Life Etc Etc

My 60th post had to bring me back to Hyderabad, the place where it all began. There are books which allow you to pass time and there are books which transport you into another time. ' Hyderabad a Biography ' by Mr. Narendra Luther belongs to the second category. I picked up this book a few years ago amidst intense work schedules and instantly fell in love with it for it's wit and charm. I've read books which either narrated history with gravity or recollected facts with solemnity but Mr. Luther's book was the first I read where history was recounted with generous sprinklings of humor. Plus how can I not love a book about Hyderabad, my hometown and one of the most vibrant cities on the face of earth. A city with a rich history of more than 1000 years and for centuries a melting point of cultures from all over the world . Here was a region which remained a country within a country long after India gained independence, braved it's period of turmoil and instabil...

Background:  The Second World War and my family go a long way back, members of my family took part in the war on behalf of the British. My grandfather himself had a fortuitous escape when the Japanese bombed  Vizag harbour  and Vizag thermal power plant on April 6th, 1942 . The war and its stories have ever since then, been a source of discussion in my family. Being inquisitive about history, I spent a lot of time trying to know about various facets of the war including watching whatever movies or documentaries I could lay my hands on. However, I have never read or watched anything about Dunkirk until I saw the movie. This was fresh territory for me and I wanted to approach the movie with a clean slate to know more about history ( which I confess wasn't a very bright idea considering how well history is manipulated in movies ). Plot Setting:  It's May 1940,  Netherlands , Belgium and Luxembourg have all fallen to the German Offensive. France is on its wa...

How good is the latest Jumanji movie which comes more than two decades after the initial installment with a brand new star cast headed by a very much in-form Dwayne Johnson? Is this is a true-blue Jumanji sequel or is this an official reboot? Is this movie anywhere close to the first one in terms of thrills and chills? I guess we have enough questions to answer now so let's not wait any further and get started off with our movie review for Jumanji 2 (Welcome to the Jungle). Plot: It's 1996 and Jumanji (the evil board game which siphons people in) finds itself buried in the sands of a beach having been thrown into a river at end of the first movie . The strange drum beats emanating from the game attract a passer-by and as luck would have it, he takes the game to his home and his teenage son. A board game doesn't mean much to a kid of the 90's who swiftly casts it aside. Jumanji then transforms itself into a video game. The transformation catches the eye of the teenage...

Picture This!  It's a lazy day and you have plenty of time to kill (if you don't have too many or any of those ' free time'  days you gotta make some serious changes to your life). You are fed up of the TV and the updates on the social media don't excite you. You want to do something different but don't feel like going out. You are looking for something interesting to read or hold your attention. That's precisely the time for a book like ' A beam of light '. It has a plot which moves at a steady pace and holds your attention through all the twists and turns.     Plot: Inspector Salvo Montalbano wakes up from a nightmare with a start. The nightmare has him visit a vacant plot to investigate a coffin containing the body of someone very familiar. As Montalbano struggles to make sense of the dream he's beckoned to a vacant plot to investigate a cabin which turns to be a hideout out for anti-nationalist forces. The vacant plot has an eerie semb...

So here we are in 2018 with another year gone way too soon. But why am I lamenting? Almost nothing went to plan in 2017 , I was stalled, stumped and almost stopped. I spent long periods of time doing nothing, didn't make many new friends (frankly lost a few close ones), didn't add the precious zeroes to the bank balance, didn't take pics which generated many likes and didn't even write a blog post which generated enough buzz. So why am I thinking about a year which I probably couldn't wait to end? Why am I even writing a blog about it? A year where it took time to recognize the path  The answer is very simple, the year 2017 gave me time . It gave me loads of time as I transitioned between jobs. True, the break wasn't expected but the down time was exactly what I needed after more than five years of non-stop work. If it was up to me I would have put off taking a vacation for at least another year but time intervened to give me a break when I needed it...

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...