Warsaw, Poland

Had gone to Warsaw, Poland as part of work earlier in January. Just after finishing off the new year celebrations. On the night of 1st January, I took off on a 9 hour flight to Warsaw. Nice, quite place. Neat and Clean. Fewer people on the roads (which was almost a cultural shock for me). It was pretty cold. Temperature ranging from 2 deg till 5 deg. Travelling alone is not much of my preferred activities but when you are travelling for work, you got no choice. In your free time, one's got to do his / her own R&D. 

A giant Christmas Tree welcomes you along with the spirit of Christmas. The streets are lit up and you can come across odd groups of people singing carols on the streets in Polish of course. Further down, groups of students running to catch the last bus home. Sometimes, there is a drizzle. Indication of snowfall just around the corner. Which just makes you yearn for a hot cup of coffee and cookies. I loved the bakeries there. Fresh, oven baked muffins and waffles. Would grab some, especially on my way to work in the morning. 

Market Square, Warsaw

Over the weekend, paid a visit to Krakow. Once upon a time the capital of Poland during the Nazi rule. Very similar to Warsaw in terms of architecture and history but found it more livelier. Especially the market square. Reminiscent of  eras gone by of the kings and the queens!!! Went to the St Mary's church of Basilica, the art musuem, Schindler's factory, the Jewish Ghetto and the fort of Wawel. Couple of hours in a day were just too less. 

What was common between Krakow and Warsaw was the strong impact of World War II and the end of the communist regime 30 years back. The art, the museums and majority of the conversations express the history of war the nation had to face. Sometimes, war is all people have to give to their children. The remnants of War become the stories to pass on by. Because everything was razed very systematically by the Nazis when they left the country. 

But also on a lighter note, what was common between Poland and India, was an artist (read sanyasi / baba) managing to position itself in the air!!!! ;-) Just the way our famed choti wale, saffron clad, barefooted babas do :-).

There's so much to write about my two week stay over there, but I guess I wont be able to do justice to it. But will keeping posting intermittently about the people, culture and comparisons. 

Mercedes Benz

Christmas is round the corner...festivity is in the air...love the month of December...celebration of 'birth' of a son, a new year and new dreams. My wish list ain't much but I'd like to share this song which I had heard long time back. Only if...it came true ;-)

Lot of versions are available for this song and even where Janis Joplin has sung it. But yes - I totally loved the way of expression.  Coming on to my new job :-), I am liking it here. Well - in a different way. It does not have the same familiarity like a small company where there is always a personal touch and where everybody knows everybody. Its a different setup. Totally different language. A different ball game. I am liking the change. The team size is pretty big whereas till now I was a loner in my team. I and only I was responsible for the work that I was doing. Over here, things are slightly different.

I had made new year resolutions at the beginning of 2010 and had also done a series of posts pertaining to that. But the point is, my new year resolutions dont carry beyond the new year. They are forgotten pretty much in the first month itself :-P. 

There's not much of a plan in place to celebrate the new year. Most probably there will be a house party. I am not much into getting sloshed in huge party places amidst rowdy strangers with obnoxiously loud music and pathetic food. Ya - call me boring. 

But Yes - I will definitely pray to the good Lord to grant me and my near and dear ones his blessings, inner peace and a MERCEDES BENZ :-)!!!!!

Independence Rock 2011

I am not really a Rock Music Fan, so when my Guitar Teacher, Zack D'Souza asked hubby and me to come along with him and his lovely wife Merelyn, we really were in two minds. Actually more than two minds. Rock music is really not our scene but hey what the hell... the entry was free ;-) ...hehehe.... so we could always leave if we didn't like the scene. Plus, this would be the first time I would be driving 3 people along with me or else its just me and my hubby Munish.

On the way, Zack educated us about "INDEPENDENCE ROCK" and its history. Initially it was held on independence day every year in Mumbai for all the rock fans. Soon the government started having security issues with alcohol and drug abuse. Now it is held much later and all the security. We were told that  "Rock" scene in India is not really encouraging. There are different types of Rock Music - metal, heavy metal, black metal, etc etc...and ideally each of them should have their own concert.But here, in India, they put all of it together, so if you are new to this scenario it really is a tricky situation. He warned us to stay away from the Mosh's Pit - a terminology popular in rock, where severe head jamming takes place and people are on a HIGH....Munish and me stayed on the sidelines....infact on the sidelines of the sidelines....The event was covered live by VH1, MTV and some other channels. 

Some of the bands that played and which we were and audience to were "The Other People", "Brahma" and "Bhayanak Maut". On a relativity basis, I liked the music played by "The Other People" but "Bhayanak Maut" gave me a splitting headache. I tried recording some bit of it in my cell phone but the clarity leaves a lot to be desired. But I found some clippings on You Tube. 

This link pertains to the Mosh's Pit. We stayed away from it. We could see some bits and pieces on the screen and were glad that we were not standing in the middle of it. Here, have a look :

Link of some of the performance by "Bhayanak Maut"

Post this performance, both of us decided, that Rock Music was really not our scene. Should leave. Must Leave. But yes - to give it credit, really appreciate the dedication of all the rock music fans that for 26 years, they have been loyal to the music inspite of it not being very popular here in India (which is ruled by Bollywood Music). Cheers to them. 

Random Musings

Its been quite a while since I visited this space... especially after the month long holiday that I went too.... From almost posting daily to nothing at all.... Was inactive on my twitter account too except for maybe one or two sporadic tweets...

Life is pretty busy now between work and home and weekends....don't have as much time to practice my guitar or try and make a disastrous attempt in the kitchen over some wonderful receipes I used to discover earlier. 

