One Year and Four Months...

One year and four months...that's how long it has been since I posted anything here.  Over that time, I thought about many things to write about.  You can say it was my laziness or just hectic life.  I say it was pure laziness.  Many things have happened during that time. I want to talk about it all but do not where to begin.  I want to start from the beginning but my fingers are itching to write about the biggest day of my life.  Let's skip to that...

Here we go...READY?

I GOT MARRIED.  I married my best friend in January 2012. I do not know what else to say.  It has been six months and I still feel like I am on cloud nine.  I am enjoying every minute and I hope my husband is too :)

The whole affair was amazing.  I learned new traditions along with some old traditions. I met some amazing people including my new family members.  Upon returning to US, we both felt like catching the next flight back to India.  We discuss our next trip to India every day.  Missing everyone and definitely looking forward to our trip.

I also learned that getting married is not an easy task.  My job was to go shopping and show up for the wedding.  Even then, I felt completely swamped. Shopping was fun.  Along with that, we met with all the family members especially the ones who were not attending the wedding.

I can sit here and talk about everything in detail, but then, it will take days to describe everything. I will stop here and post this.  I want to get back to blogging like before.  Let's see how far this goes...

And Then There were None

Source: Alley Theatre Website

Last Sunday (July 31st) we went to watch the play And Then There were None presented by Alley Theatre. The following picture is from the play:

Source: Alley Theatre Website > Photos of the Play

We had really nice seats and could hear and see everything very clearly. The play was 2 hours and 30 minutes long with two intermissions. There was only one stage set-up. Initially, I wondered how they were going to manage because parts of the book take place outside the manor. The play was beautifully done despite the setting limitation. 

Among the four of us, I was the only one who had read the book. I knew what was next. I knew the sequence of the deaths. The ending was changed, which was unexpected. I enjoyed it nonetheless. The novel's ending is definitely better but I understand why it had to be changed for the play.

I think the other three enjoyed the play as well. Two of them have asked me to be on a lookout for other plays. One of them has expressed a desire to see the play Mousetrap by Agatha Christie. I don't think they have that play in US. The play I want to see is Wicked The Musical. Maybe we will see it when we go to New York or London. I know there is a play in Austin next February. Maybe we will catch that one. All I know that I want to watch it soon!!!

I read the book And Then There were None at the beginning of this year and enjoyed it very much. Ever since then, I have been wanting to watch the Bollywood movie, Gumnaam and other adaptations. I think I watched Gumnaam when I was little. I want to re-watch it and find out who the murderer was in the movie. If you have not read the book, what are you waiting for? Go to the nearest bookstore and pick up a copy. If you like to read it online, there are plenty of free legal copies online.

That is it for today. Time to disappear again!

Top Ten Books I'd Like to See Made Into Movies

I first saw this meme on Suey's blog. The Broke and the Bookish is hosting a meme, which asks for top ten books that I would love to see made into movies. Though I firmly believe movies ruin books, I still have a small wish to see the following books be made into movies.

1. The Giver by Lois Lowry - IMDB says that the movie will release in 2011. I have yet to hear more details.
2. Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card - Make the movie already. Instead of making a movie, they made comic books out of the series. I think this will be one of the movies where I am willing to stand up in line at midnight to watch the first show.
3. The Undomestic Goddess by Sophie Kinsella - I think this will be a damn funny movie.
4. The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman - No words. Just waiting for the movie...
5. The Book Thief by Markus Zusak - I am keeping my fingers crossed for whenever they make a movie out of this book, they don't ruin it.
6. The Hunger Games (Book 1) by Suzanne Collins - I know they are making the movie and they already have some cast finalized.
7. Serious Men by Manu Joseph - Okay...this book...I don't know why but I think this will make an excellent movie. I enjoyed the book very much.
8. Lawn Boy by Gary Paulsen - I think this will be a cute children's movie. I chucked when I listened to the audio book.
9. A Great & Terrible Beauty by Libba Bray - This book is like Harry Potter. The differences are that the protagonist is a female and it is a trilogy unlike HP, which is a Heptalogy (had to google that).
10. Life of Pi by Yann Martel - I am very excited about this movie. Tobey Maguire, Irrfan Khan, and Tabu (3 great actors) are part of the cast. Irrfan and Tabu were great in Namesake and I can't wait to see this one.

That's it for now. See ya!

We are the CHAMPIONS!!!

April 2, 2011: India beat Sri Lanka by six wickets and became World Champions. The last world cup that India won was on April 2, 1983 - 28 years ago.

The win was just unbelievable. After the first two wickets fell, everyone was disheartened. Somehow, the faith remained. Sachin (The God of Cricket) was the second one to be out, but we still had players like MS Dhoni, Yuvraj, Raina, and others.

