On the subject of Architecture

I don't think any subject can aspire to be as aspiring or as all comprehensive as architecture.
People think architects only learn to make plans. No. They are taught to have an eye for colour, rhythm, pattern, taught distinctive styles ranging from the medieval to modern, taught climatic conditions and what type of built environment suits each one, taught about materials, old and new, learn about construction and structural techniques ranging from stone, bricks, steel, concrete to present day  new age materials.

History, sociology, botany, a bit of geology all form a part of what they need to know.
Truly, botany? Right! They need to understand plants and know which types provides what kind of shade and goes with which type of environment!

Plus obviously they learn drawing plans, elevations, sections to represent all that they know. Wait. They don't just sit at a computer and start drawing plans. They spend a couple of years practising drafting on a drawing board. Then they learn to translate their thoughts onto the ubiquitous software the language of which again they need to learn simultaneously with their other subjects.

So if you are an architect out there... love thyself is all I can say.

Oh Kolkata! A Sunday Mid Morning Walk on Park Street

Flurys Park Street Kolkata

Some things in life never change. Like a Sunday morning on Park Street. There maybe an entirely different Government at the Centre. The country's political and social landscape may have changed beyond recognition in the past decade. I might be older(and wiser?) by a decade. More importantly there maybe an entirely different Government in Kolkata with the leftist flavor gone perhaps for ever...but Kolkata in many ways fortunately remains the same!

CLosed Park Street shops

A stroll on Park Street looking for a hair parlour and reviving old memories made me realise how much had gone by in the last 9 years but one could get no inkling of it here! The roads were a virtual empty stretch. In Kolkata's premium shopping and businss district it has been a source of constant amazement to me how it can sleep so utterly on Sunday mornings. No cabs, no lining up at exclusive shops, little pedestrian traffic, no jay walking or hustling to flag down a cab, no street vendors. All the pricey shops lining the Park Street utterly closed with massive shutters down. Its a Sunday in the true sense of the word, a day of no activity. So Worldwide while businesses vie for the weekend traffic and crowd and business, Kolkata preserves its serenity and how!

Park Street on Sunday

 I knew for a fact though things would start moving after one o'clock when the early diners would start coming to the lovely restaurants...the Peter Cats, the Trincas, the Silver Grills and the rest or even before that as late breakfasters would throng into Flurrys. True to my belief, old faithful Flurry's was a flurry of activity...while new entrant Au Bon Pain was virtually empty. There were of course the new additions of KFC and Mc Donalds which looked delightfully empty to my prejudiced self.

 At the end of the street (coming from the Park Circus area) Apeejay House stood steady in its regality (RIP Brother Pauls) while the stylists at A N John remained as snooty as ever! So after cutting my hair at a new parlour (Oxygen), since I couldnt convince the A N John's stylist to cut my hair as per my requirement, I completed my wanderings through the much beloved streets around Park Street with the universal cure for a hot sultry morning with a stop at Saturday Club.

Watching Old Man and the Sea with Tom Alter - Bhubaneswar

Well not exactly...

'"The ocean is very big and a skiff is small and hard to see," the old
man said.  He noticed how pleasant it was to have someone to talk to
instead of speaking only to himself and to the sea.'

I had an amazing experience recently, watching the "Old Man and The Sea" performed on stage by Tom Alter and supported by Sufi dancer Zia Nath.

Tom Alter did all the talking himself as he spent nearly 1.5 hours on stage enacting the famous role of the old man adrift on the sea. Alter' performance was of such intensity that one felt really adrift with Santiago on a skiff checking baits, tackling a marlin, fighting shark attacks, thinking about the day's baseball, DiMaggio and the boy. You knew the old man wouldn't give up especially when he reminisced about an arm wrestling match with a much stronger opponent that went on and on till the pectators almost left for work on the next day. Santiago' fight with the fish was beautifully interspered with such stories as a much adored novel came to life in an amazing fashion.

The play had a Sufi background and Zia Nath provided some beautiful moments of dancing. Her rendition at the end was of awestrucking, speechless quality (how many turns did Zia do - 5000? I asked her but she said she didnt keep count)

The play was by Shivani Tibrewala.

