mean at least extra 30 mins (6 mins to walk till nearest bus stop from my home, 14 mins to reach my office from nearest bus stop again & another 10 minutes to wait for bus to come assuming there will be at least some bus every 10 minutes). And taking out extra 30 mins in morning rush to reach office is a task in itself. But still determined to travel by bus today, I reached the stop dot on time as per the timing suggested by BMTC website. Two auto guys came and very proudly I said NO to them. Waiting, waiting and lo no bus at all for 15 mins. Hmmm, some more waiting and after approx 22 minutes saw a bus coming. Happily tried to enter the same and well the bus was jam packed so much so that not even a single passenger boarded the bus. A minute or two and the bus was just gone! Waiting commuters looked at each other with a wry smile. Waited for another few minutes and then along with others decided to succumb to auto wallas once again. And when we approached those auto guys whom earlier all of us had said no, you should have seen their ironical smile! Yes, once again we were at the mercy of them and knowing well that we have already wasted our time for 25-30 minutes, all of them asked whatever money they wanted to. Depending upon our negotiating powers, kannada speaking skills and urgency to reach office we took the autos at all random and highly inflated rates. Finally reached office quite late than planned and at a quite higher cost than estimated! Despite the intention to contribute my bit towards lesser traffic, the bus day was sort of dampener for me!

Though I am in total favor of initiatives like Bus Day or Carpooling drives in Bangalore, but I wonder do we have enough infrastructures to support such initiatives here? What’s the point in tom-tomming so much about initiatives like bus day when not even enough buses are there to support the needs of the commuters? If facilities are there but still public is not opting for it out of luxury or bit of convenience then I can still understand it, but here not even the basic facilities are in place for people to opt for? Can I as an individual really do anything towards easing out the traffic problems in Bangalore or am I just supposed to have more patience to cope up with it each & every day?

Duh the problem with coming to your blog after long is that you don’t know which one topic to stick to. I wanted to write about so many things – those new books which I read recently, the movies which I watched, time spent with mom last month, those weird new soaps being aired on TV etc etc etc. But for this post, let me just stick to one of the most interesting experiences I had in last few weeks and that is Sunfeast World 10k 2010.


Yes, quite happy that I went for it as it was surely an amazing event. Frankly speaking the decision of participating in it this year just happened in a flash. And after filling the form we both realized that we needed some practice to go for such a long run. Though I have been sort of regular with my walking plus swimming regime and I can walk for any normal length very comfortably but running is something which does not come easily to me; at times I get breathless and at times my legs start aching. N definitely has far more stamina than me but then it’s been only recent few months that he has got back to his exercise regime after a long hiatus. Post his initial few running sessions on his own, he decided to join a runner’s club in Bangalore while I decided to stick to my own regular walking routine but with a target to cover longer distance each day. Joining that club and running with lots of similar athletes definitely worked for N and motivated him further to improve his timing and performance every week. And as N says – from couch to Sunfeast 10k marathon- we were there in 3 months. :) It was a fantastic experience to reach the finishing line and we both managed to do it in our respective targeted time. But what was more interesting about the event was the positive and enthusiastic environment of Bangalore that day. From international athletes, to sports stars, to film celebs, to senior citizens, to corporate biggies, to handicapped people, almost everybody was running. More than 30,000 people on road and those not running were there to cheer others up. Oh man, what positivity and what liveliness, got to see a very different shade of Bangalore that day. Had my jaws open to see that the international athlete Titus Mbeishei (winner of men category) from Kenya actually completed 10 kms in 27:54 mins whereas Yimer Wude (winner of women category) from Ethopia did it in 31:58 mins only!!! At times I was happy to see the sporting spirit of celebs like Rahul Bose or Gul Panag who actually ran for 10k and at others I was in total awe of those handicapped people who really were running through their wheel chairs. I have no words to describe my feelings after seeing them, all I can say is that I had goosebumps when I saw their energy and enthusiasm. Hats off to them and kudos to all Bangloreans for their spirit that day. And I think the event management agency did a commendable job this year. Yes, there were some participants who mentioned timing issues in case of timed runs but considering the size and scale of this international event, I think overall Procam International did a great job in conducting it. Otherwise in India, you never know what mess can happen in such large scale events. With my fun experience this year and better confidence on my physical stamina I think I am surely looking forward to participating in this event next year as well.

Just Generally · Sunfeast world 10k marathon

From couch to marathon

Duh the problem with coming to your blog after long is that you don’t know which one topic to stick to. I wanted to write about so many things – those new books which I read recently, the movies which I watched, time spent with mom last month, those weird new soaps being aired on TV etc etc etc. But for this post, let me just stick to one of the most interesting experiences I had in last few weeks and that is Sunfeast World 10k 2010.


