Globe theatre

I have been meaning to write about Globe theatre in London.. but never got around to doing so.

The pic you can see on my site .. there is only one.. is of the globe theatre!! I had seen it on some show on Travel and Living and since then wanted to watch a play there!! As you can see in the pic, they have reconstructed the entire stage...

We saw A Midsummer Nights Dream.. from the yard.. Yard is basically the area around the stage.. there is seating but it was expensive (went upto 35 pounds and all).. and they clearly state on the website that whatever seating you take (even if expensive), some part of the stage will be blocked by some pillar or the other.. So we took tickets to the yard .. 5 pounds only.. only catch is that you need to stand and watch the play.. and its a 3 hour long play!!!! It can accomodate (th yard i mean), upto 700 ppl.. and it was all full!!

A part of the stage was the runaway which went right into the crowd (in the Yard) from both sides.. so there would always be actors running up and down the stage.. in the middle of the crowd.. by your side (we had grabbed a place near the runway).. it was exhilirating!!!

Was it the play or the atmosphere, that i dont know.. but it was just amazing!!! Fundu.. a must do activity for anyone who goes to london!! I can still recall all the actors... who were met with a thunderous applause after the act!!!

I wanted to catch a musical too but unfortunately could not.. next time maybe!!!!

Now that diwali is over...

Well, now i look forward to christmas.. recently i have taken to decorating a christmas tree and kind of celebrating christmas.. a small desk tree kind of a thing..but cute nevertheless.. earlier (by earlier i mean before marriage.. its funny how everything becomes "before marriage" and "after marriage") we never used to do it.. nobody around us did it.. christmas just used to be another holiday.. in our school (convent), there used to be a mass and all which we used to attend but nothing further than that!! We never did anythign on our own.. maybe because i didnt really have any christian friends!!
It was in college that i was first invited over to a christmas lunch.. which was great fun.. there was achristmas tree and we also played secret santa.. the budget was specified as 30 Rs or 40 Rs.. we could not exceed that amount.. we had loads of fun that day...

And now post marriage, i not only bought a small tree and the decorations.. a star etc, but also bought my husband a christmas present and went to Mount Mary church in Bandra.. that was spectacular.. the entire road had been lit up!!!

So Christmas now has become interesting!!! I would love to travel to some European destination just to witness the christmas celebration!!

Today at work we were talking about how cool it is that all of western countries are on leave for a good 10 days this time of the year due to christmas.. we were envious at first.. this 10 day break to look forward too etc.. but then i felt, what after the 10 days get over.. then i will be thoroughly depressed.. at least here we get 12 days spread throughout the year!!

So BTW, diwali was nice.. wore a sari to increase festiveness!!! Lit diyas all around the house!! Evrything was great except.. we ordered chinese for lunch (for the want of options) and Pizza for dinner!!!

laddo fiasco :(

Well, first the boondis got stuck... had to put some hot water for the sugar to melt and the boondi to separate..

But the damn boondis not sticking.. its hard.. so not able to roll into a laddo!!!!!! So have given up now.. need to eat it like boondis only!!! So much for ladoos!!! Hmmph!!!! A disaster :(

What is special for diwali

Well, I am making laddus!!!!!!!!!! At least trying to make!!! I am a good cook.. all right not that good.. but still ok types.. not bad either!!!

However, i have not tried making sweets as much.. maybe becuase i dont eat sweets myself.. actually i love chocolate stuff but not made anything.. so maybe the reason is that i think its quite a lot of work and whenever, those 1 or 2 times that i have tried making any sweet, its been a disaster...

Once i made halwa.. suji halwa, and i couldnt eat it myself!!! It was tasting extremely strange.. i am better, i can this very confidently, at making kheer.. but at times it becomes too thin and at times too thick!!!

Today i thought i will give laddus a shot!!! Took the recipe from my mom in the morning over the phone.. making laddu with 250gms besan only.. not making too much.. she told me then i need double the amount of sugar.. i forgot this info and promptly bought the same amount of sugar!!! But fortunately i had more sugar with at home!!!!

Then when making boondi, you are supposed to use this thing with holes so that besan drops can be put in the oil for frying... so i used that ladle to do that.. but we have only such ladle.. taking the boondis out of the frying pan was an extremely messy affair!!! othere are some boondis looking great.. the golden brown colour.. some light brown.. some thick.. some dark brown and some burnt!!! So i will definitely have multi coloured laddus!!!

