Sky Bar @ Bangalore

During my recent visit to the city of Gardens- Bangalore, I had the opportunity to visit one of the most talked about "Hang-outs" in UB city Mall, Bangalore.  This Sky Bar is located on the 15th floor of the Mall and considered an exotic place to be around by the modern youth and youngsters at heart!
We walked in to feel as if we were in some upscale pub of Dubai !!
No time is wasted by the attenders around who immediately distribute the menu card and wait on top of your head to take orders for drinks!  The moment you ask for a particular type of drink that you like and ask for suggestions, the boys point out their finger at the costliest drink that is available in that class!  Probably, they are told to sell the expensive drinks to earn better commission?  Anything lower, the response is "not available"!

As the time progresses, the crowds swell and the blue, dim lights right from beneath the table, foot tapping music and the cold air brings in romantic mood into everyone so much so that all the women start looking beautiful to the eyes!!!
There is nothing Indian to eat or munch and all that you get on a huge plate is  small pieces of potato veggies and some grass and leaves for an amount that can fetch you  a whole sack of vegetables that can last for a week!!

The experience of being there is worth the cause at least once in a life time?  The repeat orders for drinks does not seem to carry out the purpose for which it is ordered as you walk out like you walked in even after 3-4 rounds of drinks!! May be it is the excitement of being on top of 15th floor in Bangalore?

Misty Mornings of Bangalore- a reason to love Bangalore!

Living in Bangalore is by itself a pleasure and if you are destined to live in a gated community developed by the Prestige Builders in Shantiniketan, whitefield, you must consider yourself blessed!

A few hundred meters away, the train passes sounding its arrival into Bangalore, the air conditioned city!  The early morning fog makes you feel like being in Europe!!  The passing trains on the whitefield tracks brings in a feeling of"out of city bustle"!  A hot cup of Tea standing in the balcony allowing the misty wind to gently pound on your face enlivens the aroma that glorifies the garden city!

The sun plays hide and seek with the clouds above. The imagination runs wild in thinking as if it is  talking to the Mists to determine the time it has to come out?  The Fog on its part requesting the mighty Sun to allow them to spread the happiness of chill amongst the people and help them remain cool and calm at least for some more time of the day!  The huge lake that can be seen from the bedroom window is invisible and for that matter even the next, adjoining block in the compound!
You open the French windows and sliding doors only to allow an invasion of pure, fresh oxygenated air right into the house and enhance the breathing space of the apartment!  Truly, Bangalore is blessed with a climate of this kind and it is not a wonder when I see the people so cool and calm to understand and tackle things that crop up each day for fulfillment!!

Bangalore- a paradise in India

Gar Firdaus Bar mein Zameen Ast, Hamin AstHamin Ast"
"it means that if there is paradise on earth, this is it, this is it and this is it" said the famous Persian Poet Firdaus on Kashmir!
                       
I would attribute the same to the wonderful city of Bengaluru.  The month of December here in Bangalore is so lovely and cool that one does not have to go abroad to enjoy the winter season.  The early morning mist gently moved by the cool and fresh air is simply amazing.  Many times, you feel like being in a Hill station!  The misty mornings influence the rising of the Sun and gives you a pro-longed feeling of joy and happiness which makes you remain cool.  The entire city can be termed as "Air-conditioned" which comes free of cost.


I live in Chennai which is hardly about 360 kms away from Bangalore where this kind of a weather is simply a thing of awe and dream!  The people of Chennai who face a 3 season weather of "Hot, Hotter and Hottest" can have a feeling of European weather in Bangalore which is about 5 hours travel by road.  The reasons for the people of Tamilnadu to go to Bangalore on a holiday are:
1. convenient distance to travel
2. cheaper hotels within Budget
3. savings in Foreign exchange
4. Food of choice
5. easy communication mode as all speak Tamil Bangalore

The Kannadigas must also be complimented for the spirit of National Integration as they are the only people in India who can speak English, Hindi, Tamil, Telugu and their own mother tongue in Kannada!!


It is worth a Holiday in Bangalore any time of the year except for the months of April and May when it is warmer.

Desi Boyz- a review

                            


Undoubtedly, one of the most hilarious, comedy entertainer in the recent past directed by Rohit Dhawan son of David Dhawan who has given big comical hits with Govinda!
The story is all about two Indian youths who are hit by the recession and find themselves unemployed!

Jignesh patel @Jerry as Akshay Kmar and Nick Mathur (John Abraham) are two friends who live together.  While Nick is educated investment Banker with comforts,  Jerry is a drop out and live happily on the earnings of his friend Nick until recession strikes whereby Nick looses his job and unable to find another one.  In the meantime, the custody of Veer, the school going kid who happens to be the nephew of Jerry is questioned by the State authority who gives ultimatum to Jerry to straighten himself with a decent earning or relinquish the rights over his nephew as he is even unable to pay up the school fees or get him his fantasy cookies!
                                                                    
Nick is engaged to Radhika(Deepika Padukone) who has big ambitions and dreams of  a big wedding and a big house to live in with luxury but Nick does not have money for the next meal which makes both of them desperate to earn money by hook or crook and decide to join the male strip-tease club and to be  male escorts for women which is controlled by Sanjay dutt who has acted well as usual in his style.  The back ground music of Nayak Nahin Khalnayak hoon mein adds to the weight of the character of Sanjay Dutt as the Brothel head!   The best sequence in this episode is that when Nick tears his shirts during a dance number in a club and tries to show his Macho body to the females around only to find his sweetheart Deepika appear right in front of him and makes her realise the reality of his life! The State also snatches the little school going boy from Jerry and both of them part ways.

