Alstadt, a recurring theme in Europe

Author : Nona      Blog : Nona's Pensieve      Date : 5/21/2013 7:50:00 PM

'Alstadt. I heard this name for the time in Zurich during the spring of last year. My friend insisted I visit the Alstadt. I initially thought this to be the name of a street. Then I came to know this was the name given to a section of the city. I ventured into that section of the city and found out this part featured old buildings, narrow alleyways, churches and cobbled streets. In fact, this is where all the heroes and heroines in the Indian mainstream movies would shake a leg(...)'

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Chettah chechi...

Author : Nona      Blog : Nona's Pensieve      Date : 5/17/2013 3:00:00 PM

'Right from when we were kids, we are taught to call elders respectfully as chettah, chechi, uncle or aunty. The last two words are familiar for everyone. For the first two words, if you do not already know, these Malayalam words are used to address anyone with reverence and are slightly older than you. Chettah is for male while chechi is for female. Call it the hazards of our upbringing, this comes out naturally for us. Hence we quickly judge who belongs to which category chettah v/(...)'

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Pappettan meets a girl who has 2 crushes

Author : Nona      Blog : Nona's Pensieve      Date : 5/16/2013 7:50:00 AM

'If you are wondering who Pappettan is, click on this link and find out.Pappettan has a lot of friends. One of his friends, a girl, was feeling down. Pappettan was concerned on seeing the girl sans her usual radiance. As a person who is determined to make the world a better person, Pappettan couldn't help himself but to go directly into identifying and solving the worry plaguing the girl.Pappettan: *sympathetically and ready to wear the hat of a listener* Is everything alright?T(...)'

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Relationships...

Author : Nona      Blog : Nona's Pensieve      Date : 5/14/2013 10:40:00 PM

'The Loire Valley. That was the destination for the weekend. I have been in the valley almost 2 years ago, touring 3 castles in a day. It was a day trip organized by one of tour operators in Paris. This time, it was different because we were renting a car. Renting a car and driving cross country was exciting when I lived in the US. It is no more now. I don't know why, age or excellent connectivity if you look at other modes of transport. Anyways, the weekend turned out to be les(...)'

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Pappettan mulls over an arrangement

Author : Nona      Blog : Nona's Pensieve      Date : 5/14/2013 7:50:00 AM

'If you are wondering who Pappettan is, click on this link and find out.The other day, I found Pappettan sitting still for minutes staring at his mobile. It was evident something on his mobile was disturbing him. Upon approaching him, I found out he was staring at a SMS. Why was a SMS causing pain? I decided to find out.Me: What happened?Pappettan: I do not understand this SMS.Me: *cautiously* Would you like to tell me what it is...Pappettan: *thrusting the screen on my face* Ta(...)'

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Books: One shot

Author : Nona      Blog : Nona's Pensieve      Date : 5/8/2013 8:00:00 PM

'This is the same book which was adapted to the screen as Jack Reacher. I have already seen the movie. which presented the first problem As you are reading up the series in the same chronology as it was written, this became the second problem. The first problem is simple. You know the main plot of the book and also the villains. The second is the decision to skip this one or not. When I read through the book, I couldn't help going back to the movie where I ended up back and forth bet(...)'

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Have you kissed a man?

Author : Nona      Blog : Nona's Pensieve      Date : 5/8/2013 11:05:00 AM

'Have you kissed a man? I am talking about peck on the cheek. Anyways, that is normal way of greeting here. I am talking about a real kiss. I am talking about lips on lips and more. Before you answer this, are you a woman? If the answer is yes, don't even bother to answer my question. The question is not intended for you. The question is directed at the guys. To be more specific, for straight guys. Apparently, this is what two straight guys ended up doing a few weeks back. Now, if yo(...)'

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Photos: A kiss in the city known for lights and romance

Author : Nona      Blog : Nona's Pensieve      Date : 5/7/2013 1:55:00 PM

'How did I get this picture? The story behind this picture is equally interesting as the picture. Do you know this is a lot of people likes to have pictures that were shot with Tour Eiffel as the backdrop in their wedding albums? If you are in Trocadero, the chances are you will run into a couple in their wedding dresses followed around by a camera crew.A couple of weeks back, I was in this area with my friends when we noticed the man in the black suit trying to take a picture of him(...)'

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Books: The Racketeer

Author : Nona      Blog : Nona's Pensieve      Date : 5/6/2013 6:55:00 AM

'The first question that comes into our mind after reading through the initial part of this book is about the title. Who is the racketeer? Is it the main protagonist, Malcolm? He is languishing in a jail, hating every moment of it, because he was involved in racketeering. The truth be told, he was caught unawares in the middle of a racketeering scheme. But now, he is looking forward to walk free by helping with the Feds solve the murder of a judge. So is the book about a wrongly conv(...)'

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Pappettan on s'il vous plait

Author : Nona      Blog : Nona's Pensieve      Date : 5/5/2013 2:00:00 PM

'If you are wondering who Pappettan is, click on this link and find out.If you live in France, you know what is meant by s'il vous plait. Translated, it means if you please. Always to be found at the end of any request, this is the French way of saying please. Recently the "s'il vous plait" or SVP for short, came into a conversation featuring me, my friends and Pappettan.All of us were at an Indian restaurant near Marcel Sembat. We had finished the delicious naans, chapathi(...)'

