Summer! finally.
Infact its so summery in TO right now that it has people, i.e. me, wishing for a Kalboishakhi (monsoon storm) which is much better than the warm showers we got yesterday.
To hot for anything, even thinking.
Search for airconditioned places has me hitting the theatres more than usual.
Hence the boring impromptu reviews of the last few movies I watched.

Mr and Mrs Smith- Believe the hype ....it really is all about two beautiful people blowings things up on screen.....mixed in with Pitt's own brand of geeky humour. Perfect summer movie. Its not trying to give out a message ......just promising a good time.

Bunty and Bubli (Bollywood)- was similarly entertaining. Beautiful people making us laugh. Surprisingly, it had more 'make out' scenes than Mr and Mrs Smith. Sigh. That Abhishekh. And what has Rani done to herself! I want it too!

Crash- on the other hand, was all about the message (this time against racism) and its delivery. But it was also about how as a society we view people or not view them. Even taking the race factor out, it was quite a powerful movie that showed just easily we forget to be considerate of people around us and are unaware of their stories.

Parineeta (Bollywood) - was another movie I was waiting to see for a while. Its based on my favourite Saratchandra story. It was very well done, detailed, visually stuning....and the only major flaw would the ending that was changed from the original ending. It might have ruined the entire movie if the rest of the movie wasn't so good. The thing is that most Sarat's heros are meant to be weak and confused. So the sudden smashing of walls by 'Shekhar' with ......wait for it.....a pen?....okay so it might have been bigger than a pen.......was a little surprising. Along with the 10 minute cheering from the other characters as the cute-idiot tried to make a fist size hole in the wall to get to the girl (Lolita) on the other side, all the while when he could have taken two steps sideways and walked out of the door! Honestly!
Other than that, it was the perfect launch for Vidya Balan *Standing ovation* playing the role of Lolita. She is breathtaking- in beauty and acting.
*humming* 'piya boley'.........there isn't a more beautiful song right now.

is because - I'm an Aunty (Kala-moni)! Finally!
My sis gave birth to a healthy 6lb 22ounce baby boy sunday, June 12th, 10:30pm, after 48 hours of labour.

Yes.

I'm never having kids. :P

Still YEEYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY!!!!!!!
Soooooooo relieved and happy.
Never thought I'd see myslef turned into a leaky cauldren, which I did when he was finally born.

Here is a picture of him 5 minutes post birth He is all eyes. A little tadpole...awwww.


5 minute old

And one of Mommy and Baby

And our desparate attempts to cute-fy him resulted in this picture.

Nah he IS cute :D

Finally managed to load the pictures.
Here we go.......

Journey began at 10:30am ......with lots of help from this map which was great, meaning we didn't have to stop and ask hitchikers for directions.

Western canada is also had less confusing signs than Ontario.

We tried to race through as much as BC as possible in one day and still stopped to take in the amazing waterfalls....here's one- called 'Crazy creek' beacause you can cross it on this hanging bridge thing ... death wish anyone?

A brisk walk through the enchanted forest was more of our thing. Can you believe everything was constructed by two people (husband and wife) with their bare hands? Its was incredible! I love this stuff. I kept expecting young Bambi to turn up. He did; even if he was made of clay. Pictures didn't come out great beacuse of lighting, so check out their website if you'd like to see more. Suniya and I in front of the gingerbread house of Hansel and Gretel.

This one is of 'The Women who lived in a Shoe'

Here is one of the many partially frozen waterfalls

Our first pit stop- Revelstroke. Sadiya and I with our car.

Then we drove across the BC border into the Banff National park, Alberta while passing a lot of mountains like this

Planning our activities at an Elvis inspired diner in Banff. How you can ruin plain omelet I'll never know but they managed to do it.

.

Spent the night at Canmore and woke up to this view outside the window

Driving north into Jasper National Park we ran into the first Galacier- called Crow's Glacier. Not sure why but did say one crow and two magpies fighting nearby

Off we went cruising up and down the rockies, stopping occasionally to hold our collective breath and catch the view

Stopped at the beginning of the Athabasca river(one we'll eventually be rafting in> at the Columbia Icefield . brrrrr cold.

Emerald lake. Yep its emerald in colour.

The Athabasca falls, Jasper

Going under and over the rapids while white water rafting in the Mile-stretch of the Athabasca river. I'm the one in the front with her mouth open in shock.

Interesting mountain formations seen on the way to Lake Louise

Series of waterfalls that came right down to the roads and run underneath.

Back in the gorgeous city of Vancouver

Whale watching in Victoria. Caught this one after clicking away for half an hour. They are so fast.

Totems at Stanley park, each breathing a family crest, a story, a belief. Cool.

Thatas all folks.
Thanks for all the fish!




OMG!
How could SHE?
Why not just take the next step- stand at a street corner and postitute yourself too, you SL!




"Brown" is the the increasingly popular term used by the youth of south-Asian decent to define themselves and their ethnicity in north america.
Brown.
Not desi or deshi, which is the other term that is being cycled through these days.
Despite the ardent efforts by 'Desiwear', the term 'desi' has never taken off. For one, its very contrived and second, its not a term that belongs to every language of the south-asian countries(formally Indian subcontinent) - we have atleast 25 different ones I hear.
So while describing something 'ethnic', its always...the 'brown culture', the 'brown guys/girls', 'brown parents' etc.
But try slipping the 'brown' term in everyday conversation with a 'non-brown' person and you'll get a look ranging from blank to horrified and you are stuck for the next hour reassuring them that its not a racist 'N' word for south-asian people.
Yes we are referring to the colour of the skin, but its deeper than that.
Something to do with 'bhangra' at some point I'm sure (erm..about that. sure the drums are wonderful but, honestly haven't we had enough of bearded guys in skirts and flamingo coloured turbans climbing over each other in the pretext of 'dance'?)
Anyway, even with all the positive connotations, the term is not without its problems.
This blogger was recently close to committing something disparaging with the hasty reference to a 'brown event' while talking to someone with brown skin but not of south-asian decent. For your average foot in your mouth- this one was a Yeti. Nonetheless, it was all sorted out. I think. My place wasn't torched or anything.
So "Brown" remains as the word of choice.
The 'brown' thing is also suddenly very IN now .....and not only in Canada it seems.
Credit it
-on the intensive import/marketing of Aishwariya Rai as the next Catherine Zeta Jones (more like Penelope Cruz if you ask me) or
- the latest 'bollywood' inspired trends for the last few years. ( you'd have to be blind to miss the posters for the upcoming charity fashion show 'Bollywood Cowboy', featuring a hard ab-bed cowboy with a hat and henna tattoo on his back and low low butt-crack showing jeans. eww.)
-Credit movies like 'Bend it like Beckham' and 'Monsoon wedding' even.
'Brown' is not so weird anymore. Its.....well...kinda cool.
What this fad means for your average south asian youth bending over backwards to become a doctor/engineer/comp sci is unclear. We'll probably be making fewer excuses about our smelly food and colourful clothes. Probably.
But its a positive reinforcement for people trying to break into the entertainment business -everything from TV ads to movies- in something beyond the stereotypical 'Walmart shopper' or 'convenience store owner' role. Something more mainstream. (How about that Kal Pen eh?) Some 'brown' models for the Tommy(R) ads maybe, since we are their primary customers.
Maybe it will be taken to the next level where we would finally be able to find the perfect 'foundation' to match our skin tone and not have to go to obscure companies.
Though the 'accent' would never be cool, I'm afraid.