Teach Yourself Hindi

Teach Yourself Hindi by Rupert Snell & Simon Weightman.

I finally started it today, after some procrastination. Tomorrow I meet Pratap.

3 Idiots

Do yourself a favor, go see 3 Idiots. The promos totally misrepresent the film making it seem like a zany, slapstick farce. Actually it is a soul-stirring coming of age type film and somewhat reminiscient of Rang De Basanti. Like that film, it features Aamir Khan, R. Madhavan and Sharman Joshi. The plot is complex and full of surprises and keeps the viewer in suspense to the end. The love story with Kareena seems a little contrived but the heart of the story is really how one student, Rancho (Aamir Khan) enriches and changes the lives of  two students (Madhavan and Joshi). The movie never indulges in melodrama but has plenty of crisis and catharsis and lots and lots of humor. I cannot recommend it strongly enough.
 

Passport came today!

My Passport book arrived today! Only took 2 weeks from the time  I applied. Next Summer I will go to the Indian Consulate in NYC to get my Tourist visa!

Gajar Ke Halwa

Work, family and Christmas preparations are robbing me of time to be Hindustani. I did manage to watch "Legend of Bhagat Singh" over the weekend, which was decent, although I like "Rang De Basanti" more. I did stop to see my friends Prabhjit & Romi yesterday with my daughter for Gol Goppas, Aloo Chat and some of Romi's beguling Gajar Ke Halwa. On a chilly day hot Gajar Ke Halwa is a great way to warm the soul.

btw: I found another Indian cooking blog with a nice entry on this: http://mydiversekitchen.blogspot.com/2009/02/gajar-ka-halwa-indian-carrot-confection.html

My Name is Khan

Here is the official site and High Quality trailer. Enjoy!

http://www.mynameiskhanthefilm.com/

My Name is Khan Trailer premiered last night

Last night at 10pm EST Star TV showed the three minute trailer for My Name is Khan. I was very excited. The film looks quite good and SRK seems to play a totally different character than he has played in the past.

Teach Yourself Beginner's Hindi Script

I am nearly done with the book: Teach Yourself Beginner's Hindi Script by Rupert Snell. It is an indispensible pre-requite to learning Hindi. I know many people try to learn conversational Hindi through transliteration but in my opinion to pronounce Hindi correctly one should learn the Devanagari characters. Besides it is so much fun!

http://www.amazon.com/Teach-Yourself-Beginners-Hindi-Script/dp/0071419845/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1260799258&sr=1-1

Slight change in plans

My original plan was to save my money for a November 2012 trip to India and stay 3 - 4 weeks. My wife does not want me away from the family for such a long period. Therefore I think I will actually go in 2011. The good part is I get to India a whole year sooner. The bad part is 2 weeks is probably going to seem like a blink of an eye. Therefore I hope to leave on Thursday, November 3rd, 2011 and return on Friday, November 18th.

(Diwali begins on my daughter's birthday, October 26th, in 2011). This is good as I will not miss any family events or Holidays and my son's football season should be over before I go.

My Indian birthday!

Yesterday was my birthday. In the morning I practiced Hindi for an hour. I then watched Mangal Pandey: The Rising with Aamir Khan and Rani Mukerji. What a great movie! AK seems to thrive in tales of Indian nationalism; Lagaan, Rang de Basanti, Mangal Pandey,etc.
After the film, meera beta, John and I went to see my friends, Prabhjit & Romi-owners of the Bombay Chaat House. John had Murgee Samosas and Seekh Kebab.  Knowing we would be going out for a big dinner, I limited myself to 2 plates of gol goppas and Bel puri. I had chai and a ladoo afterwards. John and I then went to see 'Invictus', a very good and inspring film about Nelson Mandela and the South African Rugby Team's run to the World Cup in 1995.

afterwards my wife, both kids and mother-in law went to Tandoor of India for a Mughal feast! Kebabs, Mughlai Korma, Dal, Biryani, Chana Bhatura, Raita, achar, naan, parathas, rotis,etc. Our waitress was Simi who has served me in the past. She is quite nice.The whole meal was excellent!

We finished our night out with a return to Bombay Chaat House for Chai and Romy's awesome Gajar Ke Halwa and had wondeful conversations with them and many other NRI's who came in including a funny, charming man named Anil.

We finished the evening by returning home to watch one of my most favorite movies; Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi which came out on my birthday last year. The film is truly magical for me and I feel that every frame is perfect. The sotry is heartwarming, the music excellent. SRK is in fine form and Anoushka Sharma is quite lovely.

All in all it was a great birthday! Thanks to everyone!

DIRECTV South Asian

Last week I had a 2nd dish installed so I could subscribe to DIRECTV's South Asian package, I get 12 channels:

Star Plus
Star News
Star One
AASTHA
MTV India
NDTV
NDTV Good Times
NDTV Profit
UTV Movies
Cricket Plus
India Now

and Filmy

MTV has lots of commercials but some good videos, Good Times has lots of fun shows and Cricket is great to watch when I am winding down at night. I am a huge baseball fan and Cricket is a good substitute during MLB's off season. Does anyone know about Jadoo TV?

http://www.directv.com/DTVAPP/content/international/south_asian?footernavtype=-1

Hello Indiblogger!

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Namaste!

Welcome to my blog, which is about India in General, Bollywood, learning Hindi and Rochester (NY) Indian businesses. I am learning Hindi and love watching Bollywood films. I also recently subscribed to DIRECTV South Asian programming.