తెలుగు భాషా దినోత్సవం

ఈ రోజు  తెలుగు భాషా దినోత్సవం . తెలుగు వారందరికీ  శుభాకాంక్షలు.. 

చాలా మందికి మనసులో సందేహం - ఈ రోజు ఎందుకు పండగలా జరుపుకోవాలి అని. నిజానికి అవసరం లేదు. కాని, మాతృభాష తెలుగై ఉన్నవారు కూడా తెలుగు సరిగ్గా మాట్లాడలేకపోతున్న ఈ రోజుల్లో, మన మాతృభాష గుర్తుకుతెచ్చుకోవడానికి ఒక రోజు ఉండడంలో తప్పు లేదనిపిస్తుంది. ఏమంటారు?

స్కూల్స్ లో, కార్యాలయాలలో తెలుగే మాట్లాడాలి, రాయాలి  అని నేను అనను  గాని, తెలుగు మర్చిపోకుండా ఉంటే, అది  చాలు. చిన్న చిన్న విషయాలు పాటించడం వలన ఇది  సాధ్యం అవుతుంది. 

1. మన పిల్లలికి  అమ్మ , నాన్న అనే పదాలు నేర్పిద్దాం (మమ్మీ, డాడీ బదులు )
2. ఇంట్లో తెలుగు మాట్లాడదాం 
3. తెలుగు సాహిత్యాన్ని పరిచయం చేద్దాం (పంచతంత్రం, రామాయణం, భాగవతం లాంటి కధలు తెలుగులో నేర్పిద్దాం )
4. తెలుగు అక్షరాలు, సంధులు, ,సమాసాలు, వేమన పద్యాలూ పరిచయం చేద్దాం. 
5. వార్తా  పత్రికల్లో వచ్చే తెలుగు కధలు చదవమని పిల్లలిని ప్రోత్సహిద్దాం.  

ఏదో ఒక సినిమాలో (పిల్ల జమిందార్ - నాని సినిమా అనుకుంటా  ) చెప్పినట్టు, తెలుగు అంటే అత్తెసరు మార్కులతో పాసవడం కాదు, అది అమ్మతో  మన అనుబంధం పంచుకోవడం. 
ఏమంటారు ?

ఇట్లు 
మహతీ  రమ్య 

A Perfect 10 day plan - Road Trip - Part II

Coorg is known as Scottland of India. I like Coorg when compared to other hill stations in South India like Kodaikanal and Ooty. You can see details of Part I of the trip here. 
Hope you loved my earlier post and here goes the second part..

Day 6 - Aug 14th: Abbey falls is a must visit, but you need to walk some distance. Don't go on a rainy day! We have a hanging bridge before the falls, which gives nice view of falls and it will be wonderful as water splashes on you :) Another famous water fall is 'Iruppu falls', it is difficult to cover both of these on same day, so you may cover it depending on your energy levels and interest to travel. One more beautiful place/ park is 'Raja's seat', where you can have fantastic view of valley. This can be visited in the evening by 4PM or so. Sunset happens early in Coorg, so, it's better to complete visiting places when there is light. 

Abbey falls, Coorg

Day 7 - Aug 15th: First of all, happy Independence day :) This might be a tiring day as it needs lot of travelling depending on the place where you are staying. If your accommodation is near madikeri, you may save some travelling time. First thing on the list would be 'Thala cauvery' which is the birth place of River Kauvery. Many people who visited Coorg mention that it is a must visit place here. This place has perfect misty weather always and it is at very high altitude, so, you will feel like touching the clouds. There is a small temple and there are many steps to climb to see an excellent view point. Bhagamandala is a place where river cauvery joins 2 tributaries named Kanake and Sujyoti. There is a temple of Lord Bhagundeshwara also here. While returning, you can visit Omkareshwar temple in the heart of Madikeri town.

Day 8 - Aug 16th: Since we have only 2 days left for our trip, you may take the decision of driving back by halting and taking rest for more time in Bangalore in the middle, or else, spend one more day in Coorg if you love adventure. There are many interesting activities in Coorg for adventure lovers. Few of those are - trekking in Kakkabe, madikeri, rafting in Dubare and rock climbing in kakkabe. This planning is completely dependent on weather. For others,who dont want to strain much, start to Bangalore after breakfast and reach by lunch time. You can plan for 'Nandi hills' which is a pleasant place that shouldn't be missed in Bangalore.

