Circus!

So, Friday last, Sid and I went to see the first circus of my adult life. It was called Totem and was performed by Cirque Du Soleil.

It was by far the most speactular thing I had ever seen. To start with Royal Albert Hall was nothing short of fantastic being so steeped in heritage and culture as a lot of things in London are.



This circus is one of the most famous on the planet. They come up with various shows and travel across the world. Infact The troupe was travelling to Amsterdam when we had visited it last year.

The show ahd not started but the clowns came in and mingled with the crowds, flirted with the women, teased the men and generally set the mood for the whole show. And boy, what a show it was. There were enough times I was taken aback with what the men/ women were doing a few feet away from me!


The skill, timing and perfection. These men and women have spent their life times perfecting their art and I came out of the hall, very very very impressed to say the least.

Most people who work in the circus are ex olympic gymnasts, you had to see the stunts to believe them. You know how you must have seen the ice skating olympics and how you gasp as the girl twirls on her skates at lightning speed...it was all there and more! Very often I would not clap / cheer when an act was over because i was too busy gasping! There were trapese artists, clowns, russian bars and a lot of other stuff...







It was an expensive watch, but one of the best evenings I have had in London. And for those who live in cities where the circus visits, this is just to tell you to go give it a watch. Trust me, it will be worth it!

Love
R

I wish I could look coyly at my nails and say that I found Yamla Pagla Deewana too pedestrian for my sophisticated tastes. I wish I could talk about intelligent cinema and how it never fails to excite me.

I wish.

Only that wish is not coming true anytime soon.

I loved Dabang and as if that was not enough, I went ahead and laughed my head off in Yamla Pagla Deewana enjoying it more than ‘127 hours’ and ‘The King’s Speech’ put together. Okay these are both great movies worthy of a watch but I just enjoyed Yamla Pgala Dewana much more.

Bobby Deol is by far the weakest link in the movie with his excessive face making. People in Benaras do not have twisted faces. As far as I know atleast. And his love interest, I recognized her from a tele serial I used to watch many many years ago on Zee TV. I cannot recall the name of the TV serial but I do remember that she had an imaginary son called Tingu. As expected that name had kinda cracked me up and has stayed with me all these years.

So well, the honest truth is that I enjoy nonsense. The mad cap kind of nonsense.
In sharp contrast there is this other movie lover in me that forgets to eat painstakingly made poha ( yes I cook Indian food!) when she sees Kal ho na ho on the telly. Poha is forgotten, husband is sushed and not replied to when he dares utter a word and tears stream down my face as Shah Rukh lies on his death bed. As Preity zinta runs out of the hospital room, unable to see the man she loves die, I contemplate switching the channel. It is too difficult to see Shah Rukh die.
Talking of Preity Zinta. Well, she is about to get married to Saif Ali Khan. Her mother, grand mother and a lot of other rather fat aunties sing ‘mahi ve’. Jaya Bachchan tries her best to look forlorn at the engagement of her daughter. I cry buckets as my mind goes back to my own wedding and vidaai.

What kind of a Bollywood fan am I? It is against my ethics to say that any (read ANY) movie was crappy. I don’t say that. It cannot be true. I find something nice in every movie. The more the nonsense in the movie, the more I enjoy it. And ofcourse if Shah Rukh dies, I cry non stop.

What kind of a Bollywood fan am I?

And on that noble thought,

Love

R

P.S For those interested I can be reached at ruchita[dot]misra[at]hotmail[dot]co[dot]uk

Travelogue- Marrakech ( December, 2010)

Marrakech Day 4

For those interested in the the previous bits of the Morocco trip
Morocco Day One: http://smilethesmile.blogspot.com/2010/12/morocco-day-one.html
Morocco Day Two: http://smilethesmile.blogspot.com/2010/12/marrakech-morocco-day-two.html


So we set out today at 8 in the morning for which we got out of bed by 7! What kind of a holiday is it if you are up and about by 6:45?

Anywyas, after a hurried breakfast we set out in our rented car, again with the same guide as before, Bougemal. The drive today took us some 4 hours, 4 hours of spectacular rocky terrain as we reached our destination: Kasbah Ait Ben Haddou.

In Arabic, a Kasbah is the between of a village and a fortress. And Kasbah Ben Haddou is one of the most famous ones across Morocco. It has been declared as an UNESCO world heritage sight.

Anyways, here are some of my favourite pics from today. These are few of the clicks from the very beginning of the journey.

The valley!



Another view!



Our Car. I like this lonely car shot.



The best part was that we could stop where ever we wanted and click pics.
Infront of our eyes, the terrain started changing. You can now see a much more harsh terrain. I wish the camera could capture what the eyes can see. This was one of the passes. This was called Tischka Pass. Tischka means Darkness in Arabic. Like Sid said, one can only imagine how scary it would have been 1000 years ago.








This is how the roads looked from the highest accessible bit at the Pass.






And the terrain changes further

And...further! Can you see the snow capped mountain peaks? I just could not enough of them.




This is by far one of my favourite pics. The camels and the brown. The snow and the white. The combination of the two is just too eerie! There are a million pics of the brown and the white! This was one of the stops we took while on our way.




