Shri Mahalakshmi Temple, Kolhapur

Author : Harimohan      Blog : harimohan paruvu      Date : 5/18/2013 10:34:00 AM

'I made up my mind to visit the Shri Mahalakshmi Temple in Kolhapur when I first read 'The Music Room' by Namita Deendayal. I loved reading that book and wonder every day at the dedication and commitment to excellence that the masters had towards their art. One can only hope to imbibe some part of that spirit and create a space so wonderful as Dhondutai Kulkarni and her gurus did.This summer is hot and everyone looks at me strangely when I talk of a long road trip. But the Gods (...)'

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6 Keys To The Champion's Mindset

Author : Harimohan      Blog : harimohan paruvu      Date : 5/14/2013 8:33:00 AM

'The 6 Keys to the Champion's Mindset.Key 1. The DecisionThis is the moment when you tell yourself that you will achieve this, whatever it takes. It is a firm, strong, unalterable thought. Key 2. The Goal ClarityYou know exactly what you want, how much, how it looks etc. You know you will get it - however long it takes. The goal inspires you to achieve it, no matter when.Key 3. The ProcessYou figure out how to get it in the best possible manner. You figure out your strengths, areas t(...)'

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Anjali - So Be Happy Na! (Or, enjoy the moment)

Author : Harimohan      Blog : harimohan paruvu      Date : 5/14/2013 3:52:00 AM

'Anjali and I were playing a game of cards yesterday. It's a simple game where we keep throwing down one card each and the one who throws down the card that matches the earlier card gets the entire loot. Anjali explained the game - Shaukar-Bhikhaar. Also gave her impressions on how I normally don't win etc etc. (How did she know?)Much to her surprise and mine, I started  winning heavily. She was pretty surprised at this. 'Wow' she said. 'You won Nannna.' I shrugged, hoping to ma(...)'

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It's Complicated - Movie Review

Author : Harimohan      Blog : harimohan paruvu      Date : 5/10/2013 1:17:00 AM

'It certainly is. Jane (Meryl Streep), meets her ex-husband (Alec Baldwin) ten years at their son's graduation ceremony, and sparks fly. They start having a lusty affair, flab and cellulite and all and love it, unknown to their three children and Jake's young wife. The "affair" continues and Streep is thrilled that she is now the other woman to the other woman who had caused their divorce. Their affair has its ups and downs though. Streep is also seeing her architect Adam (Steve Mart(...)'

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Lincoln - Movie review

Author : Harimohan      Blog : harimohan paruvu      Date : 5/9/2013 6:16:00 PM

'Lincoln is an epic.It draws you into a part of history that was so important and depicts how the 13th Amendment or the Anti Slavery Bill was passed. It shows the last four months of Lincoln's life when he brought the historic Bill into place. They were troubled times then - the Free States fighting the Slave States - days of Civil War in the 1860s. the Civil War claimed more than 600,000 they say and much credit must go to President Lincoln and his team and all those right thinking (...)'

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Bombay Talkies - Movie Review

Author : Harimohan      Blog : harimohan paruvu      Date : 5/8/2013 8:19:00 PM

'This one is a must watch. A least three of the four films are simply out of the world. Dibakar Banerjee, Anurag Kashyap and Zoya Akhthar soar high in this anthology of short films celebrating 100 years of Indian cinema. The one by Karan Johar falls flat and I didn't know what it was all about.So thankfully we start with Karana Johar's movie about a young gay man who befriends his boss Gayatri and then hits on her husband. Turns out that the husband is also a closet gay. The two kiss(...)'

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Thought For The Day - What Makes You Happy?

Author : Harimohan      Blog : harimohan paruvu      Date : 5/7/2013 6:59:00 PM

'I was wishing Medha on her birthday when this thought came up - what makes one happy? If pursuit of happiness is our goal then we must first find out what makes us happy. Do gifts make us happy, cakes and chocolates, new clothes...what what what? I guess this calls for a pen and a paper so we can quickly make a list of things.Okay my quick list as they come to mind.The External List (or the OMG! list)Good FoodPeople who make me happyPeople who make me laughThoughtful GiftsWell fitti(...)'

