the wait is finally over. Bye bye reading episode details online!
If you aren't hooked onto this series yet, now is the time to start!
Be warned though: the series is highly addictive.
Sent from my iPhone
December 23, 2008
Heroes: tonight is the night!
Heroes season 3 is premiering today!! Yea!! I was waiting, waiting and
the wait is finally over. Bye bye reading episode details online!
If you aren't hooked onto this series yet, now is the time to start!
Be warned though: the series is highly addictive.
the wait is finally over. Bye bye reading episode details online!
If you aren't hooked onto this series yet, now is the time to start!
Be warned though: the series is highly addictive.
December 21, 2008
Store: Either Or
Pune is one of the cities that I love. I love the fact that I can wear boho stuff on the road and no one will stare. I love the restaurants, the coffee shops, the shopping, the bargaining - in short, I love being in Pune. I have already written about my favorite Pune restaurants here. Now, here is one of my favorite stores in Pune. Every Pune visit entails a visit to this store.
Its called Either Or and is located at Sohrab Hall. I love their merchandise. Sample this: So very kitschy!! (If you find the picture hazy: It says chaiwala productions and is a wire mesh chai glass carrier with multi-hued chai glasses. So cute!)(Artist: Bharati Pitre)
Check out their oh-so-bohemian cloth bags with zari and wooden handles, available in a rainbow of colors, and are washable and don't break the bank! There used to be a time, that the only bags I had were from here!! They also stock the most quirkiest of clothes that I have seen. In a wide array of fabrics and colors and cuts, you may have a hard time deciding on which one would be perfect for a lunch out with your girlfriends and which one your boyfriend would really appreciate. They have a line for guys as well - so you can drag your guy along, like I do :) On this visit, I was surprised to find a selection of tussar silk sarees. Ended up buying one too - when the actual purpose of the visit was to pick out something as a Christmas gift! You can also pick up cloth wallets, string bangles, tribal neckpieces and earrings, scrunchies, headbands, stoles and more.
Most of their stuff is from local designers and artisans, but they also stock the awesome products of Happily Unmarried and Playclan. You might not find the quirky clock that you liked on your earlier visit coz it might have been a single piece. Here is the one we got, like eons back.
They also stock home decor merchandise like clocks, frames, dhurries, knickknacks, accessories, posters, stationary, toys etc. You can choose from their huge collection of really quirky designs and text and have them screen printed on your tee. Don't forget to check out their collection of Bollywood movie posters - its a huge collection and the price varies depending on the size, quality and condition of the posters. We got this one on this trip. So what we were looking for and in excellent condition!
The staff is helpful, always ready to find you more stuff if you wish to but are content to leave you alone if you want to just browse. The store decor is mainly the merchandise itself!! I think you can see why I love this place. You can find Either Or on Facebook as well and their email is eitheror@vsnl.com and the shop is in Sohrab Hall near Pune Railway station. Stop by sometime there to pick up some really fun stuff.
Its called Either Or and is located at Sohrab Hall. I love their merchandise. Sample this: So very kitschy!! (If you find the picture hazy: It says chaiwala productions and is a wire mesh chai glass carrier with multi-hued chai glasses. So cute!)(Artist: Bharati Pitre)
Check out their oh-so-bohemian cloth bags with zari and wooden handles, available in a rainbow of colors, and are washable and don't break the bank! There used to be a time, that the only bags I had were from here!! They also stock the most quirkiest of clothes that I have seen. In a wide array of fabrics and colors and cuts, you may have a hard time deciding on which one would be perfect for a lunch out with your girlfriends and which one your boyfriend would really appreciate. They have a line for guys as well - so you can drag your guy along, like I do :) On this visit, I was surprised to find a selection of tussar silk sarees. Ended up buying one too - when the actual purpose of the visit was to pick out something as a Christmas gift! You can also pick up cloth wallets, string bangles, tribal neckpieces and earrings, scrunchies, headbands, stoles and more.
