Twenty- five Seven

Queen of Hearts

March 16, 2014

An unlikely Queen of Hearts

In yet another brilliant performance Kangana Ranaut has proved herself to be an actor to be reckoned with. When Rani Mehra, the typical middle class girl next door is pursued by Vijay (Rajkumar Rao), a lumpen looking engineering student who happens to see her at her father’s mithai shop, she is a bit wary of him but in the typical formula of the Hindi movie where the hero relentlessly pursues a girl despite her protests, they do eventually fall in love and decide to get married. The movie “Queen” thus begins with the trending Bollywood formula of the Big Fat Indian Wedding replete with marigold garlands, fat aunties and heaps of motichoor ladoos. But just the day before the wedding, the moment the Mehndi dries on her hand, there is a deviation in the recipe and Rani finds herself going on her honeymoon all by herself.

Struggling with the emotions of being jilted and trying to cope with an alien culture in an alien land ( Paris) Rani finds herself making an unlikely friend in Vijaylaxmi (product of an Indian father and mixed European mother) and who ironically calls herself Vijay. Vijaylaxmi played brilliantly by Lisa Hayden takes the young ingenue under her wing and within days, Rani is transformed into a new person. During a shopping trip she accidentally sends a photo of herself in a fashionable Parisian outfit to Vijay her ex while actually wanting the approval of Vijaylaxmi who was waiting outside the changing stall. The new Rani whom Vijay had dubbed “My Queen” piques his interest and he suddenly realises that his excuse for calling of the wedding was not only unpardonable but truly lame ( he muttered something about Rani not being able to cope in London where they were going to be staying after the wedding). After a riotous time in Paris, Rani continues with her ‘honeymoon’ to Amsterdam where she lands up sharing a room in a youth hostel. The three men she has to share with are not what she had bargained for but having nowhere else to go has to stay with them as room mates. The four of them become unlikely friends and a dare to cook at an Italian restaurant in Vollendaam makes Rani realise that she can do what she wants to do. So when Vijay lands up outside the hostel and demands to take Rani back with him, she flatly refuses and agrees to meet him the next day.

Vijay is stunned to see a confident, fashionable Rani walk into the roadside cafe and is even more shocked when she walks out on him citing a previous engagement of a Rock Concert. Eventually Rani returns to Delhi and just when you think the film was going back to formula of boy meets girl, fight and make up, she gives him back his ring and thanks him for helping her find herself!

Wow! That was one great movie with scenes that tug at your heart strings without being cheesy and moments which leave you laughing. All the actors put in great performances but Kangana Ranaut is truly the Queen of the show.

Verdict :

Must see movie.
The Blue Earring Bake Club

March 15, 2014

Ah!

So here I am with this photo posted on my blog wondering what it would seem like to the rest of the world.

Does it look like the party is over? Does it look like a half eaten wedding cake? Or does it look like the remains of a successful Valentine’s day celebration?

Well, it’s none of the above. It’s a record of the weekly project of the Blue Earring Bake Club.

It started out like this :

Maya, Zeba and I were sitting by the poolside watching our children splash around. Maya and I shared a common obstetrician and our girls were just a week apart. Zeba and Maya shared a common passage and had common interests as well as having children the same age. We all had husbands who shared common passions – Squash and Money.

So while the men relaxed on the squash courts competing at informal matches, discussing investment strategies and stocks and shares, we ladies would sit by the pool side watching the children splash around and discuss important things like our mothers in law, our husbands, movies and other people, sipping on Fresh Lime Sodas .

We also discussed really important things like bringing up children, schools , weight loss issues and ultimately our secret dreams and ambitions of becoming successful businesswomen. While we waited for the husbands to shower down and join us in the verandah, we’d watch those power ladies come to the club for a quick drink with office colleagues or a work out before they either went home or joined their equally powerful and successful husbands for a drink at the bar. How we wished we could do that instead of rushing home for a winding down and putting to sleep routine….

One day, Zeba came up with a brilliant idea.

“Why don’t we all take up a bakery project? That way we’ll have something to work towards. We all like to bake, the kids like to eat and we’ll get a feeling of doing something worthwhile. “

“Yes,” said Maya excitedly, ” And lets each of us wear a Blue Earring while Baking so that we can glam things up a bit. A little bit off beat and funky and a little bit of Martha Stewart – cooking with make up and jewellery rather than in tights and a scrunched up bun.”

“Hmm, ” I added, ” Let’s call ourselves the Blue Earring Bake Club. We bake on Friday and eat on Saturday after the children finish swimming.”

And that’s how it came about – Every week we’d scour our cookery books and come up with a sweet concoction of flour, eggs, butter and sugar. Gradually we became more and more adventurous and began tweaking the recipes to make healthier options – oil instead of butter, whole wheat flour instead of refined flour till we became so good that we became innovators. Eventually our cakes made an appearance at our dinner parties and we became famous for our cakes and bakes. It wasn’t long before we were asked to take orders and before we knew it, our Blue Earing Bake Club became a company. Each of us would cover for the other baking on different so that it didn’t clash with housekeeping and childrearing. Then Zeba and Maya moved to Bangalore and Delhi because their husbands were transferred out. Of course, by this time the children had all grown up so we managed to set up units in these cities too.