View from Raja's seat, Coorg

Day 9 - Aug 17th: Some of the good places to cover in and around Bangalore are Bannerghatta national park, Wonderla, Banshankari temple, Sanky tank and Shivasamudram falls. These may take more than a day, but depending on your preference, you can visit any of these. For example, A family with children may like Bannerghatta national park or Wonderla. 

Day 10 - Aug 18th: So, this is the last day of our tour. If you need enough rest so that you can go energized to office on monday, it is good to start early in the morning from Bangalore to Hyderabad. Hampi, A UNESCO heritage site is a village near Hospet in Northern Karnataka. This can be covered on the way to Hyderabad. 

Even though i visited most of the places mentioned in Part I and Part II of posts, i would love to visit them again. This trip can be extended to cover Coorg -> Mangalore -> udipi -> Goa, of course if you can get more leaves :) How do you like this trip plan? do let me know..

Until next time,

A Great Drive - entry for Michelin Pilot Experience by [Mahathi Ramya]

There are many memorable road trips by car. Due to some good reasons, we traveled to Warangal many times from Hyderabad by Car. This is about our first drive to Warangal.

            It was around 4 years ago. My husband and myself were excited about first long drive together. We were listening to FM throughout and enjoying the ride. Roads were not as good as they are now to Warangal, there was no 4 lane road at that time. There were many speed breakers on the way which used to pop up unexpectedly killing the speed :) So, overall it was bumpy ride throughout.


            It was the return journey to Hyderabad which was fun. We went to Warangal for weekend and planned to return by Sunday night. But due to heavy rain, we stayed on sunday night and started very early next day at 5Am to Hyderabad. After some distance, there was complete fog and visibility has reduced to almost zero. We were going very slow. At some point, we thought we made a wrong decision by starting that early. We didn't expect that much fog. Thought of stopping for sometime, but slowly fog cleared making the road visible. So, slowly confidence increased and we were driving fast. When we were driving with good speed around 120 / 140 km/hr there was an unexpected sharp turn, my husband just saw at the right time and controlled the speed :) Thank God! Tyres screeched like hell and gave big sound, but he could handle it well.

Warangal

Driving fast on known routes was never a problem, but sudden speed breakers and sharp turns on unknown routes are dangerous to handle with speed. Later, we went many times to Warangal, never faced any problem again. Now, roads are very good, we have 4 lane road till half of the distance,  which makes the ride a memorable experience.

There are many trips like this when I thought It's the best trip of my life. Some of the other good trips were to Bangalore and Srisailam by car from Hyderabad. Do you have any such memorable trip? do share in comments :)

There is a contest too to share these memorable road trips.. Here is the link :)
A chance to win a trip to Michelin Pilot Experience at BlogAdda.com

Until next time,

A perfect 10 day plan - Road trip - Part I

This is the plan for a road trip by car for 10 days from Hyderabad to Coorg. 

You may ask, how we can get that long leave, it’s impossible :) I suggest, Aug 9^th to Aug 18^th. Aug 9^th will be a holiday for Ramzaan for most of us and as we know, Aug 15^th is a holiday for our Independence Day. So, taking leave for 4 days will give us a holiday trip for 10 days :) what say?

Here goes Part I of plan..

Day 1 – Aug 9^th : Start early by around 5 Am to Bangalore from Hyderabad. You may reach Kurnool in 2 hrs or atmost 2.5 hrs, where you can stop for a breakfast. After refreshing, drive for a continuous stretch via Anantapur,.. you will reach Bangalore by afternoon, at most by 2 PM. Check in to the hotel, take sumptuous lunch and have enough rest till 4 Pm. You can visit ISKON temple in the evening after 5PM, which will be a pleasant experience that one should never miss in Benguluru. Head to famous Lord Hanuman temple near ISKON in Mahalakshmi layout.  Have some snacks after that, and head to Kemp fort, which is a Giant Shiva temple with exhibition on Jyothirlingas. This is an awesome place to visit in the evening.There are some nice restaurants around Kemp fort, where you can have dinner and return to hotel.