This was the last stop. It provided us with a view of the Kasbah.



Once inside the Kasbah, we spent an hour or so exploring the Kasbah and clicking the pics. Below are a few of them.





Two women in a distance


All in all today was a spectacular day and we loved every bit of it to bits!We reached the Riad by 7 after gifting our guide a packet of delicacies we had got from London, rested for some time ( I finished the book I am reading,’A piece of Cake’ by Cupcake Brown, yes that’s the authors name : Cupcake!), went out again to get some food....and by the time we came back, we were exhausted!
Day four comes to an end......I hope you enjoyed reading the post as much as i enjoyed the day!

Love

R

tired and grumpy.

Yes that is my post. This is all that it intends to tell you. That I am tired and grumpy. How this bit of information will change your life forever, I do not know.

But then I am grumpy and tired.

Travelogue

I am trying to put in this blog little bits of the various places I keep travelling to. I have realized that I have forgotten so much about my trips last year. Hence this attempt :)

Brussels, Belgium.
April, 2010.

Sid and I travelled to Brussels for a day last Easter. We went there with another couple from Sid’s B school which added to the fun. We drove in from Paris enjoying every bit of the French and Belgian countryside.




And with that we enter Belgium!




We went out to this authentic Dutch Place for dinner. Okay the only vegetarian bits that Dutch eat is bread, cheese and fries. So well, that is what I had. I remember that even though it was a well known place, none of us really like the food.

After that we all went out for a stroll and walked around the Grand Place. As you can see it was beautiful!







Next day we spent a LOT of time strolling around. It is a small city. Nothing much to see compared to the biggies like Paris and London but it has a charm about itself that is difficult to ignore.



The stock exchange!

We roamed and shopped in the small alleys of the city. There were a multitude of chocolate and toy shops that were a treat to the eye.



Toys!

The Manneken Piss- That is supposed to be one of the most important things to see in Brussles and we walked round and round trying to locate it! I burst out laughing when we actually did find it. First it was so tiny that it was ludicrous. Second, the piss in ‘Manneken piss’ was actually just that! Mannaken Piss is the statue of a small boy peeing!




We dutifully posed infront of Manneken Piss and clicked multiple shots of everyone.
We spent the rest of the evening strolling around the city, we discovered a city square, where we spent a lot of time generally chatting up, soaking in the sun and resting our tired feet. The last thing we did was to check out the Tintin museum. Tintin was created by Herge in Brussels and hence the museum is apparently quite the famous one. Since I am not a Tintin fan, I did not enjoy it too much. The fact that we were the only all adult group did not help matters too much.

Anyways, it was a lovely day and a half spent in Brussels. I don’t think I will go there again because there is not much for the typical tourists we are.

As a parting shot, a pic of Sid and me walking the streets of Brussels. Don’t we look like two school going kids making way to school?




Love,
R

No one killed Jessica- Movie Review

So I have decided I will try puttting in a review for each of the gazillion movies I watch here. Also, that will reduce the I-me-myself that goes on and on on this blog.

1) The story is gripping even though you know most parts of it. This is when I think the credit goes to the writer director Raj Kumar Gupta. And to the leading ladies of the movie.

2) My award for the best performace would go neither to Rani nor to Vidya, it would go to Rajesh Sharma who plays the police officer. I absolutely lonved the scene where he throws the glass frustrated at what was happening

3) Vidya versus Rani. In my honest opinion, Vidya looks like the plain girl next door. The girl no one notices. Vidya who looked amazing in Ishqiya ( you can forgets stuff like 'hey baby' and 'Kismet connection') and manages to look stunning in her latest Saree avatar, has looked so absolutely plain that it is mind blowing.
I found Rani's performance a little put on in bits, maybe because she has cultivated a very refined, sensible image of herself in the minds of the casual cinema goer. The smoking and the expletives seemed a little out of place.
For me while both the ladies were very good, Vidya might walk away with the plaudits. Having said that, I am very happy for Rani. This is a hit and a performace she so badly needed.

4)There is one scene in the movie when Vidya goes to her terrace and screams her lungs out. I was blown away by that scene.

5)There is another scene when Vidya is speaking on TV and sounding really boring. Rani just switches off the TV and asks her maid to get her some pickle. Rani was fantastic in those 2 seconds.

6) In the last scene when Rani comes to Jessica's grave, I got a sense of deja vu. Veer Zara. Rani saves the day :)

7) I remember the time when the candle light march was organised for Jessica and how the some people discarded it as a theatrical antic picked up from a hit movie. It was debated how Rang de Basanti probably played a big role in getting Indians in that mode of not being willing to tolerate any more nonsense. I agree.

All in all, a definite watch. Go watch it , if you have not not just for Jessica Lal but for the other million Jessicas who are not as lucky.

Love
R

One Whole Year

On the 8th of January, 2011 I completed one whole year in London. On 9th of Jan 2010,Sid took me out on my first walk to Canary Wharf. I clicked some pictures then which I have often seen and wondered how I had the courage to leave everything behind and come to an alien land where I hardly knew anyone except my husband. It has been an interesting year with all its ups and downs. A lot has happened in this one year.

