Life Etc Etc

There's absolutely nothing I can say about Sidney Lumet's ' 12 Angry Men ' which hasn't already been said before but I must try, considering the fact that 60 years after its release this movie is now more relevant than ever. We live in an era where terms like ' classic ' and ' masterpiece ' are often used loosely, '12 Angry Men' is the very definition of a cinematic classic and a bona fide masterpiece. So let's not wait any further to review this classic movie. Plot: 12 jurors from different economic backgrounds and different strata of the society are assigned the complex task of deciding the culpability of a teenage boy who has been accused of murdering his father. The juvenile defendant has a history of run-ins with the law and shares a troubled history with his abusive father. If the jurors return an unanimous verdict of guilty the defendant would be hanged, if the jurors decide there is reasonable doubt with the prosecution'...

October is the last month of the year (in the northern hemisphere) which offers some sort of a sunny respite before the cold and chill of the winter reign supreme. On one such warm fall evening I decided to shun the walls of the gym and celebrate the last vestiges of sunshine this year with a brisk walk in The   Don River Valley Park . Now don't let the term ' park ' fool you, coz Don Valley park is no less than an urban forest nestled within the confines of a metropolis. Most parks afford the luxury of circling back to the point of entry but then Don Valley is not your usual park. This woody incarnation straight from a Wordsworth's poem flows like an unending river allowing no way to get back to where you started from, unless you are careful enough to retrace your steps. With several natural and manmade trails this park is a hiker's paradise and a cyclist's delight. After a long day's work I needed a workout but didn't want to get lost in...

On a bright May afternoon I found myself on the Stanley Park Seawall in Vancouver facing the Pacific Ocean . This was the ocean hike that I was most looking forward to. Now before I go any further you might ask me. What is the Seawall? There you go, the picture below should answer your question very well 👇 Stanley Park Seawall (Courtesy: Tourism Vancouver) How did I get there?  Simple via public transport ( TransLink ). In front of me was a 10 KM hike right next to the Pacific Ocean and I was grossly unprepared (didn't even have a bottle of water with me). But water or no water I wasn't about to back out from exploring this beautiful waterfront trail . My first pit stop allowed me to take in the sights of Vancouver downtown along with the  docks . Vancouver Downtown Vancouver docks and the Pan Pacific Hotel Pan Pacific Hotel from the top (Courtesy: BC Ferries Vacations) The next sight to behold my attention was the 100 year old Brockton P...

The mind craves for outdoor recreation but where do you go? Fortunately Canada, the land of tranquil lakes and alluring regional parks has a number of avenues for trekking and outdoor activities. Where: Hamilton, Ontario. half an hour drive from Toronto, Ontario. Why:   Webster Falls Tew Falls Dundas Peak Need I say Anymore? For the record: Tew's Falls at 41 meters is just a wee bit shorter than Niagara Falls at 52 meters.   Webster falls stands at 22 meters and the lush greenery surrounding the place is a sight for sore eyes. The walk leading up to the falls and the sight of the falls is one which I will certainly treasure for a long time. Dundas Peak overlooking the Dundas town is a very popular selfie spot . The elevation of about 150 m with jagged rocks and a view of the Spencer Gorge is a nice place to rest and reminisce after a hard day's trek.  Dundas Peak: Dangle your legs but not yourself When to Visit: Ma...

What do you do with memories ? The bad ones you discard right away but what about the good ones? Some become photos, some find their place in videos, some end up as trophies, certificates, or even memorabilia but what about the rest? What do you do with them? Ok! Ok! I hear you guys. I am coming to the point. A year and a half ago while I was busy making arrangements to shift houses, my father handed me a large green folder and said, "Son! now you decide what to do with these." The weight with which he delivered those words told me that there was something important in the folder. When I looked inside, I was surprised to see my childhood report cards, newsletters & news paper cuttings which carried my name, my school id card, my first bus pass, birthday greeting cards the list goes on and on. My childhood flashed before my eyes and I was really happy to spend that afternoon glossing over all the folder contents. But the happiness soon gave way to a dilemma when...

