Author: queenbee (Page 4 of 8)

Ooty : Of Birthday, Boat House and Botanical Garden!

July 1, 2023 / queenbee / 2 Comments

Day 4:

Mr.Bee and I started our day early at 12:00 a.m., to kiss our GBee a happy birthday, who was oblivious to our wishes and continued sleeping peacefully. (The kiddos look cute in their sleep and when they wake up, I end up looking like a devil, thanks to their hyper activity!) After a couple of minutes of reminiscing our first born, Mr.Bee and I dozed off to sleep.

At 7 a.m., hot water baths later, we had our breakfast at the hotel, spent fifteen minutes in the play room and returned to our room.

I wanted to have a photo shoot of both my little heroes, who wore matching t-shirts and pants. But thanks to GBee, who always avoids looking at the camera and KBee who always runs towards the camera, we could hardly take one good picture to capture the moment! (I don’t understand how people have Instagram worthy pics with kids, beats me!) Nothing, absolutely nothing can tempt them to stand still for a photo together, until and unless its a selfie, where they can look at themselves in the phone!

As per our travel itinerary, we got ready for the boat house, with raincoats, umbrellas, sweaters and caps. (Ooty weather is similar to that of London, which is said to be unpredictable!)

We wasted a good 15 minutes, trying to park our Vento, waited in line for entry tickets and once again had to wait in the queue for boat rides. By now, we got used to the heavy rush throughout Ooty. Luckily, we met two families from Telangana at the Boat House, so together, we bought the 16 member boat ride tickets. The 8 member and 4 member boat rides had bigger queues.

Boating in Ooty – Pic source – Google!

The boat ride itself was fun, with both GBee and KBee howling like a pack of wolves, which they learned from watching the Wolfe videos in Youtube! (Throughout our vacation, they made me and Mr.Bee, howl along with them, like a pack of wolves.) The others in the boat ride were surprised by us howling, but that didn’t deter us any!

During our boat ride, we also saw a toy train, in the woods. We weren’t ready to stand in the toy train queue, so ignored the ride. (There is another reason for avoiding the toy train, which you will know in the next post!)

After the boat ride, we were craving for some snacks. Water sports cause food cravings! We bought fried spiral potato and masala sweet corn. That was when we checked the time, it was time for lunch!

Spiral potato or Tornado Potato – Pic Source: Google

We exited the boat house and it started drizzling, as we ran towards our car in the parking lot. GBee and I giggled as we ran. Mr.Bee ran carrying KBee in his arms which made KBee laugh out loud in excitement and merry!

We had our lunch at the Angaara, which turned out to be the go-to place for us in Ooty. I don’t remember what we had for lunch, but Mr.Bee wanted to surprise GBee, so he requested for a cake for our first born.

The staff didn’t disappoint us. They attached two brownies together, decorated it with a ‘Happy Birthday’ cake topper, colourful sprinkles were sprayed judiciously and a few red cherries on top, caught our attention. (GBee hates cherries, so he made us remove them!)

Impromptu Birthday Celebration with a brownie cake – Pic Source : Mr.Bee

The birthday boy blew the candle, as soon as we lit it and began to sing the usual, Happy Birthday! (He wanted to get back to his game in the cell, which Mr.Bee had given him earlier, as a birthday treat!) The birthday brownie was yummy. Both the kiddos filled up their stomachs with the brownie and left the lunch for us, the parents to complete!

Mr.Bee asked me where I wanted to go next and what I wanted to do. I wanted the kids to go to the Botanical Garden and enjoy it, just like I did, many years ago. Mr.Bee was apprehensive, but then, we ended up going to the Botanical Garden. (I promised Mr.Bee that we would not be staying in the Garden for more than an hour. We wanted to retire early to our room.) Travelling with two kids is no mean feat!

The grand old trees of the Botanical Garden! – Pic Source : Google

As soon as we entered the Garden, we knew for sure that, spending more than an hour would be very difficult, what with the huge crowds. We let the kids run helter skelter. Both of them had no worries in the world, when they ran far away from us, breathing in the fresh mountain air, as far as their tiny legs took them, without tiring them out.

The beautiful, undulating grass terrain was the perfect setting the kiddos needed to play.

Bunch of college going kids started rolling downhill on the gentle slopes. GBee soon caught on and had the time of his life, rolling down the garden landscape, along with them. KBee didn’t want to be left behind. He started rolling on the grass turf in circles! It was fun watching both of them enjoy. I had my eyes set on KBee and Mr.Bee had to follow GBee around, trying not to let them out of our line of sight.

Rolling down the hill – Pic source : Google

We let them play for as long as they wanted to play. Thankfully, there was an in-house photographer there, waiting to click pictures, we got our photos taken and returned to the exit, with the laminated photos in our hands.

At the exit we saw a Bharatanatyam recital by a group of 4 girls. I felt happy. I loved the idea of watching a classical dance recital in the Botanical Garden!

Bharatanatyam Dancer Dolls – Rose Show – Pic Source: Google

We returned to the room, after battling the perennial traffic. We had originally planned on ordering a birthday cake at the hotel, near the campfire, but then, we decided to have the cake at lunch, with just the four of us!

I had a piping hot chai, while I got back to reading the murder mystery e-book! GBee and KBee entertained themselves with the stickers again, too tired to run about. We had an early dinner and called it a day.

I was ready to sleep, eager for the next day to start already! Bring it on, day 5!

P.S:

It is always a plus, if you have the right kind of book to read!
GBee and KBee tired themselves silly, running in the Botanical Garden, they had hardly any energy left to fight.
Since the weather in Ooty is generally low, there are no ACs and fans in the hotel room.
If you are an amateur ornithology enthusiast, you can find Hornbill birds in Ooty. I saw most of them at the boat house and a few at the gardens and on scenic roads.
If you thought the hotel may provide you with hair dryer, just like I did, you are mistaken. If you need a hair dryer anywhere, you need to take it with you in India! (Hotels in USA provide dryers, but not in India. I found it the hard way!)
Most people speak Hindi or English in Ooty. Language barrier is not an issue, at least for us.
All the photos in this post except the one with the brownie cake have been freely used from various sources. Mr.Bee and I had to run about everywhere and taking beautiful pics for the blog was least of our concerns!

