What did you think you'd be when you grew up?

Ok! That’s a good question. Honestly, I don’t remember. And frankly, a little too late to answer this question, I suppose!! ;-) 

All the while, growing up, there were different things I wanted to do. One year I wanted to be a newsreader, another year I wanted to be a journalist, some time in between I wanted to pursue dance full-time, and at other times I wanted to be a CA, you know follow dad’s footsteps and all that. One thing I was extremely clear about was that I would never be an engineer or a doctor. Aversion to science influenced that decision pretty heavily. ;)

But then once I finished schooling and graduation in commerce, I didn’t really have a clue as to what I really wanted to do. At that point I wasn’t very keen on CA, having given the foundation exam and not faring well, the ego took quite a beating! :-/ A lot of my classmates were bandying about MBA, CAT, XAT etc., so I decided to join that bandwagon. Took a year off after graduation, did my MBA preparations (yeah right!) and then got into ASB. And then finished that, got placed and now I am in a job that has nothing to do with what I majored in MBA. Okay! Maybe just a little bit to do with what I studied.

If you still ask me, what I really want to do, I have no clue yet. All I know is, this corporate career doesn’t warm the cockles of my heart, even if it does pay the bills. And currently, I am not exactly gutsy enough to venture into that something that I don’t know for sure. A few months ago, though, when the lines on my forehead were getting a little too deep for my liking, I wanted to call it quits on the corporate front by mid-life, move to the foothills of some mountain and set up a cottage there and be there, writing, reading etc., but that sounds far-fetched even to my ears now. Sigh! But maybe someday, huh!

The one thing I was and still am when it comes to it, is that I was never the ambitious sort. Worst case, my ambition would probably be to ensure that I have enough security – emotionally and financially – and I’d be sorted. So, I think yeah, contentment was the one thing that I always leaned towards. 

Right! I think I am getting a little too preachy here! :P 

Even now, my ambitions are still stagnant, in terms of career and such. As long as it pays the bills, I am good.

As for the rest of what makes my soul happy, I have my diversions! :)

Guess what!! :-) We are now T.E.N. Years & Counting!!!

Let’s celebrate people…

*pop the champagne*

*bring out the glasses*

*raise a toast*

Here’s to…

10 Y.E.A.R.S. of My Expression! My Life!!

Here’s to a DECADE OF BLOGGING!

From cringe-worthy posts to fluff pieces … gap-filler tags and random reviews …

From irrelevant rants to solid issues … from scribbling something for the sake of it to writing something that makes me satisfied with the content ...

From finding myself in others’ words and expressing it by putting a spin on it …

From Knitted Yarn to the Mahabharata Chronicles...

Through my tumultuous twenties, over different geographies, different sets of people, different workplaces …

To the terrific thirties where I am much more sure of who I am and what I want to be…

This blog has seen it all… and much more…

For something that started off as a hobby and another avenue to pass time, it has become a part of my identity and strength.

Here’s to more blogging, more writing and more expressing!

And here’s a BIG BIG BBBBBBIIIIIIGGGGG THANK YOU to all you wonderful people who have taken the time out to read through what I have written, commented on it, inspired it and critiqued it!

I love you all!!!

10 YEARS People… WOOHOO!!! 

When the mind goes a-wandering…

Sometimes I miss home. Mostly those days when I am feeling a bit under the weather and sick. But those are the times that I crave for Amma’s cuddle or Appa’s fretfulness at what might just be a headache.

Days when I am bogged down at work, or I feel unbelievable amounts of stress for no particular reason, my mind starts wandering. I reminisce about Kalam. About old childhood memories.

Have I told you about Kalam?

It was this large family home where I and Achu spent the better part of our childhood.  The house is no longer standing; we razed it down as it was getting difficult to maintain it, what with the termites and other small reptiles making it their home. But it was such a beautiful sprawling house. I make it a point to visit it every time I am at Palghat. A walk through the winding trails, through the bushes, an almost dry canal, into the rubber trees, and back to the base finishing off with an elaneer or two, is a standing practice these days. I have very fond memories of the place.

