Here and thereabouts

Yoohoo. I am back. While there are still no posts coming up, thought I’d put out some pics I have snapped over the last few months; of things which caught my eye while travelling. And at the end are some shots of the cutest Ganpati I have seen this year.

Will round up with a few more pics, hopefully sometime soon.

ETA: Hey, you know what? The blog is now 5. Just realised, and am thrilled. Yes, there’s cake for everyone, just be sure to bring in your gifts. 5 year olds love them.

Here and thereabouts

The longest this blog has gone without a post, is now 1 month and some weeks. Not that anyone has complained.

The blog is dormant, the blogs I follow are (almost) dormant, any people following this blog are dormant. Which makes this post a sort of ‘talking-aloud-to-myself’ thing.

The logical next step would be to close the shop. But the blog is a few weeks shy of its 5th birthday, and closing the shop seems like a horrible travesty of a birthday gift. So, for now, the shop remains open, while I hope that my urge/need/wish to write gets a new infusion of life.

The heady smell of freshly cut grass. The headier spin of the crowd’s ovations.

The sharp twang of a racquet meeting a ball. Its sharper swish when cutting through the air.

A drop shot. Cheers. A net fault. More cheers. A powerful crosscourt rally. Missed shots. Long shots. Net shots converted to net points. Smashes galore. Balls crossing the court at rare angles, shot like bullets from an unerring gun.

A worthy opponent.

Legs racing, heart pumping, hands wielding the racquet, forehand to backhand. Eyes figuring out loopholes, the next placement. The brain taking it all in.

A hit. A miss. So close. An ace.

A smile of truimph. A fist in the air. Not for an opponent well defeated, but for a match well won.

Game, Set and Match.

Inspired by today’s Federer Vs. Nalbandian Wimbledon match. Go, Fedex.

Oh to be 23 and carefree again!

I saw ‘Tanu Weds Manu’ recently. Before you ask what was I thinking, lemme tell you, I try to watch Madhavan movies. There, I said it.

My random-points review of the movie follows:

. Such a waste of such a potentially bright story. Such a waste. They even had Madhavan. If only they had replaced Kangana ‘must-act-mad-always’ Runout. Or even tamed her a lil bit.

. Madhavan’s character is so spineless. I know that’s the intention, so that in the end he can mouth a 2-bit dialogue about ‘backseat pe baithne ka time chala gaya hai’. Still, a half-bit of bone wouldn’t have hurt him.

. The scene in which he mouths the following dialogue to Kangana made me want to slap him. I’m surprised she didn’t do that, shown as she is to be a spitfire. “Sabne jo kaha, woh kiya. Engineering, doctori…blah blah…pacemaker.. blah blah.. email. facebook.” and then breaks down and starts sobbing. Really? Email? Facebook? People told him to do that? And he obeyed? Just for the heck of it? *Eyes wide as saucers*

. The story completely loses it after the intermission. Jimmy Shergill is Kangana’s beau. How? Didn’t he already have a fiancee? Madhavan makes so many back and forth trips, vacillating between ‘to be or not to be’ that he must have a special frequent-travller ticket for that journey.

. Don’t you just dislike those movies which bankrupt themselves of all their interesting, or awwww moments during the trailers itself? Watch the trailers and the movie is watched.

. How does such a sharif, cultured family get a daughter like ms. runout? Where does she get her regular doses of Vodka et all, and manage a string of boyfriends under all that strict supervision?

. Such a waste…..

—
On another note, wanted to mention a movie (P.S. I love you) I haven’t seen completely yet, only snippets here and there a couple of times.
Saw some part (until then unseen) of it some days back, where Gerard Butler (Sigh…..) tells his wife (forgot her name… ) how he fell in love with her when he first met her. That scene just made me go all Awwwwwwwwwwwwww.

So what’s your favourite ‘awwwww” scene from the movies? And what’s your ‘could have been so better than this’ movie?

On a war footing

He took a brave step forward, much to the chagrin of his cowering second-in-command, who had been forced into that role.

“No, come back. Seriously.”

      ”You can stay there if you want. I am going on.”

With that delivered in the imperious style befitting a commander, he gazed forward at the enemy gathered ominously in the distance. Still far, but they had speed. If they wished to charge, they would reach his fort in minutes.

      ”Do you really not wish to go? There’s nothing to be afraid of.”

“Are you crazy? Why must you go there when it is obvious they will be upon us soon enough?”

      ”Oh stay. But be silent. They will charge when they wish, but I don’t want to hide behind .. behind stuff. That is not the manner of a war chief.”

With that, he ran forward uttering a war-cry. A wind, gathering up speed and matching his howl with one of its own, tore from his grasp the only weapon he carried. He had refused point-blank to wear an armour, and so this had been forced into his hand, with a terse command to atleast be a little sensible. He now relinquished it without fuss. His second watched this proceeding with dismay.

Whether in response to his challenge, or because its own mind was made up, the enemy charged. It roared and came rushing and flying down to his fort, loosing all its arrows upon the dimunitive defending army of two. There was such a fearsome noise it was difficult to ascertain who made it. The battle was as short as it was furious. The victor had been decided even before it was known there was to be a war.

The vanquished chief returned to his fort, drenched to the bone, with a grin on his face.

      ”That was fun.”