Most of their stuff is from local designers and artisans, but they also stock the awesome products of Happily Unmarried and Playclan. You might not find the quirky clock that you liked on your earlier visit coz it might have been a single piece. Here is the one we got, like eons back.
They also stock home decor merchandise like clocks, frames, dhurries, knickknacks, accessories, posters, stationary, toys etc. You can choose from their huge collection of really quirky designs and text and have them screen printed on your tee. Don't forget to check out their collection of Bollywood movie posters - its a huge collection and the price varies depending on the size, quality and condition of the posters. We got this one on this trip. So what we were looking for and in excellent condition!
The staff is helpful, always ready to find you more stuff if you wish to but are content to leave you alone if you want to just browse. The store decor is mainly the merchandise itself!! I think you can see why I love this place. You can find Either Or on Facebook as well and their email is eitheror@vsnl.com and the shop is in Sohrab Hall near Pune Railway station. Stop by sometime there to pick up some really fun stuff.
Of reunions and nostalgia
All the nostalgia that prompted me to post my earlier two posts was this: I had a school reunion coming up. Read going through scrapbooks, searching for school pics and remembering that boy on the second bench who never used to speak. It was last Saturday (I know, talk about lazy me), but that nostalgic feeling still persists.
Most of us met up after a really long time - some of us hadn't met after the last day of school! What is it about school friends and college friends? Don't you feel more comfortable with your school friends than the college ones? No, ain't talking about more fun and stuff. Or is it just me? I dunno. I think it is to do with the fact that college is more about trying to find yourself, fitting in, mind games, getting ahead. So you make friends accordingly. School is more about studies, joking around, teacher cribbing, playing sports, and having fun in whichever way you feel like. So you make friends whom you actually share fun with and not just time with. And surprisingly, meeting up after so many years hasn't created barriers. If there were any, they flew out of the window the minute you met up.
Oh, on the face of it most of us have changed - people have put on weight, some have lost some pounds, some seem to have discovered the secret to a full head of hair and some the secret to shoot up for a mere four feet to almost six feet. Some have discovered first hand how the stress of everyday robs some of time to catch up with old friends and some of their hair. But mostly we are still the kids who tried to eat our tiffins in class coz we were really hungry! So you meet up with the guy who was friends with everybody in school and is the reason so many people are turning up at the reunion.And the person you really dreaded meeting and when you finally did, you didn't understand why he/she intimidated you so much in school. It is almost like revisiting the kid me and wondering what her daily thoughts and concerns were. So naive, innocent, and such high ideals and dreams!!
I am lucky to not have to go to the school and college reunions alone - my husband accompanies me. We have known each other since fourth standard and its on days like these (reunions) that we realise, yes, we have known each other since forever :) Funnily, shouldn't that make every day nostalgic??!!
Most of us met up after a really long time - some of us hadn't met after the last day of school! What is it about school friends and college friends? Don't you feel more comfortable with your school friends than the college ones? No, ain't talking about more fun and stuff. Or is it just me? I dunno. I think it is to do with the fact that college is more about trying to find yourself, fitting in, mind games, getting ahead. So you make friends accordingly. School is more about studies, joking around, teacher cribbing, playing sports, and having fun in whichever way you feel like. So you make friends whom you actually share fun with and not just time with. And surprisingly, meeting up after so many years hasn't created barriers. If there were any, they flew out of the window the minute you met up.
Oh, on the face of it most of us have changed - people have put on weight, some have lost some pounds, some seem to have discovered the secret to a full head of hair and some the secret to shoot up for a mere four feet to almost six feet. Some have discovered first hand how the stress of everyday robs some of time to catch up with old friends and some of their hair. But mostly we are still the kids who tried to eat our tiffins in class coz we were really hungry! So you meet up with the guy who was friends with everybody in school and is the reason so many people are turning up at the reunion.And the person you really dreaded meeting and when you finally did, you didn't understand why he/she intimidated you so much in school. It is almost like revisiting the kid me and wondering what her daily thoughts and concerns were. So naive, innocent, and such high ideals and dreams!!
