Attapadi diaries-Part 1

This trip can almost be called a

beginning to life in college.After all whats college without those

excursions or "Study trips"?Let me assure you they are nothing like what comes in movies..A luxury bus with a college banner strung on the back and most often with a creepy guy in a bike following it.19 of us students with five faculty from my college went on an Eco-trip

to Attapadi,a small district 3 hours away from Palakkad,Kerala which houses the famous silent valley.We were taken there by Prof. Rayson Alex who had writte

n one of our texts in Eco literature..almost all of us were in awe of him.We went to Attapadi to see the Silent Valley as well as study the Mudugar tribes who inhabit the area.The Trip was a two day one.

(ONE OF THE MANY SMALL WATERFALLS WE ENCOUNTERED ON OUR WAY)

The train journey was uneventful.Seriously what harm can a bunch of girls get into?(Hahaha so you think).At Palakkad we

were transferred to a bus which would take us to Attapadi and at three in the morning we did what sane students would do..promptly doze off.My friend and I thought it would be extremely wise to sit in the last seats of the bus...on an UPHILL drive.We were thrown about so much I swear some of my body parts fell off on the way.Amidst the excessive shaking we did manage to fall asleep an in an hour we were rudely woken up by weird noises the bus was making.Reason?We had come close to colliding with a wall on the way thanks to the zero visibility due to the mist.The next half hour saw all of us clutching our life in our hands as the bus driver made his way through thick mist and soon enough the day dawned.

(THE JEEP RIDE TO SV)

The way to attapadi was an absolutely beautiful one with extremely scenic locales.We reached and after a bath in ice cold water and a most delicious breakfast of Puttu-Kadala,we began our trip to the Silent valley.Beyond a point silent valley can be reached only by Jeep.The two hour jeep drive through the most amazing of deciduous and later Rain forests is one I will never forget.The trails were beautiful and the roads that our jeep had to go through were mind blowing!The continuous on and off rain proved to be the perfect foil for the setting.

We realized Attapadi has more to its name.Also known as "Home of the Leeches", the silent

(THE ENTRANCE TO SV IN THE RAIN)

valley in Attapadi is extremely leech infested thanks to its forest cover and heavy rain.The end of our jeep ride to the top was to a watchtower.When climbed you could see the valley all around you and the sight was beautiful.A museum that documented the rich flora and fauna that the valley hosted was also there.Most of us got leech bites and apparently, disgust apart, there was no need to worry as leeches sucked only the bad blood from your system.It was extremely windy and in true retro style almost all our umbrellas got turned upside down or was simply blown away by the wind

P.S:There was more to this trip.Coming up in Attapadi diaries Part 2!

(I COULDN'T GET ENOUGH OF THESE TRAILS!)

ZINX @ Chennai Citi Centre

The normally crowded Chennai Citi Centre had a dash of music added to its hustle and bustle on Saturday,July 10th.Zinx,a contemporary fusion band based in chennai went live for a Club Mahindra promotion.The band comprising of Vivek on the mandolin ,Ananth krishnan on the violin,Anirudh and Leon on the keyboards,Ravishankar on the Ghatam and Kashyap on the tabla treated all of us to about 12 of their own compositions.

Fusion music is refreshing at times like now where rock and metal seem to be the call of the day.And for a person like me who despises loud jarring music,the songs performed by Zinx were a definite pleaser.The classical touch in almost all their songs was a crowd pleaser...to those Chennaiites used to listening to carnatic music,the blend in these songs is bound to become a favorite.The band also seemed composed and well organized and did not outwardly falter during their performance.The guys on the drums.keyboards and the violin shone through song after song and were the best of the band.

