Sudden Rainfall a Day after Holi - Lucknow 28 March 2013

Weather took a pleasant turn as Lucknow got sudden rainfall on 28 th March.Maximum temperature dropped six degrees below normal as dark grey clouds covered the horizon with light rain continuing throughout the day.

The 'heat generated' due to high mercury level created a low pressure area in the atmosphere, which made conditions favourable for the advancement of the western disturbances, hovering over the hilly regions of the north India, into UP and cause thunder storm and rain. Hail storm was also reported from isolated places in the state.

Spring Lotus Blooms

Himmatwala (2013) - Review

I found Himmatwala quite tiresome and waited with patience for the movie to end,though climax does have a very good scene of Zareena Wahab.Though she does reminds us of the similarity between Agneepath and this movie.Paresh Rawal tries hard to imitate Kader Khan but fails miserably.Ajay Devgan delivers good performance here and has several good scenes here,but he alone could not carry this weak imitation of a 80's hit on his shoulders.This movie has all the cliches you can think of,of a 1980's film.Sajid Khan and his colleagues who have grown up in 1980's consider this most violent decade of Hindi films as the greatest and keep getting inspired by 80's masala pot-boilers.I have yet to see Jeetendra's Himmatwala,but do know that would be better than this weak movie for it has Sridevi too.But do know this people who have seen the earlier film are bound to find this disappointing.

The movie starts promisingly with "Thank God its Friday song".But the costume changes of  Sonakshi Sinha are really awful.Ajay Devgan does looks different and better in his introduction scene.Tamanna Bhatia is the leading lady here who  fails to impress and is as white as a Ghost.

Mahesh Manjrekar performs well in this movie and at first I was unable to recognize him.He plays his character with utmost conviction.Asrani too is funny here Rajendra Gupta and Riteish Deshmukh have short but pivotal role.Javed Jafri has a guest appearance.Anil Dhawan plays Ajay Devgan's father.

 "Naino Mein Sapna" song is done well here,the sets and costumes are exquisite and after a long time you hear Amit Kumar singing for a lead actor.There's a remarkable scene of Ajay Devgan wrestling a Tiger.Who later on comes to save his life in the climax after his mom prays to goddess Durga to save his son from Goonda elements.Also there's a scene adapted from Alfred Hitchcock's "Psycho",where Ajay Devgan scares Mahesh Manjrekar into imagining himself as Janet Leigh's character and Ajay turning into The Psycho attacking him with Bamboo stick rather than a knife.

People who grew up in the 1980's will find it run-of-the-mill,other young crowd  may find it entertaining in a different way.And it does still have several positives.This is a weakly scripted film from Sazid Khan,who has given audience three blockbuster movies previously.He fails to adapt the 1980's blockbuster properly.

Woman on Top (2000)

What I thought that this movie would be about a flamboyant woman who stays on to in her personal and professional life.

I was so surprised when it turned out to be a first of its kind,a romantic magical super-natural,a cuisine movie dedicated to Brazil's culture and Portuguese songs.

Penelope Cruz is just wonderful here,no doubt she is known as "Spanish enchantress".Murilo Benício is nice and romantic and absolutely lovable.Harold Perrineau is funny and provides good support,she calls her Penelope's Rhoda,as in "Mary Tyler Moore" show Mary had her friend Rhoda. Her Dance bit with Mark Feuerstein is quite sensuous where she tells him all about Brazilian Culture and uses her Body Parts to denote various regions of her country,and the music here is just awesome.

Eyes of Laura Mars

Its an exciting thriller with outstanding performance from Faye Dunaway.Saw it twice and thought why I hadn't seen it till now.This scene is my favorite from the movie though it looks thousand times better on a DVD than in this poor  quality Youtube video.Madhuri Dixit's "100 Days" seemed to be inspired from it.

Tommy Lee Jones is unconvincing and dull and looks like a zombie.Rene Auberjonoisas Donald is just great especially when he impersonates Laura Mars to hoodwink cops.

