'Tara Rum Pum' go see it with children....timepass....

Went to see ‘Tara Rum Pum’ staring Saif Ali, Rani Mukerjee and two kids Priya and Ranveer. It is a cute story (more like a fairy tale) about a car racer who meets with an accident and his happy-go-lucky-live-for-a-present life goes up-side-down bringing hardships to his family. There are moral lessons to be learnt. We must save for the rainy day. (Saif buys expensive gifts like diamond ring, finishing all his money without a thought to paying of the house rent, buys big house, car and all luxury items in installments which he loses it all in his bad times when he has no money to pay for installments nor does he have enough money for his son’s treatment, who is seriously hurt when he swallows a piece of glass) Live with self-respect. (father offering 50,000 dollars to his daughter in hard times but the daughter refusing to take, prefers to live in penury), Don’t ever lie (Saif lies about his daughter being sick with pneumonia and get sympathy and cash from friends that he, then spends on celebrating the birthday of his child) and don’t worry, be happy. (The children are made to believe that they are participating in an reality show called ‘don’t worry be happy’ where they can pretend to be poor but still keep a smile. (That is why I say fairy tale, because children are no more stupid these day but still play along with their parent’s make-believe tale).

Chilled veggies at my doorstep?

I have this vegetable and fruit seller who rings my doorbell at all odd hours. Sometimes if I am too lazy to go out and buy those heavy vegetable, I welcome him and even buy from him. But there are times when I am doing my thinking exercise (for example : writing) or cleaning exercises (for example: bath) or breathing exercises (for example: meditation) Now, will I like somebody ringing my doorbell in such odd hours? So either I don’t answer the doorbell at all or answer the doorbell and show him one of my devilish moods. But I guess they are used to that and they keep coming back unperturbed by our bad moods. But, all that is likely to change. No I don’t mean that we will permanently start patronizing the food stores and supermarket but better still, in future we will not be able to refuse those sophisticated — a simple, out-of-the-box thela, that has been conceived by Acme Cold Chain Solutions, a New Delhi-based firm. Acme is investing Rs1 crore for a three-month pilot project in which 25 chilled hawking trolleys will be used to vend fresh food and fruits, improvising on the traditional sabjiwala’s facility. They are planning to have direct-to-home service providers to launch the mobile fresh foods venture called ‘All Fresh’. We will be able to book through a toll-free number, collected at a call centre facility in Gurgaon, and will be transmitted to the nearest ‘All Fresh hawking trolley operator’, who will then deliver fruit/vegetable at the our doorstep. Will I scowl at these veggie-vendor? Time will tell!

Pampering our taste buds

Though my nutritionist has prohibited me from eating road side ‘Kachra’ as she calls it, but this is the temptations I just cannot resist. We have so many road side vendors at every street that it is sometimes impossible to control the drooling. Agree, that road-side is the most unhygienic way of pampering ourselves, what with the traffic moving about, throwing the dust up in the air which finally comes to rest on the open food, and also the lack of clean water (they keep washing the used vessels from the mininmum of half cup of water) but still we drool. And before we wet the streets with our overflowing drool it is best to shuff mouths with the tasty flavors of the road side stuff. I love the Pani-Puri and Batatapuri the best. There is a batatapuri wallah who stands outside my gate and he makes the most delicious stuff. One day I had a kitty party at my place and I asked him to bring his whole stall up on the second floor. The ladies were so impressed and some of them, till today, remind me of that luxury. And what did I have to lose? I didn’t have to slog into my kitchen like our cousins in foreign country do! We, in India, just ask him to come up and handle the culinary part. (boo-boo) I also love to eat Samosas and Batawadas. I like them best with those fried soft chillies and stuffed into bread. (yummy!) Then we also have the most delicious sandwiches. Sssluurrrrp! The vegetable sandwiches and the cheese toast. Then there is Pavbhaji, Ragda-Pattis, Bhajias……The list is endless. Although, many of these stalls have been put up hygienically (wearing those plastic gloves et el) in the malls, but we still patronize the roadside, in the open air.. Who cares anyway? Dhekha jayega! We were brought up that way!