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Crazy, Stupid, Love - Movie Review

Author : Harimohan      Blog : harimohan paruvu      Date : 5/6/2013 4:43:00 PM

'A romantic comedy drama ? I don't know what to make of it but I did not really care for this movie too much. I am not sure if it is a comedy either.There are several people in love - in different kinds of love.A married woman tells her husband she has had an affair with her colleague and he jumps off the moving car. While he is moping about his wife's affair loudly in a bar, a young Casanova helps him and tells him how to seduce women.The middle aged man starts seducing women with h(...)'

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Argo - Movie Review

Author : Harimohan      Blog : harimohan paruvu      Date : 5/6/2013 4:30:00 PM

'Adapted from CIA operative Tony Mendez's book 'Master of Disguise' Argo is a real life story of a rescue operation of six American diplomats from Iran in 1979. It's set in the time when the Shah of Iran has been given asylum by America during the Iranian revolution. The irate Iranian rebels storm the American embassy and take over 50 diplomats hostage - six escape into the roads and are given shelter by the Canadian ambassador.To rescue the six diplomats, Tony Mendez comes up with t(...)'

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Before Sunset - Movie review

Author : Harimohan      Blog : harimohan paruvu      Date : 5/5/2013 12:30:00 PM

''Before Sunset' picks up some nine years after the two protagonists meet in the first movie 'Before Sunrise'. The American boy Jesse (Ethan Hawke) has now become a writer, and has written about his experiences with a young French woman Celine (Julie Delpy) he met on a train and who spend a night roaming around Vienna, talking to each other and enjoying one another's company. He is now on a book tour to Europe and in Paris, he bumps into Celine at the bookstore. From the bookstore to(...)'

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A Clockwork Orange - Movie Review

Author : Harimohan      Blog : harimohan paruvu      Date : 5/4/2013 4:25:00 AM

'Saw this movie in the early 1990s and figured nothing much from it. I knew it was a cult movie by Stanley Kubrick then. Saw the 1971 movie again the other day. Now I appreciate what Stanley Kubrick did to the Anthony Burgess novel.A bunch of deviants, led by a sex and violence crazed gang leader are on a spree. First they beat up an old drunk, then knife a rival gang, then they steal a car, cripple a writer, rape his wife and then a lady artist. All this - and one group sex scene - (...)'

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The Passion Test - Janet Bray Attwood and Chris Attwood

Author : Harimohan      Blog : harimohan paruvu      Date : 5/3/2013 2:40:00 AM

'This is a New York Times Bestseller and talks a language I like. 'The Passion Test - The Effortless Path to Discovering Your Life Purpose' is a nice, simple and easy read and one that could well put you in touch with your passions and your life purpose. After all what's a life that is lived without passion?Penguin, 291 pThe authors, Janet and Chris, are co-founders of an online magazine Healthy Wealthy nWise and partners in Enlightened Alliances, a marketing consulting firm. Married(...)'

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40 Year Old Virgin - Movie Review

Author : Harimohan      Blog : harimohan paruvu      Date : 5/2/2013 5:25:00 AM

'You can guess pretty much the entire story even as you see the title. It goes in pretty much the same vein. A middle aged virgin at 40. Shy. Does not meet women. Has his own little habits. Cooks, cleans, plays with GI Joes and is hopeless with women. Cannot drive. Rides a bicycle.His friends from the store find out and try to help him - not always with the best results. The virgin however finds a woman in all this - a grandmother technically - and (hopefully) loses his virginity too(...)'

