Too much "GARAM MASALA" Spoils the Broth!

If you guys are thinking that i am talking about a recipe here , then no, i am not. I am talking about this supposedly hilarious movie named "Garam Masala". After watching this movie my faith in movie reviews has been shattered...
"A movie by the famous Priyadarshan" was more than sufficient for me to rent it. I remembered the time i saw another of his creation ,"Hera Pheri". And i thought a few laughs would not hurt. To influence my decision were the rave reviews about the movie and the fact that it had run housefull in India as well as in the US(i don't know what is happening to peoples' taste these days). And i thought to myself , despite warnings from some friends, how bad could it be....

Well, it was not just a little bad but the most painful movie watching experience i ever had!! The storyline was just plain dumb, the actors were blabbering the first thing that came to their mind( i would actually add here that no one really put their mind to work in this movie). Take for instance this scene; heroine walks into flat where hero's friend is sitting with his back to the heroine. Heroine mistakes him to be her hero and hugs him. Friend takes advantage of the situation and pulls her. When heroine realizes her mistake she screams but friend just does not let go. Finally, she pulls herself away from him and asks why he was doing this inspite of her screaming to let go. The dialogue that follows is genious!!! Friend says , " mujhe lagaa ki tum Mac (hero) ho". God Bless the heroine if she sounds like a male and yet is an airhostess in the movie.
The best actor ever, Presh Rawal , is not given any justice to his role. All he does in the movie is cook for 3 different females and throw all the food in the trash. And do they not know the concept of refrigerating the food ?? Another funny thing in the movie... people are shouting on top of thier voices in the living room but people in the bedroom cannot hear them. And thus our hero manages to hide 3 females in the same apartment at the same time. And mind you, no one is whispering.
The most annoying part, our hero has a fiancee, who is a doctor( a fact underlined thanks to the stethescope she was carrying all throughout the movie), and yet he has not one , not two , but THREE airhostesses as girlfriends!!! And the fiancee has nothing to say at the end when she comes to know of our hero's actions. So here i was, at the end of 2.5 hrs , numb with this comedy(?) ,feeling stupid for having wasted my money over nothing, and watching it till the end just hoping that it would get better at some point( my hubby having abondoned the movie halfway through). This movie sure gave me indigestion and next time i will definitely avoid a movie with too much "Garam Masala" in it!

Goodbye 2005, Hello 2006

Hope this year is a good one...

Less money, less hair

Being back in India officially sucks. No, not complaining about the potty roads. Nope, not the obscene traffic or the strangling pollution. It's having to rely completely on my parents again that is hurting. I don't think I will ever be used to the 'pocket-money' funda in life again. How does one wait to be doled out money in instalments, be monitored consequently about the expenditure ("500 rupees gone? what did you do with it!") and feel guilty about it all the same?

I burnt a hole in my pocket yesterday that threatened to swallow my pants whole. Some would try and find some justification for it, but you would generally draw the following reaction (and I quote) "How much? On WHAT? Jeeeeeez!" Thus is tainted my long-sought after 'Cutting and Highlighting Hair Experiment'.

My hair, untouched by any sharp object for about 5 months, had begun to show signs of neglect. Add to that my mother's constant nagging about how I looked unkempt. So a haircut was long in order. I have never done anything apart from that to my hair in my *beep* years of life.

Now, for quite a lot of females of my acquaintance, shopping and a trip to the salon are healing, rejuvenating activities. Having not subscribed to that notion till now, I decided maybe that was what was missing in my life. So I took the bold step of highlighting my hair.

5 hours, 3 dozen aluminium foils, 3 assistants and 1 wash later, I am a new woman (uh.....). One of the assistants is (appropriately) oohing and aahing all over me, the hairdresser insists the cut looks glamourous and me...I am trying to spot the highlights. Emm is beckoned (poor thing she came so quick, thanks for that!!), and she affirms all my fears....can't spot the highlights! 'why didn't you get an auburn?', says she. Oh well. What can I say.... I entrusted my hair to the experts! and Brown is in this season (and if you don't believe me, check with Kareena Kapoor in the Garnier adverts). If only I could SEE it!

Well, dah-lings, we did spot the elusive highlights eventually. And they do look quite nice, albeit very 'subtle'. But the best part is yet to come. The bill. I scramble around in my purse, frantically marshalling all my financial resources (which apart from my mother's money equals my friend who is getting her hair done RED - red u hear, a colour you can SEE).

I managed to get together 1450. Aah, fine, am safe. HA! As safe as your back is on a Pune road! As if there aren't enough embarassing (self-induced) moments in my life, the lady shows me the magic figure ...1500. Jeeez! As pink as I can get, I have to explain the situation to her. She graciously waves away (not waives) my excuses and is ok with me paying the balance tomorrow. Now how do I explain to her that I am already paying through my nose!!!! Main apni maa ko kya mooh dikhaoongi! (How shall I face my Mother?)


Result: God's glory....Mother is ok with hair (trick: do not say the figure out loud, never utter it), says it knocked a couple of years off my face. I still catch myself trying to spot the colour, and Emm, sweetheart that she is, says my haircut is 'glamourous'. At least she can fib well!

This one's for you

At Long Last Love

Is it an earthquake or simply a shock?
Is it the good turtle soup or merely the mock?
Is it a cocktail, this feeling of joy?
Or is what I feel the real McCoy?

Is it for all time or simply a lark?
Is it Granada I see or only Asbury Park?
Is it a fancy not worth thinking of?
Or is it at long last love?

Is it an earthquake, or simply a shock?
Is it the good turtle soup, or is it merely the mock?
Is it a cocktail, this feeling of joy?
Or is what I feel the real McCoy?

Is it for all time or simply a lark?
Is it Granada I see or only Asbury Park?
Is it a fancy, not worth thinking of?
Or is it at long long long last love?

- Cole Porter

Ah that giddy, achy feeling that is love! I know it oh so well... and in my experience it really is worth fighting for, being brave for, risking everything for...

Meeting the Parents

Sunday, 9th October 2005:

This was easily one of the most important days of my life. I finally met the parents of The Boy Who Will Not Be Named As Yet, lets just call him Bee for the sake of my convenience.

If I had to be my usual cynical self, I’d say it was an interview for the post of their daughter-in-law. Only it wasn’t. They were just sooo wonderful. The mother esp. - such a dear soul. I am lucky.

And I categorically choose to turn my back on the endless tirade of doomsday predictions meted out by my Soothsayer Don’t Count Your Chickens Before They Hatch Mom. Maybe she has a point, but I am too happy to care.