Sentiments are for foriegners in an artic zone..

Are you visiting India? It will do you good if you keep warm your sentiments behind. In India you have to be careful even while holding hands, because if you lose control, you could end up making a fool of yourself. In India, we show our affections only behind the closed doors or we can face the same fate as our Shipa Shetty, a famous Indian film star of ‘Big Brother’ fame. She stands amidst the angry conservative society as guilty. Guilty? Of what? For not resisting Richard Gere for his passionate kiss, which he couldn’t stop for three full minutes? And that too in front of truck drivers who were attending HIV health awareness program in Delhi. In a country where public display of affection are largely a taboo and the police arrest young folks who are a bit, too intimate at the sea shores, this kiss was too much to tolerate. As soon as it was flashed across TV channels, the crowds in India went berserk and starting burning effigies of Richard Gere. People viewed the event as ‘highly sexually erotic’ saying that the pair violated India’s strict public obscenity laws. And now the local citizens have filed a complaint charging that the public display of affection has offended local sensibilities. If convicted of Public obscenity, they could face up to three months in prison and fine or both. And so I repeat. Please leave your affectionate sensibilities back home, where ever you are. In India, it is not cashable.

life on Mumbai streets!

on Mumbai streets you can find many scenes, some happy some sad.... It pains me to see small children brought into this world by the parents who have no roof over themselves. what future can a child expect from those parents who have none.... Yes! they too love their children and you see them hugging their little ones amidst the traffic and dust as the empty vessels lie in front of them waiting to be filled.... what can one do about this child who is all alone on the street at this tender age? while the kids of rich parents have thousand eyes to watch over them a child of poor parents has none but One...... for year the poor live on squatted on the streets under the temporary shade of a wall that will soon fade away exposing them to the harsh cruel world.... while the elders will go on finishing their hard earned chores.....

Quiet wedding! Indeed!

If people wish to have a low profile wedding then the best way is to go to a quiet resort with some selected guest and enjoy the wedding with close family and friends and come back to your home town and hold a grand party to celebrate the occasion. But our film stars have a quiet wedding in a noisy way. The media was asked to keep out from all the details of the marriage. They were not allowed to tell the dates, the timings and the venue. They were not allowed to disclose the invitee list, nor announce the name of the designers and the decorators and the Mehandiwallahs, transport providers, band groups, photographers, choreographers, caterers, etc. And fortunately, all have become famous. The number of uninvited people that have actually attended the wedding exceeds the invited list! Thank Goodness, there is a bus strike and many of them are helplessly sitting at home and watching the live excerpts on TV. But still, there are people everywhere, on the roads, on the foot-paths, some of them perched on the lamp-posts, some on the shoulders of their buddy, taking turn, while others are in the balconies surrounding the bride/groom houses. Some of those people are paying for a balcony view, with snacks and drink included. But people on the road are crowded in the hot sun without food and drink, just craning their necks for a glimpse of the lucky guest. Sometimes I wonder how they manage to get a casual leave to attend such occasions, or is it a sick leave? And what is the thrill? Do they really have so much time to waste? While the big B pretends to show his contempt at the outrageous media, we have young B happily waving out. This is what I would call a publicity stunt!