I am lucky to not have to go to the school and college reunions alone - my husband accompanies me. We have known each other since fourth standard and its on days like these (reunions) that we realise, yes, we have known each other since forever :) Funnily, shouldn't that make every day nostalgic??!!
December 11, 2008
Retrospect (in hazy technicolor) - II
Remember running home from play early so you can watch Chitrahaar? I sure do!
Here are some of my faves that I still remember from time to time and some that are linked to a myriad childhood memories. Like Didi comedy show, for example, is linked to my erstwhile chubby sis who used to love watching it. And Oshin too.
My fave:
Byomkesh Bakshi (our desi sherlock holmes minus the pot)
Malgudi Days (sorry the serial videos can't be embedded)
Bharat Ek Khoj
The then laugh riot: Dekh Bhai Dekh and the always nice to watch Nukkad, whose videos btw are nowhere to be found on youtube.
And the serials that we all watched together (now was that cos most of the serials were good or that there was just one TV and one channel?). The ghost and king duo in Vikram Aur Betal - and Betal really used to creep me out with his maniacal laugh, I kid you not. Then there were the big two - Ramayan and Mahabharat. Remember Renuka Shahane and Siddharth Kak with Surabhi? I used to love their contest where they would mix all the letters and then pick a couple - I used to pray that that postcard would be mine!! Remember how the Post Office had issued separate post cards coz the unprecedented demand this show created?? I also used to love watching Street Hawk and my cousin used to love Fauji. In fact, she used to love it so much that she used to call SRK 'Fauji' even after he started starring in movies :)
Oh, and coz there was no other choice we kids had to sit and watch Chanakya. I mean, there was no appeal for us kids there, you know, no shiny costumes, no humungous palaces, no OTT drama, just politics and ego-play... [can i go back in time to the kid i was then?]
Ohh.. there were so many other shows over the years that I cannot seem to find online episodes of: Chandrakanta, Gaayab Aya, Hum Log (which I used to watch only coz I understood what the adults were discussing/talking about), Yeh Jo Hai Zingdagi, Jungle Book, Sunday afternoon Award winning movies, the perpetual rainbow screen saver of Doordarshan, and quiz shows by Siddharth Basu.
When cable TV burst into the scene, Doordarshan became the last on the list to watch while we started to taste STAR and music channels. Considering the crap doled out in the form of Hindi serials (I don't watch any), gimme Doordarshan and its poor reception anytime.
Here are some of my faves that I still remember from time to time and some that are linked to a myriad childhood memories. Like Didi comedy show, for example, is linked to my erstwhile chubby sis who used to love watching it. And Oshin too.
My fave:
Byomkesh Bakshi (our desi sherlock holmes minus the pot)
Malgudi Days (sorry the serial videos can't be embedded)
Bharat Ek Khoj
The then laugh riot: Dekh Bhai Dekh and the always nice to watch Nukkad, whose videos btw are nowhere to be found on youtube.
And the serials that we all watched together (now was that cos most of the serials were good or that there was just one TV and one channel?). The ghost and king duo in Vikram Aur Betal - and Betal really used to creep me out with his maniacal laugh, I kid you not. Then there were the big two - Ramayan and Mahabharat. Remember Renuka Shahane and Siddharth Kak with Surabhi? I used to love their contest where they would mix all the letters and then pick a couple - I used to pray that that postcard would be mine!! Remember how the Post Office had issued separate post cards coz the unprecedented demand this show created?? I also used to love watching Street Hawk and my cousin used to love Fauji. In fact, she used to love it so much that she used to call SRK 'Fauji' even after he started starring in movies :)
Oh, and coz there was no other choice we kids had to sit and watch Chanakya. I mean, there was no appeal for us kids there, you know, no shiny costumes, no humungous palaces, no OTT drama, just politics and ego-play... [can i go back in time to the kid i was then?]