Talking about the play the next day, Alter likened Sachin Tendulkar's spirit to Santiago's!

The play was staged during the Times Literary Festival at Bhubaneswar last week and seeing the crowd and it's rapt attention I wondered why we didnt get more such plays at Bhubaneswar. As I write this veteran Theatre Artist Anant Mahapatra's group "Utkal Rangmanch" is producing Theatre in Motion with some great plays screened at Mumbai, Delhi and Kolkata. I can only hope Theatre in Motion also travels to Bhubaneswar!

Oooomph at 40! My Top 5

40s just the beginning and our awesome celebs prove it!

Here's a listing of celebs in 40s by their oomph - iness

Obviously the oomphiest of them all - Rahul Dravid scores a perfect 10 with his clean cut classic features, the glint of steel and sometimes mischief his eyes, his dedication and overall charm. Bharat Ratna or not - Rahul is the best his fans agree. And the sexiest ;) If there was one sports star who could take over Daniel Craig, my vote is on Rahul Dravid.

 

(image courtesy - johnabraham.com)

Dimple, figure, maturity, biceps and bulges at all the right places. John's got it all. And at forty, he looks perfectly naughty!

                                                    (Image Courtesy - madhuridixit-nene.com)
40 - who cares? At 45, the Diva has made an amazing comeback with Jhalak Dikhla Ja, item songs, plum movie roles. Our own desi Meryl Streep looks ready to rule as a oomph queen for many more years. Finally for a Hindi movie heroine - age is just a number. I hope to see her in many "Salt" like roles in the years to come. Keep fit babe!

                                                (Ajay Devgan - Source - Wiki Commons)
Ajay "Singham" Devgan is my oomph at 40 choice. The low profile Veeru Vishal Devgan is one half of a true power couple. The super duper star's laid back style is endearing and downright sexy. But for all his quiet style - he makes a statement in every format from an intense Rajneeti, Once Upon a Time in Mumbai to a riotous Golmaal or Bol Bachan. In between the Sons of Sardar gives blockbusters like Singham. He makes the list only because he doesnt shout about his popularity like some Khans and Khannas. And of course Kajol chose him! At 44, the versatile de Niro of Bollywood looks ready to jet into the orbit.

(Mandira Bedi - Source: Wiki Commons)

This Punjabi kudi keeps surprising many with her versatility and resourcefulness. After the immensely popular show "Shanti", she had a disastrous outing in movies. But she made an impact comeback in Cricket commentary of all things - when her spaghetti blouses became more famous than her. She started the trend for short skirts entering the male bastion and not as experts! That was an expert move by channels - for which gender watches cricket more? The largely male audience remained glued between overs thanks to spaghetti blouses! But Mandira has made comebacks after comebacks. She hosted the popular Indian Idol junior, anchors major events and now has a plum role in "24". She has recently launched a sari line. 40 is really the beginning! 

40 is no longer the precursor to old age or even the beginning of middle age. 40s is trendy. Fortiers are the real movers when there is money to spend, health is in bloom, maturity perfect, lessons learnt and life is just really beginning! 

So hail 40!

Why Not To Watch Jab Tak Hai Jaan - Shahrukh Khan

and Katrina Kaif, and 90 minutes less and a few less bomb diffusion and a few less accidents. Whew!

I went through the torture that was Jab Tak Hai Jaan last night. It is hard to believe that the director of movies like Lamhe and Chandni ... could have given us this 3 hours of drivel packaged as a movie. Most reviews have been muted in their comments I guess out of deference to the just demised patriarch of YRF - Yash Chopra. Never mind - Yash Chopra will be much remembered and loved for Trishul, Deewar, Lamhe, Silsila, etc - and he would prefer not to be associated with JKHJ.