Till the next post, cheerio, folks!

Ooty : Of Gardens and Factories!

June 26, 2023 / queenbee / 2 Comments

Day 3:

We started our day early, waking up to the huge French windows overlooking the private balcony. The windows were completely filled with the condensed water on the outside and I had to wipe the windows a little to see if the Sun had risen! (Cold climates can do that to your windows)

Ooty, the beauty

A perfect holiday for me always includes a good murder mystery, so there I was wide awake early in the morning, on the sunny balcony reading an e-book, which was perfect for the occasion, called The Murder at the Mayfair Hotel, by C.J.Archer. (Will review it down the line.)

Once GBee woke up at 7 a.m., he and I wore our sweaters and caps, ran towards the playground on the bottom level of the hotel. We played together on the adjacent swings like best friends do! He also played on the slide for his hearts content. That’s when KBee and Mr.Bee came down and all the four of us played on the see-saws.

Slides, see-saw and swings – Zoom in for the playground at the bottom level!

By the time we had our baths, we were late for our breakfast. Everyone had theirs before 8:30 a.m. We went by 9, had our breakfast, played for a little while in the kids playroom which had carrom board, Ludo, chess board and Table Tennis. We spent 5 minutes at each table and returned to our room, to plan our day.

We reached the famous Botanical Garden of Ooty, the heavy rush at the entrance reminded us of Kumbh Melas, of which we only heard through News channels! (We didn’t buy the entrance ticket, but returned to the parking area, to visit some other place.) I bought a beautiful grey,black and red poncho at the Tibetan market, bought seeds of beautiful flowering plants suitable for Hyderabad and got into the car.

We had our lunch at the Angara. Their Cream of Mushroom soup was the best (though, I am not a fan of mushroom). Since the weather in Ooty is low, at 14 C, even the water served for drinking is lukewarm. There is also a ban on plastic in Ooty which is a welcome move by the Tamil Nadu Government. (Even in Tirumala, near Tirupathi, plastic is banned. These environment friendly gestures are highly appreciated.)

It started drizzling by the time we came out of the restaurant. We decided to go to the Rose Garden. We had already bought rain proof jackets for both the kiddos at the Tibetan market earlier, so rain was not an issue for us.

The Government Rose Garden too looked like a sea of humans was going about in it! The garden itself had less number of roses in bloom! We spent most of the time in the garden running, me behind GBee and Mr.Bee behind KBee! I found myself wondering, why won’t they stop running and let my eyes enjoy the scenery? But then, they hardly sit quietly at home, expecting them to sit in a huge multi-level park with greenery seemed preposterous.

Me running after GBee, KBee following me and Mr.Bee capturing the moment, forever!

We took a couple of photos with the in-house photographer and exited the rose garden, before taking the photo of the below butterfly. (4 of us were tired from running around!)

The Butterfly in the Rose Garden!

After a brief snack break, we decided to test our luck at the Tea and Chocolate Factory! Wherever we went, there was a heavy rush of people, mostly from Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka, who came to enjoy the weekend at Ooty. (I am telling this by the license plates I saw everywhere!)

Anyway, we reached the Chocolate Factory and GBee was so excited to see so many chocolates, he kept ‘wow’ing. (I hope that’s a word!) KBee is too small to know what a chocolate really is, but he was excited too, to run away!

We breezed through the Tea making and Chocolate making, rushed towards the shops. We bought Masala Tea, Ginger Tea and Green Tea, some chocolates like dark almond, dark rice crackle, dark hazelnut etc. I also bought some Eucalyptus Oil and pain oil too. We also bought Kashmiri woven shawl for gifting. With this we returned to the car.

Tea & Chocolate Factory – Pic courtesy Search Engine

We reached La Montana, had our evening cuppa Tea in the room, read some 50 pages of my e-book, waiting for time to pass!

At 7 p.m., the campfire was lit. GBee wanted to play on the swing, so Mr.Bee was on his toes. I and KBee enjoyed the campfire. We met fellow tourists, a huge family of Gujaratis, a newly married couple and an extremely silent family of 4!

I also tried the swing, with KBee on my lap, but both of us ended up falling on the ground! I hurt my hand, when it grazed the metal chain, thankfully KBee was unhurt. He found it funny that both of us fell forward, me landing on my knees, holding KBee in both my arms. He laughed for a while! I too laughed it off, (in embarrassment, actually!)

At 8 p.m., we returned to the room, since the Gujarati family had started dancing and we were famished. We had a simple dinner of veg fried rice and curd rice and called it a day. As usual, we slept like logs.

P.S:

It is advisable to buy your jackets, sweaters and shawls in Ooty. They have some very good pieces on display too and none are made locally, but imported from other states.
The curd rice in Ooty was awesome. I had it every night of our stay there. Yummy! Never knew a simple curd rice can fill both your heart and stomach!
Traffic and parking are the main issues one would face in Ooty. If you are travelling in your own vehicle, God save you!
Chocolate Tea is famous in Ooty, but I didn’t know what the fuss was about! Sorry! I loved the masala chai that was given for sampling at the Tea factory.
Every night, the kids entertained themselves in the room with the stickers I packed for them. They would stick, the variety of stickers, on the walls, suitcases, bed and on each other!
If you are travelling with picky eaters like my boys, I advise you pack some homemade eatables for them, to fill them up. I made them a powder, which they add to their rice, idlis, dosa or eat directly without any accompaniment.

Till the next post, bubye!

To Ooty, at last!

June 24, 2023 / queenbee / 2 Comments

Day 2:

Originally we had planned on starting our drive from Bengaluru to Ooty at 6 in the morning but ended up starting little after 9:30 a.m. Inspite of that, there was little traffic. Thank Ram, Sita, Lakshman and their gang! (Just saw trailer of Adipurush and no wonder I keep remembering the said Gods!)