In Mumbai we have interesting people

and the best ones you get to see when you are traveling by bus. In Mumbai we have public buses which are very comfortable and they have six seats reserved for ladies, two seats reserved for senior citizens and three seats reserved for physically challenged. This makes the ride comfortable for the privileged lot, especially during a rush hour, at the end of the day, when you are too tired to hang on to the overhand handles or to the seats. This is the time when the lucky ones are seen counting their blessing as they see a seat emptied just for them. On Saturday, while I was enjoyed my ‘only ladies’ seat, a senior citizen entered the bus from the front door (Senior citizens, pregnant ladies and handicapped enjoy the privilege of entering the bus from front exit) he looked for empty seat, but the bus was too crowded. He came to the seat that was reserved for senior citizens. There was an old lady sitting next to a young lady. The old man demanded that the young lady arise and give him the seat. But this lady refused, saying that she was a lady and he should not ever ask a lady to get up and offer a seat to a man, however old he may be. The old man got angry and he confronted the woman saying that when he sat on a ladies seat, he was asked to vacate it, and why can’t he ask her to vacate when she was occupying a senior citizen seat. The young woman refused to comply. The old man got angrier and summoned the bus conductor to solve the issue and the lady was forced to get up and offer her seat to the deserving candidate. The man, fully satisfied at his victory, enjoyed the ride, but I think he was not used to winning too many battles, so time and again he looked around and saw more uncomfortable passengers. He saw a lady with three small children, trying to balance herself and her three children, but not succeeding. Her one child leaned against his back and other fell when bus took a sharp turn. This old man finally got up and passed on his precious seat to the lady with three children, while he, himself, traveled the rest of the journey as a standee. On both counts, he was a winner!

Visit to health care centre in Wagni

Wagni is a small village near Karjat. Dr Vijaya Venkat arraged for us a visit to her farm at Wagni yesterday. At 6 a.m.(I had to break my slumber at 5a.m..yawn..so difficult actually) and set on our journey to Wagni in a special two buses with 50 more companions to enjoy this field trip. on our way to Wagni, after two hours journey, we ask the locals for direction. We then crossed the rail tracks to reach the other side.... and reached a village of wagni...can you see those buffaloes..? we reached the health center where we were welcomed warmly...... we were hungry, naturally and we were expecting soem snacks of batatawadas, samosas or pav bhaji..but oops, its a health center and junk food is NO*NO. so we were served mixed fruits which we ate listening to the experiences of other health proffessors.... after initial introduction and lots of smiles to people and to the plants that surrounded us from all direction, we were led to a meditation room where we learnt to talk to ourselves and to be with ourself. we closed our eyes (I slept, coz I wanted to catch up with the early morning sleep that I had missed because of this trip) but the room was cool and had large windows sans panes and the meditaion was done chanting out to a long OHM in a musical rhythm..... after the meditaion, we walked in the field that surrounded the meditation hall, talking to the plants, later during the day, we had to do some activity like collecting big stones and transporting them to other place and also watering the plant. I enjoyed watering the plants, it had cooling effect and I loved the smell of the earth..... after meditation we had our breakfast of saboo dhana Khichri and steamed corn which we were asked to eat in silence to be in complete company of plants and our body and to eat as slowly as we could (for full 30 minutes to eat just corn....yum, yum, yummy..) and then we went back to medition hall where we, now, did not meditate but spoke of health and many related questions were asked and were expertly answered by Dr Vijaya Venkat. at 3 pm we had our lunch, a complete organic lunch sans oil and after a group photograph we headed toward the polluted city where we continue to live against all odds.....

want to fry your brains....

When my friend suggested we go for a 'Bheeja fry', I was wondering whether it was worth it. There are no block buster stars. No heart rendering song and not even an item number. But couldn’t refuse my friend, so I decided to go. And I never expected it to be so funny. From the first scene to the last scene, it was very funny. I am glad I went.. a two hours well spent. the movie had terrific performance and crackling script.. Behja Fry, inspired by a French film, is mostly about one night in the life of an arrogant music company executive Ranjit, played by Rajat Kapoor. Every Friday night, Ranjit and his friends invite an unsuspecting wannabe for dinner. The idiot becomes the evening's entertainment. One evening, Ranjit invites a man who works in the Income Tax department but also desperately wants to be a singer. His name is Bharat Bhushan because his father was a fan of the actor. In his always locked briefcase, Bharat carries a scrapbook, that documents his own story in songs, Bhushan ki kahani, geeton ki zubani which he proudly shows to everyone whom he meets. This is the type of guy who knows that the word Aayega is used 28 times in the song, Ayega Ayega and the word chalet is used 44 time in Pakeezah's Chalte Chalte. This is the idiot to beat all idiots or so we think. Unfortunately Ranjit knocks his back out and his wife leaves him on the same night that Bharat Bhushan arrives. Naturally, he gets involved and what follows is a series of superbly funny events, which fry out Ranjit's brains and mine too. Worth a visit. Don’t miss it.