Now making the sugar syrup... i have no clue as to how thick the sugar syrup should be..

Experimentation happening right now!! I hope it turns out ok!! So much mehnat!!!!! God have mercy .. time will tell whether on me or my husband who gets to eat it ;)

Wont you like to be a fly on the wall?

I was talking to a colleague of mine about the "good old" bombay days.. there were 3 of us who were very good friends and would always eat together... while we did have a fairly big team, the others ate separately.. as in we would go down to the canteen to eat and these guys used to eat on the same floor at a bigger bay with friends from other teams (college frds etc).. one of the reasons for that of course was they were all (most of them) from the same college and all were junior to us.. in the sense they had a reporting relationship. Also, we used to think and are quite sure that they used to think we are snobs...

I dont know what made us think that.. but i guess we 3 always used to be together.. atke everyone's case.. and generally spent a lot of time together even after work.. even when we used to invite these guys to come down for lunch.. they would promptly invent some reason for not doing so!!! So in one of the many friday "girl's sessions" that we had at my place, we decided that they all thought we were snobs.. and we used to think.. what would they be bitching about.. what about us... and obviously we would conclude that the way we talk about our bosses they would be talking about us too..

So what would it be like? At that time when we were talking about all this, i was extremely curious .. to the extent i even asked some people.. and they so obviously didnt tell me!!!

In case you do come to know what people talk about you and it isnt nice, how would you react? One of my friends came to know that some random person was talking about her.. even though they hardly talked.. just hi and bye!!!! And she was extremely agitated.. i think i would be too!!!

I dont think i would be able to live with it.. i may not confront the person.. but my behaviour towards that person may change!!! So maybe its better that i dont know this stuff at all.. but then again.. the thought is quite tempting.. and in case you do figure that people think you are obnoxious or something, would you work towards changing your perception? As for me, if i happen to stumble upon anything like this, i think it would be stuck on my mind.. like forever!!!!!!

But i still keep oscillating between the 2 extremes.. between peace and curiosity!!!! lol

So what would it be - would you want to be a fly on the wall and know what people talk about you?

Oh, BTW, the snob bit finally turned out to be true.. somebody did tell all!!!!

Let the festivities begin!!!

Its a season of festivities.. but sadly bangalore is not looking so festive.. of the 3 cities i have been at, delhi is the most festive at this time of the year.. 2nd bombay and bangalore the least...

I love this season.. i was brought up in delhi... so this season was always special.. dusshera and then diwali.. then guru nank jayanti and then christmas and finally new year!!!! These 2-3 months were the most fun months in the entire year... in our colony there used to be ramlila .. where all guys used to participate (even as girls)... and obviously they would forget the dialogue, their clothes would come off.. and to give a contemporary feel, they would show courtesans dancing to hindi numbers in raavan's court!!!!!!! lol!! They always used to do arti of ram and sita at the end of every day's episode .. for the arti they used to play the song "om jai jagadish" but one day they inserted "Ashiqui"'s tape and we saw hanuman doing arti with the song "main duniya bula doonga" playing in the background... but then the ramlila was memorable because of all this only.. and in delhi, you would find these put up at every nook and cranny!!!!

And of course there would be these effigies (of raavan, meghnaath and kumbhkaran) put up in every park.. but it used to be very crowded.. so i have actually seen it only a couple of times.. once on some random person 's terrace.. but you could always hear it.. no matter what part of delhi you are in..

All the streets would be lit up.. all the shops would be lit.. these stalls (sweets and crackers) would come up on every street... i used to love it!!!! And in delhi, the day diwali is over, is when winter officially starts.. and it used to be chilly... !!!!

Malayalees do not celebrate diwali.. there is no concept of diwali there!! But since we were in delhi, we always used to celebrate it!!! In the run up to diwali, mom would make laddus.. we would also buy packs of sweets to give to everyone.. the entire house would be spruced up.. and we would wear traditional Indian clothes... the neighbours / friends used to turn up bearign sweets.. and we cuold not give them sweets then and there.. we would have to go to their house to give sweets!!!! And then evereyone in the family would light diyas together!!!! A beautiful festival.. meant for families.. for togetherness....

