Thursday 22 November 2012

Hyderabad not = only Banjara Hills!

The other day I was talking to another friend of mine, Vinaya, who is also currently exiled in a Law School and we both noticed a very disturbing trend. If you meet a person who's not from Hyderabad but has a relative/friend/friend's friend/someone who they know exists, who happens to live in Hyderabad, and casually ask them, "So where does your friend live?", the answer more often than not is, Banjara Hills.

Yes, agreed Banjara Hills is Hyderabad's most happening place. Agreed, the place does have some really cool places to hang-out, but that's really not the only place that is hangout worthy!

The Hyderabad I remember growing up in was so different and had so many other things to offer, this despite the fact that I was living pretty close to Banjara Hills. You could go to Anand or Skyline to watch an English Movie. You could go to Ohris, Himayat Nagar for great food and ice cream. Gone are the days when long drives meant going to Tank Bund and Necklace Road, and people used to go to Lumbini Park and Indira Park for morning walks and not KBR Park.

For most people Hyderabad is restricted to Banjara Hills and Jubilee Hills and the like. The City really has a lot to offer for someone with a car and a lot of time and a little enthusiasm. Growing up, there were times when we used to go to Banjara Hills, but we used to go to a lot of other places also. The best Chinese food in the city was in Nanking, yes, the one in Secunderabad and not Mainland China. Shopper's Stop and Lifestyle were the only malls and nope they were not in Banjara Hills.

It was suddenly after the IT boom in the early 2000s, the center of the city started to shift towards Banjara Hills. Most yuppies who came into Hyderabad settled in that place and places nearby owing to their proximity to the IT Parks. And as they say, the rest just built up on that.

Banjara Hills is a really nice place to live in, but what we, people from other parts of Hyderabad would like to say is, HYDERABAD is not BANJARA HILLS!

Saturday 14 July 2012

Bye Bye Binga.

 Yesterday Brett Lee  announced that he's retiring from International cricket, for good. I was in class tweeting on my phone when I saw his tweet. For a second, I could not believe it, a part of me did not want to believe it.The idea that he will not be running in to bowl at 150 kmph seemed depressing.

This man, this brilliant bowler, a fashion designer, this musician, this Australian with stunning looks and an amazing personality has been my favorite cricketer since I was nine. When I saw his first ball in that Boxing Day test match I had, like millions of other young girls out there, to just give my heart away. I fell in love. Love with the bowler, the smile, the man and everything there is about him.

My crazy parents, who were with me in whatever I decided to do in my life, were completely on board with this Brett Lee madness also. My dad used to stay awake till odd hours of the morning watching random Test matches of Australia just so he could wake me up when Brett Lee came on to bowl. Whenever Australia had an ODI at whatever odd hours of the day I used to watch those ten overs in which he used to bowl. I ll never forget the number of tests I studied for, projects I wrote, notes I completed sitting in front of the TV, watching these random matches. His pumping fist celebration was something that I'll never forget.

I remember the agony I went through when the Australian Team came to India for a 4 test series in India in 2005, I think (the one in which Michael Clarke made his debut) when he was made to sit on the bench for all the four matches. Apoorva, my fellow Lee fan, and Pallavi, who completed the Cricket Crazy Girl trio in school, used to contemplate before every match about Lee's inclusion (or the lack of it) in the team. I miss those times, when we used to sit on the Volleyball field steps after playing after school hours and yap about Cricket.

His fitness was a source of constant entertainment to my parents, friends, and a constant worry on my mind. The pain I used to feel when he got hurt with all those knee, and ankle injuries is laughable now, but back then, it was very serious, atleast for me. My mother renamed Butter Chicken in our household "Brett Lee Chicken" after I proudly announced that he loved Butter Chicken. That song with Asha Bhonsle made laugh for ages! I was lucky enough to have met the man twice. Yes, if you hope hard enough, dreams do come true.

I think the greatest moment in my life was when I found out that he is a musician too. When he sang "When you say nothing at all" (which at that time was my favorite song) in the Simi Garewal show, and said it was his favorite song, I could have literally DIED! The Allan Border Medal after his brilliant comeback performance in the 2005 Ashes which Australia lost and the VB Series in Australia (where was given Player of the tournament) was just one of the many feathers in his cap. No one will forget that Binga was the last man standing as Australia lost the famous Edgbaston Test in 2005 by just two runs, and even more unforgettable is the Lee-Flintoff handshake. 

There are a lot of things to learn from Binga. First and foremost NEVER EVER GIVE UP. Like he said, and like what I firmly believe, for every low there is always a high, if not more. He is absolutely right! His life being the prime example. Everytime the selectors did not select him, he only came back stronger. These holiday I volunteered for a few days in the Hyderabad edition of Mewsic, the NGO he started, and it was a good experience. Spreading joy through music, not a novel concept, but a fun one never the less. 

The man is an inspiration. He taught me many things in life. I used to laugh at my mother when she used to say ,"Cricket is not the same without Imran Khan" but now I know, "Cricket will never be the same without Binga running into bowl at 150 kmph".

