Extended my Daayra of reading via 'Daayra' !!!

Almost all the times it so happens with us that we read a particular book/novel and gradually forget the new things it taught to us or the message it conveys to its readers. 

With a thought to change this monotonous pattern, I opened a new diary (after college days again which was certainly refreshing) and jotted down all the important information, phone numbers, e-mail Ids, names of movies, plays, books etc from a recently read classic of Sonali Kulkarni named 'So Kul'.

Felt satisfied after following her referral and watching yet another art movie 'Daayra' of Sonali Kulkarni and Nirmal Pandey .....directed by Amol Palaker released way back in 1996. 

Eventhough the lyrics of the songs were written by Gulzarsaab and Anand-Milind composed the music of this movie, this movie was never heard or talked about in India. However it certainly got many accolades abroad which is the usual trend with such realistic Indian cinema. 

Late Nirmal Pandey was awarded Best actor award in France for his unique and finely portrayed role of a transvestite. Sonali Kulkarni also received an award of Best actress for this movie.

1st time ever I decided and tried to follow something religiously which a book taught me and it paid off.

Thanks Sonali and of course thanks to Amol Sir for such a beautiful and sensitive movie for which he is rightly known in bollywood. 

Only foreign countries realize and values such Indian talents...............

"Hasi Toh Phasee" Was Certainly Not Our 'Bebasi' !!!

Sometimes in life, the decisions taken at the snap of your fingers work more efficiently than those pre-planned with proper detailing and applying logic.

A 2nd straight example of this was an 'Adhoc' (my favorite corporate word ;) decision of watching 'Hasi To Fasi' movie. The planning was sudden tempted by buy 1 get 1 offer of movie tickets via Book My Show.
So here the 3 Musketeers along with an addition were back @ Mangala theatre early in the morning.

I was a bit susceptible of a possible back to back disappointment of a Parineeti Chopra movie (although I like her acting) but this one certainly had just all good things to offer us. Good music....nice lyrics....A different Parineeti....Sidhharth Malhotra's solo role....overall a movie which you can watch along with your family (yeah, a rarity there days !!).

It made us forget our last scary encounter with 'Shudh Desi Romance' which apart from romance and only romance had nothing to offer to the audience.
(Note: I can surely call this as a 'Family movie' since it has only 1 inevitable kissing scene which is not a prolonged one and an eye-popper :)))

Hasi To Fasi on the other hand has a bit different theme which looks shallow and non-sustainable but still it's an out an out comedy movie which has subtle emotional scenes backed by equally good songs having soulful music of Vishal-Shekhar and heart-touching lyrics of Amitabh Bhattacharya and Kumar.

Watchout "Zehnaseeeeeeb....tujhe chaahu betahaasha Zehnaseeeb...." by Chinmayi Sripada and Shekhar and another song "Manchala" by Shafaqat Amanat Ali Khan & Nupur Pant.

Irrespective of the movie whether it is good or bad, the real fun element of it lies in with whom you are going to watch the movie. If you have all 'Nut-crackers' with you then I bet no movie can bore you but just burst your lungs out of laughter. HTF (kindly read it properly, this is movie's name and not a typo) was no exception for it. I believe all the movies of these days are inspired from real life 'Characters' of my life whom I see around ;) (Right Mir & Onkar???)

 Apart from Pari, Sid and ultra-slim version of Adah Sharma (1920 waali kudi) the most interesting character to watch out in the movie is a person who mimics Anu Malik so well that you would miss him the most even when the movie ends :P
This 'Sukha Singh' has a great body language, unmatched 'Singing skills', super human dance abilities, natural facial expressions and ofcourse innocence at its best.
If you loved 'Chatur Ramlingam' in 3 idiots then you will surely love this Macho Man ;-)  (The funniest part was finding a same looking guy in yellow Tees later on in a bus which again made us laugh like insane people in the bus.

Another funny incidence was that during the entire movie, we were hearing songs played by someone while we were watching the movie. We got irritated and enquired among us about who is playing the music but could not find the source and thus we ignored it.It was after the movie ended when the secret was revealed. Mr.Shekhar, our 4th accomplice had left his earphones ON around his neck and the radio channel on that was obediently playing the songs.....so that was the additional background music we heard for HTF) :)

(Also watch a big surprise at the end...plz don't ask me what's that as you will know the reason when you watch it).

Anyways, Parineeti yet again impresses with her choice of movies. They may not be high grossers but certainly have something different for the audience. So this 15 crore budget movie will undoubtedly give more returns to the producers. 

Siddharth Malhotra after 'Student of the year' does a good job in this movie. I personally like his sober nature as compared to Varun Dhawan's pompous nature. Adah Sharma was ok. 

