Che Guevara On The Road

Eat, Drink & be Merry...for tomorrow we may Die... Many will call me an adventurer - and that I am, only one of a different sort; one of those who risks his skin to prove his platitudes. I travel far & wide to explore India, its people, food & myriad traditions..

[cheguevaraontheroad]

Lootera...My Review...

I got to know about Lootera sometime in early 2012 when I saw the pics of the launch of the movie and the Production house named “Phantom”; both of them were launched on 30-Nov-2011 (I hope I am correct!). It was formed by four of Indian Cinema’s young, creative minds viz.Vikas Bahl, Anurag Kashyap, Vikramaditya Motwane and Madhu Mantena and it is India’s 1st Director’s Company.

And the first Production was Phantom was supposed to be Lootera! Directed by Motwane, starring Sonakshi Sinha, Ranveer Singh and music by the maverick- master Amit Trivedi…enough reasons for any Movie lover to get excited!

Amit Trivedi is by far India’s most talented Music Director right now (yes, I rate him higher than Rahman too) and he has enough accolades under his belt; Aamir, Dev D, Udaan, English Vinglish…the list goes on & on!

Motwane directed the classic Udaan which definitely is amongst my all-time favourite movies…one movie which I can watch over & over again…incidently it is one of the 3 movies which I watched with my wife just after we got married as she hadn’t watched either of them…the other 2 being Dev D and Gulaal! Yeah we watched Gulaal during our Honeymoon at HavelockIsland, Andaman! And yes you can call us a crazy couple! Watching such a movie in a Jungle Villa!

The only thing which worried me about Lootera was the lead pair – Sonakshi & Ranveer…Ranveer was superb in Band Baajaa Baaraat but after that got sort of typecast & some of his press interviews weren’t really smart and then Sonakshi…she has acted in senseless movies before this! Plus the pairing didn’t look that great atleast before the first promos were aired…but then Sonakshi looked surreal on the day of the movie launch! The perfect Indian beauty…and Ranveer came on a vintage bike which I thought would be in the movie too…so there was still some hope from this pair!

The complete film soundtrack album was released online on 29 May 2012. the audio was launched at PVR Cinemas, Juhu in Mumbai on June 7, 2013 and Trivedi said that day “The music of this film is a tribute to R. D. Burman in terms of melody and orchestration."…and needless to say the Music is a Masterclass…just 5 songs and each one of them is a symphony of it’s own! My favourite though is “Manmarziyan"   sung by the talented Shilpa Raoand the Music Director-Lyricist duo Amit Trivedi  & Amitabh Bhattacharya…this is closely followed by “Zinda" sung by Trivedi himself! The OST kept playing in my car all the time plus during my exercise time at home! And no signs of an OD!!!

The first trailer released in March 2013 revealed that the film will release on July 5, 2013 and the countdown was on!

I followed the FB Page and the Twitter Handle of the movie as well quite closely to get all the latest updates…the excitement was palpable! And was building quite strongly….but then in the middle of June I realized that this movie was releasing very close to the start of the holy month of Ramzan and all movie halls close down during that time! I was hoping against hope that I don’t face the GoW disappointment once again almost exactly after 1 year of the GoW Saga which got banned here and I never got to watch it on the big screen! One of the saddest moments of my Movie-watching career!

Amidst these prayers I went to the office on Thursday 4thJuly waiting to see Lootera in the movie listings…kept going to the webpage but no luck….did that some 8-10 times and then in the afternoon all hell broke lose…Sanjay Dutt’s Policegiri was added in the Movie List & I thought this can’t be true…this movie is releasing and Lootera isn’t….such a big shocker! Came back home and got ready for the weekend ahead…

But then in the evening God showed some mercy when I opened the site again and VOILA….Lootera was added too! I couldn’t believe my stars were shining bright & history wasn’t going to repeat itself! Booked the tickets for me, Bandita, Tripathi and the Bhagat couple! Sadly the Vermas couldn’t come for some genuine reasons…

On Friday 5th July – the same day as the India release we went to the 360 Mall to watch Lootera magic to unfold at the show starting at 5:15 PM…And then it started…

The Movie builds up really very slowly…at times the 1sthalf was excruciatingly slow and I was wondering this can’t be this bad! The songs kept me motivated though…”Monta Re” being the best one in the first half for the picturisation & timing! The story was building up very slowly but surely…by the time the interval came I wasn’t very excited or happy about the movie – and I am being very honest here! But somewhere inside me I knew the second half would be riveting & intriguing and boy wasn’t I correct in my judgement!

The second half started with some fresh & hot Popcorn plus the magnificent Background Score of Amit Trivedi taking the movie forward and building the excitement!

Innovation at Kalatop! 

And then Dalhousie came! It was so awesome to see all those places where I have been to specially Kalatop where the BoP Darogaas trekked to in September 2011 with lots of beer & bakchodi!  Yes BoP was there too! We were at the same place where the entire second half is shot and even at the guest house too! What a moment of Déjà vu it was! It is one helluva beautiful place I must say and well captured in the movie…surreal and gorgeous at the same time!

The BoP Dalhousie Darogaas BlogPost: http://cheguevaraontheroad.blogspot.com/2010/09/bop-dalhousie-darogaas.html

Even though I love fast-paced movies and ain’t a fan of slow movies but this one is a clear exception…the plot & theme demanded a slow pace and Motwane has once again proved that he is one of the best modern-day Directors in Hindi Cinema! He has made Sonakshi Sinha act – and that speaks volumes about his directorial talent – she is so nice in the movie that at times we have to rub our eyes and say “is she the same Dabangg Sonakshi Sinha!)…plus he has got Ranveer out of that Bindass-Tapori mould & transformed him into an intense actor in the movie! Adil Hussain as Inspector KN Singh (bloody brilliant choice for a character name) is real nice too! The best words to describe this movie for me would be Mellow & Intense! And at the risk of sounding cliché I would say this movie is nothing short of being “Poetry in Motion”! It definitely entertained me and for me it is the best love story told in our Cinema after the ever-so-legendary Romantic Movie – Qayamat se Qayamat Tak! Be ready for a slow-paced Movie Treat with brilliant Art Design, superb acting and perfect recreation of the 1950s (which has been rarely done in recent times)…Period Dramas aren’t Bollywood Forte but this definitely breaks that bad reputation! Watch this for the transformation of 2 young actors; for whom this would be definitely their best-ever acting performance and they should be ever so thankful to Motwane! The biggest star of the movie though for me is Amit Trivedi – for his brilliant Music and the Background Score which helps the movie to move forward and building the excitement…do pay special attention to the background score for sure…it’s definitely the best of the recent times! The Movie even brought out the romantic in me! Which my Brother say I ain’t! ;) and this speaks a lot about how much I liked this movie! I am recommending Lootera to all movie lovers to witness this Period-Romance Drama on the big screen and help this movie earn big revenues so that Phantom Films can continue to mesmerize us! I have ensured that I don’t reveal the plot much even though I wanted to write about it; maybe I would come back to this plot and add about that later! Till the time we meet again… Cheers to life… Till then ride safe and have safe sex… Hasta la Victoria Siempre… Jai BoP!

[cheguevaraontheroad]

Lemon Rice with a Ginger-Garlic Twist

Had a late & heavy breakfast today so decided to have a light lunch! Bandita made some boiled rice thinking I might get hungry (which I always am!) ; was watching a nice movie named Venus starring Peter O'Toole (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Venus_(film)) and I don't know why an idea of making Lemon Rice came to my hungry (you see!) mind and off I went to the Kitchen! Thought of improvising the easy recipe a bit by bringing some twist to it! and I am so glad the result was so delicious! and it made me really happy because it was the first time I was making Lemon Rice in whatever shape or size! Here you go with the recipe... Ingredients:  1. 2-3 bowls of  boiled White Rice 2. 2 tbsp chopped Garlic 3. 2 tbsp chopped Ginger 4. 6-8 Curry Leaves 5. 1 tbsp Turmeric Powder 6. 1 tsp Red Chilly Powder 7. 2 tbsp Channa Dal 8. 2 tbsp Urad Dal 9. 2 tbsp fresh Lemon Juice 10. 3 tbsp Refined Oil 11. 4 tbsp unsalted Peanuts 12. 3-4 Dry whole Red Chillies 13. Salt to taste 14. Mustard Seeds (I didn't use but can surely be added) Method: 1. Heat the Oil and pop the Channa Dal, Urad Dal & the Peanuts 2. Once they are nice & brown add the chopped Ginger-Garlic, Haldi, Laal Mirch Powder & whole plus the Curry Leaves & saute for 2 minutes 3. Add the Rice and the salt 4. Sprinkle the lemon juice and let it cook for 3-4 minutes 5. The Twisted Lemon Rice is ready to eat! Yeah it is that easy; won't take more than 10 minutes! and I am sure you would love the taste! Do share your feedback in the comments section! Till the time we meet again… Cheers to life… Till then ride safe and have safe sex… Hasta la Victoria Siempre… Jai BoP!

[cheguevaraontheroad]

Matar-Bread ka Pulaao!

This is a Family Recipe if I can say so! I remember many years ago when we used to go to our Mausi-Mausaji's place in Etah, Uttar Pradesh our Mausi used to make this for breakfast; then Mummy learnt it as well and this became a regular Breakfast option for us! Easy & quick to make and very-very delicious! When I landed here in Kuwait this became a part of my Breakfast Life here as well! Many call this Bread Upma; even though this isn't a Rice-based Pulaao I still call it Bread Pulaao to remember my childhood days! Today while chatting with my friend - Mohaneesh Thapar he advised me to add some Green Peas as well and I did the same...it added a new flavour to this dish & made it more delicious... The best accompaniment for this dish is Mango Shake and I made that too to make the combo complete! It adds weight to the breakfast you see & makes you ready for the weekend days ahead that's why I suggest you make this on the first day of your weekend ;) Without any further adieu here is the easy recipe! This won't take more than 20 minutes including the preparation time! I guarantee a healthy, light and delicious Breakfast option to you all... Ingredients: 1 Medium Onion 2 Medium Tomatoes 100 Grams Matar 2 tbsp Meat Masala Mix (I used Mehran) 1 tsp Turmeric 1 tsp Red Chilli Powder 1 tbsp Mustard Seeds 2 tbsp Refined Oil 6 Bread Pieces (I used the Multi Grain one) Salt to Taste Process: 1. Chop the Onions and Kaddoo-kas the Tomatoes 2. Boil the Peas, drain and let them dry off 3. Heat the Oil and crackle the Mustard Seeds 4. Bhunno the Pyaaz - once it is light brown add the Tomato Mix 5. Add the Meat Masala Mix and Bhunno till some oil comes on the top 6. Cut the bread into small squared and add them into the Masala Mix 7. Bhunno this entire combination for 5-6 minutes 8. Eat and Enjoy! Please Note: 1. You can use Pav Bhaji or Tandoori Masala Mix, that too should suffice 2. White Bread makes this more delicious but Multi Grain Bread is the healthier option! 3. If you are the garnishing kind then you can sprinkle chopped fresh green coriander too!

Till the time we meet again… Cheers to life… Till then ride safe and have safe sex… Hasta la Victoria Siempre… Jai BoP!

[cheguevaraontheroad]

UP ke Dahi ke Aloo...Che Style...

This has been one of my favourite dishes cooked by my Mother since my childhood days! one fine day I thought of venturing into making it so called her up and got all the recipe details....she wished me the best of luck...and once the final product was ready and I am not exaggerating here, it was equal if not better than the way she cooks! one of the simplest yet so delicious dishes from the ever-so-humble world of Aloo!

And today I would be making this again & for the first time for my wife...hope she likes it too!

Without any further adieu here it goes....

Ingredients: 

4-5 medium sized Potatoes

500 grams Sour Yoghurt

2 tablespoons Mustard Oil

2 teaspoons Cumin Seeds

A pinch of Hing (Asafoetida)

2 teaspoons turmeric.

2 tablespoons of coriander powder

1 teaspoon red chilly powder

Salt to Taste

Fresh Green Coriander

Method: 

1.      Boil the Potatoes, let them cool, remove the skin and then mash them to small sized pieces.

2.      Add some water in the yoghurt and whip it.

3.      Heat the oil and crackle the Cumin Seeds, add the Hing and turmeric.

4.      Add the whipped sour yoghurt and keep stirring the mixture continuously so that the yoghurt doesn’t get curdled

5.      Add the coriander powder, salt (note that salt also went into the yoghurt to make it sour so use accordingly) and the red chilly powder

6.      Add the boiled potatoes now.

7.      Once the potatoes take the yellow colour you know the dish is cooked

8.      Garnish it with freshly chopped green coriander leaves (which I didn’t as you can see)

9.      Enjoy this with Rotis & Rice

And your Che Style Dahi ke Aloo are ready to be enjoyed....

Till the time we meet again…

Cheers to life…

Till then ride safe and have safe sex…

Hasta la Victoria Siempre…

Jai BoP! 

[cheguevaraontheroad]

Mutton Curry...Che Style...

Kuwait has given me a lot…and one of those things is the time, opportunity and the interest to cook! Since I moved here in March 2010 I have spent a lot of time in the kitchen and experimented a lot with new dishes…

Finally I decided to write about some of the special ones I have cooked and this is my first recipe post!

Big thanks to Chef at Large and Gayatri Singh’s recipe I made this Mutton Curry – the simple yet to awesome recipe and by far one of the most delicious dishes I have ever made!

Link to Gayatri’s recipe which I used (I made some minor changes to it): http://www.theculinarynirvana.com/2013/05/traditional-indian-mutton-curry.html

So without any further adieu, here’s presenting the MUTTON CURRY – Che style!

Ingredients:

1.25 Kg Mutton (cut into small pieces)

150 ml Sarson (Mustard) Oil

10 big Garlic cloves

100 grams Ginger

400 grams Onion

2 tablespoons Black Pepper

1 tablespoon Cloves

14 Green Cardamoms

7 Black Cardamoms

4-5 small pieces of Cinnamon

4-5 Bay Leaves

 10 whole Red Chillies

1 tablespoon Garam Masala Powder

2 tablespoons Meat Masala Mix (I used the Mehran Brand)

Salt to taste

Fresh Green Coriander

Preparation:

1. Wash the mutton properly and remove all the blood (you are welcome to keep the blood though if you are the bloody types you see)

2. Cut the onions into thin slices (take care of your fingers though)

3. Peel the Ginger-Garlic and make a coarse paste (saves time during the cooking process)

4. Pour the Mustard Oil in the Pressure Cooker and heat it at full flame till you get the burning sensation in your eyes due to the fumes!

5. Reduce the flame after your eyes are in a comfortable state and put all the whole spices in the cooker; don’t get all too excited and don’t look directly into the cooker! The spices get too excited and have a tendency to jump!

6. Once the spices have stopped crackling put the Ginger-Garlic coarse paste and cook it till it turns to light brown; then add the sliced onions and wait till they also change colours!

7. After this new colour in your life put the Mutton pieces and “bhoono” them till your hands don’t get tired

8. Once your hands are sore enough then close the pressure cooker lid and wait till it gets amorous enough and whistles 6-8 times

9. We watched “Inglorious Basterds” showing on one of the Movie Channels while the Cooker was whistling; you can watch any movie of your type too – it won’t make any difference to the taste of this dish.

10. Once the whistling is done then open the lid and add some water (if you want some gravy in your dish); I added 3 glasses of water and then let it cook for 20 minutes; and then back to Inglorious Basterds! Plus to give more spice to your curry add the Garam Masala and the Meat Masala mix! It would surely add a lot of flavour!

11. I also experimented with my camera and clicked some “Blurred Background” pics! Here’s one of them…

12. And that’s it; the Mutton Curry is ready to devour (you are welcome to wait till it cools down) – I waited for full 12 hours! so that all the flavours and spices seep into the meat and it becomes even more delicious...

13. If you are the garnishing kinds then you can julienne some Ginger and use some Lemon Wedges! I am the simple kinds so just used chopped fresh coriander!

14. Serve the Mutton Curry with Rice (we had Zeera Rice) and fresh Rotis…

15. Thank me later…

Till the time we meet again… Cheers to life… Till then ride safe and have safe sex… Hasta la Victoria Siempre… Jai BoP!

[cheguevaraontheroad]

My 2013 Oscar Selections

Watching all the Movies nominated for the Top Oscar Awards as a tradition started in 2011, I followed it up in 2012 and continued this year as well. But this year there was a major difference – I had watched majority of the movies even before the nominations were announced & that was heartening to see! Thanks to being in Kuwait where almost all major Hollywood movie release simultaneously with the US!

2012 was another tremendous year for Hollywood; many brilliant movies were released and many of them made mind-boggling amount of money! Most notably The Dark Knight Rises, Skyfall and The Avengers – all 3 made it to the Billion Dollar Club and The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey wasn’t too far behind (made 956 Million USD!) 2012 has the record for the most number of films making it to the top 50 with eight films, breaking 2009's record of seven films. It has also tied the record of 2011 for the most number of films crossing the $1 billion mark, with three films, and has beaten its record for the most number of films earning more than $500 million, with thirteen films. It is the only year to have all the top 10 highest-grossing films earn more than $600 million worldwide.

The James Bond series celebrated its 50th anniversary, Spielberg made a Biopic, Tarantino was back & how, Affleck once again proved he is a Master Class director, Kathryn Bigelow was back with another War thriller, Les Misérables was made again (yawn!), David O. Russell was back after “The Fighter”, Jennifer Lawrence proved that she is one of the finest actresses of this generation, De Niro got ANOTHER Oscar Nomination and Meryl Streep didn’t get any (now that’s BIG)!, Daniel Day-Lewis looks strong for his 3rd Oscar & would join a very special club, Ang Lee shows his class & splendid range again with the awe-inspiring Life of Pi, Six box-office blockbusters from previous years (Beauty and the Beast, Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace, Titanic, Raiders of the Lost Ark, Finding Nemo, and Monsters, Inc.) were re-released in 3D and/or IMAX.