They had quite a good response from the milling crowd as well.Many people stood by them from start to finish and people who were entering CC and were window shopping couldn't help but stand and listen to them.A sudden request from the people organizing the event to end their performance with a filmy song did seem to worry the band ,but they finished with a flourish with "Arabic Kadaloram" from "Bombay" and were joined with enthusiastic claps and singing from everyone around them.Do catch a performance of Zinx if you are into fusion or you really need a break from all that death metal and the stuff kids nowadays call "MUSIC" :-p

P.S.Some of the technical details like the number of songs performed might not be right. Want to know more about them?Here is a link to their facebook page.
http://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/ZINX/113263634450?ref=ts

Tambram weddings and the chronicles that follow

Hosting a wedding has been my best life experience till date.Seriously...There is a lot of work that goes into it and when everyone convenes you actually begin to appreciate and love your (large) family.This wedding was really special because it was my brother's and for the fact that his wedding was the first of our generation.Half my family lives abroad and the wedding saw almost all of them descending down for it.It was probably two weeks of sarees,Veshtis,Vethala paaku,Lots of paayasam and vadai(banana leaf sapadu),Mehendi and homams(trust me that smoke is torturous)Lots of fun I tell you!and lots of these too :-

*Your parents take the wedding as an oppurtuinity to remember the extent of your family.There cannot be something worse than leaving out an onnu vitta chithappa or mami from the guest list.absolutely forbidden!To ensure this weeks were spent in figuring out where they were and tracking them down.and at the end it also resulted in me welcoming hundreds of people not knowing who they were.cheery "Vango Vango" followed.

*My brother's early marriage sadly ensured in a lot of our long lost neighbors who had been contacted to shriek over the phone and to ask my dad if it was me getting married.Ya right.seriously why is everyone in such a hurry anyways?

*Dad thought it would be really cool to yell "Heyy Mappilai" at the airport when he walked towards us(lots of foreigners..lots of weird looks).My brother also thought it would be the coolest thing to wear an "Iron Man" tee and a spiderman cap worn backwards on his flight here..Yes it was him who got married.

*Old maami(teary eyed): "Poorvaja..I cant believe you are going to get married next!"
Me:"see I dont have a boyfriend yet so i really do not see that happening in the near future"
(*Mom shoots death glare*)

*All your well read NRI uncles deem this as perfect to ask you about your future plans.Conversation as follows

Uncle 1:"So pooji ..whatcha gonna do next?Any plans of coming to the U.S?"
Me: "Oooh Ya..Berkely or some college has a good journalism programme.And guys in San Fransisco are supposed to be really hot.But an Indian college with cute guys totally works too."
(*Dad looks horrified and mom says "Poorvaja dont be so desperate"*)

*All my cousins range between ages 3 to 10.So there were about 8 of them in the house and i now officially hate anything to do with Pokemon and Oggy and the cockroaches and Chotta Bheem.They are all little angels though!!

*My 8 year old cousin sat me down and thoroughly explained to me the tax policies of the democrats and the republicans in the U.S.It all ended in me asking him if Obama was a democrat or a republican.Trust me...Kids these days..they know way too much.Another cousin of mine was most excited when he saw that we ate on banana leaves.He asked me if we had to eat them as well.

*Smoke should be banned from Iyer weddings.Me complaining about it got me an hour long lecture about the benefits of "homam smoke" from my grandmother.The overly long wedding ceremony and the clouds of smoke that came with it saw me running from the stage every 5 minutes with watering eyes.Most people mistook it for me being emotional that my brother was getting married.Yeah..right.

All in all..I cant wait for the next wedding in the family.(Next person who says "ITS GOING TO BE YOURS" gets shot..no kidding)

Five Point Someone on stage

While other people have been deeming it heights of uncool to be a "Chetan Bhagat" fan , im one of those who have been his very steadfast and loyal readers through the years.Five point someone till date remains my favorite book of his and what more could i ask for than to see it come alive on stage?"Five point someone on stage - by Evam" proved to be the perfect foil.Retaining most of the book - The characters and the dialogues , it was a delight for every fan of the book like me.

The story follows Hari , Ryan and Alok entry into IIT and the twists and turns their lives take - they are not the best of students , Hari is in love with his HOD Prof.Cherian's daughter Neha and the three manage to stumble into trouble with every hair brained scheme of theirs- specially "operation pendulum"which lands them a suspension as well as leads to Alok attempting suicide.

