10 day challenge: two songs

Songs. Music. Lyrics. Wonderful companions during a long drive; cooking for friends and family; late night studies; picnics and parties; putting your baby to sleep.

I am a big fan of old Hindi songs, and an even bigger fan of all of Lata’s classics. I like a lot of new songs as well; but they don’t seem to stick around. Somehow, it’s always oldies which come to mind when playing antakshari. I haven’t heard a lot of English songs. When I was an engineering student, I would stay up late to study for exams. I would tune to the radio and listen to English songs for company. Two songs that would always play and I over the years, I have fallen in love with those. One was “Hotel California”. This always makes me imagine myself strumming a guitar. The other is Celine Dion’s “A New Day has Come”.

This post was an easy one for me; not because I don’t listen to a lot of music, but because I knew which songs I would choose as my favorite two:

Every couple should have a special song for themselves and ours is: Rimzim Gire Sawan  

We both know the entire lyrics of this song and have troubled a lot of friends by singing the entire song: he in his lovely voice, me in my croaking voice.

The second song is one that I heard only recently and completely fell in love with: Saibo from Shor in the City.

The music is very refreshing and this is my type of song with its high and low alterations. Shreya Ghoshal is outstanding, and Tochi Raina supports her with his upbeat voice. The lyrics are sensible and wonderful.

Other songs that I have to mention:

• Third Hindi Favorite: Barse sapne boond boond from Wake Up Sid. This one’s a lose third favorite after Saibo.
• My ideal Bollywood playlist: As far as Bollywood goes, my playlist would contain all songs from Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam, Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge, Khamoshi, Devdas, Abhimaan, Sathiya, Sapnay, Roja.
• Marathi: All of Padmaja Fenani’s songs from the album Ghar Nachle Nachle, all songs from the movie Nivdung, majority of Asha’s songs.
• English: Uptown girl, 500 miles (Benny and Joon).
• Telegu: How can a Marathi mulgi love a Telegu song?:) Our group discovered Ringa Ringa and are obsessed with it. So much so, that we found that song with subtitles. During a recent trip, where we drove for 10 hours, we must have heard this song atleast 50 times. My little daughter is an ardent fan and tries to rote it.

Listening to good music always uplifts my mood and leaves me feeling fresh.
I might post mid-week about my favorite photo.

10 day challenge: Three movies

I have cribbed endlessly about writing only five foods and four books. But that cribbing isn’t going to
come even close to my cribbing to write only three movies. Find out why.

My love saga with movies began when I was four. I still remember clutching dad’s hand and going to
watch my first movie: Jack and the Beanstalk. That movie and the story has always been my favorite. My
dad is an avid movie watcher and he has been responsible for getting me addicted to movies. We both
have common favorites, including, but not limited to Amar Akhbar Anthony, Guide, Sholay, Mackennas’s
Gold, Where Eagles Dare, The Guns of Navaronne. We have seen these movies so many times, that we
have lost track.

We did not have Cable TV for a good 24 years of my life. But we did watch a lot of oldies on
Doordarshan. Come summer vacation and we would rent out movies. I still remember all of us watching movies late into the night, with the perfect setting: a couple of pillows under your head and a bag of chips to munch on. Mom also tries to stay up late to accompany us, but she has her own limits and soon sleep in the chair:)

Luckily, the friends I made over the years also loved to watch movies. A certain friend B is a big-time
Salmaan Khan fan, and she has dragged me to all of his movies: good or bad. In my engineering college,
our group would often bunk lectures and catch latest movies at the nearby theatre. How I love all those
memories.

Then came Mr. P in my life; my husband who loves movies so much and goes around throwing movie
dialogues at everyone around him. So much so, that I often complain that he lives in a world of movies
and should come out of the imaginary life and look around him! During our last trip to US from Sep06 to
Dec 07, we watched loads of movies every weekend. We had a set schedule. Go to Blockbuster on Friday
eve, get 2 DVD’s, finish them off, go back on Saturday, get two more, finish them off on Saturday night,
and then watch another one on Sunday. Do the maths!

We watch movies and often discuss them. He made me watch “Memento” and we discussed it for 2
hours after watching it. We often fight about which movies to watch, which ones to order via Netflix.
More than once, I have quietly changed the movie priority and moved my favorites up in the queue.
Once, I even changed the password and refused to share it with him.

It’s not that I like watching only a particular type of films. I have a definite inclination towards feel-
good-romantic-flicks!:). But I can watch all types of movies: action, thriller, comedy, horror, romantic.
Sometimes I just feel like watching a family drama and turn to movies such as Kuch Kuch Hota Hai, Kabhi
Khushi Kabhi Gum, Hum Saath Saath Hai, Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge.

I don’t know if my three comrades have noticed that we have limited options as we approach the end
of this challenge. I mean, I would happily trade three movies with ten secrets. Who would like to divulge
ten secrets, but food, book, and movie lovers would definitely jump at picking up 10 items in those
categories.

How can a girl who watches almost 3 movies every week, pick only three favorites? Anyway, here are
the top ones:

• The Shawshank Redemption: This was an easy one to pick. My husband introduced me and my parents to this movie and we all loved it. My favorite quote from this movie “Hope is a good
  thing, maybe the best of things and no good thing ever dies.” Truly, the movie tells the story of a
  man who lives on hope, believes in it, and works on achieving the best in life.
• Father of the Bride: I had a tie between P.S I Love You and Father of the Bride. But in the end, I picked the movie based on dad’s love, his daughter’s marriage, and what the dad endured.
  There has not been a single time when I have seen this movie and it failed to bring tears in my
  eyes. Steve Martin is outstanding in this movie. I always imagine me and my dad on screen
  when I see this movie. The first time I saw it in the US, being miles away from my dad, I had
  cried hysterically. Truly, this movie always reminds me of how my dad let me marry the guy I
  love, and made my wedding day a memorable one.
• Parichay: Inspired from the Sound of Music, our very own Bollywood version touches my heart
  every time I see it. I am not a big Jitendra fan, but he’s acted very well in this one. Then there
  are my favorites: Jaya Bhaduri, Pran, and the lovely kids. The songs are beautiful. The morale
  and the climax are awesome. Be sure to see this movie if you haven’t seen it.

Other favorites include:

• The Ghost and the Darkness: No, this isn’t a horror flick. If you haven’t seen this one, you should definitely check it out.
• The Pink Panther: Absolutely loved Steve Martin in this one.
• Kill Bill 1 and 2, Final Destination 1,2,3
• Romantic flicks such as: 27 Dresses, Sweet Home Alabama, Pretty Woman, Addicted to Love, 50 First Dates, and so on.
• Bollywood Favorites: Dil Chahta Hai, Sarfarosh, Chak De India, Anand, Abhimaan, Khatta Meetha
• Marathi Favorites: Gammat Jammat, Ashihi Banva Banvi, Navri mile Navryala, Matichya Chuli

After seeing so many movies, I and hubby consult friends on which movies to watch. Maybe, we should
open a movie consultancy firm. What say?:)

If you have seen a movie that you thought was outstanding, please leave a comment. We have
exhausted our list of “movies to watch” and would love hearing new ones.