Pages

May 18, 2017

A Pseudo Movie Buff's Review : Bahuballi 2

I'm no more a movie buff. I have to really fight with my inertia to go to a theater or get influenced by Ranbir Kapoor's appearance (in that movie) to watch the movie in the theater. (Yes, the situation became as complex as the previous statement when I got married to Mr.ISB who can watch even dubbed movies like Indra The Tiger and also remember the story while enjoying it)  So, when I had two options this weekend- Meri Pyari Bindu & Bahuballi 2, We both decided on Bahuballi 2. Because, we like Indian Mythology and Indian Epic. Also, we felt the first Bahuballi was not bad, in fact engineers that we are, we always thought Graphics team had done wonders to bring India from supremely sad graphics of CID to Bahuballi....And hence, Bahuballi 2 Happened.


  • The first thing you would notice is how elegant and gorgeous Anushka Shetty looks as Devsena. The detailing of the character- written as well as played by her, is brilliant. From her costumes to her expressions, we could feel her innocence, sympathetic behavior, blushing face, wartime bravery, self respect and elegance. I can not forget mentioning beautiful silk sarees and appropriate drapes for the age, she has been playing by- war times in Navvari, princess days in Lehenga Choli, Bride/Queen days in Sarees. Designs of her ornaments is going to create another era for pearl loving people- and no guys, I am not talking about boring single pearl strings (which look fabulous on chiffon and western gowns, by the way) but heavy- artfully conceptualized and skillfully set pearl Necklaces, Mathapatti, Ear-rings with Ser as we call in Gujarati. 
  • Character of Devsena is something I can only get inspired by, even when I felt she was quite reactive to insults, which could have dealt with patience. But, hey every person with (over) self-respect sensitivities would react in such a manner. What was more interesting was her independence- Her unwillingness to go with Bahuballi as a slave even when she loved him, she stood for herself without waiting for her husband to support her or to speak on her behalf. No blame games, No emotional torture on her husband who was leaving to save Katappa when she was preparing to give birth to the baby. Gracefully forgiving the mother-in-law and patience to wait for the son who was expected to save her - without loosing her aggression. Enchanting traits, for me at least. 
  • Prabhas was crush-worthy. No kidding, he is now second after Ranbir Kapoor in my crush list. Shy he seems to be in real life, I can not digest he played this role of Bahubali with such effectiveness. His expressions to action sequence, Body language to innocence - every single thing just blew me off. Such sharp features with masculine look generally is rare in India. (If I am allowed to talk about Bahubali One- I can not get over him in the first song sung by Kailash Khair - Kaun hai woh) His dream sequence (or sort of) song in the boat with Anshuka was beautiful too. Also, note nobody can look better in Sik Dhoti.
  • Graphics team has done commendable job. Fort and port of Mahishmati looked magnificent. Some action sequences looked funny but I had to remind myself that this is not a Bollywood movie and I quickly forgave all of them. Okay, I could not control myself when soldiers used coconut treats to catapult themselves in the drum style formation to climb the fort- I meant science just jumped million years ahead! Did any one remember Shivaji's troop climbing fort using monitor lizards at this point of tine in the movie?
  • Who knew Ramya can look so so graceful as Shivgami? Her Body language and pitch- I thought even when her role in the second film was not that great, her screen presence hogged other actors' presence. She is one of the actresses who has aged for the good.
  • Bhallal Dev looked handsome, huge and every bit like a villain. His character was derived from Duryodhan's role in Mahabharata and he did justice to the same. 
  • Oh, I forgot to mention the choreographed archery action by Devsena and Bahubali. I skipped a beat while watching the scene. I read some where that six months, they have spent in learning archery and hoarse riding. 
  • Did any one notice how average Devsena's Bhabhi looked in the beginning. (A very small role but nobody can hide from my eyesight!) But, when I saw her dancing in the boring song 'Kanha So Ja Zara' I was blown away- what posture, what grace! How can you give only half a minute to such a dancer to perform? Lyrics of the song were hilarious , how can you mention the bull hitting a man in the song being sung for Kanha
  • More than who killed Bahuballi, I was interested in knowing how was Mahendra Bahubali saved? I meant, hats off to the concept in which the dead human body in one posture floated on the water holding a new born child above the water level. Dr.Salukhen from CID only can answer. 
  • To be honest, even after watching hilarious, dull and boring scenes and a predictable story line I can call this movie a one time must watch in the theater. because of the lead actors and graphics. Being a mythology lover, I could not have missed this. 



May 11, 2017

Milky 'Bar'

I could not trust my ears. The doctor who said my Hemoglobin should be good in the morning, looked worried and told me, I need to take care of myself. (I am scared of only one thing in life, which is Diabetes. My genes, apart from giving me good features and some sharp skills, can be eager to gift me Diabetes too!Luckily I'm fine) I forced myself to smile.

I took the report in my hands and checked parameters for which I was tested for, after a long long period of throbbing shoulder and neck pain with no recovery at all.

-Hemoglobin was three points lower than the supreme number of 14, I usually maintain
-White Blood Cells specifically had touched the lower limit.
-Vitamin D 3 was half than the minimum requirement.

