I have mentioned on this blog before that this Vidhu Vinod Chopra creation is lovely little love story between to young adults from a small town and has a special part in my heart.

I think I saw the movie when I was in 8th std on Doordarshan and instantly fell in both the characters of Bobby and Neha. The goofy Booby with his amateurish acting skills and Neha with that everlasting smile.

Bobby was new and bit raw at that time. He acted his part so well, a small town boy, from middle class business family. He is care less, irresponsible and gets his kicks from telling lies. He roam around the town eating hand full of peanuts from his front pocket.

Neha is beautiful girl, with that rare old world charm and her smile is to die for. She is from poor family and lives with her windowed mother.

And I won’t narrate the story here but Bobby makes her fall in love and on weeding day it all goes kaput for the love birds because of a small lie by Bobby.

The movie works for me because the characters are not perfect and very believable. The not so superior acting skills of leading couple adds a charm to the characters they play.
I think same movie with established actor would have failed to impress me.

The movie has lovely mushy moments and a good dose of comical relief. Love, Pain, humor in right amount of mixture.

The remaining cast is superb, from aggressive Saurabh Shukla to
Funny Johney lever. The cinematography is beautiful and every frame is picture perfect.

The music needs a special mention here, Anu Malik has done super job with ‘ha judaai is darta hai dil’ and ‘chori chori’.

I haven’t seen any other movie directed by Mr. Chopra but I think this is his best. I dont think he can’t make a better movie than this one.

What is your favourite Bollywood love story and why?

Also I would like to clarify that this is not a book review site but you can see that the challenge has brought me back to my beloved blog. I get random ideas to write new post but if I don’t have computer near me the ideas get lost in between (I don’t really like typing on my phone, you see).

Also the life has been too hectic these days, new job has been consuming all the time and first time ever in my life I am working on few weekends as well, not good I say. Soon I will be completing a year at the new company, may be after that I will be able to fix those things. Wont be able to find first company love again, I guess. :!

Also, you guys don’t visit my blog or you are ashamed to like my fb blog link? If that’s the case then I totally understand.:P because In public even I don’t acknowledge this blog. Anyways taking my chances by putting the link here, just in case if you have been listening to to many bappy da songs!

https://www.facebook.com/allthecrap

Also, for the whole year I forgot to mention that I was in Australia last year for a month long work trip, Its a nice country. Also met an old acquaintance in Melbourne and she really made me feel at home and as a friend. It was heart warming! Couldn’t stop raving about her to our mutual friends when I came back.

Also got to see bit of Australia and it was lovely and met few warm Ozzie people. Let me also mention that every Ozzie guy is at least 6 inch taller and 20 KG heavier than me. Every second guys is east Asian in Melbourne, every third guys is Indian and every taxi driver is a Punjabi. You can always feel at home in that city.

Also they don’t use water jets in Toilet!

I have read Ashwin Sanghi’s Chankya Chant and I liked the book, Ashwin has a neck of mixing Indian mythology/history with the contemporary story, And he is good at that. The story of modern day Chankya really excited me, it was nicely done and it was good to see Indian author attempting something new. So when the next book was up for grabs, I had my eye on the same.

The back cover of his new book says :

“Five thousand years ago, there came to earth a magical being called Krishna, who brought about innumerable miracles for the good of mankind. Humanity despaired of its fate if the Blue God were to die but as reassured that he would return in a fresh avatar when needed in the eventual Dark Age – Kalyug. In modern times, a poor little rich boy grows up believing thst h is that final avatar. Only, he is a serial killer.“

‘The Krishna Key’ is Ashwin’s third book and it revolves around Indian God Krishna and alleged formula/key he has left behind centuries ago and it is supposed to be source of immense power.

The story starts with murder of a scientist who is working on The Krishna key and his friend a history professor Ravi Mohan Saini gets arrested for the murder. Ravi has limited resource and a helpful doctoral student to find out the original killer to prove his innocence. Its a long and cryptic journey to find the killer and the secret of The Krishna Key. The story of God Krishna moves in parallel with the murder mystery, although disconnected.

The story has many characters and each character has his/her on back story. The characters are nicely sketched and has depth. Ashwin has invested in each of these characters.I only have issue with character of Sir Khan, how on the earth he has so much knowledge of histoy and science? Its never explained. The plot is very solid but in middle of the book it goes bit off the track and it never comes back to original pace. It doesn’t arouse the same level of curiosity which you have while reading the first half.

The book has big mixture of history, culture and science. Its pretty evident that Ashwin has put in lot of research in this book but the disclaimer says that its a work of fiction. The problem with such books is you cant trust the fact stated in the book, you have that ‘fiction’ tag in back of your mind. The book try to establish that India was the center of almost everything from rich civilization to origin of maths. The books mention that even India invader Mohm. Gazni was Krishna’s decedent, quite scandalous.

Ashwin loads us with so much of research data that it gets difficult to digest all in one book.I think this book could have been trimmer by some 100 pages, Its page turner till the middle but after that it loses its steam and and for last 50 pages you just want it to end. And the end doesn’t justify the means.