Appa’s Rajdoot bike parked in a corner.  Sargent our dog, who used to  make himself comfortable beside the bike.  Achu wearing my blue frock and coming down the stairs at Kalam.  Amma chasing us all around the house with books in one hand, trying to make us sit and study.  Ammamma holding a long stick in her hands, trying to hunt down the snake that appeared in the store-room amidst the dry coconut husks.  Sahadevan’s auto.  The Chembaka tree in front and the smell of the flowers. The Krishna idol that stands tall and the bench where Thatha used to sit.  The parrot cage hanging in front of the pillars outside with the cawing of the bird and me trying to teach the bird to sing / talk / repeat after me. Skinned knees from the trips down to the ‘parakulam’.  Amma wrapping me and Achu in one big towel after our baths.  The huge Aatukattil in the hall.  The cool floors inside where Thatha used to lie down in the afternoons and let us kids climb all over him.  The office rooms at the end of each side where chithappa and thatha sat doing their work.  The bell that Thatha jangled when he did the poojai.  The old bathrooms with their creaky taps.  The naripaarai where foxes used to come at night.  The attic where one had to crawl up a flight of stairs, almost like transporting us into a fabled other world.  The bats that used to be seen in the attic sometimes.  The granary inside the house where they used to store rice and other items.  The thair-kadayal that happened religiously every day.  The vadaams and koozhumaavu that Ammamma dried on the terrace.  The rubber sheets and the smokehouse.  The cowshed and the cows that grazed around.  The chakkai’s during the season. And the mambazhams. The elaneer that Sahadevan prised off the coconut trees. The bilvam leaves. The odds and ends, nooks and crannies, the water tanks. The rubber trees. The canal that ran by the side of it. The ball badminton ground. The Vishnu temple.

You know how they say; you never know value of what you have until you lose it?

Kalam for me is an example of that. Sometimes I wish the place was still there or that we had kept it and maintained it for what it was worth. 

I wish I was there now.

At Kalam. Or at least what’s left of it.  

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Translations: 

elaneer - tender coconut juice, chembaka - champak tree, aatukattil - traditional swinging bed, naripaarai - fox hillock (literal translation), thayir-kadayal - churning of the milk to get curd, chakkai - jackfruit, mambazham- mangoes, paarakulam - rock pond. 

The traditional wrap-up post for 2015 - the year that was!!

And so, we are back with the traditional year-end post.

I love traditions. They make me feel secure, that everything is right with the world at that moment. Be it daily, monthly or those randomly regular ones, they make me feel contented. Like those temple visits on festival days, or how it always rains on Christmas Eve. New dresses for special occasions, midnight birthday wishes, Appa’s rituals before the Shiva poojai in the morning, Amma’s chanting of the Lalitha Sahasranamam, the good morning and goodnight messages, the messages that come checking up on you, asking if lunch was done or whether you have reached a particular place, the hugs, or the random ruffles on the hair. I take note of quite a few of these traditions. I derive my sense of stability and comfort from them. I wait for them with an anticipation that belies the nonchalance I portray. Even if one of them gets missed or is out of place, I get antsy. A little nervous, like something is going wrong.

This year-end wrap up is like that. The year does not feel complete without one of these on the blog. It is a tradition that has come up over the last couple of years. A sort of wind-down on the happenings of the year. A way of looking back over the year that has been and one that will herald the New Year into our midst. I cannot miss this for any reason. :) Something about this makes me feel good when I write. :)

This year, 2015, has been a good one. Lots of fun was had, many trips were done, a bucket list item was checked off, and a few wishes have come true... All in all, a DARN GOOD YEAR!

I am thankful for this year. It has been a while since I felt about a year like that. I cannot remember the last time that I was happy that a particular year has gone well. This year however, I am grateful and appreciative of whatever it has sent my way.

