The game of pictionary

My experience with Pictionary has always been fun.  I am simply in love with the game. The best part is the game brings out the kid in you. It is the most creative game I have ever played. The way you draw in order to make your team understand or guess the work is just awesome. I have played the game with various groups and each time I have observed that even the most not so involved people get deeply engrossed and enjoy t to the fullest.

I love the way my brain works to explain my fellow team mates the word which I have never heard or for that matter never used by using my common sense and drawing abilities.

The game helps me bond. It carves good memories. The funny drawings bring a smile to my face.

Saheb Biwi aur Gangster Returns

"Infidelity is the most dangerous attribute which a man possess"

The film is very well written and directed. keeps you glued to your seat with its fast paced story line.
You would find yourself asking what's going to happen next?

So, Indrajeet Singh (the Gangster,Irfaan) has a plan to destroy the Saheb(Jimmy). He has Raj Babbar who has his own reasons to support him. And the plan is then laid down. Ranjana (Soha), who is in Love with A accepts the proposal to marry Saheb so that Indrajeet can take his badla.

But, the very famous Biwi captivates Indrajeet Singh (Mahie) or was it the game being played by Indrajeet? I was left wondering.Because there is a scene where Babbar jokingly warns Indrajeet of notorious ways of Madhavi to which he replies that he is not that weak.

But, Biwi was able to seduce Indrajeet and then you get to see some hot steamy scenes. Biwi's dialogue:- "Mujhe saare Mard hi kyun miltey hain Shayar kyun nahi miltey ",makes you feel that is this punch line so seductive to attract a man? No, I think the Oomph

Ranjana,who had been dutifully helping dad and Indrajeet on their mission caught Gangster and Biwi making love to each other and that's it. The film changes its course from there and you get to see the Women power there.Poor Indrajeet  never got to know what went wrong and when he comes to know it was too late.

The director here has surely left place for another sequence.

The film was an entertainment which made my Friday night. Tigmanshu Dhulia has made a mark for himself. He is now included in my lists of directors whose films I am not going to miss.

Finally!!!!

From the very first day I knew that it was not my cup of tea....I still dragged it for almost 6 years. But that's it..Finally I have taken a bold(bold because its difficult to part away with that kind of money which gets deposit in your account every last day of a month) decision to part ways with the corporate world. Yes, I have quit my IT software engineer job. So what is my plate now? Frankly speaking nothing..except taking care of my LO. But, yes I have dreams and would like to thrive to do something which gives me happiness and something I would do passionately. But, hey I am still not aware of that "something". Okay, let me go back to my early days..what did I enjoy most in my school days or childhood? I did paintings,learnt dancing,singing and various other arts and craft but unfortunately nothing stayed with me long...So, I am not sure that they would catch my attention as a career choice. In school as a part of In-house activities I was a part of two very successful plays. My character was appreciated by all. So, should I give theatre a chance? Why not? I have  a husband who I know would stand by me always. So giving it a chance should not be a problem.

2) I also taught small children and students of my own class(I was pretty intelligent student ;)). So, I think teaching could be another option. Taking private tuitions or joining an institute can be a great option as well. Wherein I need to just give a few hours every day.

3) 3rd thing that I remember I enjoyed in those days was selling things to people. yes, I use to sell roses(from my plant) to young girls of my class on V-day or other special days) for Rs 5/- and Rs10/-. I had collected Rupees 35 out of it. I also sold them Indian film Actor Actress picture which I procured from Film fare(can you believe it). My friend and I had also started a small Library business at school and would give comics and novels on rent to other friends  which got hit by someone complaining to Principal and then it came out to be against school rules.

So, why not try my hands on all of these for a while and see what clicks? Isn't it a great idea?
Will keep you posted.


Shradha Drolia

They partied when together and fought when away

They had known each other now for one whole year. It was a long distance courtship and the boy visited the girl once in 2 months or so. They had a gala time together. He had a lot of interesting hobbies which impressed her. she learnt about amar chitra katha from him, never knew that even elders can enjoy the comic like a child. No drink seemed to be as tasty as Breezer.Travelling and exploring to her now was the best use of time and money. She liked his taste of movies and friends and got introduced to new set of movies and book. Yes, they laughed,discussed,ate,drank and enjoyed when together.

They disliked the electronic stupid box, the mobile phone. Talking on it was a pain to them, that was the reason of so many misunderstandings and communication gap. Yes they mostly fought when they were away from each other. The girl seemed to be very sensitive mostly concerned about petty things and things that were a past. Boy seemed to be particular about present and future hence, the arguments.

They married each other. Now they stay together and party everyday.

Shradha Drolia

PIFF 2010

About Elly

Director-Asghar Farhadi

The opening film at PIFF 2010 was indeed a well made suspicious and mysterious movie.

The film is about a young lady Elly who is into a forced relationship with her fiancé. Forced to such an extent that she gives away her life. The relationship which she wants to break off but the fiancé' wouldn't let her go.
One sentence in the movie that described her situation and her state of mind is "A bitter ending is better than an endless bitterness".

The main character Sepideh (Golshifteh Farahani one of my favorite after I have seen her Fish Fall in love) has been shown as a woman with rare character, the lady who mostly takes all initiatives and which finally becomes the cause of catastrophe for the entire group on their outing.