Mr.Bee rode us through the Nice Road, from Bengaluru to Mysore. It was a good road and a drive on it felt like flying on the clouds! (I am scared of high speeds and Mr.Bee is a fan of speed racing.)

We made a brief stop near Mysore City Bus Nildana. I wanted to reminiscence the good old days of my life at Infosys, Mysore campus. My friends and I would come out of the campus every weekend to Devaraja Wodeyar Market and enjoy hours of retail therapy, called shopping by mere mortals! We would buy fresh fruits to last the week and I also remember buying a number of books by Agatha Cristie, along with clothes and accessories.

I showed one of our regular haunts to Mr.Bee, the Cauvery Emporium. He loved all the Rosewood furniture on display there. GBee refused to leave the Rose wood sofa set on display, whereas KBee was mighty impressed with the Rosewood inlay frames of Lord Ganesha on display!

Karthikeya(KBee) admiring the Ganesha Inlay!

The above pic is sourced from search engine, but KBee kept pulling at my kurti, to make me move towards this one frame of the elephant headed Lord Ganesha, all the while uttering the words, ‘It’s an elephant, it’s an elephant, mommy!’ (KBee couldn’t differentiate between my favourite God and an elephant. He is only 2 years old, so, Saat Khoon Maaf!)

I really really wanted to have my lunch at Das Prakash, since it was already late, we rushed to the Kamat Madhuvan, Ittige Gudu, which was nearby. The Kamat Hotel at Lakdikapul, Hyderabad is a personal favourite, so we gave this Mysore Kamat restaurant a chance! (Next time Das Prakash!)

Although we had to wait a little while to get seated, I loved the food that was served there. We had the North Karnataka Thali. The menu had Jowar roti, methi leaves and cucumber salad, sprouts curry to name a few. It is a win win for health conscious people. We bought a paan at the end, to round up our meal. (I worried myself silly, that Mr.Bee may feel sleepy behind the wheel, what with such a hearty meal!)

The brief lunch halt turned out to be more than a two hour break, but never mind, who is rushing us? No one!

The Mysore to Ooty road is a pleasant drive. We hardly met any traffic and the beauty was scenic. Just before entering the forest area, Mr.Bee and I bought Kala Jamun and Choco Bar ice creams respectively. (The kids were fast asleep in the car-bed and we enjoyed our ice creams!) We drove to Ooty via Bandipur Forest as well as Mudumalai Forest, saw deers, stags, elephants, monkeys in huge numbers. We also saw a couple of peacocks too. That’s when we woke up the kiddos, who were excited to watch the animals up close. In the middle of the forest, among-st the flora and fauna, I felt at peace! (in-spite of two hyper kids shouting at the top of their lungs!)

Since, all the deer are ignoring the camera, enjoy the scenery!

The Baby Elephant with its two legged friend.

The drive in the forest was the best. We took the longest possible route to Ooty, hoping to spot more and more animals and to entertain the kiddos. The ghat roads are a fun drive and after every 3 turns, there would be a tiny stall, selling boiled sweet corns, wild baby carrots, pickled Indian gooseberries (Amla in Hindi, usirikaya in Telugu) , jack fruits (panasa in Telugu) in varied sizes. The mountainous region looked over-populated, if the traffic is any indication!

By the time we reached our hotel in Ooty, La Montana it was already 8 p.m. and the temperature was 14 C. Since the dinner would be served only till 9, we rushed to our room for a breather and rushed to the in-house restaurant to have our buffet dinner.

La Montana – Heaven on Earth

The buffet was memorable because, there was a musician playing live music on his tiny piano. He was playing a recent hit song from the Tamil movie starring Dhanush and Samyukta Menon, Sir, to be exact. I even recorded it in a video, but it is not presentable, thanks to my kids running here and there, in front of my cell, trying to distract me!

Anyway, we reached the room, tried to watch a little t.v., but soon dozed off into a deep slumber, thanks to the cold climate, cozy bed and comforters.

Ooty, we will check you out tomorrow! That’s my last thought before sleeping away.

P.S:

My precious little gems, my chocolate filled muffins, GBee and KBee talk mostly in English, even if I talk in Telugu to them. Looks like the pink Peppa Pig is a bigger influence than the stay-at-home-mom! They even have Peppa Pig night wear, those little tv addicts!
La Montana – The heaven on Earth, because, the view is to die for! From the balcony, we could see the beautiful estates, the rose gardens, people going about their business, the nearby mountains, the huge trees and far away valleys, look at the Sun Rise, feel the mild breeze and what not! If you don’t have your cuppa tea here, in the balcony, every morning during your stay, I don’t know why you even planned your stay there!
I forgot the shop, but in the Devaraja Market, Mysore, we get the best asafoetida or hing. My uncle showed the store to me, but I have forgotten it with the passing of more than a decade of time! (Any Mysore locals reading this post can direct message me. Any help is appreciated.)
While we were passing the Mudumalai forest, I remembered Oscar winning documetary The Elephant Whisperers which was shot here and wondered if I would meet the now famous duo! We didn’t, obviously!
I wonder who named the jack fruit, it feels like cursing the poor fruit!
This is not a sposored post. I am just naming the eateries and places, which I really enjoyed.

Wait for the next post. Till then, adios!

Bengaluru Beckons!

June 19, 2023 / queenbee / 2 Comments

Mr.Bee and I had planned a short vacation, way back in November 2022. But LIFE happened and we cancelled our trip at the loss of some hard earned money. So this time, we wanted to travel, but with a flexible itinerary, to avoid cancellations and to not be disappointed. That is how we started our 14 day vacation, with 2 year old KBee , 6 year old GBee on our nearly 6 year old Vento!

Since Hyderabad felt like a sauna, we decided on a cooler destination and immediately zeroed in on Ooty. (I have fond memories of Ooty from my teens and Mr.Bee had never been to Ooty.)

Our trip started with buying loads of healthy snacks for our drive, a 10 litre Milton cooler for water needs of the kiddos, emergency medicines, medical kit and 4 suitcases full of clothes for all the 4 of us!