Day 2 – Aug 10^th : If possible, start by 7 or 8 Am after breakfast, to Big bull temple in Basavanagudi and drive towards Lalbagh after darshan. Lalbagh botanical garden is excellent during flower show, which is in January month; else, it is not that great, so you may think of skipping it and covering Visweswarayya museum. Have lunch around this place, take rest in cubbon park for sometime. Covering Visweswarayya museum will be tiresome  to anyone as it needs a lot of walking.

Mysore Maharaja palace

Day 3 - Aug 11th : Must see attractions in Mysore are Chamundi hills, Mysore palace and Brindavan gardens. Start by 7Am from Bangalore to Mysore, have breakfast in the middle and reach Chamundi hills directly. After darshan, drive to Mysore palace, but have enough food, as it is a very big palace and needs more walking :) St.Philomenus church in Mysore is also a good place to cover. After lunch and some rest, head to Brindavan gardens by 5 or 6 Pm, as  it will be pleasant at that time. There will be laser show, you can roam, have snacks, do boating and take rest in the lawns. Laser show and dancing water fountains with colors are big attractions. 

Day 4 - Aug 12th : Srirangapatna is famous for Lord Vishnu (Sri ranganathaswamy) temple, which is around 22kms from Mysore. His magnificent idol made from black stone is excellent. Tipu sultan's summer palace is also a place to look for. Another lovely place near by is Balmuri/ Belmuri falls. It is not a huge waterfall though. There is also Ranganthittu bird sanctury near Srirnagapatnam. Depending on time, our patience and energy level, one can cover many places of these kind in and around Mysore.

Nisarga dhama forest resort

Day 5 - Aug 13th :Coorg is around 118 kms from Mysore, it may take around 2.5 hrs to reach. Orange county is a famous resort there, but there are also many  home stay options available which we can book online. Nisargdhama is a forest resort, which is an excellent place for natural beauty and there is an elephant safari just next to it. Don't forget to visit Tibitan monastery in Kushal nagar. There are many other good places in Coorg, which i will cover in next days of plan. Meanwhile, it is best to taste the traditional kodava cuisine. 

Budhist monastery

But one caution.. Rainy season may not be the best time to visit Coorg as it is difficult to visit places and trekking cannot be done. Best season to visit is Oct to Apr.
Part II of plan here..

Until next time,

written for indiblogger contest by Ambipur facebook.com/AmbiPurIndia

I saw, I learnt.....

I truly believe, we set a good example and we are first role models for our children. Every child learns good or bad from parent's behaviour , society , teachers and from situations and challenges that he/ she faces.

From childhood, i also saw and learnt many things from different people, places and situations. My dad prepares budget every month and calculates his expenses and discuss with my mom. Initially, i used to wonder why he need to note down every expense even though how small it is and what is the use of tracking all this information. But as i grew up, learnt that this small task makes a lot of difference on our style of living. When we track things, we know our spending pattern, where we spend more and where we spend less. It helps in planning, when we doesn't have enough money for any month due to any reasons. If we know we spend too much on shopping clothes every month, when there is a need to cut down expenses, we know that this is the area that we can cut down.

My mother has hell lot of patience and she always takes care of relatives/ guests with smiling face. Even though it is difficult to manage house hold work single handed, she wins accolades for her cooking, her patience and love. I couldn't embrace this quality completely but i try to imitate her :-p

I was always in top 4 ranks in school and never knew a failure in academics. But, once i failed in some exam, which i didn't remember now, it was a unit test kind of, which they conduct between quarterly and half yearly exams. Cried a lot for that, later, understood that this is not a big thing to worry about. These things happen, we need to rectify the mistakes and try again. Since it was the first time i faced a failure in academics, it made me worried. That's why i feel, failures are needed in life to enjoy the taste of success and to learn the importance of patience and hard work.

It is very important to teach simple things to children by showing as an example like switching off lights when not needed, not wasting water and food , talking polite, being cool in pressure situations etc., Children learn these kind of habits only from observation, either from society or parents. What do you think?

Until next time,

 

I am sharing what 'I Saw and I Learnt' at BlogAdda.com in association with DoRight.in.

