Monday, April 26, 2010

Unbelievable!!!

Remember my Lenovo laptop? Well... 2 days after it was repaired and returned to me... the same problem has started again.
It will go for repairs again. I have mailed a complaint to Lenovo.I doubt they will respond.

Anyway... I don't know when I will post again... hopefully, this month.

Adios... will miss ya.

Sunday, April 25, 2010

Powai is unlucky

Last month we (KC and me) went for dinner to 'Red Chillies' at Hiranandani Powai. HP is close to home and not crowded... so going there is a pleasure. The dinner turned out to be a dud... we didn't like the food, the bill was huge, we left hungry and broke. To cheer ourselves we headed to Baskin Robbins across the road or was it Gelato? Don't remember... they all seem the same. Strangely, the ice cream sucked. We were dreaming of shifting to HP but this experience put us off.
2 weeks back we spent some time at Powai lake. I drive by quite often and thought it would be nice to just walk there. For dinner we headed to Sankalp at HP. Sankalp is a chain of South Indian restaurants started in Gujarat... A'bad, Bhuj, Bhavnagar, Rajkot etc. It was my saviour in Rajkot. Nothing could go wrong here... or so we thought. The meal was duh... the sambhar didn't taste the same... the dosa was crap... and everything was more expensive than in other Sankalp outlets.
We left disappointed... again.

If anyone knows any good restaurants in HP... plz let me know. But if I don't like it... I will find you and kill you.

Saturday, April 24, 2010

Up in the air


I have heard and read soooo much about this movie.
It is a story about a man who makes a living out of firing people. During recession many people were fired in most organizations of USA but they didn't want to do the dirty work themselves and people like George Clooney were hired.
George lives out a suitcase... and hates returning home. He is barely in touch with his family and gives motivational talks on avoiding commitment.
Towards the 2nd half the movies becomes senti, mushy mushy, romantic.
The end left me puzzled... what was the point of the movie?

Watch it once... it does not live up to its reviews.

Thursday, April 22, 2010

Save money

When I moved into my building I wondered how I would pay the bills. Weekdays are busy at work, saturdays are not off and nothing is open on Sunday. How is a working woman living alone supposed to pay her bills?
Thankfully, the watchmen are very helpful. They pay the bills on a service charge of Rs 20 every month.
I was fiddling with the laptop and found websites of MSEDC and MTNL for electricity and phone bill payments. I will Rs 20 every month which equals Rs 240 per year. Yoohoo!!!

I like it when technology makes life easy and convenient.

When the laptop was not around I was btd (bored to death). Dinner was done by 9 pm and I wondered what to do next. There was never anything on tv. I would call KC; "It is 9 pm... what do I do now? I can't sleep so early... what do I do?"

The day I got the laptop Lenovo people called;
Her: Hi.. The problem you had with the laptop has been rectified now
Me: I know that. Where were you all this time when I was trying to get in touch? Now you call me???

Sigh... thats what customer service is like in India.

Btw... check out rajshri.com for old tv serials like Malgudi days, Hip hip hurray, Mahabharata, Ramayan etc. If you have a broadband connection you can view them online. I wish I could download the videos.

Wednesday, April 21, 2010

The Gamechangers

I had to look for this book in a couple of Crosswords. Why do they have stock outs of the most popular books? Anyway... it is written by fakeiplplayer. Remember him? He created a furore during IPL2. He was more popular than the game... even I followed him without following the game.
The book is written by him on the IPL2. It is a good read... interesting. Of course, how much is the truth is anyone's guess. I was hoping there would some clue about his identity but there isn't.
What a coup. The guy has published a book without revealing his identity.
Damn cool.

The Princess and the Frog

KC is a fan of animated movies. He wanted to watch Kungfu Panda (I had seen it with Tanuj at Gurgaon) but could not rent the CD. We picked up this one instead.
The flick is ok kinds... can be watched in a theatre only. It is a musical... I hate animated musicals... exception is Aladdin.
You can give it a miss.