I finally finished this selection yesterday when I watched the last 2 pending ones – Frankenweenie & Wreck-It Ralph (both nominated for the “Best Animated Feature” Oscar)

Some snippets from this year’s Oscar Nominations –

The interesting ones to begin with:

Film with Maximum nominations - Lincoln with 12 followed by Life of Pi (11) and Les Misérables and Silver Linings Playbook (8 each)

Amour (French) became the first film in twelve years to be nominated for both Best Picture and Best Foreign Language Film; the last film to do so was Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (Mandarin) in 2000

Emmanuelle Riva, at 85, became the oldest nominee in the Best Actress category for the film Amour

Quvenzhané Wallis, at age 9, became the youngest nominated actress in the Best Actress category for the film Beasts of the Southern Wild

Jennifer Lawrence (for Silver Linings Playbook), at 22, became the youngest Best Actress two-time nominee, having previously been nominated in 2010 for Winter's Bone.

Silver Linings Playbook became the first film in 31 years to receive nominations in all four acting categories; the last film to do so was Reds in 1981.

Silver Linings Playbook also became the first film in eight years to be nominated in the "Big Five" categories; the last film to do so was Million Dollar Baby in the 2004.

For the first time in the history of the awards, the Best Supporting Actor category consists only of previous winners. Alan Arkin, Tommy Lee Jones, and Christoph Waltz have each won Best Supporting Actor; Phillip Seymour Hoffman has won Best Actor; and Robert De Niro has won in both award categories.

And now the misses:

The most controversial and the most talked about is Ben Affleck not getting nominated for the “Best Director” Oscar; every other award ceremony leading has awarded Affleck. Maybe because the Oscars won’t & can't. 

Surprisingly and shockingly Wes Anderson, Quentin Tarantino and Kathryn Bigelow: Not nominated for Moonrise Kingdom, Django Unchained and Zero Dark Thirty respectively

I was disappointed not to find “The Dark Knight Rises”, “Moonrise Kingdom” and “The Master” getting nominated for the Best Picture category. – 3 brilliant movies but which missed out!

Another big surprise was the omission of the French film ‘Untouchable’ in the Best Foreign Language Film category; it was such a wonderful film!

The magnificent performances of Samuel L Jackson and Leonardo in Django Unchained were overlooked but then one single movie can’t have 3 Best Supporting Actor nominations for sure! So these 2 had to sacrifice for the awesomely brilliant Waltz

And now all the nominations, my predictions and my choices! I have also posted some of my reviews as well….

                                    Best Picture

Amour

Definitely amongst the top movies of this year for me! A poignant tale of eternal love and with a devastating ending, this movie made me cry 2-3 times just to see those emotions pouring out of the female lead's eyes! The Cinematography of Darius Khondji is par excellence and he has captured the scenes of the house so well! Helmets off to the Director for he has got out brilliant performances from the 2 leads and his tight handling of the script which would have easily got too melodramatic! Full marks to the 85-years old Emmanuelle Riva for acting so well...I can’t imagine myself being so fit at that age!!! This one just can't be missed...no wonder it is sweeping all awards too...my rating 4/5...

Argo

My favourite movie from the weekend list! I always love movies based on real-life stories and when they are based in the Middle-East it makes them even better! It is a story of how a CIA Operative led the rescue of six U.S.diplomats from Tehran during the 1979 Iran hostage crisis...Ben Affleck is stupendous both in the direction and acting departments! The movie stays true to the script and never loses direction and that was the highlight for me! the suspense moments in the last scene were real awesome too! I loved this movie and hope it wins some awards too! My rating 4/5...

Beasts of the Southern Wild

I am not a big fan of the Fantasy-Drama genre but this surely is an exception...it is a lovely tale of a father-daughter relationship and about their miraculous lives! Quvenzhané Wallis as Hushpuppy is the star of the movie and a true revelation...superb debut performance...I am sure this would many Oscars and Golden Globes this year! My rating 3/5...

Django Unchained

My Detailed Review Blog: http://cheguevaraontheroad.blogspot.com/2013/01/django-unchained-my-review.html

Les Misérables

DLed this in early January but could not gather the guts to watch this as I hate the Musical Genre plus the 158 Mins duration of this movie was another deterrent...the only reason I wanted to watch this was due to it getting all those Oscar Nominations & complete my 2013 Oscar Fiesta! So after gathering all possible patience & guts I started this movie in the weekend but could not last 45 minutes! The way all dialogues have been sung put me off so much that it became intolerable! Finally decided to stop it and save myself....sorry folks...this movie would always remain "not rated" for me!

Life of Pi

It is not just a movie...It is a cinematic spectacle in itself....poetry on screen! I loved this movie to bits...the plot, cinematography, digital effects and the thrills! And the IMAX View made it even more brilliant...I shouted 2-3 times during the Tiger Jump scenes! Loved the ending too...the different interpretation...and this movie reinforced one of my fundas - Never Give-Up! It is one of the best of 2012 so far for me...my rating 4/5...

Lincoln

A Biopic Movie, Daniel Day-Lewis and a historic plot...good enough reasons to watch this movie! And yeah these were even before all those GG Wins and Oscar nominations...and a brilliant movie for sure...DDL is simply superb - his dialogue delivery, mannerisms and demeanor are near perfect! The movie covers the final four months of Lincoln's life, focusing on his efforts in January 1865 to have the Thirteenth Amendment (Abolition of Slavery) to the US Constitution...his political maneuvers were superb and helped shaped one of the most important law-changes for the US...I ended up doing a lot of research on his life and no wonder he is considered one of the greatest! And DDL looks strikingly similar to Lincolntoo...thanks to the awesome make-up...he definitely deserves his 2nd Oscar! My rating 4/5...

Silver Linings Playbook

One of the most quirky love-stories I have ever seen and a real nice movie...has loads of fun moments...it is a story of a man played by Cooper suffering from Bi-Polar Disorder and how he gets into a love affair with the strange and equally quirky Jennifer Lawrence...both Cooper & Lawrence are brilliant in the movie...and then there is ROBERT DE NIRO - in one of his meatiest roles in recent times - he is superb as always...I loved this movie! My rating 3.5/5...

Zero Dark Thirty

157-Minutes long & we didn't move from our couch even for a second! thats how how gripping this movie is...full of thrill & engaging moments...coupled with superb editing and cinematography...the plot talks about one of the most important encounters of our times and the painstaking research & intelligence efforts which went to achieve the near-impossible! It also shows the dark side of torture showered on the inmates but then that is a stark reality! It isn't easy to get the truth out! Kathryn Bigelow's direction is surely Oscar-worthy!

Now the Indian Connection - Osama Bin Laden's role is played by an Indian! The co-producer of this movie - Megan Ellison (daughter of Oracle CEO Larry Ellison) owns a company named - Annapurna Pictures :) and "Being Human" Tee is visible in one of the scenes! My rating 4/5 for this movie...go watch it folks...I am sure you would like it too...

Only 3 films have ever won best picture without best director, the last being "Driving Miss Daisy"…

And now my say:

Will win:                   Argo

Could win:                Lincoln

MY CHOICE:           Zero Dark Thirty ______________________________________________

                                     Best Director

Michael Haneke – Amour

Haven’t watched any of his previous movies but what a masterpiece this movie is; kept me intrigued & glued throughout in spite of the fact that the plot was supposedly a slow & boring one plus to make such old-aged actors work such effortlessly! This movie made my eyes moist but at the same happy very happy just because of the sheer class of the entire crew!

Ang Lee – Life of Pi

One of the Directors having a splendid range! One can see that just looking at his repertoire - Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, Hulk, Brokeback Mountainand now this movie which is an artistic masterpiece! A movie best enjoyed if watched in 3D IMAX (which I luckily did); the opening sequence on that huge screen made my money worth! I haven’t read the novel so can’t compare the two but still this definitely is a part of the movies which wowed me cinematically! 

David O. Russell – Silver Linings Playbook

I loved his last movie – The Fighter and this one was no different! The similarity between these 2 movies was the awesome lead cast! It is no easy task for a relatively young Director to line-up such brilliant actors/actresses for one movie! And read this: His next movie’s cast - Christian Bale, Bradley Cooper, Jeremy Renner, Jennifer Lawrence, and Amy Adams.

Steven Spielberg – Lincoln

He is a legend, enough said! He brought back Lincolnto life in his period drama with effortless grace inspite of the length & pace of the movie! But then he had an awesome cast to help his cause! The tremendous DDL, TLJ and others too…He is a definite frontrunner for this award!

Benh Zeitlin – Beasts of the Southern Wild

The Darkhorse of this category! A Debutant Director getting this nomination is a huge achievement in itself! It is a beautiful movie and very-well made! His chances look quite tough for this award but maybe he can win the Best Adapted Screenplay award where he is co-nominated!

Will win:                   Steven Spielberg

Could win:                Ang Lee

MY CHOICE:           Michael Haneke ______________________________________________

                                     Best Actor

Bradley Cooper – Silver Linings Playbook

The most unusual choice for this casting considering his previous works but he did a tremendous job playing the Bipolar character! IMHO has no chance of winning this award but then the Oscar Jury have done stranger things in the past!

Daniel Day-Lewis – Lincoln

The clear front-runner for this award! He is pretty much one of the best actors of the current generation with 2 Oscars [My Left Foot (1989) and There Will Be Blood (2007)] already under his belt – definitely up & ready for a threesome!

Hugh Jackman – Les Misérables

Please give me a break!

Joaquin Phoenix – The Master

My clear choice for this award but sadly he won’t win it afterall! It was a demanding & excruciatingly difficult role and he did with aplomb! By far one of his best performances IMHO…

Denzel Washington – Flight

The most undeserving nomination of the Oscars I say! He was below average rather sleepwalking through the entire movie. I feel sad for John Hawkes (The Sessions) and Jean-Louis Trintignant (Amour) who missed out!

Will win:                   Daniel Day-Lewis

Could win:                Bradley Cooper

MY CHOICE:           Joaquin Phoenix

______________________________________________

                                                                Best Actress

Jessica Chastain – Zero Dark Thirty

She is real nice in the movie but definitely doesn’t deserve the Golden Statuette! Many other actresses would have done an equally good job in her place! Deserves the nomination nod but not the Oscar IMHO

Jennifer Lawrence – Silver Linings Playbook

The Darkhorse nominee and one of the finest actresses of this generation – she was awesome in 2010's Winter's Bone and in this one too! To hold her stead in front of all those master actors was simply too good! 

Emmanuelle Riva – Amour

My clear choice for this award! Her 85-years age could not be even a minor hindrance in giving this masterful performance…minimal dialogues but maximum effect! She is simply exquisite in the movie and I am sure without her this movie would have been well…just average! Just read her latest interview:

"This adventure, this gift, in the last stage of my life - it's not easy to measure up - but it's the exact moment in my life when I could do it. Before would have been too early. Later might have been too late. But it's a great treasure to participate in this film.I am very calm in the face of all of this. I am 85 years old. I am not going to flop about like a fish. What makes me nervous is these hours on the plane. Frankly, it seems like a hell of a journey to me. It's so long. But I will do things to the end. I will fall in someone's arms if I need to."

Quvenzhané Wallis – Beasts of the Southern Wild

The youngest person ever to be nominated as Best Actress & definitely a deserving one! An electrifying performance…Hushpuppy was the real life of this new-age disaster movie!

Naomi Watts – The Impossible

The weakest contender for this award – but I am clearly not undermining her performance! It was brilliant but the other 4 nominees were far better!

Will win:                   Too close to call

Could win:                Jennifer Lawrence

MY CHOICE:           Emmanuelle Riva

____________________________________________

                            Best Supporting Actor

Alan Arkin – Argo

He definitely didn’t deserve his first Oscar in Little Miss Sunshine nor does he deserve to win this one! A good but nothing spectacular type of performance in this movie! There were far better ones in 2012!

Robert De Niro – Silver Linings Playbook

My favourite actor of all-time and no other actor can match my levels of affection! Hope he wins again! This is his seventh Oscar Nomination (he has won twice already)! He was awesome in this movie – a role tailor-made for De Niro that’s why I think he won’t win it!

Philip Seymour Hoffman – The Master

Another top performance from this master class actor – I love him to bits! He has already won an Oscar for “Capote” and has earned 2 other nominations in the past! He was ruthless in this movie and played the perfect foil to the crazy Phoenix!

Tommy Lee Jones – Lincoln

One of the top frontrunners for this Award for his restrained and classic performance in this Period Drama! His role is one of the most instrumental ones after the lead character and he played it with effortless ease – like he always does!

Christoph Waltz – Django Unchained

My clear choice! And yeah even without my Tarantino Bias! All we Hollywood lovers are so glad & lucky that Tarantino found him and pulled him out of the German Cinema! He was flawless, brilliant and crazily awesome in my favourite movie of 2012! His dialogue delivery class is unmatched IMHO!

Will win:                   Tommy Lee Jones

Could win:                De Niro or Seymour Hoffman

MY CHOICE:           Christoph Waltz

______________________________________________

                           Best Supporting Actress

Amy Adams – The Master

She has given much better performances in the past and is one of my top favourite female actresses but just didn’t deserve this Award! Was strictly good – nothing spectacular!

Sally Field – Lincoln

She would always remain Forrest’s Mother in “Forrest Gump” for me! Definitely got to watch her “Norma Rae” for which she won the Best Actress Oscar in 1979 and she was really nice in Lincoln for sure!

Anne Hathaway – Les Misérables

Please give me a break, would you? All this hoopla for that blink & miss role! She has won all those applause but in my books she just doesn’t deserve to be here!

Helen Hunt – The Sessions

Clearly the winner in my books for her unblemished & masterful performance in this awesome movie which sadly just got this solitary nomination – definitely deserved more of them! Definitely one of my top female Hollywoodactresses; hoping she wins this one!

Jacki Weaver – Silver Linings Playbook

Another deserving nomination – she was playing the wife of De Niro in this movie and that;s not a mean feat in itself!

Will win:                   Anne Hathaway

Could win:                Sally Field

MY CHOICE:           Helen Hunt ______________________________________________

                Best Writing – Original Screenplay

Amour – Michael Haneke

Definitely deserves this nomination; for this simple yet so brilliant somber storyline!

Django Unchained – Quentin Tarantino

I love the way he writes Boy! Enough said…

Flight – John Gatins

Really? I mean is this for real?

Moonrise Kingdom – Wes Anderson and Roman Coppola

Consolation Nomination by the Oscar Jury – this movie definitely deserved more!

Zero Dark Thirty – Mark Boal

WTF…such a recent event; it would have been the easiest script ever to be written IMHO! But on a serious note I am sure that is the deserving reason as well as he had all the more pressure on himself to maintain the authencity!

Will win:                   Django Unchained

Could win:                Moonrise Kingdom

MY CHOICE:           Django Unchained

____________________________________________

                        Best Animated Feature

Brave – Mark Andrews and Brenda Chapman

A thoroughly enjoyable movie...I loved the graphics and the background score...and the 3D Experience made it even better...a definite must-watch for fairytale lovers...and the movie is fast-paced as well; never realized when it got over...my rating 3.5/5...

Frankenweenie – Tim Burton

Loved the Graphics& the storyline! The B&W definitely added to the experience!

ParaNorman – Sam Fell and Chris Butler

Lovely comedy horror animated movie with awesome music and a nice storyline! Very skillfully created in the Stop-Motion format.

The Pirates! Band of Misfits – Peter Lord

Funny, entertaining and skillfully animated! I loved the plot, humour and the graphics plus the Background Score keeps the viewer engaged all the time...definitely a must-watch for all animation genre fans! My rating 3/5...

Wreck-It Ralph – Rich Moore

I didn’t like this movie much except for the last 20 minutes or so! I am sure am the exception out here as it is one of the clear favourites to win this!

Will win:                   Wreck-It-Ralph

Could win:                Frankenweenie

MY CHOICE:           Brave ____________________________________________

                        Best Foreign Language Film

Amour (Austria)

Definitely amongst the top movies of this year for me! a poignant tale of eternal love and with a devastating ending, this movie made me cry 2-3 times just to see those emotions pouring out of the female lead's eyes! The Cinematography of Darius Khondji is par excellence and he has captured the scenes of the house so well! Helmets off to the Director for he has got out brilliant performances from the 2 leads and his tight handling of the script which would have easily got too melodramatic! Full marks to the 85-years old Emmanuelle Riva for acting so well...I can’t imagine myself being so fit at that age!!! This one just can't be missed...no wonder it is sweeping all awards too...my rating 4/5...

Kon-Tiki (Norway)

A definite watch for all adventure & history lovers! It is a 2012 Norwegian historical drama film about the 1947 Kon-Tiki expedition in which the lead character Thor Heyerdahl and his group of fellow "sailors" travel 5000 miles on sea in their raft to prove his theory! The Cinematography and the graphics are brilliant...the thrill element keeps you rooted to the seat throughout! I love watching movies based on real-life incidents and being a Travel enthusiast this was a lovely experience...It is also nominated for the Best Foreign Language Film at the Oscars this year...my rating 4/5...

No (Chile)

A Royal Affair (Denmark)

War Witch (Canada)

Could not get hold of the other 3 films so this award selection is incomplete! Nonetheless my say:

Will win:                   Amour

Could win:                Either of the other 4

MY CHOICE:           Amour

______________________________________________

So these are my prediction and winners; didn’t list the other categories as I have minimal technical knowledge about them for example Best Writing – Adapted Screenplay, Best Film Editing, etc etc!

And now the sad part; clearly looks like that I won’t be able to watch the Oscars Ceremony LIVE as we would be vacationing in Dubai and as per DST it would start at 3 AM – no chance I would be awake at that time! Would check the updates once I get up and then DL the ceremony for a proper view! Last 4 years I have watched the Ceremony LIVE so it is going to be a big & sad miss!

Nonetheless 2013 has started on a grand note; not even 2 months have passed and I have already watched 60 Non-Hindi movies! Augurs well for the remaining 20 months! Watched 271 Non-Hindi movies in 2012 – hope to match this number in 2013!

Thanks to Wikipedia for providing me with almost all the inputs for this Blog Post; just can’t thank Wiki enough – it is almost a lifeline!

