Firangi Days & Desi Nights

Its been a very domestic time for me ... especially since Gaurav insists he has a lot of 'work' to do - interpret that as aliens to massacre and battleships to plunder, courtesy Starcraft - so I have managed to devour a PD James, and re-devour The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest.

All of course free of charge - since typical Indian that I am, I have discovered a gorgeous Crossword-in-the-early-2000's-type bookstore that ... ahem, 'allows' you to 'carry' your book right upto the top floor coffee-shop. Lovingly enough, they don't also seem to show anyone the door in regard to the amount of time you spend there ... and considering I sat there last time till small fungi sprouted around me. It is of course morbidly depressing to be in a bookstore which has 4 massive floors but only a teensy area dedicated to English books ... but am learning to deal with it. The pulp and potboilers will have to do for now.

But when talking about Mr Larsson's literary exploits - I have to reiterate my previous stand ... the third one just doesn't match up to the first and second. And more so because of its utterly fabulous heroine, Lisbeth Salander, who I remember faintly idolizing all the way back in 2006 when I first laid eyes on the Dragon Tattoo. Whether its her bashing the bad guys, tasing them in unmentionable places, hacking her way into random computer systems or her friendly support group of worldwide hackers ... wow. Now that's a heroine!

In the third book, she spends most of her time either in a hospital bed or doing the 'right' thing by going with Mikael's lame-ass plans. Uff. I'm tired of all these guys KNOWING what to do ... give me Lisbeth justice anytime!

Also came across a very ponder-ful review (means = it made me ponder) at Slate (read it: http://www.slate.com/id/2254638) and although I did feel a little sorry for the Larsson-bashing, I have to admit that there's a supremely fantastic heroine trapped in that trilogy. Anyone interested in making her a recurring heroine? Oh right, damn. He's no longer around. Peace, Larsson ... hope you're happy wherever you are. And oh ya, thanks for Millenium. It rocks.

Pictures for car-lovers next ... there was a super cute 'Old Timers Rally' at the Rathaus, which had all these cutesy / cool vintage cars up for a race-type thing. Although I can't make out a Ferrari from a Fiat - have to admit, there was tons of auto eye candy. Enjoi.

Beauties na? And to close - quick update on our happenin' social life ... tomorrow is a Desi get-together which we were invited to by a part-time Indian student / server who espied us while we were quaffling down choco-mochalitas. The programme predictably includes 'Bollywood Dance Party' and 'Dance Presentation'. A room-full of Indians? I immediately saw the possibility of free khana, resource supply names (maane Indian shops) and a possible Indian beautician. Sooper ... simbly cannot wait!!

Will update you on the Desi Party scene when we're back. Till then - cheerios and all that.

Sush

Getting Local ...

This one is for all my die-hard Bollywood fans. I recently discovered a small DVD rental store right behind our lane here, and of course, although I found no evidence of the existence of English as an option for any DVDs, I did come across something quite unusual.

Every conceivable SRK film, including non-famous ones like Army (with Sridevi where he had more like a glorified cameo), each with their own German title, poster and writeup. Except strangely, only all his goodie-boy roles were there ... none of his more 'acting' ventures - such as Baazigar or Darr or the ridiculous Anjaam. Strange. More pics.

Ha ha ... 2 Mal Shahrukh Khan! Couldn't agree more :-) except 'mal' in German means 'times' so ... 2 times SRK!

Super cool cover for Main Hoon Na ... or the infinitely easier to pronounce - Ich Bin Immer Fur Dich Da! which is German sort of translates to 'I Am Always For You' ... how far more romantic!

I would never have considered Hum Tumhare Hain Sanam being worthy of any effort other than that of lifting the cover of the trash can to throw it in - but the Germans obviously didnt think so! Das Muss Liebe Sein indeed, with a cover that suspiciously reminds me of Koi Mil Gaya.

This was a short one.

Cheers

Sush

And time goes on - like chewing gum.