Ohh.. there were so many other shows over the years that I cannot seem to find online episodes of: Chandrakanta, Gaayab Aya, Hum Log (which I used to watch only coz I understood what the adults were discussing/talking about), Yeh Jo Hai Zingdagi, Jungle Book, Sunday afternoon Award winning movies, the perpetual rainbow screen saver of Doordarshan, and quiz shows by Siddharth Basu.
When cable TV burst into the scene, Doordarshan became the last on the list to watch while we started to taste STAR and music channels. Considering the crap doled out in the form of Hindi serials (I don't watch any), gimme Doordarshan and its poor reception anytime.
December 9, 2008
Retrospect (in hazy technicolor) - I
I received a forward titled 'Flashback to the good old days'. It was about the Doordarshan and the serials that we grew up with. It made me really want to find out if these serials and ads could still be viewed. Well I was in for a surprise!! Didn't require heavy googling at all! Btw, if I haven't mentioned it already, I love the internet and I soooo love youtube. I found episodes of serials too! That will be next post. For today, the songs and ads that, for me, brought back a rush of memories. Here you go:
Mile sur mera tumhara:
Hamara bajaj:
Ek anek:
Bharat ek khoj: (Title music)
Jungle book: Jungle jungle baat chali hai
Liril
Rasna: I love you rasna
Surf: Remember Lalitaji?
Vicks: Gale mein khichkhich
Lijjat papad
Doodha hai wonderful: I used to hate this ad coz lectures followed!!
Amul butter
Goldspot ad
Natraj pencils
And finally:
Feels like you are 8 again and back in the idyllic times, na?
Update: Found another ad that I really wanted to see again:
Cadbury:
Oh, and I found a really good blog who is crazy enough about this channel to write exclusively about it. Check it out here.
Mile sur mera tumhara:
Hamara bajaj:
Ek anek:
Bharat ek khoj: (Title music)
Jungle book: Jungle jungle baat chali hai
Liril
Rasna: I love you rasna
Surf: Remember Lalitaji?
Vicks: Gale mein khichkhich
Lijjat papad
Doodha hai wonderful: I used to hate this ad coz lectures followed!!
Amul butter
Goldspot ad
Natraj pencils
And finally:
Feels like you are 8 again and back in the idyllic times, na?
Update: Found another ad that I really wanted to see again:
Cadbury:
Oh, and I found a really good blog who is crazy enough about this channel to write exclusively about it. Check it out here.
Taxing times...
So 25-year old Taxis in Mumbai have been phased out. Well, if these taxis are phased out too, I am going to miss a good laugh every time I spot some like these. [You don't think these are funny? They crack me up!]
Btw, how about banning trucks (whatever their age) in Mumbai during peak office hours? Delhi has done that. At least this way, we won't have to encounter slow-moving traffic every time a truck conks out on the middle of a flyover. No, seriously, I encounter at least one truck which has given up on a flyover every day when I commute to office. [I have to use 6 flyovers to reach office]. Which brings me to another question: why not just ban all trucks from flyovers???
Btw, how about banning trucks (whatever their age) in Mumbai during peak office hours? Delhi has done that. At least this way, we won't have to encounter slow-moving traffic every time a truck conks out on the middle of a flyover. No, seriously, I encounter at least one truck which has given up on a flyover every day when I commute to office. [I have to use 6 flyovers to reach office]. Which brings me to another question: why not just ban all trucks from flyovers???
December 5, 2008
Chai time
Wow.. 50th post! Yea!! Well, you would be happy too if you were the lazy, snoozy-all-the-time, compulsive-procrastinator that I am. For me, 50 posts in half as many months is nothing short of a miracle! So, am going to dedicate this post to the thing that is actually helping me write this - chai. Tea is one of my (long list of) vices and it is something I reach for in happy, sad, moody, sleepy and depressing times. Was watching Vir Sanghvi on Discovery Travel and Living channel last night, and he was on his own tea pilgrimage. He called the CTC (usual chai) that we Indians consume with such gusto - industry-strength tea. Chai is chai for me in any form - industry strength with milk boiled for minutes on end or the tea leaves steeped only in water with honey variety, I love it. There used to be a time, when in Bangalore, I was addicted to it.