So till the time we meet again……..

Cheers to life… Till then ride safe and have safe sex… Hasta la Victoria Siempre… Jai BoP! 

[cheguevaraontheroad]

The BoP Mandawa Mausers ||| November 2012

Yeah this is how happy I was…before the ride, during the ride and after the ride too! Happiness inside and outside…everywhere: D Thanks to Varun Doegar for this pic and capturing this expression in his big bandook!

Because it wasn’t any ordinary ride; it was Bulls on Parade – BoP’s 5th Anniversary Ride…we have come a long way since November 2007 when “Gurgaon Cruisers” was born…40 rides…31,210 kilometres together on the road…so many comrades…and unlimited moments of fun, bakar and most importantly the BoP Style camaraderie…

As you all know BoP maintains and follows its traditions religiously…in 2008 we decided to celebrate our Anniversary with a Ride to a destination in Rajasthan and we have stayed true to our promise…

2008: The Anniversary Riders in Pushkar (http://cheguevaraontheroad.blogspot.com/2008/11/anniversary-riders.html)

2009: The Ranthambore Rapiers (http://cheguevaraontheroad.blogspot.com/2009/11/ranthambore-rapiers.html)

2010: The Chittorgarh Cavaliers (http://cheguevaraontheroad.blogspot.com/2010/12/bop-chittorgarh-cavaliers.html)

2011: The Bundi Bandidos (http://cheguevaraontheroad.blogspot.com/2012/10/the-bop-bundi-bandidos.html)

And in 2012: The Mandawa Mausers…

Each of these 5 locations have the grandeur, history and traditions of Rajasthan engrained in them and we tried our best to explore them and most importantly except Pushkar none of these locations are not the routine tourist Rajasthan Destinations like Jaipur-Udaipur etc …be it visiting the Forts & other monuments, sampling the local cuisine or enjoying the hospitality of the people in the limited time we had on our hands…and we did GOOD!

Mandawa as a location was unearthed by me earlier this year; a quaint town in the Shekhawati Region with a small fort and some not-so-old Hawelis…perfect place for us to conquer as it wasn’t a routine Touristy Destination and that’s what we don’t prefer…

I sent the Ride Invite very early – on 30thof July 2012 to give ample time to BoPians to apply for a solitary 1-day leave and confirm for the ride…after many confirmation and last-minute declines we were finally a group of 9 Comrades who conquered Mandawa…

We had a rollicking pre-ride BBB Session at Vedant ki Dhaani, Gurgaon – another tradition of ours! And one of the last-minute defaulter (read: dhokhebaaz) Ankit Sheoran also attended that session; the Ride Guns were also duly tested in the night…as always the session got stretched; it’s impossible to finish BBB sessions early! We reached our homes – well prepared and fully excited for the 3 ride says ahead…Pics of the Session: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10151292963001291.526852.704561290&type=3

This was going to be a special ride in one more sense; I had pre-decided to ride a little slow during this ride and stay together with the group…it was going to be real tough for me as I enjoy riding fast but I was determined to change my style this time….read on to find out all the gory details of the Mausers!

And here it begins…

The Mausers were:

Diptinder Singh Chhabra aka Vinamra on his Black RE Electra 4S

Sumit Vijayant Singh aka Anna on his Red/Maroon/? RE Standard

Varun Doegar aka Photugrapher on his Black RE TB350 4S

Ajit Singh Bhullar aka Indian Traveller on his RE 500

Sandeep Singh Chadha aka Legend on his Black RE Standard

Rohan Kaushik aka Sunny on his Green RE Classic 500

Ankit Gupta aka NoteDhaari on his Grey RE Classic 350

Vihans Gupta aka Jaanu as the Pillion

Che on “The Mighty One”

Day 1 – Friday 9-November 2012 – (Gurgaon - Dharuhera - Rewari - Narnaul - Ranwa - Singhana - Chirawa - Jhunjhunu – Mandawa)

I goofed up with the Alarm and didn’t wake up at 5:30 as planned! Finally woke up when Vinamra called me and asked my whereabouts! Hadn’t felt guiltier than that moment in quite some time as I am amongst the first ones to reach the Ride starting Point and this was one of those rare moments in my Riding History in which I overslept & didn’t reach on time! I quickly got up and also woke up Ajit and Vikas who slept overnight at my place (Ajit was a Mauser but why Vikas slept at my place is a long & gory tale of drama, tragedy and a lot of growling – rest is confidential!) We quickly got ready with our Riding Gear, loaded our stuff on the bike, got some Sandwiches & Juice packed (Thanks to Bandita) and started for the rendezvous Point – Leisure Valley Park– another tradition! Reached LVP at 6:45 AM where some of the Mausers were already waiting; I heaved a sigh of relief when I saw Vihans-Ankit-Sunny missing too! They came the last! At 7:15 AM we finally started the Mausers Ride with the loud chants of “Jai BoP”…Vinamra had come back to India after his UK MBA & it was great to ride along with him after quite some time! My last long ride with him was the Chittorgarh Ride in November-10…Another reason!

At sharp 8 AM the hunger demons hit us and we decided to stop for a Breakfast Pit-Stop at an

NH-8 Highway

Dhaba…could not follow the tradition of stopping at our routine NH-8 Dhaba – Prem Pavittra Dhaba as that was out of our route map… The first Bandook Shot was fired at this very point & the indications were quite vivid & clear – this was going to be a fiery ride! True to it’s name!!!

Paranthas, Dahi and Chhole were duly ordered. We all got silent once our order was served…but just for few moments…the bonhomie was not to be missed! Chadha Paaji was asked to take over the Financial responsibilities of the ride & he came out with his excel sheet – well prepared Mauser! Though this time the surprise element was missing…

After the pet-pooja we took the road towards Rewari in Rajasthan where the town was waking up gingerly which meant very less traffic & an easy way-through for us…soon Narnaul was passed too…then the Aravallis started and I stopped for the customary shot! Can’t miss that opportunity you see! Then we entered Rajasthan and witnessed the amazing transformation in the quality of roads – it was almost surreal…the roads suddenly became butter-like and the colour of the soil changed too…from a dull brown to a fiery & much-darker rusty colour! We knew that the remaining ride was going to be a smooth affair plus the short distance meant that we would reach Mandawa much earlier and we would break all previous records!

At 11 AM we stopped at Ranwa where the bemused locals watched us all in awe! We also opened open with our Ride Bandook much to the shock & awe of the sparse crowd which had built up! Banana shopping & consuming was done too…healthy Mausers you see! The weather was perfect for riding – a pleasant breeze and not too harsh sunlight…all perfect ingredients for a perfect ride!

Even though I was riding slow I didn’t shirk away my self-assigned responsibility of leading the pack of Riders and I stopped at all the major turns so that nobody gets lost…I am such a responsible Group Rider; it has to be seen to be believed!

We made frequent stops as for a change time was on our side and it gave ample opportunities to the “Photugraphers” of this ride…noteworthy to mention – Chadha Paaji who recently bought a DSLR and Anna who bought a pseudo-DSLR; Doegar was busy in his own Bandookbaazi as always!

We reached Mandawa exactly at 2 PM and treated us to a bout of Kesar-Pista Kulfi! I had 3 of them – it became tough for the vendor to match-up to our pace; the way we were gobbling up Kulfis it looked like his stock would have ended soon! Chadha bought Jalebi & Rasgullas for the Lunch-Dessert session…once again the sleepy town was shocked to see a group of weirdly-dressed motorcyclists in this part of the world…each decked up and fully loaded! We spent the next 20 minutes in finding our place of stay – Hotel Shekhawati as it was located within the narrow by lanes of the town…when we finally reached the owner of the Hotel – Mr. Pramod Pareek came out to receive us & helped us in parking the bikes as well…the rooms were well-appointed, neat, cosy & spacious and the alleys were spacious enough for our mini BBB sessions too!

We took an hour to freshen up and settle down before we started the first BBB session of our Ride…we didn’t stop enroute which was a break-away from our traditions but then we knew that we would reach early and planned to enjoy Beer in the Hotel itself…Mr. Pareek helped us by ordering his staff to get us Child Bear and some snakes to go with it…truly a courteos gesture! We also ordered a light Rajasthani Lunch which was duly served in the Rooftop Restaurant – even though the lunch was not too great but it perfectly satiated the hungry Mauser Souls! The meal ended on a high with the sweets bought by Chadha…Chadha & his penchant for packing “desserts” go a long way! From Ladakh, Chakrata, Lansdowne to Mandawa!

All of us decided to take a short Sleep Break…the late night BBB Session and the early start were the culprits you see! We got up fresh and rejuvenated…ready to roam the streets of Mandawa…there was nothing much to see though so settled for some Jhaalmuri – Bengali Snake Item & a walk across the dim-deserted streets of Mandawa. We also checked out 2-3 “Heritage” Hotels and Lonely Planet “recommended” Restaurants which were obscenely over-priced & had nothing much to show against the high prices! Our Hotel was by far the best VFM Property of the town with superb service as well to boot! Also visited the Fort to get a feeler about the place & checked out the entrance fees as well…while we were exiting from the Fort Chadha Paaji spotted a shop which was featured in one of the songs of “Jab We Met” – and that too for a fleeting second; what memory boss! All of us were once again impressed – infact this has become a habit for BoP…Getting wowed by Chadha Paaji’s histrionics!

Came back to the hotel all charged up for the upcoming BBB Session on the rooftop about which Mr. Pareek had told me earlier “Sir Jee saara intezaam kara denge aapke liye chhat pe – maze se enjoy karma”! Before the Bakchodi began he took us on a guided tour to 2 of his most-special rooms of the property – with the exquisite & amorous wall paintings! His excitement & pride was all too visible while he told the stories behind them! The best ones were hidden by curtains and once they became visible oohs & aahs were heard across the town! Yes that’s how special they were…the numerous cameras started clicking like there was no tomorrow! The set of paintings were in a particular order; starting from wooing to meeting to engagement to wedding to the first night and then finally the baby! Talk about Life Cycle of a Love Affair!

After getting wowed by art during a ride for the first time we all reached the rooftop and started the main agenda of the night! Glasses were lined up plus I had bought a bottle of Ardmore “Highland Single Malt Whiskey” from the Doha Duty Free especially for the ride to celebrate our 5thAnniversary in true BoP Style! I also got 2 cans of Red Bull for me – my trusted beverages partner on rides these days! Pegs were made without wasting any further time, loud cheers were made wishing more glorious years for BoP and loud chants of “Jai BoP” reverberated in the not-too-chilly air of Mandawa! Many gun shots were fired as part of celebrations by us and exploration by the Hotel Staff – they also revelled in the Gun Culture ;)

And then it rained! How could it not! The BoP Anniversary Ride was blessed by the Rain Gods & our BBB Session felt complete too! We scurried for cover & went inside the Rooftop Restaurant before getting wet in the raindrops, finished the remaining drinks session and got ready for the dinner!

We had pre-ordered the Rajasthani speciality “Laal Maas” for the special Dinner plus Pakodas, Egg Bhurji and Namkeen was served as the “Snakes” items…the service was as expected prompt and we thoroughly enjoyed the session…even though the Laal Maas wasn’t anything special we didn’t mind that much – gobbled up whatever was served with love! The session ended and we soon hit the bed with another glorious day planned ahead of us! Well-deserved sleep I say!

Day 2 – Saturday 10-November 2012 (In & around Mandawa)

We all woke up to a clear, sunny & glorious morning. The agenda was set for the day as advised by Mr. Pareek but before all that we had to visit the “Highway on my Plate”-recommended “Jodhpur Sweets Home” to sample the “Pyaaz ki Kachoris”…though when we reached the shop they were not ready but 2 boys were promptly sent to get the first fresh lot of the day – he dared not to disappoint a bunch of hungry motorcyclists who had come all the way from Delhi! The Kachoris were decent & nothing special but they served their immediate purpose - they satiated our hungry tummies!

After the breakfast session we headed towards the “Poddar Haveli” in the Navalgarh Town which was some 20-odd kms away. The moment we reached the Mandawa outskirts the clutch cable of Dips’ Bullet broke; luckily I was riding just behind him but the others were much infront of us…so it gave me a golden opportunity to ZIP! Blessing in disguise as they say…The Mighty One roar like a Tiger again & off I went to get the fellow Mausers! I must say even though I ride my bike so infrequently now it is still in prime shape & form – all thanks to Zaheer Bhai’s maintenance skills! Never leaves me high & dry even after all these years of being my road partner….

Shockingly Dips wasn’t carrying a spare Clutch Cable and Sunny gave his spare one as the replacement! He started the long & arduous replacement process while some of us danced the “Gangnam Style”; it was an impromptu performance & well captured by Ajit! Both the Sunnys also went for a little Sand Off-Roading adventure of their own, ensured that a lot of dust flew all over the place and gave many shots to the ever-so-eager Ajit to click! After this unplanned & not-too-long break we headed towards the Poddar Haveli; after all the parking hooplah we entered the very well-maintained Haveli ably guided by Rahul – our guide who took us around giving extensive details about the various courtyards & the mini-Museum rooms – the best ones were the models of all the major Forts of Rajasthan & it was heartening to see that I have covered a lot of them; definitely gave me a lot of pleasure & motivated me to visit the not-visited ones in the near future! The wall frescoes were also exquisitely painted & one of them caught out attention – Rahul explained it as GOD - Generator, Operator, & Destroyer, never knew this full form! We also got clicked ourselves in the Traditional Rajasthani Pagdi & I also gave the customary BoP Tee pose!

After the long walks through the Haveli & the Kachodi-filled breakfast earlier in the day the time got ripe for a Dump Session & I duly honoured my commitment! How could I miss an opportunity to dump in the Haveli Premises – another first for me! The next agenda was plain & simple – LUNCH! Rahul suggested the “

Ganapati Food Court

” for the hungry Mausers & we trusted his judgement…after roaring our Bulls through the narrow by lanes of Navalgarh we reached the restaurant & faced a lot of trouble in parking our bikes in on the sandy parking lot! Rahul & his friend also joined us for lunch which could be best defined as Oily, Spicy and majorly tasteless!

Post the lunch session headed towards the Dundlod Fort after a minor mis-navigation when some us missed the cut & went ahead! This is another fort converted to a Hotel and this is a special ones as it organizes exclusive & very expensive Horse Safaris spanning 10-15 days to as far as Pushkar! Entry inside the main fort wasn’t allowed to non-residents so we just spent time at the reception & deliberated about buying Beer or not –decided not to owing to the high price! Some of the Mausers got into the clicking mood & mode again!

The customary Motorcycle Formation pics were clicked just infront of the Main Gate of the fort and they came out really well!

Beer was on the mind of all us after we had done the sightseeing & we did the needful! As Vihans was riding as my pillion he took the responsibility of carrying the Beer Carton to the Mandawa Baoli Point which was spotted & duly chosen as the BBB Point when we were going towards Navalgarh! But then Destiny had some other plans………me & Vihans got lost in our tender moments, kept riding & riding while the others abused us waiting for the beer! I blame the road & weather for this misadventure though! And then it started to drizzle! An unbeatable combo to get lost! We realized our mistake after riding for some 40-odd kms & headed back expecting a lot of abuses waiting for us….finally reached the Baoli & were greeted to oohs & aahs and a lot of happy faces!

The BBB Session as always was laughter & Bakchodi filled which was followed by another photo shoot of the Sunnys! The sunset was just round the corner, we didn’t waste much time & headed towards the last attraction of the trip – The Mandawa Fort...

The pristine sunset view from the fort rooftop was going to be the highlight  Our guide once again was quite knowledgeable & courteous and gave us all necessary information about the History of the Fort and the current Royal Family relationships! The fort was equally divided between the 2 brothers while one had converted his portion to a Heritage Hotel the other was lying in shambles! The difference was quite stark…the other interesting thing we got to know was when somebody from the Royal Family was in the Fort the Royal Flag was always hoisted!  While some of us were getting these history lessons the Photographers amongst us were fine-tuning their camera setting to get the perfect sunset shots! And they did come up with some stunning ones – especially Doegar! I also used my humble Lumix Camera to capture the mood of the evening! Once the sun finally bid us goodbye we were taken to the most exclusive room of this property – The Honeymoon Suite which was exquisitely designed & crafted! The best part was the open Bathroom Lounge – imagination of the Mausers knew no bounds & all of us dreamt of a stay here just for the Bathroom! We also visited the Pool & Wedding Lawn area – once again very well designed!

The History Lessons got over, the guide bid farewell and we headed towards the lounge area to redeem the entry coupons…after extensive discussions about what to order the Beer, Snakes and my glass of juice were served! As with majority of the Rajasthan Hotels this property was also full of rich & old Western Tourists who had come to enjoy the luxury of this Heritage after paying hefty room tariffs! We were definitely the odd-ones out in the guest list! But that has become a habit for us by now & we don’t mind the side & surprised glances of fellow guests ;) Finished this Session little early as we had to leave early the next day plus the next BBB Rooftop Session was also waiting for us!

Dips brought out the bottle of “Wild Turkey Bourbon” – both of us had been looking for this across various continents but were unable to find it; Dips finally achieved the Holy Grail in a small liquor store in the UK and duly bought it for this special night! As I don’t take alcohol now all I could do was to get posed with the bottle which was definitely a memorable shot for me as the hunt had finally ended!

I finished my dinner early and headed towards the room as I had to start really early the next day & that too solo! I had some office work and could not afford t reach later than 11:30 AM IST! Chadha Paaji – my room partner also accompanied me for good measure to the bedroom! I finished the packing & slept like a child……..

Day 3 – Sunday 11-November 2012 (Mandawa - Chirawa - Singhana - Narnaul - Rewari – Gurgaon)

This day was going to be another special day for me and in a totally different manner! My longest Solo Ride! The longest Solo ride before this has been the Gurgaon – Panipat stretch which I did during my Amritsar Ride with Gyan in September 2011 which was almost 100 odd kms one way! And this was going to be 230 kms long…I have never done a solo ride in my life nor do I intend to! Any ride without the BoP Camaraderie & Bakchodi sounds completely baseless & incomplete to me!

