Charms of Sudoku

“3“, she said looking over my shoulder staring intently at the sudoku that I was solving. She leaned over and pointed to the block that would be the home of the afore-intoned ‘three’.

“Being able to decipher the numbers standing in a speeding bus, you must have the eyesight of a hawk“, and as I saw her beautiful eyes, I added, “and eyes like a doe“.

“You seem quite intent on comparing me to the animal world“, she smiled.

“Oh yeah, what adds to it is that you reek like a pig“.

Her smiling face first registered shock, and then contorted to display disgust. “Asshole“, she said as she moved away.

I smiled, nobody comes between me and my sudoku.

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55 Fiction seems to have been replaced by 100+ Fiction.  Am not complaining as long as I am able to write something/anything which I deem as readable

Pehla Pyaar

The heart fluttered and murmured a soft soulful love song, as it did daily, whenever I saw her in the class. I had to talk to her, had to tell her my feelings. At least she knew I existed – she would smile at me occasionally and I’d spend the whole day on cloud-9.

It was the last exam – last day of school. Now or never – I psyched myself as the exam ended, walked up to her and blurted, “I love you“. Smiling indulgently she patted my 12-year-old head, “Why don’t you go and play? Let me check your papers“.

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Was hoping to pen a 55, but the first draft happened to have 100 words. Was too lazy to edit 45 words

Disclaimer: I am not the protagonist, I did not do this; at least I did not say anything to my Chemistry teacher

Chowmahalla Palace

Recently I visited the Chowmahalla Palace and left wondering how come I had never seen this place in my 9 years in Hyderabad. At walking distance from Charminar it is a must see. It still is a home to Nizams whenever they are visiting Hyderabad, and I could only gape at the grandeur that they live in.

With entry tickets priced at Rs. 25 per person, it is a steal. And since my camera had to pay double the money for its entry I’ll let it do majority of the talking

The view as soon as we entered the grounds. At first I thought this was the main palace, but later on saw that it was akin to servant quarters with small rooms dotting the courtyard.

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Many defunct (hopefully) cannons guarded the palace, and three fountains adorned the palace gardens.

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Door to infinity.

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As I crossed the infinite doors, and the cannons and the lush green garden, I reached Khilwat, or the Durbar of the Nizams.

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As soon as you enter the Durbar, the first thing you would notice is the abundance of the Chandeliers. The chandeliers are lighted only when parties are held there (yeah it also is available on rent as party grounds!), but I was able to light up this chandelier with the sunlight

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Once you get a neck pain from staring at the chandeliers, and you attempt to ease the pain by looking down you can see the throne of Nizam.

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But inevitably, the gaze gets attracted by the chandeliers again, and this time on concentrating long enough you happen to see the most intricate of carvings on the walls and roof.

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There are many rooms dotted through this and other buildings which house multiple exhibitions of the Nizam life.

Clicked this from the first floor where another room had been converted in to a mini-museum.

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A view of the grounds behind Khilwat from another window in another mini-museum

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When I reached these beautiful gardens, I thought that I’ve seen the whole palace. I did not realize that I had just seen half of the place.

As I started to capture the other half of the palace, this minaret captured my attention. It looked to me (and till now looks) like a person standing with hands on hips displaying a haughty demeanour.

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Another huge garden adorned this half too and as I attempted to get closer for a better shot, many whistles pierced the calm, the security guards beckoned me back on the track around the garden. Security was really tight, and all the guards were extra helpful once you started talking with them.

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The whistles had not only brought me back on track, but had also raised the pigeons from their siesta. Hundreds of pigeons were living in the Chowmahalla Palace.

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And he seems to be the King of the pigeons. As it s(h)at on the fountain/minaret, it surveyed the grounds and its subjects disdainfully.

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And this was the pond in the huge garden that had attracted my attention in the first place. The pigeons don’t seem to like the uni-colour statues terming them as drab, and proceeded to add various shades to the statues.

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There also was an entourage of Vintage Cars belonging to the Nizams. This one, a 1912 Rolls Royce Silver Ghost, was the only one I could photograph properly as all the cars were behind glasses, and the reflections kept ruining the shots.

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Overall it was a very satisfying way to spend a Sunday afternoon. Of course this palace is very small, it does not even hold a candle to the Mysore Palace in terms of size, but in terms of grandeur it can hold its own quite comfortably.

How can I write about a monument in the the old city and not have the time to post a shot of the most famous landmark there – the Charminar.

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Reaching to the sky

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Book Review: Pirate Latitudes – Michael Crichton

I picked this book relying just on the name of the author – Michael Crichton. I’ve almost always liked his sci-fi books, but had rarely liked his writing when he strayed from that genre. But the interesting blurb, and the name of the author was enough for me to buy the book.

Pirate Latitudes is a posthumous book by Crichton. His assistant was going through his computer after his death and found the manuscript for the book. I don’t know why Crichton did not get this book printed earlier. As per me, this is one of his better books. Once all the characters have been etched, the book gallops along like a Sehwag innings.

The book is set in the 17th century, when few of the West Indies islands are under England, and rest under Spain. The warring nations maintain an uneasy peace over the Caribbean waters, but there are skirmishes and bouts regularly. This is the story of another such adventure when a group of English Privateers plan to capture a ship filled with treasure resting at a Spanish stronghold.

This is one book which would make for an interesting movie. As I was reading about the book, I realized that Steven Speilberg is indeed making a movie based on the book. I can already envision Keira Knightley playing the role of Lazue (yeah, that can be attributed to the Pirates of Caribbean).

The book tells a story that has been told scores of times, but even then it manages to hold your attention. An eminently readable book, I would surely recommend it.

Kites are for Kids…

Who says so?

उम्र बालों से नहीं, फितरत से पता चलती हैं.