(All those Cricket pundits out there if any date or fact given in this post is wrong please let me know as this was written purely from my heart, and the events are as I remember them)


Monday 25 June 2012

Brave

All princess need not have that flowing straight hair or the graceful walk or the Charming prince and Disney has showed us precisely that in its latest animated movie, Brave. 

Growing up, there was never a Disney princess I wanted to be like. Disney simply did not care to make a Princess with Wild unruly hair, a huge appetite and an innate stubbornness to do things her way, maybe Ariel was a bit like that, but Merida anyway is an antithesis of most princesses. Today while watching the movie I wished I was 10 years younger, but anyway at last I found my favorite Disney princess. As they say, it's better late than never.

Which other princess would ask a wish to 'change her mother', and ends up changing her mother into a bear, for all those who know me, it's something they all know I am very capable of doing. That is another very important aspect of the movie, it's not everyday that you get an animated movie that explores a mother daughter bond like this one does. 

The humour in the movie will well spaced and very nicely inserted. The Scottish Kilt joke is given a new 'look' in this latest Pixar flick. 

Unlike all the other Disney movies, there is no stalemate prince charming in this one. So much so that the Princess vies with the other suitors for her own hand, yes, she is just as wild an unruly as her curly red locks! The music and the accent in the movie were very original, refreshing and pleasant. A must watch if you like animated movies.

 I take Merida's words very seriously,

"If you had the chance to change your fate, would you?"

Maybe a good thing before I head off to Jodhpur to begin my final year of college!


Monday 4 June 2012

D.E.L.H.I

I vaguely remember the first time I ever set foot in Delhi. We were on our way to Nainital and had to take a car from Delhi to Nainital. It was mid-June, and from the minute I set foot in Delhi, I hated it. It has rained the previous night and it was humid and sticky. The journey from the Airport to the Bank of India Guest House in Karol Bagh was, well, hot and sweaty. I swore I'd never come back to this place, and I remember my Old man just laughed.

Many years later, well not that many also (exaggeration is a writer's prerogative), I found myself back in Delhi. And again. And again. And another time.

Delhi to me is an enigma, the place is brilliant. The people, well, I am not a big Fan, really. I like the metro makes my life easier. Well only yesterday we crossed two states to go visit Bharatendu and experience "Zindagi ki Maze". Yes, by Metro only.

It is as called by many people the food lover's paradise. There is all kinds of food here, maybe that's what happens when many different people from many different countries come and settle in one place. I have been lucky enough to have eaten most of the delicacies Delhi has to offer, whether its Paranthewali Galli, or Big Chill or Nizams or the Myriad number of places that there are.

One thing I have noticed is Delhi people love dressing up, going out and EATING! True that. Dressing up on Saturdays to go to a Mall seems to be the 'in-thing' here. Well, that's another thing I've done this time scouted almost all the Malls that there are in Delhi/Gurgaon. I have also seen the stereotypical Punjabi Aunty, who is actually pretty sweet.

I think Delhi is beginning to grow on me now, the metro rides, the old book shopping in Daryaganj, the absolutely FANTASTIC winters, and the amount of Culture and INDIA HABITAT CENTER will surely overshadow my bad experiences here, and also the HOT summers. I will cherish forever the times I spent here with my friends, and I guess one day I ll eventually not mind living here, and maybe fall in love with this place.

Saturday 26 May 2012

Incomplete

Something's missing
I can sense it everyday,
in every passing minute
and in every painful second.

The feeling erupts
like a wave of nausea
like yellow bile
from the insides of my being

I try to ignore it
I want to move on
and leave it all behind
in the past where it belongs

Sometimes I wonder
through vacant nights
and sunny mornings,
If I move on,am I leaving
a part of me behind?

Tuesday 27 March 2012

To Be or Not to Be : The Problem of Making a Choice

Sometimes in our world we face what I'd like to call a problem of making a  choice. Maybe life has always been throwing stuff at us, and till a certain point we are able to choose what we want, but that does not always happen. When we can't choose what we want that's when we know that we are in an abyss as deep as the Mariana Trench. Yep, we find ourselves staring at the seabed, just confused. And everything around us seems to be working just fine, and people around us seem to be managing their lives just fine.

We have always been choosing, from the time we were babies. What food to like, what dress to wear, what people to hang out with, what movies to watch and what books to read. As we grow older, the choices get harder, and with each choice we make we have the ability to influence not only us, but also others around us. It's not always choosing between a good thing and a bad thing, its about deciding what we want and why we want what we want.
As they say, life is a bitch, often we want things that we know are bad for us, but then again, as I just said earlier, life is a bitch. It's like every choice we ever made helped in making us who we are today, right now, at this very moment. Easiest choices are those that generally hardly have any impact on our personality, but I think it's the harder ones that contribute to making us who we are.