I gave up making New Year resolutions a few years back. I just do not have the tenacity to stick onto them. They feel a lot like rules and I for one am not too fond of rules. Therefore, I put them down as wishes, things that I would like to do. This year has been one that I have managed to complete most of whatever I wished for. As I stated in my previous blog, I travelled a lot this year. Memorable ones, out of which three were road trips, two were to destinations I had previously travelled to, but still were more fun than the last times and on top of my list is the one where I checked off a much-awaited thing off my bucket-list. Yes! I am talking about the bungee jump. You can see that I’m quite proud of it :P I also managed to read a lot this year, all thanks to the Kindle I was gifted. I completed my reading challenge of 24 books in a year, another achievement that I am quite proud of.

This year there have been more of the fun moments than lessons, for which I am thankful. It has been a year of acceptance, one of letting go. It has been a year of knowing that there are things outside my control, things that I cannot do anything about. This year the regrets have been fewer, the smiles a lot more.

My wish for 2016 is quite simple.

For the coming year, I hope for more of the madness, magic and only some of the mundane.

I hope for more of the journeys, more of fun and more of joy all around.

I hope and wish all of you, oodles of ecstasy, and masses of good health, heaps of wealth and truckloads of cheer all year around! :)

 I wish you all a wonderful year ahead, one where you live life to the fullest, one where you smile, look back and say, what a year it has been! :)

HAPPY NEW YEAR and MAY THE FORCE BE WITH YOU ;-)

A gap-filler tag from Sunday Stealing before the traditional New Year wrap-up post :)

1. What did you do in 2015 that you had never done before?

Travelled almost every month :)

Finished my Reading Challenge of 24 books in 12 months. :)

Petted a few stray Dogs, a Rabbit, a Parakeet, an Elephant and a Tiger :)

Played in the snow:)

Did the world’s tallest bungee jump – personal achievement unlocked.:)

Survived sub-zero temperatures :)

Quit my job :)

2. Did you keep your new year’s resolutions, and will you make more for next year?

My primary resolution was to travel a lot. Which I think I did :) I am definitely going to have this resolution for the next year as well along with a few more.:)

3. Did anyone close to you give birth?

One. She had a beautiful baby girl. :)

4. Tell us a valuable lesson you learned in 2015?

Patience. Going with the flow. Waiting for the tide to turn.

5. What was your favorite new TV program?

Quantico. Yes! Say what you want, but I think it is quite interesting.

6. What would you like to have in 2016 that you lacked in 2015?

Work satisfaction.

7. What dates from 2015 will remain etched upon your memory, and why?

Sep 27^th 2015 – Lifetime achievement unlocked – world’s tallest bungee jump.

 

8. What was your biggest achievement of the year?

Doing the bungee jump. :) No doubts there!

 

9. What was your biggest failure?

Learning how to handle some conflicts of emotions.

10. What was the best thing you bought?

I did not need to buy this one. The Kindle that was gifted to me by the gang.

11. Whose behavior merited celebration?

Mine :P :P I accomplished quite a few things that I wanted to this year :)

12. Whose behavior made you appalled and disgusted?

A few people that I thought could not really stoop so low.

13. What song will always remind you of 2015?

Forever trust in who you are, Nothing Else Matters – Metallica. It is a pleasant memory.

14. What do you wish you had done more of?

Travel more. :) Write more :)

15. What do you wish you had done less of?

Cribbing about work and job.

16. What was the best book you read?

This year has to be two of them – Amritanshu Pandey's Seal of Surya – the Legend of Ikshvaku and R. Venketesh’s Of Gods, Kings and Slaves – the Siege of Madurai.

17. What one thing would have made your year measurably more satisfying?

More travelling :)

18. Quote a song lyric that sums up your year.

Patakha Guddi – Highway. (Note: not saying that I’m like her. But I would like to think of myself as free-spirited.)

Someday …

Someday I want to travel so much that I get tired of it. I want to soak in all that is there in the world, seek new experiences, and live to tell fantastic tales of and about the people in them. I want to visit all those temples that hold meaning for me, about the legends that shape them, take amazing photographs of them and write about them into a coffee table book that highlights their pristine and serene beauty. I want to climb a mountain and watch the sunrise in the distance. I want to take sips of tea from the thermos, sit, and revel in the beauty. I want to leave a small indication on top that I have been there. I want to shout out to the world from the high and feel the wind on my face.

