What made news

Have been inhumanly busy past one month, but have been dying to post about so many things. So I have compiled a list of things I loved, I might blog about them in detail sometime, but in the meanwhile, please check out the following on youtube/wiki/google etc. And plz post your comments/feedback on what you like, and maybe on my next post I can feature the best ones.

Summer
Mangoes: That's what I love about summers, like Bawa says, “All fruits are god’s experiments to make mango gone wrong

Sugarcane juice and tender coconut (both happen to be sugar less)

Elections

BJP, Advani, thumbs up, commis, congs, third fronts especially Mayawati thumbs down, huge threat of mass migration abroad looms if Mayawati wins

Theatre
Bikhre Bimb, Doordarshan meets Alfred Hitchcock. Worth a watch.

Places
Bangalore: Is the metro rail project ever gonna end? are we gonna be alive to see the day when its finally built?
Hyderabad: Hot
Chennai: Hot and sweaty (worse!)

Food

Ragoo’s at KR road, the epitome of delicious veg continental food.

Music

Madagascar: “I like to move it, move it” (though its a lil old now)

Documentary
What the bleep do u know, watched it again, made an amazing lot of sense this time.

Geek stuff
Dear Macbook, Why do u have to start peeling off. Is this Apple’s commercial strategy to force people buy the macbook warranty pac costing 300$.
ipod: Is there an easy way to convert stuff into itunes format?

(fine, I admit it, I mentioned ipod only so that I could put this pic!)
Fashion

Naomi Campbell at India Fashion week wearing Saree. It takes a foreigner to tell Indians, “hello people, its fashionable to wear your culture.”

Books
Eragon: Does anyone know when the fourth inheritance book is gonna be out?
Twilight: Yet to read the fourth sequel, like the first two books, Twilight and New Moon, Eclipse was a washout, might as well finish reading the series with Breaking Dawn.

(P S: Movie sucks!)

Ponniyin Selvan: First flood, must read Tamil lit by Kalki (you get English translation too)

Google

SEKEM

Emoto Masaru- Messages from Water

My articles

http://www.deccanherald.com/content/Mar232009/metromon20090322125661.asp

http://www.deccanherald.com/Content/Apr212009/metro-tue20090420131356.asp

Thats enough for now, enjoy maadi!

Favourites...

Here's a list of my all time favourite books and movies...go grab hold of them if you havent been able to asap!

Eragon and its sequel Eldest are one of the best fantasy series I’ve come across. I loved the part where ancient sounds are used to evoke magic, very similar to Sanskrit. Also the fact that Eragon turns into a vegetarian.
Old path white clouds- About Buddha’s journey, before and after enlightenment and his disciple called Svasthi, a buffalo caretaker and Jataka Tales- Loved all the stories involving bodhisattva in different lifetimes as animals.
Kite runner- Love and compassion overflows in this book, with a beautiful description of Taliban rule as a background setting of this novel. One of the few books that made me weep.
Little women- One book I loved as a kid, and have read a hundred times. I love the family bonding and finally the four girls finding love (its three, coz one of the dies) in its sequel. I could relate a lot to Jo’s character, as a budding writer.
Bhagwatam: Especially the Krishna stories in it. Haven’t completed though. I plan to read and translate the Sanskrit version.

Movies
Movies should be made with a sense of purpose to deliver a strong message across. That’s what makes film such a strong medium. And these are a few movies that have left an impact on me.
The sound of music- Again an all time favourite. Am a big fan of its songs especially. It’s one of those perfect movies that would be watched by generations.
What the bleep do u know- A revolutionary concept that explores the depth of quantum physics. The ‘unreality’ of life is portrayed though physics.
Life is beautiful- My favourite movie of the whole list. Set in the backdrop of holocaust, a child is saved of the trauma of the events happening around, believing a story weaved by his father to explain the circumstance of concentration camp where they are imprisoned. Just like how Guruji saves us of all traumas with his incredible knowledge.
In pursuit of happiness- You have the ability to chase your dreams, no matter what circumstances you’re in. That’s the message that the movie sends.
Blood Diamond: I could relate a lot to Maddy’s character.

Far and away

Remember seeing a movie of that title a real long time back
Tom cruise and Nicole Kidman,seemed like this perfect fairlytale couple!
but fairytales are seldom real.......

And my fairytale.....i guess i never had a fairytale, you know like a little personal dream that we all cherish.
Fear!
Fear of losing those you loved.
As a kid i would wait endless hours for dad to come back, and then jumping into his arms.....
and when he finally did, i would freeze.Couldnt understand why he had to leave me so often and go away, why, he couldnt take me with him.
Even as i grew up and understood the demands of an army life, that part of me never quiet left.

Army life, taught me more than any formal education could ever have, it taught me how to smile under any circumstances, even when you're falling apart.

Moved from place to place, people changed, friends changed, relationships changed and most of all, i changed.
I didnt want friends anymore, why? only to leave them one day?
Parents hated pets...and my brother...well he just seemed too wierd at that time!

So i plunged myself into the world of books, lost in the land of fairies and enchanted lands where
i could slip away from the uncertainities of daily life.....Far and away.

Life's come a full circle, can no longer run away, I still read, but i read reality, i read the about the plight of farmers being displaced after decades of toiling on the only land they ever knew, what a mess the whole indian political sceanario is, the idea behind whole iraq study group is to cover the insecurities of the US, how the 123 agreement is the only thing thats keeping the whole nuclear deal with US from falling apart......

Now i know thats its not me who is falling apart, everything around me is.
Maybe i am there to fix that, to take the uncertainities in my life and change them into certainities in the environment around me, with all this who has the time to think about fairytales!

As for Nicole and Tom, they did go far......and away.