I had decided that I must release the movie, no matter what, next January. Otherwise it will just go on and on and on without a end in view and that's something I don't want obviously. I even have a tentative date - Jan 20th.
Also, after I complete the movie, I have decided not to take up any project the whole of next year. I will just do a bit of travelling and relax for an entire year. I figured that after the film is released, I would definitely deserve a long, good holiday. Plus it is my fourth anniversary next February, so it seemed like a good month to plan a holiday for.
Thus it was decided. I will visit Australia and New Zealand next year.
Travel plans always get me super excited and like everything else I want everything locked in right then and there. I decided to check out the fares and the flight timings and availability etc. etc. After much deliberation, the dates have been fixed. Feb 3 - Feb 16. This would be the longest holiday I would have taken since I started working more than five years ago. Even my marriage leave was shorter!
I called up Singapore Airlines customer service (their service R.O.C.K.S) to book the tickets by redeeming the frequent flyer miles. I spent about 20 minutes with them calculating and recalculating miles required for various itineraries.
I must say all that travel on work finally paid off! A ticket that would have costed me 2000 bucks, was mine for just 400 after the miles were used - that too for a complicated itinerary like Singapore --> Sydney --> Auckland --> Christchurch --> Singapore! Great deal! Am feeling rather clever for figuring out this deal!
So as of today my holiday planning begins and that makes feel all so AWESOME! TOTALLY looking forward to it!
775 more to go.
Wednesday, June 30, 2010
Tuesday, June 29, 2010
Day 224: List-making Conversation
Today was interesting. I had a TON of work like every other day but was planning to hit yoga no matter what. Then hubby called a couple of times and said that he has a "bit of free time." And usually when he has a bit of free time, it means we skip yoga and have a good dinner instead. But I was still determined to go for yoga. However, my workload won over my determination and I could not get out of office on time for the last class. So hubby and I went to Brotzeit to get a drink first. As we ran out of topics to discuss over my Bailey's Irish Cream and his glass of beer, I struck up a new thread of conversation.
That was a mistake. The conversation went from borderline sane to absolutely incomprehensible madness within minutes.
Me: Do you remember what Myer-Briggs combination you are? I only remember that I am an introvert and you are an extrovert.
He: I think I have a bit of everything in me.
Me: Erm... OK... yeah ... but still what's dominating?
He: I am everything. Really. I am The... I am One... I am The One...!
Me: But...
He: I am like the universal template God created!! (Heavy pause as he screws up his nose to remember something and I search for words) AHAM BRAHMAASMIi!! (his eyes light up as he remembers the sanskrit words for "I am the eternal consciousness").
I realized that the Myer-Briggs conversation was getting totally lost over him and changed the subject.
Me: Hey, let's do the things-to-do-before-I-turn-30 list!
He: Ugh... no... not again (I could understand his hesitation but I love making lists)
Me: Come on, you haven't made one in 2 years! It might have all changed by now! We can first write the old list and see how many can been crossed out and then add on any new things-to-do if we have. OK, I will write down mine first. (I volunteered, after successfully finding a scrap of paper from the bottom of my over-filled handbag.)
I proceeded to write down my previous list first, gathering them from my memory and was pleased to tick off a few. Then I wrote a few more, making a total of eight things-to-do before 30. They ranged from sky-diving to sending parents and in-laws on a trip to Europe to currently in-progress things like making the movie. After feeling rather good about the list, I turned to the hubby.
Me: Your turn. Let's start with your old list. What did you have in that?
He: I don't remember.
Me: Hmm... OK, that's easy then. Let's just make a brand new list. Start.
He: OK... if you think of the money... I wanna make...
Me: Wait, why don't we put money towards the end? Let's write other things first.
He: OK... hmmm........well.............erm......
Me: Dude.
He: Oh I know. I wanna lose 5 more kilos.
Me: OK, excellent. What else?
He: 5 kilos less. And 3 girl friends more.
Me: *dirty look*
He: Not 3 girl friends more. Just 3 girl friends.
Me: *dirty look*
He: No?
Me: *dirty look*
He: OK.... hmm....well.... erm....