This particular pic reminded me of tea and bun maska at the Irani cafe Good Luck in Pune. Don't you just love biscuits with tea?
Anyway, here are some bloggers who love chai so much that they blog about it exclusively!!
Chai pilgrimage THE site for chai lovers.
Archana posts photos of her cups of chai regularly. She is the fabulous blogger who finds time to update the four blogs she writes (including the great design blog Rang Decor).
Tea Blog is a one-of a kind project that I really love. Check it out.
Insani Tea - reviews galore.
Art and Tea - the name says it all.
Tea Pages is a blog that has a little bit of everything: tea, tea reviews and personal musings!
Another Tea Blog - don't be fooled by the name, the pics and the content are really good.
Love for Teas - again, the name says it all.
Tea escapade is another great blog about tea you could go to for reading about the different kinds of tea and how the author likes them!
Oooh and don't forget to check this out: Chai Time chais on sale at your Good Earth stores. Tapri chai, Railway platform chai, Dhaba chai all vie for attention among various types of single origin, masala and organic chai. Wow...
This particular pic reminded me of tea and bun maska at the Irani cafe Good Luck in Pune. Don't you just love biscuits with tea?
Anyway, here are some bloggers who love chai so much that they blog about it exclusively!!
Chai pilgrimage THE site for chai lovers.
Archana posts photos of her cups of chai regularly. She is the fabulous blogger who finds time to update the four blogs she writes (including the great design blog Rang Decor).
Tea Blog is a one-of a kind project that I really love. Check it out.
Insani Tea - reviews galore.
Art and Tea - the name says it all.
Tea Pages is a blog that has a little bit of everything: tea, tea reviews and personal musings!
Another Tea Blog - don't be fooled by the name, the pics and the content are really good.
Love for Teas - again, the name says it all.
Tea escapade is another great blog about tea you could go to for reading about the different kinds of tea and how the author likes them!
Oooh and don't forget to check this out: Chai Time chais on sale at your Good Earth stores. Tapri chai, Railway platform chai, Dhaba chai all vie for attention among various types of single origin, masala and organic chai. Wow...
December 4, 2008
You-know-who, where are you?
Who, you say? No, I can't say his name. Ok, then, just this once. Mr Raj T. No, don't ask me to spell out his name in entirety. His powers are boundless. He can read me and he will get his followers to raise hell and try and get blogger banned in India for allowing me to write such stuff about him [shudder shudder].
Where is he? Why doesn't he say anything about these new terror attacks? Against those who spread hate and violence? What are his followers doing, holed up somewhere?
Folks think he is gagged. Codswallop, in my opinion. He is waiting, biding his time... Then he will rise again and take up his nefarious activities, with his followers - who follow him not because they agree with his ideology or because they love him but because he gives them one thing they have not: power.
Such a waste. After all, when he came to the fork on his way to success, fame and power, He-who-must-not-be-named had everything going for him. Everything: a famous and looked-up-to family, political connections, leadership qualities, vision, grit and determination. He could have chosen to tread the slower, righteous and in-the-long-run beneficial-to-all-including-him, path. Alas that he chose the shorter, faster, violent and hooliganistic path to achieve everything that he wanted and more...
He has a chance again, to make good after these new spate of terror attacks. He has been silent for long. Hope he is sitting on his throne planning not about how to use these recent developments to his cause's benefit but how to save his beloved Mumbai.
Where is he? Why doesn't he say anything about these new terror attacks? Against those who spread hate and violence? What are his followers doing, holed up somewhere?
Folks think he is gagged. Codswallop, in my opinion. He is waiting, biding his time... Then he will rise again and take up his nefarious activities, with his followers - who follow him not because they agree with his ideology or because they love him but because he gives them one thing they have not: power.
