Monsoon Getaways for you this season...

Back from an amazingly relaxing vacation in the Kagra Valley. Covered Mcleodganj, Dharamshala and Palampur, the last destination being the least popular but the most deserving in my opinion. As I have already covered Palampur in one of my earlier works almost 5 years back (you can read it here), Mcleodganj found its way into a more broad based article of mine, one that I will share with you today.

I come back from my trip, reinforced in the belief that monsoons are the perfect time to travel. Splendid weather, lack of tourist crowds and a slight drizzle, just the most romantic setting one can ask for.

So here are some options for you to choose from, if the travel bug bites you soon. My latest article on Rediff suggests a few such Monsoon Getaways.

And if you're still undecided, here's a lil something to change your mind.

Idyllic in Mcleodganj

Tibetian Colorful Tablets around the Dalai Lama's residence

Norbuligka Institute for preserving Tibetian Arts

Bhagsu Waterfall

Valleys that take your breath away

Tea Gardens in Palampur

Lush Green walkways inside Kaya Kalp - an Ayurvedic retreat in Palampur

This monsoon, don’t hide in – head out!!

 

I love the rains. Yes, I know you’ve heard that before from just about any girl you have met, but I truly do. I love the feel of the cold drops on my face after a sultry Delhi day. I love splashing my car in puddles of water and hearing the whoosh (am pretty sure that its not very good for my car) and I love the smell of the mud when water falls on the parched earth. Monsoons are a great time to travel too. I understand people’s aversion to travelling during the rains – it can get messy, one can’t walk around and its tough to stick to itineraries. But if you ask me, the monsoons are my favourite travelling season. India literally comes alive during this time. The green loses its layer of dust and shines a bright neon colour. The air is fresh and cool. And the rest of the tourists stay home so one doesn’t have to jostle elbow to elbow with hordes of them. I HATE flying during this time (or any other time for that matter) but besides that, its a peach!

 

Last year, around this time my company was kind enough to organise our top management meet in Goa. It was perhaps aided by the fact that it was off season in Goa and they probably got a fantastic deal. Nevertheless, around 20 of us found ourselves making our way through the narrow lanes of this beach paradise. And you know all those people who told you that one should avoid Goa during the monsoons -  ignore them! Goa is at its most beautiful in this month. The town transforms itself into a sleepy village adorning a green shawl. Ofcourse, the view from Taj Fort Aguada helped as well!

 

So this year, we pack our bags again and are off to another adventure. Another set of towns to explore, a few more tales to string. It is to the hills this time. Ignoring those who warn of landslides and floods. With our raincoats packed in, can’t wait to smell the fresh mountain air again! Adios amigos….till we talk again!!

Bandh karo yeh bandh!!!

 

Yes, the petrol prices are getting out of hand. No I am not an economist so I am not going to argue about how the energy costs are going up globally and how our fiscal deficit will be affected if our energy rates be forcefully reduced. It is not the issue itself with which I have issues. It is the manner of dealing with them.

 

There is a very competent set of people that we have chosen to run our country. And to ensure that they do not become autocratic, we have chosen a set of people we call the opposition. Now, both these sets of knowledgeable and opinionated people are given a place and a time to debate on matters such as this called the Parliament. The Indian Parliament is not just a pretty building (and it IS a pretty building), it is the citizen’s charter to the government to discuss, debate and decide on matters that affect the common man.

 

What does damage democracy though is when this exercise is abused. I hang my head in shame when I witness Parliamentary sessions where people shout like shepherds and start throwing chairs and microphones to display their dissent. If they did that at home, they would probably have been given one whack by their mothers, thus displaying their serious need for babysitting.

 

But what angers me even more is when these very people abuse democracy and make it into one big show. A Bharat Bandh used to be a tool used in extreme cases like the British Raj or to protest the emergency. It was about voicing an opinion. It has now been reduced to a ticket to vandalism. Who are these people who think they can dictate whether a billion people in India should work on a specific day? Who are they who have the audacity to burn busses and public property and then demand that it is the government’s treasury that should pay for the damage? And who are these sadly illiterate people who assume that the common man is so dumb as to not understand the difference between the right to voice one’s opinion and the removal of the fundamental rights of all citizens for one day. 

 

I protest. Not against dissent but against the assumption that we are cattle who will approve of this. If you have the guts, sit on a round table with the economists of the government, the Prime Minister being one of them, suggest ways of tackling the problem of reducing the burden on the citizen while ensuring that the burden doesn’t bend our economy too much. And if you don’t have the courage or the intellect to do so, kindly stop wasting our time. We have miles to go before we sleep.

Sleeping with the Kings - Orchha revisited

LOVE the way I wrote this one!! Check out my latest article published on Rediff. Its a travelogue on Orchha, a place you may never have heard of, a place you definitely should visit once in your lifetime!!

For the movie buffs, this is also the location where the latest film Raavan has shot an entire song and marriage scene of Beera's sister. Trust me, its nothing less than visual nirvana.