Bad Sushma. Very bad Sushma. No post since umm ... possibly a week? But rest assured my loyal fan base of max 3 pax, I have an astoundingly good reason for it. Actually not just one - but three thousand of them. Yes, yes yes to those who have actually read my blog ... my 3000 piece epic jigsaw puzzle is over. ('Thank you thank you muah muah")

Its been fairly involving to say the least, and although I have not spent ALL my waking moments doing the puzzle, it does warm the cockles of my heart that I have wrapped it in less than a month, closer to 3 weeks. Considering the last time I finished one - an 1800 piece scenery which is currently framed above my bed in Dubai - that took me a good part of my 2 month summer vacation when I was just around 16. So the possible takeaway of this is that the oft-repeated 'older-wiser' argument does hold good - especially in my case. And for any other jigsaw puzzle enthusiasts out there, you would understand that compelling need to keep at it - especially when you feel that you're dastardly close to plugging in that last piece.

But apologies apart - yes, there has been an unnecessary gap in my blogging habits, and I am determined that this should not happen again. At least for the next few days :-) Also realized that I never finished putting up pictures from our Brussels sojourn, so think there's enough material to fill up at least another 2 entries. So here goes ... for starters, pictures of US!!!

This is in some beautiful gardens alongside the Atomium, which was supremely rich in flora and fauna (as evidenced by the next bunch of pics) and which I felt could JUST be a location for the next SRK-Kajol dil ka ballad.

The next day, we wound our way to the 'Grand Place' ... yes, its 'Place' and not 'Palace' as one may judge, considering the Belgians to be faulty in missing an 'a' in their spelling. Its a fairly awesome central square, surrounded by lovely old buildings on all sides, including the Brussels Museum, the Chocolate Museum (total waste of time - have to tripadvisor this before some other poor loon spends 6 euros on it, in our case - 12), the Brewery Museum (stayed away since it looked to be going down that same fated path as the Choc Museum) and etc etc. Video this time - to totally capture the experience ... as you can see, steadicam operator can most definitely NOT be one of my alternative professions ...

And then some more pretty pictures ...

We also made a pit stop at the very cute 'Theatre De Toone', a super cute establishment which stages local puppet theatre, which we were extremely regretful to have missed. Even if you don't make a show there, I would highly recommend going there for the atmosphere and for a drink. Totally worth it.

And finally Gallerie Du Obscure ... captions follow for each :-)

Finally a beer that I like ... YES!!! Although it probably had enough saccharine to momentarily dull my senses if I was hit by a speeding truck.

They like cows. Really. That's why they made these unfortunate cows assume these horribly embarrassing poses. I assume.

These are the gifts I'm getting all you girls when I'm back ... horrendously colored plastic watches. They're all the rage in Euro trash.

Ahah! Tricked you?! Its not 'Ford Ka ..' as in 'Ford Ka Jalwa' or 'Ford Ka Aatank' ... 'Ford Ka' is the new Ford model that has been launched in Europe and is second in advertising visibility only to H & M's bikini summer blitz. Bas***ds. Haven't they had a look outside their windows??!!! IT'S 8 DEGREES!!!!

And semi-finally ... you didn't think we'd go to Brussels and miss the piss did you? (Read http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manneken_Pis for ignoramuses) But since you can always see thousands of pictures of that - I've got you a better one. Wait wait ... chocolate (belgians, chocolate etc etc), coloured mannekin pis-es!

Adios, my friends. Till the next wave of writing hits.

Sush

Robbing Hoodas and the Prince of Peeves

What I REALLY want to know ... much more importantly than whether there is a tooth fairy, the existence of the Bermuda Triangle, Himesh bhai isn't human etc etc ... is WHO gives the green signal for films like Robin Hood???!!!

To briefly summarize my film watching habits - big budget, epic-al, larger than life, 50 billion dollar, special-effects extravaganzas ... are EXACTLY what I like! I think they sort of serve that primal need in me to watch something that just requires you to switch off your brain and cheer along. Sort of like Gladiator ... I was probably the only person who actually didn't wince during the arena fights.

So it was keeping that in mind that we descended to watch Robin Hood in Brussels. Mind you, I'm watching a film in a theatre after a good four weeks, and I could barely keep myself from tippy tapping my way to our seats. By the time the beginning credits rolled, I was literally shaking with uncontrolled glee. (Yes, I love watching movies - almost scarily so. And I'll see any garbage that can find its way to a screen with a red curtain in front of it. So?!)