Sindhis in Uganda under great stress!

Sindhis are very enterprising and they take great risk and plunge in to foreign lands and make a bright future for themselves and their families. But some times they are not so lucky. Specially, if they go to those places where there is lack of security. Our Sindhi community friends are under great stress nowadays with the riots that broke out in Uganda. An Asian man in Uganda yesterday and two other people were killed during a protest over a plan to cut down nearly a third of a rainforest reserve to grow sugarcane, Police chiefs had approved yesterday 's march, called to protest plans to cut down tens of thousands of acres of Mabira Forest to expand the estate of the local Sugar Company, Scoul. Protest organizer Frank Muramuzi said the march began peacefully, before a "misunderstanding" with the police. All of a sudden everybody scattered and police opened fire with tear gas and live ammunition. As scores of demonstrators hurled rocks at police in the pouring rain, officers rescued more than 100 Asian men, that included Sindhis, besieged in a Hindu temple and elsewhere, and rushed them to a police station. Dozens were arrested. Some of them were inside the temple and the protesters started attacking them from outside. The scenes were similar to those of 1972, when the late former dictator Idi Amin expelled Uganda's Asians. Thousands have returned, but are viewed with suspicion by some Ugandans who resent their domination of many businesses. One Indian supermarket owner who gave his name as Kumar said rioters pulled him from his motorbike then beat him. The controversy began last year when President Yoweri Museveni ordered a study into whether to ax 17,000 acres or nearly a third of Mabira. Mabira -- which has been a nature reserve since 1932 -- is one of Uganda's last remaining patches of natural forest. The government's proposal angered some parliamentarians and residents. They argued that the environmental costs of slashing the rainforest would far exceed the economic benefits of the plantation

We all need to remember that women's heart attacks are different from that of men’s.