In the midst of the hustle and bustle of the fifth largest city in India - Hyderabad lies KBR (Kasu Brahmananda Reddy) National Park . It's difficult to imagine a natural habitat in the center of a concrete jungle but that's exactly what KBR park is - an oasis in middle of an urban desert . One of Hyderabad's prized tourist attractions which in my opinion doesn't get the attention it deserves. The Entrance <Courtesy: Andhra Aroma > I don't remember when I first noticed the park but it soon became a sight which I couldn't miss during the course of my everyday commute to work. I always wondered what lay beyond the entrance but never found the time to check it out for myself until last year. But let me back up a bit, there's a back story to my first visit to the park. In my ' Count Your Blessings ' post, I talked about how a walk around my office building started a positive change in my life. That incident made ' walking ' ...

Some roads you choose and some roads choose you. On a rainy Saturday afternoon the road led me to Salar Jung museum , the crown jewel of Hyderabad's vintage glory. The monument (Credits: Wikipedia) I had visited Salar Jung musuem before but I couldn't pass up on the chance to revel in history and marvel at the collection of one Mir Yousuf Ali Khan, Salar Jung III . The Man As soon as I entered the main block (the museum has 3 separate blocks) a sense of familiarity guided me through the maze of rooms and I was immediately lost in the lap of history. The only thing missing was a Salar Jung museum app(most museums in the west already have apps) which I could have easily downloaded from the Play Store . The app in turn would have laid out the map of the museum before me, guided me through various rooms and would have also given me an audio commentary for some important exhibits. The technology constraint notwithstanding I spent more than half a day at the museum an...

More than two decades ago a 5 year old boy (yours truly) found himself in Abids which was certainly then the microcosm of Hyderabad. Abids in the 80s <Courtesy: OkaTeluguAbbayi > The occasion was a family outing to Zamarrud Cinema. And we are stepping out for not just any movie my friends, my parents decided that nothing less than the Raj Kapoor blockbuster Chori Chori was good enough for us. To be honest I wasn't exactly enthused about watching a black and white film of a bygone era even though the movie had all the credentials of a classic. But that was before I saw Zamarrud, the theatre where the movie was being played. Nested in the heart of Abids, Zamarrud was the perfect amalgamation of Hyderabad's old world charm and new fangled ways. Zamarrud was not just any theatre, it was one of the first air conditioned halls in Hyderabad, a premiere cinema hall which used to host the best of what the film industry had to offer and the place to go for Hyderabad...

Its not everyday that someone can advertise a destination as the place where "Dreams come true" and live up to it every step. I have been fortunate enough to visit both Disney World at Orlando as well as Disneyland (Euro Disney) at Paris and must say my experiences in the magical land of Disney have been nothing but amazing. The support staff there are truly helpful and courteous and the rides are out of this world. But what takes the cake is a magical piece of paper called the Fastpass . The Fastpass allows the visitors to come back to the ride at a later time and wait in a shorter queue rather than waiting in the regular queue where one could end up spending twice or thrice much as time as the Fastpass queue. Fastpass thus allows you to plan and take as many rides as possible without getting stalled at any one ride. But how does Disney know how long would it take on a particular queue (Fastpass/Regular) for any particular ride. How does Disney measure the wait times ...

Some cities give you the feeling of being on the cusp of technological evolution. I got that same feeling when I visited Bangalore (Bengaluru) recently. I saw quite a few Mahindra Revas (the first electric car of India), you don't see too many of them here in Hyderabad quite probably due to the lack of a well established dealer network. I caught a glimpse of the Bangalore Metro Rail project which reminded me very much of the Canada Line in Vancouver.  Then I saw something which quite frankly made me do the one thing that I usually don't like to do too often -- it made me Analyze . It all began when I decided to commute via a city bus from Electronic City (the place where all the IT companies are) to one of the prominent malls in town. I caught a bus but lo-behold I didn't get into an ordinary one I got into a A/C Volvo (Yes Volvo!!!) bus. Wait that's not what caught my eye. What caught my eye were the monitors (at the back of the head rests) which were star...