Idle musings

KANDY AND COLOMBO My parents, my mother's brother and sister, my wife and I visited Sri Lanka during the Diwali weekend. We had a memorable 3 days. It was my uncle who spotted a deal that Sri Lankan Airlines offered : a package of 4 nights and 3 days in Sri Lanka for Rs. 28,000 for a couple, including the air fare and at least 3 star accommodation. Some information is available at http://www.srilankan-holidays.com/general/in_to_srilanka.htm# . He arranged to make the booking and it was decided that we would visit Sri Lanka during the Diwali holidays. My mother's sister came from Mysooru on Thursday morning. On 15-Oct-09, after double checking (and triple checking !!) the doors and the locks, geyser and LPG connections, we left home at 5 p.m. to catch the flight scheduled at 9:15 p.m. We thought we could reach by 6:15 p.m., but we had not reckoned with the Bengaluru traffic. Our cab driver chose the ring route from the Jnanabharati campus at Kengeri, which was new to us, instea

    HARRY POTTER     When my wife and I visited Madikeri, I had taken Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows for the journey. Thus, I finished the series that I began reading quite some time ago, in Madikeri.     My introduction to Harry Potter began at least a couple of years ago, at my brother's house. I recall that I watched the movies "Harry Potter and The Sorcerer's Stone" and "Harry Potter and The Chamber of Secrets" before I read the books.  I think I saw Chamber of Secrets first on television before I watched the Sorcerer's Stone. The movies are shot well and the casting is good.     The novels are an easy read and present a fantastic tale - literally ! When I read the books initially, I was none too impressed. My first impression was that the book was meant for the young. Essentially, that is still true. Gradually, The Harry Potter series began to grow on me, particularly after I read The Prisoner of Azkaban. The story of Sirius' imprisonment

MADIKERI ONCE MORE     Last weekend, on Independence Day, my wife and I visited Madikeri. This was our second visit to the town and it continues to refresh us !     We originally planned to go by bus, but the H1N1 scare made us think twice. I was all for taking the bus but the saner and practical counsel of my wife prevailed. Travelling in a bus increases chances of catching the H1N1 and as neither of us have strong immunities to viruses, it made sense to take a private vehicle. I drive only if I have to and so we settled for the expensive (but safe) option of taking a taxi to Madikeri.     The taxi came at 7:05 in the morning, on Independence Day. It was a cloudy morning that day. All along the Bengaluru - Mysooru highway, there were students celebrating Independence Day. The tricolour flag fluttered in many places that morning. As my wife observed, the fervour of celebration was more in the rural areas beyond Mysooru.  We ate breakfast at Indradhanush near Maddur and also stopped at

TWO REVIEWS : OUTSIDER'S VIEWPOINTS REVIEW 1     Last Sunday, we watched "Slumdog Millionaire", the multiple Academy award winning movie, directed by Danny Boyle. Boyle, being a British citizen depicts the poverty of India and Mumbai fairly realistically.     The way the story is unravelled is interesting : Jamal Malik answers questions on Kaun Banega Crorepati (KBC) that are intrinsically linked to incidents in his life. Now, I want to read the novel to see how Vikas Swarup has built up the tale ! The host Prem Kumar cannot believe that a tea vendor at a call centre can answer the tougher questions in the show and so he asks the police to interrogate him to find out how he knows the answers.     Jamal's story of his life emerges during the interrogation. It is the story of any poor struggler in Mumbai, a tale of communal riots, growing up in filth and seeing the worser side of the city. It is a pity that Boyle has chosen only to show the seamier side of life in Mumb