Someday I want a place that I can call MY HOME. With the name etched on a wooden board outside, a little bell hanging by its side. A small cozy two-storied haven. Wild flowers growing around it. A small stream gushing by the side. At the foothills of a mountain maybe. Idyllic. Plenty of windows that let the fresh air flow in. A sky roof that lets the sunlight filter in and on which the pitter-patter of rains can be heard. Plenty of woodwork, and wrought-iron work. A well-quipped kitchenette and pantry. Cookbooks lining the island in the kitchen. . Plenty of nooks and corners. Minimalistic designs.

Someday I want to be with a person whom I can cozy up to near the fireplace on cold winter nights, maybe with a glass of steaming hot chocolate by the side. Someone whom I can just lie with my head on his shoulders watching the embers in the fire die down, talking about small things that may or may not matter. Maybe take in a movie together with fingers entwined, or just cuddle up within one blanket and fall asleep in front of the stonewalled fireplace.

Someday I want to have kids, who will scribble on the walls, make me yell at them, or cajole me into joining them on that. With whom I can work on school projects with, make clay models, have them potter around behind my back, asking me a zillion questions about the what and why of everything.

Someday I want to have a dog. A Lab that gambols around and answers to Sargent. One that wakes me in the morning. One that never leaves my side and sticks onto me like glue. One that I can snuggle up to days that I feel alone and miserable. One that begs me with those puppy dog eyes to take him out for a stroll on those balmy evenings after the sun has set.

Some day in my haven, I want to have a studio, with a mural of Lord Shiva on one wall. Shelves filled with books, knick-knacks from travels, curios one-of-a-kind, and Amma’s paintings. Hued colored walls, muted shades that throw shadows and patterns during twilight. My dance anklets. A small music system. Multi-colored throws and rugs and cushions that brighten up the place.

Someday I want to write about the things that make me ME. The smell of old books. 4am conversations, which are peppered with lots of laughter and sober moments of realization. Windswept hair during fast bike rides. Drizzles on the face while taking long walks. A glass of rum on cold nights with people who matter to me. Military prints. Sarees. Ethnic jewelry. Adventure sports. Writing. Mythology. Temples. Tea at the roadside stalls. Hot molaga bhajjis. Vatthakozhambu. Filter Kaapi. Sunsets on beaches. Smoky eyes. Dance. Music. FRIENDSHIPS that make or break the world for me. Early morning quiet. Easy conversations. Surprises. Random hugs. Long drives. Card games. The very first sip of tea or coffee in the mornings. A good movie. Songs that touch the heart. Cycling. Traditions. Slokams. Roadtrips.

Someday I want to turn these dreams into reality and write a book that I can pour down all my life’s worth into, one that I can read in my old age, look back, and reminisce about a life well lived.

Someday.... 

9 years and counting... :)

I completed 9 YEARS of blogging yesterday. That is a long time for someone like me who gets bored of things and hobbies fast. It is also one of the few things that have been a constant in my life these past few years. One of the few that I stick to out of the handful that I have. J

I started blogging exactly 9 years ago, on a balmy Thursday evening at ASB. A year into my MBA course, I was at a loss. Until then, my only outlet was random diaries, notebooks and such most of which I had burned the year before I joined for MBA. Yes. I was not thinking. Being obsessive about keeping my secret scribbles were more important. In hindsight, it was probably a blessing in disguise. ;) :P Blogging therefore was quite new. On a rocky internet connection, sitting at our third floor computer lab, I gingerly opened blogger and tried navigating my way through it. My biggest inspiration then was this senior from my school called Sandhya. Hers was one of the few blogs I had come across and I openly admired the effortless way that she wrote. I hijacked the title of my blog, from a friend who had casually mentioned it in passing, created a blog, and was on my way. Devious uh! :P

Being a not-so-very-expressive person myself, I admire people who can express themselves eloquently. I have a high regard for people who can do things effortlessly. Like public speaking. Having the ability to say no. Dancing. Writing.

When it comes to expressing myself, I find that I prefer writing to speaking them out.