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Photos: Alone in front of the abbey

Author : Nona      Blog : Nona's Pensieve      Date : 5/2/2013 3:20:00 PM

'This was taken in front of the Abbaye St-Ouen in Rouen. It was sunny and a lot of flowers all around the abbey. I decided to shoot it from the ground level. Hope you like it.Picture Courtesy: http://www.facebook.com/photokkaranPlease visit the page of Photokkaran. Don't forget to "Like" the page if you enjoy the pictures.Tags: Photos-->'

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Books: In fifty years, we'll all be chicks

Author : Nona      Blog : Nona's Pensieve      Date : 5/1/2013 9:20:00 PM

'What happens when a comedian who is also a talk show host writes a book? The book ends up like a script for the stand up act or the radio show. This is what happens with this book written by Adam Carolla. The chapters are dedicated to one issue or subject. If you step back and look at the entire content of the book, these are subject or issues that might not have any link to each other. On the brighter side, there are jokes littered in every sentence and at times, there are many jok(...)'

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The Flower man cometh

Author : Nona      Blog : Nona's Pensieve      Date : 4/30/2013 8:40:00 AM

'A middle-aged male waiting for the flower guy. Isn't that an interesting sight? Okay! I agree I am going fast on this story. So let me step back and take you through it slowly step by step. The first and the foremost, I need to explain you about the flower man. If you live in Paris, you have already met him. It is the man with the distinct South East Asian features selling flowers to you when you are dining or drinking in your favorite hangouts. They magically get admitted into(...)'

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Photos: Windmill of Moulin Rouge

Author : Nona      Blog : Nona's Pensieve      Date : 4/29/2013 10:40:00 AM

'Moulin Rouge is a good place to shoot picture. The red color is the predominant theme. If you shoot red against a blue sky, it is a recipe for a good picture. Since I had a tripod with me, I decided on a long exposure. I decided to do my long exposure on the windmill that is featured above the building.Picture Courtesy: http://www.facebook.com/photokkaranPlease visit the page of Photokkaran. Don't forget to "Like" the page if you enjoy the pictures.Tags: Photos-->'

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Books: The Good Son

Author : Nona      Blog : Nona's Pensieve      Date : 4/28/2013 7:40:00 AM

'Take a look at the back cover of the book written by Michael Gruber. It tells you the plot line of the book. Dr Sonia Laghari and a group of others are abducted by a group of extremists while there are on the way to a conference to discuss peace in one of the trouble regions of the world. She is an historian whose previous works has shocked and wounded the followers of Islam, not because of what is in the book but how because of how she manged to get the material for her b(...)'

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Photos: One in many

Author : Nona      Blog : Nona's Pensieve      Date : 4/26/2013 10:15:00 AM

'This year, spring arrived late in Paris. As I write this, the climate is still unstable when we forced to change clothes in a span of days alternating between the ones suited for cold and warm weather. Last year, I was at Parc de Sceaux to take pictures of the cherry blossoms. This year, I was there on a Sunday. The particular Sunday I chose was blessed with excellent weather. The park was overcrowded. It was difficult to get a composition with a subject and minimal distractions. Mo(...)'

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Movie Review: Iron Man 3

Author : Nona      Blog : Nona's Pensieve      Date : 4/24/2013 10:10:00 PM

'After the forgettable Iron Man 2, Jon Favreau steps down as the director and Shane Black dons the cap of the director in the third installment in this franchise. If you like filmography of Shane Black, it does not feature a big project like this in the past. Then it has also been the case when Jon Favreau started this franchise and also when Joss Whedon directed The Avengers last summer. Both of them hadn't directed a big project before. So what is wrong in Shane Black directing thi(...)'

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Movie Review: Parker

Author : Nona      Blog : Nona's Pensieve      Date : 4/24/2013 10:20:00 AM

'Before you see the movie, it is better to have some background information on Parker. Parker is the quintessential American anti-hero who features in the novels of Donald Westlake written under the name Richard Stark. Now, Taylor Hartford has adapted the novel named Flashfire for the screen and naming the movie with the name of main character. I have neither read the novel nor have heard about the novelist before. So, I will not be able to comment on the adaptation. As for the movie(...)'

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There is always a solution

Author : Nona      Blog : Nona's Pensieve      Date : 4/22/2013 9:20:00 AM

'There is always a solution for any problem, no matter the magnitude. We are taught this this principle taught at all stages in our life. I happened to witness this phenomenon three weeks back. Three weeks back, I was still waiting impatiently for spring to arrive. I was tired of wearing heavy and warm clothes to fight the never ending winter which was behaving like a prima donna. The low temperatures was sucking enthusiasm out of my system. Around this time, my friend decided to vis(...)'

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Photos: The Cathedral from inside

Author : Nona      Blog : Nona's Pensieve      Date : 4/21/2013 9:15:00 AM

'This was taken in Cathédrale Notre-Dame de Rouen. Rouen is a city which is 100 kms away from Paris. I was with a group of photographers. Depending on photography experience, I could easily be called a baby in this group. The term is only related to photography experience and not the biological age. Normally, there is usually someone prohibiting you to use a tripod inside a cathedral. Luckily for all of us, there was no restriction on tripods. This actually made life e(...)'

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