The Old Man & His God

Now that I have a lot of time in hand, I decided to go back to reading. Something I hadnt done over many many years. I started with some old books which I had read earlier and was keen on reading them again. I had been to crosswords and got hold of Sudha Murthy's new book "The Old Man & His God - Discovering The Spirit Of India". Another jewel by Sudha Murthy. Aai-Baba had gifted me "Wise and Otherwise" by Sudha Murthy and I completely loved it. Her style of writing and expression is so simple. No complicated language at all and writing straight to the point.
This book was also not a dissapointment at all. Her experiences are worth reading and by the end of the book, you really get the feel of India and its people. Her experiences of Pakistan, Narayan Murthy's experience of "communism" and his adaptation of "socialist capitalism", her writings on Buddhism, friendship, the 2 faces of poverty and motherhood, all make you realize how diverse India is!
It is worth reading once. You get to learn from HER experiences!

The Hangover

Zatkas finally planned a fruitful Sunday evening :P We had planned for a movie and chicken Biryani Sunday and were really excited about it. We narrowed down on 2 old movies, The Graduate and Bicycle Thieves. We saw Bicycle Thieves first. A nice movie set in the background of the Great Depression times. After this movie we had dinner break and then instead of watching The Graduate we decided to watch the recently released "The Hangover".
What can I write about this movie? Atrocious? Comedy? Awesome? Hilarious? Vulgar-comedy? I still cant find words to describe this movie. Its a Las-Vegas set comedy where 4 friends go to celebrate thier buddy's bachelor party, get drugged, the main groom gets lost and how they have to trace thier steps back to find thier friend and make it in time for the wedding. We just couldnt stop laughing. You have to see the movie to know what I am talking about. Just cant explain :)
Awesome script by John Lucas and Scott , a brilliant direction by Todd Phillips and some stunning performances by Bradley Cooper, Ed Helms, Zach Galifianakis, Justin Bartha and Heather Graham.
A must watch!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Tung

After days / months of planning we finally went for a trek yesterday. We went to fort called Tung near Lonavala. It was an awesome trek. Everything around was just lush green. The weather was also supportive with very little sunshine (god knew when we were feeling cold so he asked the sun to show his face for a while and then go behind the clouds), lots of wind (which blew away heavy rain so that it wasnt difficult for us to climb down), dark clouds (which kept the sun away :)) and drizzles of rain! It was all too perfect for a nice Sunday trek. A little about the fort. Though the fort seems difficult to climb, it is quite simple if there is no rain. Otherwise you have to climb steep rocks amidst flowing waters slippery rocks. The height of the fort is almost 3500 feet above sea level and almost 1200 feet area of the fort is a very steep ascent. It is surrounded by water on three sides because of the backwaters of the Pawana dam. This fort was mainly used as a watchpost during Shivaji's rule. It was used to keep a watch over the nearest forts like Lohgad and Visapur. The top of the fort is very small, to accomodate just a very small temple and a flagpost. You can have a mesmerizing view of the Sahyadris from the top. Mighty forts like Lohgad, Visapur, Tikona, Korigad and the beautiful Pawana backwaters can seen from the top. There is a small temple of a devi and a beautiful lake near the first doorway of the fort. All in all it was an exciting day.