I managed to find a job for myself that was much better than I thought I would ever manage. While there are enough days when I wish I could stay in bed a little longer, I am deeply grateful for work. It is part of my identity and I love most of it.

I travelled. Many countries and cities including bits of UK, France, Belgium, Switzerland, Wales, Amsterdam and Morocco. Add to that 2 trips to India and viola you have my travel itinerary for the year.

I learnt to cook. Before I came to the UK I had NEVER cooked a full meal. Never ever expect for one time when my Mum had taken bro for some med exam. I can now cook easily for a party of 6-8. 8 we have not yet done, but I am sure I can manage it with ease. I can make dosa-sambhar and all kinds of paranthas and pooris.

I am picking up a slight accent. Particularly when speaking to the firangs, yes that has started to happen. I am now rarely asked to repeat myself meaning that they understand my accent as well! I have been very consciously resistant to the idea of picking up the British accent but unknowingly a little bit of change is creeping in the way I speak.

I have learnt to dress better. Yes, I dress better now. It was almost a culture shock to see women dressed better for grocery shopping than I was for my own wedding. People really care about their appearances here ( and spend a lot on it) and appreciate it if others do too. I very rarely see anyone dressed badly in London. So, yes, while I am not crazy about it all, I do manage to pull myself and present myself better. After a year of practice, I have actually started enjoying the process a lot more than I did before.

I have learnt to take rejection. It was a difficult lesson, but like most things difficult, a very important lesson.

Started to paint: I have spent many happy hours painting stuff. Something I never thought I would ever do!

Saw TOO many Movies. Oh boy! Did I watch movies? I watched so many many movies that I have lost count of them! But I just love it and am glad I can do this in London.Also, no matter the count of movies, I am yet to come out of a Bollywood movie and not sigh and think that I should make a movie one day.

Got interviewed by the Best Bschool in the world. Okay I did not get through and neither did I go there for an MBA degree but I did get interviewed by the faulty. It was an amazing experience.

Read a lot. Everyone reads a lot here. The tubes in the morning are packed but you can hear a pin drop. Why? Because everyone is busy reading something. The good aprt about this is that there are some really good libraries here and hence a steady supply of books which is something I always sorely missed back in India.

Wrote my first book. Yes. I have written my first book. I have the best publisher I could have hoped for and if all goes well, you will see the book in the market in 6 months time. And this is all that I will say about my book at this stage. I still feel something might go wrong and am rather jittery about the whole thing.

So, as you can see, it has indeed been a busy busy year.

Love
R

Another Painting

Disclaimer: This one is not as pretty as the previous one.

So, today was one day when through out the day, we did not step out. I have had very busy days of late even though we have been on holiday and i got up today extremely exhausted and did not want to go out at all. Hence I had a lot of time to kill. I spent some of it making a painting.

I have only recently discovered the joys of Amazon.com. You just go onlin, pick up the stuff you like, wait a few days and Bingo! It has been delivered! It was this that I used to get myself a set of Frank Clark's DVD set for paintings. And that is what I used to teach myself how to paint this painting.

I took me around an hour to finish the whole thing. Frank does not outline his paintings but I find them very bland without the outlines. Hence you will see most things defined in my paintings.

As promised in the comment section of my last Painting post I have putting pictures of stuff used.


Painting Final version:




Paints used:



Paint brushes:



Paper used:



My painting in the Paint Book:




I know this one is not really as good as the previous one, but as usual, do let me know what you think of it.

Happy New Year!

So I am not the partying sorts. But yet I was part of the biggest party in London that brought in New Years.

Sid and I went to watch the fireworks at London Eye to bring in the New Years Eve. There were 250,000 people there, i came to know later!

We left home ar 6:30, reached at 7 where some of our friends were waiting for us. Then we waited for 12 o clock. Standing for better part of the this time.

Yes, there were so many people that these people made announcements asking people to stand up so that more people could be accomodated.

Around midnight, helicopters started hovering over head and some guy on the BBC radio told us that we will soon be going live, the entire 250,000 of us and that we are supposed to cheer at certain points of time. And we even had a dress rehearsal for that!!!

Mid night came and with that came spectacular fireworks, that lasted 10 minutes by the watch. Finally the journey home that should have taken us 30 minutes, took at approximately 2.5 hours. There were youngsters all over the place, most of them drunk. One woman came up to me asking for a hug. I saw atlaest 3-4 women crying for various reasons ( mainly because they were drunk)....i saw a side of london i have never seen before. Dont get me wrong, it was not like it was not fun....but its just that I have never been in such a crowded place in London before.

So finally, after stanfing for 5 hours, and 2.5 hours spent in communiting, we brought in the new years by watching 10 minutes of fireworks.

Here is a pic from last night. We were standing right across the London Eye.



Source of the pic: dailymail.co.uk



And yes, thought we will not do this again, i think, i have to say that it was a once in a life time experience and probably worth its salt.

Ofcourse my dad checked the BBC coverage of the fireworks to see if he could see either Sid or me on TV.

No, we were not on TV.

So, this is wishing all of you a fantabulous new year. Health. Happiness. Love and peace. In that order:)

Love

R