The light in the darkness

The entire week has been very, very hectic and horrible. I had work which lasted till late... then maybe the gym... the rehearsal... and then coming back to a tension filled home. Everything added to the stress... I have not eaten or slept properly in days. This has never happened to me... nothing makes me lose my appetite but thats fodder for another post.
This post is about the good thing that happened... the Summer Workshop. I was very, very excited. On Thursday we had a rehearsal and it was good. On Sunday I left early for the workshop, reached an hour early and decided to watch the earlier show to kill time. Thankfully, I had a pass and entry was easy peasy. I managed to catch the last half hour of the show and was zapped. There was a hip hop routine by the Delhi and Mumbai senior students and it was so so so so fabulous. The energy was leaping off the stage. It felt like I was watching 'So you think you can dance'... and since I am a regular viewer of the show, I know what I am talking about.
All of us were super duper excited for the show. In the winter, the show was in SiriFort where all the batches were separated and made to sit in different rooms above the auditorium... it was quite boring. Talkatora stadium is much better... we were sitting in front of the audience. There was a huge barrier or backdrop between the audience and us. If we moved to the extreme left, we could actually catch glimpses of the dance. During the final rehearsal I messed up a step or two and wanted to hit myself. After weeks of practicing, I should have had it right by now. I wished there had been time/privacy to practice at home. I was determined to get it right and perfect in the show. I kept revising the steps in my mind.
Another good thing about the workshop is the opportunity to make friends/acquaintances. During regular class, there is no time to interact with others unless someone already knows them beforehand. Most of my batch mates are in school... there are 4-5 of us who are above 25. I got to know 2-3 people a little... we even exchanged nos and helped each other with food, clothes and safety pins.
This time, the workshop was different. There were students from Mumbai who joined Delhi, Noida and Gurgaon batches. There were professional level performances between our amateur performances. The whole program was divided into themes- street dance, modern, contemporary, ballet, Jazz and musical. I loved it. I don't know about the audience... maybe most of them just wanted to watch their kids perform and had no interest in the rest. I loved watching the professional performances... imagine watching something on TV and then seeing something better in front of you. It also showed us that the sky is the limit.... whether we choose to reach out or not is upto us.
Coming to my performance, I did not mess up even once and wanted to scream once we were done. I was huffing and puffing once off the stage. I wondered how did the seniors perform 4-5 pieces.

And also for the first time, I drove alone at night from Delhi to Gurgaon. I generally drag KC along incase I have to go somewhere late and he obliges. I will not be taking such a risk regularly but am a little more confident. Yes- Delhi is unsafe but that should not and does not stop women from venturing out late at night. 

Midnight Drink

Hiya. Tonight is the only time I have been able to spend by myself in a week and I feel so relieved. Am having wine after a really long time.

Sometimes, it is nice to be up late, alone, drinking and watching a movie. 

It is so important to spend time with myself. I am used to also. My job has made me self sufficient. Sure, being alone for long periods of time without any support or company can suck but it is important to like your ownself and enjoy your company. When I even remotely mention it to normal, regular people (unlike us... they do not read blogs and lead a normal life in every sense of the word), they are shocked. Someone who is not comfortable with rules of society??? Thats not normal. 

I am watching Omkara. I have watched it many times and love it. I finished reading 'Fantasies of a Bollywood Love Thief' written by Stephen Alter (Tom Alter's brother). He has followed the movie (Omkara) from conception to release. Reading about it made me want to watch it again.

Ciao... Enjoy your Saturday night.

Tomorrow is the workshop and I am excited. 

Jhumroo

I have avoided going to Kingdom of Dreams for 2 reasons:

• Bad reviews online
• Expensive. Ticket prices begin at Rs 1000 on weekends

Jhumroo is a new show... Zangroo is the other one. My instructors at Danceworx are performing in Jhumroo and have been urging us to watch it. KC was not too interested and since he is not home this weekend, I asked a friend (from engineering college and also in Danceworx) to accompany me. We booked the cheapest tickets and R- the friend brought his friend along. This lady is also from the engineering college and had come to Gurgaon for a day... what a coincidence. 