Me: Dude.
He: OHHHHH (extremely excited) ... POETRY!!!! (he wags a finger at my scrap of paper) POETRY!!!
Me: Am sorry, what?
He: I should write POEMS!! That's what I should do!!! I should write POEMS! I write excellent poems!!
Me: You do?! (I did know that he had written a couple of poems... one was more of a ballad he wrote for a crush in high school and another was a song for my musical in university. But I never knew it was a sedated fire in him, waiting to be rekindled)
He: Of course! Like Rudyard Kipling wrote "If", I will write "What If"! You know... What if he did.... What if the world would.....That sorta stuff!!!
Me: Excellent! (I added "Poetry" to the list.) What else?
He: i would like to travel....
Me: Great!!
He: .... extensively....
Me: Awesome!!
He:... on business class!
Me: Sigh. (pause) FYI, this conversation is going on the blog. It is becoming quite a specimen.
He: Sure. As long as you pay me $5 per visitor to your site.
Me. Right. Back to the list please. What else?
He: Is the 3 girlfriends thing still on?
Me: It was never "on".
He: 2?
Me: Nope.
He: Sigh (looks adequately disappointed). Fine. I think that's about it. Anyway the list doesn't matter because am gonna get nibhbaaklap....
Me: What?
He: nirrabbbkalp...
Me: Huh?
He: Nirvikalp!!!! (Finally managing the word, yet another Sanskrit reference)
Me: What's that?
He: It's like the highest state of being....like this.... (the muscles on his face relax and twitch at the same time. I think the intention was to show me that he was at peace).
Me: That looks like you are enjoying the smell of your own fart (I voiced out my humble opinion).
He: Oh come on. It's really rather cool stuff.
Me: Really?
He: Yeah... it 's about seeing this world as well as the other world... (lowers his voice in a conspirational manner)..but at the same time.
Me: Oh.
He: Yeah ...so that's why those dudes sit with their eyes half-closed. So they can see both worlds. (He demonstrates. His eyes are half-closed for sure, but he looks squint-eyed beneath them).
Me: That's not how they do it. (Assuming that by "dudes" he meant the yogis and saints of the world).
He: That's the way Buddha does it.
Me: Erm... no? Buddha doesn't go squint eyed. The concentration point is above... not at the tip of your nose.
He: Now? (making a sincere attempt at shifting his eyes up while maintaining them half-closed).
Me: Yes. Perfect! (By now the Chinese chap at the next table is eyeing the hubby rather curiously).
He: WOW, that was hard. I hope I can still see!!! (he extends his hand out, thumb up and does a 180 degree arc with it, his eyes following. The Chinese chap looks curiouser).
Me: OK, I think we should go now.
He: OK, remember.... $5 per visitor. (Gets up to leave. The Chinese chap looks crestfallen. I guess he was rather enjoying all the Shukla eye-works).
Me: Deal.
We marched right on to Nalan, not without a bit of hesitation from hubby's part. But this time I did not eat Gobi Manchurian and Chappati. This time I ate "Set meal 1: Dosa, Idly, Vada."
Enlightening conversation and satisfying dinner. Was worth the long day at work!
776 more to go.
That was a mistake. The conversation went from borderline sane to absolutely incomprehensible madness within minutes.
Me: Do you remember what Myer-Briggs combination you are? I only remember that I am an introvert and you are an extrovert.
He: I think I have a bit of everything in me.
Me: Erm... OK... yeah ... but still what's dominating?
He: I am everything. Really. I am The... I am One... I am The One...!
Me: But...
He: I am like the universal template God created!! (Heavy pause as he screws up his nose to remember something and I search for words) AHAM BRAHMAASMIi!! (his eyes light up as he remembers the sanskrit words for "I am the eternal consciousness").
I realized that the Myer-Briggs conversation was getting totally lost over him and changed the subject.
Me: Hey, let's do the things-to-do-before-I-turn-30 list!