Many a times we see a protagonist in a movie enact a scene. Same dramatic symptoms that men have when experiencing a heart attack...you know, the sudden stabbing pain in the chest, the cold sweat, grabbing the chest & dropping to the floor. But in reality, this woman had a different experience. She had a completely unexpected heart attack at about 10:30 pm with NO prior exertion; NO prior emotional trauma that one would suspect might've brought it on. She was sitting all snugly & warm on a cold evening, with her purring cat in her lap, reading an interesting story that her friend had sent her, and was actually thinking, "A-Ah, this is the life, all cozy and warm in my soft, cushy Lazy Boy with my feet propped up." A moment later, she felt that awful sensation of indigestion, like when you've been in a hurry and grabbed a bite of sandwich and washed it down with a dash of water, and that hurried bite seems to feel like you've swallowed a golf ball going down the esophagus in slow motion and it is most uncomfortable. You realize you shouldn't have gulped it down so fast and needed to chew it more thoroughly and this time drinks a glass of water to hasten its progress down to the stomach. This was her initial sensation---the only trouble was that she hadn't taken a bite of anything since about 5:00 p.m. After that had seemed to subside, the next sensation was like little squeezing motions that seemed to be racing up her SPINE (hindsight, it was probably her aorta spamming), gaining speed as they continued racing up and under her sternum (breast bone, where one presses rhythmically when administering CPR). This fascinating process continued on into her throat and branched out into both jaws. AHA!! NOW she stopped puzzling about what was happening--she had read and/or heard about pain in the jaws being one of the signals of an MI (Myocardial Infarction...A Heart Attack) happening. Haven't we all heard it too? She said aloud to herself and the cat, "Dear God, I think I'm having a heart attack!" she lowered the foot rest, dumping the cat from her lap, started to take a step and fell on the floor instead. She thought to herself "If this is a heart attack, I shouldn't be walking into the next room where the phone is or anywhere else.......but, on the other hand, if I don't, nobody will know that I need help, and if I wait any longer I may not be able to get up in moment." She pulled herself up with the arms of the chair, walked slowly into the next room and dialed the Paramedics... She told into the phone that she thought she was having a heart attack due to the pressure building under the sternum and radiating into her jaws. She didn't feel hysterical or afraid, just stating the facts. She was told that they would be sending the Paramedics over immediately, they asked if the front door was near her, and if so, to unbolt the door and then lie down on the floor where they could see her when they came in. She did as instructed and lost consciousness, as she didn't remember the medics coming in, their examination, lifting her onto a gurney or getting her into their ambulance, or hearing the call they made to the hospital on the way, but she did briefly awaken when they arrived and saw that the Cardiologist was already there in his surgical blues and cap, helping the medics pull her stretcher out of the ambulance. He was bending over her asking questions (probably something like "Have you taken any medications?") but she couldn't make her mind interpret what he was saying, or form an answer, and she nodded off again, not waking up until the Cardiologist and partner had already threaded the teeny angiogram balloon up her Femoral artery into the aorta and into her heart where they installed 2 side by side stents to hold open her right coronary artery. I know it sounds like all her thinking and actions at home must have taken at least 20-30 minutes before calling the Paramedics, but actually it took perhaps 4-5 minutes before the call, and both the fire station and the hospital were only minutes away from her home, and her Cardiologist was already to go to the OR in his scrubs and get going on restarting her heart (which had stopped somewhere between her arrival and the procedure) and installing the stents. And she survived. But the point to remember is: 1. Be aware that something very different is happening in your body, not the usual men's symptoms, but inexplicable things happening (until her sternum and jaws got into the act ). It is said that many more women than men die of their first (and last) MI because they didn't know they were having one, and commonly mistake it as indigestion, take some Maalox or other anti-heartburn preparation, and go to bed, hoping they'll feel better in the morning when they wake up....which doesn't happen. Your symptoms might not be exactly like hers, so it is best to call the Paramedics if ANYTHING is unpleasantly happening that you've not felt before. It is better to have a "false alarm" visitation than to risk your life guessing what it might be! 2. Note that you must “Call the Paramedics". TIME IS OF THE ESSENCE! Do NOT try to drive yourself to the hospital--you're a hazard to others on the road, and anyone else there with you who will be speeding and looking anxiously at what's happening with you instead of the road. Do NOT call your doctor—if he doesn't know where you live and if it's at night you won't reach him anyway, and if it's daytime, his assistants (or answering service) will tell you to call the Paramedics. He doesn't carry the equipment in his car that you need to be saved! The Paramedics do, principally OXYGEN that you need ASAP. Your Doctor will be notified later. 3. Don't assume it couldn't be a heart attack because you have a normal cholesterol count. Research has discovered that a cholesterol elevated reading is rarely the cause of an MI (unless it's unbelievably high, and/or accompanied by high blood pressure.) MI's are usually caused by long-term stress and inflammation in the body, which dumps all sorts of deadly hormones into your system to sludge things up in there. Pain in the jaw can wake you from a sound sleep. Let's be careful and be aware. The more we know the better are the chances we could survive...

The day I became rich. ....well. ......almost….....

