Some Sizzling Scintillating Speculations

Hi, all...There's a reason for the header. Keep reading. So, there I was- all ready at 7 PM...the Hotel people dropped me off at the airport. Reached the check-in counter(Smooth walk with the well-oiled trolley- no baggage screening so far. Checked in the baggage, did a big of Duty Free shopping. Reached Gate 217, from where our flight was due to leave...and, waited...no, not for the boarding call, but for the fun to begin. And, begin it did. "Excuse me, do you speak English?"- I turned and saw this 80 yrs+ Grandmom types, typically U.K. based. I was quite astonished-no-one's thought me to be looking so rustic that they'd wonder whether I know English, you know..anyway, so, I said'Yes'(After debating whether to say' Me no speake da English', a la Mind Your Language). And, she says 'Are they allowing passengers to board?'. Me:"No, the lady at the counter said' after 10 minutes'...Grandmom: 'Ah, thanks.' (Probably qui...

Date: 26th Jan'2010.(Happy Republic Day) Time: 09:09:10(it'll be 10:10:10 in an hour and one minute?Happens everyday, btw, so don't look so astonished..LOL) That day went off just perfect. As I said, it'd be a day of laughs, and it was...saw two fun movies- One Two Three- a comedy with @ 12 comedians starring..right from Sunil Shetty to the Office Office gang people...it's all about three people with the same name, Laxmi Narayan- all go to Pondy from different parts of India. They stay in the same hotel. One has to buy a vintage car for his Co, the other wants to exchange lingerie designs(This one was Paresh Rawal, so you can imagine) with a lady designer, the third one has to murder someone. Photographs of the people each one is supposed to meet, get mixed up...and, you can imagine the laff riot that ensues..not as good as the natural acting in Hungama, but naturally...but still..it's not a new movie,btw..it's probably a 2008-2009 release. Later, the N...

Today's going to be a day of humour..I can feel it. Let me narrate the events so far...it began with me getting a pretty good nite's sleep...fell asleep with TV and room lights on yesterday, at @ 930 PM. Woke up at 5 then at 6....(It being a holiday here) and was feeling totally fresh. Asked room service for the traditional tea...and, switched on the TV-and, it's a Woody Allen movie- Hollywood ending...filled with typical WA humour. He's a film director, goes blind with temporary psychosomatic disorder, directs the whole film without people guessing he's blind, except his close associate and his ex-wife. So, the cameraman has to shoot tables instead of the people, and so on since WA points in that direction for locating the cam.- hilariousThe film flops there,but, is a hit in France(He says' Thank God for the French) and he gets united with his ex-wife,too. Went for breakfast. Salad, muesli, wholemeal bread slice(only one), one spoon mashed potatoes on the s...

Hi,all!Been more than a week since I came here....let me just describe a working day for you, so you feel a bit envious..don't worry- you will surely have some great days very soon, in this New Year...my good wishes are with you.:) Get up-5 AM. Lazily roll the feet,curl the toes et al....and a bit more of the 'good spinal cord  ke liye' exercises... Brush, etc- till 520-530... Room Service- could you please send one tea to room 315? Yes, Sir... In 5 minutes, there it is- one small kettle of tea without milk,one mini jug of milk...both steaming hot(It's cold weather here,you know...hehe..)...the free(Hotel service,ok? The paper's price is 3 AED, i.e. 38 Rs roughly- 2 papers and it makes a month's TOI subscription in India...but then, for subscribers,it's much cheaper here...nearly free...ask me...I was one, till I left the flat in November...haha) paper's there,too..read the main news...and, it's usually cheerful news, unlike our papers that ins...

Where were we? Yes, 7 AM - to the terrace. Now, be it usual or unusual, the wind would always die down on Uttarayan day, from @ 930 AM, for 1-2 hrs and it would be fun to sit on the terrace and watch the kiteflying enthusiasts doing their best to get their kites up. By 1030-11, our family friends would begin arriving- a palpable excitement would be there, as they climbed up the ladder and began taking out their kites and phirkis. Let me add here, since the roof was sloping, and prone to attracting dirt, we would put a carpet on it, and use an old huge suitcase(They don't make them like that anymore.) to store the kites in. Keeping them under a stone sometimes led to the stone also flying off the terrace in the wind, and could lead to a disaster. And, of course, in the afternoon, the metal roof would get so hot that standing on it direct would mean everyone had to hop around to avoid the feet feeling too hot.haha. Our competitors would usually be people from the terrace two bu...