My verdict : 3/5

This review is a part of the Book Reviews Program at BlogAdda.com. Participate now to get free books!

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

Plot :

Mikael Blomkvist is financial journalist and is part owner of a Magazine. Mikael life hits a roadblock when he gets sued by one of the biggest industrialist for writing a story without any evidence and gets convicted. Seizing the opportunity another retired industrialist Henrik Vanger pursue him to investigate the case of his missing niece, Harriet. Harriet went missing 40 year ago and case has been closed. Mikael reluctantly takes up the case and start investigating the with pretext of writing a autobiography of Henrik Vanger so he can interview Hanger’s family members. Mid-way through the investigation he is assisted by girl named Lisbeth Salander. Lisbeth Salander is young girl with her own past and is a social misfit. They get along and start unearthing the case step by step. They both connect the missing dots and how.

Stieg choose unusual plot, The case is 40 years old and chances of cracking it is very less. The book is fast paced with its share of twists, that’s how a thriller should be written. Once you start the book its hard to put down. The characters are strong and nicely sketched. The suspense is build nicely and climax is satisfactory. The book is bit long but not boring at any point of time (You may find initial 100 pages bit of a drag). There is a minor loop hole in the story which corrected in the movie adaptation. Also if you don’t like violence stay away from it because it has loads of it.

If you plan to watch the movie after reading the book don’t try it, You will be disappointed. I have strong urge to read the next book in the series but its too long 700+. May be, not now but eventually think I will read it.

If you have read a thriller before or if you haven’t, You would love this.

Rating : 4.5/5

She was old traditional Rajasthani lady. She had no teeth as far as I can recollect but she used to tell me proudly that when I was young and toothless she used to chew the food and feed me, She lost all her teeth pretty early. She had more wrinkles than females of her age would have had. She was fair, thin and beautiful.

I lost my Grandma (Dadi, we used to call her Bai) around Ganesh Chaturthi in 2003. She was in bad shape in last months of her life. I think she lost the zeal to live when her partner for so many years left her, My grandpa (used to call him Ba) passed away few year back. My grandpa had memory problem in his last years and hence he used to argue a lot with my Dadi but they were inseparable. My dadi never stayed without him, wherever they stayed, her other son/daughters house or our place. They stayed together.

Bai was calm and happy person, She was a doting Grandma, She treated all her grand children with great affection. Contrary to my impression My mother tells me that my Grandma was bit harsh in her younger days and used to discriminate between her children, She was biased towards her sons. Its hard to believe, As I have seen a totally different side of her. In fact She loved my Sister more than any one of her grandchildren.

Sister and I got to stay with her more than anyone else. My sister is obedient and hard working, The amount of effort she had put in for Bai and Ba is incomparable and I respect her so much for that(Though I never told her so). I was the one who used to fool around and used to have mock fight with Bai, used to tickle her, pull her cheeks, disturb her during her puja. She never ever raised her voice on me, She loved me too much. I hate the fact that I shouted on many occassions out of frustration when she was ill, when I think about that I feel ashamed I could have been so much better. The regretted I would die with.

I think she is the only person in my life I miss the most. I can’t imagine the amount of happiness on her face if she had seen me getting married. The love she would have showered on my wife. I miss, The random hugs I could give to her, Tickling her if she didn’t laugh on my aloofness, making her dance with me.

I miss her.

I would like to thank some of the on and off readers/commenters of this blog.

Mukta : She has been really kind in posting comments on my blog and I think she is the first regular reader I had for my blog. Also she is a no non-sense blogger, Thanks Mukta.

DI : Again she started reading my blog recently. She has been a regular one. I wouldn’t say she writes like me ( It would be an insult) but just like me she can also write a post out of nothing and make it readable ( At this point the difference comes between her and mine writing, My writing remains pathetic ). Thanks DI.

BB : I had a blogspot blog when I started blogging but I never really wrote much there and one day I landed on BB’s blog and since then I am hooked to her blog. I would say more-or-less she has been the inspiration for starting this blog. I think her about me page is the best. Thanks BB.

Pooja : Totally forgot her name, She has been quite frank in giving her feedback which she used to give (Mostly offline). Thanks Poo.

I would also like to thank some people like thesalpit, lilbrain, anjugandhi, priyanka, vikram for reading this blog every time I sent the links.

Thanks again. Should be back with a bang.

Life has been bit rough lately with some health issues with me (Not Major thing) but who wants to pop those pills? I think it will phase out. Appraisal is in and its so not happening. Hence I decided to move on in life. That’s switching the job and I am already serving the notice period. Let’s see how it goes, wish me luck.

I remember on my first day of joining I was bit nervous, more excited. It took me 2.5 hour to reach the office and 30 minutes to locate it. I sat in the room full of oldies with 4 of us freshers trying to figure out what the presenter with Salman’s accent was trying to convey. Anyhow the long day ended and It took me more than 2 hour to commute back. I resigned the next day. yup, thats true and then I joined my current company. It has been good to me and I had a nice experience but Its the time to move.

