1920 - A Review

A 100 times better than Phoonk, 1920 evokes fear in you, and much more than that, keeps its element of suspense throughout. As the name suggests, the film is set in the year 1920, and starts off to a mysterious death in a spooky castle, which makes you sit on edge from the start. It then takes a detour, and we get to see the love angle in the story for quite some time. Ofcourse, the hero and heroine get married, and end up at the same castle as above, to finish what no one has been able to so far - raze the castle to the ground and build a grand hotel in its place.

Strange things begin to happen, and the girl, Lisa, starts experiencing out of the ordinary incidents, which she confides to a priest of the church. Seizing an opportune moment, the ghost in the castle possesses Lisa, and issues an ultimatum that she's going to die within four days, and he wants her soul to be his for eternity. Arjun, her husband, goes exploring all he can about what happened to the castle, and how it got to be a haunted one. He learns all he can, the ghost is a traitor soldier, who betrays his country and fellow men, and takes refuge in the castle under false pretences. The then owner of the castle, Rani Gayatri, does what she can while she secretly sends for troops, and the soldier is killed by her troops. A ghost seeking revenge. Arjun decides the only way to save his girl is to trust God; he holds Lisa tight and recites the Hanuman Chalisa; the mantra is all powerful, and the ghost is destroyed forever, and all is well. Turns out that Lisa is Rani Gayatri re-born(yea, we expected something like this, after all, its a Bollywood movie) and the film comes to an end.

The filming, screenplay, and dialogues are nice; though the castle doesnt look like Indian in the least. It has a distinct Victorian style about it, and the locales, the hills, the meadows, show that it is not India. The protagonists acted well, much, much better than the lead actors in Phoonk. Adah Sharma as Lisa did a good job, her acting looked convincing. Did you know that the castle where the shooting for the film took place is one of the 10 most haunted castles in England? It seems the actors were as afraid when shooting the film as we were while watching the film. Must have been a first for any horror movie. hehe.

A typical weekend in Hyderabad

Weekends in Hyderabad begin long before they actually do. Confused? Let me put it in a better way. We sit fantasizing and drooling over thoughts of the impending weekend from mid week itself. Work rarely gets done, everyone is in a frenzy checking out the hot spots, booking tickets, making appointments with friends, or, for the ones who stay away from family, planning a trip home. Loud cursing and the use of the F word is not uncommon when a new movie is in town; all tickets get miraculously sold out just before you say, "Two tickets, please!" Yeah, this is life at Hyderabad.

To the less fortunate, like us, who act on spur of the moment impulses, weekends are a series of disappointments. Like the time we went to PVR Cinemas and stood in the queue for one and a half hours, only to be greeted by the red blaring sign which we absolutely hate - Sold Out. Or the time when we got to know that there was an Aviation Exhibition going on at the Begumpet Airport, and a friend got hold of three passes; we ran without thinking twice. As a result, we were caught up in a traffic jam so huge, it might easily be mistaken for Caesar's army. Needless to say, we spent hours traversing the roads, sweating profusely, and a ride which normally takes five minutes took us more than two hours. Pathetic. Tragic. And any other adjective you can think of, along the same lines.

Oh yes, and how can I forget to mention beauty sleep here? In our personal dictionary, Weekends = Sleep. No questions asked. All my friends make it a habit not to wake up before 12 noon on weekends. No, its not because we party till dawn; it is because, my dear friends, like they say, we are the Gods and Goddesses of laziness. We just can't be bothered to get up and go visiting a mall just for the heck of it. We might be tempted, ofcourse, with the right inducement. Pre-booked tickets to a movie, for one; and a more than 50% sale at Hyderabad Central runs a close second. Some days, book lovers like me love taking a stroll inside the second hand book stalls that are scattered in the city. You might find quite a few masterpieces here, at unbelievable prices.

I usually go off alone, all by myself, and do whatever fancy takes me; go for a long drive on my Scooty Pep, or visit Hyderabad Central and loiter around; I also love going over to the Cafe Coffee Day in Somajiguda and spend a few minutes of bliss with one of the loves of my life - Coffee. This is not just about Hyderabad, it is the same, anywhere; the place doesn't matter, as long as you spend quality time you can cherish later; weekends are the time when you rejuvenate yourself, let go of all the steam accumulated from five continuous days of slogging. Do what you want, no holds barred. Stay within the limits, though. We want to be up and running for the next weekend, which is just five days away now, right!

The Recession - Has it finally arrived?

