Wednesday, February 23, 2005

Free Mojtaba and Arash Day

Free Mojitaba and Arash Day

Saturday, February 19, 2005

There is pleasure in the pathless woods

I am flying back to Kuwait tonight. I was here in Amman for five days.I will be back in Amman for the next project. I love this place...and the people too…I felt like I was in my native country...more like in Bangalore…

On Thursday I went sight seeing with a few friends…To the downtown area, which nestles between hills….Hashemite Square…The Roman Amphitheatre (built by Antoninus Pius – one of the five good Roman Emperors)…and faraway on the mountain, The Temple of Hercules (built during the reign of Marcus Aurelius –also numbered among “five good Roman Emperors- author of “Meditations”,Stoic philosopher) …I did take some photos. It was evening and I have to see whether it will come out fine. It never came to my mind that Jordan was a part of ancient Greek then later Roman Empire… It was only when my friend told “we are going to see the Roman Amphitheater”, that I suddenly recalled my History lessons! And I was standing there, where long time back the roman soldiers used to march, Roman and Greek nobles used to walk or were carried by slaves.…That was an awesome feeling…! By the way Amman was called Philadelphia during Roman rule.

Had Jordanian native meal, mansaf. rice with lamb and garnished with almonds.Tasty. The day before I went to a chinese restaurant.I was the only customer.But the food was OK. Should remeber that they add tax to the menu price.I did see a few Indian restaurants,but didn't try out any.Why should I go all the way to Jordan,to have Indain food?

I couldn’t go to Petra, Jaresh and Dead Sea. I will surely visit those places during my next trip. Petra is almost 300 kms from Amman.

Traveling alone is always boring for me. Luckily I had made a few friends during my last visit to Amman. And I didn’t get “sloshed” this time too :-(

And I saw a few movies on the telly. Bridges of Madison County starring Clint Eastwood and Meryl Streep.That was an awesome movie. Really did touch me. I could perfectly relate to the characters, the love, the pain and the dilemma. Let’s say that, drawing parallel to my life helped me relate to that movie. My role would have been Francesca’s husband, but in my case, my wife left me. (That sure does put me in bad light!).Back to the movie .Francesca’s story, read by her grownup children, touches them too and they take stock of their life and start working on their marriage. That was great! The film was directed by Clint Eastwood. Both Meryl and Clint acted so well that I got so involved in the movie. Yes, it is always better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all!


“In a world full of ambiguity, a certainty like this comes but once in a lifetime” - Clint Eastwood to Meryl Streep in Bridges of Madison County.



The second movie was “Breaking Up”. Still didn’t get why Russell Crowe and Salma Hayek had to breakup. And in the end when they both meet after a year or so, they regret what they threw away. But they cannot undo what they have done. An O.K. film.

It’s so easy to put an end to a relationship.Just walk away.That’s it.But think about the amount of work you put to start a relationship,sustain the relation…

Have to buy chocolates for my colleagues and friends.Have to finish one more film roll.

And here is the part of the poem,by Lord Byron, used in the movie Bridges Of Madison County:



There is a pleasure in the pathless woods,
There is a rapture on the lonely shore,
There is society, where none intrudes,
By the deep sea, and music in its roar:
I love not man the less, but Nature more,
From these our interviews, in which I steal
From all I may be, or have been before,
To mingle with the Universe, and feel
What I can ne'er express, yet cannot all conceal.

Wednesday, February 16, 2005

Amman,Jordan

I am in Amman,Jordan.This is my second visit to this beautiful country.And the people are
nice too..And when they come to know that I am an Indian,they become more friendly.They talk about Hindi cinema,Indira Gandhi,Rajiv Gandhi,Amitabh Bachan...and Amjad Khan.

I landed here two days back,on Valentine's Day.The immigration had a little problem with my
name spelled differently in Arabic.It was cleared up.Unfortunately the hotel I booked into had no airport pickup.I took a white cab outside the airport to Amman,which is almost 15kms distant from the airport.These white cabs run on fixed rates.Airport to Amman is 16 Jordanian
Dinars(JD).After checking in at the hotel,was too tired for anything else other than a quick
shower and sleep.