I was shocked. My misconception of 'I am always healthy' had busted. I called my Uncle who is also an orthopedic surgeon, asked me to just change the diet and stop every other work out I was doing except walking. He also suggested to eat 28394 numbers of vegetables and fruits apart from two big mugs of milk every single day. While he sounded calm, his daughter (my cousin) living on opposite side of the globe, messaged me immediately in two hours (In my family, breaking news spread at supersonic speed, you see) with a lot of disappointment in every word she typed. I am not even imagining. She blamed me that I have lost the neck of taking care of myself. She blamed that I am trying too hard to loose weight which is working in a way but is creating a havoc in my system. My family and of course Mr.ISB, needless to say were equally worried.

Now when I am recovering with the help of physiotherapist and the improved diet, I decided to look back to see where I was wrong.

No, I was not careless about my health intentionally. I was just too careful about maintaining (And reducing) my weight. Vegetable intake had reduced to half from what I always use to eat. I had cut the portion for my six-meals-a-day-diet but had also maintain the tendency of killing my hunger if I would be busy. I was practicing Yoga but with such low Vitamin D3 levels, I had just made myself vulnerable to injuries in addition to working on laptop for hours together with incorrect posture. I had clearly ignored the stress I was going through on daily basis and the need to get de-stressed. I had also ignored my disturbed sleep and rapidly decreasing stamina.

I could not digest that the so called careful-dieter can make such mistakes.

So when I digested the results, I also started making small changes in my diet to start with . I started drinking a glass of milk before leaving for office and a glass before going to bed, slightly flavored with Thandai or Gulkand.

... And it is addictive. Specially at night. I know now, why some people can not sleep before indulging into their peg of rum or whisky.

While I get high on my milk and feel 'Talli'.

*I can see some of my old friends blabbering about Bubblegum being the Amul girl always*

May 3, 2017

Z for Zapped

It was an alarm for me. This A to Z blogathon and the stress along with failure to write real stuff.

Seriously. When April started, I gave myself a few offs as well in the beginning , so that the initial block would melt,which would result into creamy blog posts. Instead, I faced issues every day- Taking out time to think, to write, read and post, became stress to the extend that I also considered stopping blogging at one point of time- some how I managed to convince myself to write anything stupid than deactivating this don't-know-how-many-years' habit of blogging. In fact some of the posts were too stupid for me to even click that 'Post' button but I posted.

The root cause of this stress and failure is nothing but hectic life I have created by myself. Personal and Professional. While I am not going to put the entire blame on myself, I would say- I could have tried managing the busy life in a better fashion. Sister-in-law's Shagun function and rituals-meetings associated with it, a birthday trip, absence of maids and cooks, heat, my neck injury, frustration of not being able to do anything apart from daily jobs, very very very hectic office hours - I can blame it all on these situations. But when I look back and see, I see those tiny spots of silver linings - memories I made on those events, satisfaction in helping and managing functions, spending time with my family. I took stress to create moments worth being happy about in future.

Then, there is also a different thought process in my mind. Will these situations ever be easier in the future?

I would always be ambitious. I would always want to do everything. I love taking responsibilities because that is what I have been taught to. And life with age would always follow Entropy - which would always increase (Hello, Geeks!)

This realization is sad, but I have to take it with a pinch of salt, learn from it and move on. I have to get better in managing my time, remove negativity and focus on create happy moments every day. Only if I can manage to say No. Or, Delegate work to people around.

So that, I can blog peacefully. To my heart's content.  

Y for Year (That has been so far)

I thought rather than again hunting for a word starting from Y, I would rather make use of this blog post from Y, to write about how this year treated me (or otherwise) so far. It can also be a timely reminder to make use of my time properly and reach goals I have set for myself.

I have been a bit slow on DIY side this year but still managed to make use of my still developing green thumb.

I have managed to remain active. Regular walks along with the same kept me in shape but health-wise I am not really doing good. Loss of Lordossis was detected in my spine some time back which disappeared after the treatment but only for a couple of weeks. While I have started taking physiotherapy classes and other precautions. fitness should be given more priority this year.

The lucky year for our family as the Sister-In-Law got engaged and we are looking forward to add one more wise person (because crazy quota is over) in the group of siblings!

Work wise, I am clearly shaping up my career further with inhuman work hours being spent in office. We are slowly scaling up hence, it is going to be a painful but hopefully a fruitful year.

We have started our favorite walking dates again and nothing on this earth can be more indulging than chattering every minute while Mr.ISB nods like always.

How this year has been so far for you guys??

:)



May 2, 2017

X for Xīn

After hunting from a word starting from X, I cheated on Google and browsed some lovely blogs who were also participating in this Blogathon. Needless to say, I went back to the memories of Singapore where I had made some futile efforts to learn Chinese. As they say, knowledge never fails- This small cute word for 'Heart' or 'Feelings' appeared in my brain from no where. And no better time then this to write about what I love or heart. (There was a trend when every one flaunted t-shirts with I<3 NY and I never could get one. Now, I might not even want to wear such a slogan on my shirt but I still love how we pronouns the slogan - I heart NY) So, lets see at this very point of time, what my heart loves!

-Some good sleep.

-A cup of my type of tea.

-A shoulder & Neck Massage.

-Some peppy music to dance on.

-A ticked off to-do list.

-A stylish pair of ballerina.

- A gorgeous cotton dress.

- A vacation

- A plate full of Panipuri

- A book to read on for hours