Aside - All audiences are alike everywhere! We were blessed with a bevy of college kiddies behind us who hooted, aww-ed, clapped and whistled at exactly the same points your average Indian audience would have gone ballistic over. Makes you really think about that small world funda.

My god. I waited and waited for the looting to begin, and the fun music to kick in, and the smug smiles as Robin kicked Sheriff ass ... but it never came. And just at the time when the fun should have kicked in ... they ran some crap text 'And the legend begins ...' and the end credits started rolling. Damn!!! I didn't go there to see Robin Hood's issued personal life and his painful beginnings!

I found a review that also scarily echoed my thoughts ... http://screenrant.com/robin-hood-reviews-vic-59774/ and also came across some fun stuff ... where Russel Crowe walked out of a radio interview which asked him why he had an Irish voice for an English man, to which he replied "You're barmy, mate" or something of the sort. Ok - fine, not that ... :-) http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/05/14/russell-crowe-walks-out-o_n_576124.html

But truthfully had to admit, that I wouldn't have told off Russel Crowe even if he produced a Gujarati accent for the film ... lets just say he's not been known to take criticism lightly :-)

Of course now, I seriously regret not having chosen Iron Man 2 over Robin Hood ... although that got some super sadness reviews as well. Damn - whats happening to big budget Hollywood? Sniff. I miss Jurassic Park. And Speed.

My recently acquired German now includes the numbers 1 - 10. Yes. Just watch as I conquer grocery stores with this one.

Ciao ...

Sush

The Blustering Bengali & the Trepidatious Tam Brahm

India is fairly huge. Humungous in fact, considering the sheer variety of languages, states etc etc that sort of co-exist. So what are / were / could be the chances that the only 2 sets of Indians we bump into during our brief Brussels sojourn were - a Tam couple and a Bengali couple?! Like ... wtf!!! (For non-knowers, me and my husband are from those 2 communities)

The Bengali couple were way more obvious though (even my husband would have to admit that) but that possibly had something to do with the fact that they were of the 'breed' variety - mom, pop, uncle, 3 spawn - all the while muttering away in shudh Bangla on the tram while I gleefully pointed them out to GG as he tried to look as unbengali as possible.

The Tam couple were a young couple we ran into while picking up lunch post the Herge Musee at a demi-fancy Wok restaurant. We trained our careless eyes and sharpened our ears to hear the conversation - and voila! We heard the magical words 'rasam', 'masala dosa' and 'thier' ... the almost 'call-to-arms' cry for any Tam Brahm worth their weight in untampered molagapodi.

However we did then bump into loads of Indians later ... it was almost like a convention! The Atomium ... a fairly, well ... strange sort of modern architecture, which was like a giant space molecule of sorts. (Aaah - that explains the Indians! Yeducashanal? Definite-a!) What do you think?

We unfortunately missed the last lift up, but when we turned around - we had landed up smack bang in the middle of a fairly rollicking Belgian party! I really wish we could have found out what they were celebrating - but we didn't want to disturb the general good spirit and drinking ... so we came up with the following options.

A. St Patricks Day

B. Party to celebrate the World Cup

C. Pre-league game drinking party

The music grew from general silly songs to some serious dinchak dinchak ... but its when they started playing hits from those-years-to-be-forgotten like the unforgettable 'Its My Life' or the 'Rhythm is a Dancer' and the crowd still boogied on like they were on the casting for Street Dance 3D - that was when we knew the alcohol had possibly accomplished its effect.

More pictures from the party ...

And one more video. Who said the 80's were not the glorious era for music?! Not me.

Gnite and Oui.

Sush

Listen Kerrfully ... Becuz I Wills Writ Thees Anlee - Ven or Belgium Day 1

And so. We are back from the land of the Sprouts. So many things to write about and so difficult to pick a starting point, but I guess as Maria Von Trapp put it ... the beginning IS a very good place to start.

