Paris

My first ever trip to Paris... The city of romance, the land of the most decadent cuisine, haute couture and the mecca of art!! I love Sougata for having planned this trip- never mind the length... It was a flip-up between the sun, food, sights and sounds of Italy and the romance of Paris and he chose Paris considering I was an art student and would love to visit the Louvre :) So the plan was this- Sougata had work in London during the week and since my UK visa has expired and the London trip would have been too close to my return from India, I decided to skip another trip to London and just meeting him in Paris. So I went from NY to Paris and was joined in the evening by Sougata who took the train from London to Paris.

I was a little skeptical about being in Paris and not knowing a word of French... OK technically I know a couple of words like Bon Jour and Bonsoir and Merci beaucoup but that doesn't really qualify as knowing French now does it??? Hehehe... anyway I decided against learning basic lines in French because if they replied in French assuming I understood French- that would be a biiiiiiiig BULB for me!! hehehe... So I landed up in the Paris airport and though I'd figured out how I was going to get to the hotel, I couldn't operate any of the ticket machines as they were in French. Finally I solicited the help of a couple of Mauritian girls who happened to speak French AND English and had Indian origins... So I went up to them and asked them "Hi... can you tell me what's the best way to get to the Eiffel Tower?" (My hotel was very close to the Eiffel tower- hence the question!)... They looked me up and down and saw my suitcase and bags etc. and asked me "You want to go straight to the Eiffel Tower??????" Hehehe... then I explained how my hotel was close to it and then helped me get onto the right train!!! I found my hotel and stuff and then just relaxed till Sougata came later in the evening... Both of us being quite tired we decided to just take a walk in the neighborhood and find a nice place to eat. Had a delicious dinner of Fish Soup and Foie Gras (which is goose liver but extremely delicious!!) and steak entrees.



The next day we woke up early and got dressed and left first to see the Eiffel Tower. We got a peek at it from our hotel room but we wanted to see it up close... so we just walked down to see it! You know what I thought was most stunning? The fact that usually all the beautiful monuments of the world are constructed using beautiful materials... beautiful marbles and stones and gems and painted etc etc... But here was a structure made of just strips of wrought iron... not a hint of paint or embellishment... and yet it stood so beautiful and magnificent!! I think it was sheer genius in the hands of Gustave Eiffel to make a design so magnificent that you don't need a single other element to beautify it!!! And another interesting feature I thought was the ying-yang concept it embodied... If you see the design of the structure you find it extremely slender and feminine and graceful... whereas the materials used are heavy-duty industrial, construction metal- extremely masculine!! I was just awe-struck!!! Anyway we took the stroll down and snapped a few pictures here and there and then headed on to the Louvre. The Louvre supriisingly stood up to its reputation. It really did have a fantastic collection of art and sculpture and not only that- it was displayed in a manner that would make it interesting to a diverse group of people. And it was extra fascinating for me to see all the works of art by the Great Masters that I had studied in books and viewed on slide projectors, actually face to face. I knew that I would enjoy the museum no matter what, but I was really surprised to see Sougata (who incidentally detests museums!!!) actually excited at seeing the different art pieces and taking pictures and excitedly going from room to room! I was kicked at seeing him so kicked in an art museum... hehehehe....And of course the Monalisa!!!!! How can I forget?? Of course we weren't allowed to take pictures of it and there is the hoopla surrounding it. Never mind where in the museum you are, you have arrows pointing you to "La Joconde" as the French call it!! It was in a room with a glass frame bolted on it and maximum maximum security- of course everyone who's read "The Da Vinci Code" knows about it! It still was pretty amazing seeing the painting up close :)