Day 1:

…..Started with our drive from Hyderabad to Bengaluru . We started at around 6 a.m., (originally planned on starting by 5 a.m.) drove to Kurnool, on time to have our breakfast. (Both the kids had fallen asleep on the car-bed we had installed on the back seat. ) I had masala dosa and it is the best I had in recent times. GBee demanded cell phone to have his breakfast, but thanks to the dozen or more police officers having breakfast at the Hangout, he stayed away from throwing tantrums and had his plain dosa in silence. (GBee is afraid of the police.)

Even though it was still 8:30 a.m., the Sun was already showing his might. So we kept ourselves and kids hydrated by drinking water and Gatorade in alterations.

At Ananthapur, we bought the juiciest and sweetest guavas ever. I ate two in a sitting. They were awesome. Thanks to the seller, we also had some guava leaves, which I placed on top of the dash board, to test my theory. Plants and flowers attract heat and cool the surrounding areas, so the leaves on dash board meant, they took the heat and the passengers have none. (If you are going out during peak summer heat, place an onion in your hand bag or shoulder bag and get on with your business. The onion prevents sun strokes by absorbing the heat, especially in tropical climates, it is very helpful.)

We reached the outskirts of Bengaluru at around, 1:30 p.m. and had our lunch at Nandi Upahar, near the road to Nandi Hills. There was a waiting line and although the restaurant needed a face-lift, we had our lunch and started our drive into the City of Traffic, Bengaluru! (Don’t get me wrong, I love Bengaluru and its pleasant climate, which is similar to that of my second home, Charlotte, NC,USA.)

We reached Mr.Bee’s colleague, R‘s house, at BTM Stage 2, took our time to freshen up ourselves and by the time it was 5 p.m., we went to the nearby park. GBee and KBee had a blast playing there. Once it started drizzling, we ran out of the park and rushed home. Our dinner that night was Dominos Pizza, because, the food delivery showed a waiting time of more than 1 hour, thanks to the heavy rain that night. We had a Vegetarian Gourmet Pizza, with added basil seasoning and it was good. GBee was over the Moon thanks to the junky dinner!

We slept, for a night of peace. Both the kiddos slept like logs, a long drive can do that to anyone!

I woke up at 7 a.m., as usual and was mesmerised by the silence of Bengaluru. I saw atleast fifty people going for walks, jogs in fitness gear. A retiree continued with his stretches, all the while, nodding his head to one or two familiar faces. Everyone was going about their business in silence. This pleasant scene tempted me to ditch Hyderabad and move to Bengaluru. But then, I am a pukka Hyderabadi.(Also, I had temporary lapse in judgement!)

R even tempted us guys by saying that the plot nearby was ready for sale! As if! We just enrolled GBee into a new school and that’s when it hit me, how easy it is to take decisions before having kids and after! We moved to India, in the blink of an eye from Charlotte, but something like that is unthinkable now.

Anyway…..

For breakfast we had scrumptious thatte idli (first time eating it) and medu vada with tasty pudina chutney.

Thatte Idli – Image Courtesy Google Search Engine

With that done and stuffing some Mango leaves onto the dashboard, Mr.Bee, I and the kids bid our farewells and started for Ooty! Chalo Ooty! That’s how we started our Day 2!

P.S:

Interestingly, if you want to convince your mom that you don’t want to go to school or college, an onion in one’s armpit, raises the body temperature and causes fever! Now take a blood oath that you won’t tell your mom, this is where you read it. I don’t want any mothers cursing me!
It is always better to check leaves for caterpillars. Thankfully, GBee was quick to observe that the mango branch of Bengaluru tree had a very active caterpillar. I jumped out of my skin, car came to a sudden halt and the branch went right out of the window! No one was hurt by the above incident!
I couldn’t post for more than 3 weeks, because, we were busy with the vacation, the return, the laundry, the school induction programs, the books, the uniforms and the likes. Hopefully, I will bore you guys silly with more posts. The next post will be about Udhagamandalam, Ooty for short!

Cheerio till the next post.

Happy Birthday GBee!

May 26, 2023 / queenbee / 0 Comments

Wish you a very happy birthday, GBee, my love. May God bless you with healthy, happy, prosperous life and eternal glory! (I sound like Dumbledore announcing Tri-Wizard Tournament!)

P.S:

Although GBee loves balloons, I refrained from drawing them, because I don’t want it to look congested!

Cheerio, till the next post!

For the Love of Pizza!

May 24, 2023 / queenbee / 0 Comments

*** Post written just after the lockdown ***

Firstly, let us give a classy Chef’s kiss to the Italians who brought Pizza into the world! Thank you! (I would also love to thank the inventor of pani puri, but that is a post for another day!)

My earliest memories of Pizza are from my schooling days, when all of us, a bunch of more than 7 kids (give or take, at each instance) would haunt our favourite Global Bakery, order a small pizza, eat a slice each and smile like Cheshire Cat!

Birthdays, meant parties at our adda, the Global Bakery! (It is still busy and thriving. The Country Oven, just opposite to Global Bakery never had similar luck. It failed to take off from the start and eventually, closed the shop, forever.) That started my love for Pizza.

Once we ended our hectic +2, pizza became a routine, which later increased manifold, as soon as I started earning on my own! (Go Midland Bakery!)

I also love the fact that, the girl gang in my workplace, would visit Pizza Hut and eat pizza to our heart’s content. Ah! Who can forget all the beautiful memories I have with my friend SV and RR who would eat pizza with me, once in a while, during our training at Infosys, Mysore. In-fact, my friend SV managed to hurt the pizza hut guy at the Food Court-2, by calling him an uncle! (He looked like a 30 year old and we were a couple of 20 year olds, he was hardly an uncle, but it was just the case of a slip of the tongue, aadat se majboor!) He took offense to that and refused to serve pizza to us (others would serve us), till we stayed at the campus for all the 5 months of training. Those were the days!

Even though I have been in love with Pizza since my teens, this post is not about me!