We got into a dinky little train on Friday night ... I call it dinky because it would have filled up in 0.05 seconds at Dadar, even if people were stuffed in all directions. Almost expected Hagrid to walk out and yell 'all aboard'.

It took us a teensy weensy bit under 2 hours, but we were in ze Brussels! (where they speak ze French) Regretted for about a nanosecond not having chosen French as my optional subject in college, but soon recollected how most classmates even after a year, were unable to move beyond 'oui'. Along the way I tried my best to capture 'Le Cow Magnifique' or 'The Perfect Cow', but the glass or trees usually got in the way. Perfect why? Ohhh ... black and white against green, most of them looked like they just jumped out of a butter or milk commercial. My attempts below.

I know what you're thinking. Why am I wasting time seeing pictures of cows when she has obviously seen more interesting things?! Absolutely my dear readers / reader / imaginary friends ... there was tons more stuff we did. Just that I believe like in the style of classical Hindi television - drama needs to be stretched out like bubblegum until you're at the verge of almost losing interest. That's when you throw in a real humdinger ... like this one!

We stayed at this charming little tiny hotel called Hotel Opera (and no - there were no drugs there ... I am of the opinion there must have been a discotheque close that was unfortunately named 'Drug Opera') but where we stayed was remarkably undruggy and big enough to accommodate only one of us if we were both wearing tutu skirts. But then again - so much to see and so much to do, so without haste, on to the touristy snaps.

The tiny busy little lane where our hotel was tucked into, and on the right, the very very beautiful Galeries St Hubert ... a kind of grand shopping mall-ish walkthrough with shops on either side.

But of course ... all this were mere precursors to the highlight of our trip ... our visit to the Musee Herge or the Tin Tin Museum in the outskirts of the city. Unfortunately, no pictures were allowed inside the main museum, but needless to say - it was truly an experience. Magnifique! Pics from inside the the main centre - simply lovely structure itself ...

It was for me a total recollection of why I had loved reading Tin Tin (although I have to admit a fonder heart for a little indomitable Gaul) and how I really felt like those were the books that took me places - literally - China, South America, Europe and even the Moon! We must have bought back enough Tin Tin paraphernalia to last us a lifetime ... all in the name of 'we'll-never-come-back-here-again' :-) But I sure do hope I do! (PS Even the ticket stubs were Tin Tin panels!)

Obviously tons more to write - but dinner beckons. Next instalment - our failed Atomium trip, a Belgian Party and Odds & Ends. Enough said.

Cheers

Sush

Idiocracy and Brussels Sprouts

Watched 'Idiocracy' last night - thought it was in concept one of the smartest movies ever made, was totally not surprised to see it was made by the same guy who made the ever-awesome 'Office Space'. Wow. Hopefully thats not how our future will turn out - but I think for a while during the early 2002s right upto a few years back, we still sort of idolized 'idiocy'. (I think thats how it was spelt) We looked down on people who were smart, believed in things that were 'mass-y' (in contradiction to 'elitist') and dismissed intelligence as being 'stuffy', old-fashioned and something that was generally undesirable. I have sat in several a presentation myself, where especially in the Indian television industry, you are asked to 'dumb it down', make it more 'popular', 'spell it out' ... and sadly, I have often wondered who was right. Our perception of the world / country at large being a large goop of questionable IQs or were we just being 'safe' and catering to what we believe is the largest common denominator?

Hopefully I think things are changing today - people nod appreciatively if they see you doing a crossword or a puzzle, and I sincerely hope thats how the boat will float.

Coincidentally talking of puzzles :-) update on mine. Pic below. Lots of little teeny bits done here and there ... its getting super-addictive.

Plan for the weekend is so on. Train tickets bought, packing not done, B&B booked etc etc. The destination is Brussels of the Belgian fame. We have a fairly packed itinerary of things to do ... hopefully we'll manage to run through most of it.

Our plans include ... the Musee Herge (the Tin Tin Museum little off from Brussels), Atomium, the Grand Place, Cocoa Museum, Brewery Museum, the local Sablon Square Flea Market and Iron Man 2. (Yes, I know the last item is possibly not something indigenous to Brussels, but its been 3 weeks since I saw a movie in a theatre!!!! Aaarghhhh!!!)