Bad choices. All of us have made some at some point or the other. But it's the good choices that we made that we ought to be proud of. Imagine if Sachin chose to become a Doctor, or JK Rowling decided not to write and look for a stereotype job. As we grow older the choices we need to make become more and more complex. As I said in my earlier post, growing up comes with added responsibilities.

The choices we make have to made keeping in mind not only us, but also the ones we love. Our choices may sometimes hurt the ones we love the most, but that does not mean that the choice we made becomes a bad choice.I guess sometimes in life, we have to do, what we think is the best for us. There is a whole wide world around us, it's upto us to choose if we want to go out there and make something of ourselves.

So if you make a choice today, think it through before you actually make it. You should not regret the choice you make today, when you are 80, with 9 teeth and a bald head. Why am I being all philosophical? Well I am 21, and I am almost in my final year of Law School. The choices that I will be making in the next 6 months will probably have the power to shape the next 40 years of my life. Am I scared? yes, I am petrified, but then again there is also that feeling of intense excitement which makes my back tingle, my heart skip a beat and makes me say, Life, BRING IT ON!

I promise I ll be more regular in updating my blog! Cya next time people. If this sounded like some psycho-babble nonsense, I promise my next post is going to be a funny one. :-)

Wednesday 8 February 2012

Waking Up

What is the best feeling in the world? I think it is knowing that you are completely free, free from doubts, free to do anything you like, free from telling you what to do, and most of all, being independent. Everything we do from the time we are very little prepares us for that one final moment when we spread our wings and take off. We all are like little Birds, just waiting for that one day to take off and see the view from top.I guess the world does look more beautiful when you look at it with being accountable to no one.

Ok.Scratch that. My head was still waking up when I wrote that melancholy crap. This semester is definitely different from most of the other semesters. I think it's more fulfilling. I have been able to do a lot more than I have been doing in the last 7 semesters. Maybe that's what they meant by 'Do what you love and love what you do.' Boredom is something I haven't been felt in a while, neither am I feeling tired, would I want to live my life like this? I actually would not mind.

My love for books throughout my life has just prepared me for this I guess. I am not sure there are a lot of people who's hearts would bleed when they read a badly written book. Mine does. Books are a medium of spreading joy, just as much music is. They helped a little girl spend all the 'extra' enthusiasm she had wrapped up inside her. I want all little girls across the world to feel what I grew up feeling. Yeah yeah, I know, this is the Digital Age, and all that jazz but then again, isn't it better to read a real book than stare at a laptop or even a kindle? I like the sweet smell of new books just much I like the smell of old Red Wine.

You can call me old fashioned but as a very good friend of mine said, 'A piano is not old fashioned, it's classic.', even though he said it in the context of Classical music, I think it applies here as well. Talking about music, I have finally learnt how to play something on my guitar, yes, the same one that I got as a birthday present. Now it's about time to introduce to you Aphune Kezo (a.k.a Appy), she is a friend, and brilliant singer and most of all my awesome guitar teacher, and singing buddy. More on that in another post. Right now it's time to run to class, Ciao.

Friday 20 January 2012

So we're Grown ups now, is it?

When I woke up on the first day of this year, the one thought that ran through my mind, was WHERE'S THE MAID? THE APARTMENT IS IN SHAMBLES! It's funny how quickly time seems to pass, isn't it? Just a few years ago, my biggest worry in life was, well I don't know probably, what if I am unable to learn the new song that my music teacher teaches me, sigh. Now, almost everything in my life is a cause for worry.

It seems as if time has just passed by, and I am still playing catch up. The other day I was talking to my friends when suddenly one of them says, 'Kids these days....'. WAIT. STOP. WHAT ARE WE? Grown ups? As Meredith Grey very famously says "When did that happen?". Yes, when did that actually happen? Where was I when it happened?

I am a grown girl, I was told by my lawyer, that its high time I sat with him and learnt about the family affairs. WAIT, WHAAT? I am still in college, and what AFFAIRS does my FAMILY have? Its like everything around me has calmly accepted my progression into GROWN UP-hood, except me. To everyone around me, I am a grown up, to me, I just  got old. Maybe its like what Inayat said, Growing up and growing old are two completely different things. I felt like I was catapulted into a completely new and unfamiliar world filled with a strange new feeling called Responsibility, and another one that follows slowly, Accountability.

It's a little unfair, people who readily helped you just a few months ago, will now expect you to be able to do everything and anything without the tiniest of help. Instead of worrying about what movie is on TV, you think about how much money there is in your account, and other connected things. It's like what one of those forwards say, when you are young you wish you'd grow up, but when you actually do, you miss the time spent munching  chocolates. Vicious cycle, I guess.

Things change so much from the time you are kid to the time your grown up, you generally tend to feel a bit let down. Like for instance, growing up, I always wanted to be able to pay with cards, now that I actually do, it really isn't such a big deal. I expected to have an adrenaline rush, the first time I signed on a card slip, nope it's like signing anywhere else.

Since I did reach the place I reached, I guess it's time for me to make peace with the strange new world around me. But then again, "We grew up? WHEN DID THAT HAPPEN?"