I admit! I am sucker for words. I unabashedly revere people who can create magic with words. I find myself frequently getting lost in other people’s words, and seeing reflections of myself in them. This is usually coupled with self-pity at the fact that I will never be as good a writer as the person’s words that I have just imbibed, and as well awe of the words that I have just gotten lost in.

When it comes to blogging, I’m usually a stickler for perfection. The words have to perfect, the sentences framed just so, and the meaning conveyed just right, no innuendoes other than the one that I have intended. Out of the 351 posts that I have published over the last 9 years, only about 1/4^th of them are up to that level of perfection that I so desire. The Mahabharata Chronicles are one of them. Other ones are under the label Knitted Yarn and Being a Girl. These are my favorite ones. The ones that I have written long back when I started blogging are more fluff pieces than anything else is. Now when I read them, I cringe and think about how much better I could have written them. Most of my turbulent 20's are covered in here. However, I do realize that they are an essential part of my life that show how much I have evolved and how much has changed from back then to now. From whom I was to who I am now. :-) :-)

These days, blogging is like therapy. Gone are the days when I had to blog just for the sake of it. Nowadays I blog when I feel like it. When I want to express something. Some Joys, some Hidden Angst, Snippets of Life, New Beginnings, and of course Milestones like these.

Tweaking the popular adage,

“My words sound better coming from my hands than from my mouth. My Expression, My life! ;-)"

Here’s to countless more years of blogging and expressing my life out! :) :)  Cheers!

Masti, Marriages, Mayhem, Milestones, Mangoes and Much More … The Month that was MAY!!!

Yes! That’s how cool we are these days! Because, a title is all I can come up with at this point of time. The self-induced plethora of blog posts on the 100 happy days has bitten the dust long back. Very very long back, in case you guys didn’t notice! Which is to say, have you all disappeared from here like I have? :-/ 

Anyways, the story, bottom line, the point of it all, is THIS. I came up with that cool title about a week back and was wondering what to write on those very topics (we are diligent, if not anything else!) so that it qualifies for a readable post. After breaking my head over which, I gave it all up and decided to churn out whatever got in the way of these fingers while typing… which translates to, you may have to end up reading some nonsensical stuff – if you’re reading this that is! :P

So we settle back to old usual random way of spilling out all those thoughts that have taken up space in my mind… de-cluttering it is gonna be my dear friends!

Where were we? Oh yeah! The 100 Happy Days Challenge. Right! I am very happy to inform you that this has bitten the glorious dust like a lot many of my projects. Again! Not because I was / am not happy most of the days. They were eclipsed by this other factor called PROCRASTINATION of which I am a master! Either ways, I did get some super awesome feedback from some very kind people and if I ever get the feeling that I will want to start a blogging spree, I may just take it up on again. I actually did want to do that A to Z blogging challenge which a lot of my co-bloggers have picked up, but then considering I did not finish the earlier challenge, I thought it was safer for me to stay away from challenges for a while. But to those of you who are doing it, KUDOS! I end up reading all of those blog posts, and then feel jealous that I am not able to write like that!!... Hmmmppff!! Oh and before I forget – remember this post on HOPE and Britto words… I got one for myself!! :D this one in the image right below… Kinda symbolic you think! :D :D Hehehe!

Have I ever told you, that the month of MAY is my most favourite of all months in the year?  December comes a close second, but MAY is right up there. You ask me, why? I say, because it’s my BIRTHDAY Month! And this MAY was simply awesome… whole lot of celebrations, a trip back home, temple visits, farmhouse visits, mangoes, reading and lazing about at home… the best 2 weeks and 3 weekends in a long long time. The vacation this time started off with a close one’s wedding, the associated celebs, an almost finger-removing car door slam (a lil’ exaggeration if I may!), the long drive back to Home Sweet Home (which I was visiting after more than a year!!!), the hot humid weather, the blessed showers, a milestone birthday, the folks’ anniversary, a new car, temples, the mango & jackfruit season, the gorging on amma’s cooking, catching up with all the besties, and so much of reading, sleeping, gossiping, shopping and all that jazz…  BLISS!!!