The movie as all other Iranian movie captures the natural beauty of all characters and location of shoot. The abandoned villa at the seafront of Caspian Sea should be an ideal place of holiday for all lovers of nature. The fun, picnic and stay of three families are shown beautifully. Dumb charades sequence makes it a universal games during a group outing. The movie which started as a fun movie with teasing and leg pulling of Ahmad who comes in search of wife from Germany and finds Elly as his perfect partner, the movie slowly take the path of mystery with Elly being disappeared. There occurs some classic sequence of one lie to cover the other lie, badmouthing and quarrels between couples. The not so confident fiancé aliasing as brother of the dead Elly.

All in all a finely made movie only a bit stretched which makes viewers impatient. The unveiling of mystery somehow keeps you seated.

For more details about the director,awards,casting,movie click here About_Elly

Shradha Drolia

Sorry Bhai!!!/Sorry Onir!!!

What a waste of a theme which otherwise could have been a fresh
and an interesting one.
Onir, you disappointed us on this one!!!
Sorry bhai , could have either been a complete comedy (light stuff sorts) or the director could have made it a complete infidelity issue. But he made a mess by mixing both of these and the result was pathetic.
Shabana Azmi,Boman Irani were a total waste.
Although, Chitrangada Singh was the beauty in the movie. Her lovely hair alone caught my attention in the entire movie.

My First Day at Akanksha

Teach India a TOI initiative, the program which started a year ago in almost all metropolitan cities finally took off in Pune on 14th November,2008.

After being advised by my sister I registered myself with Teach India. For some months now, I had wanted to join a NGO for basically 2 reasons.

1) Wanted to see that part of India which is deprived from basic amenities and share some of my non-materialistic gains with those underprivileged children.
2) On the selfish front, hope to reflect it on my profile for higher studies which I plan to undertake some day.

So, here it goes.

TOI has associated me with an NGO named “AKANKSHA”, perfect for me as I opted to teach children from slum areas.

After a proper induction program by very able volunteers of AKANKSHA, I underwent a classroom management program.

The classroom management program was something I had never experienced.
The details that had been taken care of and the schedule of the events planned were commendable.
I along with the a group of volunteers were made to play all those games which they had designed for children at centers and believe me it was after a long time that I felt so relaxed. The brainstorming and the hard work that must have been invested in designing such activities and the way it was being executed by young members at Akanksha was a delight to see.

I immediately knew this is the place I had been searching for long to find solace to my otherwise very monotonous and tedious life. This would give another purpose and dimension to my horizon.

Next, in the row was the centre allocation task. Thankfully, AKANKSHA has centers all over Pune and therefore, I could find a centre close to my residence. Traveling far for some volunteering work may hit the spirit sometimes and so the idea of placing volunteers to centers of their choice would make things easier to a large extent.

I have opted for a 3 hours of service once in a week, timing 8:15 to 10:30am.

After all initial formalities,a telephonic introduction was finally established between the teacher of the Karvnagar and me. We fixed a suitable day, Wednesday.

Today was my first day to the centre.
The first hindrance was to find the venue. After numerous telephone calls to the teacher in charge I was finally able to locate the classroom. Yes, it was in interiors, slum area. The room, owned by Maharashtra Nagarpalika was a single large room with 2 cupboards which had all stationery and accessories to facilitate children in the class.

After a brief introduction to the teacher in-charge Gayatri, I went through the courseware.
The other teacher Seema had gone to pick up children from the bus stops. Akanksha has also arranged for buses for children to come to the centers.

Soon, the room was filled with about 40 children all of age varying from 9 to 16.
After a brief prayer, the children were divided into 3 groups
Level 4, Level 5 and Level 6.

The teachers took charges of their groups. The interesting thing was that every child was wearing a T-shirt endorsed by Akansha, which I am sure gave them a feeling of belongingness.

I took charge of Level 4 which had 5 children present. Sameer,Yogesh,Sagar,Ajinkya and Madhuri. They were given a task of writing table from 2 to 11.
While Yogesh finished it 1st, I found others quite fast as well but there was something wrong with Ajinkya. He was slow, confused and weird.
Full of enthusiasm to try my hands in teaching a kid who probably was not very bright I started trying all sorts of trick to get his attention in the task he was suppose to do. My attempts were noticed by the teacher who took me to a corner only to make me realize that Ajinkya is a special child suffering from “dyslexia”. I felt sorry and guilty for my thoughts that had gone so far without even giving it a second chance. However, I am sure Ajinkya would be able to make it with his/his teacher’s/his volunteer’s hard work.

Next, I was asked to make them read a lesson in English. The chapter was named “Brahmin and his dream”. Each one of them read a paragraph, and I then explained them the meaning and asked them a few questions.

The lesson was about a poor Brahmin who one day by luck got a pot full of flour. He out of excitement started daydreaming about making it big by selling this pot full of flour to a villager during famine and then came a series of planning which also made him marry the princess. The story finally ended with Brahmin crashing the pot in the sandy ground and Alas! All his dreams were shattered. The story was common and the moral well known to me but the freshness from the point of view of those innocent children who didn’t know the old story gave me a sense of fulfillment. Their eyes full of questions and queries made me think that “yes, these could be the wasted youth of India had they not been taken care of by some responsible citizens of India”

Thanks to TOI for giving me a platform where I can stay in touch with the real India.