He: Ugh... no... not again (I could understand his hesitation but I love making lists)
Me: Come on, you haven't made one in 2 years! It might have all changed by now! We can first write the old list and see how many can been crossed out and then add on any new things-to-do if we have. OK, I will write down mine first. (I volunteered, after successfully finding a scrap of paper from the bottom of my over-filled handbag.)
I proceeded to write down my previous list first, gathering them from my memory and was pleased to tick off a few. Then I wrote a few more, making a total of eight things-to-do before 30. They ranged from sky-diving to sending parents and in-laws on a trip to Europe to currently in-progress things like making the movie. After feeling rather good about the list, I turned to the hubby.
Me: Your turn. Let's start with your old list. What did you have in that?
He: I don't remember.
Me: Hmm... OK, that's easy then. Let's just make a brand new list. Start.
He: OK... if you think of the money... I wanna make...
Me: Wait, why don't we put money towards the end? Let's write other things first.
He: OK... hmmm........well.............erm......
Me: Dude.
He: Oh I know. I wanna lose 5 more kilos.
Me: OK, excellent. What else?
He: 5 kilos less. And 3 girl friends more.
Me: *dirty look*
He: Not 3 girl friends more. Just 3 girl friends.
Me: *dirty look*
He: No?
Me: *dirty look*
He: OK.... hmm....well.... erm....
Me: Dude.
He: OHHHHH (extremely excited) ... POETRY!!!! (he wags a finger at my scrap of paper) POETRY!!!
Me: Am sorry, what?
He: I should write POEMS!! That's what I should do!!! I should write POEMS! I write excellent poems!!
Me: You do?! (I did know that he had written a couple of poems... one was more of a ballad he wrote for a crush in high school and another was a song for my musical in university. But I never knew it was a sedated fire in him, waiting to be rekindled)
He: Of course! Like Rudyard Kipling wrote "If", I will write "What If"! You know... What if he did.... What if the world would.....That sorta stuff!!!
Me: Excellent! (I added "Poetry" to the list.) What else?
He: i would like to travel....
Me: Great!!
He: .... extensively....
Me: Awesome!!
He:... on business class!
Me: Sigh. (pause) FYI, this conversation is going on the blog. It is becoming quite a specimen.
He: Sure. As long as you pay me $5 per visitor to your site.
Me. Right. Back to the list please. What else?
He: Is the 3 girlfriends thing still on?
Me: It was never "on".
He: 2?
Me: Nope.
He: Sigh (looks adequately disappointed). Fine. I think that's about it. Anyway the list doesn't matter because am gonna get nibhbaaklap....
Me: What?
He: nirrabbbkalp...
Me: Huh?
He: Nirvikalp!!!! (Finally managing the word, yet another Sanskrit reference)
Me: What's that?
He: It's like the highest state of being....like this.... (the muscles on his face relax and twitch at the same time. I think the intention was to show me that he was at peace).
Me: That looks like you are enjoying the smell of your own fart (I voiced out my humble opinion).
He: Oh come on. It's really rather cool stuff.
Me: Really?
He: Yeah... it 's about seeing this world as well as the other world... (lowers his voice in a conspirational manner)..but at the same time.
Me: Oh.
He: Yeah ...so that's why those dudes sit with their eyes half-closed. So they can see both worlds. (He demonstrates. His eyes are half-closed for sure, but he looks squint-eyed beneath them).
Me: That's not how they do it. (Assuming that by "dudes" he meant the yogis and saints of the world).
He: That's the way Buddha does it.
Me: Erm... no? Buddha doesn't go squint eyed. The concentration point is above... not at the tip of your nose.
He: Now? (making a sincere attempt at shifting his eyes up while maintaining them half-closed).
Me: Yes. Perfect! (By now the Chinese chap at the next table is eyeing the hubby rather curiously).
He: WOW, that was hard. I hope I can still see!!! (he extends his hand out, thumb up and does a 180 degree arc with it, his eyes following. The Chinese chap looks curiouser).
Me: OK, I think we should go now.
He: OK, remember.... $5 per visitor. (Gets up to leave. The Chinese chap looks crestfallen. I guess he was rather enjoying all the Shukla eye-works).
Me: Deal.