Na-uh!

Later on, once Mr.Bee and I moved to Charlotte, Pizza was our go-to lunch and dinner during our lazy days. We would order in, laze on the couch with remote in our hands, binge watching Netflix. I introduced some dramas to Mr.Bee like Switched At Birth, Gilmore Girls, Cheers, Fraser,Fixer Upper by Chip and Joanna, Love It or List It and he introduced me to Avatar: The Last Airbender, Heroes and also Fast and Furious films,(which I loathe by the way)

I remember eating Pizza filled with mushrooms, from Mellow Mushrooms. (I am not a fan of mushrooms), the particularly soft Papa John’s Pizza with a pickle on the side, the usual favourite Pizza Hut and Dominoes. But the taste I have always admired and begun to miss is the Garden Fresh Pizza from Fuel. The friendly atmosphere at the pizzeria was a plus. I love my pizza with a topping of Basil, accompanied by the yummy Garlic Knots and chilli flakes with more than a sprinkle of oregano.

Mr.Bee had ordered Fuel Pizza on the very first lunch we had, after landing in Charlotte, so ya, Fuel has a special place in our hearts. (The Korean eatery Emzy was his first choice, which was apparently closed on that day, since it is in the Business district of Charlotte, where everything remains closed on weekends!)

Office parties for Mr.Bee always meant eating pizza, which is the best option for vegetarians in the USA. You can always add toppings according to your taste.

Even if Mr.Bee loves pizza and had eaten more pizzas than me, he is not what this post is about, either!

It all started with the Corona Lockdown, which made it hard for pizza lovers like us to eat out, the solution was to make pizza at home. Luckily, we don’t have a heavy duty oven good for baking! (Lucky, because, we would have piled on many kilos in weight, if not for the absence of the said baking oven!)

So, making pizza is how we spent the weekend.

Before and After!

Credit goes to Mr.Bee for making pizza, he was the Chef in this case and I was his Sous Chef, cutting the veggies for him and guess who liked it the most, GBee!

Yup, this post is about our new fan of Pizza, GBee. He loves pizza, but hates all the toppings, he removes all the veggies and gives them to me, very respectfully! So he is just eating a thick crust with tomato sauce and black olives on it and nothing else, not even cheese!) Can we really say he loves pizza? I am not sure now!

Mr.Bee was happy, he has a fan in his pizza cooking phase. Since then, we made pizza one more time. He also tried his hand at sandwiches too. (Mr.Bee discovered his love for cooking during the lockdown. Now that there is no lockdown, we don’t see him cook, as regularly)

GBee was so happy about pizza being made at home, he ran out to the main gate, shouted at the top of his lungs about pizza, surprising the guests of our top floor neighbours!

Announcing the pizza being made!

Confused strangers!

We have managed to fool GBee into thinking sandwiches are also pizza! Guess who loves sandwiches now?

P.S:

I have recently come across the diary I had been writing during the lockdown, so I am posting them here now, before they turn too irrelevant and old! I also have posts during toddler years of GBee. I just need time to get everything on the computer!
Now, almost 2 years after this incident, GBee is still not interested in eating veggies on the pizza, except black olives and he has completely stopped eating sandwiches!

Till the next post, adios my friends!

Among the Dragonflies!

May 18, 2023 / queenbee / 0 Comments

*** This post was written in during the Corona Lockdown of 2020***

How to spend time during the lockdown?

Well, GBee and I spend our mornings chasing after dragon flies.

It all started when it was decided that all the terrace space was going waste, so pots have been installed and seeds sown. Luckily for us, Rain God blessed us early on and with regular watering by Mr.Bee, the seeds have sprouted and plants grew in size.

We have climbers of cucumber and bottle gourd, plants of ladies finger (okra) and beans. Little coriander stalks with a couple of florets at the top, wave at us, with the slight breeze that lingers on the terrace, always.

The result of a dozen potted plants is, we now get to see a minimum of 10 dragonflies flying about our terrace at any given point of time, mostly the early mornings. Some 50 dragonflies already zoom around the bigger trees in our vicinity. (Almost all houses have huge trees.)

QueenBee and GBee discussing the dragonflies!

The impromptu meeting of the dragonflies!

To kill time, one fine morning, I showed GBee a dragon fly, resting on a random plant. Boy, was he hooked! Our daily routine now includes selecting a dragon fly and stalking it (out of its wits!), till it escapes from our line of vision by zooming away, above into the sky, probably for a peaceful life!

I, sometimes hum my favourite song, ‘thuneega thuneega’, a Telugu song, about two childhood friends running after dragonfly! (I am into situational songs!)

Now that we see dragonflies on a daily basis, we have discovered there are many varieties of them, which differ in colour, size and also texture. (Some look like they have been polished and some look rough, like they were chiseled by an amateur artist!)

Sadly, we are nowhere near Harry Potter’s amazing skills as a Seeker. He has keen vision which makes its easier to see and snatch a snitch in almost all his Quidditch matches.

GBee and I tried stalking a young dragonfly, which was hardly visible. It was a difficult task, because the fly was so thin and grayish in colour, matching the cement flooring on the terrace. It flew at a height of 5cm from the ground (low flier), and was difficult to perceive. I, now admire Harry Potter even more!

Nope, I and Gbee are not meant to be seekers, but we may get there soon, with practice and a little hardwork, stalking the dragonflies, that is!

P.S:

This was before KBee was born.
I hated the lockdown, because that made GBee a silent kid. Luckily, once the lockdown was lifted, we would regularly visit maternal grandparents, because, we didn’t trust any other place during Covid and slowly things came back to normal.
Incidentally, during PP-2 graduation ceremony in March 2023, all the parents of GBee’s classmates had similar stories to share, about kids being affected due to Covid lockdown. (Parents were asked to speak on stage during the ceremony, impromptu!)

Till the next post!

Ponniyin Selvan – 2 – A Review

May 11, 2023 / queenbee / 0 Comments

High on the beautiful saga of Ponniyin Selvan -1, I managed to watch Ponniyin Selvan -2 yesterday and here comes the review, while it is still in fresh in my mind!

