I am on a break :)
I am on day 5 of a 9 day work break to just recharge my batteries. Work became too much chaotic last few weeks, so I decided to take a breather, focus on other aspects of life and spend some days without worrying about work. Blog writing does seem one of them
Before I start, here is a quick recap of my break journey so far -
Day 0 - Fri evening. Took a trial class at local CrossFit. Something that has been in my TODO list for a long time. Wanted to start weight training and felt cross-fit could be a place to make it happen.
Day 1 - Finished book 3 of Wheel of time series - The Dragon Reborn. Decent read. Decided to take on the impromptu class of learning how to make dream cake - apparently a Insta viral thing presently Kanishka and I took this workshop organized by Yellow Pumpkin, in HSR. The workshop was good. Dream cake is a layered cake, so we learnt how to make Chocolate cake, Chocolate Ganache, Chocolate mousse (which goes via Chocolate truffle), Caramal sauce, chocolate wall and dust. 4 hrs well spent!
Day 2 - Demo class of Cello. Likely going to sign up for it. Fingers crossed if I can be regular on it. Also, went to another gym to sign up for their demo class. Day 2 evening was spent reading book 4 of Wheel of time series at a local cafe - Beanlore - new cafe exploration in parallel :) Interestingly Beanlore had Fountainhead the book there and it has been a while since I had read it (there is a story here for some other time). Spent most of the evening reading Fountainhead part 4. Maybe because I read from the middle but some content is pretty difficult to stomach - as in the point is stated as a fact first and then a long winded verbiage to justify it.
Day 3 - Demo class at the new gym. Ended up taking membership for 3 months. Fingers crossed. Board game night with friends. Lost both games of Splendor. Also watched this amazing movie - Argentina 1985
Day 4 - I always wanted to get one of our study room walls hand painted. Made few calls but finally got someone who can do it. But that meant cleaning any wall accessories. This led from a wall-cleaning exercise to major wardrobe cleaning to eventually home cleaning project that went from 9 am to 9 pm and finally Kanishka and I crashed :). Atleast 5 boxes worth of items disposed. Day well spent :)
Day 5 - Got my hair colored again. Not happy this time but happy of my experimentation. Wall painting guy finalized. Gym schedule started. Plans in motion for a new toy place for Puchka and Taco :)
The good thing is that none of this is pre-planned. Each plan is materialized mostly a day before or on the morning of the day. Whenever, I have taken a break, I have travelled. So, taking a break and being at home is something that I am happy to do this time. Plus, there are so many small small items that were neglected are finally getting some attention.
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Trip to Varanasi - A 4 day trip Varanasi which was partly official partly travel. Loved the Ghat walks and food this time.
Amritsar-Kartarpur-Delhi trip - Crazy hectic but full worth it. And that both Varanasi and Amritsar happened back to back, it is just mind boggling. Highlight was Karptarpur, documented here in detail. Amritsar was also decent - Wagar border had this women only flag event and dancing to patriotic bollywood songs, Sandeshein aate hain emanating from the loudspeakers. Felt like all 90s or older songs only and too simplistic but liked this time I liked it. Way better experience than my last visit when I thought that I would never come here again. Golden temple was very crowded and Kesar da dhaba is highly over-rated. Satpura is a must-try because of its innovation over Samosa :)
Multiple weekend trips to Denkanikottai including one where we went to Murugan Idli in Krishnagiri
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Movies - Started my bollywood binge to reconnect with Bollywood
Javan - SRK starrer. Lets leave it at that
Rocky aur Rani ki Prem Kahanai - Karan Johar goes back to the director seat. Flashy, royal, breaking taboos and 100% bolllywood. Some people understand the industry/genre really well.
Tu Joothi Mein Makkar - Time pass. Lets not apply logic. But, Bollywood is definitely continuing its liberal streak in whole new ways, especially around sexuality, women freedom and rights. This part is good to see. I had thought how Hrushikesh Mukherjee films used to make middle class push the boundary on what values we want nation to follow. By no means TJMM is a Hrushikesh-da movie but collectively, today's Bollywood movies, though standing for upper class, is brazenly calling out the freedom expected in today's times. I do not think that we should take it for granted. Because we have seen how regressive the TV series industry became.
Mimi - A Pankaj Tripathi film on surrogacy where the worst fears are actualized and resolved too in the end. It avoids the difficult question on what if the son was mentally challenged. But, nevertheless a different film.
Masala ones -
Star Wars 4, 5 and 6. Wanted to get Kanishka acquainted to origins of Star Wars universe. Never liked before, do not like them now. The new JJ Abrams era and Andor is impressive though.
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 3 - So good that i am not seeing this in cinemas anymore. Watchable but they are not at all enjoyable anymore.
Amazing ones -
Perry Mason - Season 2 - 4.5/5. Matthew Rhys continues to cement his place as one of the best actors of my generation. I am such a big fan of him.
Jury Duty - 4.5/5 - How much I have loved the premise. And boy, how lucky they were to find the right person. Plus, it is legal drama :) I absolutely adored it. Creativity, things done to pull it off, the docu style.
The Bear Season 2 - 5/5 - It is just brilliant. All episodes are amazing. This has to be rewatched. and then watched again. I am not sure how many times I have told people to watch this series.
Decision to leave - 3.5/5 - Nice noir thriller and a delight to watch.
I also went through a phase of 90s 6-pointers which I feel are missing in today's world. These simple plot-based couple of twist thrillers are so watchable.
High Crimes - 2.5-3/5.
The Sum of all fears - 2.5-3/5
Contrast to the current ones require a lot of mental energy to see them. Example - I saw this series Inventing Anna on how a girl frauded the whose-who of elite but she had a modest background. Besides a badly acted protagonist role, this could have been cut short to a 2 hr movie.
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New things -
Played new board game - Wingspan - Liked it a lot. Good strategy and competitive play but not at all combative. Peaceful competitive game.
New board game - Diamonds - A new family board game in our kitty. Nice combination of both playing cards and elements from board game world.
Food stall - Independence day celebration - Kanishka and I along with family, particularly Kanishka's mom had a food stall in Sobha. Featuring Litti Chokha Churma and Hummus with Nachos. Kids came for nachos more than hummus. Litti Chokha was amazing
New places tried - Long Boat Brewery (3.5/5), Urban Monkey Sarjapur (2.5/5 - though with Bad coffee you can not call yourself an English breakfast place), Indian Coffee House HSR (new outlet launch and it is awesome), Shree Aahar HSR (new Darshini in HSR which is passable).
From office - Deck of Brews, Misosexy Indiranagar.
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