We marched right on to Nalan, not without a bit of hesitation from hubby's part. But this time I did not eat Gobi Manchurian and Chappati. This time I ate "Set meal 1: Dosa, Idly, Vada."
Enlightening conversation and satisfying dinner. Was worth the long day at work!
776 more to go.
Day 223: Nalan, My Hero!
28 June, 2010
If you read my post yesterday, you would have realized that I was craving for Chappati and Gobi Manchurian, a combination which my dear hubby finds downright atrocious and believes that only Mallus, like myself, can bring Indian cuisine to such pathetic levels. And he claimed that no self respecting restaurant will serve the two of them together.
Well, am glad to let you know that there is one not-so-self-respecting restaurant in Singapore which serves just that - Steaming hot Gobi Manchurian with nice, round Chappatis. Ha! I made the discovery today and the restaurant is none other than Nalan in City Hall. So I proudly thrusted the menu at my husband pointing to "Chappati" and "Gobi Manchurian". This was an unexpected discovery as I went there expecting myself to have Dosai. Anyway, needless to say I filled myself with two of those huge Chappatis and a bowl full of Gobi Manchurian. Yummmmm!
Hubby never thought highly of Nalan and now am sure his opinion of it has gone from "bad" to "rotten", but for me it has just gone from "good" to "AWESOME!" :D
In news other than my dinner, I also had a great day today at Bintan (an island in Indonesia) on an offsite. We were taken to Club Med and it was rather nice there. The resort was great, the view of the ocean was awesome, the activities at the offsiter were fun, I met some nice people and all in all, had a pretty happy day!
787 more to go.
If you read my post yesterday, you would have realized that I was craving for Chappati and Gobi Manchurian, a combination which my dear hubby finds downright atrocious and believes that only Mallus, like myself, can bring Indian cuisine to such pathetic levels. And he claimed that no self respecting restaurant will serve the two of them together.
Well, am glad to let you know that there is one not-so-self-respecting restaurant in Singapore which serves just that - Steaming hot Gobi Manchurian with nice, round Chappatis. Ha! I made the discovery today and the restaurant is none other than Nalan in City Hall. So I proudly thrusted the menu at my husband pointing to "Chappati" and "Gobi Manchurian". This was an unexpected discovery as I went there expecting myself to have Dosai. Anyway, needless to say I filled myself with two of those huge Chappatis and a bowl full of Gobi Manchurian. Yummmmm!
Hubby never thought highly of Nalan and now am sure his opinion of it has gone from "bad" to "rotten", but for me it has just gone from "good" to "AWESOME!" :D
In news other than my dinner, I also had a great day today at Bintan (an island in Indonesia) on an offsite. We were taken to Club Med and it was rather nice there. The resort was great, the view of the ocean was awesome, the activities at the offsiter were fun, I met some nice people and all in all, had a pretty happy day!
787 more to go.
Sunday, June 27, 2010
Day 222: The Shukla-Krishnan Quotient
Today had to be a great day. After a very long time (about 2.5 months or so), hubby and I were to spend an entire day together, with no shoot, no other family members, no friends (except a short visit to one friend's place for a quick catch up) and no other commitments. So it was just the two of us with a whole day all to ourselves! And am glad to state that nothing, and I mean absolutely NOTHING has changed over the last 2.5 months. If anyone thought we would get more romantic or would go into a I-missed-this-so-much mode, you could not have been more off-track.
Am glad to say that the Shukla-Krishnan equation is intact. This point shall be well illustrated over the following excerpts from our conversations over the day.
1 pm, Home
Me: Come on, wake up!!! It is already 1 pm and I have been waiting for you to wake up! Do you realize how much of the precious time that we were to have together, has been wasted with you sleeping?!
He: (waking up) Hmm... 2 hours?!
Me: That's a LOT!
He: Technically I wanted to go to bed earlier, but you kept cribbing about some stuff at your work.
Me: Excuse me, you are the one who always cribs about work! Other than occassionaly saying that I have a ton of work, I haven't been cribbing about work for a very long time, so I had to share all my pent up frustrations with you!
