Mendocino - A Northern Californian beauty

If you are one of those who enjoy the silent sound of waves crashing at the shore and unending canvas of greenery, u should definitely visit Mendocino. I was lucky enough to visit this place twice, one as recent as last week and first one was around 9 years ago. I was surprised to see that nothing has changed in the 9 years, beaches are still less crowded, mountains still spiraling with tall Redwood tress! I guess Mendocino's remote location works for it's benefit. It is around 188 miles north of San Francisco and it is quite a drive. If you do not mind driving that far, i can assure you that you are in for a treat. Beautiful mountains, beaches and unending trails on the sea coast will be welcoming you.

We stayed at Koa Kampgrounds which is located next to the Manchester State Beach. Some useful tips for the lucky folks who get to go there soon :-)

1) Dont' forget to check out Point Arena Light house at

45300 Light House Rd

Mendocino, CA 95460

2) Glass Beach in FortBragg

3) For best view of Mendocino - Exit the village heading South, go over the bridge, turn West at your first right. Proceed South, look for signs on Oceanside of Brewery Gulch Drive

4) Frankie's Pizza & Cream is good for bites.

44951 Ukiah St

Mendocino, CA 95460

(707) 937-2436

Some photos for your viewing pleasure:

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Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara - Movie Review

Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara or ZNMD is a buddy flick that strikes a chord with everyone. The story revolves around three buddies played by Hirthik, Abhay and Farhan who go on a road trip to Spain to celebrate a bachelor party for Abhay. I was impressed with Zoya Akhtar's portrayal of the three characters who couldn't be more different from each other. Thankfully there is less focus on hairstyles and costumes and more on the personality of each character. The beautiful backdrop of Spain adds to the storyline but does not overshadow the plot. Songs are also situational and soothing. Abhay provides comic relief and Hrithik and Katrina are easy on the eyes and do justice to their roles. BTW is it just me or has Hrithik started to look and act like Bradley Cooper at lot? Not that i'm complaining:). The person who steals the show is Farhan Akhtar. He proved that he has a very good comic timing and carries the role of a closet poet with ease and without going overboard.

If i had to pick a few negatives i would say that they could have done a better job with Katrina's character. There was not enough effort to lay down a background of her past in the movie and her character appears a little surreal to me. Another drawback i see is with the dubbing/voice recording of Farhan Akhtar. He has a very husky voice and sometimes his dialogues appeared mumbled and unclear. I saw the movie at AMC which had a very good sound quality and it still wasn't good enough. Considering he had some of the best lines in the movie i wish they did something to correct that.

Other than the above two small undoings i thoroughly enjoyed ZNMD. It is easy to pass it off as Farhan's movie but it is actually Zoya Akhtar's project and she needs a pat on her back for making a clean entertainer. Javed Akhtar's poetry was enjoyable too.

My Rating: 4.5/5, What is yours?

Ben Carson:Gifted Hands

The dilemma i had of posting about this book was whether i would do justice to explain the greatness of this man and his life in a few words. I decided to go ahead with it as i want everyone i know to read this book in their lifetime. If i would make a list of 'Books you should read before you die', this would be in the top 5.

This book begins with Ben (fondly called as Bennie by his mom) describing his childhood days and the role his mom Sofia played in his life. Sofia Carson who despite having only a 3rd grade education at that time had a strong will and determination to raise her kids into confident and successful individuals. She refused to let several financial and personal setbacks deter her resolve and she always made her children believe in themselves. Dr. Carson quotes his mom several times in the book at different stages of his life.

Ben Carson went on to study medicine at Yale and still works at John Hopkins hospital. There are several facets to this great man who continues to inspire and motivate people. At the end of the book he talks about his dream to set up a fund for talented youth and he is fulfilling his dream through Carson Scholars fund.
Whatever he has achieved and if you read this book you will know that it is a lot, is through his hard work and his strong belief in human values and God. His Mantra 'Think Big' describes him completely. If you do get a chance do read his book and give it as a gift to your kids. You wont' regret it and they might thank you in the future for this!