10 life lessons learned from my Father

Usually, for a girl child, Her father is dearer than mom. This might be because dad pampers you whenever mother scolds you. I think, most girls accept to the fact that they are daddy's child till teenage. Girls realize the importance of their mom after teenage or after marriage. They understand her better at this stage when they become a mother herself.


Even though this post is not in time for father's day,I would love to take this opportunity to list my top 10 life lessons learned from my father.


‘I am writing ‘10 life lessons I learned from my father’ at Parentous.com‘


- Dedication to work

I haven't seen any other employee who is as dedicated as him at work. He feels he should do justice for every rupee of his salary.


- Loving unconditionally

He loves his family unconditionally. He never laid out strict rules at our home, always made us learn good habits by teaching with patience.


- Silence and patience help in difficult situations

I never saw him shout at us with angriness. He takes up the silence, thinks calmly before taking any action.He never lets his angry out and hurt others.


- Preserve culture and traditional arts

He likes and respects our culture, arts etc., He encouraged us to learn art forms like dance, music, painting and wants us to pass on these to our next generations.


- Educate children on basics and mother tongue

He never believed on sending us to tuition for studies. He taught us basics of Telugu, Hindi, and English. He used to make us solve cross word puzzles, maths puzzles, used to encourage us to participate in essay writing competitions and debates.


- Planning budget for every month and knowing our expenses is necessary

He used to prepare a budget plan every month to track the expenses. He was not a miser at all, but he says this is a good habit to know the expenses that we can cut off and save for bad times.


- Health is mightier than wealth

He takes care of his own and family's health, encourages us to eat all kinds of fruits and vegetables. He didn't have one bad habit and walks a lot regularly.


- Do whatever you can, and then only pray to God for help

My father always believes that we should work hard and then only ask for God's help. We shouldn't simply pray God without working anything.


Donate/ help but don't publicize

We should help needy people, but shouldn't expect anything in return or publicize before others about our mighty deed. My father doesn't encourage beggars, but he would prefer to provide them some food instead of throwing them a few coins.


Trust your family

He trusts us more than anything in the world. He believes that we follow the right path and cannot prove him wrong.. and that's how we are :)


These are a few that I think, I learned from my dad.. There might be many qualities that I wouldn't have recognized yet.. Let's see.. there is more time to learn from a wonderful dad :)


Until next time,

A perfect weekend party

Written for Kitchens of India contest from Indiblogger.in 

A weekend party becomes perfect when you have good friends to chat, fantastic music and tasty food. What say? Any party without any of these?

If i have to host a party, i would prefer it to be in my home. First i would see that my home is clean, i would decorate it with few scented candles (of course, not reachable to children :)) and flower vases. I will select to play a pleasant music in the background, say some instrumental by AR rehman/ Illayaraja. 

I would like to invite our family friends and my bestest friends with whom I can share and remember beautiful memories of childhood days and chat for long time.

Now, coming to food, i go for traditional Andhra food which includes a sweet (payasam with semiya), mango pickle, Veg biryani, Mirchi ka salan, Onion raitha with grated carrot and tomato, Tomato dal, A variety of brinjal curry (Gutti vankaya), Lady fingers fry, Sambar/ rasam and curd. A simple delicious dessert would be Gulab jamun with Vanilla ice cream. Ok, menu seems great na.. :) But, iam not a very good cook, so might be difficult without the help of these products from Kitchens of India. 

For mirchi ka salan, this instant is fantastic. Just heat and serve :) There is another simple product 'Vegatable biryani mix' for just Rs.40/-. I prepare biryani in traditional style, frying all spices with Vegatables, Pudina and Ginger garlic paste and cooking with rice, but adding 2 spoons of this mix will give the required flavor that it needs :) When it comes to Non-veg section, iam very poor in cooking, so, would love to try butter chicken mix. 

So, my party would be simple with easy to cook and tasty dishes. What do you say ?

