Restaurants : Yellow Brick Road - with Ricci

Yellow Brick Road - This is one of my favorite places in the city and I won't state the obvious - the obvious that you can possibly read at many a places. For me eating out is really not about eating. It never has been. It's about having a good time. This is one place where you can surely Chill.

My last visit to the place was with Ricci aka Mr Chill. It was during one of the chilly nights of November that we decided to venture out in the cold. One thing that I absolutely missed in Mumbai were the Delhi winters and I was glad to be back and one thing I absolutely miss in Delhi about Mumbai is the night life. (Please do not read read this as clubbing and partying kind of stuff cos I guess I am well past it). Bu this was great because in the chilly winter night of Delhi I was having Mumbaiya kind of good time. This surely is one cool place.

It was a while ago and I guess I will need to visit once again to write more about. What I remember were the Mushrooms soaked in Wine or something like that was sumptuos. I don't even remember what else we had except that.

Well fainting memories of the place forcing me to indulge myself once again , perhaps in the summers this time. Also to get some pics of the place.

Anything you want to add Ricci?

Book: the best a man can get - John O' farell

....the best a man can get.....
This is the story of an advertising professional - into creative - Michael Adams is a composer of ad jingles. So it doesn't surprise that the name of the book has also been derived from the tag line of a brand. But the similarity ends there.

Watch the ad. It says - "You know that feeling, Every guy has had it. You are unbeatable , Unstoppable....... the best a man can get". On the contrary the protagonist of the book is quite the opposite. He is only getting towards his worst. He leads a double life, has no sense of direction living from one lie to another; then he decides enough is enough! The story is hilarious till that point in time.

But like a bollywood cinema script, after the realisation, he does change and change for better. There are many a twist and turn in the book to keep one glued to it. But somehow the end disappointed me . It was "....they lived happily ever after...." kind of ending. I expected more or may be less. I prefer books that are left open ended. Somehow I feel life is like that - with open ended loose ends - nothing comes to a conclusive end - the end is always gradual or at time there is none.

What I loved were some of the author's insights and instances he created like:

- The casual almost callous life of bachelor's sharing a flat.(Have been through it!)
- The fact that most people spend 8 hrs in office not essentially working but because its mandatory to do so and effectively work for not more than 2-3 hrs/day.
- Life is difficult.Kids are boring. Marriages suck after a while.
- You have to work towards making everything else in your life work.

The one final quote from the book. It isn't one of my favorite quotes.It is one from his moment of realisation and the turning point in the book.
Pg 262
".....Dawn was breaking over the common and I suddenly felt I had got it. I understood how all this worked; the riddle was solved in my head.You have to just spend time with the people you love. You don't try to change them, you don't get annoyed because they don't behave how you want them to behave, you put up with boredom or tantrums or repetition and you just spend time with them......just pass time with them and then everyone is happy, even you in the end."

Read it for the hilarious events, twists and turns and the dark humor over a lazy summer weekend! But if its literary genius you are looking for then avoid it.

Book/ Theatre : William Darymple's City of Djinns

I had read this book long time back. I had almost forgotten it.I had read it in Mumbai and had enjoyed it - visiting the by lanes of my native city vicariously - by lanes that I didn't even know existed - The New Delhi of the immigrant Punjabis vs. the Old Delhi of the Muslims and Hindus.I did remember it in bits and pieces.It did come back to me when I crossed the odd historical monuments that Darymple so passionately discovers through the book and so aptly metions arise out of nowhere reminding us of the history that has been lost and yet exists in its physical remnants. He moves back in time from 1989 to the era of Mahabharata. It was a book I enjoyed and I have to thank my colleauge who lent it to me in Mumbai. But that was then, almost 2 years back.

I heard a couple of weeks back that City of Djinns was being staged in Delhi. I was dying to watch a play (Missing what I did in Mumbai) and City of Djinns - there was no way I was going to miss it. Ask me now if it was worth it - I would say DEFINITELY!

Its a challenge to convert a book that records history into a play but it was done magnificently at the Mati Ghar theatre at IGNCA, Janpath. The play was performed outdoors , in the open , where you could smell and feel delhi. It made me proud in a way to be a part of the experience, to be witnessing what i had read 2 years ago come back to me in the three hours of that performance - page by page. I had wondered before seeing it, how would they ever be able to do it! It was a mammoth task to say the least but they did it and did it well and credit goes to the young director - Rudradeep Chakrabarti. He has done a commendable job.

Tom Alter, Zohra Segal and Shivardhan Trivedi - were just great in the play. Tom Alter performed almost continuously from start to end. It does require some effort to be there across 8-10 different sets and keep moving from one to the other without a break.

The sufi music , the bursting crackers of Diwali ,the victims of 1984 riots ,the taxistand of Balwinder , the cock fight (Kukkad Fat) of the old city, the Luytens Delhi ,the remnants of the Mughal Era, and the excavations of the Mahabharata - it all came alive in the three hours that passed by on a saturday evening that I will surely remember for a long time to come!

I can write and write more but my words will not to justice so just catch it if you can, its an experience.Its on till the 26th of April.

Movie : भेजा fry

Bheja Fry is mindless. Its fun. I think it would have been good as a play. Its a laugh riot from beginning to end - at least thats what I felt sitting in the cinema hall. I was amused in bits and pieces and its a good movie to catch up with a bunch of crazy friends.

But that is it?
If I was to think about it, it's just a situational comedy - mindless and crazy. There isn't anything more to it. If there was a deeper message that the director/ story was trying to convey , I didn't

Movie: Helen of Troy

It's only fair that I also mention that I also saw another historical on DVD last weekend and I absolutely loved it. May be its because of my bollywoodish sensibility that I liked this romance, thriller and action packed movie more than 300.

It was also because this was a second movie in a row after Troy , based on the Trojan war that I watched and I did enjoy it. I guess if you can get a dvd do try and catch it, it's worth a watch. It looks authentic and is not as misrepresentative of the past as 300 though it has its moments of deviance too.

Also because its more mythical and less historical ,there is some scope for manipulation as is the case with every piece of mythology.

I enjoyed it , I hope you will too.

Movie: 300

300. I am not a person who has been into historicals ever. I didn't even know what this movie was about till we decided to got for it and then realised it was about the Spartans and Persians. History is intriguing but it is so often MISREPRESENTED and changes its meaning and significance depending upon the source of origin, that it often becomes futile. This movie is PROPAGANDA at its best. West versus East and it shocks me that we should still showcase the barbarism and soak ourselves in the pride of the so called valour. This is an interesting review of the movie with all its intricacies and details, I will abstain from commenting further.

For me 300 was comical , ridiculous and meaningless. Really I would have preferred Namaste London and did enjoy bheja fry more than it , have been dying to catch some mindless comedies bollywood ishtyle. It was a graphic treat but that's not what i watch movies for. The portrayal of Persians is what appalled me most. Please watch it at your risk.

The only people who can possibly learn from such an overtly stupid movie are the directors of mythological soaps and historicals in India in terms of its production - cinematography and art direction. The rest of it is all a FRAUD.

Avoidable!