He: Yes, and the time you chose to do that was in the middle of the night, when I just got back from a long journey from Sydney.
Me: Fair enough.
2 pm, In a cab to Race Course Road, our location for lunch
Me: I want to eat Chappathis and Gobi Manchurian
He: Who has Chappatis with Gobi Manchurian?! One is north-Indian, the other is Indian-Chinese.
Me: Erm... I do? It's a brilliant combination!
He (bewildered): But.... one is north-Indian, the other is Indian-Chinese!!!
Me: I know. But technically both are made for Indians at the end of the day. So we can surely have them together?
He: Hmph...there will be no restaurant that serves Chappati AND Gobi Manchurian for sure.
Me: Well, Bharat restaurant in Thrissur (my hometown) has both...and very tasty also.
He: That's hardly a restaurant. Great Chinese restaurants Chumfa and Chinmee in (the equally great) Kanpur (his hometown) would never have it! You Mallus really destroy cuisines!
3 pm, Over lunch at Juggis (there was no Gobi manchurian OR Chappati there)
He: Don't worry about the manchurian and chappati. We will make sure you have a dinner that you like.
Me: Awww... so sweet!
He: Don't you think you are being pampered rather unnecessarily?
Me: Erm No? Don't you think you are being pampered rather unnecessarily?!
He: But I deserve it.
Me: Huh? Like, how?
He: Remember how I supported you when you had that technical glitch during last weekend's shoot? You never appreciate these things that I do!
Me: But I already told you that you are my knight in shining armour! What more do you want? You never appreciate the nice things I tell you!
4 pm, Friend's place
Friend's wife complains about something that the friend said.
Friend: She always says things out of context. That's really not what I meant when you put it in the right context!
Me: So what is the right context?
Friend: Oh, I don't remember.
He: This is the problem. These girls always remember unnecessary things that we don't remember and use them against us.
Me: Erm.... you always have the option to remember them yourselves.
He: But I save my mind for positive thoughts only.
Me: Sure.
5 pm, On the cab from friend's place
Me: How much money will make you happy? I mean, when will you feel that you have achieved what you wanted.
He: When I earn $12Million a year.
Me: WHAT?! That's a LOT of money! What the hell will you do with that?
He: I will buy my parents a good house.
Me: They already have a pretty good house, don't you think?
He: I will get them more servants to help them out.
Me: They already have like 8 servants who help them out on a daily basis.
He: Well, then I will appoint more servants to help the current servants.
Me: Ok... all that's fine, even then don't you think $12,000,000 has way too many zeroes than what's really required?
He: Not really. It's not that much money if you really think about it.
Me: Oh well, to me it is. It's way beyond what I can comprehend.
He: If you have more, you can give more... have you thought about that?
Me: Hmph... as if that's your primary intent...Anyway I already give... am pretty good that way.
He: You are not that good.
Me: But better than you for sure.
He: Of course, if that's what you really wanna believe. But if you look deep in your heart, you will know the truth.
6 pm, At the movie place
He: Maybe I shouldn't have the ice-cream. I will put on weight.
Me: True.
He: You think I have put on weight?
Me: Yes. Around the waist.
He: WHAT?!
Me: Ya...! Oh, you haven't noticed!
9 pm, After watching the unanimously loved film, Karate Kid
Me: (In a rather philosophical manner and to get his attention since he was still gloating over that kid in the movie) I think am gonna die.
He: Ya, me too. We all are.
Me: No... I meant pretty soon.
He: Oh, no way. For all the bad things that you do, you have a long time to live and suffer before you move on.
Me: Well, they say that good people are called first.
He: Oh, for how good you think you are, you should have been called 10 years ago.
Me: *simply glares*
10 pm, On the taxi home
Me: (Singing along with Savage Garden from the radio) I wanna stand with you on a mountainnnn... I wanna bathe with you in the seaaaa....
He: You really shouldn't be singing... how many times do I tell you.... bas karo yaarrrrr
Me: (continues ignoring him, and increases my volume) I WANNA LIVE LIKE THIS FOREVERRRR.....