Well known actors from marathi fraternity like Neena Kulkarni and Manoj Joshi portray their roles with full emotions and ease. Sharat Saxena and Sameer Kakkar (nukkad fame, also seen in Jai ho) play their part as assigned. 

The new trend which I like now a days is:
There are many good actor/actress who remain restricted to T.V commercials or at the most daily soaps. However when these talented youngsters gets a chance to show their abilities in a movie which demands many characters, it's then we know about such versatile actors.

In HTF, you can find 2 such examples...one of a fat guy from the Shaadi.com add (called Tarun in the ad) who tries to dance in a marriage party just to make his partner (Malhar) happy. Second example of the actor who played the role of a scientist in the serial 26/11 on colours channel.

We all thoroughly enjoyed this family drama full of humour and love and 'Muujik' and our darling Anu Malik ofcourse....it's faaaaaar better than the 'Ultra-sugary' family melodrama of Barjatiya's Rajashree Production inventory.

I just have a small request to whoever decides to go to watch this movie...do not stress your brain on thinking the logic behind the title of this movie. In case someone still over-stress their brain and finally gets an answer then do buzz me and share it with me ;)

Enjoy The Movie and..............kindly switch off your mobile phones before that :P

A 'Republic Day' with 'JES' After 15 Years !!!

A stranger on FB....but not so for a long time. Soon the common bond of JES made us plan for a get together on a Republic Day at our school. After discussions on call, FB and WhatsApp we tried to formulate something.We tried contacting as many people as possible and got few sure-shot enthusiasts (barring the 'Bolbachans' ofcourse). Somehow Mr.Virus caught the initiator Sneha of this grand idea yesterday and I was left alone to take the lead.

.Waking up at early morning that too on a Sunday is not my cup of tea (and surely not of  many others).However, after proper encouragement from the initiator of this idea, I decided to take up the challenge to wake up early. 

  
There was an urge to meet the old friends again...to the teachers who shaped our future....to those classrooms who were witness of our grooming...to those walls and benches who were our allies of our 'Creativity' during those days.....

Nicely Decorated Notice Board

So there was I in our school at 7.10 a.m inspite of sleeping at 1.00 a.m ;) None of my batchmates or from any other passed our batch were available. Our principal Mrs.Uma Basa asked me to hoist the flag and I was taken aback. I enquired with her about the availability of any other chief guest as it would have been very awkward for me to hoist the flag....as that right has to be given to an apt person who rightly deserves that.

 I am still small in front of those greying hairs of my teachers.....so she thankfully asked our school's management person Mr.Vijayan Sir to hoist the flag.

Then whatever things were demonstrated by our current breed of students made me dumbstruck. The school has improved a lot in terms of Republic day celebration. The overall aesthetics of the school has also improved a lot. The kids put up a very nice show. You can view the video at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mA3Utz9xcJ8&feature=share

Opening RSP Parade

Even though the teachers didn't remember our names, they were truly ecstatic seeing us. We were not much in numbers. 5 from our batch, and one from 2005. The biggest group was of 2009 passed out students who were merrily enjoying in their own World. The teachers were however interacting with each one of us, sharing updates of other teachers, their children, asking about us, telling about the good things and not so good things about the current situation of the school. Uma Miss, Nalini Miss, Diana Miss and Lata Miss were the ones left from our era.


After teachers went home, we roamed in few of the classrooms, re-visited the past memories, appreciated the positive changes in the school, sat in our 10th class where our batchmate Gaurav checked our Hindi grammar from a notebook of a student :) We were still good though !!!

Oh Mathematicssss....Not Againnnnnnnn.....

Sitting on those same old benches and taking snaps really made us nostalgic. We never thought that we have a member among us from another batch of 2005 as we all were happily traversing back through the time machine and wanted to be there itself.....

Creative Classrooms

Few important things which came up from the
discussion which we had with the teachers were as below:

1) The school is undergoing renovation. Once it is done, Uma Miss shall contact an ex-student who will design a website for our school. Anybody interested in this can surely contribute their thoughts and knowledge.
We suggested to add the information of passed-out students on the website who are well placed in the society. 

This will boost the morale of the current students and their parents too.Plus it shall attract others towards our school.

2) Uma miss told us about few needy students who are in a position of discontinuing their education or are barely able to afford the fees.So if anybody is really willing to help such students then do let me know. There are other passed out students who are already offering a helping hand to few of our students.

3) Do meet the teachers constantly and share your ideas and thoughts with them and moreover try to help them to come in reality.

4) If some of the passed our student can refer the relatives of the current students in their company then this can be a good gesture towards the school.

