Picnic to Ozran

All of us kids from the Bhobe and Sardesai clans went on a picnic this Sunday. And being in Goa - my 4th successive weekend :) - it was only natural that we went to the beach. Ozran is also called Little Anjuna - and is a small, beautiful beach not really on the main tourist trail. Here are some snaps from the awesome day out...



A set of beautiful bamboo cottages on the cliff greet you as you reach Ozran. This is where we set up base camp.





Clear blue waters of the Arabian beyond the small horse-shoe beach. This is the view from every cottage on the cliff.





Beautiful sit-outs dot the small staircase carved in the rock, going down to the beach.





Sanam enjoys the waves - this is one of the safer beaches, though the currents are just as bad. Thankfully, Papa is a good swimmer!








After a good bath in the sea, all set for lunch! And the clothes? Well, being sun-burnt is not a pleasant experience!










The carving of Shiva and the Naag is a pretty interesting addition to the scenery!




Lunch at Britto's was the perfect way to satisfy the hunger pangs. The crab-stuffed prawns are an absolute must!






The picnic continues after a brief siesta at home. Here Madhavi and Sanam prepare to conquer the waves in their water scooter...




And if that was not enough, here Deepa and Mads prepare to take to the skies! Para-gliding is another of those must-do things when in Goa! It's safe, and oh, the experience - unbelievable (at least that's what they told us poor ground-based souls)



And finally, as the dark clouds promise an exciting monsoon ahead, we call it a day - and return home - to another sumptious dinner!

Simian Attack!

Caught a large family of these simian creatures calmly sitting by the side of a busy road in the heart of Pune, calmly watching the world go by!

Where Their Heart Is - Clarion Park

The Westside Plus supplement of the Times of India ran a beautiful piece on Clarion Park today - describing it as an example in cosmopolitan living, where people with diverse religious beliefs live in perfect harmony :)


Yes, we do have a beautiful society! Here's a snap of the article - the picture is taken from our building.


And here are some excerpts from the article...

Forget noise pollution, once inside the huge premises of the well-planned colony, you are cut off from vehicular traffic. Add to this an architectural plan that allows easy mingling of people. A yoga class for women, swimming coaching, a proper gym and a walking track make the society a complete residential society. With cultural activities going on throughout the year, residents have great fun and frolic. All major national and religious festivals are celebrated.


On the flip side, however, is the growing number of cars... Aaah, there's my personal contribution! :)


Interestingly, yesterday we completed 7 years at Clarion!

BBQ Time

We had a pretty awesome BBQ session last Sunday - here are some delicious kebabs and a bit of paneer getting ready for our taste buds...






Too many cooks (and a dog) never spoilt a BBQ!





Back stage - where all the hard work got done courtesy the bahus of the Bhobe khandaan :)

Visit to Reismagos Fort

Sanam and I visited the out-of-bounds Reismagos fort last Saturday with Yogesh, who is now doing a renovation project inside the fort. This fort was built by the Portuguese when they first landed in Goa more than 4 centuries back. It served as a jail for quite some time, before it was decommissioned. The government tied with converting it into a heritage hotel, before the plan was dropped. It is now being developed as a heritage and arts complex.

Campal corner with the Mandovi flowing out to the Arabian sea. Check the twin Mandovi bridges in the background, and the new 3-storey casino anchored off the shore.

One of the dozen odd canons keeping vigil at Reismagos Fort

The horse-shoe shaped Miramar beach

Reismagos coastline with Aguada lighthouse in the background

The beautiful foliage on the fort's slopes

An Evening in Reismagos...

Getting chased by a pretty large turkey on the way to the beach....








...A dip in the water with Sweetie














And finally, sitting on the rocks, watching the sun go down....

Quote for the Day

Obsession is a great thing when you get what you want. Otherwise, it's just called madness.

Blogging in the Bus!

It's 9.00 pm, I am in berth 2-3L in the new AC sleeper bus from Amrutyog, on it's first trip - and here's my first blog from the bus.. courtesy Tata Indicom's wireless data card :) Isn't it cool?

Sadly, it's the end of my vacation, and as you can see, the laptop, the Internet and all the evils of modern society are back to haunt me....

lol...

Movie Review: The Forbidden Kingdom

Jet Li + Jackie Chan + Cute Chinese Dame - Sensible Story = The Forbidden Kingdom

As long as you are prepared to leave your analysis and rationale thinking behind, this movie is a treat for kung fu lovers, and lovers of nonsensical story telling with some great vistas to add to the senses' delight!

Don't think much - get yourself some Pepsi and popcorn, slink into the seats, get lulled by the AC on a hot summer afternoon - and enjoy the action!

Movie Review: BhoothNath

Confused Nath. That would have been a more appropriate name for the two hour torture. I mean, what were you trying to do Mr. Director? Take a junky piece of story about ghosts and their mukti through shraddha, add a kid to it and sell it to the kids, then throw in some "not taking care of buddhe maa-baap" drama and sell it to the parents? Yes, you got SRK to do a cameo, and I admit he looks drop dead gorgeous, and you got some great shots in Goa - but why would I pay 200 bucks and 2 hours for that?

And by passing it up as a kid movie, what are you trying to teach them? That people die and become ghosts until they are muktified through a shraddha? I mean, hello... what are the damn censors doing allowing stuff like this to be passed on? Bikinis and kisses do no harm to kids these days, it's nonsense like this!

Parents, take my word for it - you are better off without exposing your kids to this Nath. And the rest of you, well, all I can say is I warned you!

Retirement...

This vacation has been an awesome break for me so far - because I have done nothing. A typical day has involved waking up at 10, having a good breakfast and tea with the morning newspapers (including the recently launched Goa edition of the Times of India), and then a long, long morning and afternoon doing NOTHING. Can you imagine just sitting around, with not a care in the world? No invoices to raise, no proposals to make, no resources to allocate, no targets to achieve, no calls to answer, no bills to pay... nothing but NOTHING!

