Anuradha Sridharan

It has been 2 years ever since Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix movie was released. I have watched the 5 DVDs over and over again and couldn't wait for Half blood Prince movie to be released. It was a disappointment that the release was postponed for nearly 7 months. When it was officially announced that the release date is July 16th, I decided that I should watch it on the very first day before tonnes of reviews pop up everywhere on the Internet. Having searched through the ticket booking sites a week ahead, the tickets were opened for sale only 3 days earlier in PVR Cinemas. I was eagerly awaiting the evening and was pretty excited to watch HP6 on the first day. At the end of the movie, I wondered if this hype was all really worth it. First the positives of this movie. A fantastic opening where the Muggles were being attacked by death eaters. The collapsing of the bridge was shot really well. The actor who portrayed the role of Horace Slughorn was perfectly fitting and h...

My contribution to Cafe Writing - May/June project - Option #4 A regular Monday morning I muddle along the crowd walks past I wander around faithful to my instincts I board the train dare to travel wherever it takes not much to ponder I take the plunge, brain seems to wonder is this who I am? spontaneous decision perhaps I am hit by the buzz word the " bear run" ends not in the capital markets sadly the wheels start to move going direction uncharted, leaving behind its trails, the journey is the destination

"This is not right. How come she is awake so early? It's still dark outside. Has something catastrophic happened? Or is it one of those rarest possible occasions?" "You bet it is! Now run away and hide inside the crevices. I don't want to start off my vacation by hitting you" This is the conversation that happened between me and the confused fat cockroach at 5 AM on Saturday, June 6th. Only a vacation can motivate me to wake up before the sun rises. A month long planning to identify new places, arrange logistics and pack stuff needed for a week has finally culminated in a perfect vacation to the North East region of India. Our taxi arrived on time and my husband and I left for the Bangalore International Airport. This was our first flight from the new airport and we were thrilled to see the beautiful roads and a nice airport of international standards. After the usual checkin procedures, it was time for breakfast. We were horrified to see a dosa priced at 90...

It's a long pending book review, drafted in my mind but has taken a while to pen it down. A few weeks back, I managed to read "The tales of Beedle the Bard" by JK Rowling. Having been a huge fan of Harry Potter, I've been wanting to read this book of short stories ever since it was released. At a price of 600 rupees, I have almost been to the verge of purchasing it whenever I'm in a bookstore but dropped the idea at the last minute. Luckily I got hold of this book in my office library and finished reading on a lazy Sunday evening. There are 5 short bedtime stories that are popular among the non Muggle kids. Every story is followed by Dumbledore's commentary who gives a background on the story and how it was perceived by the young witches and wizards. You could call it the Cinderella or Snow White of the wizarding world. Out of the 5 stories, I liked two of them - fountain of fair fortune and tale of three brothers. In the past month, I also happened to read ...

Although two was the target for May, I was able to plan out one weekend trip at last. Two trips would still have been made possible, if only my neck didn't get sprained from my third swimming class. For more than a week, I could hardly move my neck and as a result, I had to pause my swimming lessons. Hopefully I can get back to the pool soon and learn to float in water. When I was looking out for short weekend trips from Bangalore, there are many places that popped out on the web. Out of the many, Yelagiri grabbed my attention. I love the hills and mountains and one of my life time goals is to visit all the hill stations in India. I'm alm ost done with most of them in the South and hopefully can cover a few in the East pretty soon ;-) Hubby and I left for Yelagiri around 2 PM after packing some munchies for the road trip. Although not really a hill station, Yelagiri is on top of a hillock with 14 hairpin bends leading the way. The roads were just superb after one crosses Hosur....

Dark and dense clouds looming large, waiting to open and pour down. Cold winds from the distant shores rocking the tiny catamaran. I open my sleepy eyes, hoping for a cup of tea. Little did I realize, I'm stuck in the middle of a huge ocean, with water all around and land no where to be seen. The sea is rough and stormy weather is irking to topple my boat. The huge waves seem to provide the needed support to the storm. I hold onto the piece of wood, with as much grip as I could. The freezing water makes my hands go numb. The hope slowly fades away, yet the piece of shattered wood is the only support I have right now. There is no point in shouting for help. A silent prayer could be of use. My mind is clear but there is no way I can prevent myself from drowning. I woke up many mornings after being hit by such worst nightmares and pondering over why oceans scare me off so much. Perhaps, it's the fear of water, fear of drowning or just the fear of not being able to swim. This fe...

I'm not struck by a dreadful writer's block. In contrast, the words are being written out as strands flowing into Dumbledore's pensieve. Some ought not to be analyzed while the rest is not worth to be explored. The past few months haven't been very exciting. The daily drudgeries seem to continue and hog the limelight. There have been a few interesting moments although the key here is that there have been just a few. When one gets galloped in such routines, time just flies with no real purpose. Here I am, four months into 2009 and wondering how the days flew by. I want to break the monotonies and what better month can it be than the hot summer month of May! Reminiscing over my past blog entry , I want this May to be very special as it used to be during my childhood. Although PGSEM will keep me busy until May 16th, I need to get out of this routine of office-pgsem-home. Many of my interests that have been put under the back burner need to be revived. My dear blog needs to...