I woke up at 6 AM and by 6:45 was ready to leave; Chadha Paaji came down to bid me goodbye & wish me luck plus he was deliberating whether to join me or not but finally decided not too and ride with the other Mausers back home! Inside me I was also happy by his decision as it is impossible to ride along with him – he rides at a constant 60 kmph and you know my riding style & speed very well!

The Sun was gingerly coming out of its sleep and gave me perfect sunrise shots which I gleefully clicked! After riding for 100 kms I stopped at a roadside shop for my light break fast – Chai & Parle G, believe me nothing tastes better than this combo! Rode for another 60-odd kms and then stopped for a stretch & piss break…clicked the pristine “Bike on the Highway” shots and decided to ride straight till my home non-stop which I did!

The Odo read 232 kms since I had started from Mandawa and I successfully completed my first Solo stretch and till date the longest! It took me just 4.5 hours to complete this stretch – luckily faced no mis-navigations, breakdowns or Traffic Jams and this definitely helped my cause!

My family was shocked to see me home at 11:30 AM as they are used to seeing me coming back at late in the night during our return rides! I took a well-deserved bath and then had a heavy lunch!

The 5thBoP Anniversary ended for me but for the rest of the Mausers it was still underway! They reached Gurgaon at 6:30 PM after their mis-navigation & Manali Travails…

Another anniversary was well-celebrated and as always in grand style – in the Majestic Rajasthan in a non-descript sleepy town with gunshots sounding all across…Hope I can make it to the 6th one as well and follow the traditions all over again…

The Ride Details:

Total kms on the road – 570 kms

Route Taken- Gurgaon - Dharuhera - Rewari - Narnaul - Ranwa - Singhana - Chirawa - Jhunjhunu – Mandawa

About Mandawa - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mandawa

Hotel where we stayed - Hotel Shekhawati - http://www.hotelshekhawati.com/public_html/contact_us.html

Dips’ Blog- http://butcheredsoul.blogspot.in/2012/12/bulls-on-parade-to-mandawa.html

Pics: 

Chadha Paaji - https://picasaweb.google.com/100086217836424278569/20121109MandawaRide

Che - https://plus.google.com/photos/108350820627070185852/albums/5809603249093312225

Doegar - https://plus.google.com/photos/115046860320435079271/albums/5811466865553484769?authkey=CJbyhIal59nqTw

Ajit - https://plus.google.com/photos/101299191407550350101/albums/5810744808600211025?authkey=COWAxdHR65W7Ogand https://plus.google.com/photos/101299191407550350101/albums/5812961807448022721?authkey=COKu4Mr0ztDaLQ

Cheers to life…

Che would be back on the road again…

Till then ride safe and have safe sex…

Hasta la Victoria Siempre…

Jai BoP!

[cheguevaraontheroad]

Django Unchained ||| My Review

  2012 has been a super awesome year for Movie Lovers – Brilliant movies made this year across languages and I have never anticipated any movie more than the 2 movies released this eyar – Anurag Kashyap’s “Gangs of Wasseypur” Saga and Quentin Tarantino’s “Django Unchained”…

GoW was my favourite Bollywood Movie of 2012 for so many reasons…more about that in my detailed review here:http://cheguevaraontheroad.blogspot.com/2012/07/gangs-of-wasseypur-my-review-hazraat.html

And then came Django Unchained…since the time it was announced I had been waiting for it like mad! The Tarantino fan in me just couldn’t wait! Having watched all his movies released so far it was quite obvious – he is by far my favourite Hollywood Director and his movies are quirky, outrageous and absolutely brilliant! The release date was 25-Dec-12 but we couldn’t watch it that day as that was only a North America release date…here in Kuwait it was releasing on 17-Jan-13…but thanks to FB and Shashank Mishra in particular I got to know that the SCRNR Print was out so DLed it that very same day and decided to get immersed…

But this movie surely deserves a Big Screen viewing as well so went to watch it with Bandita & Tripathi on Friday 17-Jan-13 and got mesmerized…all over again!

This is not just a movie…it is a spectacle – which runs for 165 minutes long and you wish if it was longer as the artistic poetry is so enjoyable that you never realize that almost 3 hours have passed! And believe me these were the best 165 minutes of my cinematic experience…EVER!

Right from the casting, screenplay, background score, Original Soundtrack, set design, cinematography, editing and even the minutest of the details, everything about this movie has a spellbinding effect!

One of the most stylish movies I have watched; each character is stylish in his/her own way right to the Horse! The one-liners make the effect of the scenes even better and you are left laughing like mad (atleast I was!)…Blood-spill isn’t good but then in a Tarantino movie it is a way of life and in DU he makes it even more dramatic!

The movie is crazily entertaining in Tarantino's own brazenly irresponsible style and would leave you gasping for more...I have already watched it twice within a matter of 7 days and know many of my fellow Movie-lovers who have had multiple viewings already!

And now my detailed views…

I would start with the casting…

                                                        Jamie Foxx as Django Freeman 

Oppressed, romantic, muscular, stylish and so effective! Never loses a chance to use a dialogue-retort! And keep coming up with smashing one-liners all through-out…even though he is the title character but his role is clearly overshadowed by other characters…reminds me so much of our Bollywood Movie Satya where similarly the title character was overshadowed by Manoj Bajpai playing Bhikhu Mhatre!

                                                   Christoph Waltz as Dr. King Schultz 

By far the most brilliant character & performance of the movie! His dialogue delivery is stuff legends are made of…right from the starting scene till his last one he oozes with confidence, mischief and spectacular histrionics! I loved his Molar Tooth Horse Carriage the most and also his horse “Fritz” – stylish in his own sense! A very funny take on the horse - http://www.huffingtonpost.com/mike-ryan/django-unchained-fritz-the-horse_b_2397755.html

                                                    Leonardo DiCaprio as Calvin J. Candie 

Wicked, cunning and ruthless! But funny at times…specially his one-liners! His evil side is all-too visible and his performance is really awesome too…One of the best actors of his generation and it is sad he missed out on getting any award nominations for his role!

                                               Kerry Washington as Broomhilda von Shaft 

The reason for all the mess, murders and bloodshed as I see it! Looked really hot in some of the scenes! And the way she collapsed on seeing Django was superb…the way the water pours from the glass she is holding and then the sideway fall!

                                                         Samuel L. Jackson as Stephen

One of the top favourites of Tarantino; it was sad not to see him in “Inglorious Basterds” but he is back and how! Dialogue Delivery is nothing but the best and specially the way he gets shocked! At his cunning best he delivers a very nice performance…

                                                        Walton Goggins as Billy Crash 

The most prominent sidekicks of Candie and the way Django mocks him is hilarious!

“Django: You better listen to your boss, white boy.

Billy Crash: Oh, I'ma go walkin' in the moonlight with you.

Django: You wanna hold my hand?”

                                             Don Johnson as Spencer 'Big Daddy' Bennett

Big Daddy in a short yet effective role! Tries his best to upstage Dr. Schultz but fails woefully and dies a one-shot death! “

                                                           M. C. Gainey as Big John Brittle 

I loved the way he died! Enough said…

                                                     Franco Nero as Amerigo Vassepi 

The original Django and Tarantino pays his tribute to the original in his own style! I watched this movie some days back and found it quite impressive!

                                                                       Blood & Gore

Tarantino is known for this particular style – we have seen it all in his past movies from Kill Bill to IB he never fails to show blood spilling all over the place and DU is no different! This time it gets even better in my opinion!

                                                      The Original Soundtrack

Brilliant is the word and a must-listen OST…I love all the instrumental and the songs…my favourites being Anthony Hamilton’s “Freedom”, Rick Ross’ “100 Black Coffins” and Jim Croce’s “I got a Name”…the instrumental “The Braying Mule” of Ennio Morricone is smashingly awesome…go and get this album folks and I am sure you won’t be disappointed!

                                                               The Dialogues

I would let the photographs do the talking and to get the real essence – go watch the movie!

                                                                            Tarantino

Big Thanks to Tarantino for his vision is extraordinary and his attention-to-detail can out anybody to shame! I love his style of moviemaking and am sure his next one would be equally awesome and worth the wait!

The movie won 2 Golden Globe Awards and is slated to win atleast 2 in the upcoming Oscar Awards too! Though I am sad that LDC didn’t get a single nomination – he absolutely deserved it! Let us see when he would get that coveted Oscar Award!

In the end all I can say is that get splattered with this Tarantino magic and you would enjoy this exhilarating cinematic ride called Django Unchained positively! You would understand and relate to the word “positive” much more after you watch the movie ;)

So till the time we meet again…….. Cheers to life… Till then ride safe and have safe sex… Hasta la Victoria Siempre… Jai BoP!

[cheguevaraontheroad]

Fiesta Trip to Agra ||| Nov-2012

Our Agra Trip together was long overdue; tried twice in 2011 but it couldn't get through…2012 it had to be! Bandita hadn't been to Agra & Taj Mahal ever and I was there last in 1998 – faint memories of that trip so off we went to Agrafor a 1-day trip on Wednesday 7-November-2012; chose a weekday to avoid the mad weekend rush to the Taj.

Took all the available information on Agra from my comrade – Adit Sharda as he had been on a similar trip some weeks back including the route, places to visit for sure, the ones to avoid and also some food places! 

I wanted my parents and Bhai’s family to accompany me and to make it a faun-family trip but then it wasn’t to be…Bhabhi had a slip-disk recently & she could not travel in a car for so long, it was a weekday so my nieces couldn't join us and my parents ditched us a day before the trip! So it ended being a “couple” trip!

The other reason for my excitement was that it was supposed to be my first long-drive trip on the Blazing Red Machine! The Ford Fiesta Classic which I gifted to my parents in May 2011 but never got a chance to take it for a long spin…I have heard great stories about this car’s skills & performance and this trip was going to be my first bout with this machine! To make matters more enjoyable and comfortable The long-awaited & planned Taj Yamuna Expressway had also recently opened & a lot of my friends had zipped on that road so off we went…….

We started real early – exactly at 4:45 AM in the morning to avoid the early morning office traffic with a light fog and chill being our company till the Sun broke out! Crossed the Greater Noida Expressway enroute and made our first stop at the first Toll Plazaat 6 AM for a round of Tea and Sandwiches which we were carrying with us! Perfect way to start the day…the weather was super-awesome too…not too cold and not too foggy either! But the Toll Plaza was disappointing – the restaurant was yet to open and there were males encroaching in the Females Toilet and then we say “Atithi Devo Bhavah”! Luckil the place was very clean and there was a sweeper cleaning the place meticulously! And yeah 5-6 crows were helping him out too ;) so much for Man-Animal/Bird Friendship!

The next Toll Plazahad the same story…no real services to speak of but the Facility was quite clean…full marks for that! We made a quick stop and started the final drive towards Agra without further adieu!

We reached the Taj Premises at 8:15 AM; the traffic hadn’t built up by then and it was relatively empty too! Did some Shopping too – bought the world famous Agra Razaai (quilt) and some Marble Artefacts for our home and as gifts for friends back in Kuwait from a UP Handicrafts store. Bought our entry tickets and entered the grand world of Taj Mahal!

The words mesmerizing, beautiful & magnanimous take an all-together different meaning after you take that first look at the Taj Mahal! Awestruck as we were but we didn’t lose our mind though & tried to soak in the moments…the weather wasn’t very clear but just about not-too-misty ensuring a decent view of Taj from a distance…wore those Shoe Covers and entered the precincts of the Taj after clicking endless number of pics trying to capture and add to the unlimited counts of pics to India’s most-photographed monument and the one which earns us maximum revenue as well! I am sure every given day atleast a million photographs are taken at the Taj…atleast I say!

Due to it being a weekday the crowd was quite manageable and allowed us many moments of silence as well while we were busy admiring the intricate carvings on the pristine white marble walls! After finishing one round we sat down on the very-cold Marble Floor providing ample chill to our “you-know-what”! The Yamuna behind us was slowly limping to life with a solitary boatman rowing towards the other shore ready to start a long day ahead of him…the misty weather gave it a surreal look! Though I rued the fact that it wasn’t sunny as it would have looked far more beautiful bathed in Sunlight!

We got ourselves clicked the routine Taj Poses – and yeah not those trick photography ones as I hate each one of them! There was a huge group of tourists from Prudential, Philippines who were visiting Taj as they had won some sales competition and they were not missing any chance to ruin the peaceful atmosphere – boisterous as ever & trying to click pics in all weird poses possible! One of such Filipino took our pics and was quite visibly-excited to do the same! I guess she had had enough of clicking her countrymen and women and wanted a break which we provided without even her asking for it!

While going out we were pleasantly surprised to see a South-Indian movie shooting with the choreographer teaching the heroine some real awesome Pelvic & Bust thrusts! Soon a big crowd built up and she obviously got embarrassed and moved away from the public glare robbing us some filmy dance pose preparation moments! So much for the over-enthusiasm of the lecherous crowd which had gathered…

Had my customary dump – (yes how I could miss that?) and surprisingly the Washroom was spotless-clean and odour-free as well; high five for the Taj Authorities especially for this! Another memorable dump moment adds up to the long & illustrious list!

We left the Taj Premises at 11:00 AM and as we had lots of time left decided to head towards Fatehpur Sikri – not the best decision we took but still had some fun moments there!

Reached there at 11:30 AM and hired a guide who had a peculiar name – Gabbar Ahmed but fortunately he wasn’t dressed as the legendary Gabbar nor sounded like him! Rather he had quite a shrill voice!

This was the first time both of us were visiting FS and were quite obviously excited – surprisingly I had no idea about the history of this popular monument so it was going to be one educative visit!

First up was the Buland Darwaza – the magnificent and dominating entrance gate of the FS which is 40 metres high and 50 metres from the ground and looked quite impressive! Akbar built it to commemorate his victory over Gujarat in 1601 A.D.

Gabbar then took us inside the monument while constantly blurting out his routine text to us while we were trying to digest all the information being thrown at us & trying our best to slow him down but then his body is perfectly conditioned for the regular flow so our efforts were a complete waste!

It is a very well-constructed and preserved monument I have ever seen! More information here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fatehpur_Sikri

The most prominent feature is the white marble Tomb of the Sufi saint, Salim Chishti and it is so beautifully made…the white colour of the marble providing the perfect break from the monotony of the red sandstone all around! It was constructed by Akbar as a mark of his respect for the Sufi saint, who foretold the birth of his son, who was named Prince Salim after him and later succeeded Akbar to the throne of the Mughal Empire, as Jahangir. The intricate “Jali” work is beautifully carved and provides a surreal view of the monuments outside – no wonder it is famed as one of the finest examples of Mughal architecture in India! We also offered a Chadar at the Dargah and tied threads wishing for the well-being and good health of our family!

We also visited the Diwan-i-Khas, Diwan-i-Aam and Mariam-uz-Zamani's Palace while Gabbar was moving on with his recorded speech! We also bought some hand-made Marble Candle Stands which had brilliant carvings after a longish bargaining session! Left FS at 1 PM and then the ordeal started!

There was a huge traffic pile-up as we were approaching the Taj and the 39 kms long journey took us 2 arduous hours to finish! All this while I was busy trying my best to find a way through the traffic…finally we entered the Agra City and the conditions were no different – definitely one of the worst cities – Traffic Sanity wise! Almost all-possible means of transport are trying to hustle & jostle their way through…as I had no knowledge of the way to get out of the city I decided to follow a Delhi Number Indigo with a Tourist Number plate hoping it would leave us to the main highway leading to Delhibut it was the biggest blunder I made! It went through some crowded (well that’s such an understatement) by-lanes of a locality called Jagdishpur…we encountered quite many animal species as well who were part of the mad traffic – the regular ones though - Cows, Buffaloes, Sheeps, Goats and yeah even some monkeys! Brushed my car twice, finally got out of that mess and reached the main road after spending a gruelling 60 minutes of mayhem! Things weren’t quite rosy there as well – the traffic was bad as ever & it took us another 45-odd minutes to finally meet the Taj Expressway! I thanked God and my luck to have finally touched that road!

Now about the Expressway: The road is real nice and quote a pleasure to drive on even though I don't know why it is made up of concrete and not of the normal Tar; concrete makes it a bit bumpy but not that much. Plus the EW is very-very boring to drive on, atleast it was for me! as there are literally no cars to overtake and not many in the rearview either! so you are just driving in a straight-line! Plus the views on the left-right are very monotonous...endless stretch of Fields - and half of them you can't even see properly! And I must say that the speed guns (even though I couldn't spot even one of them) are damn efficient - the maximum allowed speed is 100 kmph for light vehicles! on my way to Agra I sped up once till 130 kmph as it was becoming impossible to control and when I reached the 2nd toll-gate it showed up and the attendant said "Sir, fine lagega"; I requested him"Yaar, subah ki baat hai, aage nahin karunga" and luckily he let me go! Up next I once went up to 110 kmph and it showed up again - this time the attendant didn't point it out as 10 kmph isn't much! Pretty efficient system I must say! though very boring for the speed-bred drivers of Kuwait like me who has done 230+ kmph speeds here ;) But then the smart & cunning me found a way out! while coming back I thought of a way to speed up and still not get caught! I passed the last toll-gate and then zipped! as I knew there were no more toll-gates ahead! 152 kmph was the highest I reached and then I got a bit scared and slowed down! and I constantly drove at 120 kmph types! and Bingo...no fines and full thrill! TRY THIS AT YOUR OWN RISK...please don't quote me!!! So full marks to the Expressway! even though the toll-fee is a bit steep (600 INR for a return journey) but then it provides a literally zero-traffic way of a Delhi-Agra-Delhi trip and I didn't mind paying that money for saving me the pain of all those overtakings, traffic jams and encountering all sorts of vehicles on a normal highway! After that the drive was incident & trouble free till we reached New Delhi! Both of us were really hungry as thanks to the Agra Traffic Madness we had to skip lunch – I couldn’t take the risk of finding a parking place and then having our lunch there! We stopped infront of the South Extension McDonalds & Bandita went to get our meal packed; within couple of minutes a Traffic Cop stood right next to me, knocked on my window and said those terrifying words “Sir Jee, No parking hai yeh spot, Challan hoga”…and then I tried all possible tricks to avert that dreaded Challan Slip but all my efforts were futile as that cop was in no mood to listen – finally I had to pay a fine of 600 INR; Bandita came back and we had a late-evening snack meal worth 760 INR! The Traffic Cop was quite evil too – he told me that just a few days back the fine for No Parking at this spot was 100 INR and it had been increased to 600 INR just 2 days prior to my mis-adventure as the Diwali season was coming up! Talk about “rubbing it in”! But I must say that that spot was quite well policed as while we were enjoying our expensive McD Burgers 2 Traffic Cops came knocking – and all I did was proudly flashing my Challan Slip which gave us the immunity ;)

Drove through the manic & office-traffic Delhi-Gurgaon roads and reached our home finally at 8 PM…then there was the routine enthusiastic show of all the shopping we did while my parents were busy watching their daily Soaps! Had our dinner and then dozed off after a wonderful & eventful day spent in Agra…memories forever and another destination visited together! The Big BoP Anniversary Ride to Mandawa was coming up and I was getting all-excited for that! So till the time we meet again…….. Cheers to life… Che would be back on the road again… Till then ride safe and have safe sex… Hasta la Victoria Siempre… Jai BoP!