And then catching up with the beaches and the fishes in the evening, sometimes the crab dry fry, a little ice cream and black berries...

Aaah, if this is what retirement is going to be about... I am planning for it in right earnest!

Nothing Else to Say...

Except that, tournament abhi baaki hai mere dost! Haarker jeetne waaloan ko Knight Riders kehete hai!

The Beauty of IPL..

...is that Shoiab Akhtar gets Vierendra Sehwag and Gautam Ganbhir, and I am dancing in joy :)

KKR strikes a double blow to Delhi Daredevils!

Surfing in Goa

I am in the middle of my 10 day sanyaas in Goa - and couldn't really take the disconnection too much longer. So I got myself a cool Tata Indicom Data Modem, and lo and behold, a 2 min install later, I was on!

Welcome to the wireless world in the middle of paradise! Aaah, this is life...

KKR's 3rd Win

KKR broke their 4 match losing streak after an awesome start in the IPL with their 3rd win at Eden Gardens over Dravid's Bangalore Royal Challengers today, powered by a match winning 3 overs for 7 runs with 1 wicket by Dada (he got Dravid clean bowled :))

The IPL is now at the half way stage, and while KKR are not in the top 4 yet, there's a long way to go, and who knows, this performance might be what KKR needed to resume their march!

Knight Riders March On

SRK's Dada-led KKR continued the winning form at the IPL, beating Hyderabad's Deccan Chargers in an exciting, very tight, low scoring match at Eden Gardens. DC won the toss and elected to bad on a monster of a wicket, doing well to get 110, and then started tightening the screws on KKR right away, reducing them to 23/3 and just about 30 odd in 10 overs. Dada and D Hussey then put all their experience and maturity to the test, taking KKR into the final overs, before a late charge in the penultimate over saw KKR pull it off.

There was an interesting break in the 17th over when one of the pylons simply went off, plunging the stadium into a bit of darkness and a lot of uncertainity - at that time, the scores were tied by the D/L system, and had the lights not come back on, we would have been treated to a bowl-out! :)

KKR have now won 2 out of 2, and though there is still a lot of cricket left in the tournament, they certainly look set to Korbo Lorbo Jetbo Re :)

Interestingly, there were around 70,000 spectators in the park - easily beating audiences for most international games! Any way you look at it, the IPL really, truly rocks!

Movie Review: Krazzy 4

Krzaay 4 is about 4 mental patients out of the hospital, taking on corruption and wickedness with their simplicity and innocence, while trying to save their kidnapped doctor (Juhi). The story is OK, with some shades of fun, but with a cast that included Irrfan and Arshad, the movie really disappoints and fails to deliver.

EXCEPT, of course, for the SRK Krazzy 4 song - it was totally, totally worth it :) SRK is too, too sexy, and the sheer energy in the song - man, it would make a dead man jump out of bed!

The Hrithik number at the end of the movie is OK, would probably be a treat for his true fans.

Oh, and yes, a final tip - stay away from the Rakhi Sawant song - unless you want to be celibate for the next few months....

I Love IPL!

As the IPL kicked off this week, there were a lot of questions asked, and a lot of naysayers who predicted the death of cricket and the commercialization of what was once a gentlemen's game. Corruption and commercializatin apart, questions were also asked about whether such a concept even makes sense - it had always been about supporting the country, how would we identify with teams composed of former rivals in international cricket? And what would SRK and Preity Zinta do, other than reduce the game to a circus?

Just two days into the tournament, I have become a huge fan!

The games have been of the highest quality, cricket has been at the centerstage, the entertainment of the highest order. Money has been spent well in sprucing up the stadiums, and the facilities, meeting the best international standards. Crowds have been pouring in, the atmosphere electric.

And think about it - where else would you be able to see Zaheer bowling to Dada, Ishant sending Dravid's stump cartwheeling? Where else would you be able to enjoy Brett Lee being taken on by Hayden? Yuraj hugging Lee, Dada congratulating Ponting for a catch well taken? And the rule that a team can play at most 4 foreign players has also ensured that there is plenty of junior Indian talent in action - this is absolutely the best that could have happened to Indian cricket. Imagine getting a chance to face Zaheer and Brett Lee and Murlidharan and Shane Warne, all in a 45 day period? Pitting your bowling against Symonds, Sachin, Dada, Hussey, Afridi?

Well, I do hope IPL doesn't kill international cricket as we know it, but then, it wouldn't be SUCH a big price to pay :)

The Grand Spectacle - IPL Kicks Off!

The DLF Indian Premier League T20 spectacle kicked off in super grand style today, with a shock-and-awe inspiring opening ceremony in Bangalore. Lasers and lights, gymnasts descending from wires strung across the stadium, blazing fireworks, cheer leaders, and the roars of the crowds - the IPL seemed to be announcing to the world, the modern India has arrived!


At the time of writing this, SRK's Kolkata Knight Riders, led by Dada, were on 77-1 in 9 overs.

Postscript: KKR went on to make 222, powered by a record unbeaten 158 from 73 from McCullum, before bowling out the Bangalore Royal Challengers led by Dravid for a huge 140 run victory, to start the campaign in style.

Movie Review: Shaurya

Ripped off from "A Few Good Men", Shaurya is the story of an Indian Army officer under court martial for the murder of his superior during a anti-terrorist raid. Unfortunately, it falls flat when compared to the drama and the intensity in the original. Rahul Bose is good, Minissha Lamba is awesome and very pretty.

The movie was a disappointment to me, but I guess if you haven't watched the original - you might actually like it!