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A Visit to the Alma Mater - St. Gabriel's High School, Kazipet

Author : Harimohan      Blog : harimohan paruvu      Date : 5/1/2013 11:50:00 AM

'No trip to Warangal can be complete without stopping by at my old school, St. Gabriel's Boys High School of the Montfort Brothers. I joined the school in the 5th class (1975) after doing my fourth at Fatima Girls High School. For some reason St. Gabriel's only took in students from their 5th class and luckily for us, Fatima Girls would allow boys to study till the 4th. I went first and then Ram joined me.Outside Fatima School gateBeing my first experience in an all boys school St. G(...)'

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Day Trip to Warangal - Warangal Fort

Author : Harimohan      Blog : harimohan paruvu      Date : 5/1/2013 11:05:00 AM

'The Kakatiyas ruled from Warangal or Orugallu as it was called then from 1083 to 1323 CE. They were Telugu rulers and ruled over a large tract of land which included the Golconda area.The outer granite wallThe Warangal fort was their bastion and they moved here from the neighbouring Hanumakonda which was their capital earlier. The Warangal fort is rather odd as it is built on flat land and not on a hill top or water body as most other forts are.One of the four famous Kakatiya thoran(...)'

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Day Trip To Warangal - The Thousand Pillar Temple

Author : Harimohan      Blog : harimohan paruvu      Date : 4/29/2013 4:17:00 AM

'It's been on my mind for a while now. I wanted to visit Warangal and see, really see, the Thousand Pillar Temple, the Ramappa temple  (which I visited when I was very young) and the Warangal fort (which I never visited). We stayed in Hanamkonda, which is a town contiguous to Warangal, for four years in my childhood but I never made it to the fort for some reason.Memories of the Thousand Pillar Temple were vague and old and I remember a rather uneven floor, many pillars (which w(...)'

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Some T20 Bowling Recipes

Author : Harimohan      Blog : harimohan paruvu      Date : 4/27/2013 1:02:00 AM

'For bowlers who are hoping to make it big in T20 formats here are some areas to work on. Bowling in T20 games is the biggest challenge and it's something that all good, skilful and big hearted bowlers would love to do. One over, can change the game, and that's how critical bowling can get in this format. 1) Learn to hold your delivery until the last moment. This comes naturally to those who fall into a good rhythm quickly and who understand the biomechanics and process of bowling, B(...)'

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The Foreigner - Arun Joshi

Author : Harimohan      Blog : harimohan paruvu      Date : 4/26/2013 10:44:00 AM

'Arun Joshi was born in 1939, has a Masters degree in Management from the M.I.T., wrote five novels and short stories and was selected for the Sahitya Academy Award. He is considered an author of rare sensitivity and talent. If friend Vinod had not discovered him, I would never have known of him. Which would have been a pity because 'The Foreigner' is an exceptional tale that stands good even today and will stand the test of time for a long time to come. It is a tale of love. And as (...)'

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The Unbearable Lightness of Being - Movie Review

Author : Harimohan      Blog : harimohan paruvu      Date : 4/26/2013 10:13:00 AM

'This one is an adaptation of Milan Kundera's novel of the same name. Reading the synopsis of the movie after watching the movie I realised that the movie left me with a totally different understanding of the story.The 1988 movie (as I understood it) revolves around a surgeon in Prague in the 60s. The surgeon is an intellectual, an artist and a womaniser too. Women are drawn to him and he sleeps with them. He believes that sex and love are different. Anyway he marries a rather staid (...)'

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What Are The Coaches Doing?

Author : Harimohan      Blog : harimohan paruvu      Date : 4/26/2013 5:50:00 AM

'What are so many coaches doing in the IPL with such large support staff? If that were not enough we have mentors and other experts as well. I have an issue with so many people advising the team because then nobody has a clear responsibility.In fact I think that a coach at best, with his support staff, should be more than enough if one does not have a captain who can handle the strategy part. Shane Warne did a wonderful job as captain, coach and mentor for Rajasthan Royals. It makes (...)'

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