[cheguevaraontheroad]

2012…On the Road and Off it…

Years come and go as a routine but some of them are special & unique…2012 was another such year! I enjoyed my time whole-heartedly; watched some real awesome movies and yeah loads of them J, ate like mad – thanks to my Wife and travelled to new places! Couldn't have asked for more I say!

Movies……………..

I have always loved watching & following movies – across genres and languages! And Kuwaitprovided me the perfect opportunity to follow this passion religiously; as when I was in Indiamajority of my free time was taken up by motorcycling, friends & family! But since I came to Kuwaitthere has been no looking back!!! And God provided me the perfect partner in Bandita who is a movie freak just like me! She is always game for a movie: whenever & wherever! So here it goes….

My Movie Count for 2012...Total of 287: Hollywood: 271 - Bollywood: 16

Out of these 35 were Theatre Visits!

Some of my 2012 Movie Blogs: 1. GoW Review: http://cheguevaraontheroad.blogspot.com/2012/07/gangs-of-wasseypur-my-review-hazraat.html 2. Review of Sachin Kalbag's selection: http://cheguevaraontheroad.blogspot.com/2012/10/sachin-kalbags-choice-my-views.html 3. My Oscar Selection: http://cheguevaraontheroad.blogspot.com/2012/02/2011-academy-awardsmy-winners.html

Food………………...

Food is a necessity for some people but for me it is one of the driving factors of my life! I live to eat and have no qualms in publicly accepting this facet of my life J once again BIG thanks to Bandita for bringing more food pleasures in my life – with her being an awesome cook, a partner-in-crime in sampling new cuisines & restaurants and enjoying the non-vegetarian dishes I cook! We tried out various new restaurants here in Kuwait and during our IndiaTrip…plus she graduated from being a cooking novice to a brilliant cook since she moved to Kuwait…meaning wonders for me! In this process I gained a lot of weight too which was all too visible ;) but then being a doctor she ensured that I exercised regularly and showed restrained….at times! From 65 kgs in Feb 2012 to 86 kgs in Nov 2012 was quite a journey ;) The London Olympics................

Thanks to the curtailed office timings during Ramzan here in Kuwait and the Olympics happening during the same time I followed the Olympics like never before! Plus I had access to all 3 TV Channels beaming the mega event LIVE! Olympics have been my favourite Sporting Event since childhood and this time was no different! and this time I followed all sport disciplines across countries...these Olympics were also special as India gave it's best performance with 6 medal winners! once again Sports united the country across regional divides :) My Blog about the Olympics: http://cheguevaraontheroad.blogspot.com/2012/08/my-take-on-london-2012-olympics.html

Travel………………

Didn't travel that much in 2012 but whatever I could was full of fun & wonderful memories! During my brief India Trip in March I had planned a much-awaited ride to Abhaneri, Rajasthan with my motorcycle club – Bulls on Parade (BoP) but that didn't finish the way I had planned – nonetheless whatever time I enjoyed with my comrades was good fun!

My Blog about that Ride: http://cheguevaraontheroad.blogspot.com/2012/10/the-bop-abhaneri-ajgars.html

Then came our Oct-Nov Trip to Indiaand we had a ball!

Went to Gujarat to spend some time with Bandita’s parents and enjoy Gujaratduring the Navratras Time…

Drove to Agra together for a 1-day Trip…and were mesmerized by “Wah Taj”!

Travelled to the most beautiful part of this Earth – Ladakh…and spent 7 days together in the lap of heaven! Memories that would last a lifetime!

And then I rode to Mandawa, Rajasthan with my BoP Comrades to celebrate our 5thAnniversary which was another wonderful & fun-filled ride and most importantly devoid of any mishaps plus had all the regular BoP Ride Ingredients. – BBB, Mis-navigation and yeah some Rain too!

Diabetes......................

This was also the year I was diagnosed with Diabetes....on 17-Feb-2012! With my Chronic Pancreatitis history and both my parents being Diabetics I had to get it one day and this year it finally happened...I am on Insulin and take 2 shots a day and this would remain the case for the rest of my life now...Due to my diet control, exercise regimen and Ayurvedic Medicines thankfully my Blood Sugar levels are under control but I would have to remain careful for the rest of my life now! As always I am unfazed by this and have accepted this as a part of my life! hopefully things would get better in years to come....though this has dealt a big blow to my sweet tooth and now I can't eat all those amazing desserts & this is my biggest loss! plus Diabetes also explains my sudden weight loss in the beginning of this year and the steady gain since it started to get normal due to my medications - Insulin and the Pancreatic Enzymes I take daily....

Last but not the least…………..Bandita!

Big thanks to her for making 2012 such a memorable year! We got married in Nov 2011 and then I came back to Kuwait in Dec 11…she joined me here in February 2012 and since then we have spent some awesome moments together….she is the perfect partner-in-rhyme I could have hoped for! Life is indeed very beautiful with her around….she was always there when I was indulging in Movies, Food and Travel! 

2013 has started on a real good note and hope the good times continue in 2013 as well…lot of good things planned for this year starting with our February Dubai Trip….so here’s wishing everybody a rocking, trouble-free & chilled-out 2013 from my side…

Cheers to life…

Che would be back on the road again…

Till then ride safe and have safe sex…

Hasta la Victoria Siempre…

Jai BoP!  

[cheguevaraontheroad]

The BoP Abhaneri Ajgars

I went to India in March 2012 to participate in the CA Campus Hiring Program to hire fresh Chartered Accountants for my organization...It was supposed to be just a 2-days trip so I decided to take one leave and include a 1-day Motorcycle Ride with My Club Comrades as well…Visiting India and not going for a Bike Ride, well that can’t be a possibility with me! This was going to be another special ride for me…a special destination (one which we couldn’t conquer the last time) plus the first Bike Ride for me as a Married Man! ;)

But destiny had some other plans...

Cut to Year 2011...

I had planned a BoP Club Ride to Abhaneri (Rajasthan) in February 2011 during my India Trip then and that ride also didn’t get materialized as we got stuck on NH-8 due to very heavy fog...so we settled for a Bakar Session at the Neemrana Baoli instead...

The Bakar session at the Neemrana Baoli was one of the best in our Club's history nonetheless and all of us enjoyed like mad!!!We had named the ride as The BoP Abhaneri Ajgars and we settled for The BoP Neemrana Naags…

The Ajgarswere forced to transform into Naags…

This is me: Just after the ride started on the left and during the BBB Session on the right ;)

My Blog Post on that Ride: http://cheguevaraontheroad.blogspot.com/2011/03/bop-neemrana-naags.html

For the uninitiated; details about Abhaneri:

It has the deepest step well in the world - Chand Baori and that's why we chose this destination.

Information Links:

http://www.indiamarks.com/chand-baori-the-deepest-step-well-world//#

http://www.jaipur.org.uk/excursions/abhaneri.html

http://escapenewyork.blogspot.com/2007/10/abhaneri-step-well-rajasthan-india.html

Location:

http://wikimapia.org/8668418/Chand-Baoli-Step-Well-Chand-Baoril

Cut to Year 2012...

I reached India on 23-March-12 morning, reached home, had my breakfast, started my bike and went straight to Zaheer Bhai's shop to get my bike serviced and make it ride-ready...I had ordered a Sans Goldstar Exhaust for my bike and was excited to finally enter the Sans World  and Zaheer installed it...

Saurabh Katar's SANS Goldstar Silencer

Reached home and spent time with my family and all excited for the Bike Ride the next day...

Clicked the customary 1st pic of the Speedometer which I always take before starting a ride at my home...and off I went to the Leisure Valley Parkin Gurgaon which is our club's traditional starting point for all Rides to Rajasthan...

The Ajgars

 This was definitely going to be a big ride not for the distance but for the number of riders for sure! 11 riders signed up for this and 10 turned up as well! Zaheer had to unfortunately drop out at the last moment as his bike had a flat tyre & there was no way he could find a puncture repair shop open at 5 AM in the morning; it was extremely sad as I love riding with him plus he rarely gets opportunities to ride these days…then there were Himanshu Rawat & Ankit Gupta who was making his BoP Debut with this ride! Sanket Tomar aka KunwarJi was also back in India & got back to the roads with this ride! Last but not the least it was great to see Varun Doegar as well in his full biking gear! Once again Diptinder was sorely missed….

The Ajgars were:

Himanshu Rawat on his TBTS 350

Varun Doegar on his TB 350

Aasish Francis on his near-vintage RE Standard 350

Ankit Gupta on his RE Classic 350

Rohan Kaushik on his RE Classic 500

Sanket Tomar aka KunwarJi on his RE Electra 350

Deepak Chauhan on his Pulsar 220

Adit Sharda on his Pulsar 220

Dhruv Malik on his Pulsar 220

Vihas Gupta aka Jaanu (planned to join the ride in Abhaneri)

Che on The Mighty One

I was meeting KunwarJi after a very long time as he was away in IrelandI asked him “Baal bade safed ho gaye tere”…pat came the reply in his signature nonchalant manner “Bachpan se hi aise hain”!!! And for a change & very rarely….I was lost for words…that’s what KunwarJi does to people without battling an eyelid!

After the welcoming, meeting-greeting, sutta sharing and the Rider Formation Pics, we started to conquer Abhaneri…hoping to be second time lucky!

Getting Ready!

 The Ride started at 6 AM and by 7 AM we were hungry already so we decided to stop for some Chai-Snakes-Naashta...

We started with Chai-Namkeen and then saw Fresh Aloo-Chhole Sabzi and Bread Pakodas getting ready; as expected we could resist that temptation so decided to wait till they got ready...the Bakar session started while our Breakfast was getting ready…we also encountered one of the dirtiest public toilets near this joint which was duly visited & commented by some of the Ajgars!

And the wait was worth it…They tasted superb and we gobbled up innumerable number of plates!!!

As expected, Deepak was the star of the show in this session! He gobbled up some 5-6 plates of Bread Pakodas and was always more than eager to help others finishing their plates too! As we all know “woh bahut kam khaataa hai” ;)

We left the Breakfast Joint towards the

Tijara Road

and me & one of my comrades overshot a right turn so one other comrade on his P220 came from behind and asked us to take a U-Turn and the IDIOT me didn't look in my rear-view mirror and tried taking a right and then it happened.........

One very smart & fast villager was coming on his Bajaj Platina at full blast speed of 80-90 kmph and he hit my bike on the right side of my handle with full velocity...he then slid towards the middle of the road for some 20-odd feet very systematically...keeping his head safe and sliding on his feet and then he hit the road on his right shoulder...And obviously he wasn't wearing any helmet and the way he slid he looked very experienced in such adventures! and even better; he had a shy smile on his face too…My right KTM Glove got torn but it saved me from any major injury to the hand....the mudguard came off and the right fork-arm also broke...I couldn't move my bike even an inch...as the front tyre got stuck...

Soon the rest of my comrades and a small crowd joined us...we removed that guy & his bike from the road and got him to the side too...he had one wound on his right arm and some minor bruises on his knees...2 of my comrades took him to a small hospital nearby, he got 3 stitches and also some other minor repair-work...

He told them that he doesn't want to go to the Police as he had no Bike Papers and yes no Driving License too! They also got a precautionary X-Ray done to assess any other major damage to his shoulder; luckily there was none...They paid his medical bills and then he left for his village with his friend...

All this while the rest of us were busy in our Bakchodi session and my ride had pretty much ended by then considering the damage done to my bike...2 comrades then went towards Dharuhera to get a Pick-Up to carry my bike back...Francis took the lead here & a big thanks to him for that gesture!

And then Deepak Chauhan blurted out the dialogue of the ride…he said “accha hua Jha Paaji jo pehle naashta kar liya aur fir accident hua warna badi dikkat ho jaati bhukh ki”…in normal circumstances any rider who just had a ride-ending accident would have mouthed some choicest abuses but then BoP Rides are not normal but very-very special…all I could do was to burst out laughing at Deepak’s candid honesty and his lack of apparent appetite! ;)

I also decided to go with the bike travelling in that pick-up and the rest of the comrades continued with their ride...it was a very sad moment for me as I was so excited & geared up for this ride and to conquer Abhaneri in my second attempt but then maybe it wasn’t in my destiny! Even worse was leaving my comrades and the Rajasthan Roads behind…this was the first bike ride which I couldn’t complete after starting it! Maybe I would be third-time Abhaneri lucky!

We stopped just before the Toll Plaza and then the driver went to get another pick-up for the bike to be loaded onto it as his pick-up was a Rajasthan vehicle and he did not have the necessary papers to get it through to Delhi; I waited for some 15 minutes, in the meantime a security guard came and requested me to lend my phone to him as he had to talk to his parents in Bihar and he did not have the talk time in his phone so I gave it to him and he had a nice & long conversation with his parents back home…I felt happy in connecting the family with my humble Mobile Phone!

Then the new pick-up came and we transferred the bike to it...I reached Rangpuri in Mahipalpur at Zaheer's shop and then unloaded the bike; he was very disappointed that my ride had to be abrupted like this...he repaired my bike in some 1-1.5 hours and then I left for home...

It was a sad day for me but I still enjoyed whatever time I spent on the road with my comrades....the breakfast was awesome and I was lucky that no major damage happened to me or that guy...so all is well that ends well…

But I had a wonderful time travelling in all kinds of vehicles in such a short period of time which was the highlight for me!!! And surely provided some consolation J

Here is the list:

22nd March Evening                 My friend's Chevrolet Tahoe in Kuwait (Home to Airport)

22nd March Night                    Airbus A330-300 (Kuwait to Doha)

23rd March Morning                Airbus A320-200 (Dohato New Delhi)

23rd March Morning                Tata Indigo (T3 to Gurgaon)

23rd March Morning                Royal EnfieldElectra (Gurgaon to Mahipalpur)

23rd March Afternoon             DTC Tata Bus (Mahipalpur to IFFCO Chowk)

23rd March Afternoon             Ford Fiesta Classic (IFFCO Chowk to DLF Phase -1)

24th March Morning                Royal EnfieldElectra (Gurgaon to Dharuhera)

24th March Afternoon             Mahindra Maximo (Dharuhera to Delhi Border)

24th March Afternoon             Tata Pick-Up (Delhi Border to Mahipalpur)

24th March Afternoon             Royal EnfieldElectra (Mahipalpur to Gurgaon)

The ride started on a high & ended on a tragic note but I am sure the upcoming rides would not end on a similar note! And I would conquer Abhaneri soon…

Plus I could not meet Jaanu , that was another huge miss for me! This is what I missed too - BBB Sessions, watching the World Record breaking Baoli and the open roads! … L 

And this is what I faced while sitting in that pick-up… :D

The 5th BoP Anniversary Ride is right round the corner and hope it would be an equally brilliant ride as our previous Anniversary Rides!

Till the time we meet again…ride safe and have safe sex…

Che would be back on the road again…

Hasta la Victoria Siempre…

Jai BoP!  

[cheguevaraontheroad]

Sachin Kalbag's Choice ||| My Views

Sachin Kalbag and me share atleast 2 common passions - Food & Movies...for the uninitiated Sachin is an illustrious Media Person (Print Media is his forte) and he is currently the Executive Editor of Mid Day and prior to this he was working with Mail Today in Delhi...we know each other owing to our Eating Out in Delhi (EOiD) Association and have been on various food trips together in & outside Delhi too... On 17th September we were nonchalantly chatting on GTalk and a discussion started on Movies and SachinJi (as I fondly call him) asked my "Top 3 Acting Performances" of Hollywood, but before that I asked his Top 3 and he came up with his eclectic list!

Kevin Spacey in The Usual Suspects

Edward Norton in Primal Fear

Peter Sellers in Dr Strangelove

Fortunately or unfortunately I hadn't watched any of these 3 movies properly and decided to watch them ASAP...and finally finished watching all of them today... And here are my brief reviews...(in my order of preference of liking)

Primal Fear

Brilliant movie this...Edward Norton is simply brilliant...though I have never liked him much but this movie would surely change my mind now on! a brilliant story well told...gripping, enthralling and has enough twists to keep the viewer glued all the time...I am a big fan of Laura Linney as well & she has done a real nice job too...and well Richard Gere - he looks a dapper as always...great acting by him too...our Bollywood also made a copy of this movie - Deewangee starring Ajay Devgun & that was nice too...this is definitely a must-watch for all lovers of the neo-noir genre...my rating 4/5...

The Usual Suspects

Shame on me for watching this so late! what a bloody awesome movie this is...a twisted plot made so gripping & entertaining by the Director and the superb acting of Kevin Spacey - what a brilliant performance - par excellence!!! the ending blows the viewer away and the entire story played back in my mind even after the movie ended! Definitely one of the best neo-noir Crime movies I have watched...it's definitely a must watch! my rating 4/5...