Until next time,

[Blog a Prompt] Day 4 Prompt - Disaster

Written for 'Blog - A - Prompt'. Today's prompt is 'Disaster' :)

Thinking of disaster, i remember 2 things. One is a natural disaster and another is one of my performances that went terribly wrong :)

My experience on cyclone Sandy which has hit North eastern part of USA last year was terrible. Here is my post on that :) We spent around 4 days without electricity, water, food etc., 

As a classical dancer, i used to give performances regularly in my childhood. There is one specific song/ item 'Tharangam' in Kuchipudi which is slightly difficult to perform. It needs more practice, focus and concentration than other items. Dancer enacts the childhood mischief's of Lord Krishna in first part of the song and dances on a plate, with small vessel filled with water on head and balancing with candles in both the hands in the second part of the song. It was my 2
nd or 3rd performance where iam presenting tharangam and i was very nervous. I have practiced a lot before performance at home by keeping vessel/ small pot with water on head, but nervousness on D day spoils all our concentration na.. While performing, some water spilled from the vessel and i somehow managed that pot didn't fall on the stage. This was my first and last performance that went terribly wrong. I performed all other items well, but disappointed on this and cried a lot on that day. One good thing is - my teacher didn't say/ scold anything about the glitch. She told its common to be nervous and told me to relax and practice well for the next time. 

After this incident, i always practice a lot before performing this item again.  

Until next time,

Image courtesy: Google images

Monday - Start of a fresh week

Written for Blog a prompt. Today's prompt is 'Monday' :)

People say many negative things about Monday. It is the start of daily routine, breaking the fun of weekend. It doesn't motivate you in any way, as you have whole week ahead with loads of work and new responsibilities. I agree all and even i would like to enjoy all weekends and would be happy if Monday is skipped out of calendar.. err.. that cannot happen. This is as if praying there shouldn't be last coach in a train :) 

If not Monday, there will be Tuesday which will become start of week :( 

So, there is no way we can avoid you dear Monday.. only way is to think something positive about you  and adjust :)

I usually complete all important tasks on Saturday and take enough rest on Sundays. So, will start Monday afresh. I don't know if the coming week will be good or bad, but want to welcome it happily. My son (2 yrs old) doesn't know difference between week days, because he plays and enjoys well on all days equally.  No  holidays and also no work for him. From next month, he will be joining school(nursery), and he will now know for sure in what way weekend is special. 

Whatever, avoid Monday blues and be hopeful of good things that may happen in the week. As it is said in movie Forrest Grump, 

"Life is like a box of chocolates, you never know what you're gonna get"

What do you say?

Until next time,

Image courtesy: www.mdjunction.com, www.thefocusedfilmographer.com

Once upon the tracks of Mumbai - [Book review]

Reading books and writing reviews is becoming my daily routine now :) How good it will be, if my job is only to read books and review them :p (of course i should get paid for it :))

Book details:
Title : Once upon the tracks of Mumbai
Author : Rishi Vohra
Publisher : Jaico
Source: Review copy from author

I have been reading many books in recent times and this particular one is like a fresh sea breeze :) Have been reading lot of fiction and thrillers. But, this is a casual story with mumbai backdrop. Babloo is autistic and so, has difficulty in understanding few things, he is slow in learning things, but very good at heart. Because of his autistic characterstic, his family (father, a clerk in railway office, mother, a house wife and brother Raghu, working in a stock broker office) always ignore him and never make him feel like a family member. Babloo has a split personality too, the other person always encourage and give confidence to Babloo in all matters. Babloo loves Vandana, who also stays in railway colony and doesn't treat babloo like a retarded person, but talks to him like a normal friend. There comes a twist in the story when Babloo decides to do something to save people in need of help in the form of 'Railman'. Rail man is like an another split personality of Babloo whose purpose is only to provide justice by fighting with bad people. What happens to Babloo at the end? Will the Railman be acquitted from court ? Will he marry Vandana? All these questions will be answered in the climax.
Pretty simple story, isn't it? Characterization is good, especially typical middle class bride groom mentality shown through Raghu, cunning Sikander who takes advantage of women, Responsible father Sekhar gupta, typical gossipy house wife Sudha etc., Writing style is simple and it is as if someone is telling story sitting before you.. I didn't feel bored anywhere while reading this book. As i don't know much about Mumbai, this book gave me a real point of view on Mumbai as if i went there and saw with my eyes.

What is not good?
At some places, descriptions about surroundings are lengthy and boring. Climax is not very convincing and realistic. I feel, connection points are missing at few places like how Babloo changed to Railman very quick and how a smart girl like Vandana fell for Sikander even after he lost her trust once. 

