Deep Impact

 I knew dental issues sometimes take a while to be sorted. But I had no clue that they can be almost (detri)mental for your pocket, pleasure, and patience. What could probably have been wrapped up in three months took a good over half a year. I was visibly gripped with fear even when there were two days to go for my appointment. My ever supportive and loving hubby asked if I wanted him to accompany me. I said no. I told him I wanted to face the fear with my mouth wide open (if you know what I mean). If I didn’t do it on my own, I would never be able to get over my fear of the dreaded ‘D’. So I went to the dentist on my own and faced it, head on. Not to mention that COVID didn’t make things easier. Before going in the den, oops I mean the cabin with the dentist’s chair, I had to undergo a strict protocol. That included getting first sprayed by something like a sanitizer, then wearing a (ridiculous) poncho kind of a thing, a cap to keep my hair together, and slippers provided by the ...

  Harimohan Paruvu, an engineer by education, cricketer and a published author by passion, shares his interesting and evocative professional and personal journey during a freewheeling chat. The former Ranji cricketer has five books and a film-based on his first novel to his name along with his regular contributions as a columnist for Edex Live, for the New Indian Express. 1. Tell us a bit about your childhood and what was it like to have elder sisters around while growing up? I was born in Hyderabad. My father was a civil engineer in the state Roads and Buildings department. He retired as Chief Engineer, National Highways and was a committed professional, a gentle, artistic man from a humble background, the first graduate in his family. My mother was a worldly wise, sensible and grounded person who trained to be a teacher after school. But she never worked being busy managing home with six children and frequent transfers across the state.   I have four older sisters and one yo...

We are towards the end of the second month of the year. I might have been rather early into introspecting about the past year. However, one cannot help those little grey cells from going into an overdrive, can, we? So I was ruminating about how the year almost flown by has been. There were a number of hits as well as misses. But mostly, there were hits. The events or experiences in isolation apart, I felt that there was common thread which ran through them. That was of having understood myself better and learning about life in general. The following things I realized, made my year, what it was – full of new connections, experiences, a bit of travel and so much more!  Letting Go!  As clichéd as it sounds, this is one thing has been one of the prominent narratives for me in the past year. Simply let go. Well, by this I don’t mean that you let go of your dreams, people you love or the likes. By this, I meant, let go of things we can’t control. Now, yes, i...

Indian diaspora is not a new phenomenon. Not very surprisingly, a number of dishes and drinks quintessential to India have become popular across the globe. Most prominently, butter chicken, tea, Dosa, Rasam and a number of others. However, I feel chai tops the charts when it comes to popularity. In other countries, like UK or even USA or others, there are probably these set patterns and times of having tea. The most common being black tea, with a couple of specific accompaniments. In India, though, there is no set time and pattern to having it. From 1 am in the morning to 12 midnight, you can have tea anytime and no one will be staring wide-eyed at you. We are quintessential ‘chai’ lovers. Whether you go to a government office or a private office, any time during the office hours, you will find someone or the other sipping a cuppa. You would see vendors with make shift tables and kettles serving only tea between 6 am to 9 am on the roads. The sight of these roadside tea ve...

One of the entries at the 17 th Pune International Film Festival (10 th January - 17 th January 2019), in the Global Cinema Section, was the Turkish drama, Sibel. Set in a secluded village in Turkey’s Black Sea region, this is the story of Sibel. A 25-year old mute girl, she communicates through an ancestral whistle language. Rejected by the villagers, she is driven by a single motive, to hunt down a wolf on the prowl. Its existence has sparked rumours and fear among the villagers. Killing the wolf is important for her as she believes it will make the villagers accept her. Things happen rapidly when she is ambushed by a fugitive while trying to hunt down the wolf. Sibel takes care of the man, who is hurt and has nowhere to go. She is oblivious to the fact that he is a wanted fugitive. He sees her in a completely different light than others. For the first time perhaps in her life, she feels wanted and cared for and becomes aware of her sexuality. Things take a downturn when suspi...

Many of us, including me, fantasize visiting the ‘Big Apple’ or New York City once in our lifetime. Well, I have not got a chance to actually go there till now. But voila! Carrie Bradshaw and her girl pals introduced me to New York City with the show Sex and the City. I was immediately taken in by the basic premise and charm of the portrayal of the journey of these 4 girls. I adored all the quintessentially girly stuff in the show. (It is another story if I myself would ever be able to carry those Blahniks and D&C’s with such elan). The character I can most relate to and love is Carrie’s (apart from the host of relationships she has had). She is a columnist and is not afraid to speak her mind. Whatever happens in her life, she has her girl friends whom she can bank upon for support. Although she loves all the other 3 – Charlotte, Samantha and Miranda, I think, Miranda is the first one she calls or goes to in troubled times. Yes, be it New York or Paris or London, you need one...