Part II: Finally, the day would dawn. Rather, after a sleepless night, the sound of people playing the bugle from their rooftops to welcome the kite-flying day, would filter in at @ 5 AM. The access to the sloping terrace was from the centre-point of the 2 V shapes. Two wooden ladders(one somewhat rickety-thank God no-one ever fell from it) one on either side would be tied to the window bars to ensure stability. Another thing we used to do was collect a bunch of thorny brambles that we would get from a friend’s jungle-ish garden, mount them on a long wooden pole(The longer the pole, the more chances of snagging a ‘cut kite’, you see) On hearing the bugle sound, a quick check would be done to see if there were any ‘overnight’ kites caught on the pole which would be kept vertically upright for this purpose. (How mean we were-sometimes it would snag people trying to fly kites from the houses which were lower in height and close to ours.ha) A quick breakfast, and off to the te...

Vibrant Gujarat!The kite flying festival is here. 2 days to go. The excitement on the streets is palpable. At every corner, there are people selling kites of different hues, shapes, sizes. Of course, the maximum excitement is always in the city area. Posh areas have people coming out on  their rooftops on this day. But, only one out of maybe 20 is flying a kite. The rest are just there for the 'event'- a time to stand on the terrace- look at the neighbours, wave to them, play loud music, do a bit of dancing- something like a 'Kit(t)ey Party', I'd say. Let me go back in time, to school days. Makar Sankranti used to be my favourite festival, at par with Diwali. We used to stay in our city ancestral home at that time. The first kites in the sky would be visible nearly four months before the actual date(14.01- this festival's date never changes). Of course, it'd usually be kids flying their kites, just like me. Or, kids waiting to catch a cut kite which would ...

I often wonder how surnames are created. Who created the first surname of a generation, I mean- our ancestors a few hundred years back, yes. Did they always think of the surname based on some meaning, like in our Indian names? Many people are sur-named based on their ancestors' profession, for example, even though the later generations might no longer be wanting to do anything with it. Just some of the (un) usual surnames I've come across in the past few years: Barodawalla: An original resident of Baroda(But then, aren't we all Barodawallas or our specific city of origin wallas?) Similarly, there's Ujjainwala, Bikanerwala,Taraporewalla,Bardoliwala,  etc..But, I never heard of a Dilliwalla/Mumbaiwalla/Calcuttawalla/Madraswalla...why? Weren't people allowed to use the metro names? Or, didn't these cities exist at that time in the form they are now? Lakdawalla- Wood merchant Suthar- Carpenter Luhar- Blacksmiths Mistry-Ironmonger..similarly, there's Ta...

Ahem! Second letter for Jan'10. One more of my favourite magazines(Comes twice a month)- Filmfare. Not a bad beginning, I think...this is really encouraging- must go full steam with my writing hobby. It's so much fun and so relaxing after a stressful day. Why don't you people try your hand at it, too-at Letters To Editors, I mean... The best letter prize(s) are an added bonus, of course, but the main pleasant feeling is to see one's letter selected for publication. Oh, yes.. Filmfare's also on twitter now(as filmfare )...I signed in, and whew!There're so many nice updates there- news hot from the Bollywood presses, so to speak..and, an added bonus is all the stars tweets also come in, automatically.Maybe I am getting addicted to Twitter, finally..?

Whee!! First letter of the New Year. From: Jan'10 issue of Society. Society's always been one of my favourite mags and I used to write to them very regularly. I'd even gone to their Worli office once, when Ashvina Vakil was the editor. It all tapered off- my writing hobby, that is,  when I moved to Dxb. And, I quickly embraced blogging, when I first came across rediffblogs- imagine a space where your letters get printed ad verbatim, without editing.(Well, to be honest, most of my Letters To Editors also used to be printed ad verbatim..haha) Back in the nineties, I'd have about 35-40 letters like this one, on an average, in various magazines and papers. Those were the days...and, I hope to bring them back soooon!!Wish me luck!

(Click on pic to enlarge) Whilst I ponder over and write my next post, read the above pic-article and grin!!:)