He: (resigning to his fate, joins in) Until the sky falls down on meeee.....
Like I said, the Shukla-Krishnan quotient is intact. Just the way I love it.
778 more to go.
Am glad to say that the Shukla-Krishnan equation is intact. This point shall be well illustrated over the following excerpts from our conversations over the day.
1 pm, Home
Me: Come on, wake up!!! It is already 1 pm and I have been waiting for you to wake up! Do you realize how much of the precious time that we were to have together, has been wasted with you sleeping?!
He: (waking up) Hmm... 2 hours?!
Me: That's a LOT!
He: Technically I wanted to go to bed earlier, but you kept cribbing about some stuff at your work.
Me: Excuse me, you are the one who always cribs about work! Other than occassionaly saying that I have a ton of work, I haven't been cribbing about work for a very long time, so I had to share all my pent up frustrations with you!
He: Yes, and the time you chose to do that was in the middle of the night, when I just got back from a long journey from Sydney.
Me: Fair enough.
2 pm, In a cab to Race Course Road, our location for lunch
Me: I want to eat Chappathis and Gobi Manchurian
He: Who has Chappatis with Gobi Manchurian?! One is north-Indian, the other is Indian-Chinese.
Me: Erm... I do? It's a brilliant combination!
He (bewildered): But.... one is north-Indian, the other is Indian-Chinese!!!
Me: I know. But technically both are made for Indians at the end of the day. So we can surely have them together?
He: Hmph...there will be no restaurant that serves Chappati AND Gobi Manchurian for sure.
Me: Well, Bharat restaurant in Thrissur (my hometown) has both...and very tasty also.
He: That's hardly a restaurant. Great Chinese restaurants Chumfa and Chinmee in (the equally great) Kanpur (his hometown) would never have it! You Mallus really destroy cuisines!
3 pm, Over lunch at Juggis (there was no Gobi manchurian OR Chappati there)
He: Don't worry about the manchurian and chappati. We will make sure you have a dinner that you like.
Me: Awww... so sweet!
He: Don't you think you are being pampered rather unnecessarily?
Me: Erm No? Don't you think you are being pampered rather unnecessarily?!
He: But I deserve it.
Me: Huh? Like, how?
He: Remember how I supported you when you had that technical glitch during last weekend's shoot? You never appreciate these things that I do!
Me: But I already told you that you are my knight in shining armour! What more do you want? You never appreciate the nice things I tell you!
4 pm, Friend's place
Friend's wife complains about something that the friend said.
Friend: She always says things out of context. That's really not what I meant when you put it in the right context!
Me: So what is the right context?
Friend: Oh, I don't remember.
He: This is the problem. These girls always remember unnecessary things that we don't remember and use them against us.
Me: Erm.... you always have the option to remember them yourselves.
He: But I save my mind for positive thoughts only.
Me: Sure.
5 pm, On the cab from friend's place
Me: How much money will make you happy? I mean, when will you feel that you have achieved what you wanted.
He: When I earn $12Million a year.
Me: WHAT?! That's a LOT of money! What the hell will you do with that?
He: I will buy my parents a good house.
Me: They already have a pretty good house, don't you think?
He: I will get them more servants to help them out.
Me: They already have like 8 servants who help them out on a daily basis.
He: Well, then I will appoint more servants to help the current servants.
Me: Ok... all that's fine, even then don't you think $12,000,000 has way too many zeroes than what's really required?
He: Not really. It's not that much money if you really think about it.
Me: Oh well, to me it is. It's way beyond what I can comprehend.
He: If you have more, you can give more... have you thought about that?
Me: Hmph... as if that's your primary intent...Anyway I already give... am pretty good that way.
He: You are not that good.
Me: But better than you for sure.
He: Of course, if that's what you really wanna believe. But if you look deep in your heart, you will know the truth.
6 pm, At the movie place
He: Maybe I shouldn't have the ice-cream. I will put on weight.
Me: True.
He: You think I have put on weight?
Me: Yes. Around the waist.
He: WHAT?!
Me: Ya...! Oh, you haven't noticed!