The simple stage setting conveyed almost every famed setting from the book - be it the famous "insti roof" , the railway station , or their hostel room.Props played a huge plus here in adding to the sets - The vertical bed is a scream- truly a brilliant idea!The three leads have been cast well...you cant help but reah out to them. Ryan is definitely my pick of the lot...he entertained as well as looked awesome(hehe).Neha is a bit of an irritant and not being audible did not help either.The narrator ( uncanny resemblance to Chetan Bhagat) was very effective and some of the best lines in the play came from him . Eg.- "men always have to ask the tough questions - will you marry me?...is that my baby?" "Being called a commerce student is the worst insult an IIT student can get-its like a prostitute calling her client impotent".The continuous Pink Flyod which was played in the background matched the mood on stage and my friend and i couldnt help but sing along.

On the flip side some of the character monologues do not work.Hari's is impressive.And in some parts, the play does lag. But it does work to a very large extent because of how the characters connected with the audience and the narration which leaves an impact.Do not give this play a miss..it is definitely an evening well spent and will definitely be remembered!

Heroes-an epic spoof

My friend Namrata says i am the best kind of audience a pantomime can get *ore flattered* and yes i love to watch them too.Battling the mosquitoes outside museum theatre , four of us got ready to watch "Heroes - an epic spoof" by ASAP productions.The hall was packed with the crowd ranging from overtly excited kids to equally excited adults cheering with the superman theme which kickstarted the panto.

The pantomime in a nutshell-Cream bum azhagan and the Fairy godmother recruit a superhero dream team comprising of a delightful medley of heroes and heroines alike ranging from Superman , Shakthimaan , Harry potter , james bond , Little Red Riding hood.Cinderella, Snow Shite and belle to find a time extendinator (i think!) which will add years to the mayan calendar which prophecises the end of the world in 2012.going against this are Dr Manchurian Boo and Wella the wicked witch who plan on finding the time extendinator themselves with the help of three bumbling spies Spicey , Spidey , and Spikey.

What really makes the pantomime thoroughly enjoyable and entertaining are its characters.My personal favorite would definitely be Cream bun.With the flashy quick gun murugan costume and the very south indian -tamilian quirks to be precise and an accent to boot , the audience rooted for him.The cast have no qualms in making fun of themselves and this is evident when a little boy on stage yells "superman looks like a girl"!!Harry potter bears a striking resemblance to the original and is effective too with the "Hey dude..." and is a delight for every HP fan like me .Shakthimaan and James bond also shine in their parts too.The heroines each represent the quintessential dramatized girl forms - snow white always snacking , cinderella trying to be a film actress and Lil red riding hood - the tantrum throwing and candy loving kid.The Spy with the mallu accent(aye mandathalas!) and her two bumbling sidekicks were an enjoyable trio and earned their fair share of laughs for their quirky costumes and make up. The wicked witch with her "IMBECILES" provided for an effective villainess too.The costume and green make up complemented the character perfectly.

The scene with the heroes visiting Parrys is a scream.The chennaiites make up the quintessential characters.It does reflect the sorry state of our city though through a humorous take where james bond is sold his own pirated movies(Bond Biit Collection was brilliant!) ,Harry Potter looks on in disgust as people spit on the streets and Shakthimaan further cheated into drinking cooum water.The drunk guys in this scene are so genuine that you cant help but wonder if they downed a peg or two.The children are a delight as always and their confident dances leave you amazed.heroes also had some of the best renderation of songs(its raining men!!) and dances in the recent crop of pantomimes in the past few months.The technical aspects provided good support with the sounds being amazing.

On the flip side some characters do not work as well as the others but is compensated for the many others that do work with the audience.The panto tends to lag towards the end of the first half a bit.The pantomime works largely for a hard core chennaite like me because of the numerous references and inclusions of tamil pop culture right from the accent,P.James grafitti(hilarious!)to the popular film songs.The inclusion of many current events too in the jokes left some of the audience looking puzzled(and tempted me to ask them..hey do you even see the news??).Right from BT Brinjal to Krish srikanth's selection fiasco to the ban on beach cricket ,it packs it all and provides for some side splitting laughs.

Heroes is definitely and evening well spent at the museum theatre.It is not that easy to make people laugh after all!!

Poorvaja

(sorry for the painfully long post..but when i like something i tend to write lots :p)

Movie review :Ayirathil Oruvan

(spoiler alert for those who haven't seen the movie yet!)