It had been a while since I loved a film with all my heart. That’s the 2015 film, ‘Woman in Gold’. Based on true story, this film tackles the complicated issue of art restitution. In simple terms, it refers to restoration of something to its rightful owner. This is mostly in context of art looted during World War II. So here, Maria Altman (Helen Mirren), an elderly Jewish refugee living in Los Angeles, discovers letters in her sister's possession dating to the late 1940s, after her sister’s death. To her surprise and dismay, the letters reveal an attempt to recover the artwork owned by the Bloch-Bauer family, left behind when they had to leave the country for their life and freedom. The artwork is subsequently stolen by the Nazis. Of particular significance is a portrait of Altmann's aunt, Adele Bloch-Bauer, made by one of Gustav Klimt, one of the most renowned painters of his time. The portrait later came to be known in Austria as the "Woman in Gold". From h...

Part 1 “Whattt? You are getting hitched in Sri Lanka? Whoa! That’s something.” I almost jumped off my bed as my cousin unveiled this fabulous news to me on the phone earlier this year.  I was totally zapped. Didn’t know what to say. Almost seemed like a scene from one of those Romedy Now films! Nevertheless, after giving my cousin a virtual bear hug, I asked her the dates, and so it was settled. I was supposed to be there in the Land of Spices, Ravana and coconuts in a couple of months to attend her wedding. A chain of activities was triggered – from making a plan for sightseeing (typical Indian me - phir kaha jayenge alag se Sri Lanka main, abhi ghoom lete hain ;P) to getting the flight tickets, visa, et al. My cousin’s friend wanted to do that too, so we hatched a plan and decided to visit Colombo, Galle, Bentota, Nuwara Eliya, Yala National Park and Kandy. The fabulous wedding venue was Negombo, around an hour’s drive from Colombo. It was the first week of February and Sri...

Act 1 Take 2 Shortlisting the travel agencies to get me some sightseeing was an uphill task.  There were so many of them that at one point of time I told my dad that I quit.  Why can’t there be someone who can do all this for me and I just enjoy the whole experience without this arduous researching, enquiring and the works. But don’t they say no pain no gain? This exercise of going through websites of travel agencies, sending emails seemed to be unending. Then to add to my confusion there were alternatives like hop on hop off tours, 1 day tours and the likes.  A bit of researching later, I decided it was time to put a stop to running around travel agencies based locally. I thought of checking out travel agencies in London itself. There were quite a few who had 4 day packages or 3 day packages in and around England. However, most of them did not seem to be practical for a solo traveler like me. They were better suited for two individuals. I also found out to my surpri...

Act 1, Take 1 Me- Circa December 2015 - “I want to go out some place in summer next year, out of India, preferably Europe and more specifically UK.  Oh and yes, if possible on my birthday.“ Me – Circa May 6 th 2016, I am on my way to – lo and behold, to the land where Thames flows, London. Flashback, 2016 January –  I was frantically scouring through brochures and websites of travel agencies in Pune to check out if they have London only packages. It was a unanimous opinion that since it is my first time in a really far off, phoren land, it will be better if I go with a tour agency. And so started my research on tour packages to Londres, and how and what all to do there. Unfortunately or fortunately (mostly fortunately), after almost couple of months of reading and browsing through websites of travel agencies in India and in London, I finally gave up. I simply could not find a package which fit into my budget and the duration I was looking for. One of the major re...

There was a shimmering veil of melody ensconcing the air on the evening of 21 st February, 2016 at Law College Ground, Pune. The audience was mesmerized, ecstatic, excited and touched, all at the same time. And this can only happen when the queen of melody herself, Shreya Ghoshal creates magic with her singing. In what was her first solo concert in Pune, organized by ‘Sa’ Creations, Shreya Ghoshal (once again) proved as to why she has been touted as the queen of melody.  She also reiterated the reason why almost no film made in the past decade or so has been without atleast one song sung by her. Absolutely beautiful renditions dotted this musical evening.  The yesteryear Saregamapa winner started off with ‘bahara’ from ‘I hate Luv stories’. From that point onwards, it was a fabulous treat for the ‘Rasik Punekars.’  In Shreya’s words, it is as great a pleasure as well as a responsibility to sing in front of such a knowledgeable and musically inclined audience.  Shr...