9 pm, After watching the unanimously loved film, Karate Kid
Me: (In a rather philosophical manner and to get his attention since he was still gloating over that kid in the movie) I think am gonna die.
He: Ya, me too. We all are.
Me: No... I meant pretty soon.
He: Oh, no way. For all the bad things that you do, you have a long time to live and suffer before you move on.
Me: Well, they say that good people are called first.
He: Oh, for how good you think you are, you should have been called 10 years ago.
Me: *simply glares*
10 pm, On the taxi home
Me: (Singing along with Savage Garden from the radio) I wanna stand with you on a mountainnnn... I wanna bathe with you in the seaaaa....
He: You really shouldn't be singing... how many times do I tell you.... bas karo yaarrrrr
Me: (continues ignoring him, and increases my volume) I WANNA LIVE LIKE THIS FOREVERRRR.....
He: (resigning to his fate, joins in) Until the sky falls down on meeee.....
Like I said, the Shukla-Krishnan quotient is intact. Just the way I love it.
778 more to go.
Saturday, June 26, 2010
Day 221: All By Myself & Bow Pose - Check!
Am not talking about the Celine Dion song here, but I was actually all by myself the whole of today. After the weeks and weeks of shoots with cast and crew around me, all the travelling, the office work, and the mom and mom-in-law visits etc., today I had nobody in the house and nothing to do! The moms went back to India, hubby is on his way back from Sydney, I anyway don't do office work during weekends and I had no shoot today. So it was just I, me and myself.
I decided to make the most of the day. I woke up super late (at noon or so), ran some errands, had lunch (left over biriyani from Swadishth, my dinner from yesterday), went for yoga, bought a new book (Kazuro Ishiguro's short story collection called "Nocturnes"), had dinner at Thai Express and been chilling out since then watching Mausams footage, listening to songs and occasionally watching TV, if there is something worthwhile on it.
Also, today I got a "Beautiful, Shilpa!" for my Bow Pose during my Yoga class. I had previously cracked the Standing Bow Pose and now Bow Pose is also checked! Yay. A good day this is!
779 more to go.
I decided to make the most of the day. I woke up super late (at noon or so), ran some errands, had lunch (left over biriyani from Swadishth, my dinner from yesterday), went for yoga, bought a new book (Kazuro Ishiguro's short story collection called "Nocturnes"), had dinner at Thai Express and been chilling out since then watching Mausams footage, listening to songs and occasionally watching TV, if there is something worthwhile on it.
Also, today I got a "Beautiful, Shilpa!" for my Bow Pose during my Yoga class. I had previously cracked the Standing Bow Pose and now Bow Pose is also checked! Yay. A good day this is!
779 more to go.
Friday, June 25, 2010
Day 220: The World's Greatest Entertainer
I had written here about how I used to be a die-hard fan of Michael Jackson. In fact, there has only been one person whose die-hard fan I can claim to be and that would be MJ. And today is his first death anniversary.
I would have thought that I was over and above my craze for him, but it hit me once again out of the blue today. As soon as I got into the cab from the airport, the radio was playing only MJ songs as a tribute to him. The same thing happened when I went to Little India and back for dinner. There are his pictures and videos coming up again on every site, and messages about him were dominating Twitter. The songs from the cab stayed in my head and I have spent the whole evening looping the relooping his songs and watching his videos on the computer. Once again the childhood memories associated with his songs and videos flowed in and filled up my mind. But also with it, it reminded me of what is possible to achieve in this world with a lot of hard work. And am not talking about wealth and fame etc. but about the precision and wonder you can bring to art.
Michael Jackson's songs, dance, choreography, videos, stage shows, attires even...reached dizzying heights of success and provided such universal entertainment. To be made synonymous with any form of art in itself just a mind-blowing achievement and he had managed to achieve that in a few fronts, not just one. And all this by a single person. That is just incredible. Whether you like it or not, he had people from about a 100+ countries swooning over his work. This unprecedented appeal would be hard to beat for a while and is a testament of the sheer quality of work he produced. And this quality in so many areas, could not have been achieved without a humungous amount of work supporting the innate talent.