For a minute, I was happy. How did I get so lucky? Am I really eligible to receive eight hundred and fifty thousand Euros? Wow! My life is made. Now I can start planning to live like Richie Rich! I thought of buying an airplane of my own, or perhaps I would go for a world trip. Maybe I could donate some money to some charities too. I wanted to figure out how would I start spending such a big amount of money that I was promised on the net by an unknown ‘claim agent’ called Mr. William Ruffin of ‘Award free lotto company promotion’ who put my email address without my permission and drew out a lucky stake for me. I quickly made a note of telephone number, ticket number, serial number, and lucky number; I wrote in a small piece of paper and hid it in the dark corner of my desk. I was advised not to mention it to anybody till I get the full amount. It was a big, sweet secret. But, I wanted to make sure that it was real. Was the lady luck smiling on me? Thank God we have internet, where we can do the research on everything. And my research saved me from making a fool of myself. I soon discovered that it was a scam lottery. I discovered that I cannot win a legitimate lottery if I have not entered it. I have never even bought a lottery from any corner stores in my life. To win a lottery we must purchase a ticket to enter a legitimate lottery. If the claim agent has my email and my serial numbers, lottery numbers, etc, that I don’t have any knowledge of, why can’t he, the claim agent, pocket it? Why does he have to inform me? NO legitimate lottery contacts winners. Winners must always contact the lottery first. And then I will be told to pay some amount for some formalities of transferring the money to me. You never have to pay to collect winnings from a legitimate lottery or sweepstake. You pay taxes AFTER you receive the winnings. There are no other fees. I live in India, we have here our own lottery system. It is illegal under federal law to play ANY foreign lottery from the United States or Europe. My email was from ‘International email free lotto’. It is true that the scammers often use the name of a legitimate lottery in the scam. Since scammers simply invent new names for their fake lottery scams, it is more accurate to say that if you do not see the lottery on the list of legitimate lotteries, it is probably a scam. The best way to treat these "prize notification" from a lottery is to ignore it. We should not respond to these emails, nor EVER pay any money in advance to collect a prize. We must not reveal our full identity, nor reveal any financial or personal information, such as your bank account number or credit card details If you've wondered just how these scams unfold, and what happens at each stage, here is the step by step description of the typical lottery, Nigerian, AFF etc. scam: The scammers get your name and email address, physical address or phone number from somewhere online. Then he writes up a scam email or letter. Nothing in the winning notification letter is true. Don't rely on appearances. They may copy logos, photos, names, addresses and website links from real, legitimate organizations, to make their scam appear more genuine. You receive the email, letter or call. You feel happy and you contact the scammers and give them personal information. After you answer the first letter, they will write back asking for your personal identification. Sometimes, they ask for this information in the first email. This is used to steal your identity. They steal your identity by using your personal banking information, passport number, driver's license number, or credit card information. They don't care whether your credit is good or bad. They use this information to open accounts you don't know about and buy things, or commit crimes on these credit cards, in your name and then do not pay for them. Sometimes they may send you a cashier's check, DON’T EVER CASH IT. The check or money order you have received is certain to be COUNTERFEIT or stolen. If you cash it, you will be responsible for the entire amount. You may also be arrested for fraud. Legitimate lottery winnings are sent by check using DHL, UPS, or FedEx. The check has the lottery company name on it, no other names. You can go to this website and verify the routing number on the check and get the bank's phone number, then call the bank to verify that the account is real and the check is real. And thus, I was convinced that it was spam, I quietly checked the email of ‘the Award money’ and slowly clicked the button ‘delete’ and reported it to spam so that it would haunt me no more. My dreams of living like ‘Richie Rich’ evaporated. I continue to live on my own steady income and forget about eight hundred and fifty thousand Euros that had made me rich…well……almost….if only it was true.

Don’t bother going to Jodhpur for a wedding…..you are not invited….

