Swami can move you……!

Although I was late for the show(maybe half an hour or so), I still enjoyed the movie. Ganesh Acharya's debut film, Swami, is a movie of emotion, of love, of caring for the family and respecting the wishes of the families. It is a story of a couple who live a happy life in a remote village, but who have to migrate to a city for the future of their child. (because they don’t have proper schools in the villages) It is the story of the child, who loves his family and grows up to take the responsibility of his father, it is about a husband, who has only one desire to live, that he has to fulfill his promise (of sending his son to America) to his dying wife. The dilemma and the high point of the film is when they are at the cross-road of going to America, the protagonist has to fulfill his mother wishes but has to leave his father all alone in the old-age home. Child actor Siddharth’s acting is worth watching. His expressions and his bond with his mom, played by Juhi Chawla, are parallel to real world and portrayed very well, I was amused by his sweet lisping language and his innocent conversations. Manoj Bajpal is very clear about his role in film industry. He gave his best performance. I was specially moved by the scene in which he breaks his earthen pots (of saving) to count the change, when he needs money for his wife’s treatment. Alas! The movie had no bad people, it was sugary throughout. I was expecting daughter-in-law to show some temper tantrums, or a bad boss, or a bad neighborhood. But Swami lived in a beautiful world which revolved around his wife. His wife's aspirations become his mission in life. BTW, Why do dying people in the films ask their family for a promise that haunts them throughout their life?

We live in a funny world..Ha! Ha!

There was this man smoking in a bus and the Conductor says,"No Smoking ka board nahin dikhta?" and the Man replies,"Uske side mein 'Always Wear Condom' ka board hai, ab vo bhi laga ke baithoon?" * * * * * * When we watch TV serial, they disturb our concentration to show ads, for a toothpaste ad they show teeth, For hair oil they show hair, For face cream they show face, But for Whisper & Condoms they r not showing anything, that's cheating. Jaago Grahak Jaago * * * * * * * * * * Condom says to whisper: "Bloody every month u stop my business for one week" Whisper: "If u make a mistake I lose my business for 9 months" * * * * * and then this lady from 2nd floor asking a bananawala: "Kaise diye?" and the Bananawala replies,"Memsaab Aath mein Bara." the Lady says "Saat mein Tera deta hai to oopar aaja." * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * This taxi driver says, "Mam, u r the 3rd pregnant lady whom I'm dropping to Airport today."and the Lady replies,"But I'm not pregnant" and the Driver says,"But we hvn't reached airport yet." * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Another funny forward.....@Planning to move to Europe?

Read slowly and carefully... The European Commission has just announced an agreement whereby English will be the official language of the European Union rather than German, which was the other possibility. As part of the negotiations, the British Government conceded that English spelling had some room for improvement and has accepted a 5- year phase-in plan that would become known as "Euro-English". In the first year, "s" will replace the soft "c". Sertainly, this will make the sivil servants jump with joy. The hard "c" will be dropped in favour of "k". This should klear up konfusion, and keyboards kan have one less letter. There will be growing publik enthusiasm in the sekond year when the troublesome "ph" will be replaced with "f". This will make words like fotograf 20% shorter. In the 3rd year, publik akseptanse of the new spelling kan be expekted to reach the stage where more komplikated changes are possible. Governments will enkourage the removal of double letters which have always ben a deterent to akurate speling. Also, al wil agre that the horibl mes of the silent "e" in the languag is disgrasful and it should go away. By the 4th yer people wil be reseptiv to steps such as replasing "th" with "z" and "w" with "v". During ze fifz yer, ze unesesary "o" kan be dropd from vords kontaining "ou" and after ziz fifz yer , ve vil hav a reil sensi bl riten styl. Zer vil be no mor trubl or difikultis and evrivun vil find it ezi tu understand ech oza. Ze drem of a united urop vil finali kum tru. Und efter ze fifz yer, ve vil al be speking German like zey vunted in ze forst plas. If zis mad you smil, den share to oza pepl.

