A Day at 'Times Bandra Festival' - A photo Essay..

This saturday, decided to go for this 'Times Bandra Festival. Actually there are lots of things happening in Mumbai, had planned earlier to go for the grand opening of Palledium, a mall at Parel, also since it is ashtami, went for lunch at the pandal and then wanted to see more of Devi idols in different parts of the city, but too confused, we finally went for this one instead. The entrance to this festival There were different stalls selling various things such as electronics, house-hold articles, food and also handicraft. At the entrance there was a display of art work After walking for over two hours, we rested our feet in an enclosed AC theatre that was showing some play. The play on story telling was a play- a must watch, based on Dastan toi, a story is forever. The board outside the theatre shows different plays on different days and all looked good, would have liked to attend them all. if only I could.... Then attended the live show of Hariharan Hariharan's show was amazing!!!! The only problem was getting the transport back home, we were lucky, we got a ride.

Dil Kya Bole????

Imagine how wonderful it would be if women and men, played in same cricket team. Equality between sexes is catching up and women are getting stronger, maybe India might win the world cup this way. One never knows. Well that’s the first thought that entered my mind as I sat watching the film Dil bole Harippa!...... My friend booked tickets and asked me to meet her at the theatre and I didn’t know which movie I was watching till I read the title of the film on the big screen.(serves me right for blindly trusting my friend and following her) Yeah, now-a-days I go for a film because somebody wants me to accompany them. Personally I am losing interest in film bee-cause I have not seen a good film for a very, very long time. But this film was well…er..…I wonder if my opinion counts, (my friend writes that this is the copy of English film ‘She’s a Man’, well who cares, its nothing new, this copying biz when they get exhausted of original ideas, what do you expect? Huh? ) Well, anyways, this movie is very noisy with loud bhangra-type-of-music played through out the film. (Thank Gawd I didn’t oil my ears that day) Rani Mukerji looks cute dressed as Sardarji chicco, though over-acting was the theme, cleverly played. Shahid kapoor has lost his baby charm but acting-wise-he-was-okay. Rakhi Sawant has no role to play except few belly dances, although she does look slim and good (that is if you don’t look at her face and forget those horror days at reality show some weeks ago.) It’s a kind of movie to just watch and forget the story (???) the very next day. Out of curiosity you may watch, but what was that? Say it again? You are still waiting for good movies and therefore you decide that you might as well watch this one since there is none other for a movie buff like you? Well, right-oh!. Go watch if you have nothing else to do. BTW: went for shopping and heard two youngsters bragging about Rani’s outfit in this movie…they were looking for those vibrant colorful dresses similar to one Rani had worn in this film. I wanted to tell them those colors blind Mumbaikars…..and cause traffic jams!!!!...but then, nobody ever listens to me…..

Al Pitcher came to my town to disappoint me…..

Everybody told me it is hilarious and that I would laugh, Ha, Ha, and maybe roll on the floor, really? So, naturally I was curious. Now, when I go for a play, I don’t compromise on comfort, I need best seats and less distractions and I am willing to spend the money, so here I was paying Rs500 per ticket, to enjoy the show of Al Pitcher. And I was disappointed. What I did not anticipate was that this is a stand-up comedy and it is made on the spot so I risk it because every show is different and most of the jokes can be repeats that I must have heard them several times during the SMS rounds. This guy goes around the city, during the day and clicks the shots of whatever he fancies and during the show he has his wisecracks. His mind is seeing the distorted images and he has an opinion on everything which is also lopsided but maybe not be funny. He showed few shots of watchmen of different buildings and he had an opinion, saw a car covered with a sheet parked in front of gate that showed ‘no parking’ sign, he had a comment to make, saw people at a beach, some ads, some graffiti, made a comments and the comments were not even funny and it were similar to ones I hear the young kids in my building making all the time….. Then he had some stupid jokes to make on anatomy of male parts. He answered some questions that were asked by audience, but they were not funny too. People in audience came for the show with the expectation of being entertained and they did laugh and I tried so hard to laugh too.(tickle, tickle) Wasn’t he supposed to be freewheeling genius and had Midas-like ability to make the most jaundiced audiences see their world anew as it was expressed in Sydney Morning Herald? Am I losing my sense of humor? Paying Rs500 per head for the party of five people to watch this stupid show almost made me cry! sniff! sniff!! img source: googled