For, the most eagerly-awaited Bollywood wedding — of Abhishek Bachchan and Aishwarya Rai — will be held in Mumbai on April 20. The venue, according to sources, will in all probability be Amitabh Bachchan’s Mumbai home. In case you’re headed to your wardrobe, get this. It’s not going to be the big fat Bollywood wedding. From all accounts, the guest list will be a close 15 — the Bachchan and Rai families and close friends like Amar Singh, the Ambanis et al. Jaya Bachchan was in Jaipur when she learnt about her son's decision to marry Aishwarya. SP leader and a close friend of the Bachchans, Amar Singh, immediately flew from Bhatinda in Punjab to Lucknow. From there, he went to Jaipur to congratulate Jaya. The two then flew to Mumbai. Anil and Tina Ambani too reached the Bachchan residence "Jalsa" to attend the family celebrations. The Bachchans, along with the Ambanis and Amar Singh, then went to Aishwarya's Bandra residence with the "shagun". The couple exchanged rings there. Aishwarya has of late been seen with the Bachchan family. Rumours about the impending marriage intensified in November last year, when she even performed early morning puja along with Abhishek and his family at Varanasi's famous Kashi Vishwanath and Sankat Mochan temples. Well placed sources say Ash also spent the New Year-eve with the Bachchans. Significantly, the engagement was held a day after "kharmaas" (inauspicious month) ended with Makar Sankranti being celebrated on Sunday.According to north Indian customs, no auspicious work is undertaken during "kharmaas". Big B's mother Teji Bachchan is critically ill and admitted to Lilavati Hospital. Amitabh wants the wedding as early as possible so that she can witness it.Even as the Bachchan parivaar goes low-key because of Amitabh's mother Teji being admitted in hospital, the preparations at the bride's house are hotting up. Over 15 kg of local henna will travel to wherever (the trader refuses to disclose where) the ceremony takes place. Sojat, a place in Rajasthan is from where Aishwarya Rai will get henna for her mehndi (henna) ceremony when she weds Abhishek Bachchan. The henna packets would be sent five days prior to the wedding day. These traders had prepared a special type of mehndi for model and actress Liz Hurley's wedding to NRI businessman Arun Nayar recently. Sojat and its surrounding areas in the Pali district of the state boast of the most intensive henna cultivation in India. Up to 90 percent of Rajasthan's commercial henna production is in this area. Over 100 henna processing units are in operation in Sojat. Designer Neeta Lulla, Ash's long-time friend and designer, will be dressing up the actress. The groom's family has begun preparations for the upcoming celebrations. And on top of their shopping list seems to be the bride's dress, the Bachchans have ordered a priceless Banarasi lehenga for their soon-to-be daughter-in-law. , the Banarasi lehenga, which Ash is likely to wear on the wedding day. Meanwhile, the Rai home in La-Mer building at Mumbai will be the venue for the mehendi, haldi and sangeet ceremonies while the main wedding will take place in the old Bachchan residence, Prateeksha. The ceremonies at Ash's will be attended by her closest friends and family. The invitations from the bride's side are reported to have already gone out and mother Brinda has been making personal calls to people. What sort of a wedding gift do you give a couple who seem to have it all? We're talking about the dilemma most guests to the Abhiash wedding must be going through these days — what with the wedding of the century being just over a week away. But invitee Subrata Roy sure has his gifting plan in order, down to the very last detail. Roy has apparently commissioned a 3D cast impression of Abhishek Bachchan holding Aishwarya Rai's hand from artist Bhavna Jasra, who has in the past made impressions for Fardeen Khan and his wife Natasha as well as for Zayed and Malaika Khan. As both Abhishek and Aishwarya are out of town, He cannot get a cast of their hands. But when they return, he will personally be going over and making a mould of their hands, so that the impression can be made in time for their wedding. That's what we call making a good 'impression'on the newly-weds!

Provoked...a good film...