  Jerry  joins the college and has a crush on with his professor Tanya well enacted by chitrangda singh who looks more seductive and beautiful than Deepia Padukone!

Nick  tries hard to win back Deepika and even puts up a small caravan in the parking lot etc. singing songs and begging excuses for his short cut  acts for earning money!  Nick with the help of Tanya manages to get his degree and Nick brings his mother from India to unite them once again as friends.  The family court gives custody of the young boy back to Akshay Kumar @Jerry seeing him credited with a degree from the Trinity College, London.
Akshay Kumar as Jerry@Rocco does justice to his role and looks ever youthful and agile specially in the dance sequences.  John Abraham as Nick @ Hunter shows off his muscles and six packs with ease and even puts Akshay Kumar to shame but has to go a long way in acting skills.  Deepika Padukone is more or less a dummy in this film and it is not understood as to how she accepted the role?  chitrangda Singh looks sexy and inviting  enough to make boyz join her institution to learn whatever subjects she teaches!!
Desi Boyz is a good entertainer film if you watch it with your brains left behind in the house!!

Ladies vs Richy Bahl

The authenticity of Punjabi cult and the love for the community can be well figured in the Chopra family who are making films after films revolving around the same subject within  a limited budget featuring their own introductions Ranvir Singh and Anushka Sharma who are probably bound by some kind of contract binding them with Yash Raj films!  This 2 hr 20 minutes film is all about a conman in Ranbir singh as Ricky Bahl who makes his living by" Ladki patana" and reaching out to their parents, impress and run away with their money!  Yash Raj films, this time, have introduced 3 more new faces in Parineeti chopra, Dipannita Sharma and Aditi Sharma who have justified their roles well through their acting.  Being a natural Punjabi who is handsome and outgoing, Ricky makes both Parineeti and Aditi fall in blind love!  The dialogues spoken by the characters are so natural and speaks for the nativity that is characterised so well.  However, it is not understood as to how the respective fathers who are also business men in their own calibre, part with huge sums of money to a stranger boy friend of their daughter?
The method used for vacating the house by sheer muscle power is a fact which is pictured well.  As an youngster brought up in Delhi, I am a witness to this kind of forced eviction where cots and fridge are thrown from the 3rd floor of the house on to the ground where it breaks into pieces right in front of the owner or the tenant who is forced to vacate in a most inhuman way!
The conman selling a painting of M F Hussain to a corporate is not justified and does not appeal!  The point that comes out prominently in this episode is that Con men exist only because of illegal cash dealings and the tax authorities have been provided with a clue like this for them to follow the thread!


The three duped women engage Anushka  in the second half to check mate the conman and retrieve their lost money and in the process looses even the part of the retrieved money to Ranvir Singh- the conman!

Somewhere during this mind game of cheating and over powering, the hero kisses Anushka Sharma and the sparks fly all over in such a manner that the conman is reformed and gives back all the money that he had cheated,  for the sake of his lady love!  All ends well and the girls get back their money and Ranvir and Anushka are united.  The movie weighs Love against all odds and makes it superior for all times to come!

Ranvir Singh as a Punjabi lad is impressive with his slang and the way of talking like a typical Punjabi and so is Anushka except for a tinge of over acting! Her Bikini dress and the swimming pool plot is bound to enthuse youngsters to go for the film at least once?  The other 3 characters are equally impressive with their acting talents.  Yash Raj films should be congratulated for introducing new new faces for the Indian cinema and its audience to digest and it is a good trend! Manish Sharma, the director of this film has done his best to tell the story without leaving any foot-prints to talk about or follow?
The music by Salim-Sulaiman is average and carries no appeal?  The Goa shoot spot is captivating as the place itself is photogenic in its own way? What Next from Yash Raj films featuring these two is the question that stands in the front of your mind?

I had this blessed opportunity to fly to Pune with my son Capt Neeraj who was commanding the Airbus 320 flight to Pune from Bangalore on the 6th December, 2011.

I was quite thrilled to have a glimpse of the cock-pit and the numerous gadgets that were in place to help them in flight navigation and control.

My happiness knew no bounds when he announced his name followed by name explaining details about the flight to the passengers on board!

The entire journey was memorable and pleasant till the final destination-Lohegaon Airport, Pune.

I along with my wife went to Pune to attend a relative's marriage on the 7th December, 2011. We were put up in a hotel in Deccan Gymkhana and had to proceed to Sinhagad road for the wedding. On our way, I spotted a local PMT bus which had an open window at the rear of the bus! I asked my cab driver as to why there was no glass to cover the window, he replied that it was meant for emergency exit!! Probably, with the huge rush of passengers and cramped space in the bus, this is the only way for the passengers to exit out of the bus in case of an emergency, I said to myself?