Want to try this chicken recipe?

Whenever I travel abroad, I always pick up food packets from supermarkets. I like to try new stuff and sometimes I am happy at my new find and sometimes not. This time, from Bangkok, I picked up a packet that said ‘Season’n Fry'. It was 'McCormic' brand and it was a crispy spicy coating for chicken. What is written on the packets says that, for using this stuff, you simply have to empty this content into a plate and dip the chicken pieces in it and deep fry to get a crispy chicken. Nowadays I am avoiding fried stuff therefore I decided to try something innovative. I dipped the chicken pieces into the powder (this powder contains wheat flour, salt, flavor enhancer, spices, egg powder, leavening agent, flavor) coating it evenly from all sides. In a baking tray, I greased the plate with olive oil. Spread the dish in the layers of onion, garlic, ginger, green chillies, tomatoes. Salt, parsley leaves and rosemary leaves. Spread the chicken (that is coated with ‘Season’n Fry’) on it, pour one teaspoon of olive oil on it and bake it for 45 minutes. Oh My God! It was so tasty. Have it with French fries and cucumber salad. Yummy!

Choki Dhani of Poona

“Come to my birthday party” said Dolly, my friend’s daughter “I am celebrating my birthday at Choki Dhani.” That sounded interesting. Celebrating a birthday in a theme park called Choki Dhani. I had visited ‘Choki Dhani’ in Jaipur during my last trip but was not aware that there was one in Poona too. We set out at 6 O’clock, a big group of about 10 people, in two cars and by the time we reached (after nearly one hour drive from Pune city) it was already dark. The rest of the group had arrived earlier at 5 O’clock in the evening (which I think is the best time to go if you need to enjoy and experience the flavor of the place). The entrance had huge iron-gate with colorful lanterns burning into the slots, embedded into the walls, on either side of the gate. A large size mannequin of Indian native was installed in front of the entrance. We entered the gates and were greeted by man who said ‘Ram Ramji’ and he put tikka on our forehead. Inside the gate, we entered a new world, a Rajasthani village, with ethnic colors and drawings adorning the walls. A man performing a horsey dance (kacchi Ghodi) accompanied us as we entered inside this ethnic make-believe village resort. We headed straight to the stalls serving a Jal-Jira drink, Aloo-chat and chana-chat. We climbed a thatched wooden hut, to enjoy the freshly baked roti with butter and garlic chutney. Then there was Gola sherbet, Kulfi and popcorns. The resort took us back to Rajasthan with a traditional appeal, there were many features that include besides "Kacchi Ghodi", also "Ghumar", "Kalbelia", "Bhopa Bhopi" flute recital, and "Nat"(acrobatics). There were also a magician and astrologer with his future-teller parrot adding to the complete Rajasthani look. About 130 artisans, cooks and performers were posted there to provide the warmth and hospitality identical with the Rajasthani tradition of "Padharo Mare Des"(welcome to my world), transporting one to the era of Thakurs, the village lords in olden times. It is the ambience of the "Chokhi Dhani" that captivates everyone visiting it. It gives an impression of typical Rajasthani village replete with its rich tradition, with mud and thatch dwellings, with cottages, Havelis, restaurants, Rajasthani folk dances and performers. There were string cots and oil lanterns spread all over the resort giving it a village ambience. We specially enjoyed the traditional dance, in which our whole group participated. We wore their red bandhini turban on our heads and dance with them at the rhythm of flute-and-drums music. After the dance, we came to lie down peacefully on the string cot, enjoying the cool breeze under the open skies. Children were entertained, enjoying the camel and horse rides and playing games of luck in the row of games stalls. There were also many stall selling traditional hand-crafted goods like ceramic pots and clothes. The birthday was celebrated in the dining hall, where all people are seated on the floor and serves in leaf-plate. The dinner was very delicious and a traditional rajasthani thali and consisted of 18 different delicacies that included dhals, bhajis, achar, papad, sweet dish. I think I over-ate, because I could hardly walk comfortably up to the car park.