It’s that time of the year again! Getting medical bills organised, leave travel sorted out, other allowances tallied, submitting proof of investment (excuse me, but I spent it all!!). I am absolutely averse to this tax stuff. Whoever invented this messy complicated stuff. As usual, I kept it pending till the last minute. So I have to suffer over the weekend now. Absolutely my least favourite activity in the world. After ironing.
The destination: Auli in Uttaranchal. Spent 7 days learning how to ski (out of which we spent most of the first 2 days falling all over the beginners slopes). On the journey to and fro, managed to pack in some time at Dehdradun, Joshimath, Rishikesh, Haridwar and Delhi. We were lucky, they said, as Auli recorded the highest snowfall in about 15 years. The slopes were absolutely beautiful as a result and we could only watch in admiration as our instructors gave us demonstrations on how to come down the slopes at full speed and look cool at the same time 🙂 It was rather glorious. Waking up to views like this one… Waking down slopes with gorgeous sights like this all around… No cars, no roads… just a ski lift that transported us up and down from the slopes… Coming out of the mess after a heavy meal and drinking in the beautiful surroundings… Slipping and sliding down stairs like these ones that lead to our dormitory. This is also where I fell and …
JALS will take a mini-break for 10 days as I make my way from Delhi to Uttaranchal, on my first visit to that part of the country. Of course, I might make a mini-appearance if I find a cybercafé in the icy regions up North. Though my cold fingers might not work on the keyboard! The latest report from up North is that it’s snowing; making me shiver in anticipation. Bags are packed. Warm jackets (with extra lining!) ready. For the first time in aeons, I will be wearing gloves and a muffler (yayayay!) and looking like an eskimo. I leave you with some links I found recently: an article on India (with an even more interesting title), a blogging book and some lovely photographs (The India series is beautiful).
There was just one word when I walked out of the hall after watching Black: WOW! This is exactly the feeling you’d like to be left with at the end of a movie and Sanjay Leela Bhansali does an absolutely fabulous job of ensuring that he achieves this objective. Not only does he extract great performances from all the cast members, he frames each scene with such care, perfection and finesse that you can’t help but be impressed. Amitabh Bachchan: What can I say! The veteran comes up with such an amazing performance that I could only sit back with awe and wonder. He’s 60 + but his energy and versatility shines through in every scene. Towards the end, when he is struck with Alzeihmer’s, his portrayal of the character is so realistic, that it’s difficult to believe this is the same Amitabh who sang and danced Shava Shava! Amitabh on his role: “Black is such a welcome relief. It has salvaged me as an actor. Everything from its exceptional background score by Monty to …
Date: Jan 31, 2005 Venue: Barista, St Marks Road And so finally, we decided to have a Bangalore bloggers meet. It’s been pending for a while. The idea had come up when we met Suman at Madman’s restaurant last month. What about a few more of us meeting, we had asked each other then. It was possibly a pretty significant date – last day of the first month of 2005! We sent out a few invites. Nearly everyone accepted, except 2-3 bloggers we couldn’t get a response from/or couldn’t make it. Some of us already knew each other. A couple of bloggers found out they worked together. And a few others were new to us and to each other. Like it’s usually the case with bloggers, it didn’t take too much time to break the ice. In attendance (in alphabetical order): – Adel – Anurag – Arun – Deepak – Madman – Meenaks – Muthu – Sandeep – Suman (He also runs Tsunami Help India) From left to right: Muthu, Adel, Arun, Deepak, Suman, me, …