Read the article HERE

Mahabharata & Ramayana in a new avatar – Rajneeti and Raavan reviewed

In a day and age where generations are increasingly ignorant about the intricacies of our cultural heritage and more importantly, literary epics like Mahabharata and Ramayana, television did what books couldn’t. When I was growing up, these epics were depicted in TV serials that ran for years and such was the fan following that people would literally drop what they were doing to watch them. We have come a long way from there but the audio visual route still remains the best hope for passing on these stories to our children.

 

Which is why I looked forward to the fact that skilful filmmakers like Mani Ratnam and Prakash Jha had decided to portray these epics superimposed into today’s scenario. It is a thin line to tread, knowing which elements to keep and which to modernise, how to keep it realistic and let the audience make the parallels without spelling it out for them. And in both these regards, Rajneeti did what Raavan could not.

 

Rajneeti took the concept of Indian Politics and played it into the mould of Mahabharata. With an ensemble cast of credible actors, Jha managed to give characters individuality and yet shadowed them on the Mahabharata character they represented. Ranbir Kapoor played an excellent Arjuna and Arjun Rampal getting better ever day with his performance with traces of Yudhishthir. But it was Bhishmapitama played by Nana Patekar which really took the cake. Always behind the scenes and yet directing everyone wisely, he did the role justice. As expected, Manoj Bajpaye did a decent job as Duryodhana and Katrina Kaif not only looked stunning but pulled off quite a good performance (and no, its not modelled on Sonia Gandhi). The only person who I believe got shot changed is Ajay Devgan as Karana. The role was perfect for Devgan yet one left feeling he was under-used.

 

The music and tracks in the film are phenomenal. Each track worth humming, my favourite being “Mora Piya Mose Bolat Naahi”, a soulful ballad. Unfortunately, what the movie achieved in 2 hours, the last half hour destroyed. The climax of the film seemed to stretch forever and ended up making the film seem amateurish. I truly wish they had just chopped off the last reel, I would have left the hall a happier person!

 

Raavan on the other hand, is an example of how not to do it. Don’t get me wrong. It is a beautiful piece of art. It sweeps over stunning locales, with cinematography such that at times you feel like it may just be National Geographic. But what the director set out to do, he failed to achieve. The story is not even disguised, it is Ramayana with the names changed. Dialogues like “woh dus sar wala raakshas hai” when refering to the villain Bira or “Woh bhagwan hain” when refering to Dev modelled on lord Rama dont leave much to the imagination. I wish I had seen the Tamil version instead where Vikram who plays the hero in the Hindi version plays Raavan instead. He would undoubtedly have done a much better job than the half baked performance by a plump Mr.Bachhan (and not the one with a beard  who can act). Aishwarya Rai looks absolutely beautiful in some shots and one wishes that cinema halls also came with a mute button when she starts screaming in her incredibly shrill voice (in the same league as that of Diya Mirza or Riya Sen). To her credit, we do get a reminder of how beautiful and graceful an Indian woman can look during a dance sequence in which she seduces her husband doing classical dance. The man with the smallest role, Govinda who plays Hanuman does absolute justice to his role and perhaps even he may have played a better Raavan.

 

The movie fails to build a plot, fails to make the audience empathise with Bira. The villagers love him and the police hates him but we are never given to understand why so. What really are the socio economic reasons for this almost naxal leader. Instead, the film seems like a personal feud – your wife for my sister kind of an approach. Very lame. The songs are upbeat and in a certain wedding sequence, don’t miss the locale in the background – it is Orchha, the hidden gem we found in MP when we travelled a couple of months back. All in all, unfortunately very boring and avoidable. See it on mute and marvel at Incredible India.

 

Ratings: Rajneeti (3 on 5 with .5 deleted for the last half hour)

       Raavan(1.5 on 5)

Ideas for Father's Day

New article published on Rediff. Funky ideas on how to celebrate Fathers Day. Read it HERE.

8888 visitors to the blog till date

8,888 says the site meter. It is a humbling feeling, if you pause to think about it. Over the past few years, my blog was read 8888 times. It never fails to bring a smile to my face when I bump into people I may not have met for years and they tell me that they read my blog and love it. My readers who recommend my blog further to their friends and it is followed by people whom I have never met! And my friends and colleagues who I know follow my blog, but as silently slip away without commenting! The best part is that my best friends probably don’t even know the url of my blog. Why do I need to share my life with others, they ask? When I have them.

 

I write because I am. I have never written a page that I did not believe in, or because I had to. I wrote because I had something to say. That’s it. And what is wonderful is that so many people were interested in what I had to say. They debated my opinions, countered my viewpoints, encouraged my arguments. At The Thought Express, one doesn’t need to agree, that would be too boring. The name of the blog was kept because my thoughts race through my head, desperately begging to be poured out into words. What my personality doesn’t let me do with my voice, I do with my words. Some people can converse with strangers, some can dance with them, some can even travel with strangers. I share my words with friends and strangers. Only because I have something to say.

 

Thank you. For saving this in your favourites. For typing this url in the address bar. And for clicking on a new post. For making this a dialogue from a one sided rave.

 

And yes, the reviews for Karate Kid and Rajneeti will follow soon!!!