Instant Taj Mahal

I am still amazed that I can be sitting here in Atlanta and receive an instant cell phone MMS picture of the Taj Mahal. Yet, this happened a couple of days ago when my friend Tim, visiting in India for "the" wedding (see below), sent me this gorgeous photo. Thanks, Tim!

9,056 Miles of Best Wishes!

For about three more hours from the time of this posting, Atlanta and Chennai, India, will be on the same calendar day. This is very important, because today, January 27, is the wedding day of our good friends Meenakshi and Tarun! We have all been looking forward to this day for many months.

The wedding ceremony itself was held earlier today in Chennai, but receptions and celebrations will continue for several days in three different cities in India. I received the first wedding picture (at right) on my cell phone last night.

"MJ" and Tarun should be back in the United States sometime next month. Best wishes, guys! We'll see you soon!

Welcome to the Bollyhood!

We coined a new name for our little district of Macy's the other day: The Bollyhood.

The whole Bollywood thing started back in April with an earlier post (see "Bollywood Fever") and has continued like a train running full steam down the track. What a great ride it is! Along with some very helpful tips from our Indian friends, we have begun to fully explore this highly entertaining genre of movies, and for that matter, the whole of modern Indian culture.

On Diwali, November 9, a group of our friends all dressed in the more traditional style (see picture above). Later that evening, a crew of about 17 of us went out to dinner at Phoenix Noodle Cafe and then to the Galaxy Peachtree Funplex 8 to see Saawariya, the first Hollywood-produced "Bollywood" movie. Although the consensus among many of us was that the movie was somewhat slow, we enjoyed each other's company immensely and decided to follow up with a more animated movie in short order.

Now, we have movie posters in the office, Bollywood music emanating from first one cube then another, tasty snacks appearing from time to time, music and videos being shared, and a general sense of the world having become much smaller. This led to a spontaneous suggestion last week that our area should be labeled with a sign reading "Welcome to the Bollyhood!" So be it!

Once in Bollywood...

It has now been five months, and my fascination with Bollywood (India's version of Hollywood) continues unabated. Just this evening, I came across the video for one of my favorite songs, "Loot Jayenge", from the movie "Aksar". I double-dog dare you to sit still...

Dil Se - Chaiyya Chaiyya

What can I say? Total entertainment! I am still very much on my Bollywood kick, and at this point, it shows no signs of slowing down, much less stopping. Many of my friends are now either providing me names of movies to watch or the DVD's themselves. I'm loving this!

The other day, I came across one particular video which caught my eye. My apologies to my Indian friends, because I know that this is somewhat dated, but here in the US, we just don't see that many videos filmed on top of moving trains! Enjoy!

Bollywood Fever!

I just returned from my morning walk at Atlanta's Piedmont Park. On the way back home, I stopped at my favorite city coffee shop, San Francisco Coffee, to pick up an iced espresso with vanilla -- gotta have fuel in this town. Coffee in hand, I popped the top down on the car and pumped up the volume on a mix CD I put together a few weeks ago called "Asian Chic". And there they were -- the glorious new tunes of Bollywood.

Last night, we watched the 2005 movie Ek Khiladi Ek Haseena, featuring Fardeen Khan and Koena Mitra. There is something about Bollywood (India's Hollywood, for those of you who have not heard the term) that is infectious, not the least of which being the seemingly random interspersing of music and dance routines throughout the movies. Indian filmmakers appear to have recaptured a spirit that we here in America left somewhere down the road -- old-fashioned escapism mixed with an off-beat sense of humor. Sure, there are some serious moments in these movies, but they don't get under your skin or keep you awake at night, and the comic relief surfaces when you least expect it.

It's going to be an interesting summer, because I intend to rent more Bollywood movies. Who knows -- I may even host a festival.