Dr Strangelove

I love watching satires and this one clearly gets to the top of the list! Petter Sellers in his triple role is simply brilliant in this movie...my favourite was his "Dr. Strangelove" performance for his uncontrollable hand Nazi gestures and his accent! Kubrick - the master director's repertoire is way too awesome - Horror, Drama and Comedies...what a man he was! the comic elements in this movie are subtle and needs understanding and are not obvious funny moments and that's what makes this movie different than others! I loved it and recommend it to all...my rating 4/5... Hope you like my reviews SachinJi and a BIG THANKS to you for introducing me to these 3 movies...I am so glad I watched these 3 pieces of Cinematic Brilliance! Cheers to Life... Hasta la Victoria Siempre... Che

[cheguevaraontheroad]

The BoP Bundi Bandidos

First things first…my sincere apologies for writing & posting this Blog Post so late…11 months after this ride got over…immense guilt feelings in my mind! Hope I don’t repeat this mistake ever again…and maybe that’s the reason I have written such an extensive travelogue; this by far is the most detailed Blog Post I have written for a 3/4/5 days ride and also have worked really hard on this one...going through all the Ride Mails, writing this in a 7-page long MS Word Document and making 24 Collages as there were far too many brilliant pics taken in this ride; I couldn't post all of them so thought of making collages so that I could cover the best ones! - this is the first time I have done this in a Travelogue! Hope all my effort is worth it...I apologize to my comrades for duping them by delaying this for so long & robbing them of reading through all the fun which happened in this special ride…read on with some patience!

India is a land of traditions as they say and Bulls on Parade (BoP) being a true-blue Indian Motorcycling Club tries to follow traditions in our own way! One such tradition is to ride to a Rajasthan-based Destination for our Anniversary Ride every November…Our club was founded in November 2007 and since then we have celebrated 3 Anniversary Rides – Pushkar, Ranthambore and Chittorgarh…come 2011 we decided to head towards Bundi – a non-descript & small but nonetheless a beautiful town tucked in Rajasthan some 450 kms away from Gurgaon…we decided to chose Bundi over host of other destinations just for a simple reason that it was one of those places where not many people pay a visit and as a club we have always tried our best to cover remote locations rather than the “touristy” locations!

The Ride Invite mail was floated by me in September 2011, 2 months before the actual ride so that maximum riders could join in but sadly in the end only 3 riders signed up – Ajit, Vikas and me…and for the first time Diptinder missed our Anniversary Ride as he went to UK to do his MBA…It felt very said as he is a close friend, a dear comrade and most importantly one of the founding members of BoP but as they say “life goes on” and we got to do what we got do so we went ahead with just 5 comrades signed up…but there was a last minute surprise waiting for us…our dearest non-BoP Comrade Vihans Gupta aka Jaanu, Cheenu and Chunnu was planning to buy a RE CL350 Bike but that sadly got delayed due to non-availability so I decided to take him along as my pillion for this special ride; even though I always tend to avoid pillions but for my Jaanu I can do anything…just about anything!  Francis had to drop out to some personal reasons few days before the ride & Rohan ditched us at the last moment without even bothering to inform us that he won’t be joining the ride!

This was going to be a very special ride for me for another reason! As this was my last bike ride as a Bachelor! I was getting married on 18-November-2011, the excitement was palpable and was accentuated by this upcoming ride…you know us motorcyclists…always yearning for Bike Rides on the open roads and that camaraderie with our comrades…some people told me and questioned my decision “what if you meet with an accident, the ride is so close to your wedding?” and I calmly answered them back “If an accident has to happen, it would happen even if I am in Gurgaon”…the die-hard Optimist that I am, this fear never crossed my mind!

I landed in India on 4-Nov-11 and got my bike ready for the ride…as always Zaheer Bhai did a stellar job and I was all set…finally the day arrived…Friday 11-11-11…yeah you read that date correctly! Special date for a special ride!

The BoP Bundi Bandidos were:

Vikas Garg on his Black-Maroon Modified RE Standard 350

Ajit Singh Bhullar on his Chrome RE Machismo 500

Vihans Gupta aka Jaanu on his “Dhui”

Che on “The Mighty One”

Day 1 ||| Friday 11-11-11 ||| Gurgaon - Shahpura - Manoharpur - Change to NH-12 - Chaksu - Tonk - Bundi

Ajit & Jaanu stayed over at my home overnight and we 3 got ready by 5 AM and left for our customary Rajasthan-Ride Starting Point at Leisure Valley Park, Gurgaon where Vikas also joined us by 5:15 AM & after clicking the regular bike formation pics we started the ride at 5:30 AM amidst the loud chants of “Jai BoP”…

The roads were relatively empty and I was back on the road! What an awesome feeling that was – can’t be defined in words……The only disappointment was that the weather wasn’t as chilly as I was expecting, it was quite warm for early November and I was sure that there would be not much respite from the Heat! We stopped exactly an hour and 70 kms later to enjoy some Bakchodi and have a Sutta break…started again after some 10-15 minutes and the engine just died, I checked it & found out that the Battery Wiring was giving some issue as it was getting short, opened the cover, made some minor modifications to the wiring and started again…it was a big relief indeed…also clicked some Sunrise pics with The Mighty One!

 Rode for another 70-odd kms and then stopped at our Traditional NH-8 Breakfast Joint – Prem Pavitra Restaurant – we have enjoyed 2 previous breakfasts during “Ranthambore Rapiers” and “Chittorgarh Cavaliers” Rides and following traditions is our forte as all of you know and we followed suit this time as well! The PPR Owner recognized as well – after all it’s hard to forget us, isn’t it? ;) Had a sumptuous meal of Hot & Fresh Aloo-Gobhi-Pyaaz-Paneer Paranthas laced with Butter & piping-hot Tea and got ready for the ride ahead…

We stopped at the Manoharpur Toll Plaza for a Bum-Break and got into the "Posing" Mood while Jaanu got busy with his Blackberry!

After riding for 280-odd kms, we reached Chaksu and had 165 more kms to go for Bundi… the time got apt for a BBB Break and it was well-deserved one as well; we had covered the distance we had intended and definitely needed some Child Bear with Snakes & Sutta…I did the honours of finding a road-side Theka and then waited for others to join…there was an Egg Joint right next to the Theka and Snakes were ordered and a long Bakchodi session started filled with Beer, Egg concoctions, loads of laughter and yeah Red Bull – I had carried 4 cans with me! It could have gone on for hours & hours but at times we get sensible too and decided to get on the road again and stop only for a Lunch Break…

It was really hot & humid and the riding jacket was making matters worse…we finally decided to stop at 2 PM for lunch…the Paranthas & Eggs had been long digested and we were really hungry…got freshened up after a long process of removing our Motorcycling Gear and got ready for a long lunch in an Air-Conditioned RTDC Restaurant on the highway – yeah even we enjoy such luxuries at times when on Bike Rides ;) maybe it’s the NRI Effect :D The lunch was lovely too…Gatte ki Sabzi, Dal Tadka, Malai Kofta, Zeera Rice and Tawa Rotis…as always I overate! We then went towards the lush-green lawns of the Restaurant and enjoyed some much-deserved rest…There was a superb incident which happened here….we spotted an error in the Menu and when we showed it to the waiter he replied "Haan sir mujhe pata hai yeh gandi cheez hoti hai"...all of us burst out laughing !!!

Rode for another 3 more hours before reaching 5 kms short of Bundi after taking some short Sutta breaks in the middle…I decided to stop and wait for the others to join so that we could reach Bundi together…the scenes were magnificent…the highway road, the milestone slab, my bike and the setting Sun…perfect combination for some memorable pics & I did the needful! All this while Jaanu was busy on his phone finishing some of his ever-so-routine like business deals!

We reached the Bundi city after manoeuvring through some real heavy traffic as expected with the stares of the locals which we are now used to...checked for some Hotels online on Vikas’ GS2 Mobile Phone (more about that later!) and then finalized Hotel Kasera Heritage - got 2 Double Bed Rooms for 1100 INR each. The rooms were quite cosy, clean & spacious...relaxed for some bit, had a hot water bath and then went to the Rooftop to enjoy the scene around...was amazed to see that we could get a magnificent view of the Bundi Fort from the rooftop...it looked magnificent...all of us took a much-needed bath and got ready for the fun times ahead!

 Our Hotel Caretaker was named “Aslam” and he was a bit of a “Gay Party” and his mannerisms were funny if put mildly; both me & Jaanu decided to get playful with him and started a bit of friendly banter with him (if one could call that)…when we asked him for a matchbox we got a lighter and he famously said “yeh subah waapas kar dena, haaaaaan” and we blew up! And he was duly named “Aslam Bhen”….

Time was ripe for a night BBB Session and we duly followed suit! The Mehfil was arranged in our Room as there was some Rooftop Party being organized on the Terrace; we were disappointed but it was quickly washed away in the Pegs and the drinks! Jaanu was as always in a playful mood and out of nowhere the famous words came out “Menu laao behenchodon ka” while he was finding some options to make a special mix of you know what ;)… these words were full of angst for no rhyme & reason but then that’s Jaanu for you!

After the 2-hours long session we went for Dinner at a Cafe located on a rooftop and aptly named “Rooftop Cafe”…the service was pretty pathetic and the food below average…so we quickly finished our meal and left towards our Hotel Rooms for a much deserved sleep…covered exactly 444 kms and were on the road for almost 12 hours after starting from Gurgaon…

Day 2 ||| Saturday 12-11-11 ||| A relaxed day in Bundi

The day started at 6 AM for the 2 Photographer Bandidos – Vikas & Ajit who went Bandook-Shooting through the streets of Bundi and clicked some real wonderful images of the city waking up to a lovely morning; while me & Jaanu were oblivious to any such shooting incidents happening so close to us…we woke up royally at 8:30 AM and joined the 2 Bandookdhaaris at 9:30 AM after enjoying some Hot Tea and Parle-G Dose! This was the perfect starter for the lovely breakfast which was waiting us…delicious & lip-smacking! Fresh & Hot Samose, Kachodi and Poha…we couldn’t have dreamt of a better start to the day than this! Roamed around the streets of Bundi for a while before heading towards the Hotel but not before enjoying another cup of Tea…surely one of the best cup of Teas I have had in my life!

I must say that Bundi is a beautiful town and the street scenes were simply too beautiful and unexpected too…in spite of the hustle & bustle the city had a unique charm to it and we got soaked! The kids going to school, the shops getting opened, the honks & bells of the traffic, people gingerly waking up and the Sun getting ready to blaze! Plus the spellings or rather the mis-spellings all over the city were so entertaining and we laughed our guts out!

The POA for the day was plain & simple…exploring Bundi – The Taragarh Fort, Rani Ji ki Baori, 84 Chhatri and the famous Jait Sagar Lakewith some delicious food and Bakchodi on the way!

We started with the Fort which houses the beautiful & relatively well preserved “Garh Palace” and the “Chitrashala” within its precincts…the Fort is well maintained but surprisingly there were'nt many visitors apart from 4 or 5 foreigners...we didn’t want to hire any Guide but we got engrossed when one of the Fort Guides was explaining things to a Foreign Tourist Couple and his English diction skills were par-excellence! Nothing short of being extraordinary…his “Takia-Kalaam” was “Very-Very” and he never failed to use this phrase in every sentence he spoke! We somehow controlled our laugh & tried to pay 100% attention to what he said as what he was blabbering was surely very entertaining & interesting! I even made a video of it ;) Plus all those hand-made paintings were beautiful too and very well-preserved even after all those years behind them…Vikas was specially engrossed in the Mirror Work and played with it through his camera and came out with some brilliant images! And they were incredible as those mirrors were installed way back in the Year 1761!

After the fun times in the Chitrashala we paid a handsome tip to our guide which was well-deserved too! Then we moved to the courtyard to click the signature pic of this ride!

And then the Trekker inside us woke up from his deep slumber & we decided to trek towards the Fort-Top, it was really hot and the Sun was shining in its full glory but we didn’t flinch at all – our determination was in the right place after some 45-odd minutes of huffing, sweating & puffing we reached the top and were treated to the brilliant view of the Bundi City! It was definitely worth the effort we made…we even made a German friend during our Trek as he has shit scared of monkeys & we happily obliged…he was a solo-traveller on his India Trip and was fun to talk to as well, it’s always great to talk to such travellers – and I always ask one question to such global travellers – “How many countries you have visited so far?” –his answer was 5, but it was great nonetheless as he was just 21 years old! Just want to mention about one such answer I got…I met a Canadian Traveller – Logan Essu, I met him during our Game-Fishing Trip at Havelock Islandsin November 2011, Andaman and his answer was a mind-boggling 43! And he was just 31 years old then! So we can’t even imagine when he would end with what count!

We also encountered the biggest possible water playground for monkeys on the way down! Those simians were having a whale of a time…lucky buggers! And then we were “Monkey-Menaced”! we reached a gate which was swarmed by some really angry & protective female monkeys who were not budging even an inch to let us go out…their canines were all out in the open and they were some real scary 20-30 minutes where we had no other option than to wait & let those monkeys move away but they were in no mood to budge so we decided to shout for help and VOILA, it worked! The Fort attendants came rushing up and helped us to get out…and all of us were mightily relieved!

After those scary simian moments passed us by we reached the base of the Fort & enjoyed some Child Lemon Soda to hydrate us after the hot & dreary trek…we bid goodbye to our German Friend & wished him best of luck for his travels ahead…

The Bandidos were really hungry & decided to have an early lunch…it was decent lunch and we got what we wanted – delicious food and some respite from the heat!

We went back to the hotel, picked up the Bike Keys and then it was time for some dessert! After some enquiring from the locals we were recommended to visit “Jai Mahavir Kulfi Centre”, we reached there and enjoyed some lip-smacking Kulfi and refreshing Badam Milk Shake & fresh Pineapple Juice!

And then the legendary word of this Ride came out from Jaanu’s vocal chords – “CHALEIN?” and it continued to be used by us all afterwards quite regularly!

Went to see "Raani Jee ki Baoli" - it’s the biggest Baoli in Bundi but unfortunately they close it at sharp 4:30 PM and we reached at 4:45 PM...So close but yet so far...so we relaxed in the lush-green lawns to enjoy some Sutta & Bakchodi whereas Ajit & Vikas went towards the market to click some candid shots…when they came back Jaanu said ““CHALEIN?”

So off we went to the "Nawal Sagar Lake" and once we reached there it was another disappointment as the lake was nothing much except a big ocean of Algae & some lotus thrown in for some good measure!!! But it gave us an opportunity to click some real nice pics & we also spotted some birds too...I switched on my Mobile's Music Player and listened to some soothing music while reminiscing about my life gone by...Che got philosophical !!! After spending a real good time there, Jaanu again said ““CHALEIN?”

Off we went to see the Chauraasi Chaatri or Chaatri of 84 Pillars but sadly it was pitch dark and some preparations were going on for the upcoming Bundi Festival...me & Jaanu could not stop our excitement out of sheer frustration after facing 3 disappointments, straight after the other and started to laugh like mad & do our Jigs…all this while the 2 photographers amongst us were busy what they do best – clicking some amazing pics! Luckily some of the bulbs came to life in some time and we could enjoy the views somewhat...and then Jaanu once again said ““CHALEIN?”

This time the focus moved from “sightseeing” to “Pet-Pooja”! It was all about Street Food afterwards...one more time...and this time we enjoyed both Sweets and Chat Items!!! Everything we tasted was superb and was also enjoyed as "Snakes" during the upcoming last drinks session of Bundi...First up was Rabri & Halwa at a roadside “Mishthan Bhandaar” followed by another first-time experience -  Golgappe made of "Urad ki Dal" which were simply superb & those wonderful conversations with the owner of that Thela…then we went to another Thela making some fresh Moong-Dal Pakoras; we tasted some and got the rest of them packed for the next BBB Session which was organized on the Roof-Top, yeah this time we were not going to miss that experience! What a scene it was…BBB Session on the roof looking at the beautifully-lit Taragarh Fort….straight out of a movie scene! a BoP Movie that is ;)

We reached the Hotel and me & Jaanu had some “Jhoola Masti” as well! Fun moments those were! Later we headed straight towards the Rooftop and started the BBB Session…we had to finish sharp at 12 Midnight as the next day we had to wake up early & start the return ride back home! The Snake-Drinks-Sutta Settings were made and the traditional pics were clicked!

And then the Mobile Gaming Competition started…me & Jaanu were competing against each other (for a change) and this was all for a fun game named “Fruit Slice”…I was elading by a big margin but then somehow Jaanu made a big score and beat me by a huge margin & then his happiness knew no bounds…he started to dance like a maniac! A winning maniac that is ;) those were hilarious & unforgettable scenes! It beat the shit out of all possible winning celebrations you have ever seen in your life! And I can bet on this! :D

After the fun-filled BBB Session we headed towards our dinner – the last meal in Bundi…this time our choice was a restaurant named “Tom & Jerry Rooftop Restaurant”! as they say the kid in you should always be alive! And we remained true to that saying by selecting that restaurant! Had our dinner and came back towards our Hotel…enroute we were stopped by a man who was surprised to see 4 Indian Travellers in his town! We started to talk & got to know that he was part of the most famous political Family of Bundi! He is a lawyer in the Supreme Court in New Delhi and sis Mother is Mrs. Mamta Sharma who is the MLA of Bundi and the current Chairperson of National Commission of Women (NCW)…he told us about the issues Bundi is facing & what he was doing for the development of this city…it was an interesting & informative discussion which we thoroughly enjoyed…and also gave our inputs and some introduction about BoP & why we chose Bundi over other Rajasthan Destinations, hearing which he was pleasantly surprised! He even gave us a shortcut route via Sawai Madhopur! We reached our hotel & slept with our alarms on! Had planned to start by 6:30 AM which we all knew was going to be tough for us but then there is no harm in trying! Isn’t it? ;)

Day 3 ||| Sunday 13-11-11 ||| Bundi - Sawai Madhopur- Lalsot – Dausa – Manoharpur – Dharuhera – Gurgaon

As planned, we finished all our tasks…woke up, got ready, packed our stuff, loaded our bikes, settled the hotel bill, checked out of the Hotel, filled our Petrol Tanks and started at sharp 6:30 AM from the Petrol Pump! Beat that for efficiency!!! I love riding through Village Roads of Rajasthan and this time as well we didn’t take the main highway but rather a village road and the scenes were superb...mountains or hill rather on one side and lush green fields on the other...and the weather made the setting perfect...little bits of sunshine hitting us !!!It was a beautiful morning; cool & clear weather, smooth Rajasthan State Highway Road to ride on and my Bike! Life set! As always I rode at full blast speed and had to wait for the others to join in! Used this time to click some pics of “The Mighty One” on the road…

The others joined us and we decided to stop for a small tea break at a very small village...and then the fun times began...The tea stall owner was so overwhelmed to see 4 Motorcyclists all the way from Delhi at his small shop!!!He sent one guy to fetch fresh milk for our tea as he thought that serving us Tea made from one day old Milk would be an utter disrespect to us!!! We tried our best convincing him but he was in no mood to listen anything like that!!! This obviously delayed us as I am sure even the cows & buffaloes had not woken up so we decided to sit back & relax and enjoy the Rajasthani Hospitality...Jaanu also did some Chillum Fun while biding his time! And we had amazing fun clicking the kids at the shop and then the tea came...and out came our Parle G Biscuits as well!!! After a memorable time at the shop we bid goodbye to the shop-owner and thanked him for his kind gestures and started the next leg of the ride...