But we still managed to maintain our routine of a weekly project that kept us in touch with our baking souls. Aaah. How wonderful it was to smell that wafting vanilla all over the house as the cakes got done in the oven. How perfectly thrilling it was to see the icing go up on the cake to make magical birthday cakes with forests and butterflies or tiered wedding cakes or occasional cakes looking like real computers and diplomas……

Today, the Blue Earring Baking Club Company has franchisees with over 100 women all over the country. All that they needed to do was to bring in their ingredients, a passion for baking and a weekly project they baked on their own.

That was thirty years ago. Our children have their own children and we have our own company. Instead of phone calls and fax machines, we share our projects through the Internet.

This is my project of the week – my Blue Angel Cake with butter cream frosting ……and that’s the blue earring I wear to bake.

This post is a part of Write Over the Weekend, an initiative for Indian Bloggers by BlogAdda.
Malaysia – A dream destination of leisure and pleasure.

March 15, 2014

I am participating in the MalaysiaJao BlogathonContest in association with BlogAdda.com.

Malaysia – a holiday of leisure and pleasure

The last time I visited Malaysia was around thirty years ago. It was more or less my first trip abroad as an adult and I remember feeling miserable every time I saw a little girl (which was almost every other minute) as I’d left my girls behind and missed them terribly. It was also a holiday spent with friends which I now realise as a seasoned traveller that this is not the best way to see a place as you often such land up seeing the things your host wants you to see rather than what you want to see. So now as an older, wiser and more experienced tourist who knows what she wants to do, I want to see it all again , this time with different eyes.

Ingredients for a perfect holiday

As a history buff, a foodie, a shopper, a trigger happy photo clicker and an old fashioned traveller, my perfect holiday will have a mix of all these ingredients and I’m sure Malaysia will not disappoint. As an older tourist, I realise that my bones are creakier and I have no stomach for adventure. I prefer some amount of luxury and a large amount of comfort. Not for me the hectic sight seeing or heart racing experience of bungee jumping. Nor would I like to count the birds and the bees and sigh at every tree. I’d just like to soak in the atmosphere of a city in a slow relaxed way. If possible I’d like to take in a cooking class or two, visit the local bazaar for a glimpse into the life of an everyday housewife.

Starting out with Langkawi

Since my everyday life is hectic, I am badly in need of relaxation and would like to fly directly to Langkawi if possible and settle in at the Ambong Ambong beach resort . I’d like to spend a day just unwinding, walking around the property, indulge in a massage or so and enjoy a sunset cocktail. A leisurely down the Kilim river and a trip to the Pekan Rabu market would offer me a perfect chance to click photos, relax and take in some local culture.

The secret pull of Penang

For some strange reason I can’t really understand, I’ve been fascinated by the word Penang. It immediately conjures visions of an exotic past bang in the middle of Trade Routes. Rooted in colonial history, this place has been designated a UNESCO world site and I would simply love to spend a day or two exploring the past in the Cheong Fatt Tze Mansion and Fort Cornwallis. I’d love to take the walking tours because that is truly the best way to see a place, wandering through at leisure. The street food is supposedly outstanding and I’d love to sample the culinary delights of Gurney Drive at sun down.

Melaka’s colonial past

If possible I’d like to take the train down south to Melaka and Johor. Making Melaka my base, I’d make a trip to Legoland for a quick look at the miniature world which always fascinates me. I’d then indulge in another immersion in colonial history with visits to the Portuguese fort, the Dutch statehouse and Melaka’s Chinese legacy as seen at Jonker Walk. Once again I’d like to make the train journey to my last and final destination Kuala Lumpur, a bustling metropolis that will bring me back to the present and reconnect me to my urban ways.

Back to urbania

Four days in KL would be enough to get the blood pumping back in my veins. A ride to the observation deck and a walk on the skywalk between the Petronas Towers would definitely be something I HAVE to do. Then back down to earth with visits to the local market at Petaling Jaya and Central Market gorging on Laksa and Beef Rendang at the Old China Cafe, browsing through the arts and crafts before making that trip to the Mecca of all shoppers BBKLCC, an incredible conglomeration of 9 malls offering food, entertainment and the ultimate in luxury shopping and soaking in the ambience of a bustling city by walking down Jalan Alor savouring its barbecued chicken wings, roti kanai and soak in the general ambience of a city bustling with people.

With its shared colonial past and diverse population, Malaysia offers tourists like me a certain level of comfort – being exotic and foreign yet strangely familiar. I truly look forward to bringing back memories of food, history and nature, completely re-charged with this wonderful holiday!