Hopefully the climate will allow me to walk around in JUST 3 layers instead of the usual 5 ... sigh, but my Google weather friend is not giving me much hope. Oh well.

Tata and all that ...

Cheerio

Sush

Hypnotizing Chickens ... Holy Cow!

Came across this fascinating read about a dangerous syndrome slowly creeping into our offices (yes - even the media) 'Death By Powerpoint' {read at http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/27/world/27powerpoint.html?src=mv&ref=general} or 'Hypnotizing Chickens' as they called it :-) and couldn't stop thinking of our absolutely natal tendency to reduce everything to 'points' and 'diagrams'. I've often been an abuser of Microsoft material myself, and I have to admit that if today I was asked to list anything more than 3 items ... out comes the Excel spreadsheet with 'S.No', 'Item' and 'Comments' with a neat rename of the spreadsheet below.

And for someone who when let loose on a keyboard can type up enough to put the Chambers Concise Dictionary to shame, I often wonder - have we lost the ability to read through anything? Whether its a new brief, a story ... I have become addicted to reading it through bulleted points. Which is also possibly why I actually feel that my reading habit, which was a fairly obsessive compulsion earlier, has now become a yawn-a-page sleep inducer ... rather than the keep-me-awake-till-wee-hours-type pastime it used to be.

The next promise to myself after this blogging promise one shall be one that involves junking the TV at night, and reading a whole lot more. Me swear.

Back to Pamuk.

Cheers

Sush

And I thought it was just another city. Damn. So much to see, and so little sun to see it in ...

I never realized how important Aachen was to the Christian religious community, and certain recent discoveries at the Domschatzkammer - Cathedral treasury just fairly wow-ed me. Aachen is home to the 4 'great' relics, and 3 'small' relics, and below - you can see the 3 small relics brought to Aachen by its super-great king, King Charlemagne. Read more at http://www.sacred-destinations.com/germany/aachen-cathedral

So these are, as per the book (1) a belt used by Christ, (2) belt of the Mother Mary (3) part of the flagellation rope used in the Crucifixion of Christ. Was fairly awed - I must admit. It seems these were brought by Charlemagne to Aachen, and these along with the 4 great relics (those are even more awe-some ... they include the robe of Mother Mary, the swadding clothes of Baby Jesus, the loin cloth worn by Christ during the Crucifixion and the cloth on which lay the head of St. John the Baptist after his beheading) are exhibited to the public in a grand ceremony held every 7 years (the next is in 2014). Not very different from the ceremony in Srinagar at the Hazratbal Mosque where the 'Moi-e-Muqqadus' is exhibited to the visitors, except that I think is a yearly affair.

This is a large-ish ceremony, where the 4 great relics are locked in a vault in Aachen with a specially designed lock with only one key (the Matrix, anyone?) and the key is then broken into 2 pieces. One part of the key then travels all over Europe with a part of the clergy while one part remains here in the Cathedral. At the end of 7 years, they all assemble with the great keymaster (OK - thats my name for him, but you have to give the guy some respect!) while the lock is melted and the vault re-opened.

So the locks they have made over the years are pricey affairs - studded with gems, gold, silver, yadda yadda etc.

Other very cool stuff at the Treasury, which by the way - was extremely 'treasureable' in appearance ... tons of gold, silver and precious jewels. Don't believe me - see the pictures.

The Main Man of Aachen - King Charlemagne ... Sone Ka Dil Lohe Ke Haath

The Cathedral Treasury connects to the main Aachen Dom through this beautiful passageway ... was a rainy gloomy day outside, but somehow I think it adds to the Goth-ness.

Lots of the other royal treasures from Aachen. Don't feel like describing them anymore. Ack.

And finally, something I actually felt like commenting on. A simply marvellous marble relief detailing the 'Rape of Persephone' ... it was supposed to be a 'stitched' photo on the digicam, but now I have no idea how to stitch it. Oh well ....

And finally to end on a truly artistic note, a small update on my 3000-piece jigsaw puzzle :-) 300 through ... 2700 to go.

Ciao. Much Mocha.

Sush