After the Louvre, we had originally planned on taking a walk along the Seine but the weather was gloomy and had just stopped raining momentarily so we decided to change the plan and go from the Louvre to the Notre Dame Cathedral. The Cathedral itself was pretty.. and the altar inside too was beautiful... but the most interesting thing at the cathedral was this bird man... he was surrounded by pigeons all around and there was a film crew shooting him... Don't know if it was from a movie. Onwards we went to Champs-Elysees.. the most famous avenue in Paris!! We walked down from Arc d'Triomphe (whcih we saved for the next day!!) looking for a place to eat. It was beginning to get cold and our feet were killing us!! So we found a nice place and had a relaxing dinner after which we just had enough time to stop over at the hotel and change to be at the Moulin Rouge for a cabaret performance. The show was highly entertaining, even if I thought it was somewhat a glorified circus act. There was a cabaret act in the start of the show and the end of the show and I think I had expected the whole show to be like that... but there were acrobats (who blew me away!!!), clowns, mime and juggling acts... All in all it was entertaining and with the complimentary bottle of champagne, the evening went by quite smoothly :)



The next morning we found it extremely different to tear ourselves out of bed... But we finally rolled out of bed and left the hotel at 10.30. We headed straight to Chateau d' Versailles which was home to King Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette who were both beheaded during the French Revolution. The palace and grounds were breathtaking... The opulence and indulgence of the royalty is what strikes you, as in any Indian palace too! After an exhausting guided tour we headed back to Paris to talk a stroll along the river upto Jardin de Tuileries which is supposed to a great place to hang out and relax and even picnic in summer... but the weather was too gloomy for people to be out there. So we just strolled until we reached Place de la Concorde which has an Egyptian obelisk in the centre of the square. I am uncertain as to the significance of the obelisk but we took a walk there nonetheless. From there we went straight to the Arc d'Triomphe and took the stairs (284 steps in all- up a spiral staircase!) right to the top from where we had a gorgeous view of Paris... The beauty of the Arch is that many major avenues of Paris radiate out from the base of the Arch. So from the top it really is an outstanding view of Paris... and of course you can spot the Eiffel Tower from anywhere in the city. I noticed that like London, Paris too has a specified format in which buidlings can be constructed. For instance no building can be more than 6 stories tall and even new buildings should conform to the style of architecture of the city. The only exception was the financial section of the city that seemed to have rather tall buildings with moderm architecture!! After the climb to the top of the Arch I was honestly, physically and mentally exhausted. We still had Montmartre to visit and I wanted to skip it. But after a little cajoling from Sougata decided it might be worth the trudge. So off we went to Montmartre.



It is a little square on top of a hill that houses the Basilica Sacre Couer and offers oustanding views of Paris. I have to admit, it was worth the trip. The square at Montmartre was where the Parisian artists worked- making sketches of tourists and of the views of Paris from top of the hill. And all along the square were little cafes with chairs set out where we found people sipping on wine or hot coffee or even grabbing a bite. It was idyllic.. Wish I could capture the ambience of that square in my mind forever. We took found ourselves a spot and had a cup of hot chocolate/ glass of chilled beer!! After Montmartre was a taxi ride straight back to the hotel only to change and be ready at Buddha Bar for our 9PM reservation!! Now Buddha Bar has to be one of the coolest and hippest places I've ever been. The ambience, decor, music, cocktails and food were really ecclectic and I really really liked it...and would totally recommend it to anyone visiting Paris!! Hehehe... And the food was soooo good... the only flip side was that for the price the quantity served was miniscule... I mean the food was delectable but then I could have eaten two of those!!!! Hehehehehe... In any case the dessert was absolutely the cherry topping... we had chocolate fondue and that has to be easily the best dessert I have ever had!! I am sorry but I don't even have words to describe it! Suffice it to say... yummmmmmmmmmmmm!!!!!!!

So well to finish off our trip to Paris we made one final pitstop at the Eiffel Tower, lit up at night and then just strolled back to the hotel. An awesome awesome trip and I knowww an unbelievably long email!!! Hehehe... Congrats to those who managed to finish reading it in one go!! Have a great day all... Au revoir!!!

The Resurrection??

