The secret ain't a secret no more

Got to lay hands on the first copy of 'Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows' that arrived at Famous Book Store (Janpath) at 6:25 am this morning. Yipee! Have read the last few pages first, so that nobody spoils the fun for me. It isn't the way I wanted it to be, but then not everything happens your way. I am Happy. No cribbing. No. No. And yes, I am not giving out the "secret" here; even though the websites and news channels all over have aleady done so. To all Potter fans I say Happy Reading! Enjoy!!!A special THANKS to Grain Saint for asking me if I had pre-booked my copy of the book. That's what got me into action. Me was just being a bum, then realized don't wanna be late. :D
JKR reads from the book. Lucky children them, who got to hear it in person.
And here are my countdown pics:

YAYYYYYYY!!

Dilli ki Baarish

As I sat in the office (two days back) filing stories on Mumbai's wicked rains, the Rain God seemed to be engrossed in a conference with his deputies: 'To send or not', the much awaited Dilli ki Baarish. And today(now yesterday 2nd July) was the day they zeroed in on. Though it didn't help but it happened and that was enough to save Dilliwallas from atrociously humid weather(which has just improved slightly).
Dilli ki Baarish is not as famous as its Sardi or Garmi, yet it has its own charm: 1.It makes you wait (for itself) like crazy 2.Then it comes and throws your life outta gear 3.And o' course you can enjoy yummy pakodas be it at home or from the local sweet shops that make those (ok no more food talk here).
Here are a few things I've loved doing on rainy days. But before that I tag Ankur, Anjali, Bobin, Chandrachud, Drozzy, Grain Saint, Manasi, Mr.Mazak, Pritika, J (I know I still haven't finished your tag), Pratish and Rohit to do the same.

And now for the things I have enjoyed doing on rainy days:

* Finished work early on a Sunday (yes I work on weekends), pulled a chair and sat with a copy of Brunch (a magazine by Hindustan Times which had rain on the cover page :) sipping Tetley Elaichi Tea and enjoying rain wash (not literally) Delhi from the 13th and topmost floor balcony of my office.

* Visited a Spa
* Clicked pictures while driving (read being driven) down my favourite stretch of road (by Red Fort).

*Sat by my friend's window in Pune watching the various shades of green outside, while we chatted endlessly.
*And now for the best: Sat on a rock in Lonavala, wearing a windcheater, and had bhutta (corn) while the rain washed away all the lemon and masala that was put on it by my host.

And here's yet another!

I come back home and find yet another attempt(failed)!!! Will they never give up? Ufffffffff!!!

Lights and all that Jazz

Home after a hectic day at work(as if other days are not so) I find yet another desperate attempt to lure me into putting the tubelight off at night. If I am comfy with it on, what is anyone's problem? Anyway I find these li'l thingies cute. God knows where they fetch 'em from! I will have a huge collection in some time. I'm quite sure of that. Maybe I can have an exhibition of lights then! Huh!

Laggey Raho!

Finally caught the dudes in action yesterday!

Life in a.. Metro and Spidey sickness

I happened to catch a movie on the first day in months on Friday, the 11th. Thanks to the enthusiasm shown by A. When I say 'catch' I mean it literally. We went at our best speed to catch the Delhi Metro to ultimately catch 'Life in a... Metro'. We even took a cycle-rickshaw for the shortest distance so that we could get the tickets on time and not miss out the trailers :D
And now the review, well, sort of.
Rating: 3.50 Starry Sparks
The first rating I gave was 3.25 starry sparks, but then I changed it to 3.50 starry sparks. The reason being that I was so put off by the pairing of Dharmendra and Nafisa Ali that my initial reaction was a screeching WHY and then followed the 3.25.
Anyway, first of all I applaud Anurag Basu, the Director saab. He has brilliantly woven the story of the nine protagonists of the movie; a landmark that not many Indian directors have been capable of achieving so far. Then, hats off to the Konkona Sen-Irrfan Khan starrer scenes. The duo compliment each other very well. Kay Kay Menon's performance is a fine one as you come out of the theatre hating him. That is precisely what his role should actually make you feel like. But I found the Shilpa-Kay Kay pairing a bit odd. Then o' course there are these 3 guys who keep humming a tune and seem to be omnipresent. As soon as they see a philmi situation happeneing, they pop out onto the screen and start off. Vele log! :D
Storyline - I ain't giving out all. Just an outline.
Rahul, (played by Sharman Joshi) is a call centre executive who loves his colleague Neha (played by Kangana Ranaut). Ranjeet (Kay Kay Menon) is their boss. Neha has climbed up the ladder of success way too soon as her boss loves her. But they have a non-commital relationship. Ranjeet is married to Shikha (Shilpa Shetty). They have a daughter and a married life that is on the rocks. Neha is Shruti's (Konkona) roommate. And Shruti is Shikha's (Shilpa) sister. In short the nine protagonists are linked to each other in some way or the other.
Okay..I could've written more here... but I do not want to confuse you guys. Rest you should find out for yourselves if you plan to watch the movie. But I would like to add here that the movie depicts the lives of ppl in a metro (Mumbai here) very well.
Acting:
Irrfan Khan and Konkona Sen - Par excellence. Shilpa Shetty - Worth an applaud.
Shrman Joshi - Good.
Dharmendra - :
Nafisa Ali - Pleasant as always.
Kangana Ranaut - Poor.
Shiney Ahuja - OK
Kay Kay Menon - Perfect.
The downside:
1.The Dharmendra-Nafisa pairing.
2.Ranaut's strange acceptance of Sharman's love (it wasn't tastefully done)
3.The treatment of Shilpa's character towards the end of the story (She should've taken a step that was bolder, bigger and better)

Best Scene: From the Climax involving Konkona and Irrfan (who is superb!)

Spidey Sickness

Imagine him on this building :D

I am not well. I really need to see Spiderman-3 to be good again. Whenever I stand in the balcony of my office building, which happens to be on the 13th and the topmost floor, I get this feeling that the evil Spidey dressed up in his black dress will come climbing this wall. :D No I haven't lost it. It is just Spidey Sickness.

Some days are just purrfect!!!

And I enjoyed one yesterday :)
A shopping spree it was...My cupboard boasts of some nice summer clothes now and the darling digicam is back to life. Yes! I finally got a new battery charger.
And while I had just begun cursing the weather, the Rain Gods showered mercy and plenty of it :D The icing on the cake was the fact that we were sitting on the first floor of a restaurant with wide glass windows. Our table was laid next to the window and watching the rain drops slip through the windowpane was like visitng Paradise.

We signed off with a cup of Blackforest Gelato (which happened to be the flavour of the week) each :D

And yes all this happened on a Sunday, a day when I rarely get my day off from work!