The lead actors are Gaurav Gera (Jassi's friend in Jassi jaisi koi nahin) and Shweta Gulati (Tia from Remix). I like both of them. The show is a musical with Kishore Kumar songs. The story line is similar to Padosan but in a modern setting. Bhola (Gaurav) cannot sing but thinks he can... he is very naive and most people tend to walk all over him. He is trying to woo Mina (Shweta) who is a fan of India's Super Singer show. One fine day, Kishore Kumar's soul enters his body and he starts singing. He participates in the contest, wins Mina's hand... till the truth comes out and he is screwed.
Damn good.... the songs are amazing... the lighting is out of this world.... the whole setting and arrangement is too good. It almost feels like Broadway (have not been there but thats how I imagine it would be). The show is 2.5 hours long and worth every penny spent. In fact, next time I will spend more and get better seats.
The best were my instructors- Stan and Naren. Stan was the previous instructor who stopped taking Sunday classes for Jhumroo. I found the classes extremely difficult... he is a ball of energy... and really pushed us beyond our limits. I joined Naren's classes in May and then had to switch to the workshop which is taught by Anson. All the instructors are experts at Jazz which involves a lot of technique. Imagine ballet and then imagine a funky form of ballet, thats Jazz. Pointed feet.... straight hands... straight legs... Jazz walk... turned out... parallel feet... shimmie... pirouette... everything has to be thrown out of the window for a Bollywood dance... and even then these guys are amazing. They have so much energy and fun. I could not take my eyes off them.
Whenever we watch shows... we only focus on the main leads... I have started noticing the people performing behind them 'coz for me they are the heroes.
Worth a watch. Please come to Gurgaon only to witness these shows.
After the show we went to Culture Gully for dinner. The ceiling is lit like a sky and it feels like it is day. Beautiful. There are shops with cuisines from all over the country- Assam, Rajasthan, Kerala, Maharashtra etc. I had Pau Bhaji and it actually tasted good. Not pricey at all. The PB cost me 130 bucks which is like nothing in Gurgaon.
It was a fun night. 

Movies...

I have watched a few movies but not blogged about it (laziness?)

• Shanghai: I was excited about the flick... Dibakar and Abhay. Everyone would have watched the movie by now so I will not get into the story. I liked the fact that it is based on reality... thats how politics works. It has not been given a happy ending as a compromise. It is not as exciting as it could have been... the end was predictable. Nevertheless, a good effort. 
• Madagascar 3: Watched it few weeks back. It was good but the magic of Madagascar was missing. It felt like a usual cartoon movie with a lesson in the end. Avoid. 
• Ferrari ki Swaari: I was excited about watching this one since the reviews are good and I like Sharman Joshi. Pathetic. All Sharman did was smile or cry. An overtly emotional Bollywood movie. But what was I expecting? It has been directed by Rajkumar Hirani. He is revered in the movie industry but I did not like his Munnabhai movies... they were too emotional. I had walked out mid way from the theater while watching the first part. Avoidable. 
• Brave: Last weekend we could not get tickets for Gangs of Wasseypur and decided to watch Brave. A really good flick. Loved it. 
• Gangs of Wasseypur: I have been hearing about the movie for a long time now and looked forward to watching it. I generally read reviews on rediff.com. I find them more reliable. I want to quote a few lines in the review:
•  The film never recovers from the unforgivably tedious first half-hour, and despite many laudable moments and nifty touches, never quite engages. This is partly because of every Indian filmmaker's befuddling desire to borrow plot-points from The Godfather whenever dealing with crime families, but mostly because Kashyap is defiant in his self-indulgence, piling on more and more when less could have done the job more efficiently. 
  
  He wouldn't have made a good hitman, clearly; Kashyap is a kingpin.
  
  It must here be remembered that mob bosses, at least the ones Hindi cinema have accustomed us to over the years, have hardly been an efficient lot. They growl orders, surround themselves by those applauding their every maniacal move, and, intoxicated by their own bluster, proceed to boast about their convoluted plot to the protagonist, resulting in their climactic downfall. It is this look-what-I-did windbaggery that constantly weighs down Wasseypur, a highly competent and occasionally enjoyable product, and keeps it from soaring like it should have.
• As you can imagine, there's a fair bit of Prakash Mehra [ Images ] and vintage Yash Chopra [ Images ] running through this film's veins, and while Kashyap doffs his hat to each of the directors in style, his film tries too hard to be more: more than just an actioner, more than just a drama, more even than a bloodied saga. This overreaching desire to be an Epic makes it a film that, despite some genuinely stunning individual pieces, fails to come together as a whole. There is much to treasure, but there is more to decry.
  
  Entire sequences that could be compressed into clever throwaway lines are staged in grand, time-consuming detail; while genuinely sharp lines are often repeated, as if too good to use just once. The characters are a wild, fantastical bunch of oddballs and trigger-happy loons, but attempting to do each fascinating freak justice with meaty chunks of screen-time may not even be film's job. Wasseypur may have worked better as a long and intriguing television series, one deserving a spin-off movie only after six seasons. Here it feels too linear, and even too predictable: scenes themselves often surprise, even delight, but the narrative is cumbersome and unexciting. And, as said before, Godfatherly. 
• http://www.rediff.com/movies/review/review-the-boring-gangs-of-wasseypur/20120622.htm

I did not understand the review. It felt like someone was going out of his way to malign the movie. There are a lot of big words... too much imagery. A person reading movie reviews only wants to know if the movie is good or not. Period. 

