Fitness shitness, Hai Rabba!!!

Lately I have been seeing a lot of commercials for Fitness videos on TV. The one with Shilpa Shetty looked really good. Recently Bipasha Basu released a fitness video called "Love Yourself" which looked pretty good as well. And there was one more called Zumba fitness video. Zumba is combination various Latin dance forms which helps you workout in a fun way.


Since I hate gym and driving all the way to a dance class is too much of an effort for me, I decided to try these videos at home. In the past three months, I have gained a lot of weight. I had no work and Mangoes made it even more difficult. I have been gorging on Aamras. So I got both the videos Zumba and Love Yourself and started the self torture sessions 2 days back.


I decided to start with Zumba. It consists of 2 parts. First part is a set of what they call "Rhythm Refreshers". It basically includes some 24 short videos which help you master the very basic Latin dance steps. Whereas the part 2  is 50 minute workout video which is a combination of all the latin dance forms. I started with the Rhythm refreshers and I could literally hear the fat in my body cry in pain. Three months of inactivity and then suddenly all the salsa and samba was too much for my body to bear. I have been feeling sore for the last 2 days. Just typing on my laptop felt like a tremendous effort.


So today morning I thought "Lets give a break to my Zumba and start "loving my body". Bips looks awesome in those videos. She's got a beautifully toned body, not an ounce of fat.  God, I felt so ashamed with oodles of flab over my body. It is a 25 minute video consisting of warm-up exercises, specially designed  routine for complete body workout and 5 mins of cool down. It looks like a well thought concept and I have a very good reason to believe that it works out every single muscle. Because by the time I was done, every single body part, muscle, hair, face and even maybe the atoms and molecules of my body were in a deep deep pain. 


Since I couldn't move, I decided to take a dip in hot water. It felt like heaven and believe me I could literally hear  my body sing with gratitude!!! Even while I type this, I keep fantasizing about relaxing in some exotic Spa. But this episode hasn't dampened my spirit, rather it has made me realize how irresponsible I have been. I have decided to take this as a challenge and have atleast 30 mins of physical activity everyday. Lets see how long I manage to do this. Till then, lets Zumba!!!

Galway gal...

I love this video. Gerard Butler singin 'Galway Gal' for Hilary Swank in PS I Love U. The movie and the novel are totally different and my choice would be to go ahead with the book first. Still, who can resist Gerard Butler?  Hope you like it!!!

Baingan ki sabji : Simple, quick South-Indian brinjal recipe

When I started the blog I intended to write a few recipes as well. I think i'll start with a simple curry I prepared today for my lunchbox. It is simple and since it is made in cooker, will not take more than 10 mins.
Baingan ki sabji : Simple, quick South-Indian brinjal recipe
Ingredients:

Small purple brinjals (green long one would be ideal) : 6 (cut into 1 inch cubes)
Green Chilli - 2 (chopped)
Onion : 1 (medium size, chopped)
Jeera/ Cumin powder - 1/2 teaspoon
Coriander/ dhaniya powder : 1/2 teaspoon
Mustard/Rai seeds : 1/2 teaspoon
Jeera/Cumin seeds : 1/2 teaspoon
Tamarind water - 1 tablespoon (soak the tamarind in 1-2 warm water in for half an hour )
Salt, Sugar as per your taste.
Oil: 1 tablespoon
Coriander/ Dhaniya for garnishing.

Steps:

1. Heat 1 tablespoon of oil in a small pressure cooker ( if not available use a pan but you might have to cook for longer).
2. Once the oil is heated, add Mustard seeds.
3. When the mustard starts spluttering, add cumin seeds and add chopped green chilies, onion.
4. When the onion turns translucent, add cut brinjal, Cumin and Coriander powder, salt to taste and saute it.
5. Add 1 tablespoon of tamarind pulp. If you are using the tamarind pulp directly from the market, take 1 teaspoon of it and dilute it in the water.
6. Add some water, so that the vegetable are half covered. Close the cooker lid and let it take 2 vissils.
7. Open the cooker after some time, add a little sugar for taste and garnish it with dhaniya!!!! Serve it with garmagaram Roti, like I did today!!!!