Shahrukh Khan spans ten years in the movie. It was an awful sight to see a near naked wrinkled Shahrukh posing as a 25 year old in some of his risque poses with Katrina. He looks (and acts) closer to his 50 years! Will Shah Rukh be as delusional as Dev Anand and prefer to act the romantic lead ( maybe give a new definition to the evergree hero) even in his 70s??? Hindi movie heroes really cannot age gracefully. The female leads have made the transition. And play and look their age. Look at Rekha, Madhuri, Juhi and of course the current darling Sridevi! And look at Shahrukh and remember Amitabh in Mard and a host of other nineties movie...till he returned as the patriarch. A Dabangg is ok in your mid and late 40s  - definitely not a crooning, mushy Jab Tak Hai Jaan.

Shahrukh Khan has the opportunity. He should have gracefully made the transition 4 years back after Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi or Chak de India. Even a Don is preferable!

It should be a rule in Bollywood not to give pretty female leads who cant act, more than 10 minutes of screen time. If you thought it was a torture watching Aishwarya for 3 hours - just wait till you catch Katrina in JTHJ. She is pretty - that is granted. But putting her histrionics skills under the microscope for more than 2 hours. Please - I still shudder to remember last night's agony. She is definitely NOT a Kajol, Vidya or Rani. More than 10 minutes of watching Katrina's "acting" will definitely lead to indigestion.

A song like Saans from the AR Rehman group? WTF? Its like you go to a exclusive do expecting caviar and end up eating tikka masala at a Punjabi wedding. I have nothing against the music - but its like something you have heard everywhere. There has to be some atrophy in the maestro's repertoire if one song "Challa" had to be repeated 4 times (at least).

Just a few days back I was thinking that - thank God Hindi movies no loger pair up a heiress with a rickshaw wallah. I was obviously wrong. Heiresses can get paired up with beggars in Hindi movies - albeit in a slicker package than in the eighties. And this brings to mind the question -  if Shahrukh had so much cash stashed away - why wasnt he opening his own restaurant? After all the same cash enabled his slouchy, lazy, inexperienced in the food business, definitely simple friend to become a millionare. I have nothing against any class of people - i just like to watch stories that remotely make sense...that's expecting too much I guess.
If you go to a so called "family movie" with a universal rating with 6 - 10 year olds - you definitely dont expect dialogues like "i want to have sex with all accents of people (a very bad translation of the actual dialogue , am afraid)." This from a girl who is shown to be extremely cool. I mean... I am old fashioned and I want my movies to be properly labelled. Jab Tak Hai Jaan definitely deserved a PG - 13 rating.

Is there any reason to watch Jab Tak Hai Jaan? Well 10-15 minutes of the film are actually worth watching. One of them a dance. A few minutes of Shahrukh and Anoushka's perfect dive into a  freezing Ladakh lake. So just get someone to edit those parts and put it on youtube. No need to go through torture.
Rating - 1/2 out of 5

This blog has also been published by me at Xomba.com
http://mamamia07.xomba.com/jab-tak-hai-jaan-far-superior-movie-without-shahrukh-khan

Kindle Fire Review

As a proud owner of one of the earliest versions of Kindle (when it was just a simple ebook reader for book lovers - with epaper / eink- technology) I have always tried to keep up with the latest models of Kindle. So it was with some awe and frustration of the head nodding kind that I saw the launch of the latest version of Kindle Fire. Kindle is no longer just an ebook reader from Amazon. With Kindle Fire, Kindle is prepared to go the distance to be a complete tablet. Amazon itself is slotting it as "A Tablet from Amazon" and "More than a tablet". The biggest plus point for Amazon's Kindle Fire seems to be the new HD screen. The sizes, options and features come in a mindboggling range. The screen sizes range from 7" to 8. 9 " and the storage space from 8 GB to 32 GB. The highest end model is enabled for 4G technology while there is Dolby audio in most models. The price range is equally wide - from $159 for an entry level Fire model to $ 499. The lowest priced Fire HD model is $199. One thing may bug book and movie lovers - ads on your screen.
Go to this Amazon Kindle page to find out more about all the Kindle versions,

Kindle Fire Latest

Top 5 Reasons to Watch Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara

Zingdagi Na Miliegi Dobara is Zoya Akhtar revisiting Dil Chahta Hai – though in an entirely different setting. If a tribute to Dil Chahta Hai was to be shot – ZNMD would fit the bill.

