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!!:)

Hi,all! Was fiddling around with the blog template. HTML-illiterate as I am(Maybe I'll make that a NY resolution-to pick up on HTML?), it took 2 hours to search, change,edit,et al, to arrive at where this template is now.Hope it looks a bit different from the previous one. I was going to write about fun days and times from school days. So, here goes a look at some of the funniest people and moments from school days..more coming up as I recall them: 1. There was this guy, Dinesh- he used to deliver gems of information every now and then, and he'd end with'You see, Idea is India'. 2. There was this other guy, Prabhjyot. We used to have morning assembly, as all schools do. One of the prayers/anthems each week would be 'India is my country.( See link. General Pledge part ) All Indians are my brothers and sisters'. Well, this guy would always add, in a louder-than required voice, and say 'All Indians are my brothers and sisters- except one'.(Pretty a...

Ahem! From the latest issue of Filmfare(Jan 06'10). Click to enlarge! And, do read the header lines first. It's not a new letter.:)

‘Vaandro udhto udhto gayo’( A flying monkey just went by)….a remark that gave me the first laugh of the day today. A sudden sound of a parrot-like screech coupled with something like hooves clickety-clacking on the vehicle-less road caused the tea guy at the tea stall ask ‘what was that’? and, a guy sitting nearby retorted thusly. I just tried imagining a flying monkey, and couldn’t help grinning away in the dark.(I still don't know what had caused the sound, btw) Life’s like that- if you keep your ears open, you can never have a dull moment. We had our Building’s AGM two days, back, at 730 PM, on the terrace. It was accompanied by a simple, catered dinner, since it’s also an annual get-together. The catering guy had set one table with the actual dinner, and the other one at a right angle, was slightly in the dark, so you could just about see something in the thalis(huge plates). So we took a plate,etc, and, first took the salad, then, the achaar or something like it, and then th...

I'm really curious. Who invented the 'Va'. Or the 'Sha'. Or the 'Wi'. Or some such words. No, they're not some illnesses or prefixes. These are the words we invent when talking to people. I see the usage the max, specially in Baroda. Like: 1. Chai-Vaai peeni hai?(Want to have some Chai-Vaai?) 2. Naashta-Vaashta kar liya?(Did you have Naashta-Vaashta?) 3. Chutney-Vutney hai kya?( Is there any chutney-vutney?) 4. Lift-Wift nahin hai kya building mein?(Isn't there a Life-Wift in the building?) 5. Bombay-Wombay/ Dubai-Shubai kab jaa rahe ho ab?(When are you going to ....?) 6. Paise-Vaise milenge time pe ya nahin?(Will you get Paise-Vaise on time or not?) There are so many others I come across during the day, like, say speaker-veeker, phone-vone, kapde-vapde, dukaan-vukaan, that I have these rhyming words coming out of my ears, and, Arghhh!! Since the last few days, even I've started talking like this. Hopefully it won't be too rampant on my blo...

(That's one of the screens of Fame, Baroda) To be frank, I went to see this movie on an impulse. Was passing outside Fame cinemas yesterday at 0830 AM, saw the BO(No,not Body Odour,but, Box Office) window empty, for the first day, first show, walked up,smiled at the lady and the guy(It always makes people happy to have a smiling client, first thing in the morning, I feel) who were just switching the lights on, on their side of the BO. Had to wait five minutes, and then got my ticket.(It being Friday, I also have a holiday, a la Dubai, while the rest of India(read'family') is at work. LOL. Now, I thought I was given the first row from the back, the way it looked, at 180 degrees from my side, on her computer monitor- couldn't see any more rows behind, that is. Imagine my surprise when it turns out that it's the middle seat, in roughly the middle of the hall. And, all the tickets that were sold were either in that row or in the absolute first row in front of the screen...

Noticed this one during my walk today: On the rear part of an autorickshaw: Capacity: 3 Idiots Only on going up closer did I notice the small print above it that said' Vinod Chopra films'. Now, is that a smart bit of marketing or what?Of course, since he was standing right outside the main bus station, I wouldn't be surprised if the 3 idiots had been himself and the 2 people on either side with him on the front seat and the balance 4-5 behind as they usually do in share-a-rick. (Waise, can you imagine the rickshaw seats being like the ones our three heroes are sitting on, in the pic?Quite comfy they'd be) ---- Another sign observed a few days back: Jalaram Tea Stole ---- And another one outside an ice cream parlour: Chocolate chips with chocolate deep(Knowing the pronunciations here, can you guess what the deep stood for?) ---- Cheerio!Till next time.Got lots to write. But need to be in the right mood:)

One of the most famous friendships on earth- Mandrake and Lothar. (As they say in the tales) Mandrake - a magician par extraordinaire known for his mass hypnosis feats. Lothar -the strongest man on earth, King of 12 nations. Brings an ice machine when Narda asks him for ice cream. Picks up a car when Jed's cufflink rolls under it, rather than going under the car like us ordinary mortals would do. Narda -another Princess, Mandrake's fiancee.(I forget the name of Lothar's fiancee-she came into the picture later) Jed - head of Inter Intel-short for International Intelligence, which has a robot as it's big boss(above Jed). No-one thinks that there could be a human being behind the robot's voice which is disguised each time. Finally, in one issue, Mandrake discovers that the Big Boss is Hojo. Hojo is Mandrake's cook(Uses this as the perfect foil so that people don't suspect his true identity), is a 10th degree black belt judo and karate expert. Mandrake and Loth...

I found the remix version of this song, today. The first time I heard it, I couldn't help laughing away all the time. Here goes: Patel Rap Anyone know whether the original version is available? Incidentally, have any of you seen this site? It's quite a nice compilation. I'm exploring the comedy section now, but naturally. :) Here's a really funny video. And,for those who understand Gujarati, here's another good one . Next post coming up soon.:)

Ah-my first stay at a hotel in Dubai, albeit, for just one day and a little more. What happened is, I'd told my landlord that I was travelling between Dubai and India, and had even found him a new tenant to boot!(Otherwise they charge anything from between one to three months rent as a penalty for breaking a contract midway).. Well, the new tenant's documents got ready on Tuesday, and the landlord called me the same night. Luckily, I had received the Water and Electricity Department's 'final bill paid' receipt the same day, which is a pre-requisite for vacating a flat(I guess some people run away with months of unpaid bills and hence the rule). I told him I'd hand over the keys of the flat the day I was leaving. And, he dropped the bombshell- NO! you stay in a hotel for a day. I want your keys tomorrow morning by 10 AM, I will get the flat checked by my man and then only I can refund your deposit(Which was the equivalent of Rs 12500/-)....Calm me lost my composu...