The only saddest part was majority of them enjoy blabbering on social networking sites about their love for the school...their personal pages on FB, WhatsApp are loaded with senti stuff and pics of school days but when the time comes for actual action, they vanish or keep mum.

Very few actually cherish those old memories and love for the school. And those few come from any corner of the World irrespective of their busy days and schedules. If not, they are atleast eager to know what they missed and how the current things are at school. Those are real school-lovers who don't require any 'Personal Page' on a website to showcase their love for their Temple of creation.

All Time Guarantors Of A School Visit

Anyways, I would like to thank all those who turned up just by a mere invitation on FB and WhatsApp. 

Omprakash, Chandraneel, Rajdoot & Gaurav

A friendly thank you to my batchmates Gaurav, Rajdoot, Chandraneel and Omprakash (in the order of their appearance in school ;) 

To Aafreen who was alone from her batch but yet stayed back and equally enjoyed roaming in the school with us.

And last but not the least....to the idea generator of this concept....Sneha Kumawat who was the most eager person to come but unfortunately couldn't come as she was unwell. Had it not been for her call for the meet and encouragement to me, there would have been a big question mark on my visit too !!

One thing I forgot to tell that the students looked dashing and smart in the current dress code....

Kaash aisa kuch dress code hamare bhi zamaneme hota to hum bhi thoda smart vart dikhte ;)

Current staff of Teachers

Toppers Of Past 3 Decades (featuring my Sister's name too)

Long Live J.E.S !!!!!!!!!

P.S. Videos will be posted soon :)

A bullet that will pierce your heart - "To The Last Bullet" by Vinita Kamte

Today I finished reading marathi translation of a book "To The Last Bullet" by Vinita Kamte (co-authored by Vinita Deshmukh and translated in marathi by Bhagwan Datar).

Most of you already might be knowing this book and the motive of this book. For those who don't, this book gives the detailed description of what exactly happened during the 26/11 attack at Cama hospital which took the lives of our three great people Mr. Hemant Karkare, Mr. Ashok Kamte and Mr. Vijay Salaskar.

Established peace in Sangli & Wardha 

Personally speaking, I had no idea about the greatness of man Mr.Ashok Kamte. This book will give you his entire journey from his childhood, his passions, his consistency, his love for body-building, various sports and his achievements in sports as well as in his police career.

You will also salute to Mrs.Kamte for her efforts to seek the truth behind what exactly happened and how her brave husband and other 2 brave Indians lost their lives. When she didn't get proper support from police, she had to take support of RTI to get all the details of that unfortunate night of 26/11.

This book also raise many questions on the role of current ATS chief Rakesh Maria played during the attack at Cama hospital.

Mr.Ashok Kamte controlling a riot

I personally love Ramu's movie 'The Attack of 26/11' which showed Nana Patekar portraying the role of Rakesh Maria. But the actual facts from the book about Mr.Rakesh Maria and the one in the movie are totally different.

Anyways, if you want to see a hero and a real noble, brave man in real life than Mr.Ashok Kamte would be that man. Readers would love his bonding with his wife, his family, with his colleagues and with everyone where he went and interacted with people. A person can be equally good in many games, do body-building as well as be a true foody. A person can be brave-hearted with quick decision-making power yet soft-hearted on sentimental occasions. A person can be a good son, a nice son-in-law, a lovely husband, a friendly father, a true professional colleague and a mentor.

When all these qualities are coupled and grinded in a mixer, then you get an unbelievable outcome what is called as Mr.Ashok Kamte !!!

Body-building days of College

Not only Indians but everyone across the globe would love this book and the people in it.

The incident happened 5 years ago but when you are reading it, you will feel the heat as if it is happening around you. You will hate the circumstances when those 3 brave warriors laid down their life when they could have been saved.

This book will leave you with many questions in your mind. It will make you acquainted with a hero called Ashok Kamte.It will show what a real family is and much more.......

My 1st Encounter With Agatha Christie - "Murder On The Orient Express" !!

First time ever in my life I completed reading a novel well within one day....it was indeed a 'Mota Bhai' and I never thought I would finish it off in a single day.

"Murder On The Orient Express" by Agatha Christie. (1st time I attempted to pick her novel and read it).

I must agree that till date I haven't read a crime novel so fascinating as this one. 

My initial reading started with novels having sleuths in it, which were full of murder mysteries and unsolved puzzles etc. This novel took me back to my school day readings.

The number of her novels published are highest only after Bible and Shakespeare's literature. 

No wonder the World is still crazy for this 'Queen of Crime' of 18th century and no surprises that her novel sold in billions all over the World in almost 100 languages. 
A grand salute "Mr. Hercule Poirot" !!!