Anyway, the other reviews were good... so we watched it. I have seen Kashyap's "No Smoking"... "The girl in the yellow boots"... which are his worst movies (my opinion)... but they are still better than most Bollywood flicks. They are different... they bring a different experience. 

We decided to try the PVR gold class.... an indulgence, albeit an unnecessary one. 

The movie is good... the story is not new... but the setting, background and events are real. It could have easily been shorter. The first part introduces Manoj Bajpai's father and how he dies. That could have been cut short to 1-2 scenes. But after that, it is good. I like the fact that there are many new faces... and some we have seen here and there. Also liked the narrator... thank god, it has not been done by Amitabh/Shah Rukh. There are so many actors who are good orators... why only rely on Amitabh?

I am looking forward to the second part.

As for the gold class experience, it was ok. The tickets are priced at Rs 750 and include a recliner leather seat and welcome drink. Nothing great. We have a similar couch at home. An unnecessary indulgence. 

New Car... Yippie

We just returned home with a new car... but more on that in the next post. This post is NOT about the car.
I have a box of cherries at home. They were purchased on the weekend... it is too much for one person but the store guy was not selling them loose. I started looking up recipes to make something with them and have saved some. Due to lack of time I could not buy the necessary ingredients and the cherry dessert will have to wait till tomorrow.
During the search for a recipe, I came across one for chocolate macaroons. It is extremely simple and made with ingredients at home. I came home and within half an hour had a plate of beautiful, tasty macaroons. They are not typical macaroons- for that I would have to make 2 parts and filling in between.
They are more like cookies... but soft and gooey.
I am posting the recipe below... will have to search where I copied from.

Ingredients:
- 2 egg whites
- 1 cup ground almonds
- 3 tbsp cocoa
- 1 and half cup powdered sugar

Method:
- Preheat oven to 400 degree F. Line baking sheet with parchment paper. I did not have any so used oil. I think parchment paper would have been better. I used a muffin tray since I did not want the batter to spread out and become one flat cookie.
- Mix all the ingredients till it becomes a cohesive mixture.
- Fill a large bowl with cold water and wet your hand before rolling the mixture into small balls.
- Arrange on the tray and bake for 11 mins.

KC was not happy with the soft texture. I prefer it soft and gooey rather than hard. I kept licking the batter off my fingers... it was that tasty. I don't know why they are called macaroons... maybe because they cannot be termed as cookies.
Yum!!!

Punju Wedding

I attended my first Punjabi wedding. Technically, I did not. I left before the wedding started but after dinner was served.
A friend (who used to be close) got married. We (me and another common friend) along with KC were invited for the engagement and wedding/reception. This common friend- lets call him D, is also a Punjabi. The three of us have worked together and now are in separate companies. Like D said, "you are my friends from work". Yeah, he has a lot of categorizations- friends from school, college, work, current work, family friends, relatives etc.... too many compartments to fit all the friends in his life.
But before I get to the wedding, I need to talk about what I wore... or what I did not wear.
In 2008, when I had just moved to Gurgaon I was invited to the wedding of the brother of a colleague. I had no intention of attending but a call in the evening from a senior made me change my mind. I had just moved from sales to the HQ and my clothes reflected that- daily wear, semi formals, comfy clothes and nothing for a party/wedding. With no time to shop I pulled on trousers and a top which would fit party wear. Big mistake. I was mortified when I saw the turnout. Colleagues who looked drab at work had transformed into swans. So, when another colleague was getting married a year later I took the time and money to buy a wedding dress. That is the only dress I have worn to ALL weddings. It has been 4 years. 1.5 years back I had to attend KC's friend's engagement. I bought a sober dress to wear there. After that, I wore it at the office Diwali celebrations. Taking all this into consideration, I decided not to buy anything new for the friend's wedding. But I did not feel like wearing the same clothes. I decided to wear western outfits. The only people I knew at the wedding were the friend, D, KC and maybe 1-2 batchmates from B school. I didn't care what they thought.
Coming back... the engagement was at Pitampura which is in extreme North Delhi. I have been there a few times and regretted it. On Friday evening/night, I reached Pitampura at 9 pm. The time on the card was 8 pm. I was late... or so I thought. The friend- lets call him A, was waiting for the to-be bride... food had not been served... 50% of the people had not arrived. WTF!!! At 10 pm, the bride-to be arrived and by 10.30 pm they were engaged. We reached for the dinner and left by 11 pm. There was a DJ and I assume the party actually started at 11.30 pm and went on till wee hours.
The wedding was on Sunday night in some godforsaken farmhouse in Chattarpur... there were no street lights and the road was bumpy. I told KC if we have come to the wrong address, we will head back home and go to sleep. We arrived at 9.30 pm and I thought we are late. Guess, who meets us at the gate? The groom... in the car... with the baraat around him. He had not yet entered the venue. Finally, after all the dancing and insane noise he entered the venue at 10.30 pm. By then, KC and I had eaten dinner and were planning to leave. At 11 pm, we left just as the bride was arriving. The wedding probably started by midnight.
In all my life, below are the different kind of weddings I have attended:

