Udupi The new year resolutions are gone and dead now. Book reading, work life balance, instrument, gym are now fantasy land. Yet three quarters of the year remains. What will it be?
But this year has been to a beautiful start. Amazing things have happened. My movie viewings has been at an awesome level. My no-travel plan has resulted in two travel trips already :) Also, one of the amazing milestone is me being getting promoted at work. Good to see the recognition coming and in general I am at a happy place.
Movies
Laapataa ladies By Kiran Rao - 4 out of 5 (may be 4.5 too)
An amazing down to earth, cute, niche Bollywood movie that says what it want to say, with simple humor. Just a good humanity movie and I loved it. It reminded me of Nagesh Kukunoor's Dor but it is even better.
Dune 2 (4/5) (may be 4.5 too)
The finale of first Dune book asks a lot from its reader to imagine. There is a siege in the middle of a dessert storm and many things happen in parallel. I had always wondered how will this even come to screen. Dennie Villevue has done it. It is perfect. I would have liked another 1-2 mins of the siege action but it is just an ask to satisfy. Overall, Dune 2 and Dune 1 should be seen together only. They are amazing.
Anatomy of a Fall By Justin Triet 4 out of 5 (may be 4.5 too)
Husband and wife are having difficulties in their marriage. The husband dies by falling from the roof while working on some home-repairs. Was he pushed or did he slip ? The answer is for the reader to decide - an excellent court room drama that poses questions to think long after the movie is done.
American Fiction By Cord Jefferson (4 out of 5)
It is awesome when an actor gets a movie to showcase themselves. This is Jeffrey Right's movie and he just nails it. A satire, masterfully written. This kind of drama movies need to be celebrated more and more.
Toni Erdmann By Maren Ade (3.5 out of 5)
I discovered Sandra Huller in Toni Erdmann and then saw her in Anatomy of a Fall. She is brilliant. Toni Erdmann is a silly movie that makes sure that you also do not take it seriously. Yet, it is a poignant portrait of a father-daughter relationship in this work obsessed, self obsessed world where we do not have time for our loved ones.
To compensate for these amazing ones, I also saw brain-dead ones like Upgraded (1.5/5), Anyone but you (2/5)True Detective Night Country (3/5) (BTW, Alaska Daily did it much better)
I started Wheel of Time but could not go past episode 2 of season 2. Didn't like it at all.
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Travel
Weekend travel to Delhi to attend Wedding reception of Aabhas. Met with family and had good fun. Went and watched a play Ghalib in New Delhi in Little theatre. Play was ok. Also, had golgappas in Bengali market and that was amazing. Got golgappas packed too for BLR.
Weekend travel to Mayiladuthurai for Mamaji's sixty'th birthday puja. Attended half of it. Went to Nagore Dargah, Thircudaiyur temple and Velankanni Church in a day. No one is more secular than me :)
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Attended Lucky Ali's live concert at Mall of Asia, Bengaluru. Also, Swarathama came and performed there. Concert was ok, more nostalgia than concert :) Lucky Ali is getting old and this may be my last concert of him.
Attended Ruhaniyat at the Jayamahal palace this year. Saw performances from
- The Blissful world of Tamil Mystics - By Sivasri Skandaprasad and group.
- Through the Eyes of Kabir by Prahalad Singh Tipaniya and group
- Secret Path of Javanese masters to peace by Ida Lala
- Invoking the feminine force - Bharud of Maharashtra
- Ubuntu - The spirit of togetherness Dumza Maswana
- Qawwali by Warsi brothers
This year's anniversary celebration was a discover-city walking tour of Indiranagar. We covered the following places
- Bao Bangalore Indiranagar - Veg bao was amazing
- Lavonne Cafe Indiranagar - Tried the Dule Tres Leches for the first time. On the sweeter side but good.
- Calcutta Victoria Chat House (Jeevan Bhima Nagar)
- Taco Street Indiranagar - Bad service and bad tacos.
- Nirula's Indiranagar - Butterscotch icecream at Nirulas.
Did the Walking tour of Pete - Pete Walk by Unhurried - 4.5/5
Covered Chickpete, CottonPete, three temples, one church and food at the oldest Darshini of Bangalore - Udupi Sri Krishna Bhawan hotel. Went with the office crowd as part of team outing.
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Puchka Taco continue to delight us
In other news -
- Sold the ND Sunspurge apartment.
- Sobha daffodil apartment has massive governance issues. Attended a 3 hr long internal RWA meeting to discuss these issues.
- Water problems are plaguing bangalore.