1 – Farhan Akhtar does an amazing job as the down to earth, irreverent, don’t give a damn guy. He is one of the main reasons the movie was so likeable. He excels in dancing and singing too as a huge bonus!

2 - The bonding between the characters – a lot has been said about this bonding. The times the trio spent on the set as “friends” comes across in the movie. None of the scenes seemed forced – even the emotionally heavy scenes come out naturally. Hrithik, Farhan and Abhay complement each other perfectly. Hrithik doesn’t get the heavy star treatment – and that makes all the difference. Katrina Kaif’s presence doesn’t let it be a tedious all-male show!

3 - The Spain road scene – Just traveling through a foreign locale, not just along the tulip route, adds a separate dimension. The movie travels through the narrow winding roads of small Spanish towns, from the beach to the mountains. It covers the colorful tomatina festival too with a “Bollywoodish” song!

4 - The Music – Whether it is the tomatina song “Ik Junoon”, Dil Dhadakne Do or the “Senorita” sung by Hrithik, Farhan and Abhay – the songs vibe with youthful energy. Shankar Ehsaan Loy with lyricist Papa Javed Akthar have ensured that the album will not soon be forgotten.

5. The entire package – Director Zoya Akhtar must be credited with making a sensible fast paced, lovable movie that is not just a soppy romance. The various nuances and layers to the funny dialogues add an extra dimension to this road movie. There are some straight adrenaline pumping scenes like a free fall from an aircraft, deep sea diving or a terrifying running with the bulls at the climax. However the fun and adventure is inter weaved into an emotional roller coaster as the trio face their fears and find out what they want from life while getting in touch with themselves. All as they negotiate the narrow roads of Spain.

Verdict – Must watch

Transformers 3 - Dark of the Moon - My Review

I was privileged to watch a premiere show of Transformers 3 two days back. Not having done my homework (in fact I was confusing this movie with Schwarzeneggar's Terminator - till we hit the theatre) - I was initially at a loss about the movie.

Here's my take on the show!

Of all the irrelevant things in the movie - the worst is the title. Dark of the Moon has very little relevance to the actual movie. Return of the Cybertron or something lke that would have made more sense.

What was the movie about?

How can an entire planet (Cybertron) be transported back to earth? Wont they clash? Come on - we are scared stiff and predict wholescale destruction when a tiny meteor comes close. An entire planet....puhleeze!

Shia LeBeouf in Transformers 3

What exactly was Shia LeBeouf's role in this edition of Transformers? Other than providing some cute moments and running from pillar to post for no apparent reason - he could have been written out of the script - and the movie would have remained the same!

Can Autobots be Killed?

How exactly were the Autobots or the Decepticons killed? They seemed to reform themselves at their will and no one seemed to have a clue how to deal with them - till the last few scenes when the snipers are instructed to go for the eyes!

The Final Mission

Now what was that last mission? I thought it was to take a hit at the "pillars" that were to teleport the Cybertron with the single shot left. However that seemed to be forgotten and everyone just seemed to be fighting each other, the NSA, the Seals, the Bots - till Shia LeBeouf remembers about the pillars!

What a Looonnnng Climax!

The climax was way way too long! Clip it off by 20 mins - movie would be fine. i mean one can only so much spfx of autobots and decepticons fight with humans caught and mangled in between and still manage to come out of it in one fine piece.

Having got out of the way my grouse against the movie - I must admit I enjoyed major portions of it. I am not really a bot and sci-fi and action movie fan. But I have had to adjust my tastes to watch movies with the children. So last week I had to watch Green Lantern - and now Transformers. And Transformers 3 was way way better of course.

Here are some reasons why.

Rosey Huntington - Whiteley

She was fun, sexy and a slightly toned down version of Cameron Diaz.

She was the perfect antidote to the tedium of men and machines. Having not watched the other two prequels to Transformers - I cant compare her to Megan Fox. I have a feeling she will be a great hit. I especially liked the part where her Mercedez (gifted by her boss) turns into a Dr. Ock kind Decepticon, to her shock!

Bumblebee and the Bots

The loyal Bumblebee and Optimus Prime really stole the show as the good guys leaving the men far behind. Even though it is a mystery to me why they chose to protect mere earthlings over their land Cybertron - I couldn't help but be grateful for it at the end. In fact they emoted much better than some of the queer earthlings!