• Family friends: Since I was in the boarding, I did not know most of my parents' friends. So, these weddings were a pain. My sis and I would plead with our parents to let us stay home but 9 out of 10 times we had to attend. Who was going to cook dinner for us? It was a quick outing... enter, meet the couple, smile, get pics clicked, rush for dinner, eat, leave. Done- by 9-10 pm max. By 11 pm even the couple would have left for home. Btw, this is in Gujarat... so, no liquor
• Family- Sister: Sis's wedding was different... weddings at home are different... the time and day does not matter. It is an entire week of celebrations. We had a sangeet along with mehendi, janoi (my brother's), garba night, engagement (along with DJ night), wedding and reception. People turned up for whatever functions they wanted to. Relatives and close friends attended the sangeet... everyone attended garba and janoi... engagement and wedding were at Indore so it was just close relatives.
• Relatives: I do not remember the actual wedding because I was not there... I was probably gossiping with cousins or playing badminton (no kidding... we did that... played badminton at the other end of the ground), playing with cousins or out frolicking with my cousin brothers. Time did not matter. It was an entire week of celebrations for family and there was the reception for outsiders.
• Close friends: Umm... except one, all the other friends are single. I chose not to attend the wedding since I am not into it. If I had a choice, I would not have turned up for my own wedding... actually, if we had a choice KC and I would have had a live in relationship all our life. 

Punjabi (or is in Delhi) weddings are notorious for starting late... the invitation says 8 pm but the wedding starts at 11 pm. Thats how it is- I was told. Different... very different from Gujarat weddings. 

Few months back my sis was in town and I had taken her shopping. We came across gaudy bling in most of the shops and my sis wondered what happened to the fashion conscious Delhi people. I guess, at a wedding it all goes out of window. Being a Sindhi, I am no stranger to bling... but the bling of this level was beyond my imagination. There was a lady dressed in a blingy saree, with a bling blouse, gaudy jewellery, bling on her eyes and the blingy footwear. For a moment I thought she is the bride to be (I have met her only once and was blinded momentarily by the bling) until I spotted the chudas and realized she is a newly wed. 

I am glad its over and will be avoiding any future weddings. Requesting my friends not to invite me. I think RT is the only friend whose wedding I am looking forward to... the wedding will be in MP and we can go to Bandhavgarh from there. 

2 weeks to go...

... for the Summer workshop. I am excited. The previous workshop- Winter Workshop was quite a bummer. I did like preparing for it and it was hard work but the performance was just not "Me".
In dance, everyone has a style. We are encouraged to watch a lot of videos of different dancers and try and develop a similar style. In the regular classes, we perform on fast, peppy numbers - T Pain, Rihanna, Madonna, Janet Jackson etc. We performed on 'Ladies Choice' from Hair spray (a musical starring John Travolta as a female). It is a fun song but every different from anything we had done in class. I think, everyone struggled to get into the music. It did not come out well. Our instructor kept making changes till the last minute. Partners were changed numerous times and on the final day I did not have a partner... which sucked. I didn't want to perform. I could have walked away and nobody would have noticed. There was a piece in the end performed by a guy and girl at the end. The girl did not turn up on the last day and didn't even call the instructor. The only one who knew the part as well was the instructor and she performed with us. I was just glad it was over.
This time it is different. We are performing on 2 songs- 'Call my lover' and 'Rhythm Nation' by Janet Jackson. The first is a girly number and the second a fast, peppy one. We are almost through with the steps... there is a lot more to do but we are getting there. The best part is I am enjoying it. It is close to what I have been doing these last few months, the songs are good, the instructor is not confused and it is coming along well.
Fingers crossed. The workshop is on 8th July'12 at 8 pm in Delhi. If anyone is interested in dance, contact me for a pass. It costs Rs 150. You just might get inspired and decide to join.