Cocktail

Yesterday I went to watch a Hindi movie after a long time! I think the last one I saw in the theatre was Rang De Basanti or Bunti Aur Bubli or Black. Whichever came last!

So yeah yesterday I went to watch Cocktail with a few friends from work. The movie starred Saif Ali Khan, Deepika Padukone and Diana Penty and Boman Irani.

*SPOILER ALERT*

The first half of the movie was rather funny and I laughed quite a bit in spite of my pathetic command over the language. The crux of the plot is a love triangle (which Bollywood movie doesn't have that plot!!).

Boman Irani played his role really well, and to be honest I quite enjoyed myself in the first half. The second half was another story altogether. The movie failed to grasp my attention and became predictable. The final scene showed Saif attempting to propose to Diana for what seemed like eternity. I'm sure battles have been won in shorter durations! In the end I think he didn't even say the exact words and Diana probably just said "Yes" just to shut him up.

The movie has its fair share of corny dialogue like "I like the way you smell" and all I could think of was 'He should fart now'. It's not a guy thing cause even a friend of mine thought the same!

Bottom line: The movie isn't worth 300 bucks. 150 would be more appropriate. In fact I'd suggest giving it a skip altogether because it really isn't great. Unless a trip to the theatre has been long overdue and you must go for something!

Boca Grande

Today I went to a place called Boca Grande for lunch. It was an impromptu decision as we had already decided earlier that we would go to Spoonful of Sugar for lunch. I have a feeling that the place is jinxed cause I've heard about that place since March but for some reason or another, plans don't materialise. Anyway this isn't about Spoonful of Sugar, I'm sure that there will be a post solely dedicated to that once I do manage to go there.

It's a nice looking place in Koramangala on Ganapathy Temple Road. For your convenience here's a link.

The seats were quite weird. The incline was such that it gave one the sensation of falling if you leaned back. The service is quite slow, but I guess that's okay considering most people come here to chill and have a conversation. I ordered a smoked chicken salad and it was quite good. I've had better no doubt, but for 100 odd bucks it was worth it.

Between the entire group we ordered everything from pasta to steaks. It's worth noting that whatever we ordered was rather tasty and good value for money. I've been told that the breakfast on weekends is amazing.

A meal for two would cost approximately 600 bucks. This is definitely a place worth checking out if you're in the area.

First Post

This is my first post from the Samsung galaxy s3. Hopefully this work of art will help me post more often! Cheers to the s3!

And just for kicks, here's a picture of my bay!

CPR for a Mobile Phone!!

I’ve wanted to write this post for a very long time but somehow I just couldn’t get myself to do it for various reasons. Mostly it was down to the fact that after I got home for work I’m pretty much exhausted and the last thing I want to do is look at the computer screen! I know, there’s always the weekend but sleeps just has a vice like grip on me and if I do get out of bed, it is to go and put a new load of dirty clothes for laundry every two hours.

Ironically I find myself writing this in a place that takes up most of my time and is main cause for me having delayed it this far! My desk at work! Yes, its 9:30 A.M on a Saturday and I’m in office! C’est la vie!

Moving on, I’m sure everyone who has owned a phone; has at some point or the other dropped it in water (to no fault of theirs of course! The phone slipped! Phone is to be blamed!). I recently (about a month ago) dropped my phone in water and I did a few things/heard a few more things that probably saved it from being a plastic brick. I thought I’d share these “tips”.

1. Get it out of the water as quickly as possible! (Don’t have be Einstein to understand why!)
2. Remove your battery, and no matter how tempted you get, DO NOT switch it on. (I think this has something to do with the circuitry, don’t ask me! I’m no good at electronics)
3. If you have a hair dryer or access to a hand drier in a washroom, try drying your phone in a stream of hot air. Be careful though, it could get really hot and could damage your phone. Best to dry it in short intervals. A good test would be if your hand is uncomfortable due to the heat, your phone probably feels the same.
4. If you have rice in your house (which I’m sure every Indian home does!) put the phone in an airtight container of rice for a few hours.
5.  I had silica gel sachets with me when I was in office so after removing the battery, in its place I put a sachet of silica gel and closed the battery cover. I don’t know if this helped but I’d like to think it did.
6. Can’t stress how important this is, so I’ll say this again! Do NOT switch on your phone for at least a day. If possible, just take it to the service centre ASAP and let them do the work.

I guess that’s all the “gyan” I have to offer! If you have some tips of your own please do share with clumsy souls like myself !!

Rosy Wings!

A long time ago, when I was writing a post on my old blog, I got the phrase " time flies by on rosy tipped wings" in my head. I knew I had heard something similar somewhere but I just couldn't place it. This was roughly two years ago. During those two years, I've scoured the internet for any sign of this quote but to no avail. Obviously my search was intermittent, starting whenever my mind retrieved this unfinished business that was floating around in its abyss and stopping whenever it got weary of searching.

I had a vague idea that I came across it somewhere during my ISC. My first suspect was Great Expectations by Charles Dickens. Yes, I did read that book voluntarily after leaving school. I endured all of Pip’s nonsense only to come up empty handed. Next up was The Tempest by William Shakespeare. Another book I detested. Prospero, Miranda, Fernando; what a load of tosh! Key thing to note, I was still empty handed. These were my two main targets and I drew blanks.

Anyways to cut a long story short, I asked several friends whether it sounded familiar to them. Basically it was to ensure that I wasn’t imagining that I read it somewhere. Alas! It was familiar to quite a few, but none could put a finger on it! "Try The Needle" by Isaac Bashevis Singer, "Read K.N. Daruwalla’s Love Across The Salt Desert" they suggested. I even hunted down Guy de Maupassant for his The Dowry and The Necklace. It was a long time since I finished school and I couldn’t recollect all the short stories that were there in Figments of Imagination.

The day before; exhausted from work, my 10 P.M power nap found me waking up at 1:30 A.M. Subsequently, I was unable to sleep after tossing and turning in bed for a while, my mind did that what I had now come to dread. It retrieved from the abyss the fact that I still hadn’t found the quote. Switched on my laptop at 2:30 A.M. and began my search once again. At 3:30 A.M I finally found it! Well not ‘it’ exactly. I had a feeling I hadn’t remembered the quote verbatim and that I probably had the essence of it right. It was hidden away in one of O. Henry’s ironic stories. And without much further ado, let’s get to the quote (or the essence of it).

Oh, and the next two hours tripped by on rosy wings. Forget the hashed metaphor. She was ransacking the stores for Jim's present.

- O. Henry (The Gift of the Magi)

There it was! At 3:30 AM I felt like Archimedes shouting Eureka through the streets of Syracuse! The long search was over and perseverance (or stubbornness to let it go) finally paid off!

There is only one other search that rivals this one. The search for O Fortuna! But that is a story for another time!