These individuals can sense that feeling of being ‘misfits’ especially at weddings or get togethers. Or, even at party held at a friend’s place. Yes, I am talking about a special species here known as the single individuals. As if the caste hierarchy in our Indian society was not enough, this is another type of casteism. It won’t require those extraordinary wings of imagination to understand what I am talking about here.  Here, those who are married are at the top of the ladder. If they have children, even better. The next in line are those who are engaged to be married (the most adored category). The next is those who are in a serious and committed relationship with the opposite sex (same sex is somewhat okay, but beta, marry a Brahmin only). The last ones in the hierarchy, who almost do not feature anywhere and are looked at with pity and sympathy, are those who are single. They say that actions speak louder than words. In this case it comes across prominently. At any gathering...

From climbing London’s iconic Southbank Tower to an under construction sky scraper in Bengaluru, this real British Spiderman can give the Marvel Comics’ superhero a tough fight. We know this Spiderman better as James Kingston. A professional adventurer and free runner, he needs no introduction. Climbing the Southbank Tower is a part of Kingston’s journey around the globe wherein he seeks to get the better of world’s tallest buildings. Following the immense popularity and unprecedented viral reach of the Southbank feat, EpicTV, online extreme adventure channel based in London, recently released the third leg of Kingston’s travels. The adventurer’s trysts with tallest buildings have been documented by EpicTV in its 'On the Edge', a web series. The third leg involved Kingston travelling to the Silicon Valley of India, Bengaluru and pull of an unimaginable stunt. Do I need say that this was an instant hit on the internet and went viral like crazy? Well no! But what he did on 1...

Okay, now this has to be one of the most endearing films I have seen for a while. Yes, and that has to be Queen, of course. It was an absolute delight to watch that film. It made me realize the phrase totally- ‘Don’t judge a book by its cover’. Queen did seem to be completely non descript to say the least. But, voila! It had all that a film buff like me could ask for – drama, emotions, comedy and most of all, a realistic touch. I haven’t stopped thinking about the film and what lies at the core of the film ever since I came out of the theatre the other night after watching it. What got me thinking was the sensitive, yet funny and non preachy yet a deep message which the film put across. It spoke about empowering women in a very subtle way, at the same time it was not like a bunch of overtly enthusiastic feminists breathing down your neck. It was all about a simple, naïve (Delhi girl (rare species) Rani (Queen) who has a desire to visit Paris from the bottom of her heart. She even h...

The smile is vivacious and contagious, the eyes twinkling and there is absolutely no pretense. She comes across as she is, uninhibited. She is gorgeous in an unconventional way.  That’s Kajol for you.  Madhuri, on the other hand, is a beauty, a stunner, a diva and an epitome of grace and poise.  Say dance and you cannot miss out hearing Madhuri along with that.  Drop dead handsome man with international looks and India’s answer to the slew of Hollywood superheroes. That’s Hrithik Roshan for you. Oh and who can forget that Hrithik too, like Madhuri is synonymous with dance! All these three I feel have one thing in common despite their oh-so-huge fan following and appeal. I seriously feel these 3, even though they are so popular and are worshipped by their fans (like me) and have men and women going berserk at just a sight of them , seem very grounded. They seem to have this inherent sense of goodness. And it shows in their public appearances, interviews.. If one is ...

I had goosebumps since the first scene when Farhaan Akhtar walks into the stadium in Rome as Milkha Singh, known as Flying Sikh. From then on, the film ran for me and how! Yes, I liked the film! More than the film, it was the extremely talented Farhaan Akhtar who stole the show. He is almost an embodiment of all that the legend was, every bit in the film – physically and mentally. His physical transformation has been unbelievable! I had condemned people who had put facebook status like please send Farhaan Akhtar for Olympics next time around for running. But after I saw the film and the way the actor has run, I too felt the same! The screenplay is slightly complicated and some aspects have been made very simplistic. The one aspect I didn’t like was Dalip Tahil as Pandit Nehru. And I felt sad when Milkha Singh loses the podium by a whisker in Rome Olympics. The length too could have been a bit short, but then the sporting legend’s story definitely deserves that much time. Right from t...