Random Thoughts on Survival

Do we really need too much money??? we have only two feet to wear one pair of shoes, we need just two pairs of clothes, one car, one job, one house and enough to eat and share. So why should we earn too much money??? Why should we snatch money from others when we don’t really need the excess? Well I believe that it is certainly not right to snatch money for extra comfort. We are not living in a safe world. Today we do find in each and every newspapers, TV channels, this murder, that murder, rape, snatching, bribery and so many ways people adopt to snatch others money. But can we change other people’s action? WHat we can do is to only mend our own ways and try to live our own life in the best way that we can. We should try to concentrate on what we can change and if plastic money can be used to stop the criminals from functioning, then we have a strong tool. But personally thinking Money is important. Many people do take lot of energy to earn money in a mad race so that they are able to make a difference.. And make this place a better place to live in. Money can buy happiness if used in correct way. Because we need money for everything. Because to lead a respectable life and to be able to do what we really want to do. Okay I will tell you about the discomfort we have when we don’t have enough money to make a difference in somebody else’s life. Somebody comes asking for monetary help and you have to refuse it because you don’t have enough for yourself. If we have talent then we are blessed and if we can make money using that talent then we can start buying comfort. When we have exhausted our own needs then we need to look outside. There is so much pain in this world, so much suffering and many of them suffer because they have neither strength nor talent to make money to make their life better. That is where the rich people come in. Rich people with big hearts reach out to people to help those who are not so fortunate. And the rewards you get for that work cannot be described. Get a poor girl married and see the look on her face, it will bring joy. Get a child educated and he grows up to be successful and when he brings a box of chocolates out of gratitude for you, you get that different kind of happiness. Everybody has a purpose in life. Even a plant does not just grow and die. During its presence on earth, it gives shade, fruits and greenery to the world. It gives inspiration to poets and writers. Even after its death, it leaves behind its woody usefulness. Similarly, our presence in is world is there for some purpose. We are in this world to do something and we only need to find out what it is to make our life meaning full World is not just paper notes, plastic money and also some minerals like gold, diamond etc.. It is something more than that……. Moreover, don’t expect anything in return. Don’t sit and crib that people are enjoying your money but they are ungrateful. We must do our duty and not expect fruits in return. For every action there is a reaction. If you wish to live selfishly, then you really don’t need to accumulate wealth, if you are concerned only about your own comfort, then stop working when you feel that you have enough and don’t need anymore money and start enjoying the world, travel, see places and finish off your wealth. Don’t share your wealth if you don’t want and miss the opportunity of seeing the real wealth surrounding you..

Reading a book during my bus trips...

I am reading this book called ‘The Diary of a Social Butterfly by Moni Mohsin, which is quite hilarious and keeps me entertained. The author is a Pakistani and she has used lot of Hindi words (Uff! Itni main exhaust ho gayee hoon, na.) in the book to make it interesting with phrases such as ‘three-tiara cake’ ‘business typhoons’ or ‘slip into a comma….’ Excerpt from page 136: Imagine! The guts! And you know what he looked like? Like one of those clerks, all thin and reedy, who used to quietly, uncomplainingly work for hours and hours in Daddy’s outer office where there used to be only punkhas and no ACs. And now they’ve got cars! And tongues! As daddy says, “Bhutto has a lot to answer for!” Recently some one commented on my thread on a forum of writer's group: He writes - “I've noticed that these days, there are a lot of Indian authors trying their hand at writing, and unfortunately, many of them are really really bad...I only buy their books because I want to encourage Indian authors to write more and more, but their writing is so pathetic...” and now, he might even hold the similar opinion about Pakistani authors. But the fact is that everyday new styles have to be established and people will write what sells and this book is selling. People like to read ‘light stuff’ sometimes and we cannot call them ‘pathetic’ just because they write differently. It is good book to read in a bus trip, when the rush hours drive you crazy and the humor helps keep our sanity.