Wednesday, January 27, 2010

ET comes to Town

If you love dance
if you love art
if you love going to shows
above all...
if you wanna have some fun...


Check this out... go for it if you can!! 


Else wait for me to attend and share my views and you can read and go green with envy!! he he he





Extra Terrestrials are coming to Chennai...  


75mins of acrobatic moves, grooves and dance steps.... 


Its all happening between Feb 3-7th -3 shows daily- @ Music Academy!! 


To know more... or to book your tickets, click on  Events  or their main website- Etwow.. 








Tuesday, January 26, 2010

Giraffes in Chennai....

If anyone were to ask me “don’t you wish you were living elsewhere and not in this drab city?” I just might give them a thwack and send them packing!! I love Chennai!! Yes, there were times when I wished I was elsewhere, but that was only cos I hadn’t travelled much, but now that I am sprouting wings and exploring new places, am extremely happy living here... Ok, I got to be honest, Chennai is more than home... it has become a city of action[not, not ref to Political chaos or stunts in Kollywood movies...]... There is something or the other happening through the year...




How can I not mention the infamous December Music season, followed by the Dance festival? Not to forget the various other cultural activities held across the year- starting with the Chennai Sangamam in Jan[spread over a week] , to Shakti Concert & Earthsync in Feb, to the Metro plus Theatre Fest and Music fest, the various International film fests, active theatre performances, International music concerts and so much more..... All these events are not a one off thing; they are sprinkled through the year, every year!! How do I know? Well, I try to keep myself updated on what is happening and attend as many as possible.... Ok, won’t go on and on... Shall do another post on “Fun in Chennai”


The most recent experience has to be the Chennai Sangamam’s Bon Jour India’s Les Giraffe [ in asssociation with Alliance Francaise]... Jan 15th evening, 6.30pm, Venkatnarayana Road was all we knew, and we were there at 6pm, waiting for the mysterious Giraffes to make an appearance....



After the initial quenching of curiosity, clicking random shots around the Sangamam, venue of Natesan Park, we plonked ourselves right near the median, armed with our cameras and necks stretched out looking for the act to make an appearance!!

There they came... Woww!! Tall, majestic, towering high... Red giraffes, with pretty light rings on their necks, glided across the road... wait, they were headed towards Burkit Road, and not us... Darn it!! Do we go ahead or stand ground? No, we stay put, we decided!!!



They paused at the junction, did a bit of an act- Saw some fire rings, a man on stilts or was he on a platform? Weren’t sure!! Anyways, it was exciting... In a few mins, the giraffe were looming large, over our heads, and stood within a few meters waiting to start their performance... It was beautiful...




Nothing over the top, but the sheer size, idea, design, concept and synchronisation, and the woman standing on a podium belting out Opera numbers, the Clown/flirt/ groom on drums, flitting about took our breath away!! About 10 French men, the singer, and few others helping in the ground had the act running smooth as ice rink....


Even after the act was over, and the Giraffes had moved on to the next stop, we followed them, talking to some others in the crowd, sharing thoughts, while our cameras were rolling through the evening... What fun it was!!!



Chennai Sangamam is one awesome way of not only showcasing Chennai/Tamil Nadu’s rich culture, art, folk, food but also a way of bringing in people from other towns, promoting tourism and educating the locals about how beautiful the state is.... Hats off to Kanimozhi for this effort!!

Monday, January 18, 2010

Bookworm Rampage

I go through these phases... Am sure all of you also do!!  There are days when i do nothing but work, and then those when fun plays a bit part of my day... The latter is what i enjoy, cos it gives me a sense of calm at the end of it all... The past couple of weeks have been such - maybe cos workload isnt that much or i've just made a subconscious choice to include plenty of fun during my busy daily routines - outing with friends, just chilling out at home with an interesting book, grooving to music on my iTouch , watching a movie or jus about anything that i am upto !!

Books have been a part of my life for as long as i can remember.. Even when we were living in Tirunelveli, i used to pick up books from chennai, people who visited us brought me books - Enid blyton, Mystery of five find outers, Naughtiest girl in school, Archie comics, Chanda mama, Sense &Sensibility and what not!!  .. This awesome habit has stuck with me, infact mom keeps saying- its because of this reading[err, reading in the dark, with improper light] that you wear glasses.. Heck, it doesnt matter~!! :) Infact its thanks to family that i got into music as well - specifically english music....

Couple of weeks,or a month ago, Apar gave me a whole load of books.. What joy i felt cant be expressed in words.. A colleague was leaving the city, and left behind all his books for grabs!  Amazing right?!! There were plenty by 2 of our favorite authors - Lee Child &  James Patterson. [here's a whole list of James Patterson's books]

Was introduced to James Patterson last Jan, during the ride to Pondy with friends! Murder mystery, cop, thriller kinda writer who has me going till i finish the last word on the last page.. Infact same holds for Lee Child, who was introduced to me by another friend... :-)

Here is a collage of all the books by these authors that i have read till date.... !! each of them are fabulous, atleast i enjoyed them thoroughly... !! :)









Another author I've been reading a lot is Jodi Picoult... Every visit to the library, will have me clutching a book by this amazing author!! Waiting to watch My Sister's keeper movie to see if its just as the book or altered... But most of her books are about kids, parents, and health related issues... !!



and before you ask.... Yes, i've read 'em all .... hahaha~!! Reading some more, but that shall come in another post...!!