I went for a film today after nearly three month. I went to see ‘Provoked’. My first disappointment was that the movie was dubbed in Hindi. I would have preferred to watch it in English. Anyway, my disappointed soon wearied off when I got engrossed in the movie. I really enjoyed it very much. Aishwarya Rai is a good actress and she has proved it once again that she can make you identify with the social problems and make you react to it. The movie makes you sympathizes with women, who leave their families and go in a distant land to live with a strange man. If the husband is abusive then life become hell, and she lives in fear in her husband’s prison. She gets her freedom in jail, where she is able to change her outlook and learns to express herself freely. In 'Provoked' Aishwarya Rai plays the real-life role of battered wife Kiranjeet Ahluwalia who was compelled to kill her husband Unable to bear the brutality and repeated rapes by her alcoholic husband, Punjabi housewife based in UK, Kiranjit Ahluwalia (Aishwarya Rai) sets fire to her abusive husband, Deepak Ahluwalia (Naveen Andrews) and kills him unintentionally. She is sentenced to life imprisonment where she befriends her cellmate, a wealthy white woman named Veronica Scott (Miranda Richardson), from whom she learns English. Her cell mate is so moved by her story that she asks her step-brother, Edward Foster (Robbie Coltrane), a respected Queen’s Counsel, to file her appeal. Her case comes to the notice of a group of social workers running the Southall Black Sisters organisation. They bring her plight to the attention of the media by organizing rallies. She is ultimately freed by the judicial system in the landmark case called Regina vs Ahluwalia that redefined the word ‘provocation’ in the case of a battered woman.

Cricket fever!

Hey you naughty boy! Stop bawling now! I know, I know, it hurts. I shouldn’t have wriggled your ears thus. I admit it. More than ninety degrees hurts. But you deserved it. Isn’t it? I expected you to do well. Imagine you go all the way to a strange land to play cricket and you come back so soon? You couldn’t even reach super eight! Yesterday, the media people called me. They want their money back…all their endorsement…I will never again be able to see you smiling and eating those fancy chocolates on those hoarding again. Now those film stars are smiling! Okay, calm down now. Let me think. So, what do you plan to do? I have a brilliant idea. Come, now you must learn to help me in the kitchen. You must learn to keep yourself busy. Isn’t it? Now that your cricket career is over, you must seriously think of new profession. There is lot of money in food business too. If you display your culinary skills well, the media will follow you there too; they may give you a slot in TV channels. You might even get many endorsement there too, don’t you worry about that. Eh? I will teach you basics first, then, you can enroll in the catering college. Here take this bowl, wash it for me. No! Don’t hold it like that. It’s just a steel bowl. It’s not a world cup! You dropped that cup already. Now, now! Don’t start bawling again. I told you there is an alternate profession for you. Let me teach you to make a salad first. Remember the first step to cooking is to make good salads. Hey! What are you doing? Don’t rub that against your thigh! Oh, Oh! You don’t shine that. Look carefully, that’s a potato! See that? Give me that! I said GIVE IT TO ME. Ouch! You didn’t have to swing it at me like that! You naughty boy! When will you learn! Huh? Okay, now let’s start cutting the vegetables. Here, take this knife. Uuufff! You don’t hold the knife with both hands! Just fingers man. Just fingers of hand only. Understand! Okay, never mind, leave this to me. Here, you take this carrot. What are you DOING? Why are you swinging your arms like that? You don’t need warming exercises here! Just swing your wrist. Take this grater, hold the carrot and swing it with your wrist. See! How easy it is to grate a carrot. Oh my Gawd! You cannot keep these three cucumbers in the plate like that. I understand! I understand! They remind you of those wickets. But it’s over! IT IS OVER! Now chop those and arrange it on this plate. Hmmm! The salad looks good. Perfectly oval-shaped arrangement! Now let’s boil some lentils. Lentils are easy to cook too. We just wash, rinse and pressure cook. Here, help me with this cooker. Wokaaay! When you hear four whistling sounds, you must put off the gas. No, you don’t whistle, the pressure cooker will. You wait here while I go and take a bath. BOOM! SIXER! What the HELL! OH MY GOODNESS! NOW, SEE WHAT YOU HAVE DONE! WHY DIDN’T YOU PUT OFF THAT GAS? HUH? Come now; help me clean this lentil from the ceiling and the walls. You are good not nothing! Hey! You naughty boy! You start bawling again?