Final Transit

“For heaven’s sake its just a [tag]calendar[/tag] !”, my friend yelled…

My heart raced. I wanted to reply, but I was choked with emotions and I simply couldn’t…

All the walls in my room are covered with pictures and maps. My friend got a picture of all of us and wanted to stick it in the place where the calendar was. I said no.

I look at the calendar everyday and it reminds me of home. It reminds me of the hundreds of little occasions and festivals that I’m missing. I look at the ‘red’ dates occurring on weekdays, and think about how the holiday used to excite me 10 years back.

In short, the calendar means a lot to me. It’s almost a part of who I am and part of my upbringing and culture. It makes me nostalgic, and in a place where everything is ‘foreign’, this is one of the few things that is not. (see, the week starts on Sunday!:) ) Indeed, the last thing I use it, is to see the dates! For most part of the day its just lying there on the wall doing nothing. Sounds silly?

The calendar-[tag]almanac[/tag] in talk is, Kalnirnay (कालनिर्णय).

Does anyone remember the old advertisement? It went in three languages on [tag]Mumbai[/tag] TV station:
[tag]Marathi[/tag]: कालनिर्णय द्या ना…. कालनिर्णय घ्या ना
Gujarati: कालनिर्णय आपो ने… कालनिर्णय लो ने
Hindi: कालनिर्णय दिजीए… कालनिर्णय लिजीए
(Customer: Can you give me a Kalnirnay?…. Shopkeeper: Here is the Kalnirnay)

Then, there was this signature jingle:
भविष्य मेनु आरोग्य ज्ञान, उपयुक्त साहित्य प्रत्येक पान ।
पंचांग शोभे सुमंगल असावे. भिंतीवरी कालनिर्णय असावे ॥
Astrology, Recipes, Health, Information,… Useful literature on every page
May you get an auspicious horoscope, let there be a Kalnirnay on your wall
(Ok the English translation sounds funny)

Today this calendar is India’s largest selling publication and is available in Hindi, Gujarati, Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, English apart from Marathi language. The brand is so powerful in [tag]Maharashtra[/tag], that at the end of the year, people say “I have to buy a Kalnirnay” instead of saying “I have to buy a calendar.”

Quick question: What are the two objects you will find in all Maharashtrian homes?
Answer: A statue of Ganpati (Lord Ganesh) and a Kalnirnay calendar!

So,… No! Its not just any calendar. Its Kalnirnay…

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Mahendra, who has been very unquiet since the day he was born on the net, tagged me today.

I have to write eight random facts about me:

eins. I am a morning guy and I cannot sleep for more than 5 hours.

zwei. I hate curves. I prefer straight lines and sharp edges most of the times (except obvious exceptions).

drei. I believe that rules are meant to be followed.

vier. In next 10 years, I intend to travel to 10 different countries (Note: EU is not considered as one country).

fünf. I love technology but I don’t like my cellphone to do things other than making phone calls.

sechs. I don’t find flowers, dogs and little kids “cute”.

sieben. I have a compass built into my brain so directions and maps are my favorites.

acht. Finally, I am an overzealous planner. I macroplan, then microplan, then try to sell it to others.

Done! Damn… I can write fifty more! I’ve already rambled a lot here…

Here are the rules of the game:
1. Each player starts with 8 random facts/habits about themselves.
2. People who are tagged, write a blog post about their own 8 random things, and post these rules.
3. At the end of your post you need to tag 5 people and include their names.

Its hard to find people who have not been tagged already.
Nevertheless, I’m inviting Arbit, Cuckoo, Hans, Maverick and Raunak and to continue this fun. Thanks guys!

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Sequel to my previous post: [tag]Niagara falls[/tag]: evening

Some more pictures:
[tag]Queen Victoria Park[/tag] at Niagara Falls is called the ‘heart’ of Niagara parks. During peak seasons, it has thousands of daffodils, rock garden and some beautiful trails.

A tree in Queen Victoria Park

[tag]Rainbow Bridge[/tag] across the Niagara river connects US and Canada. The deep blue something Niagara river downstream of the falls looks ferocious. This bridge was constructed in 1941 and is about 290m long.

Rainbow bridge

Its was a long, albeit extremely pleasurable walk from Casino Niagara (where one can park for free) to the point close to the falls. Walking along this path next to the river was awesome. At one point, we were surprised - it suddenly started raining - but soon enough it was dry. Then we realized that it was not the rain, but tiny droplets of water getting sprayed from the Niagara falls. The sound (noise!) of the falls starts rising as we approach and it’s impossible to hear without shouting.

View of Canadian Niagara falls and the road along the river

Another view of Niagara Falls (Canadian side)

Niagara falls, Canada

The Niagara falls are divided into two parts. One part is a straight line and the other is a horseshoe. The straight part is in US territory, while the curved one is Canadian. It is generally accepted that view of the whole area is many times better from the Canadian side than the US. Many people pop across the border just to take a look

Niagara falls, US

The falls are illuminated at night, and they look colorful and pretty!