I will admit that I had quite given up on "blogging". It seemed so much like I was constantly talking to myself because I didn't ever know if anyone was reading what I was writing and it seemed like a really redundant exercise. But now, with Ramya joining the Blog-world there might be "some" interesting exchange. It's left to be seen how long her enthusiasm will last. But I am always one for giving company... so... Welcome Ramya to to crazy world of blogging... Let's make some magic :)

Home Sweet Home :D

I'm just waiiiiiting to go home and see the familiar roads and buildings and taxis and autos!! Waiting to see Mummy and Baba and my baby sister Midu, who's grown up so much in the span of one year that I have been married!!! Waiting to meet Ma and Jit and darling little Billu, who we hear has become a really naughty little mutt!!! Waiting to see the new lean, mean fighting machine that Boo claims to have become!! Waiting to meet my friends and see how much they've changed. And see Durga's baby Sanjith, whom I met when he was just a day old. Waiting to even meet my maid servant who is excited with the news of me coming, the old watchman and the familiar autowallahs and the chaps sitting in Dhanvantri pharmacy. The familiar Hindi in Delhi, where we land (I swear if you were to hear my Hindi nowadays you would not believe I lived in Delhi 8 years!!! ) the charming Bangla in Kolkata, our next stop and of course the rustic brilliance of Tamil back home in Chennai. Can't wait to be home!!!!!

Recipes!!!!

Recently, a friend of mine from school, Ramya and her pal visited us here in NY. In accordance with any good host protocol I made sure the food was good :) And as it turned out, the food served was the most highlighted portion of the trip. Now all my friends are talking about the "Kashmiri Dum Aloo" I treated Ramya to. I love to cook but I don't have patience to work on highly elaborate recipes, so I search the internet to find easy-to-do recipes. Like the Kashmiri Dum Aloo, I've found several recipes that sound and taste exotic but are really simple to make. I've realised that with a little tweaking of your own, you can make any simple, internet recipe a really special hit with your friends ;) So people who hate cooking or think it's a really long, laborious process, give one of these interesting recipes a shot and see how it hits off with your buddies!!!

Mera Bharat Mahan

So this is our 59th Independence Day huh? 59 years of independence has brought us a long way I think... Maybe I didn't realise much when I was still living in the country but this distance has given me a perspective. Everywhere I read and every person I talk to is talking about the "Boom" in India. And the greatest proof of that, I think, is the fact that so many people I know are planning to transition back to India to ride the wave. Every American I meet knows enough about India to carry on an interesting enough conversation. They are charmed by our culture and the people and places. Almost every single one of them has said that India is high priority on their list of destinations (and being the globe-trotters that many of them are- it is heartening to hear!). And meeting different people who all love talking about India just makes my love for my country grow more. My India... my home!

Kabhi Alvida na Kehna....

So KANK was the upcoming Karan Johar fare that I was most looking forward to. From the time that I saw the promos in the theatre while watching, I think it was RDB (Rang De Basanti- for the uninitiated!!), I was counting days till its release. I am a complete sucker for all the candy-floss, larger-than-life, highly unrealistic, yet so completely fantastic Karan Johar cinema. I did, really did have very high hopes for KANK. Moreover it was shot entirely in NY and somehow made it closer to my heart. I somehow feel the need to start with my love for the KJ films as a preamble to my post, because I know once you're done reading with my review of the movie you are not going to believe that a KJ fan wrote it.

So we land up at the cinemas... which is a bit of a trudge away from home. I take a train and connecting bus upto to the theatre and Sougata manages to get to the theatre similarly from office. We hang around in the lobby, being an hour early, taking in the magnificent visuals of the oversized posters and gobbling down bhelpuri, samosa-chana and mango lassi. We manage to enter the theatre well ahead of time and secure good seats and thoroughly enjoy the Dhoom2 and DON promos before the start of movie.

