Music on a Wintry Evening...

Yes, it's a bit late to write about it but ah wuz they-ah - at the Kailash Kher and Rahat Fateh Ali Khan concert. And I thought it was pretty darn great.

We were in the (ahem) VIP area, which extended to about a mile from the stage. About half a mile away, were my husband and I and the mother and the mother's sister, otherwise known as the masi. Anyway, it was crowded but it was beautiful (Purana Qila - had never been inside before) - and despite the cold weather, it all warmed up pretty soon and was thoroughly enjoyable.

I thought Kailash Kher was a really great performer, sang really well and had loads of energy. The best part was watching him gel with his band, who had a really cute guitarist ( the minute I mentioned this Vijay took a dislike to him - although let's face it, I had to slip on my spectacles to make out Kailash's form, so I could be pretty wrong about the cuteness of the guitarist). But the band was really talented and they looked they were having so much fun!

Kailash kept making these comments during the performance, and he made a lot of fun of those of us in the VIP area 'these VIP types are too cool to get up and cheer, etc'. I looked around me and had to agree, they were a pretty stuffy lot and kind of old. Not my mom and masi, huh! The others, the others!

Anyway, so he also made this comment at one point about Aman Ki Asha being a very noble 'cose' and a distinct and unkind murmur of mostly female laughter went up at his pronunciation. But I thought he was really sweet.

After a few songs, he made way for Rahat and I was very surprised to hear how incredibly beautiful and melodious the latter's voice sounded - he isn't quite the performer that Kailash is, but the voice, the voice. Really, truly amazing.

But to my disappointment, he ended up singing mostly songs that I knew rather than some nice Pakistani numbers - I didn't even know before this how many Bollywood movies he's sung for. Given the context of the whole concert ( Indo-Pak peace), one was hoping for a little bit of Pakistan in the whole performance but after the first couple of numbers and I think one Dumadum Mast Qualandar type, there really wasn't much. He even sang that song from Singh is King that Peanut likes (Teri Ore), and it really wasn't that hot. But the voice!

Towards the end, he invited Kailash on stage for the only song they song together - Piya re, I think. Was nice, but yeah...nice. By this time, I had abandoned my VIP status and pushed to the front, pulled up a chair in imitation of a gutsy north-eastern girl and jumped on top of it to clap along, with my husband behind me waiting to catch me when the inevitable fall came.

So...fun. Should do this more often. Were you there, too?

Happy New Year, 3 Idiots!

...and the above title is not meant as an insult.

Happy New Year to everybody! All da best, ji.

Moving swiftly, along - we actually went for a movie in a hall - an unheard of thing for me and Vijay since Peanut came along.

A colleague of mine remarked how for some reason, almost everyone he knows who has gone for the movie, ended up going in groups of three. I scoffed, as is my wont, until I realized that the same was true for my mother-sister-friend trio who had gone the previous day. I was filled with wonder when my sister-in-law-brother-in-law-neice-in-law also ended up going together. And what was even more surprising was when we finally decided to bung Peanut in the car and take her along with us - her first movie in the hall ever at the tender age of 2 years 5 months.

So about the groups of three thing - coincidence? Or some kind of mass-hypnotization-collective-subconscious thing? You be the judge.

Anyway, about the movie. Now, Peanut is an avid TV watcher and we told her we were going to show her a BEEG TEEVEE. She was fine with the basic idea and being as cute as she is, she was eventually allowed by the security guards to carry her little Nirula's ice-cream cup inside the hall, so was okay for about the first three minutes. Then she realized it was kind of dark, loud and people on the screen were around thirty times her size. She panicked and started insisting - 'Ghar jaana hai' and wailing. I was immediately embarassed and started to get ready to bundle her out but Vijay was determined to watch this particular movie ( I walked out of Kaminey because it was 'disturbingly violent' on the rare occasion that we went for a film together). He asked me to sit back and relax, took Peanut from me and started to 'explain the story to her'. Miraculously, it worked and after some coaxing, Peanut agreed to resume her ice-cream eating and watch with wide eyes what was going on.

And so it went. There were occasions in the middle when she got bored, and wanted to leave, and very manipulatively told me 'Mama poo-poo kiya, saaf kar do', which turned out to be a blatant lie. Thankfully at interval, there was a big bag of Popcorn which gave us a fresh new lease of life.

So basically it turned out fine. And we all went back home fairly happy. Vijay really liked the movie, Peanut liked the songs, and I kind of liked seeing parts of my old campus again, although it was a bit weird seeing those hallowed halls used as a movie set, but hey. Also, while I usually dislike Aamir with a strange inexplicable intensity, I thought he was actually okay in the movie. And the best part was, I really didn't remember the book being anything like it - in fact, I had only agreed to go because my sister said it was funny and a review said it was not anything like 5 point someone.

And yesterday, it was very amusing to hear about my baby's conversation with my sister.

She looked up at her and said 'Maasi - BEEG TEE VEE - All eez well!'

My sister immediately looked at me and said 'You took her for 3 idiots in the hall?'