Right after Sachin got out, I had to leave to go somewhere. I turned on the radio in my car to listen to the score updates. The radio jockey decided to play a prediction game of who will win and by how many runs/wickets. A guy named "Ali" called and predicted that India will lose by 100 runs. Another called and said India will lose by 177 runs. The score at that time was 75/2. I am not one to discriminate but I think those were disgruntled Pakistanis who wanted to see India lose.

As the game progressed, we saw a steady increase in Indian runs and the run rate. Gambhir played an outstanding game. I felt for him when he got out at 97 runs. I wish he had made his century. I agree with Dhoni that Gambhir was solely responsible for not reaching the mark. I think he was just impatient to reach that 100, and thought a four or a six will get him there quickly. At the same time, I think his out might have served as a boon for the Indian team. He was getting tired, and with new player (Yuvraj) on the field, the win just became more possible. The game had a perfect finish with Dhoni hitting that sixer. Dhoni is truly Mr. Cool. He did not even smile when he hit that six. He just turned around and calmly lifted one wicket and walked toward Yuvraj and then he smiled. India won by six wickets!

Who can forget Sachin? He is the God of Cricket who waited very long to hold that Cup. The team followed through with their promise and he finally held the Cup. I want to share a link just to show why he is the best:

Sachin Tendulkar – The Master who was Born to Bat

Best quote in the article is, "There are two kinds of batsmen in the world. One, Sachin Tendulkar. Two, all other batsmen. - Andy Flower." He has proved why he is called the "God of Cricket" by his actions. I think people need to stop speculating when he will retire. He has played for 21 years and even today, we can count on him. Let him decide when he needs to stop.

The win was possible because of one guy: Mahendra Singh Dhoni. He is Mr. Cool, who led India to victory. He scored 91 runs under the stress. He was awarded "Man of the Match," which he rightfully deserved. On April 3, 2011, he showed up with his new bald look. I must say he is looking handsome. I LOVE this new look:

He has gone through so many different looks. He started with long here. I remember when he did really well and Aaj Tak's headlines were "Dhoni ki zulfo neih dho daala..." Then he went with short hair. Now completely bald. Here is another look at his different looks:

Yuvraj Singh was awarded with "Man of the Tournament." I did not watch all the games to know the stats, but heard about his achievements. I think he also deserved that title. I know he did wonderful in India vs. Pakistan game.

I heard it was crazy in Houston. People danced and partied on streets of Hillcroft. Restaurants gave away free dosas. According to the news channel, Indians had a parade in New Jersey right after the game. Celebrations in USA were nothing compared to how people celebrated in India. These are times that I miss India so much. There were celebrations on the streets and online as well. Twitter was bombarded by the tweets with minute by minute updates and people's opinions. Indian Homemaker did an excellent post noting the interesting and fun tweets. Check it out!

I am sure of one thing though. No matter where everyone was, they all had a big smile on their faces on Saturday and Sunday. We are still talking about it and we will continue talking about it even after we win the WORLD CUP 2015!

Source for images: Google search

The Hanging Tree

I am listening to Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins. This morning I listening to the chapter that had the "The Hanging Tree" song and the song is stuck in my head. Here it is:

Are you, are you

Coming to the tree

Where they strung up a man they say murdered three.

Strange things did happen here

No stranger would it be

If we met up at midnight in the hanging tree.

Are you, are you

Coming to the tree

Where the dead man called out for his love to flee.

Strange things did happen here

No stranger would it be

If we met up at midnight in the hanging tree.

Are you, are you

Coming to the tree

Where I told you to run so we’d both be free.

Strange things did happen here

No stranger would it be

If we met up at midnight in the hanging tree.

Are you, are you

Coming to the tree

Wear a necklace of rope, side by side with me.

Strange things did happen here

No stranger would it be

If we met up at midnight in the hanging tree.

I am enjoying the book. Since my last post, I have listened/read the following books:

• And Then There were None by Agatha Christie: Excellent book. I can't believe I never read her stuff. Loved the book. I can't wait to get my hands on the movie adaptations of the movie including Bollywood movie Gumnaam. It is a must read book. (10/10)
• Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins: Another great read. I think there are enough great reviews online.(10/10)
• Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins: I read this on the plane to and back from India. The book is okay. The first book in the series is the best. (8/10)
• Sisters Eight series - Book 3 & 4: Cute children's book.
• Scott Pilgrim Vol 1 & 2. I watched the movie and I must say the movie was quite random. After some research, I found that the movie was based on Scott Pilgrim Manga. I am not a big fan of Manga but I had to pick this one to find out more about the movie. The books are okay.
• Room by Emma Donoghue: I listened to this book and absolutely loved it. Whoever read this book, I suggest you pick up the audio book. Michal Friedman (an adult woman) narrated the character Jack and she actually makes the listeners believe that they are listening to a five year old. (10/10)

I am currently reading Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand on my iPad and enjoying the book very much.

I will do another post about the trip to India and my sister's marriage hopefully soon. Over and Out.