Not that I am cribbing about my current state of affairs, buts its refreshingly different from my previous state of affairs...:-) A lot happened in this one month break. For starters, I discovered the art of "DOING NOTHING" more of which you can obviously read HERE. 

There are a couple of things and some unfinished posts that I would like to write about...some of them are saved in the drafts!!! And some, some are in my mind :-P, for how long - that is another thing.

Today, there is no such agenda for writing, but I just wanted to write. Been on my mind for a long time, and had started to feel guilty about it, so decided to drop in say "HELLO" :-)....

2011 is going to end soon... with Christmas and the New Years around the corner. Waiting for Christmas eagerly. It reminds me of school and my school friends. I try and recreate some of it at home :-) and thoroughly enjoy the day!!!!

But right now, today being a Saturday, catching up on some puzzles with tea and chips!!!!  

So - see you soon again, hopefully with a new update and something interesting. 

My Report Card

Ahem!!!! My report card for the holiday I just had, which vanished into thin air...I just didn't realize that it was time to go back to work again. Now- Now - Now- To begin with, I followed a good friend's advice and also decided to enjoy the vacation as long as it lasts and not just keep ticking off my list. :-). Remember the list which I had made HERE, well here's what it is -->

Anyways, here's what it is:

1. I had decided to blog daily for the month of October, 11 as a part of a Blogger Challenge. Well- I blogged for a little more than half a month but come Diwali and I just forgot all about it.

2. Cooking / Baking: Well, I didn't go all exotic and stuff as much I'd like to do, but yes  COOK - I did. 3 meals a day. All the time.:-P

3. Guitar: Well, my sessions did pick and I have improved with my chords progressions and can even strum and hum a song or two *collars rolling up*

4. Photography: Well, the only photography I did was during Bhaiya Dooj and our family visit to Taj Mahal, Agra. I clicked like crazy. :-) And no - I did  not try to learn Photoshop :-P

5. Shopping / Cleaning / Dusting - NOW THAT - I did with full gusto. My home was sparkling and most importantly clutter free. *pats my own back*

6. Healthy regime - Ummmmm.....uhhhhhhhh *Still thinking*..... ummmmmm....uhhhhhh...*suffers from selective amnesia now* !!!!

7. I collated all my old photographs and re-organized them - ready to be printed and pasted. Scouting for a good deal. Got more than1000 photographs to print. Help required here. If any of selective, few readers who know a studio who could give me a good deal please get in touch :-)

8. Plants: *crying* :-( Well- they have all died thanks to the 15 days spent with my family and In-laws in Delhi :-(. The only survivor of this drought is my precious Christmas Tree !!!!

9. Read I did :-). Will be posting reviews on them soon. Currently reading Argumentative Indian by Amartya Sen. So far - I am liking it.

10. All in all, it was a good break. After a long long time, did I find so much time to gether to so do so much of Nothing. And I - terribly enjoyed it :-)

Yes - I could have been more active, could have extracted more....but I went slow...at my pace...with leisure and loads of pleasure ;-)

Cheers!!!!

Rockstar

There are a lot of things which worked for Rockstar and lot of which didn't. I, for one, didn't like the movie as much as I thought I would like. I was fairly disappointed. 

Well, to begin on a positive note, A R Rehman has composed some excellent music. There's variety of music and very soulful and addictive music. There's Kun Faya with a sufiana touch and the wonderful jugalbandi between the shennai and the guitar played onscreen by Late Shri Shammi Kapoor and Ranbir Kapoor. The song 'Sada Haq' takes some time getting used to but catches up wonderfully once you get the hang of it. 

As much as the music is wonderful, the singer Mohit Chauhan does apt justice to the compositions. Both - the composer and the singer have done a wonderful job with the music. Some of the music easily reflects a 'Jab We Met'.

Ranbir Kapoor is a natural. With each performance, he is improving by leaps and bounds. He easily fits into the role and does wonderful justice to it. Sometimes, more even when the script gets weak in between the movie becomes slow. There are places of boredom in between. Probably, the script / screen play  should have been tackled in a more effective manner.  

Nargis Fakhri could have very easily been avoided. She did not bring anything new to the table. It could very easily be one our own desi heroines. Dialogue delivery is such an effort and so in the process, the expressions are not happening. Sometimes, I wish, we'd get over our 'thing' with the firang face and the accent!!!!

More than Nargis Fakhri, I enjoyed the performance of Ranbir Kapoor's manager who advised him to get his heart broken to managing his contracts. 

Watch if you must but only for the music and Ranbir Kapoor's performance.

Rating: 3 / 5

The End of the Blogger Challenge

I had participated in a Blogger challenge for the entire month of October, 11. A bunch of bloggers got together via twitter and started to blog   for various reasons!!! I got in this simply because, one, I had never participated in a blogger challenge before, two, I wanted to improve on my writing skills and three push myself to write something worthwhile once a day. 

But...but...but...mother of all But's... *no pun intended*.... Diwali happened. It happened with my immediate family, in laws and all the gang of outlaws - my relatives!!! My uncles and aunts and cousins!!! Phew!!! A friend of mine commented that I am going on a two week holiday to Delhi to get pampered - EXCUSE ME!!!!! I had no breathing space, everyday was different!!!! More on that later...

Anyways, coming to the point, giving no excuses, the challenge went for a toss :-(. I could not continue. Could not even check my mails and apologize for not contributing....found the time to do so only when I came back. I could post only for half of the month. Got to complete a story I wrote somewhere in between... got to thank all my blogger buddies I made... and wish to thank all of them, because the interaction with them has only made me richer!!!!