My stars :)
It is simple easy going novel, good for reading during journeys. If you like Mumbai and know it very well, you may love this book. My rating is 3/5.
Refer the below site for more info on book and the author
http://rishivohra.com/

Until next time,

Salvation of a Saint - [Book Review]

Book Details:
Title: Salvation of a Saint
Author: Keigo Higashino
Source: Blogadda book review program

This book is a kind of crime thriller, from a Japanese author. You might have heard about best seller novel 'Devotion of suspect X'. This is from the same author. I haven't read the other book, but i think, now iam interested to read that too. :)

Story starts with the death of a rich married person Mr. Mashiba. His wife Ayena Mashiba goes to her mother's place just 2 days before the murder, posing a strong alibi. Mr. Mashiba is found dead by Hiromi who is a student in the patchwork class conducted by Ayena. It will be found by homicide department that death was caused by poisoned coffee, but no one knows how someone entered into the house which is locked from inside and escaped. Detectives Kusangi, Utsumi and professor Yukawa play a main role in investigating the perfectly planned murder of Mr Mashiba. There is not much suspense about the killer as all investigations and interrogations point to Ayena as killer, but only thing that police wait is for a clue to prove that she is the murderer.

Detectives find poison 'arsenic acid' residuals in water filter system attached to tap. Another interesting find is that this poison is added through filter one year ago and it was never used. Who can plan a murder that advance and wait for such a long time to execute? Even if they do, how can they take care that no one else use this tap water and die instead of Mr.Mashiba? This makes the crime a perfectly planned one without leaving any traces. This plot and timing seems un-believable. 

I don't want to reveal much about the story line as it may spoil the interest of new readers. Overall, this is a page turner and i couldn't leave this book in the middle. I don't feel it is a perfect crime thriller, as the way murder is planned is un-believable without leaving any clue/ trace.

Characterization is very good and writing style is simple and excellent. Mrs. Ayena Mashiba is shown as a brave and confident individual, she never shows her regret or fear about the murder during investigation until last minute. Character of Mr.Mashiba is also very peculiar. Professor Yukawa is excellent with his power of reasoning and driving the other detectives to the point. We love Kusangi's character by the end of the book as he continues his investigation in different angles and provides important evidence, even though he has a soft corner on Ayena. Utsumi is another such interesting character who is very sharp in observing the feelings of the person they are investigating. She brings out women thinking perspective for the investigation, which helps Kusangi a lot. Book is interesting throughout. Logical reasoning of the detectives and their investigation is very good. Since it's on Japanese background, remembering character names is quite difficult. One negative point is that i didn't feel title is very apt for the book, even though they gave some explanation, it is not very convincing. I would surely recommend this book for crime thriller lovers.

My rating: 3/5

This review is a part of the biggest Book Review Program for Indian Bloggers. Participate now to get free books!

Until next time,

Tantra - [Book Review]

Book Details:
Title: Tantra
Author : Adi
Publisher: Apeejay STYA
Source: blogadda.com book review program

Guys.. This is review time again! It's a supernatural thriller this time. Never read books on Vampires, though watched many movies :)

Story:
This book starts of with protagonist 'Anu Agarwal', a guardian who fights against vampires in New york coming to Delhi to take revenge on the person/ Vampire who killed her boy friend 'Brian'. Seems very unrealistic na.. While searching for his boy friend's murderer, she comes across a person 'Senaka' who claims to be a spiritual guru and does all evil practices like killing children for some ceremonies using black magic 'tantra'. So, she has to use her abilities to learn satvik 'astras' through concentration(saadhana) to fight against 'Tantra' and stop him from killing many innocent children. Will she be able to leave her search for Brian's murderer and fight against Senaka? Will she be able to get away from her attraction towards 'Gaurav' and concentrate on 'astra'? This forms the remaining story.

My thoughts:
First few chapters are not very interesting as no story takes place other than introduction of characters. Story seems to make sense when author introduces us to 'Tantra' (Black magic). In India, we cannot believe of any story involving vampires, but stories about black magic are common here. Author talks about meditation concepts, satvik, yoga etc.,A parallel thread, Anu agarwal's arranged marriage proposals and formal meeting ceremony with to be bride groom makes us laugh and correlate ourselves to Indian arranged marriage system :)

There are few things which i didn't understand properly like concept of shift, how guardians are trained and chosen etc., as book doesn't elaborate much about them other than using the terms directly. Book explains mediation and satvik concepts well. Author is able to make us understand the struggle that Anu goes through to keep her family safe and away from Vampires and Senaka's followers, her attraction towards Gaurav, her determination to learn and use astras in less time to win over evil.