To me, that's inspiring. And today was spent on enjoying and being inspired by the entertainment that continues to live on post his demise. Not attending his live concert when he came to Mumbai more than a decade ago, would remain one of the biggest regrets I have. Now, that would have been one heck of a beautiful day for me! It also reminds me that if you really, really want to do something in life, whether seeing a new place or going for that concert of your idol, you absolutely must not delay it because things don't wait.
So here is to Michael Jackson, the World's Greatest Entertainer. Rest in peace.
780 more to go.
I would have thought that I was over and above my craze for him, but it hit me once again out of the blue today. As soon as I got into the cab from the airport, the radio was playing only MJ songs as a tribute to him. The same thing happened when I went to Little India and back for dinner. There are his pictures and videos coming up again on every site, and messages about him were dominating Twitter. The songs from the cab stayed in my head and I have spent the whole evening looping the relooping his songs and watching his videos on the computer. Once again the childhood memories associated with his songs and videos flowed in and filled up my mind. But also with it, it reminded me of what is possible to achieve in this world with a lot of hard work. And am not talking about wealth and fame etc. but about the precision and wonder you can bring to art.
Michael Jackson's songs, dance, choreography, videos, stage shows, attires even...reached dizzying heights of success and provided such universal entertainment. To be made synonymous with any form of art in itself just a mind-blowing achievement and he had managed to achieve that in a few fronts, not just one. And all this by a single person. That is just incredible. Whether you like it or not, he had people from about a 100+ countries swooning over his work. This unprecedented appeal would be hard to beat for a while and is a testament of the sheer quality of work he produced. And this quality in so many areas, could not have been achieved without a humungous amount of work supporting the innate talent.
To me, that's inspiring. And today was spent on enjoying and being inspired by the entertainment that continues to live on post his demise. Not attending his live concert when he came to Mumbai more than a decade ago, would remain one of the biggest regrets I have. Now, that would have been one heck of a beautiful day for me! It also reminds me that if you really, really want to do something in life, whether seeing a new place or going for that concert of your idol, you absolutely must not delay it because things don't wait.
So here is to Michael Jackson, the World's Greatest Entertainer. Rest in peace.
780 more to go.
Day 219: Be Kind Rewind
24 June, 2010
I spent pretty much the whole of today on the flight from Geneva and singapore. Interestingly I didn't sleep even for a minute throughtout the flight... for that matter, I didn't even bother to get any sleep. Instead I read my book "A Fine Balance" for a considerable amount of time and watched four movies - Valentine's Day, The Ghost Writer, Edge of Darkness and Be Kind Rewind. I enjoyed watching all the movies, but absolutely loved Be Kind Rewind for two reasons - a) It has Jack Black in it whom I adore and b) It was a movie about a bunch of amateurs making their own movies, so that was highly relatable. Yeah, it was utterly nonsensical and ridiculously hilarious at times but I loved it! The struggles of the filmmakers within this movie was pretty much like all the stuff I come across also in my film making process and they were so freaking relatable! Sure, the guys in Be Kind Rewind had a pretty happy ending and I hope to have on too but for the time being, watching the film made me feel rather good!
781 more to go.
I spent pretty much the whole of today on the flight from Geneva and singapore. Interestingly I didn't sleep even for a minute throughtout the flight... for that matter, I didn't even bother to get any sleep. Instead I read my book "A Fine Balance" for a considerable amount of time and watched four movies - Valentine's Day, The Ghost Writer, Edge of Darkness and Be Kind Rewind. I enjoyed watching all the movies, but absolutely loved Be Kind Rewind for two reasons - a) It has Jack Black in it whom I adore and b) It was a movie about a bunch of amateurs making their own movies, so that was highly relatable. Yeah, it was utterly nonsensical and ridiculously hilarious at times but I loved it! The struggles of the filmmakers within this movie was pretty much like all the stuff I come across also in my film making process and they were so freaking relatable! Sure, the guys in Be Kind Rewind had a pretty happy ending and I hope to have on too but for the time being, watching the film made me feel rather good!
781 more to go.
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