Now, that's communication.

Assorted...

First of all, many thanks to you, kind Phoenix. It worked, the image verification thing. No more spammy comments. Yayyy!

And now, some simple notes:

* My husband is taking some time off from work and using it productively to teach Peanut many new things. Such as:

- (On Christmas Day) So Peanut...do you know where Santa lives?
I am very impressed that he is teaching her about festivals - a little cultural background is being constructed.
He continues: He lives in LUDHIANA...Ha ha ha...Santa Singh, right? Ha ha ha ha ...
( Is joined in his cackling laughter by little Peanut, who covers her face, and laughs along, even slaps her knee as if it's the best joke in the world. Little pretender. Encouraging him, for no reason).

- He's taught her all sorts of phrases - including 'Arrey Yaar', which he thinks is very cute ( I don't agree); and some weird dances too ( Hum tum jeet gaye, dushman haar gaye - wherein they both hop around in a circle like a pair of monkeys).

Peanut gets her own back, occasionally -

- She pretends to have food in her mouth long after it's disappeared, and mumbles 'Mu mein hai'. Flummoxing the father, and delaying his attempts to get food into her. On the other hand, when she's eating something he likes, like Makhana and he asks for it, she peers into his face and announces Aapke Mu Mein Hai, and continues to stuff her own face and chomp away.

- She likes to do everything herself, that is, Aapi Aapi. And when Vijay is trying to distract her from watching Ceebeebies by getting her interested in her jigsaw puzzles, and says Hey Peanut, let's do this! Her response is 'Dada, aapi aapi karo', after which she turns away from a sputtering Vijay and goes right back to the telly.

And me? In all this, I am being sidelined as he spends all his time with her filling her ears against me. In the mornings, I am summarily told 'Mama offish jao, jaldi jaldi'.

Good work, Vijay.

I have just two questions...

1. Have you also been getting these spammy comments all over the place on your blog? I am so glad I enabled comment moderation, but they are annoying. Any clue how to stop them?

2. What makes you think the onus is always on ME to amuse YOU whenever you come around here? I am particularly bored and annoyed today and I DEMAND that you tell me a joke or some other amusing anecdote right NOW.

Humph. It's a selfish world.

Spontaneously wonderful

Vijay: Peanut, Mama ka nose kahan hai?
Peanut: YE raha! ( smacking me on the nose)
Vijay: Aur Mama ke eyes kahan hai?
Peanut: YE aaijj! ( poking me in the eye)
Vijay: Aur Mama ka head?
Peanut: YE Head! ( bonking me on top of the head)
Vijay: ...aur Mama ka dimaag kahan hai?
Peanut (taken aback by this unfamiliar term, but recovers quickly) Chidiya le gayi!

Needless to say, there has much mirth and repetition of this little interaction - whenever Vijay finds a new audience.

But I'll get my own back.

Sigh.

Life Jinga La La La La LA!

Seriously, Tata Sky Plus is pretty cool.

My first exposure to this concept was when I visited my cousin Mini in Australia. I found it interesting how she recorded all her shows, so that after she came back from work, she could watch them at leisure. The best part was seeing her fast-forward the ads.

So anyway, Tata Sky's Diwali offer has got me - along with many, many others, apparently.

But it's cool. In various fits and bursts of enthusiasm, I proceed to surf the various listed programs and have - on three separate occasions - set up to record 15 + programs in one sitting.

Of course, you may be wondering whether I've actually watched any of them. Well...

I saw -

a. The first three minutes of Indiana Jones and the Something Something.
b. The first four minutes of Slumdog Millionaire ( I also thoughtfully recorded Slumdog Crorepati for Vijay, but he didn't seem happy about this)
c. The whole of a workout program called Fitness Fusion where these were these slim blonde women doing the salsa. I worked out with it while Vijay watched appreciatively. The TV, of course.
d. The first two minutes of a program called 'Most Amazing Moments'
e. The first five minutes of a fascinating show on the Great Salmon Run.
f. Half of this great movie called Dead Again. Have you seen it?

...but we did manage to watch the whole of Chicago. This last was only because Peanut allows us only to watch musicals.

So I guess haven't got the full benefit yet although I have loads of programs recorded.

Peanut uses it well, though. I record her In the Night Garden, Teletubbies and other nauseatingly sweet and educational programs on her favorite channel. And yes, she watches each and every one of them at some point of time.

Anyway, it's cool. Live Pause. Rewind. Recording. And of course.

Fastforwarding the Ads.

And I work in Marketing!

Let's be Honest now, Shall we?

I am a big fan of Ceebeebies.

It's very educational and well designed - it's just about the only thing I am happy letting Peanut watch on TV nowadays.

It's helped me wean her off from 9XM, her erstwhile favorite, referred to fondly as 'Ball' by her because it's logo has a ball-like thing on it.

So don't get me wrong: I love Ceebeebies.

But every so often, I get this urge to beat those sickly sweet little lumps of lard known as the Teletubbies, into a fine pulp.

I could take all four of them.

I work out.