People have been talking about it for months; the US has seen the collapse of a few financial giants, with the threat of more activity along the same lines. Mails have been coming on and off, about the best way to save our skins from the looming disaster. From what I've seen, read, and experienced, I can say a few things about it myself.

A few tips from Asha the Expert:
1. Think before you leap. Companies have been laying off employees not in tens and twenties, but in thousands. So, grab the job you already have real hard, and stop thinking about changing. You'll lose your only source of income, and might have to go back to the miserable old life of having to ask for money from Dad.

2. Stop splurging, start saving. You never know, you might be the next person in line to get the dreaded pink slip, and be out on the road with just a month's paycheck in your hands. If that happens, my friend, you'll need more than a month's salary to keep you afloat. Stop visiting those malls for a few days; believe me, you've already got enough clothes and accessories to last you a lifetime.

3. Invest wisely. Check out the scene before plunging into any investments. The market is in a really tricky state right now; just one push might turn the tables either way, and you know which way. Hold on to your cash, transfer it to a nationalized bank, if possible; stop those new investments, and, well, for those which you are already committed, double check once.

4. Quit worrying. All of us have bad times, once in a while. If you happen to be caught in the middle of all this melee, dont panic. Remember, this is not going to last forever. Times change, markets change, and stock exchanges change. It is all about how well you handle yourself in times of a crisis that will determine your future. Also, we never thought twice before asking Dad a few bucks; he'll not think twice before doing the same, now. After all, what are Dads for?

All the very best to us then, and here's hoping that we emerge unscathed from the entire episode. God forbid, if something wrong does happen, don't forget to turn to your loved ones for support. That is something you'll never lose, come what may.

Horn Art

This post is for all the art lovers of this world. I've grown up surrounded by these priceless pieces of art, and it was not till I came out of my shell, that I understood their value. Beautifully carved, and made out of Buffalo horns(yes, you heard me right!), these works have a sheen, a smooth texture, which is untouched by time.

I once had a piece, of a damsel, which was meant to be a gift; I carried it around for more than 2 years, before I could ultimately part with it, and even then, it was as good as new. All these works here have been the handiwork of craftsmen from Parlakhemundi, of Orissa. The cost of these treasures is unbelievable, with traders buying them directly from the masters at a price of about 200 bucks apiece, and later reselling them for 10 times their cost.

It requires great patience and skill to carve a single sculptre, and the craftsmen spend days and nights on it, honing a shapeless, dull, stinking piece of horn to the beauty that you can see here. The first piece is of a mother crane feeding her baby; not so difficult to guess, huh? You have birds sitting on a tree, and a pair of elephants trying to fell a tree in the second image.

The pieces are smooth to the touch, and add an elegance, and style to any living room they find their presence in. Curiosity about them has considerably grown, since the children of Parlakhemundi have gone to bigger cities to earn their livelyhood, invariably taking these with them, since, for us, they represent a part of our culture, and, a part of growing up.

I dont ever remember a time when I was not in the presence of these sculpted pieces of art, and, strangely, I associate them with home. I only hope they find recognition. If anything deserves fame, then this is it.

Chained to chain mails! Please forward or else!

When I say chain mail, I am sure everyone knows what menace I'm talking about, cos it spares no one. Every bloke with an email ID is sure to have been a victim more than once, and the real sorrow is, unlike spam, chain mails are usually sent by someone the victim knows. Tragic. Really tragic. A few trademark mails play on people's emotions, where the subject of the mail is a non-existent little girl or boy with an unspeakable disease. Others play on people's fears,cursing them with bad luck if they don't forward. The wonderful thing is, people still fall for these phonies. That is the hardest part. I sometimes have the same mail for about 10 times in my inbox, forwarded over and over to the same people, and I feel like screaming, "Gimme a break!!!" Well, since I got the mail 10 times, and I haven't forwarded it even once, am I going to have bad luck for 10 lifetimes, what?

Microsoft is sharing its fortune. Bill Gates is going to give away a chunk of his shares if we forward the damn mail??? Where are your gray cells, fellas?! No, you are not going to get a call from the love of your life if you forward a mail to a dozen people, you got to do it the old fashioned way, I'm afraid. No one ever lost families or millions of dollars just by failing to forward a mail. If that was the case, Wall Street and the Stock Exchange would go broke. Every broker in the world would be busy monitoring the flow of chain mails and forwards. Just imagine that. And no, your wish is not going to be granted at 12 midnight if you forward a mail to 50 people, no sirree! There would be no God anymore, people would be depending on software guys and techies to draft such mails and send them so wishes could be granted just by the click of a mouse.