In bombay, diwali is not celebrated as much in delhi.. but still at work, we used to wear festive clothes.. as in everyone would be dressed up to the nines!!!!! And the working day before diwali, there were these competitions .. basically no work used to happen...

Here dusshera came and went.. nothing much happened.. i worry diwali will also come and go like this ... but i have decided.. i will celebrate.. like i usually do.. i also plan to make laddus but lets see!!! Its not very festive here.. right now at least!!!! Its depressing.. hvae decided will wear a sari to work for diwali.. i will definitely be festive, come what may!!!!

And then finally christmas.. which i have started celebrating now.. last year we went to Mount Mary church.. so beautiful it was.. the entire street.. i also had a small christmas tree at my place.. which i intend to have even now!!!! And finally new year.. we used to buy peanuts and popcorn.. and sit in front of the TV , cozy in our rajais, and watch these new yr shows .. at that time there were only 1 or 2 shows that used to come.. and all of us used to enjoy it.. i remember sharon prabakar, udit narayan singing some songs, then jaspal bhatti's show etc!!!!

Those were the days!!! Is it any wonder why i love this season!!!! I will remain festive this year too... no matter what...(i know i said the same thing a few lines back but no harm in reiterating)

Leonardo must die!!

Sounding very dramatic arent i... well this post today is about Leonardo di caprio... i watched Body of lies day before and hence the thought is quite top of mind.. this thought occured to me before watching this movie obviously..

Does he i.e. leonardo di caprio have to die in every movie for it to become a success... all his recent movies blood diamond, departed.. well the directors do tend to kill him iall these movies... you see on screen this very likeable guy, who's doing stuff which is quite futile because there is always someone else running the whole show.. a guy with a good heart who is in the thick of things and then bam.. he is dead!! If you have watched blood diamond and departed you will agree i am sure!!! Actually if you look at it, all the 3 movies (the departed, blood diamond and body of lies) are somewhat similar in nature.. one is of course his role in all 3!!! All 3 have some political overtones.. more than political i should call it "the system".. all 3 have this faint strain of romance as well .. 2 end tragically.. actually its difficult to define the commonality but there sure is i feel!!!

So on sunday, i went to watch Body of lies.. i had seen the trailers earlier.. you see the trailer and you think i am sure this fella is gonna die again in this movie.. so quite expected him to die in the movie.. but natural.. and more so because i had seen departed and blood diamond again a few days back!!!

Well, he doesnt die in Body of lies...surprise surprise.. thank god.. i really do like this chap!!! Well, but he almost dies.. there is this scene, where his fingers are chopped off... and they put him on the execution table.. there are at times these scenes, these gruesome scenes that you dont want to watch but cant help but watch, in anticipation of what happens next.. and i was so sure they are going cut of his intestines or something and show it too... and then suddenly he gets saved.. phew!!!!

In one of my earlier posts, i had mentioned that there are some people whose movies you would want to watch .. you would think if this person is there in the movie, the movie will be worth watching... definitely added leonardo di caprio to that list!!

And I must say though, the movie was quite good.. Russell Crowe was fabulous!!!! Utterly fabulous!!!!

Guess who's back!!!!!

Well, very obviously me!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! yayyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy!!!!!!!!
Last month has been frustrating.. everyday there is something that happens and i think.. i must put this on my blog... Its been one month. .... one full month that i have not been able to access blogs! I was having withdrawl symptoms!!! Absolutely bored.. blogging being one of the mediums where i could have thought provoking discussions (yeah right!!!!)... well.. does provoke my thought process..lol

So finally after all these days, the net connection hapened .. only to give way to the fact that comp stopped functioning.. and i was in total agony!!!!! Really!!!!!!! But finally, its all come together.. my sweet husband did something to the comp and now its functioning... time for another yayyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy!!! lol !!! Well, i am really happy!!!! Was completely dysfunctional without this!!

So whats the news... i finally found a channel that plays hindi music and english music.. this calls for another yay!! Small things give so much joy in life!!! At times its not as clear as i would liek it.. but hey, at least i am getting to listen to hindi music.. count your blessings is what someone said!!!! So things are coming together in Blr... yipeeeee.. so now you can expect action on my site, after a long long time!!!!!!!!!!!!!