After all the bashing and brickbats and the ooh's and aah's this movie had been getting I finally got to watch it on sunday. I am not going to pan this movie totally as selvaraghavan deserves applause for trying something different.adventure-fantasy is a genre that is generally not explored in tamil cinema. Yes , finally Tamil cinema has gotten its quota of experimentation..too bad that they have not got it totally right.

Lavanya(Andrea), an archaeologist whose father has mysteriously disappeared during his hunt for a lost chola kingdom sets out to find him with a team headed by Anitha (Reema Sen) and accompanying them is Muthu (Karthi) who with his motely crowd helps them withcarrying their things.The first half of the movie is thoroughly enjoyable with the stunning visuals of the challakudy forestsand their trek in general.The occasional comedy is genuinely funny and the songs picturized well , my pick would be u"un mela aasadhaan" shoton the lead pair as they exuberantly dance and sing in success of their discovery.the graphics are downright pathetic in the first half.visuals like that of the camel in the ruins , the jellyfish in the water(I thought they were butterflies)and an occasional animated waterfall do not work.it is downright cartoonish.it is the second half that pulls the movie down. the story ricochets in a totally different direction altogetherand some scenes appear disjointed and truly baffle you.the screenplay is at fault here.throughout the movie and mainly in the second half the excessive gore and bloodshed makes you want to throw up . in scenes like that of the big man trying to kill people with the huge ball and the fight with the red cannibals you tend to wish for the scene to end to spare you from the gore.the lost chola clan with all its subjects are scary..though gory the visuals there of the people crowding around carcasses and the entry of their king(Parthiban) makes up the few breathtaking visuals in the movie.the people there seem to have nothing else to do other flash their scary teeth,maul at dead bodies and drink blood. AO also seems to be inspired by many hollywood flicks.you can spot similarities to mckenna's gold , troy and chronicles of narnia(a friend and me couldnt help but noticethe similarities between the final battles in both these films!!)My favorite part of the movie would truly be the totally WTH moments before the interval.they truly give a jolt and is downright creepy.

Coming to the cast , Karthi is brilliant. as the loud foul mouthed Muthu nursing a soft spot for Andrea and giving her occasional coy looks in the first half he fitsthe role to a T.Reema Sen is back after a long time and she is effective both as the team leader and the princess.she looksstunning and her costumes complement her.her lip sync, though fails in parts. Andrea has limited screen time and is ok.Parthiban plays the Chola king with a spark.The music is different and reverberating and is surely one of G.V.Prakash'sbest till date.after spending three years on its making you sure did expect a lot more in terms of visual effects and the proceeding of the story and narration.this movie can be watched once but as you come out of the theater you cant help feeling "if only......"

ALL IS VERY WELL!

MOVIE:3 idiots

CAST: Aamir Khan , Sharman Joshi , Kareena Kapoor , R.Madhavan

From the stables of rajkumar hirani comes yet another thought provoking entertainer following the heels of the munnabhai series . 3 idiots(based on Chetan Bhagat’s “5 point someone”) is a tale of two friends , Farhan (madhavan) and Raju (sharman joshi) on a quest to find their lost buddy. Their reminiscences of their fun filled college days and the impact their buddy Rancho(aamir khan) had on their lives forms the rest of the story .You have the quirky institution head virus(brilliantly played by boman irani) who believes in the motto “life is a race” and spares no student , the quintessential mugger of the college yearning to be the first in class nicknamed “silencer”(Omi , again very convincing) and the beautiful daughter of the head, Pia(Kareena Kapoor) who Rancho is in love with . This fare is predictable in parts but entertaining nevertheless , the comedy is rollicking fun and the music is pleasing on the ears(Shantanu Moitra) picturized well too. The take on the education system of a high level college by rancho is justified in parts and you cannot help but agree with him when he asks people to follow their hearts and do what it wills. Something that we hear time and again but is very relevant in the competitive world filled with rat races. The actors are perfectly cast and not once do you feel that they are trying too hard to act young. The movie plays well on emotions – if one minute the audience is in splits the next minute we are in a sobbing heap .The movie pulls at all the right emotional strings all while giving us a clean , fun entertainer . A perfect movie to end this year with! Aamir strikes yet again!