Japan's toughest crisis

If you ever thought you would hear EarthQuake, a Tsunami and a Nuclear catastrophe all in the same sentence, you would be called an absolute Pessimist... one who would see and expect the worst of all situations. That's exactly what a country of 127.3 million people woke up to on Friday, Mar 11th. First to strike was an 8.9 magnitude Earthquake that rocked the landscape of Japan, followed by a Tsunami that left an estimated 10,000 people dead and several missing. Just as the news of this mass destruction was being absorbed, the fear of blasts and explosions at Japan's nuclear plant were raised. Japan did continue to have a couple of blasts at the explosion and people around the area are being transported to safer areas.

The next step is for the hundreds and thousands of public workers to put their personal tragedies behind them and get to work and help those in dire need of food and shelter. International support has already started pouring in and the funds need to be streamlined to the right areas.

What does the future look like for the third largest economy in the world? It will take some time to get the complete picture of economic impact dealt to Japan by the triple blow of Earthquake, Tsunami and nuclear blast shutdown and once that is clear it will take several months for international communities to have the confidence to invest in Japan. Several economists predict a downfall for sometime but then expect the reconstruction work to pick up the economy rapidly and help stabilize this nation.

The heart wrenching pictures of 2004 Tsunami are still fresh in my mind and the destruction of the latest one is expected to be far more worse. There are several ways you can help Japan overcome this crisis..let us all do our best.

Things you do for Cricket!

Eleven years ago before moving to the states in one of the first conversation's i had with my then fiance and now husband was 'will i be able to watch cricket in the US'? and his response was in the affirmative. I was so happy to have that cleared out and after moving to the US in 1999 i had the chance to watch my first cricket match and boy was it something!!

Let's flashback 10 years ...we got tickets to watch cricket in this Indian hotel (will spare the name) and arrived there in time. There were hundreds of others like me and we were all taken to this dark seating area (seating was on the floor) and i'm pretty sure that we exceeded the seating capacity and all seating regulations were violated :-) . Anything for cricket right? So braved that season and thought this should will be more easier in the years to come..

Before i knew it the next world cup was upon us and the lessons of the last one still fresh in our mind.... a group of friends decided to buy a package on TV and watch it in the comfort of our houses. Sounds easy? not to be..before u know it the couple of friends quadrupled and u are now forced to watch the game in some stranger's house or welcome complete stranger's to your house!! well anything for cricket...and everything is forgotten when India defeats Pakistan (which we do in every world cup)....

Enter 2011...u have had enough group watching that u decide to buy your own package and watch it in the comfort of your living room. That must be easy right?...Aha but before you do that u come to know that there is a website called 'xoom' which gives a 50% off on the net package. sweet deal isn't it? Here's the fine print - to get the code from 'xoom' you need to transfer 100$ to an account in India and then buy the package on willow. Here's the dealio..don't get fooled by the name....it's not as fast as it sounds...some friends had to wait for 6 days to get the code. I guess cricket god's had mercy on me and 'xoom' sent me the code in less than a day and i finally have the willow subscription to watch cricket....and i am going to..

Nothing can come between a girl and her cricket!!! Go India!!

Helloooooooooooooo!

Hello everyone! Hope you are all having a wonderful day. Yep i know what you are saying, yet another blog and you are right:-)
What do i bring to the blog table? My thoughts and likes/dislikes on pretty much everything that i feel like talking about.. My interests range from polictics, news media, nature, music, sports, tv, books, movies............

Hope to have this blog reflect the real me. Thanks for visiting my blog and hope to have you back soon:-)

Life is great!

Walk of the Democrats

What do you do when you can't control something? You walk away. That's exactly what the Democrats are upto in states like Wisconsin and Indiana. Labor rights and collective bargaining are forced to go up in the air and to avoid passing these bills the Democrats are packing their bags and leaving their state's to go somewhere else and discuss it out....atleast that's what they say they are doing. Let's hope they are not off to some warmer weather and having a paid vacation!

What's the real issue here? In Wisconsin - the state Governor Mr.Walker has proposed a bill to revoke the right of public employees to bargain collectively and though Rep's outnumber Dem's by 19-14 they need 20 members to be present to pass the bill. The proposed bills in Indiana seem to be more worse than Wisconsion, it would turn Indiana into an 'anti union' state', sounds familiar south? What next? State patrol out looking for elected Democrats?

Oh to live in interesting times!