We spotted an abandoned fort as well…didn’t stop there….left it for some other day! We reached a Railway Crossing & encountered the stares once again of the bewildered Rajasthan Villagers – they were shocked to see 4 aliens on Motorcycles wearing some clothes which I am sure majority of them won’t have seen ever!

We stopped for our very-late Breakfast at 11 AM close to Sawai Madhopur; this ride was real good fun as we had also rode on the same roads during our 2008 Anniversary Ride – The Ranthambore Rapiers! And then it happened! My first Open-Air Dump of the ride…amidst some shrubs on the Highway…what a glorious feeling that is! And can be experienced only when you actually do it yourself…I have been privileged to have experienced in the Mountains, Forests, Sea Side, Desert, Road Side and what not! Hope to keep experiencing this magic on some other terrains as well as life progresses! After I emptied my bowels all I needed was a heavy dose of Paranthas and Tea & God was once again kind on me…I enjoyed what I had asked for!

The ride after this pit-stop was full of misery for all of us! We encountered some real messy roads, full of dust & pebbles and to make matters worse the weather was getting hotter & hotter with each passing minute…but we trudged on as Brave Motorcycle Warriors and din’t flinch much! But after 2 hours our body was in mood to go on without some rest so we decided to take a break and give some respite to our exhausted bodies! Enjoyed some rest loaded with Sutta & Bakar! We also made a “Jaljeera” drink to replenish us on the road! The innovative Bandidos! :D The female “manning” the shot was full of attitude and had rustic & beautiful looks…thanks to her we all got relieved and the exhaustion went away in no time! She even gave us an expired bottle of Frooti but we didn’t mind that at all either ;)

We made a lunch stop and also some Sutta Breaks before hitting NH-8 at 5:30 PM! Perfectly as per the plan…took a short break at the Manoharpur Toll Plazabefore hitting the road again for the last leg of the ride! The gasket cover of the head-cylinder of my bike started to leak & I could not go beyond 80 kmph which surely was a big relief for my Bike & Jaanu! And the moment we hit NH-8, it was the regular mayhem-filled scenes of honking & jamming! Tourists coming back to NCR after the weekend and making the traffic messy…but nonetheless it gave me ample opportunities to criss-cross my way through the traffic, even climbing footpaths to get through! My previous riding experience in the Delhi traffic for so many years always come handy during such situations and I love riding this way…but Jaanu was no way amused; he was jumping & pumping in the pillion seat & using his choicest profanities…I remember one such sentence very vividly! Once I climbed a footpath and he said “Paaji, BAKHAAUL mat machaao aap, aaraam se chalaao”…I laughed for some 2-3 minutes before commencing my Footpath tryst again ;)

So finally after all these Traffic Adventures the Ride ended....it was a great ride; we celebrated our Club's 4th Anniversary in true BoP Style with loads of BBB Magic...even though we were just 4 & would have loved to have a much bigger group but nonetheless I couldn’t have asked for more…I signed off my Bachelorhood Riding days with a super-amazing ride! Had to get back to my Wedding Preparations straightaway & this ride provided me all the vigour & rigour I needed!

965 kms of pure Rajasthan magic...4 comrades...yes the Bandidos did it in style!!!

All the pics from the ride: My Camera: http://goo.gl/TNvRf Vikas' Camera: http://goo.gl/ey12p Ajit's Camera: http://goo.gl/aDmYf

I missed Diptinder a lot as I chanted our customary “Jai BoP” all-alone this time at the “Jai BoP” point in Gurgaon but I am sure he was present there in spirit when I shouted it in my loudest possible voice! Hope we can ride together very soon……

The 5th BoP Anniversary Ride is right round the corner and hope it would be an equally brilliant ride as the Bandidos Ride!

Till the time we meet again…ride safe and have safe sex…and cheers to life!

Che would be back on the road again…

Hasta la Victoria Siempre…

Jai BoP! 

[cheguevaraontheroad]

My take on London 2012 Olympics

My first memory of the Olympics spectacle date back to the 1988 Seoul Olympics when Ben Johnson of Canada won the 100 metres race beating the favourite and reigning champion Carl Lewis of USA and set a new world record and for the first time an athlete had broken the 10 seconds barrier in the Olympics 100 metres race and that photograph of Johnson pointing his fingers towards the sky became a signature photograph; rest is as they say is history; Johnson tested positive for performance-enhancing drugs and was stripped of the WR and the Gold Medal; Carl Lewis retained his Olympic Title and set a new WR as well!!

And the Love Affair with Olympics started…it continued during Barcelona (1992), Atlanta (1996), Sydney (2000), Athens (2004) and Beijing (2008)…I used to follow all the games on Newspapers and on the Internet in the recent years but have never before followed any Sporting Event more closely than the London 2012 Olympics and I enjoyed my virtual participation ;) and discussing the games with my friends offline and majorly on FB!!!

London was announced as the venue for the 2012 Olympics on 6 July 2005 and it was a tragic & infamous start as the London Tube Bombings happened less than 24 hours after the announcement. But London had seven years to prepare and they did a great job indeed…

The Opening Ceremony was held on 27 July and was called "Isles of Wonder". Danny Boyle was the director and as expected he did a marvelous job but IMHO it was a shade lower than the Beijing Olympics Opening Ceremony which was technically and visually far more superior…I loved the Daniel Craig act and my favourite part was the lighting of the Olympic Cauldron which was described as "one of the best-kept secrets of the opening ceremony" – everybody including me was expecting the routine process; one athlete running and then lighting the cauldron with a torch but Danny Boyle blew everybody with his rendition! Taken from Wikipedia: Each young athlete was greeted by their nominating Olympian, and each presented with their own torches, which were lit from the Olympic flame. The young athletes then jogged through a passageway formed between the assembled athletes to the centre of the stadium, where the 205 copper petals (each inscribed with the name of the team it had accompanied) were now seen attached to long pipes in a circular formation (the petals will accompany each team home after the Games). The seven young athletes lit some of the petals, and when the flame had spread to all of them, they slowly rose to converge and form the Olympic cauldron.

And how can controversy stay behind especially wrt India ;) One female named Madhura Nagendra walked along our Flag-Bearer Sushil Kumar smiling her way to glory…and she was not supposed to be there! There have been various spoofs relating her infamous walk to other entry stunts as well! By far she was the most unforgettable non-athlete for Indians in these Olympics! So on 28th July 2012 the London 2012 Olympics finally started with around 10,500 athletes representing 204 countries and across 26 sports and a total of 39 disciplines. For the first time there was a female participation amongst all the representing countries (yes, even Saudi Arabia had a female athlete) and it was a big step going forward! Another conservative country – Qatar also made history as a female athlete was their flag bearer in the OC!

16 days of sporting action…302 events…962 medals to be won…and many more records to be broken…The first Gold Medal was won by Italy in the men's team final event of Archery defeating USA…and the last was won by Laura Asadauskaitė of Lithuania in the Women'sModern pentathlon Event just hours before the start of the closing ceremony…

32 World Records were broken and set in these Olympics…USA topped the Medal standings with a total of 104 medals (46 G, 29 S and 29 B) followed by China in the Number 2 position – 87 medals (38 G, 27 S and 22 B) and the host nation Great Britain in the Number 3 position – 65 medals (29 G, 17 S and 19 B)…the others in the Top 10 (in order) were: Russia, South Korea, Germany, France, Italy, Hungary and Australia. 85 countries out of the 204 participating countries won atleast a medal! 54 won at least one gold medal. Bahrain, Botswana, Cyprus, Gabon, Grenada, Guatemala, and Montenegro each won its first Olympic medal ever, with Grenada's being gold. Even Kuwait won a Bronze Medal! Their second medal ever…won by their Shooter Fehaid Al-Deehani who got the medal in the Men's Trap Shooting Event…and he is the one who won the first-ever Medal for Kuwait in the 2000 Sydney Olympics too – a bronze!

The most exciting events of any Olympics are in the Athletics Stream and this time it was no different either! Usain Bolt the star winning 3 Gold Medals and repeating his hat-trick from BeijingOlympics….I am sure nobody can deny the fact that he is a legend! What a performance from the tall Jamaican…and his showman skills….I haven’t seen a more confident sportsperson ever in my life…helmets off to Usain Bolt!

IMHO the second biggest star of these Olympics was the American Michael Phelps who was competing in his last Olympics and being the legend he is, he had to bid farewell in the grandest possible style! He became the most decorated Olympian of all time with 22 medals and also breaking the record for winning the most number of 18 gold medals; in London, Phelps won four golds and two silver medals…just read this for a data point: if Michael Phelps were a country then he would have been at a position of "47" in the all-time Olympic Medals List!!!

 And the third biggest star was Oscar Pistorius the South African athlete also known as the "Blade Runner" and "the fastest man on no legs"… in London, he became the first double leg amputee to participate in the Olympics when he entered the men's 400 metres race and was part of South Africa's 4 × 400 metres relay team! One of the biggest examples of dogged determination and a true sports champion! He didn’t win any Medal in these Olympics but for me his achievement is nothing short of a gold medal!

The best and the most brilliant celebration of a medal was by far that of Robert Harting of Germanywho won the Men’s Discuss Throw Gold Medal…this photograph would tell you why!

The quote of the Olympics:

"Basically, we are not human; we dropped from space like Mr Bean. Mr Bean is not a normal guy, he makes jokes. We are not normal guys. We are from space, I am from Mars." - Jamaica's Yohan Blake 

And then there was the Indian Olympic Contingent…competing for the hopes of 1.4 billion Indians…it was our biggest Olympic contingent ever - 83 athletes to compete in 13 sports… India finally won 6 medals - 2 silver and 4 bronze which is by far the best performance by India in terms of number of medals won at any single Olympic games. – the next best was 3 in the preceding 2008 Beijing Olympics…The biggest shame was the Indian Hockey Team which failed to win a single group match and finished last amongst the 12 participating teams – their worst-ever performance; a bit better than Beijing though where they even failed to qualify! The first Indian Medallist was Shooter Gagan Narangwho won a Bronze Medal in the Men's 10 m air rifle event on 30 July and the last but not the least and infact  by winning his second individual Olympic medal was our Wrestler Sushil Kumar who won the Silver in the Men's 66kg Freestyle Wrestling category on the last day of these games on 12 August…Our boxer Mary Kom created history by winning the first-ever medal of the Women’s Boxing Category in the History of Olympics! And our biggest medal hope Saina Nehwal had to settle with a Bronze Medal who won her match as her Chinese opponent retired due to a knee injury…but that medal winning photograph where she is standing with the 2 Chinese is one of my favorite ones signifying the Indian Challenge to the Chinese Domination in Women’s Badminton!

The biggest surprise was the shooter Vijay Kumar’s Silver Medal as he wasn’t expected to win but it surely made us very happy indeed! For me the best win was of Yogeshwar Dutt who won 3 tough wrestling bouts consecutively in the Repechage bouts to earn the Bronze Medal!

The final tally: Medal         Name                        Sport                         Event                                           Silver          Vijay Kumar              Shooting                    Men's 25 m rapid fire pistol     Silver          Sushil Kumar            Wrestling                   Men's 66kg Freestyle                 Bronze       Gagan Narang           Shooting                    Men's 10 m air rifle                       Bronze        Saina Nehwal           Badminton                Women's singles                           Bronze        Mary Kom               Boxing                      Women's flyweight                         Bronze        Yogeshwar Duttt      Wrestling                  Men's 60kg Freestyle                       

Hope these 6 medallists can inspire millions of other Indian Athletes and we can hit the magical double figure in the 2016 Rio Olympics!

Amidst all my Olympics hyper-excitement I started a specific page on Facebook named Nishant Jha's Olympics 2012 Updates as I thought I was spamming all of my friend’s FB News Feed by bombarding them with Olympic Updates….and luckily (some say it was a good omen) just moments after making this page Vijay Kumar won our first Silver Medal of these Olympics! It was great fun posting all those updates, interacting with all my friends on that page and wishing our Olympians the best of luck before each of their contests! I was following these Olympics on 3 TV channels – DD Sports, ESPN and Star Sports in addition to following the official website of the London Olympics and at times following the NDTV Live Feed as well.

But the best news broadcaster for the Indian Participation was a FB Page named Indiaat London Olympics 2012 which was by far the most popular news feed for Indians on FB atleast!

Yesterday I followed the last Olympic Event -Women'sModern pentathlon Event and then got ready to watch the Closing Ceremony which was another fun event and was a musical blast with host of British Musicians participating and the biggest surprise was a Bhangra Show with our Punjabi Music and Bhangra Dance portrayed! An amazing moment it was…

So finally the London 2012 Olympics ended and on a big high indeed! And I am sure the next Olympics – Rio 2016 would be equally brilliant and fantastic!

Here’s wishing Great Britain & London a big thanks and Brazil & Rio the very best of luck and hope I would be able to catch all the action in the same way as I did during these Olympics!

Big thanks to my wife Bandita for being such a great partner during the Olympics...she was always there to discuss the matches, medals, wins, losses and all those mindless comments which I make! plus she also tolerated my 100% attention on updating the latest action on FB! Plus thanks to Ramadan here in Middle East and the curtailed office timings & work-load that I could follow this mega-event religiously for all these days!!!

[cheguevaraontheroad]

Gangs of Wasseypur | My Review | Hazraat-Hazraat-Hazraat

I had been waiting for Gangs of Wasseypur like mad since the day it was announced and had been waiting for it expectantly; I was all over the place with its promotion on Facebook; in fact some of my friends thought I was being paid for it – but nothing of that sort, it was just my true love for “Anurag Kashyap” brand of Cinema and nothing else…I used the watch all the videos/pics/songs posted by GoW Team within minutes of them being posted and then went ga-ga over them on FB and posting them left, right & centre. I also downloaded its music and got lost in the sheer brilliance – what a mind-blowing soundtrack, it was playing at the loudest of the volumes in my car every day…so much was the excitement & anticipation…but then one of the biggest bummers of my life happened!

I watched its trailer when I went to watch the RGV Disaster named “Department” on the big screen here in Kuwait and thought (against hope) that it would release here in Kuwait too but 21 June came and it didn’t release here as the Censors here didn’t pass it for a release…I was shattered, depressed and distressed – all together…I somehow consoled myself and waited for the Pirated Camera Print to come online…and downloaded 2 of them but the print quality was disastrous and I decided to wait for a good quality print as I didn’t want to spoil and ruin my GoW Experience by watching a lousy print…

And finally the proverbial lady luck smiled on me on the night of 30th June …after watching 9 movies in the weekend (yes, you read it correctly – 9 movies it is!) we geared up for our GoW Time which had well & truly arrived…Bandita in true Cinema-experience style popped a pack of Popcorn in the Microwave and we sat down to get drenched in Anurag Kashyap Magic….the writing was on the wall – KEH KE LUNGA…And it did all that and even more…

GoW is just about Anurag Kashyap's vision...to have such an extensive ensemble cast and still ensuring each getting their optimum screen time is a commendable effort to say the least....each thing about this movie wreaks of brilliance...be it the smashing music of Sneha Khanwalkar, the superb Background score composed by G. V. Prakash Kumar , the storyline (Zeishan Quadri, Akhilesh, Sachin Ladia & Anurag Kashyap), dialogues, cinematography of Rajeev Ravi and the acting of the entire cast...

So much research and hard work has gone into making this movie and all the scenes must have been well-thought out and planned by the crew…minute details have been paid attention to and I could not find any glitches in the storyline…all the characters have been developed painstakingly and you start getting involved in each one of them…

It is brutal, dark, violent, abusive and yet funny!!! sheer magic and I was glued to my seat for the full 2.5 hours of the movie waiting with baited breath for the next scene to unfold…Helmets off to AK and the entire team who backed his vision and pumped money into this project…the new phase of Bollywood is well & truly here and I am very happy to say that its here to stay! And believe me, this movie isn’t for the sissies out there – it’s gory in its own way (unlike SawJ) and dark all the way through!

Some of the dialogues are way too awesome…apart from the ones which were publicized on YouTube there are loads of other equally brilliant ones as well! And I am not just talking about the Dialogues with Gaalis (Yes I loved them the most but loved others too) ;)

The song where Sardar Khan stands on a top of a truck and publicly takes on Ramadhir Singh while the guy in the pink shirt is dancing as if there is no tomorrow is sheer brilliance…and the song playing in the background “Kasam paida karne waale ki”…Hazraat-Hazraat-Hazraat!!!! Crazy stuff indeed…

Manoj Bajpai as Sardar Khan is menacing in his role and in spite of all his follies (read: love for violence & immorality) I loved his character...he is brutal when he kills people, shameless the way he treats his women and his eyes just mean lust and nothing else when he is around women! Needless to say he is the real star of the movie and this is one of the best roles of his life…Manoj Bajpai is back & how!