This pic below is from the farmhouse. Clicked and edited on my phone, it calls for a whole new blog post all by itself. I love this one spot at KALAM and the fact that it has a statue of one of my favourite gods makes it even more enchanting.

Coming back to work, after more than 2 weeks means VACATION HANGOVER. Which is what happened. And what also happened was that, I forgot the password to unlock my system!!! After a couple of futile tries, it opened up! Thank god for predictability!! :-) And then it was back to square one! Putting out fires and getting rid of the to-do pile and then adding more to the to-do pile. Just another few routine days! :-s while that was going on, I noticed something weird. I was kind of getting tired of MAY. I mean, yeah! It was still my favourite month and all that but god! How long was this month in any case??  It felt like it was never getting over!!!! :-/ probably all that work stress! ;-) but we did have some good times at work like a drinks get together, some cake cutting and general silliness with the girls on and off! Solid team I have here I tell you!! Touch wood! :D :D

Also caught up on a few movies, including the much hyped ‘Kochadaiyaan’, which frankly in my opinion did not feel like a Rajini movie at all, sorry! The only relatable part was his voice and dialogue delivery which remotely made me feel I was watching a thalaivar movie! None of that mass hysteria or that jaw-dropping and silly grins ever happened. But then all said and done, was one heck of an attempt by the crew. Could have been better though, I have to say! If you are going to be shooting a movie for more than 2 years, I am going to expect something better than a game of guess-who-that-hero/heroine-is! And for a thalaivar movie, those expectations are well warranted, if you ask me.

Watched X-Men and drooled over Hugh Jackman unabashedly. Also loved the movie. New characters, new plot line which completely derails all that ever happened until X-Men: The Last Stand, and a devilishly brilliant action sequence by one of the most inspired characters ever – Quicksilver set to Jim Croce’s Time in a Bottle. Stand out scene!! The best scene in the entire movie, if you ask me. Evan Peters with that roguish grin of his is someone I want to see more of in the upcoming X-Men movies.

And the IPL madness has ended, with the team that I supported getting trashed in the qualifier – 2, thanks to some recklessly stupid shots by a seasoned player. I also got to know that my cricket knowledge is half-baked when the best friend was kind enough to point out in some not-so-good-words, that Dwayne Bravo was a medium fast pace bowler and not spin like I had always thought!! Gulp!! Don’t ask me why I thought he was spin bowler! :( I half dozed through the finals yesterday. I so badly wanted Punjab to win, which obviously didn’t happen. Anyways, now that has ended. KKR has won and SRK is a happy man, on his way to becoming the richest actor in the world!

Over to the milestones part now.

I turned 30. And I am somehow feeling very glad about it. Weird right! I always feared growing older and now I find that I am actually looking forward to the 30s. I think I am finally becoming wisdomous in Joey Tribbiani’s words! So ladies and gentlemen, the milestone birthday was brought in amidst folks, after about 5 years and with all four of us under one roof. Low-key all the same but one of the most relaxing big moments ever. Gone are those days where one could pull an all-nighter and still show up to work fresh and dewy faced. Now if I don’t get my quota of 6 hours, I am a grumpy soul solely walking straight thanks to copious amounts of coffee.

The other milestone is that I completed 5 years in this ‘Lah-Lah’ land! Funny how time flies. And when I think back, I can’t believe I have spent 5 years here. And I don’t know whether to be happy or sweet about it. I think I will settle for BITTERSWEET!

MS Word tells me that I have typed 3 pages already.

I think I should stop on this note. J

I wish I could say that I will blog more religiously and fervently from now on, but I don’t want to make promises that I can’t keep! :P

Oh god! This wisdomous thing is sometimes a pain! ;) :P

Peace out…  

Movie Review - Queen!! Probably the 1000th review or so! ;)

How long has it been since I wrote a film review on this space?

I think the last one has to be somewhere in the month of May last year around my birthday.

So why the gap all these months? Not because there were no good movies that I watched... On the contrary, there were so many good and awesome movies that I have watched over the last few months. But none that I really felt like writing a review about!! Okie! Let me rephrase that, I did feel like writing about a few of them, some really good ones, but then lost the interest somewhere between the time the thought struck and the time it took me to get to a system! :) :)

But now, there’s this movie that I want to review here. Ok! Not so much a review, as much as an appreciation for the feel-good factor that the movie spread.

