Raajneeti

Sunny Sunday afternoon in Atlanta where the wind takes away the heat, near full theater and tickets in hand - perfect setting for watching Raajneeti....the only thing missing was P not being by my side. So, as soon as the movie got over, I decided that I have to watch it with her.

I loved the movie (obviously for a person who loves to read epics like Pillars of the Earth and World without end to name a couple), but just hoped that it would have played out longer. It had a good amount of characters, an obvious plot, some good acting and cinematography and would have loved more drama to add to the one there.

But here is the twist - the best part for me was the romance (obviously influenced by the Bhopali girl played by Katrina Kaif). The romance so subtle, but still strong as steel which was an under current in the entire movie, right from scene 1. Indu so madly in love with Samar, gets rejected to end up married to Prithvi, the older brother of Samar (after walking though the mirage of a hopeful marriage with Samar) and learns to love Prithvi after learning the hard way (meeting Sarah whom Samar loves). A twist sees Samar and Indu loosing their partners and then a strong emotion getting them back together though not as lovers but 2 individuals who care for each other. While Katrina Kaif looks great in this movie, her character was a strong typical girl from Bhopal, who has nerves of steel and despite being used in the political game, ends up as the one who can still control life - very strong, independent and yet fragile person in private.

This is one movie that I think I will watch again with P when I get back (that's whenever the airline gods from Air France will confirm my booking) and definitely will get the DVD. BTW, this is the first movie I watched of Katrina on the big screen and after this, I am sure I will watch more of her on the big screen irrespective of the movie :)

Boring Friday

Can you believe that this was the day I was waiting for the most in this entire visit to Atlanta - was nervous, hopeful and full of expectations of success? And now I am just bored. Yes, the reason for the wait seems to have materialized, but not providing the enthusiasm enough to take me through the rest of the day. What would I like to be doing now? Sitting with P in my ancestral home, watching the rain drops fall into the 'nadu-mitam' with V playing. Add a cup of hot tea to it and it is bliss! Guess this travel has revived a lot of old memories and increased my wish-list of things that I never did or considered important and now all that is coming back at me.

Started facebook-ing and have got connected back to a lot of friends and classmates from school. That's another missing link. Someone asked this question - why will you add your classmates, lost friends/colleagues on your list in a social website when you really did not keep in touch with them over all these years? Well for one, there has to be a way to make amends to that issue of not keeping in touch with them (like my case). It's such a wonderful feeling of having to explore their worlds after such a long time. There was a time when you thought that life was inseparable and now when you connect, you find yourselves worlds apart but still intriguing.

The other one is that I really want to watch Raajneeti. It's got a collection of good actors (I really appreciate the acting of Ranbir Kapoor), an impressive director/story-writer and of course Katrina Kaif!! What can I tell about her, V and I love watching her on the screen!! Still not a comparison to Meenakshi Sheshadri or Simran, but then an avid interest none-the-less. Will definitely buy the DVD if anything close to good!!

Guess will wait for Srini to get done so that I can leave today as I need to get ready for the next week. Happy weekend all!!

Summer Heats And School Days

There is something very nostalgic in the air when I smell the baked earth during summer. It reminds me of the schooldays during exam time when the heat blazed the school grounds while waiting in the noon for the bus to take me back home from the exam. Something always associated with that is the confidence that the exams I take in summer will be good! I felt the same way during engineering and ditto for the MBA. As I was driving with Pradeep on Monday in San Diego (yes, I managed a visit to SD during this business trip too), the heat in the car with the air in it being hot, just brought back those memories. What amazing days were those........

Write the exam and at the end of 3 grueling hours, come out of the examination room and discuss the answers followed by a little basketball and then wait for the bus to take you home. Once you reach home, complete answering the questions from Mom who runs through the question paper, answer Dad's phone call and then eat lunch of rice, papad, dal (cucumber, mango and drumstick) and sour yogurt....mmmm, I can almost taste it. Maybe the best part of all was that the end of exams meant beginning of the summer vacation - 2 whole months of doing everything else but school. Oh, how I miss those days :(

Back in Atlanta

These lonely days in Atlanta are when I realise how distant I am from my cousins. Not that I need to interfere in their everyday excitement, but I am not even good enough to keep in touch with most of them. Like P says, I am only about work and even that dedication will not get you the satisfaction or fun that family gives. Thanks to Sandy, her marriage was one occasion I was glad to have attended by pushing out the work (family photo that spans generations and this is not the complete one as yet!). I miss the old days as children when during vacations we used to get together for unsolicited fun and excitement for the days till the next vacation. But as our lives grew on, I just unnecessarily made some wrong decisions due to which I don't even get together or miss out the offers for the same. Now all are getting married and getting to be busier and I do hope our next generation will still get together and we as old people then will be as strong in our relations as our earlier generation now! God - please be kind on this prayer!!