Richa Chaddha as Nagma Khatoon is a revelation; in spite of the utter disdain shown by her husband she loves him unabashedly! superb acting and what a fiery performance...great to see her back after the "Dolly" Avatar of Oye Lucky Lucky Oye!

Reemma Sen as Durga looks a real hottie and the lust for her is all-too-visible in the eyes of Sardar Khan; she doesn’t have many dialogues but really she never needed them - her body and eyes did all the talking!

Jaideep Ahlawat as Shahid Khan is menacing too in his brief role and sets the tone for the entire movie...the scene where he dies would never go out of my mind! Talk about Sudden Death ;)

Nawazuddin Siddiqui as Faizal Khan has started off brilliantly and I am sure he would be the star of the Part -2 and I hope to see some more romantic extravaganzas with Mohsina (Huma Qureshi) ;) and I am sure he would have all the Permissions by then to go all the way!!! His dialogue “jab tak Dileep Kumar hai tab tak Waheeda Rehman rahegi” is spectacular! And in fact he is the one who takes the real revenge for the killing of his grandfather and not Sardar Khan as he has been seen proclaiming in the movie J

Vineet Kumar as Danish Khan…My favourite scene of him is his “Suhaagraat” scene when he tells his wife “ santara ko seb kehne se seb thode hi ho jaayega, santra hi na rahega….sunhara rang, bheeni-bheeni khushbu aur andar se rasedaar” ;)

Huma Qureshi as Mohsina – the Ray Ban girl is beautiful, rustic and yet modern!!! And yes she likes both colours – Laal & Hara ;) and Innocence personified….even when she wants Faizal to touch her but even then she wants to tell him she is the boss!!!!

Pankaj Tripathi as Sultan Qureshi is controlled yet poignant in his performance; the scene where he asks for “Automatic Guns” from Ramadhir is brilliant – his understated style is for all to admire and has set the tone for an encore in the Part 2 and I am sure he would have a pivotal role in the second installment…glad to see him back on the big screen after his brief yet important role in Omkara!

Tigmanshu Dhulia as Ramadhir Singh – What a debut; he couldn’t have asked for a better start to his Acting career! He is restrained, calm & collected and yet brings out the expected results in the best possible way!

It was great to see Aayan Boradia back on the screen as the young Sardar Khan; he was simply brilliant in Udaan!

Jameel Khan as Asgar is comical too and plays his part brilliantly of being the right-hand man of Sardar Khan…

And then there is the indomitable Yashpal Sharma as the Item Boy singing “Salaam-e-Ishq”…bloody hilarious…hope its MP3 File is out soon J

Last but not the least Piyush Mishra as Farhan who is the right-hand man & caretaker of Sardar Khan and also the narrator of the movie…as always controlled yet so effective in his performance…he has also sung, written and composed the beautiful song “Ik Bagal”…He has also written “Keh Ke Loonga” and “Manmauji”. And then one of his dialogues when he is talking to Nagma: "Tum sahi ho, woh marad hai,"…WOW is the word for its poignancy!

Special Mention to the Music of this film which is nothing short of being master class…the kind of research & efforts which have gone into it is all too audible!! Sneha Khanwalkar just like AK is a true maverick in her own way…and each one of the songs of the Soundtrack is here to stay…my favourites being “O Womaniya” and “Ik Bagal”…and all the songs are perfectly timed in the movie and take the story forward…exception being “I am Hunter” which in my opinion was not at all needed…

The ending lives up to the theme of the movie – bloody and gory…and the famous & old-age saying…”you live by the gun and die by the gun”…

I just can’t wait for GoW – 2 to be released soon and watch the saga unfold further and get to its conclusion…needless to say it would be another masterpiece from AK and would be lapped up by us all…KASAM PAIDA KARNE WAALE KI…………………………………

Anurag Kashyap…keep the great work going and keep making such awesome films…you are the true maverick of Bollywood…helmets off to you….

Enjoy some posters of GoW..........and keep waiting for GoW - 2!

Che would be back on the road again… Till then ride safe & have safe sex… Hasta la Victoria Siempre & Jai BoP…

[cheguevaraontheroad]

2011 Academy Awards...My Winners...

Watching movies has always been my passion and since last year I have started watching all the Oscar nominations religiously and this year as well I have watched all the movies nominated for the Top 8 Awards...finished right on time just a night before the awards would be announced!!! One important observation of mine is that the quality of last year's nominated movies was far better than this year's but nonetheless some of them were real good and some of them plain bad! As I did last year here's presenting my winners...dont know how incorrect I might be but I am sure some of my winners would surely win the coveted trophy tomorrow... So here's the list: Best Picture The Artist The Descendants Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close The Help Hugo Midnight in Paris Moneyball The Tree of Life War Horse My Winner: War Horse Best Director Woody Allen – Midnight in Paris Michel Hazanavicius – The Artist Terrence Malick – The Tree of Life Alexander Payne – The Descendants Martin Scorsese – Hugo My Winner: Martin Scorsese for Hugo Best Actor Demián Bichir – A Better Life as Carlos Galindo George Clooney – The Descendants as Matt King Jean Dujardin – The Artist as George Valentin Gary Oldman – Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy as George Smiley Brad Pitt – Moneyball as Billy Beane My Winner: George Clooney – The Descendants as Matt King Best Actress Glenn Close – Albert Nobbs as Albert Nobbs Viola Davis – The Help as Aibileen Clark Rooney Mara – The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo as Lisbeth Salander Meryl Streep – The Iron Lady as Margaret Thatcher Michelle Williams – My Week with Marilyn as Marilyn Monroe My Winner: Viola Davis – The Help as Aibileen Clark Best Supporting Actor Kenneth Branagh – My Week with Marilyn as Laurence Olivier Jonah Hill – Moneyball as Peter Brand Nick Nolte – Warrior as Paddy Conlon Christopher Plummer – Beginners as Hal Fields Max von Sydow – Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close as The Renter My Winner: Kenneth Branagh – My Week with Marilyn as Laurence Olivier Best Supporting Actress Bérénice Bejo – The Artist as Peppy Miller Jessica Chastain – The Help as Celia Foote Melissa McCarthy – Bridesmaids as Megan Price Janet McTeer – Albert Nobbs as Hubert Page Octavia Spencer – The Help as Minny Jackson My Winner: Octavia Spencer – The Help as Minny Jackson Best Writing – Original Screenplay The Artist – Michel Hazanavicius Bridesmaids – Kristen Wiig and Annie Mumolo Margin Call – J.C. Chandor Midnight in Paris – Woody Allen A Separation – Asghar Farhadi My Winner: Midnight in Paris – Woody Allen Best Writing – Adapted Screenplay Cant call my winner here as havent read any of the original works... May the best men and women win tomorrow night and I am sure the Jury would award the most deserving ones and not just go with the big names!!! as has been done at times in the past... Unfortunately cant watch the Awards Ceremony LIVE as the timings dont suit me but would surely catch-up with the winners on the Internet... And as the 2011 Oscar Mania is finally over would get back to watching some other movies from my list and now I have a partner-in-rhyme too !!! My wife Bandita is here with me to watch all the movies with me :) Till the time we meet again... Hasta la Victoria Siempre... Che would be back again... Cheers to life...have fun and have safe sex...

[cheguevaraontheroad]

Speed Ride to Amritsar | August 2011

Staying outside of India I miss my Motorcycling antics the most and never miss an opportunity to go for a Motorcycle Ride whenever I am on a short/long vacation to India and this time it was no different and it got even better as I combined a trip to my favourite City – Amritsar with a Bike Ride…and then the icing on the cake was that one of my best Motorcycling comrade Gyan was to be my co-rider on this ride….it couldn’t have got any better!!! Gyan being Gyan provides endless moments of fun and is one helluva amazing comrade!!! Our Ride tuning is also perfectly matched and we never shy from speed riding…be it any terrain – Desert Roads, Mountain Curves or Highways on Plains…This was going to be my 9th ride with him after Chail, Chakrata, Kurukshetra, Lansdowne, Jalori, Binsar, Bhangarh and Bikaner…that’s some 5800 kms together on the road!!! Beat that… I had just 2 days for this ride out of my 9 days India Trip and had to traverse almost 1000 kms in this ride so one thing was crystal clear that it would have been a Speed Ride and knowing me you all would tend to agree that speed riding comes naturally to me !!! My Motorcycling comrades would vouch for this fact… There were 2 other confirmed riders – Bhinder & Khatri but they declined at the last moment due to some strange reasons and I was kind of expecting it & it didn’t come as any surprise to me... So the day finally arrived…The Ride dates were 30 & 31 August 2011… The Speed Riders were: 1. Gyan on his brand new Ceeber – Honda CBR 250 2. Che on The Mighty One The First Solo Ride I had never rode this long just being a Solo rider but as they say there’s always a first time so I had to do it…I just could not sleep properly as I was damn fuckin excited for this ride; finally managed a sleep of barely 2 hours but shockingly woke up really fresh at 2:45 AM and rode out of my home at sharp 3:30 AM all decked up and rode till Panipat non-stop…123 kms in 115 minutes with minimal traffic and it was lots of fun just to get back on the open roads after such a long time and I didn’t mind being Solo!!! I waited for just 5 minutes and Gyan came riding on his bright-red brand new machine with his signature smile!!! We hugged each other and started the next leg of the ride…it was just about sunrise time & traffic was still very thin…perfect recipe for 2 speed riders to blast it out!!! Parantha Time Just after crossing Karnal we had a brief 15 minutes encounter with the rain & I knew now that this ride would be one helluva amazing ride!!! We stopped near Ambala for a Breakfast Pit-Stop….gorged on Paneer & Aloo Paranthas with some piping hot tea and gave our respective asses a much deserved break!!! Our timing till now was perfect & we were on-track to reach Amritsar by 1 PM… Red-Bull Therapy As some of you know I have quit Alcohol & Smoking which means minimal breaks during my Bike Rides but still needed a break just to relax for some bit & luckily I stopped in front of a Bar cum Restaurant which had a small convenience shop outside and I spotted chilled Red Bull there & just grabbed it from the mini-RB Fridge!!! After a sleepless night and almost 350 kms on the road I deserved some Red Bull Therapy to get fresh again & ward off the sleep-demons!!! Gyan got a child KF Premium beer and we did our routine Bakchodi while enjoying our drinks!!! Speed Thrills… After speeding for some 470 odd kms The Mighty One had a small breakdown….we had stopped for a piss break just 25 kms before Amritsar & when we started my bike just didn’t start; Checked all the vital parts of the bike & there was no apparently visible issue; tried Dhakka-Start & that didn’t work either; called-up Zaheer & his tips also didn’t help…finally Gyan went ahead to check for a Bike Mechanic & called me that it was just 1 kms ahead…so pushed my bike and reached his shop where he checked the bike and started it but he told me to get it checked at any RE Specialist at Amritsar so that there are no further challenges…and this breakdown couldn’t had come at a worse time; the temperature was a searing 40 degrees and a humidity of almost 9o% odd and I was sweating like a pig plus feeling hot like I have never done before…living in an air-conditioned environment 24X7 in Kuwait has done this to me; I poured 2 glasses of child water over my head to get some respite…and it was such a big-big relief! Pahunch gaye Amritsar… Reached Amritsar with The Mighty One riding slowly for a change & we headed straight towards the Railway Station area to find an RE Specialist to check my bike…found a shop after checking with locals…the owner Sardaarji checked the bike and told us that the Tappet Rods had to be replaced as they had gone Kaput after continuous speed riding of 500-odd kms!!! Didn’t surprise me either as the way we both rode it had to end like this! He asked us to wait for an hour before he could finish his work so we decided to utilize that 1 hour in the best possible manner – by having a meal at the very-very famous Kesar da Dhaba which serves the best Vegetarian Food in Amritsar; during my 4 previous trips to the city I had never eaten at this place & my parents had also highly rated this so we had to try it out!!! Kesar Da Dhaba pe ho gaya kalyan!!! We ordered a Chur-Chur Parantha Thali…it comprised of Maa ki Daal, Punjabi Chhole, 2 paranthas and a bowl of fresh Boondi ka Raita…in normal circumstances 2 famished riders would have gobbled up the entire thali without any trouble but when you are in Punjab nothing is normal or routine when it comes to matter of Gastronomy…flavour of the food is directly proportional to the amount of Desi Ghee used in the cooking & I believe the cooks at this place have taken this correlation very seriously and poured ghee in all the items like there was no tomorrow!!! We somehow finished the entire meal & followed it up with a bowl of cold Phirni set in a earthen bowl which was the perfect icing on the cake after such a sumptuous meal… Hong Kong Magic… Picked up my bike and headed straight towards a Hotel where Gyan had stayed a month back when he dhad visited Amritsar with his wife & another couple…the hotel was funnily named HOTEL HONG KONG INN…I mean why would somebody name a hotel like this tat too in the middle of Punjab, I just couldn’t fathom that!!! But all we needed that time was a cozy bed, a clean washroom, a hot shower bath and an air-conditioned sleep and our silly-named hotel provided all of that! Both of us had a shower and then decided to sleep for some time to get fresh & ready for the evening plans…and boy did we have a sound sleep or what! We slept for some 2.5 odd hours & woke up as fresh as a daisy!!! Satnam Waaheguru… The next & the most important part of the ride was visiting The Golden Temple…for the first time I was visiting it during a weekday & was greeted by a much less noisy & crowded Golden Temple which is a rarity; had an amazing Darshan & spent some peaceful moments at the side of the Sarovar reminiscing about the past & thanking God about all the good things he has given me in life…this place takes me somewhere else & I just cant describe what kinds feelings & emotions go through my mind…words fail me in describing the divinity of this place & I am sure all of you would agree to the state of mind I was in at that particular time!!! Surjit da Jaadoo… No Amritsar Trip is complete without a gorge at Surjit Food Plaza situated at Nehru Complex, Lawrence Road & we had to be there to feast on the slurping Non-Vegetarian delights….we gorged on Tandoori Chicken, Amritsari Fish Fry & Chicken Seekh Kebab with some crisp & hot Tandoori Rotis…all the while we were eating we went on endlessly with our oohs & aahs….vividly describing the sheer good taste of the food & simultaneously filling up our tummy!!! We finished our meal with Child Pista Milk at Novelty Sweets Shop which is right across the road & the Pista Milk is nothing short of being divine!!! Bedtime Tales… Gyan picked up a beer on the way but by the time we reached the hotel his tummy refused anything to be loaded after the sumptuous meal we had just enjoyed so both of us decided to call it a day & surrender ourselves to the sleep gods!!! It was another first; at sharp 11 PM in the night both of us were sound asleep!!! Nayi Subah – Nayi Shuruaat… We left our hotel at 6:30 AM & after reaching the Golden Temple I had a snaan at the Sarovar, paid our respects to the God Almighty & headed straight towards Kulwantian De Nan !!! Perfect follow-up after a divine dip!!! This place serves the most amazing Amritsari Nan- we enjoyed Paneer, Gobhi & Aloo Nan with the Chhole ki Sabzi & finished our breakfast with piping hot Special Chai!!! Went straight to the hotel, picked up our stuff, paid the bill, packed our stuff onto the bikes & left from Amritsar at sharp 8:45 AM…another 500 kms on the roads were waiting for us & we were absolutely ready to go!!! Dumping Time!!! As all of you know that how much I love dumping in the open during my bike rides & I had to continue this love affair during this ride as well…after creating enough pressure in my body I stopped for a much-needed open-dump & enjoyed it wholeheartedly…it was very sunny, I found some shade below a tree & provided some natural & fresh fertilizer to the soil!!! I want Wings!!! Luckily I stopped opposite the same Bar cum Restaurant where we enjoyed our drinks a day back…Gyan decided to enjoy his beer which he had bought in Amritsar & I picked up 2 cans of Red Bull…one for the road ahead…and Gyan’s chakna was some fresh Salad!!! No namkeen this time though…I started the next leg of the ride all refreshed & with some wings… Puran Singh da Dhaba da Jaadoo This Ride was all about good food & we wanted to finish the gastronomical experience with another high…last but not the least the POA was lunch @ Puran Singh da Dhaba which is another world-famous Dhaba…there are some 5-6 versions of the Dhaba & we didn’t waste any effort to find the original one as we stopped at the first one which was right next to a theka and was a Government-Approved Drinking Place to boot…ordered Keema Kaleji & Mutton Curry with Gyan enjoying child Carlsberg & me sipping on some child Slice!!! Once again the food was laced with loads of dripping Desi Ghee but we didn’t mind it one single bit & cleaned off everything which was on offer!!! Rain Therapy… Left PSDD full upto the brim & the next stop was a forced one…it started to rain heavily & we had to get our rain-gear out…it was a short spell of heavy rain which subsided in some 10 minutes & resulted in some reduced speed due to the wet roads…finally reached Panipat where I bid farewell Gyan & thanked him for another amazing ride alongside him…. Well-Done Che!!! I reached home at sharp 6:30 PM after a well-spent 39 hours trip out of which I was riding for 20 hours….was on the road for almost 1000 kms….enjoyed some of the most amazing food on this Heaven Earth….visited the most divine place on the planet…dumped in the open…and some amazing memories with Gyan…I couldn’t have asked more from God!!! Another special part of this ride was that this was Gyan’s first ride with his new Ceeber & most importantly he didn’t have a single fall during this ride for which he is notoriously famous in our Motorcycling Domain!!! My Next Ride would be in November 2011….My club BoP’s 4th Anniversary Ride to a destination in Rajasthan and that ride would be my last ride as a bachelor ads I am getting married on 18th November 2011…there’s no other way to celebrate the last few days of my bachelorhood than to ride along with my BoP Comrades on the pristine roads of Rajasthan… Che would be back on the road again… Till then ride safe & have safe sex… Hasta la Victoria Siempre & Jai BoP…