Beawar - Its Famous Til-Patti

As I traveled from Udaipur to Jaipur,our Bus stopped for a while at Beawar Bus Station.There were some guys selling Beawar's famous Til-Patti.I bought a packet of it.When I reached home and opened it there were four very thin round shaped crests of Til-Patti,very white and very delicious.They are made out of sesame seeds and sugar. The sesame seeds are roasted and they are mixed with thick syrup to make dough and then pressed hard to make it so thin that you can hardly see any overlapping seeds, and then it appears as semi-transparent disk. People in Beawar considered to have their own style of making which have made 'Til-patti' as an appellation for 'Beawar ki Til-patti'.

According to a legend, British posted a sign saying "be aware" as a warning to the British caravans and officers leaving the cantonment or crossing the cantonment. Slowly with time the local people came to think of it as the name of the cantonment and so the cantonment began to be called Beawar. It is a sub-divisional headquarters.

Dharamveer Singh - Our Jaipur Tour Guide

Mr.Dharamveer Singh was our Tour Guide in the Double Decker Tourist Bus,that starts from Mewar Travels near Sindhi Camp Bus Stand.He was very helpful and patient with each of us.His phone no. is 09929027198.

To me he seemed like a young boy telling visiting folks about his native city.He was not like any of those professional tour guides but more like a person who is telling about a City and its heritage where he has lived all his life.He was simple,respectful to everybody with a pleasant honest voice.Somehow he reminded me of my far cousin Shivanshu when I first met him,though at that time I thought Shivanshu looked like the child in "Problem Child".

At most of the sights I got late in getting back to our Bus,and he would wait and call me back asking me to come soon.

At Mewar Fort I got real confused,I still don't know which way was the right way.The way I exited was different from the one we arrived.Even after retracing my steps I could not find the way I came in.So I got down the front stairs through the Garden and went outside.I phoned Dharamveer telling him I can't find our ancient Jeep we came in.And then again try searching for it.He gave me the Jeep Driver's number and I phoned and told him I am lost and he can leave without me.Later on Dharamveer phoned me and I told him I could not find the Jeep and he can go without me.And folks there guided me to a Bus that left me at Jal-Mahal.There I ate Rajasthani Kulfi which is really tasty.Then I contemplated what to do and the Kulfi guy suggested I take the City Bus to Sindhi Camp.But then I decided to wait hoping our tour bus would come that way.And I was so exalted when soon I saw my Tour Bus coming down the road.I waved it to stop,one of the sights it would take us to was "Jal-Mahal" too.Dharamveer welcomed me back and I just went up the stairs on the top floor of the double Decker bus and decided to just take a rest and refresh.

Lovely and Nicest city of Udaipur

So in February by sheer coincidence and fate I went to Jaipur.There while going around on a Tourist Bus,that takes you on a guided tour of the city,I bought a short booklet on Udaipur and was completely mesmerized by its immense beauty.And that night decided to travel to the City of Udaipur which by Bus is more than 500 Km.

Udaipur reminded me so much of Nainital,and like Nainital people here are really nice and charming.Their are two lovely Lakes Fateh Sagar and Pichola which are really vast and rich in natural beauty.Then later in the day I visited the local Zoo,which is less of a Zoo and more of a great Park.And there was a small train here and a group of school Boys and girls traveled with us making pleasant jokes.

City Palace is a great Fort and always buzzing with tourists.From Pichola Lake you get a great view of the Palace.

Aravali Park is just OK sort.The memorial dedicated to Maharana Pratap is really great.Its located atop a Hill,giving you great view of White City of Udaipur and the tall Hills beyond it with wind brushing your hair often.A temple can be seen located at the back.There's a museum too that depicts Haldighat war scenes where Maharana Pratap defeated Akbar.

Bus Station of Udaipur functions round the clock and you get Bust to Jaipur every Hour from 4:00 onwards.If you travel out in day you will sees vast fields,meandering roads,desolate Hills and lots of shops with vast store of white Marble.

Ram Manohar Lohia Park Lucknow