We went and watched QUEEN a couple of days back. Yes! This in all probability is the 1082438923587^th article that you’re going read about QUEEN.

But seriously how good was the movie? :) :)

I am a very big supporter of these films where the women walk away with the film in the end, no surprises there yes! But also very few of those movies around! :) English Vinglish was one; but much as I loved the whole way the subject was dealt with, it did not leave an imprint on me.

The tagline of QUEEN should have been - ;-)

 “I love to see a young girl go out and grab the world by the lapels. Life's a bitch. You've got to go out and kick ass.” – Maya Angelou

QUEEN was so so good. I had a smile throughout. Kangana owned the movie. And I thought she was good only in those Fashion / Gangster kind of movies. But with this one, I have to say, she has come into her own! And what a way to take the world by storm! :) Most of the time, it’s those little things / nuances in movies like these that give weight to the entire film and carries it forward. There were a lot of those in this gem of a movie.

Before you second guess it, yep! Spoilers ahead! :) These are in no specific order… just moments that I really liked from the movie!  

The instance where Rani’s younger brother Chintu shakes his fist at the hero for making his sister cry! He doesn’t really know why she is crying, she doesn’t tell him of the marriage being called off. All that mattered to him was that his sister was crying. Oh, that fist-shaking was a very good touch! :)

Lisa Haydon as a perfectly cast Vijaylaxmi. :) She even got the accent down pat. Such a carefree attitude to life! Would love to emulate that!

The last scene in the restaurant where Rani meets Vijay, and she addresses the waiter as Roche. Simple yet subtle to show how much she has evolved from being a wallflower to the person she has now become. Actually the look of surprise on Vijay’s face said it all! Some other glimpses, like when he asks her in a previous scene if she had had alcohol and she corrects him saying that it was champagne and not ‘sharaab’, where she drives the car for the first time, navigating the roads with a map, and she thinks about the time where her then fiancé gets impatient with her for not driving properly. She is so engrossed in the driving that she ignores the phone ringing incessantly (call from Vijay!) obviously.

There is this one other scene that I thought was usual but not so much. She goes on to try a dress that is a little revealing, clicks a selfie and then I am not sure if accidently or not, the pic gets sent to Vijay. He sees it, he is stunned of course. However, she suddenly realizes that it has been sent to him, and then thinks about it for a second and completely puts it out of her mind. This can be seen of course in two ways. One, she wanted to make him jealous and see what he was losing out on (all pun intended), two she doesn’t care anymore, what he thinks or what he doesn’t. I prefer to think it was the second one! :P :P

The beginning scene – the marriage preps -  the thoughts flowing through Rani’s mind, about her mom still not wearing the new saree, that her friend was not yet there dancing at her sangeet, where her brother had disappeared to when she had entrusted him with her phone to take pics to upload to Facebook, and then an affectionate recollection that her fiancé is back from London and how he had put on some weight but in the right places :) – and all through these, the expressions on her face, the fleeting glances, the involuntary smile that lights up her face… I thought that the scene was very nicely done. :)

Kangana devoid of makeup is one beautiful girl. An untouched innocence that is so compelling that you just want to shield her from the big bad world.

And the best of all (this has been done to death in all reviews I am sure!)… That she said NO to Vijay. Yes! Glad. Very glad about that. There’s a whole world of learning in there! Also, the fact that she thanks him in the end for calling the marriage of. Very nicely done. The guy was dumbfounded to say the least! ;-)

Oh! And I am so so glad that she kisses the Italian chef. :) I was so hoping that she would – the guy was striking ;-)! Very heartening to see that! I would have been a wee bit disappointed if she hadn’t done that. The moment called for it and thankfully she delivered. Yay for that! :)

Bonus points for the FB timeline track at the end credits. And also for calling the hero a ‘kuttaaa’ ;-)  :P

Vikas Bahl, way to go!!!

Definitely a must-watch. Don’t miss this one!