While PS-1, was all about introducing the various important characters of the Chola Dynasty and their power equations and enemy rulers Pandyans, PS-2 is all emotions and drama!

Adithya, Arulmozhi and Kundavai

***Major Spoilers ahead***

Title : Ponniyin Selvan – 2

Director : Mani Ratnam

Released in: May 2023

QB watched on: May 2023

PS-2 starts with the love story of Nandini and Adithya Karikalan, which although is beautiful, it is short lived. I loved watching the young actors perform the sad love story! Once Adithya shows off Nandini as his love interest, she is deported from the Chola empire, thanks to crown Princess Kundavai and Queen Sembiyan Mahadevi (yesteryear heroine Jaya Chitra), both of who despise Nandini, largely due to the fact that she is an orphan. Adithya only finds her, years later, with Veera Pandyan (Nasser in a cameo), who takes her under his wings. Here, we was left wondering what exactly the relation was, between Nandini and Veera Pandyan.

Meanwhile, Arulmozhi Varman and Vandiyadevar, survive the ship wreck thanks to the old mute Mandakini Devi (Aishwarya Rai,in dual role, supposedly the birth mother of Nandini) who manages to save the injured Arulmozhi Varman. Vandiyadevar diverts the pandyans (and sends away Arulmozhi to a safe location) in search of Arulmozhi, fights Pandyan Ravidasan (Kishore, who also happens to be Forest Officer from the Kantara movie, if you need the reference) and is captured and taken to Nandini, the ally of Pandyans. Nandini vows to avenge the death of Veera Pandyan. Here, Vandiyadevar finds out that Nandini intends to kill Adithya Karikalan by herself.(The Pandyans have their doubts, because, it is a known fact that Karikalan and Nandini were once lovers) Once Vandiyadevar reveals to Nandini, about meeting her mother in SriLanka, she spares his life in return. The boat scenes in the movie, are beautiful to look at, I loved the cinematography.

Vandiyadevar meets Kundavai and tells her Arulmozhi is safe and sound with the Buddhist monks, whereas Nambi relays the same message to Adithya Karikalan. Both the siblings reach Lankan Buddhist monastery and meet Arulmozhi, who plans on returning to the Cholan capital of Thanjavur. (Meanwhile, Madhuranthakan is creating an army for himself, which consists mostly of Shiva Bhakts, in the hopes of defeating Adithya Karikalan and Sundara Chola and ruling the Chola Kingdom. At first glance I thought what are Aghoras doing with Madhuranthakan!)

Here, Kundavai, Vandiyadevar and Arulmozhi warn Adithya Karikalan against meeting Nandini at Kadambur. (Earlier in the movie, Parthibendran Pallavan(Vikram Prabhu), best friend of Karikalan, who is besotted with Nandini, convinces Karikalan to meet Nandini at Kadambur) Nandini, who is the famed beauty of Cholan Empire, has a sway with men. (I loved the costumes and jewellery of Aishwarya rai in the movie. Excellent work by the design team.)

Soon, we learn that, Sundara Chola and Mandakini Devi (the mother of Nandini), loved each other! During the Pandyan assassination attempt on Sundara Chola, Mandakini saves him and dies in the process. Thank God for that. (I didn’t like watching Aishwarya Rai as an old lady, with little scope for acting!) At one point in the movie, I wondered if Nandini and Kundavai, Adithya Karikalan and Arulmozhi were really half siblings, thanks to the love between Sundara Chola and Mandakini Devi. But the doubt is soon clarified. Nandini and the Cholan siblings are not related. Phew, the story would have been so sad, if they really were half siblings!

Adithya Karikalan, inspite of his knowledge of his planned assassination, meets Nandini and dies in the process. (He is ok with dying at the hands of Nandini. Just like in the Hindi movie, Raanjhanaa, where Dhanush dies in a similar fashion!) The death predicted at the beginning of PS-1 is that of Adithya Karikalan. Vandiyadevar, tries to save him, but fails and he is mistaken to be the murderer!

Later, Nandini finds out VeeraPandiyan was infact her father and she commits suicide, unable to come to terms with the death of Karikalan. (I still don’t understand Nandini and Karikalan, if they were so in love, why didn’t they just run away and live happily after? This point might have been explained in the book, but in the movie, it is still a mystery!) There is a fight between Pandyans and Cholas and Madhuranthakan aides Cholas. Cholas win. Ponniyin Selvan Arulmozhi Varman crowns Madhuranthakan as the new Cholan King! (and 15 years later, Ponniyin Selvan ascends the throne of Chola Empire and his reign saw most advancements in the Empire. He comes to be known as Raja Raja Chola, king of the Kings!

*** spoilers end***

What I liked, is the top notch acting. It is sad to see Adithya Karikalan and Nandini’s love come to a tragic end, Vikram and Aishwarya Rai shine in their roles. Like I said in PS-1 post, Karthi excels as Vandiyadevar. All the others have bit roles and limited screen time.

What I didn’t like is the last twenty minutes seem rushed. The fight could have been better. But that is not all. Why name the movie Ponniyin Selvan if the actor playing Ponniyin Selvan gets less screen time? I liked Jayam Ravi as Ponniyin Selvan and he shows in bits and pieces why he is liked and loved by his people. He is level headed and intelligent. The movie should have been named, Adithya Karikalan! Although I love Vikram and his acting, I didn’t understand why he got top billing in a movie about Ponniyin Selvan! I was eagerly waiting for scenes of Arulmozhi Varman, but the achievements of Raja Raja Chola are mentioned at the end and the credits roll! (Does that mean, PS-2 is just a tragic love story, albeit in a historical setting?)

Such a disappointment!