John Turturro

John Turturro and Alan Tudyk as Simmons and Dutch had some of the best sequences in the movie. Turtorro as a writer and ex - Security man who has been paralysed in a Decepticon attack, was sharp and fun to watch.

Special Effects
This shouldnt be a surprise. The Transformers 3 is all about Special Effects. Starting with the moon sequence - the movie has dream SFX. In the last hour of the movie, the plot was all but forgotten to showcase some amazing scenes! There was an amazing airmen free fall sequence, a slide down the side of a collapsing glass building, a great number of autobots and decepticons fights and much more.

First Half of the Movie
The top half of the movie was a treat to watch. There seemed to be a real plot developing with Optimus Prime waking up Sentinel. There were Megatron and Sentinel Prime in a secret pact. Simmons and Witwicky were fast discovering the extent of the plot. Buzz Aldrin was meeting the training autobots. There were two cute autobot pets who kept up the interest. Rich playboy Dempsey and Diaz look alike Rosie Huntington- Whiteley provided the distraction.

As the mosaic of the plot came together - one didnt have a clue it would fall apart (literally) so dramatically in the later half of the movie!

Verdict - Worth a watch - and in 3D!

Originally published at Xomba.com at
http://www.xomba.com/top-5-reasons-i-didnt-transformers-3-dark-moon and
http://www.xomba.com/top-5-reasons-why-you-can-watch-transformers-3

BEST REVIEW - TOP 3 HARRY POTTER BOOKS

Who says Harry potter is just for teenagers? I have loved the series from day 1 and waited and waited for the books to come out when Rowling was in the middle of the series. However the movies dont really do justice to the complicated world of Harry Potter. They are good - but not really classic like the books. So if you have heard of Harry Potter - first read the books before getting hold of the DVD!

BEST REVIEW - TOP 3 HARRY POTTER BOOKS 2011 - HARRY POTTER AND THE DEATHLY HALLOWS, HARRY POTTER BOOKS, BUY HARRY POTTER ONLINE, PHILOSOPHER'S STONE, SORCERER'S STONE, GOBLET OF FIRE

Watch IPL T20 Live Free Streaming Online - OFFICIALLY @ ipl.indiatimes.com

Yes IPL 4 is live online free streaming online. So all those facebook addicts, net watchers and internet addicts - you dont have to leave your laptop to catch the IPL live streaming online. And you dont need a shady digital or dubious channel to watch the 20 over cricket. Indiatimes has bought the rights for this ediion of IPL (IPL 4) to webcast all the matches of IPL 4.

The site has already had a huge influx of visitors for the first couple of matches. The matches can be caught live ANYWHERE in the world!

Meanwhile get the ipl complete schedule and fixture at

Espncricinfo/IPL Fixtures

Watch the ipl 4 live online at Indiatimes at

world.ipl.indiatimes.com/

New Year Resolutions - Tips and Gadgets to Help Keep Your New Year Resolutions

Keeping New Year Resolutions are difficult - right? But if you have the right tools at hand sticking to your New Year Resolutions could be a breeze. Find out how to make the most of your New Year Resolutions here.

New Year Resolutions - Tips and Gadgets to Help Keep Your New Year Resolutions

Books, Thrillers and Murders

In the last two weeks I have gone through some books which are kind of Chick Lits. No, the books were more than chick lits - the authors classify them as thrillers - I would say they are chick lit murders.

I am a very safe reader. For my daily dose of reading, I tend to stick to Georgette Heyer, Judith Mc Naught or Jo Beverly for romance, Robin Cook, Archer, Grisham, Dan Brown for thrillers with a PG Wodehouse, Christie or Enid Blyton thrown in. I tried my hand a Dean Koontz and Stephen King - but while some of Koontz's books worked for me - I gave up Stephen King after one book. And I have given up Paulo Coelho after Alchemist - which I found incredibly silly. I know I might get lynched for saying this. In my defense, I intend to take up Coelho again - because everyone seems to love it - and I cant see why I shouldn't, if I pick up the right book!