Long time No See

Married life is going good and almost completed 10 months, Cant believe that!! So I wanted to plan something around the anniversary, some small 4-5 day trip but you know I am not single anymore and I am not the one who wears pants in the house (I like my 3/4th), So wife has different plans and she is taking me with her for 15 days trip with all my in laws (Almost entire village), They have booked a whole train and they are going for …wait for it…pilgrimage..Yes, Yes you heard it right in my twenties I will be going to different temples to wash away my sins.. :( Are Bhai..Budhape me kya krunga fir? Anyway trip is final unless something changes at the last minute.

Also I saw a new country, was on work assignment and it was nice to meet new people from different culture and background, They were funny not humble But it was a good experience. May be someday I will share some incidents from that trip.

When I started writing this post I had so many funny incident to share and this post is ending and I dont remember a thing. Writing after a long time and also not writing from a office PC makes your funny bone little less funny, isn’t it?

Its pity that I discovered Sidin’s blog so late. He has a funny bone and it reflects in his blog, tweets and book. Its his first attempt at writing and he has already decided to write trilogy.

Dork

The book documents the journey of Robin from his placement day till he completes an eventful year in his first company. Its documented in diary format from Robins point of view.

The book is written only with one thing in mind, To make people laugh because it doesn’t have a decent plot or a story nor any decent side characters. Characters come in the narration and goes out without adding much to the content. Only character stays with you is Robin, The narrator. He is fool and thats why witty.

Sidin has taken many digs at how consultant works and how they get paid for doing nothing. Which is not true, I believe but if you don’t exaggerate it will not be funny. I really liked the Ball bearing incident in the book. Book also has a love story thrown in to add some masala.

Overall a decent light read. You don’t have to remember anything while reading this. You can start at any page and it will still be funny and senseless. So throw the logic out of the window and just enjoy Sidin’s writing skills.

Added later : Forgot to add that the book has abrupt ending and it feels like Author published only half the book he has written. Just to make another part in Trilogy?

Rating : 3/5.

Its like pretending to give no shit for the cutest gal in the class when everyone around has hots for her? eh? Just because you know you cant get her. But you will still remember the question she asked to you in 1st sem at the bus stop “Bhaisaab, chinchpokli ki bus yaha se jayegi?” Obviously minus the Bhaisaab part. So every time I see a new comment it makes me feel good.

I am not a great blogger or for that matter not even capable of writing 2 coherent sentence without using auto correct. Still I have 685 comments (Not to mention 80% of them selling Viagra) on this blog and thats an achievement for a bull shit talker like me.

I don’t know what bring you guys gals here. Let me ask you. Is it the awesome quality content on the blog(Stop laughing), Weird sense of humor I have, Its because I comment on your blog? (Give and take? uh?), Its because the little peeking tom in you love to read (kind of) personal diary (I admit, I don’t reveal much like others do and its also bit exaggerated ). There are at least 19 of you who read my blog (Google reader says so). So Please Brace yourself and answer this simple question.

Comment Please

I know, its not worth-the-comment kind of post, But I would really like to know. Choose any of the above reason or write a new one (with explanation if possible). So if I ever made u laugh, cry, suffocate, angry, disgusted, suicidal ping me.

You know, You will bring a smile to my face.

Cheers to a new year and another chance for us to get it right.

-Oprah Winfrey

Wow! Its year end. And what an year It has been for me; both personally and professionally. I got 3 Certification done and also got married to a lovely gal. I can die without any regrets now. :P Just kidding.

I wanted to write a pre-marriage post in Nov end but couldn’t make it after all those shopping and exam preparation( Ye, I gave an important exam 4 days before my wedding and cleared it too. :)) . So here I am writing this down before this year ends.

I wanted to touch at least 100 post mark by this year end but couldn’t manage to do so. The second half of year has been very unproductive and you all know why But hopefully will achieve that milestone in new year.

Happy New Year

Again I don’t have much to say Its been a wonderful year for me and I hope coming one is even brighter. Wishing you a lovely year ahead.

Signing off with a small conversation between gal and me.

In a bus journey: She is in all romantic mood and thinking about something with her head in my lap and then she asks.

Gal : When did you decide you want to be an engineer?

Me : *Looking around. Is that for me?* Well..you know what? hmm..well…hmmm… I don’t know. Just went with the flow and my friends.

Gal : Oh! Ok.

Me : N (Her Name).

Gal : Yes.

Me : When did you decide that you want to do hmm…nothing in your life?

Cant continue with the story, too violent for family audience of my blog. In short she doesn’t like PJs anymore.

Ok. I know that doesn’t sound funny or intelligent either But trust me it was one of the most funny situation I have been into. Her expression was priceless.

Just two words before I go : Keep it Real! *wink*

P.S : Wrote first half on 31st Dec, Hence.