Yes, quite happy that I went for it as it was surely an amazing event. Frankly speaking the decision of participating in it this year just happened in a flash. And after filling the form we both realized that we needed some practice to go for such a long run. Though I have been sort of regular with my walking plus swimming regime and I can walk for any normal length very comfortably but running is something which does not come easily to me; at times I get breathless and at times my legs start aching. N definitely has far more stamina than me but then it’s been only recent few months that he has got back to his exercise regime after a long hiatus. Post his initial few running sessions on his own, he decided to join a runner’s club in Bangalore while I decided to stick to my own regular walking routine but with a target to cover longer distance each day. Joining that club and running with lots of similar athletes definitely worked for N and motivated him further to improve his timing and performance every week. And as N says – from couch to Sunfeast 10k marathon- we were there in 3 months. :) It was a fantastic experience to reach the finishing line and we both managed to do it in our respective targeted time. But what was more interesting about the event was the positive and enthusiastic environment of Bangalore that day. From international athletes, to sports stars, to film celebs, to senior citizens, to corporate biggies, to handicapped people, almost everybody was running. More than 30,000 people on road and those not running were there to cheer others up. Oh man, what positivity and what liveliness, got to see a very different shade of Bangalore that day. Had my jaws open to see that the international athlete Titus Mbeishei (winner of men category) from Kenya actually completed 10 kms in 27:54 mins whereas Yimer Wude (winner of women category) from Ethopia did it in 31:58 mins only!!! At times I was happy to see the sporting spirit of celebs like Rahul Bose or Gul Panag who actually ran for 10k and at others I was in total awe of those handicapped people who really were running through their wheel chairs. I have no words to describe my feelings after seeing them, all I can say is that I had goosebumps when I saw their energy and enthusiasm. Hats off to them and kudos to all Bangloreans for their spirit that day. And I think the event management agency did a commendable job this year. Yes, there were some participants who mentioned timing issues in case of timed runs but considering the size and scale of this international event, I think overall Procam International did a great job in conducting it. Otherwise in India, you never know what mess can happen in such large scale events. With my fun experience this year and better confidence on my physical stamina I think I am surely looking forward to participating in this event next year as well.

Scene 1: Judge: Beta, aap bade hoke kya banna chahte ho?
Li’ll gal replied cutely – "Item Girl"
Judges: Shabash beta, bahot achcha naache aap.
Background score on which the kid just finished dancing:
Ring Ring Ringa, Ring Ring Ringa, Ring Ring Ringa Ringa Ringa
Khatiye Pe Mein Padi Thi, Aur Gehri Neend Badi Thi
Aage Kya Main Kahu Sakhi Re...
Ek Khatmal Tha Sayana, Mujhpe Tha Uska Nishana
Chunrai Mein Gus Gaya Dheere Dheere, Oooooo Ohhh

Scene 2: A kid hardly of 6-7 years crying badly, when asked the reason he in all tears replied – "main apne mummy papa ka sapna pura nahi kar paya, main select nahi hua. Camera rolled on to the lady standing beside him and well mummy ji was in tears too!

Scene 3: Another young gal in red hot pants gyrating her hips in a way which can give even the sawants, chopras & seths run for their money! And no her expression on the song “zara zara kiss me kiss me, zara zara touch me touch me” was no where cute, least that it could be called would be "raunchy". When asked, who taught her these steps, the gal smilingly replied “mummy”.

These are some of the scenes from those numerous kids’ dance reality shows which were airing on almost all channels last Sunday. Not that I hated all of it, some of the performances were damn cute and some kids were extra ordinarily talented. Such amazing performances at such young age! I also appreciate the maturity of some of the judges who know how to deal with kids.

But then what makes me wonder is the content of these programs along with the presentation and personality of most of the kids. I mean do gals really aspire to be item gals in life now? In 30 minutes, I listened to more than 60 boys saying that they want to be choreographer in life, has choreography really become such a hot profession? And what’s with these mommies and daddies crying along with their kids when they are not shortlisted in just a dance reality show? How are they going to prepare their kids for larger level competitions and real life challenges in life? Haven’t parents become over ambitious and want their kids to achieve everything at that age only? At such tender age if kids feel pressurized by one goddamn dance competition and can’t accept their loss, I have no idea how are they going to deal with actual hundreds and thousands of tests in life ahead! Frankly speaking, an hour in front of the television viewing those programs was to a large extent upsetting!

indian reality television · Indian television · kids dance shows · Musings · reality shows in india

Reality vs Real Competition

Scene 1: Judge: Beta, aap bade hoke kya banna chahte ho?
Li’ll gal replied cutely – "Item Girl"
Judges: Shabash beta, bahot achcha naache aap.
Background score on which the kid just finished dancing:
Ring Ring Ringa, Ring Ring Ringa, Ring Ring Ringa Ringa Ringa
Khatiye Pe Mein Padi Thi, Aur Gehri Neend Badi Thi
Aage Kya Main Kahu Sakhi Re...
Ek Khatmal Tha Sayana, Mujhpe Tha Uska Nishana
Chunrai Mein Gus Gaya Dheere Dheere, Oooooo Ohhh

Scene 2: A kid hardly of 6-7 years crying badly, when asked the reason he in all tears replied – "main apne mummy papa ka sapna pura nahi kar paya, main select nahi hua. Camera rolled on to the lady standing beside him and well mummy ji was in tears too!

Scene 3: Another young gal in red hot pants gyrating her hips in a way which can give even the sawants, chopras & seths run for their money! And no her expression on the song “zara zara kiss me kiss me, zara zara touch me touch me” was no where cute, least that it could be called would be "raunchy". When asked, who taught her these steps, the gal smilingly replied “mummy”.

These are some of the scenes from those numerous kids’ dance reality shows which were airing on almost all channels last Sunday. Not that I hated all of it, some of the performances were damn cute and some kids were extra ordinarily talented. Such amazing performances at such young age! I also appreciate the maturity of some of the judges who know how to deal with kids.

But then what makes me wonder is the content of these programs along with the presentation and personality of most of the kids. I mean do gals really aspire to be item gals in life now? In 30 minutes, I listened to more than 60 boys saying that they want to be choreographer in life, has choreography really become such a hot profession? And what’s with these mommies and daddies crying along with their kids when they are not shortlisted in just a dance reality show? How are they going to prepare their kids for larger level competitions and real life challenges in life? Haven’t parents become over ambitious and want their kids to achieve everything at that age only? At such tender age if kids feel pressurized by one goddamn dance competition and can’t accept their loss, I have no idea how are they going to deal with actual hundreds and thousands of tests in life ahead! Frankly speaking, an hour in front of the television viewing those programs was to a large extent upsetting!