Niagara falls, US

The [tag]city of Niagara Falls[/tag] glitters at night. There are a number of casinos, hotels, restaurants and bars. In the picture you can see a ray of white light that illuminates the falls. The two pictures of US falls shown above are the result of the same beam.

Niagara falls town at night

Finally, there are lots of things to do after you have had enough of the falls

Experimental shot. Artistic, no?

Wonder who plays that Guitar!

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I went with some friends to the [tag]African Lion Safari[/tag], some 100 km south-west of [tag]Toronto[/tag]. It was a nice place to go, especially if you have kids and they haven’t seen animals. All the wildlife is out in the open, while the visitors are en-caged in their cars or the Safari buses.

Since we were inside the car, I couldn’t take good pictures. Few of them are here:

It was quite warm that day (perhaps around 25-28 deg C). Main attraction of the place, the [tag]Lions[/tag], were resting calmly. It was thrilling to see them from so close.


Lions sleeping

Monkeys were all over our cars. They loved to sit on the car roofs and enjoy the drive. We had [tag]Monkeys[/tag] on our side-view mirrors and were wondering how to get rid of them. As the car started moving, and crossed a yellow painted line, surprisingly all of them jumped off. It was really strange!


Monkeys

Then there were…


Wild [tag]Buffaloes[/tag]

Maybe this was the first time I saw…


[tag]Giraffe[/tag]

The [tag]Ostrich [/tag]were pecking at windows of cars as we stopped to observe them. It was funny, the animal was pecking the sides of cars. No clue why…. pea brain indeed!


Ostrich

Rhinos are endangered species


[tag]Rhinoceros[/tag]

I don’t remember the name of this animal. Looks like an antelope or a goat or something of that kind. Does anyone know?


[tag]Antelope[/tag]?

The safari claims to have about 1000 species of birds and animals. I must have seen about 100 or so, but it was impossible to take pictures all the time. There are demonstrations showing how the birds hunt, elephant rides for kids, toy train and boat cruises for all.

Nice place to go. At least once.



Another blue-sky-blue-water photo was posted last week.

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Just back from the movie “[tag]Harry Potter and the Order of Phoenix[/tag]”, and since now-a-days all I do is write executive summaries, here is one for you: This movie was much much better than the previous “[tag]Harry Potter[/tag] and the Goblet of fire”. Firstly, because it showed the important stuff appropriately, secondly, the pace was right, thirdly, the cast was excellent and finally, the special effects were simply awesome.

Now the detailed movie review.

Casting was simply great. Dolores Umbridge was perfectly bitchy and was immediately ‘hate-able’, particularly her smirk. Luna Lovegood’s weird character was played nicely and she was always shown in a higher contrast than the others, so she really ‘stood out’. I especially loved the way she said “We trust you Harry” apart from her other dialogs. The third character I absolutely loved was Bellatrix Lestrange. In the little part she was shown, she did a remarkable job. Of course, Lord Voldemort, Severus Snape, Harry Potter, [tag]Hermoine[/tag] Granger, Ronald [tag]Weasley[/tag], Ginny and the Weasley brothers were good. Dumbeldore was even worse than he was in part 4. Fortunately, he was kept out most of the times.

The movie is perfectly paced. I can imagine the challenge the director must have faced to convert the exhaustive book into a two hour twenty minute movie. Compared to the shoddy work in part four (Goblet of Fire), this part was way better.

Special effects are notable. First, when the Weasley twins create havoc using fireworks and second during the final fight between Dumbeldore and [tag]Voldemort[/tag]. The last scenes could perhaps have been longer, but I think the important elements of the fight were appropriately covered.

For those of you who have absolutely no clue about what I am talking, here is a short summary. This Harry Potter and the order of phoenix’ is the fifth movie in J. K. [tag]Rowling[/tag]’s Harry Potter series (seventh book – ‘Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows’ is due in few days). Anyway, in this book, Harry Potter, a 14 year old wizard boy who survived the attack of Voldemort the dark lord, starts seeing images that Voldemort is planting in his mind. The whole story revolves around a prophecy that Voldemort wants, but cannot get. Meanwhile, in the school where Harry is studying gets a new headmaster Umbridge, a nasty representative of the Ministry of Magic. She imposes restrictions on the school, and Harry along with a bunch of trusted friends forms what he calls ‘Dumbeldore’s Army’, where he teaches his friends ‘defense against dark arts’. In the climax scene, there is a long fight between the dark forces and the rest of the wizards, including an incredible Harry Potter-[tag]Dumbeldore[/tag] vs Voldemort battle.

If you still can’t make sense of what I am saying, I really suggest that you grab a book and read it.

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