Story spoiler ahead:
A princess's friend who works as a waitress turns into a frog when she kisses a frog prince. The frog prince was a prince who had been changed into a frog by a magician. They set out to search for the voodoo lady who can remove the curse. In the end, the frogs get married and turn into humans after they kiss.

Monday, April 19, 2010

How to train your dragon

This is the only watchable movie playing in the theatres right now. KC and I headed for it...
A fabulous movie... loved every minute of it.
Don't miss it.

Friday, April 16, 2010

Blogging...

Hiya... My Lenovo laptop has gone for repairs. There was some problem with the LCD screen. It has been almost 2 weeks. This is how it went:
  • Laptop was given. The engineer told me it was a hardware problem, they would have to order some parts, installation will take 1 day and I can take the laptop after a week
  • After a week they told me part has arrived and by evening laptop will be ready
  • In the evening they told me the part was "incompatible" or "doa- dead on arrival". They will re-order and follow the entire procedure

As a logical human being I asked questions like:

  • How can the company send "incompatible part"... were they not given the model no?
  • How can I be sure they will send the correct part next time?
  • How much time will it take?

But then again... who am I to question the mighty MNC company? Just a customer??? Someone looking for service?

I have been calling their customer care... they make me wait for 20 mins... and then someone says I have called the "pre-sales" department... and I need to contact "post-sales". Bloody m***** f*****... I am in sales but have never heard of such ridiculous terms.

Everything is bloody blocked on the official laptop... it is for "official purposes" only. It gives me a reason to shut it down at 6 pm and forget about it.

So people... I might be gone for sometime... blogging through KC's laptop or official laptop just doesn't feel the same.

Remind me not to buy a Lenovo laptop again.

Monday, April 5, 2010

Vagina Monolgues

I have been dying to watch a play in Mumbai. I spotted the schedule for this play in Vashi. Bandra and South Mumbai are beyond my driving radius on weekends... but Vashi is close. I was very excited... have heard soooooo much about it. KC urged me to book the tickets.
Half hour before the play I graciously asked KC to meet his friends instead of watching the play since he was missing them. I didn't expect him to actually ditch me.
Guys- a piece of advice. If a woman loves you she will not want to part from you for even a minute. Don't pick anything/anyone else (friends, family, movies, video games, cricket) over her.. even if she urges you to. It is just a test of your love for and loyalty towards her.
Of course, KC failed miserably in the test.
Anyway he was out of my mind as soon as the play began. As the name suggests... it is about vaginas... and their owners (women). What better way to talk about women than about their vaginas. A lot is written, discussed, heard about the penis... it is supposed to be the defining feature of men... but what about the vagina?
In the process issues like gender mutilation, rape etc are covered... without losing the humour. The audience was laughing their guts out.
The actors were Dolly Thakore, Avantika Averkar (pretty, bold, sassy), Mahabanoo Kotwal, Jayati (a tv actress... not pretty but mind blowing acting), Sonali (a doctor turned actor).

The best parts were Avantika's rendition of an orgasm (far better than Meg Ryan's in When Harry Met Sally) and Jayati's description of the kinds of pleasure "moans".

Guys and gals... if you ain't seen this... you ain't seen nothing yet.

Stop and Stare

This town is colder now, I think it's sick of us
It's time to make our move, I'm shaking off the rust
I've got my heart set on anywhere but here
I'm staring down myself, counting up the years
Steady hands, just take the wheel...
And every glance is killing me
Time to make one last appeal... for the life I lead

Stop and stare
I think I'm moving but I go nowhere
Yeah I know that everyone gets scared
But I've become what I can't be, oh
Stop and stare
You start to wonder why you're here not there
And you'd give anything to get what's fair
But fair ain't what you really need
Oh, can you see what I see

They're trying to come back, all my senses push
Untie the weight bags, I never thought I could...
Steady feet, don't fail me now
Gonna run till you can't walk
Something pulls my focus out
And I'm standing down...