Back to my chick lit murders - the first one I read was "A Rose From the Dead" by Kate Collins. It is part of a series called The Flower Shop Mysteries and you cant help liking the impulsive and irrepressible Abby Knight.

See the book here at Amazon.com

A Rose From the Dead

The next one was called Armed and Glamorous . The series by Ellen Byerrum is billed as Crime of Fashion Mysteries. The characters are funky, over the top and GLAMOROUS led by Lacey Smithsonian. Lacey writes on fashion and loves to dress in the 30s style gone modern. Her friends are Stella a hair stylist and Brooke an amazingly organized lawyer. One of Byerrum's book, "Killer Hair" has also been filmed. Take a look at Armed and Glamorous here at Amazon.com



Another thriller of the same genre called the "Code Busting Series" goes by the name of The Givenchy Code (sounds like Da Vinci Code or what?). The protagonist is the nerdy, brilliant, cipher and clue solver Melanie Prescott. In the book, Melanie lives a nightmare where her life depends on deciphering a cipher. Exciting? You bet! There are a few murders thrown in too. Melanie lives for Mathematics and shoes - haute couture shoes like say Givenchy! The book is by Julie Kenner.

The Givenchy Code

Unfortunately  there are two other exciting books I read a few days back whose names escape me. I generally pick up a book, read it and forget the name and the author - unless they are really well known. I remember the names of the above books because I made a point of noting them down before returning them to the library.

Can't wait to get my hands on more books of this kind!

Dostana Hindi Movie Review

Main gay hoon, Main gay nahin hun, Main gay hun kya? Kya tum gay ho? This sums up the story of Dostana – a story of two young men over confused about their sexuality. Well the plot is thin – So thin in fact it loses itself many a times in the tangle of legs and hormones - of Priyanka Cho. and John Abe. And the cute one day stubble of Abe babe. What was Bobby Deol doing with those three? The Deol Baba was such a let-down. I was really thankful to Bobby for providing some relief in Jhoom Barabar Jhoom (The worst ever movie I have ever watched) – I guess the Director too thought of Bobby’s role in a similar way – to provide plenty of back-up to the Bachchan Baba. But here’s news for you – Abhisekh Bachchan was outstanding – Bobby Deol was a dead bore. Dostana really has brought the term gay out of the closet, in India amongst the masses. There are some thoughts that the movie would throw the fragile gay rights movement in this country decades behind. I tend to disagree – bringing such a theme into open and into the mainstream was necessary in India.

Coming to the (non-existent) script, Abhisekh Bachchan and John Abraham decide to project a homosexual relationship in order to get accepted into a PG accommodation. As the third occupant was a young pretty babe, the niece of the house-owner, young males were not allowed. However the two decided to prolong the acting in order to get a faster visa too. In the meantime, they both fall in love with the niece (Priyanka Chopra) and the three become fast friends. Priyanka, meanwhile, is in love with her Boss, Bobby Deol. The two John Abe and Abe Babe do everything their power to thwart that relationship, even going as far as to poisoning Deol’s young son’s mind against Priyanka.

There are lots of comic encounters, climaxes in the script. The scene where Priyanka’s gay Boss Boman Irani tries to make a play for the duo with a Visa officer looking on was hilarious and exasperating at the same time. In fact, that sums up the whole movie – funny and exasperating in turns. I feel John Abraham doesn’t deserve such a huge part in any script – one does tire of the biceps and looks for some expressions at times. Sigh. Too much to expect. Kiron Kher does a gem of a job as a gay person’s mother – a traditional mother trying to come to terms with her son’s sexual orientation. Susmita Mukherjee overacts. Irani does his bit convincingly. There's Shilpa Shetty in a wee bit role too. But the movie belongs to Abhisekh and Priyanka. Priyanka was outstandingly gorgeous. Actually the three of them (Priyanka, John, Abe) in their scenes together make the movie paisa wasool. One does exit the theatre with a goofy smile – so that makes the movie worth watching!

I do know it’s too late for a Dostana review – but what the heck – I watched movie now and couldn’t help writing about it! Dostana is apparently faring very well at the Box Office too.