There was burglary at home on thursday. It happened when I was at the office. It happened in strange circumstances and peculiar way. The investigation is going on. Some money and my mexican guitar have been stolen. It seems to be an inside job from one of the servants we employed to clean the place.

Now that is funny :). Of course this is not new in India. The big ticket hollywood films have been dubbed into the 4-5 indian languages. But Casino Royale seems to be the biggest release as far as the # of prints and it is being released simultaneously in multiple languages coinciding with the world release.

I am not a fan of dubbed movies. But if you watch the original version in English you can be driven to insanity if you watch the dubbed version of the movie. Especially they way the translate swear words and double entendres. But you should never watch it before watching the original version.

I plan to watch the English version this week and then the telugu version in a local theater very near where I live in the coming weekend.

Hyderabad Weather update

It is getting colder gradually. The days are getting shorter.

8pm. Kukatpally, Hyderabad.
I was crossing a parallel road( the roads that go parallel to a bigger road or a highway). There was lot of traffic. I was keenly observing in the direction where the traffic is coming from and crossing the street carefully. Suddenly out of nowhere a car is coming in the opposite direction, I have no idea. He stops in front of me and starts honking.

If you have read some older posts in this blog or for that matter any Indian city blog, you would know that, Might is Right is the only rule that applies on roads here and Hyderabad is probably among the worst.

Firstly the car dude is violating traffic rules and its not like late night of low traffic hours, peak time friday night. I count myself really lucky. Usually I look at both sides of the road before crossing, as a general rule that will serve well for Indian roads. Somehow I didnt do that last night and almost paid the price for it.

I generally dont like to post about any issue multiple times but I had to get this out. Its just amazing.

And konw what is the worst part? If I tried to reason out to the driver of the car, he would have argued what was I doing in the middle of the for road? grrrr….(cross the road duh!!)

Especially last night when India was involved in a keen contest against West Indies. The game went to the wire and West Indies prevailed, barely. I was riding a taxi around 10pm last night and I could see people glued to the TV sets everywhere in the streets.
Most of the shopkeepers install atleast a small TV during the cricket season. The passerbys and the pedestrians and some folks even park their cars to catch a glimpse of the action.
There is a another big match for india on Sunday. India has to beat Australia to advance into the semi-finals. I am sure most of the Hyderabadis and Indians will be watching that game keenly and willing India to win. Australia is a very well drilled side and India has its task cut-out for the sunday.

This is what I know about Graz.

1. Beautiful City, seen pictures.
2. The speak German over there. I learnt this in my german class :) and the sublte nuances and differences in the accents of German spoken in Germany and Austria.
3. The ONE and ONLY *Arnold Schwarzenegger Stadium* in the world is in Graz. Its the ground where one of the cities local clubs play their T-Moblie Budesliga games :). There are two top-flight clubs, Strurm Graz and Graz AK.
3a. No prizes for guessing that the Governor of California hails from Graz.

Welcome Graz.

The two big festivals of two great religions being so close to each other is something to wonder about. May be things are not so different as they appear from outside. Add to that the fact that many non-muslims love eating ‘haleem’ the special preparation only available during the month of Ramzan and people light fire-crackers during Diwali time across faiths makes it even more amazing.

Historically thrrough its 400 year existence, Hyderabad has been an epitome of religious tolerance and secularism barring incidents every now and then, which are instigated by greedy politicians for their selfish means. But after every dark moment this city has come out ever stronger and better.

Wishing you all a happy Ramzan and please light any firecrackers/fireworks left-over from Diwali over the weekend.

I wish you all a very happy and safe Diwali. Be careful with the fireworks.

The scene around here is that the decibel levels are already gone with the raining firecrackers everywhere in the vicinity. I can see a lot of rockets and other fireworks go up into the air and explode in the sky. As a kid Diwali used to be the most anticipated festival of all. Solely cos of the fireworks.

Ok time to go and light some crackers :).

Happy Diwali people!!!

The streets in residential areas are already littered with trash from these fireworks. But its all part of the fun. The one part that is not fun is the decibel levels of some of these fireworks that create thud of explosion. As we near the Diwali 21st, nights are gonna get progressively louder. I have started to observe this around my apartment. A few years back the Supreme court got involved in this and tried to curb it. Things seem to be status quo though.

I dont have any complaints against celebrations, I myself do celebrate but i can do with a little less noise :).

Happy Diwali Everybody!

CHeers

So here I salute Mr. Mahatma on his birth anniverary and thank him for his sacrifices for achieving a Free India.