Moving around the city is not a problem at all.Yellow cabs are plenty and you pay the fare
according to the taximeter.Last week it was snowing here.I missed it.Hope it will snow while
i am here.The last time i was here in Jordan,I forgot to carry my camera along.This time i
hope to take some pics,if time permits.

The weather is cold here.Today is day 3 in Amman.Yesterday night i ventured out to explore
the city,with two friends.I didn't go to any watering holes..maybe today or tomorrow.....I
am having chicken shawarma for lunch and for supper.Though i must say they are very
tasty,one gets fed up with the same food.By the way, the place i take chicken shawarma is
"Daiya" restaurant,at Abdoun circle.Always crowded.I guess there are other items on the
menu,but my absolute zilch knowledge of Arabic makes me hesitate to order.Maybe i should
take a risk.I haven't yet tasted the Jordanian native cuisine.Tomorrow is kept aside for
that.Yesterday,though, i did have "Kunafa"- a sweet which is made of white cheese-very
sweet.

Let us see what tonight brings to me....

Friday, February 11, 2005

400 channels and nothing on!

Keeping a weblog,or for that matter, any journal updated daily is not an easy task.Especially on weekdays.And today is Friday..weekend here in Kuwait. Tomorrow is a holiday too...

Its cold here in Kuwait...must be 5 centigrades..was 7 yesterday morning.They were warning us about "supercold weekend".Yesterday I hooked up the satellite TV connection.Almost 400 channels..all autoscanned by the digital receiver.Question is when do i get time to watch all these..? I'm so tired after office, the only thing that is on mind then will be to have supper and then sleep. But i guess the TV will be on as a background noise throughout...I am so used to background noise (even now while i'm wrtiting this Whitesnake is belting out.."Guilty Of Love"!) I am sort of addicted to this kind of background noise...I concentrate more on a task when i have music (Rock and heavy metal for me :-) ! And many of you out there are also addicted, right?

Went for a movie yesterday "Udayanu Thaaram" (Udayan is the (film)star- a rough translation of the title..) Yes, i am a Mallu (Mallu,or Malayalee - native of Kerala,India for those uninitiated!) working in Kuwait..The movie is rated 8/10 by me..But i found the movie dragging somewhere in middle..And Sreenivasan (as always!)stole the show..versatile actor..and he wrote the script too...My fav dialogue..Mohanlal to Sreenivas "Mekuppinum oru paridhiyille?" - Even makeup has its limit(to change a short dark old to a handsome young heartthrob!)

And my room is a mess..books..clothes..cds..papers all strewn around..I am an expert at procrastination..especially when it comes to taking care of myself...Been thinking of cleaning up the room for so many weeks...maybe i will do it today...I wasn't like this..is it because you get lazy when you grow old...but what did that guy mean when he said old habits die hard?

Monday is Valentine's Day! Brings back so many sweet memories!! And at the same time brings tears to my eyes...let me flick these from Whitesnake..

I used to be the man for you,
Did everything you wanted me to,
So, tell me, baby,
What did I do wrong...
Some things are better left unsaid,
But, all I do is cry instead,
Now, I've cried me a river,
Thinking how it used to be...
There've been too many tears falling,
And there've been too many hearts
Breaking in two.
Remember what we had together,
Believing it would last forever.
So, tell me, baby,
Where did I go wrong...
Everything I had was yours,
More than I have ever given before,

But for now, let me get into that "mushy" feeling...helping me in that is Whitesnake again with..."so when the sun goes down..i'll be there looking over your shoulder...the deeper the love,the stronger the emotion.." Guess today is "Whitesnake" day for me.!

Wishing you all a very Happy Valentine's Day! Take care of your loved ones...! God bless you all!

Tuesday, February 08, 2005

Let there be a blog...!

Here it is..! My blog! After much consideration, I decided to unleash this one on unsuspecting fellow beings! God save you all!