What i liked -
Characterization of Anu, her zeal to learn astra, her concentration and her positive attitude overall. 

What i didn't like -
Felt story is not gripping enough to be a thriller. We cannot say it is an on-the-edge thriller. Seeing the cover, i expected it to be a horrific haunting story, but it disappointed me completely. At some places, i felt descriptions are very boring that i was unsure if i could complete the book. I couldn't pinpoint what was missing in the book, but just it couldn't meet my expectation of a super natural thriller.

Author's writing style -
Writing style is smooth and easy to follow. In some places, it gets boring.  Characterization, analysis on tantra etc., show author's research work and knowledge about the concepts.

Overall -
Not an on-the-edge, gripping thriller. But, good for one time read to avoid boredom. 
Rating - 2/5

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Table 21

                              Ragging is not a joke, it is a CRIME

This is the message from the movie 'Table 21',loud and clear. Don't know how many watched this movie, but some sites have written that this movie is critically acclaimed and worth watching after 'Special 26' of Akshay kumar.
Even though i don't feel Table 21 is a great movie, i liked the message. 

Spoiler alert.. please don't read ahead if you are planning to watch the movie :)

Movie is about a couple going to Fiji on a holiday package from a lottery win/ some prize. They participate in an online live game show, which comes to their life/ death question. Game has only 2 rules - All questions to be answered with 'Yes' or 'No' and those who lie will die. Prize money is 21 fiji dollars. After each question the couple is assigned a task related to the question. They have to complete 8 such questions and tasks to get the prize money. 

So far, movie seems interesting, even though it is very slow paced, we will be thinking of the objective or motive of the game till the last question. We will be thinking, what Paresh Rawal wants actually from the game. At-last, from last question and task, the couple will remember their college times, how they ragged their junior mercilessly which made him mentally retarded. By the way, Paresh rawal is the father of that victim(junior).

Iam fortunate, as i never faced ragging in our college and there were strict rules to avoid ragging. Ragging is more prevalent in hostels than colleges. Asking names, assigning silly tasks, making fun looks good in ragging. But, if it goes beyond some point, where   physical/ sexual / verbal abuse takes place, it is not at all good. Ragging affects in many ways - death, suicide, injury, mental health etc., When some student goes to his dream college by working hard in entrance exams or paying huge sums as fee, he doesnt want to leave the college or stop going in fear of ragging. But, when it becomes too much to handle, tension arises and it effects him badly.

By the way, this movie title is based on 'Article 21' which is Right to Live. The game played in the movie snatches that right from them. Hope this movie makes some impact on this generation students to avoid ragging.

Until next time,

Women and Gold

Most of the women love jewellery, especially Gold jewellery, right? When we think of jewellery, we used to refer to only Gold or silver earlier, now, we have platinum, diamond and imitation jewellery. However, Gold has a special place in our society, that too these days, where its price is sky rocketing. Earlier, as women doesn't have equal rights on father's property, they used to get gold from mother, whereas, sons used to get property from parents. Now, things changed. Still, the tradition of passing on Gold to generations didn't change.

Got this chart from Internet, interesting right, how Gold price changed so fast?

Because of this trend, people are thinking of Gold as an investment. But, it is a very risky investment, we cannot predict the rise/ fall of gold price for the next 4 to 5 years. Good thing, is to buy small chunks of Gold and save. Almost all jewellery shops/brands introduced different gold saving schemes. Some schemes allow online transfer, some allow saving fixed amount every month and some allow variable amount. Some give a bonus on total amount while closing the scheme and some give a complete off on making charges. 


We love Gold so much that we cannot think of it as an investment. There is some emotional attachment to jewellery that we buy - it might have been bought for marriage or for any festival, or brought by husband or parents or boy friend for any specific occasion that we wish to cherish for life time. In this case, thinking of Gold as an object and selling it off for profit, doesn't seem well. Selling off Gold for any medical emergency is fine, but how can someone sell jewellery which has many wonderful moments associated to it? What do you think?