P.S:

I searched the net far and wide to see if there is going to be a Ponniyin Selvan – 3, but I don’t think there is going to be one! So it is a big let down, rushing the last twenty minutes of the movie, with reams and reams of story remaining!
According to online sources, Ponniyin Selvan , as written by Kalki Krishnamurthy, focuses and heroes Arulmozhi Varman, but this PS-2, although named after Ponniyin Selvan, talks more about his elder brother Adithya Karikalan! (I forgave the first movie with less screen time for Ponniyin Selvan, because, Mani Ratnam had to introduce us to many characters and I was fine with it.)
I am hungry for more information regarding the real Arulmozhi Varman, i.e. Raja Raja Chola, who was the inspiration for Ponniyin Selvan. He was the man behind the construction of Brihadeswara Temple in Thanjavur, Tamil Nadu. I hope to visit it someday, in future. Probably in my 40s!
The elder brother of Arulmozhi, Adithya Karikalan was murdered in real life too and it still remains a mystery, but some historians believe the Pandyans were behind the crime. Pandyans wanted Adithya dead, for killing Veera Pandyan. (Kalki Krishnamurthy had used real historical figures as characters for his novel, including the Chola siblings.)

Till the next post!

Ponniyin Selvan – 1 – A Review

May 10, 2023 / queenbee / 2 Comments

Although the movie, Ponniyin Selvan -1 was released last year, what with the mixed reviews of it being confusing and lengthy, I refrained from watching it! Then again, with Ponniyin Selvan -2 releasing a week ago, I really wanted to see what all the buzz was about. So a late review of PS-1 is here.

Let’s jump right into the review.

Disclaimer : I hardly know Tamil and Tamil literature. My review is based on my understanding of the movie.

Title : Ponniyin Selvan – 1

Director : Mani Ratnam

Released in: September 2022

QB watched on: May 2023

Streamed on Amazon Prime

Review:

The movie starts with a falling star and death of an important person in Chola Empire is predicted! Now, who is the important person in chola Empire? Is it Sundara Chola (weak and sick Prakash Raj) or the Crown Prince Adithya Karikalan (Chiyan Vikram, still looking like a 40 year old!) or Kundavai, the only daughter of Sundara Chola (Trisha) or Arulmozhi Varman (Jayam Ravi as Ponniyin Selvan)? Or is it the Sundara Chola’s cousin Uttama Chola or Madhuranthakan (Rahman)?

***Major spoilers ahead ***

Adithya Karaikalan, is stationed at Kanchi, fighting wars and annexing new kingdoms to the Chola Empire. Kundavai is stationed with her sick father, aiding in the rule. Karikalan, sends his trusted friend, Vallavaraiyan Vandiyadevan (Karthi), a Vaanar clan prince , as a spy to relay some of his doubts regarding unrest in the political scene of Chola Empire, to Kundavai and Sundara Chola.

During his visit to Kadambur, Vandiyadevan finds out that Periya Pazhuvettaraiyar (Sharat Kumar), Chinna Pazhuvettaraiyar (Parthiban), some other ministers don’t want Adithya Karikalan to ascend the throne. They want to back Madhuranthakan to be the new face of Chola Empire! Madhuranthakan, is the cousin of Adithya and Arulmozhi.

We also get a brief glimpse of Adithya Karikalan and Nandini’s love story. As the movie progresses, we find, Nandini is in fact married to Periya Pazhuvettaraiyar (whom Adithya Karikalan addresses as grandfather! )

Meanwhile, Vandiyadevan comes across a Vaishnavite Azhwarkkadiyan Nambi( Jayaram), who is also a spy for the Cholan Prime Minister. Thanks to the information from Nambi, Vandiyadevan manages to reach Nandini (Aishwarya Rai). He later reaches out to Sundara Chola and Kundavai and relays his message. (Vandhiyadevan is a clever and brave ally to Chola Crown Prince and he proves his worth time and again.) Kundavai asks him to bring Ponniyin Selvan aka Arulmozhi Varman to Chola Empire, from far away Sri Lanka!

That is the first time we see Ponniyin Selvan, at SriLanka, where he is busy learning the wisdom of life from Buddhist monks and also defeating Raja Mahindra in Lanka. Ponniyin Selvan infact means, son of river Kaveri, because, Arulmozhi was once saved from drowning in the river. In fact, he was saved by a lady with long tresses of grey hair. (We later learn that it is Aishwarya Rai in a dual role.)

Unknown to all, the Pandyans are after the three heirs of Chola empire, Karikalan, Kundavai and Ponniyin Selvan. They want all of them dead!

Periya Pazhuvettaraiyar and the other ministers force Sundara Chola to issue an order to arrest his own son, Ponniyin Selvan in SriLanka and bring him to Thanjavur, the capital of Chola Empire. (PS had infact rejected the throne of Asoka’s daughter, given to him by the Buddhist monks and that is considered an offense by the ministers of Chola. Sundara Chola agrees to arrest his son, only because he thinks, that will guarantee his son’s safe travel!)

Meanwhile, the pandyans arrive at Lanka, to assassinate Ponniyin Selvan. Samudrakumari or Poonguzhali (Aishwarya Lekshmi) who admires the Ponniyin Selvan, warns him regarding the Pandyans, once they enter Lankan waters. (Poonguzhali is actually the niece of old Aishwarya Rai!)

Vandiyadevan agrees to be the decoy, by dressing up as Arulmozhi Ponniyin Selvan. He gets captured, whereas Arulmozhi manages to escape the Pandyans. Once Ponniyin Selvan finds out that Vandhiyadevan is captured, he returns to save his friend. The movie ends with the storm wrecking the ship with Arulmozhi Varman and Vandhiyadevan and Chola Empire hearing the news of the death of Ponniyin Selvan! (We also get to see old Aishwarya Rai, dive into the ocean waters, trying to save Arulmozhi Varman, once again, that is the actual end of the movie!)

After watching the movie, the revelation was Karthi! Boy can he act. He is a natural. He fares better than his sibling, who is more popular, I don’t know why (He seems stiff and one dimensional!) It is a pleasure watching Karthi in the movie. Bravo!

Once I saw the movie poster, I thought the main character of Ponniyin Selvan was played by Chiyan Vikram, but nope, it was played by Jayam Ravi! (He is built for the character of a future king. He looks powerful and level headed.)