Such a waste. After all, when he came to the fork on his way to success, fame and power, He-who-must-not-be-named had everything going for him. Everything: a famous and looked-up-to family, political connections, leadership qualities, vision, grit and determination. He could have chosen to tread the slower, righteous and in-the-long-run beneficial-to-all-including-him, path. Alas that he chose the shorter, faster, violent and hooliganistic path to achieve everything that he wanted and more...
He has a chance again, to make good after these new spate of terror attacks. He has been silent for long. Hope he is sitting on his throne planning not about how to use these recent developments to his cause's benefit but how to save his beloved Mumbai.
December 2, 2008
So you think you can Bollywood??
I love watching this show. AXN is currently airing what I think is the third season.
People who think they can dance audition for a chance to be one of the 20 guys and gals who then dance to vie for the final spot. They dance in couples and draw a different dance form each week (like waltz or jazz ) . Various experts in the dance form then choreograph and help them dance this dance form.
This video is of the fourth season and the contestants have to perform, guess what, Bollywood! Yup, for them its a dance form and trust me its worth a watch.
Think extremely agile Sridevi and Jeetendra on stage. Fun!!
People who think they can dance audition for a chance to be one of the 20 guys and gals who then dance to vie for the final spot. They dance in couples and draw a different dance form each week (like waltz or jazz ) . Various experts in the dance form then choreograph and help them dance this dance form.
This video is of the fourth season and the contestants have to perform, guess what, Bollywood! Yup, for them its a dance form and trust me its worth a watch.
Think extremely agile Sridevi and Jeetendra on stage. Fun!!
Terror ends. Madness continues..
The bloodbath here has left India sick and reeling.
The media and their irresponsible attitude has been left bare.
And now the politicians come out of their cubby-holes (akin to rodents aren't they all?) and start their vote-mongering holier-than-thou tamasha. Insulting fathers of martyrs and fallen soldiers, declaring monetary benefit packages to families of police personnel whom they had accused of shady dealings not a week before, placing blame on senior official who have actually no clue about what is going on and shying away from answering the main question: who are responsible for this complete collapse of gathering, assimilating, strategizing, and executing of 'intelligence'? No, we are not talking of the doddering politicians who sit on their beloved 'chair' and leave the control of this huge democratic country in the hands of nameless 'experts' who seem to have no accountability. If we, India, had the information/indications that some sort of threat was present, why didn't someone (and btw, who is/are this/these people in power, this someone who can take decisions?) do something?
I apologize for these last few posts which are barely coherent. But, I ask you, how do you deal with this helplessness?
Here are some who have done a better job of dealing with the goings on:
Amit Verma - This city...
Mad Momma-Jaagte Raho
Kiran - Save Us
Salil Tripathi - Bombay Burning
Sadanand Dhume - India's Anti-terror blunders
Chyetanya Kunte - Shoddy Journalism
Enough. Will blog of something else later.
The media and their irresponsible attitude has been left bare.
And now the politicians come out of their cubby-holes (akin to rodents aren't they all?) and start their vote-mongering holier-than-thou tamasha. Insulting fathers of martyrs and fallen soldiers, declaring monetary benefit packages to families of police personnel whom they had accused of shady dealings not a week before, placing blame on senior official who have actually no clue about what is going on and shying away from answering the main question: who are responsible for this complete collapse of gathering, assimilating, strategizing, and executing of 'intelligence'? No, we are not talking of the doddering politicians who sit on their beloved 'chair' and leave the control of this huge democratic country in the hands of nameless 'experts' who seem to have no accountability. If we, India, had the information/indications that some sort of threat was present, why didn't someone (and btw, who is/are this/these people in power, this someone who can take decisions?) do something?
I apologize for these last few posts which are barely coherent. But, I ask you, how do you deal with this helplessness?
Here are some who have done a better job of dealing with the goings on:
Amit Verma - This city...
Mad Momma-Jaagte Raho
Kiran - Save Us
Salil Tripathi - Bombay Burning
Sadanand Dhume - India's Anti-terror blunders
Chyetanya Kunte - Shoddy Journalism
Enough. Will blog of something else later.
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