Here we are waiting with bated breath and the story opens. The first couple of minutes are fine.. we are enjoying it so far as SRK and Rani meet on a park bench.. SRK waiting for his mum (the wedding planner/caterer- not sure!) and Rani getting cold feet before her marriage. And then they start fighting with each other, even just having met each other for the first time and pour their hearts out to each other (of course for the benefit of the viewers to know their inner most thoughts!) and then things get very weird. They finish their uncomfortable conversation and walk away from each other constantly looking back over their shoulder!!! I thought SRK was waiting for his mom? Where is he going? And what's there to look back every few seconds??? And he stands at the gated entrance of the villa or palace or mansion or whatever those structures that are convenient homes of all KJ characters and whammmm he gets hit by a car. I did NOT get that... and that was just the start!!!

So well things started going bad in spurts after that. We have all had enough of SRK's expressions and his "tch-tch-chup-chup" routine whether it is a happy scene or a sad scene or he's being romantic or angry.. it don't matter 'cause the dude knows only so many ways to contort his face. And it gets excruciating watching him over and over again every couple of minutes... and was it my imagination or did it really seem like Rani was reflecting his expressions after sometime??

The movie does have its moments and I will have to credit Abhishek and Amitabh Bachchan solely for that. Younger B was par excellence. He was real, believable and absolutely adorable. Every single scene that lent him an opportunity for KJ melodrama, he resisted and delivered such a wonderfully restrained and mature performance that it was a complete treat to watch! I think even the harshest critics of the movie have unequivocally lauded Li'l B's work in the movie.

Senior B was also so delightfully different. He was classy and completely in the skin of the character he played. He was naughty and incorrigible yet so warm and human. His character could easily have been a caricature had it been played by anyone else who didn't have his panache!

So getting back to the movie per se... I don't want to provide any spoilers for those still keen on watching the movie. There were huge gaps in the story. Rani's character was completely unjustified. Right from the start. I didn't get why she didn't love her husband, why she was sooo unhappy in her marriage, why she didn't get turned on by a hotttt husband like AB who was so doting on her and of course, how... oh how on earth did she find true love in SRK who was constantly complaining and scowling and making sarcastic, cynical remarks about every-******-thing in life!!! And it became more and more confusing when it seemed like everyone was making an effort to make their respective marriages work!

Well in any case... the absolute deal-breaker for me was the fact that in the end they justified the extramarital affair and said that THIS is their true love and you shouldn't be afraid to even step out of the boundaries or breach the loyalty of marriage to pursue your "true love"!! Well OK whatever dude!!!

For anyone who's interested, KANK is written by the same lady who wrote Fanaa and it is quite obvious why the story is the way it is!! I would say it's worth a watch for the sake of the two ABs.

For those who've seen it, let me know what you thought of the film :)

What a way to get to know me!!!!!

Thanks Moonmoon for enriching my blogging experience by tagging me even before I wrote my first blog. Well this is probably the most insightful first blog in the history of blogs... hehehe... Here goes:

So I am supposed to list 6 (not more, not less- SIX) "weird" habits I have... hmmm... let's see:

• I always start doing something that really needs to get done just before I am supposed to leave from home. For instance, say 10 mins before I need to leave I'll attend to the sink full of dishes that needed to get done in the morning!! My husband hates it that always when he's at the door, ready to leave, I head back inside to spray on some deodorant or something like that!
• I can be a people-pleaser alot of times and find it difficult to assert myself. But I hope I still come off being my individualistic self, who is also nice to people :)
• I am an impossible procrastinator... sometimes there's a voice inside me telling me "Come on- you need to do XYZ and you're not doing anything at all anyway... why not do it now?" and still I'd rather watch TV!!!
• But in direct contrast to the earlier point, I have to reply to mails as soon as I get them... because I know if I don't do it then, in all probability I will forget later.
• I lovvvve making lists. Hehe ask anyone at home I have a list for everything... for what I need to do in the day, what I need to remind someone about, what I need to pack for a trip etc etc. I guess you could say I have a "list-fetish".
• I still get unbelievably excited when my sweetheart calls unexpectedly from work or just lands up home without calling before he starts from the office!! He still gives me the rush like when we started going out 8 years back!!

Ok Ok so I'm weird... hrmmmphh!! but I guess, hehehe, so are a lot of people!!! Here's to us :)

(Image courtesy: Getty Images)

First Blog coming soon :)