KANK and Crosswords

Sometimes I get this irresistible urge to eat bhel puri, to listen to a Rahman song or to watch a movie. A couple of weekends back, I had the urge to watch a movie. My hubby and I went to PVR in the morning to check out the availability of tickets for Vettaiyaadu Vilaiyaadu or KANK. Unfortunately most of the tickets were booked and a few tickets were available for the front row. I hate sitting in the front row and watching a movie with a sprained neck. So I suggested that we go to Rex. We reached there and realized that KANK was running in Symphony. We then walked to Symphony and all we could get was the evening show. We booked the tickets and didn't know what to do till evening - whether to wait for the movie or go home and come back.

Hubby had to go to office as he had some deliverables. I didn't want to go home and so I decided to roam around in MG Road. My legs automatically pulled me to Crosswords. I love roaming around in bookstores. The smell of books, the soothing backdrop music and a quiet ambience - I adore them. I quickly bought a Cafe Latte from the inhouse Coffee Day and got myself refreshed for the next 4 hours. First it was the new arrivals section, then top of the charts, Indian writing, magazines, philosophy, self improvement, management, cookery, health etc. After browsing through my favourite categories, I found a place to sit and was reading "The power of relaxation" while I was actually relaxing. Though I have been to Landmark and Higginbothams, I like Crosswords. It's not very crowded and I like the way they have arranged the different categories. The next few hours, I was just with myself, having a good time with the pleasant company of books.

It was time for KANK and I reached the theatre. Meanwhile, hubby had also come back from work. Ok, now for my review of KANK. It's not such a bad movie as written by others. I agree there are many flaws like Rani's tears always coming out from her right eye (don't know if she forgot to let it out of her left eye), a stupid kidnapping sequence and the follow-ups in the hospital, trying to make a comedy sequence in rather a serious movie and the scenes of Amitabh. The things which I liked was towards the end when Preity slaps SRK and Abishek asking Rani to leave the house. It would have been the worst movie if only Preity and Abishek as goody-goody types helped Rani and Shahrukh to get married. The songs were good, especially the Mitwa song.

At the end of the day, all I remember was the 4 hours I spent at Crosswords than KANK.

Yogarungym - my experiments!

I see myself as a healthy, active and a young granny 40 years from now. I want to keep myself as fit as possible with no major health ailments. To achieve this goal, I need to maintain my physical well being on a day-to-day basis. The sedentary life style that I lead as a software engineer staring at the computer for hours together does not juxtapose well with my goal. So what do I do?

I've been trying different forms of physical exercise for the past 2 years, though in a very inconsistent manner. I started off with Yoga, went for Yoga classes for about 2 weeks and then stopped because of my inability to wake up at 5.30 AM everyday. After about 6 months, my hubby suggested that we join the same Yoga classes together. We did and actually enjoyed the sessions, attending 2 out of 5 classes per week after forcing ourselves to wake up with 3 alarms set between 5.15 and 5.30. Our Yoga master was able to figure out that we were irregular and indirectly suggested in front of the class that there's no point in doing Yoga only on Tuesdays and Thursdays. We dropped out after 6 weeks.

After a few months, we joined the Art of Living classes and had good fun. Sudarshana Kriya was a good experience. We vowed that we would perform the Kriya for the next 48 days. Can you guess how long we were able to perform? 5 days ! Laziness at its heights !

New Year day brings in a feeling of a fresh start and we resolved to rejoin the same Yoga classes. We liked our Yoga master's way of teaching asanas slowly, giving enough time to absorb the steps. Comparitively, we were regular this time but towards the last week, our enthusiasm became low that we bunked the whole week. I'm pretty sure if I go again, my Yoga master would instantly recognize me and get a written statement that I complete the 2 months course.

There came an end to my Yoga expedition. Running started to interest me later. I planned to run for the Bangalore Marathon scheduled to happen in May and started practicing in a nearby park for about 3 weeks. This habit also died down soon. One of my ex-colleagues said that I'm a good finisher in Toastmasters. I guess this theory doesn't go well with my physical fitness.

Now in my new company, I have a very good gym and I also got myself a pair of sports shoes. I have started using the gym for the last four days. Let me see how far I go ! In my previous experiments, I feel that I planned way ahead like becoming a Yoga master (really!) and completing the 42 km marathon. Dreaming big is good but in order to achieve those big dreams,I realize that I need to take small steps forward everyday. So I'm taking my stint at the gym one day at a time.

Yesterday is history, tomorrow is mystery, today is what I have in hand, so let me make the best use of it !

தெளிவு தந்த நிமிடம்

இனிய மாலை பொழுது
அழகிய அலங்கார திருவடிவம்
மங்கலம் பொங்கும் மணிவிளக்கு
தெய்வீக மணங்கமிழும் குங்குமம்

நெஞ்சை குளிரச்செய்யும் தீர்த்தம்
சிரித்து மலர்ந்திருக்கும் மல்லிகை
அமைதியை உணரும் மனம்
திருக்கோயிலை சுற்றும் கால்கள்

அடி பணியச்செய்யும் பக்தி
புதுத்தெம்போடு திரும்பி வ ந்தேன் நான்...

சுதந்திர நினைவுகள்

Scribbled this one on our Independence day evening....

இன்றைய தினம்
சிறப்பு வாய்ந்த நன்னாள்
நினைவுகள் பலபல

கொடியேற்றும் தலைவர்கள்
மிட்டை கொடுக்கும் ஆசிரியைகள்
தேச பக்தி பாடல்கள்
அரை நாள் விடுமுறை

காந்தி தாத்தா வாங்கிய
சுதந்திரத்தை இன்ற்று
நினைவு கூர்கிறார்கள்
நமிதாவும் சினேகாவும்

முழு சுதந்திரம் அடை ந்து
விட்டோம் நாம்
24 மணி நேரமும்
தொல்லைக்காட்சி முன் தவமிருக்க

வேண்டும் சுதந்திரம்
யாவருக்கும்
பசி பஞ்சத்திலிருந்து
வேலை திண்டாட்டத்திலிருந்து
கல்வி சுமையிலிருந்து
வெடித்தெழும் ஜனத்தொகையிலிருந்து
வெறுக்கும் தீண்டாமையிலிருந்து
பிழி ந்தெடுக்கும் லஞ்சத்திலிருந்து
வெளி நாட்டு மோகத்திலிருந்து

நம் தேசத்தை காப்பாற்ற
விழித்தெழு தோழா !
பொழுதுபோக்கை தள்ளிப்போடு
உன் கடமையை தேடு
முழுமூச்சுடன் பாடுபடு
மூட நம்பிக்கைகளை சாடு
நம் நாட்டின் புகழ் பாடு
பிறகு சுதந்திரத்தை கொண்டாடு !