Until next time,

Image courtesy: indiatvnews.com, apnaplan.com

Collection of some random snaps

Place: Ramappa lake in the evening, Warangal

Ramappa lake seems excellent at the time of sunset. This photo was taken when we were on boat ride.

Place: Mainland China, Hyderabad 

Liked this decoration in the restaurant. See.. how beautiful this flower is made only with vegetables :)

Place: Princeton, USA. Next day after snow storm

Watching snowfall and playing with snow is great, but the next day after snowfall is also wonderful. See.. how bright sun is competing with snow to brighten the place :)

Place: Niagara, USA

Watching Niagara falls is the most un-forgettable experience. Watching water this much nearer from the park will make you crazy. 

Place: Gandipet Lake in the evening, Hyderabad

Gandipet lake is a peaceful place to go, especially if you are interested in long drives on wonderful evenings to the outskirts of the city 

Hope you liked these random clicks :)

Until next time,

Another trip to Shirdi

Hey! All set for another trip to shirdi :)
I hope, everything goes by plan.

This has been my 5th or 6th trip to Shirdi, i didn't remember exactly. Iam fortunate enough to visit Shirdi around early 2000's. It was not at all like this earlier. Not much crowd,  no good provisions for stay and no Andhra hotels. But, darshan used to be very peaceful and pleasant experience. It was like a normal temple, only crowded during aarti times 4 times a day. No queue at all except for aarti times. There used to be only one train per week from Hyderabad to Shirdi. So, we used to go through Hyderabad whenever we travel to Shirdi. Roaming in Hyderabad till evening, to pass time before catching the train was a very good memory. Visiting Birla mandir was always on the list! 

We used to get down in Manmad through Manmad express and go by bus to Shirdi from there. Later, we found that Nagarsol is the nearest station and from next trip onwards, we used to go through Nagarsol. Bhakta Nivas is the complex with all amenities like food and stay provided by Shirdi sai sansthan at minimal rates. Now, they have built few more complexes for devotees like 'Dwarawati'.

There are may interesting tourist places around Shirdi, So, spending a good 4 day holiday will be wonderful there. Shani singanapur, Ajanta, Ellora caves, Nasik, Triambakeshwar, Bhimashankar etc., are some of the places good for one day trips. I have been to all places and it was wonderful family time always :)

Shirdi sai sansthan has a website now to book accommodation, darshan and aarti. Isn't it easy now to plan a trip? Here are the website details: https://www.shrisaibabasansthan.org/INDEX.HTML

Ok then, see you all after the trip.. 
Until next time,

Cut Like Wound - [Book Review]

Book details:

Title: Cut like Wound

Author: Anita Nair

Hardcover: 358 pages

Publisher: Harper Collins

Source: A free copy from Book lovers book review program

This is my first novel of Anita Nair’s. I love reading Indian authors, but never got a chance to read a gripping thriller from them. This is the first psycho thriller that I read from an Indian author and I loved it.

Plot is about the investigation of similar serial crimes in Bangalore by an experienced inspector Gowda. Though Gowda is not young and dynamic, he is the hero of our story with his small imperfections.

Story starts with a burnt body of young male prostitute in Ramzan month and series of murders of random men on every Friday with peculiar ligature strangulation on neck. Author introduces us to corporator Ravi’s life in parallel. What is the relation between murders and Corporator? How Gowda finds the pattern in the killings? Remaining story is about the clues and findings of Gowda. Gowda’s problems in his family life, affair with his ex-girlfriend etc., also form a part of the story. Climax is good and unexpected.

What I liked?

Story seems to be intriguing till the end. It is a medium paced psycho thriller. It met my expectation for sure. Characterization and writing style are impressive. Climax is good, Reader will be sure of the murderer from the middle of the story, but suddenly realizes that it is not that person.

What I didn't like..

Motive of the crime doesn't look very convincing. Sometimes, We feel , story is dragging and going no where, but, from the middle of the novel it picks the proper pace.

My overall rating: 4/5

So, pick the book and read if you can! Happy reading :) 
Here is the discounted price from flipkart.com.

Until next time,