The brush with Death!!!!

Last weekend I had a near death experience. I had been to my hometown Solapur to be with my parents for their 28th wedding anniversary (Congrats both of you, you guys absolutely deserve a Bravery Award). The anniversary was on Saturday. We celebrated it by lazing around in the house, just the three of us and nice li’l dinner, it really felt good. After a hectic day(lying in front of TV can be real tiring), I snuggled into my childhood bed. The summer in my hometown can really be harsh and it was one of those days. It was around 3 in the night, I must be somewhere in the dreamland when all of a sudden I felt a tremendous pressure in my chest.



My first thought was that I was having a heart attack on my parent’s wedding anniversary, how sad!!! They’ll never be able to celebrate their Anniversary again. The thought wasn’t just a thought, it was quite pictorial. I could see the next day’s newspaper column saying “A young Software Engineer died in a heart attack” and how everyone is commenting about the job stress these days, how I was great daughter, friend, Ravi crying his eyes out and thinking “When would be the right time to find a new gal”. My roomies cursing me for dying on them and secretly thinking about putting an Advertisement for a new roommate. Have I replaced my Insurance policy paper, hope my dad finds it wherever I’ve kept it. Thinking about the things I could never do, getting drunk, being an Hippie, shop like a maniac, visiting Ireland, settle down in Bahamas. Do you get me now when I say it was quite pictorial?


By this time I was sweating badly (actually I was sweating badly even before I had the damn attack, courtesy: my room’s fan), I could feel the pain, the pressure was building, I did not have the courage to scream. So I decided I’ll open my open for a minute have a last look at my room and die peacefully. I opened my eyes and I saw a soft light. I was like “Ok, so the thing they say about light at the end of the Tunnel is true” but the only confusion was “Why two lights?”


I tried focusing again and it dawned upon me. I wasn’t having an attack but a huge Cat (it was a kitten actually but at that moment I felt like it) was sitting on me. And I let out a huge shriek; it jumped and was out of the window within a second. But it felt good, I wasn’t dying actually. Anyways, it would have been silly. I have no job stress at all; in fact I haven’t worked in almost three months. My friends, for one, would have definitely wondered about my cause of death. All said and done, I am still alive and kicking.

Movie/Book review: The Notebook

I first heard about Nicholas Sparks' "The Notebook" during a movie trailer on Warner Bros movie channel. The trailer looked very romantic and Ryan Gosling looked absolutely yummy!!! I wanted to watch it badly but somehow I missed it on the TV. Sometime back I stumbled upon an Orkut community for 'The Notebook' and I found a huge fan following for the movie as well as the novel. It isn't in me to let go a nice romantic novel/movie, hence began the frantic search for the movie n the book. I found both together and got confused which one to start first with. Since the movie would be short and it had an additional factor of Ryan Gosling and James Marsden, I decided to go ahead with it.

It was a beautiful, touching movie. Not just the storyline and characters but it is also shot beautifully. I personally liked the scene when Allie and Noah are paddling the canoe in the lake surrounded by swans and it suddenly starts raining, an absolute feast for your eyes!!!

 

Watching the movie din't stop me reading the novel, so I picked the novel next. Apart from a few tweaks here n there, there are no major differences in the book n movie. The novels starts at a rather slow pace in which Allie n Noah's summer romance is wrapped up in a few quite pages whereas I preferred the whirlwind romance of the movie. Somehow I felt the books narration a li'l passive. The characters in the movie more strong and passionate as compared to the book. The Noah of the book is real nice guy but the movie's Noah is far more likable with a slight tinge of aggression and jealousy in the character.


This is the first time I've liked a movie more than the original book. Kudos to the director for creating such a beauty, especially Rachael and Ryan for their scintillating performance. I bet you can't miss the sparks flying between them!!!