Vikram’s role is a piece of cake for him , Trisha, has a sizable character. Sobhita (lover of Ponniyin Selvan), Prakash Raj, Aishwarya Lekshmi have very little screen time. I liked watching Jayaram as Nambi, who is a little goofy, perfect as a spy. Aishwarya Rai gets the best role, which has internal conflict, grey shades and scope for acting.

It was an engaging watch (doesn’t seem lengthy or boring at all) and I hardly knew what was in store. It didn’t have any hero elevation moments or stuff like that. But still, it managed to capture my heart. It shows what an efficient director can do, even without any theatricals. (Mani Ratnam movie direction style is so different from that of Rajamouli. I don’t mean to compare them, as they are as different as chalk and cheese.)

All in all, I wanted to watch the PS – 2 , as soon as I was done watching PS -1 .

P.S:

Ponniyin Selvan is a fictional historical novel written by the Tamil writer, Kalki Krishnamurthy. Although I never read his novel, I became a fan, once I was done watching the movie. I want to start reading the novel too, if I get a copy in either English or Telugu. Need to surf the net regarding the same.
After studying briefly about Mr.Kalki Krishnamurthy, I wonder if he was an inspiration behind the story and or character names of Baahubali movies too! He had written a novel called Shivagami Sapadham and Karikala Kattappa reminds me of Adithya Karikalan (it might just be a coincidence).
Ponniyin Selvan character is based on the historical figure, which we had studied in our schooling(long forgotten), Raja Raja Chola!
The hair bun of Trisha seems so unique and must have been heavy on her neck, though!
The words with ‘z’ in it, like in Poonguzhali need to be pronounced with a ‘lla’/’lli’ sound. I found it the hard way, when I first pronounced the old and famous Shobhana starrer Malayalam movie, Manichitrathazhu!
Since the movie has loads and loads of characters, it is a little tricky writing the review! Review of PS-2 coming soon!

Mrs.Undercover – A Review

May 8, 2023 / queenbee / 1 Comment

Firstly, I watched the movie, only because one young friend, Ska advised me to and now, I would like to review it here, for my dear readers.

The poster sums up the movie – the three important characters!

Title : Mrs. Undercover

Director : Anushree Mehta

Made and Released in: March and April 2023 (apparently the movie was made in a month!)

QB watched on: April 2023

Streamed on Zee5

Review:

The movie starts with the death of a young lawyer, by the hands of a psychotic killer, whom we know as the Common Man (Sumeet Vyas). He also films the crime to let people know that he is on a killing spree! (Oh! And the movie is set in Kolkata and once I saw the heroine on the streets of Kolkata, I was immediately reminded of much loved Kolkata based movies like Kahaani and Piku, both movies with strong female protagonists. I already had high expectations from this movie!)

After the crimes against independent women by the Common Man (mentioned as CM for the rest of the post) keep getting out of hand and also the murder of undercover officer, there is a post to be filled, to catch the CM.

Enter Durga, the average house wife, who after years of inactivity (that is, inactive office life, but very active life as a house wife) is rusty. Chief Rangeela (Rajesh Sharma) tries desperately to recruit the ex-undercover officer into the case, but she is skeptical. I loved watching Chief Rageela. He also has the best lines in the movie, thanks to his character of being a gentleman, who understands a woman and knows how to encourage her.

The character of Durga is relatable, because, the once undercover agent, who is now a full time mom and who forgot she was an agent, is scared of walking alone at night or leaving behind the family to follow someone, without making a proper excuse.

Durga joins a woman empowerment workshop, to be able to follow one of her leads. (Here again, we get to see why a previous agent is now so scared. It is because of the husband, who doesn’t trust her skills and who never encourages her. ) Her husband is put in his place, by Durga’s mother in law, who teaches her son about being a good husband. This particular scene shows how much a good mother can influence her son.

Meanwhile, Durga’s husband has an affair with a neighbour, who happens to be an accomplice of the CM. Then again, we see the vulnerability of Durga, who is shattered. (I loathe the character of the hubby)

Spoilers aside, finally, Durga manages to find the bomb, de-activates it at the nick of the moment (How do all the important characters in different movies always find the correct wire to cut off, to stop bomb explosion?) and saves the day! Phew! I didn’t enjoy the climactic scenes. The supposedly bad villain takes a good beating from Durga, he takes the blows, one after the other, without hardly raising a hand to hurt Durga! What nonsense! A chauvinist letting a woman beat him to pulp and getting away with it?

It is a one woman show, through and through. The first half manages to make us smile once in a while. The CM, the villain doesn’t have a back story, except that he is a chauvinist, who hates women who are independent and brave. He even kills his own mom! In-spite of that, we hardly have any emotion to spare for him. I was neither scared of him nor loathe him. The CM character could have been shaped better, with better scope to perform. It is a very one dimensional character. Only with a powerful antagonist, can we see a powerful protagonist and that elevates the movie. Since there is neither of that in this movie, it remains an average fare.

Radhika Apte is a natural in this role. I also liked Rajesh Sharma as Chief Rangeela. It is a memorable one.

If you are a die hard fan of Radhika Apte, you can’t miss the movie, for her acting chops! If you have time to kill, go ahead and watch the movie. But it is not on par of Kahaani by Sujoy Ghosh and Piku by Shoojit Sircar!

P.S:

I don’t know what it is, but movies based in Kolkata have a charm of their own!
First half of the movie was promising, but the end was flat. I loved how simple and elegant Durga’s look was in the movie. Although the result is average, I commend the makers for trying something new. I hope they make a better sequel! Yes, the end was open!
I don’t think I ever reviewed Kahaani and Piku. I will post them soon. They are the best!
Incidentally, this is the only movie I have ever watched of Radhika Apte. Previously,I had watched the Netflix series, Choker Bali in 2017 (another Bengali connection! I think I have a thing for Bengal/Kolkata!). Interestingly, Radhika Apte and Sumeet Vyas play lovers in it!

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