Attendance by Proxy

We finally received the DVD's of my cousin's wedding in the mail a few days ago. Thankfully, the package consisted of only 4 disks, instead of the 14 disks we received earlier, containing all the still pictures.

Indian Wedding videography has to be considered a form of documentary cinema, given that the camera is supposed to record every nuance, every face and every moment within the event. Miss one second-tier personage, performing some arcane rite or casually dropping an envelope of money into the bride's lap, and the poor cameraman will have to face the ire of both the families, as well as a considerable cut in his fees.

So, for the past couple of days, it has become my pastime to pop in one of the disks, plug in the headphones, fast-foward to the scenes of the ladies' sangeet, turn up the volume, and dance with abandon. I feel so disappointed not to have been a part of the celebrations, and I mildly envy all of those who were there.

Movie Review - Water

Frankly, I don't see what all the hullabaloo was all about.

I can see no reason why some chauvinist fundamentalists had to go and trash a movie set, for the content of the piece is anything but controversial. Perhaps the setting and the depiction may be too realistic for those brought up on a steady diet of Bollywood. The story is set in times long past, and instead of realising that this sort of thing went on but is no more, some miscreants decided it was an affront to Hinduism.

The story, allegedly centered around the lives of Hindu widows in 1930's India, is more or less about the idealistic young lawyer, played by the John Abraham and The sublime Lisa Ray as the young widow who is forced by circumstance into a being a concubine for the rich and high-caste gentry in the vicinity; and their forbidden love. The free-spirited young child widow, is more or less the innocent bystander, who is steamrolled into the life of widowhood.

John Abraham really hit his personal acting goldmine when he signed up for this project. It is refreshing not to see Abraham straddling a Hayabusa, making teenyboppers in tube tops swoon as he races past. Lisa Ray looks luminous, but her acting is more or less tame.The Best bits however, are from the "bandit-queen" actress, Seema Biswas, who plays the widow who questions her faith and the life she leads in the face of the feisty child, and the relationship of the lawyer with the pretty widow. Khulbhushan Kharbanda manages to look inebriated even as a priest, in spite of the fine acting. How does he do it? { ;-) }
The background, set in Pre-independence India, provides a very rich background to the main story, and is beautifully tied into the climax, when everything is nicely wrapped up in a piece of khadi {again, ;-)}

overall, a touching movie, with notable performances and a fine love story.

Car pics!

After much delay, here are some pictures of the car...I don't see the point of putting these up though, as this model is available in both North America and India...

OKTOBERFEST!!!

With the ritual wrenching off the cap from a bottle of cold, icy ale with my molars, I hence declare my own private beer-fest open!

After deciding that chugging Heineken was akin to wearing the same pair of shorts over a week, I decided that it was time to expand my horizons in the field of the oldest fermented beverage known to man. So, I promised myself a different beer every time the six-pack in the fridge is exhausted.

Anyway, here is a list of the beers I have savoured, alongside a small review-

1. Heineken- The Stalwart. The Standard. The most popular beer in the world. I really do not need to say more, since almost everyone has tasted this beer, and I would like to get to the interesting ones.

2. Guinness- If Whiskey is the spirit of the Irish, Guinness is the life-blood. As soon as you open the bottle(and yes, you can get genuine draught Guinness in a cleverly-designed bottle and can) and pour the contents, you realise what ale is about. the dark, almost black liquid flows quietly, forming a head so confoundingly thick and stable, you constantly have trouble accessing the beer from under the foamy armour the the head forms. The flavour is very strong, by most standards, with a rich, smooth, smoky caramel essence, reminiscent of a very strong espresso. And like that venerable caffeine cluster-bomb, this is not a beer for casual chug-a-glugging, and it leaves a lasting impression on you. It tastes fine even when slightly warm, and that is just the thing for having next to you(apart from a comely wench) when going through endless games of pool with the boys.

3. Pilsner Urquell - Ladies and Gentlemen, Meet the original Lager beer. This was the first lager beer that gave us the clear golden liquid we all take for granted, and set the stage for the bifurcation of the beer world into the top-fermented(ales)beers and the bottom-fermented(lager) beers.

The bottle proclaims-"Discover how beer is meant to taste"

The taste is clear, precise and clean. None of the vagueness or dilution associated with lesser beers. The flavour is very hoppy, (What are Hops?) with a most pleasant, sweet, flowery aroma, that you may get only hints of in other beers, and an astringent, dry, and crisp feel on the tongue. The aroma, nay, the perfumed bouquet alone is to die for. Best enjoyed cool, but not chilled.

4. Amstel light- like the name suggests, a light beer. Not a beer I 'd fawn over, but still a good product. typical Heineken-ish taste, but with a slighty different bouquet. Maybe I should have not tried the Light version.

More Beers to come soon!

Music - A P O C A L Y P T I C A - Harmageddon

Waiting to Inhale

Through the juxtaposition of St. Valentine's day with a busy weekend, I ended up working for six days at a stretch, non-stop. Needless to say, by the sixth day, I was getting a bit antsy about it all. I had a massive headache and a cranky neck, and to top it all off, I was supposed to be closing, which meant that I would be staying at the restaurant till late. We had been out shopping earlier in the day, and we went to Macy's(which mom insists on pronouncing as 'Massey', of the Massey-Ferguson tractor Co. fame) In pursuit of some nice blankets. there was a clearance sale on, and mom got a light quilt set and a nice polyester(ech!)blanket. I insisted upon her to not buy anything for my bed, but, as my headache grew worse during the night, I decided that a good bed was in order.

So, as soon as the floors were scrubbed free of the grease and the drains cleaned, I headed down to the 24-hour Wal-mart and got myself a rather expensive Pneumatic mattress, complete with memory foam top and electric air pump. And for the first time in months, I slept really well.

That is not to say that I am unable to sleep on floors. It's just that the lack of any cushioning makes the whole affair a bit crude, and the simple, cotton filled Gaddas that you can buy in India for as little as $5 are not available here.