Stop and stare
I think I'm moving but I go nowhere
Yeah I know that everyone gets scared
But I've become what I can't be, oh
Stop and stare
You start to wonder why you're here not there
And you'd give anything to get what's fair
But fair ain't what you really need
Oh, you don't need

What you need, what you need...

Stop and stare
I think I'm moving but I go nowhere
Yeah I know that everyone gets scared
But I've become what I can't be
Oh, do you see what I see...

I don't exactly understand what the song is about... but love love love it. I played it over and over and over (around 10 times) while driving from Vashi to Mulund. I like to do that sometimes... play one song on loop.

Every time I think... I can get used to staying alone... its not so bad... then KC comes home... fills my life with love, laughter, tears, mood sings, intimacy, pranks, hugs, cuddles... and when he leaves... I am filled with darkness.
We complete one year of marriage this month... and it is weird to say "marriage anniversary"... I'd rather celebrate the day we got together (both of us don't remember the exact date... we have to search our chats in gtalk). I turn back and see how our relationship has changed... what we have discovered about each other... how much closer/comfortable we are... and how the attraction is going strong... how we have learned to adjust to each others' natures... learned to deal with conflicts (1 fight every 2 months is kinda healthy)... tried to include each other's friends in our "joint" life (these days it is a package deal... invite 1 get another 1 free)... and lots more.
One thing I really love to do is take his advice... not 'coz I can't decide... but I like to discuss something before deciding (I may not always follow the advice... and thats ok).
Example for an extreme to this is below:
KC and I bought mangoes the other day. He was boasting to his Mom how he picked the mangoes and they turned out to be tasty.
KC: I am the official mango selector from now on
Me: Ok... I will have to survive on the 3 mangoes at home this week
KC: Why?
Me: 'Coz you will come home next week and you are the mango selector
KC: You can do this... go to the market... call me, describe each mango in detail and buy the one I ask you to

Don't be surprised if you see a lady describing a dozen mangoes on the phone to her hubby and then buying the ones he "okays".

Friday, April 2, 2010

The golden age of Indi Pop

There was a time in the 90s (I think) when pop stars sprung up everywhere... Shaan, anaida, alisha, baba sehgal, the models, shweta shetty, mehnaaz, suchitra krishnamurthy, raageshwari etc. The songs were damn good.
I don't know why things went downhill after that. The pop industry has never recovered.
I must just refreshing my memory on youtube with the songs:
  • Oova oova by anaida... atul agnihotri looks hot in this one
  • Hoo halla hoo by anaida... very hummable
  • Boom boom by nazia hassan (and biddu).... damn good
  • Dole dole by Suchitra... reminds me of crushes I had as a teenager... oh the obsession, desperation, emotional atyachaar.... sweet torture
  • Disco deewane by Saagarika (shaan's sis)... it is a remix... video is not too great
  • Something about the way you smile... by colonial cousins... amazing...
  • Pari hoon main by Suneetha Rao... WOW.. love the video
  • Duniya by raageshwari... love her white shorts
  • O o jaane jaana by kamaal khan.. dungarees, really?
  • Aaja nachle by bally sagoo... love the video... meghna reddy is hot
To be continued... if I don't sleep now... KC will have to walk home at 6 am

Thursday, April 1, 2010

Love Sex Aur Dokha

I am actually listening to songs of LSD and enjoying them. Aren't they too shady?
When did cheap lyrics become "cool"?
I think the trend started with 'Emotional Atyachaar'. The lyrics were not shady but it was a surprise hit. I remember Shashi playing this song over and over and over in office.
Yes... we played songs in office in my previous company. The ASMs gathered in office every 15 days and it became a mela then... laughter, cups of tea, phone calls, music...

Anyway, the songs of Dev D are the only Punjabi songs I like. I hated it when Punjabi music was "in". Everyone who could remotely sing would come up shady Punjabi songs.

I watched LSD again today. It is surprising... all actors are newcomers and yet the acting is superb... no hamming or wooden faces. It is natural and over-the-top when required.
I don't know what John Abraham, Katrina Kaif etc are doing in movies... these newcomers maybe not be half as good looking but they are far better than the "stars".