At the risk of being tedious and boring I'm saying it once again. I love movies. That's it, that is the statement. One of the reasons I would like to live a healthy and long life is to watch as many films as possible. Only a fellow movie buff can understand this level of craziness. I was born to a cinephile parents and married to one. It goes without saying hubby is the comrade in this charade. without much fuss here is the list of films I've (We've) watched in the year 2019.
January
1. Genius
2. Sarkari Hi. Pra. Shale, Kasaragodu, Koduge: Ramanna Rai
3. Periyeru Perumal
4. Kateyondu Shuru Aagide
5. Hebbuli
6. As Karala Ratri
7. Manto
February
1. Thugs of Hindostan
2. Beyond clouds
3. Batti Gul Meter Chalu
4. Zero
5. Jalebi
March
1. Vishwaroopam 2
2. 96
3. Uri
4. Green Book
5. Naticharami
April
1. Gully Boy
2. Photograph
3. Milan Talkies
4. Kesari
May
1. Kedarnath
2. Manikarnika
3. Ek ladaki Ko Dekha To
4. 2.0 (Robo)
5. Petta
6. Badla
7. Tumbaad
8. Aravinda Sameta Veera Raghava
9. Super Deluxe
June
1. The Hunger Games
2. The Hunger Games: Catching Fire
3. The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1
4. The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 2
5. John Wick
6. John Wick-Chapter 2
7. John Wick-Chapter 3: Parabellum
8. The Maze Runner
9. Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials
10. Maze Runner: The Death Cure
11. Madmax
12. Madmax 2
13. Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome
14. Mad Max: Fury Road
15. Kavaludari
16. Luka Chuppi
17. Student of the year 2
18. Nata Sarvabhouma
19. Bell Bottom
20. Chambal
21. Amar
21. Captain marvel
22. Hotel Mumbai
23. Killer Elite
The year 2019 I've read many new authors, which were mostly recommended in Goodreads. And I've sticked to many of old favourites. I've tried my hands on two books that were long-listed for Man Booker Prize, and a all time classic. My most cherished genres are thriller and mystery, so it is not a surprise I've scored in that pretty well. I've failed to break the jinx of sci-fi and horror genres. I'm jotting down a list for no particular reasons.
The best book that I read in 2019:
To Kill a Mocking Bird-Harper Lee
Not-So-Good book that I read in 2019:
First Night-Sophie Kinsella
A classic that I thought I'l never enjoy:
To Kill a Mocking Bird-Harper Lee
A book that I read after watching the television drama of the book adaptation:
Clash of Kings and Storm of Swords-George R.R. Martin
A book that was intriguing enough to put the screen adaptation in the "TBW" list:
Normal People-Sally Rooney
A book that haunted me in days to come:
My Lovely Wife-Samantha Downing
A book that I couldn't decide whether I liked or not:
Into the Water-Paula Hawkins
A book that I abandoned in the middle:
Faithful Place-Tana French
A book that I wish I had read in 2019:
Becoming-Michelle Obama
A Kannada book that I read in 2019:
Chikkadoddavaru-Shivarama Karanth
A Travel book that I read in 2019:
Apoorva Paschima-Shivarama Karanth
A unfinished series of 2019:
A Song of Ice and Fire-George R.R. Martin
A series that I've started in 2019:
Nothing
An author that I've read most in 2019:
Kristin Hannah
A book that I was embarrassed to read:
Hero-Samantha Young
An author that I wish I read earlier:
Harper Lee
A series that was decent enough to made me watch the movies and get disappointed:
Hunger Games
A book of new geography:
Purple Hibiscus-Chimamanda Adichie
In my last post "The Year that was 2019" I've mentioned my reading challenge for the year was 50. However, while reading my last year's post I've realized that I had set my reading goal for 2019 as 60 books. This is what happens when I neglect my writing space. Over the period I had forgotten what object I had set for myself and started believing in another number. What remains is I had missed my target miserably. I'm not the one to be bogged down by the failures. With full gusto and energy I have taken up the challenge to read 50 books in the year 2020, that is 4 books per month on an average. I console myself saying I had picked two books in 'Game of Throne' series which are astonishingly of huge volume. I've been largely partial to few authors, that made me to pick their work in a row. In 2020 I intend to bring diversity in terms of genres and authors. Without much ado here goes my list;
January
1. Catching Fire-Susanne Collins
2. Betrayal-Danielle Steel
3. Mocking Jay-Susanne Collins
4. Into the Water-Paula Hawkins
February
1. Apporva Paschima-Shivaram Karanth
2. A Great Alone-Kristin Hannah
3. Nightingale-Kristin Hannah
March
1. Last Anniversary-Lianne Moriatry
2. Hero-Samantha Young
3. Nine Perfect Strangers-Lianne Moriatry
April
1. Everything I Never Told You About-Celeste NG
2. Home For Christmas-Nora Roberts
3. The Wife Between Us-Greer Hendricks and Sarah Pekkanen
May
1. An Anonymous Girl-Greer Hendricks and Sarah Pekkanen
2. In a Dark, Dark Woods-Ruth Ware
3. Clash of Kings-George R.R. Martin
June
1. My Lovely Wife-Samantha Downing
2. The Girl Before
July
1. Big Girl-Danielle Steel
2. Family Ties-Danielle Steel
3. Bitter Sweet-Danielle Steel
4. Angels Fall-Nora Roberts
August
1. Montana Sky-Nora Roberts
2. First to Die-James Patterson
3. Normal Things-Sally Rodney
September
1. The Silent Patient-Alex Michaelides
October
1. Dead to You-Lisa McMann
2. Dating Game-Danielle Steel
3. Before Anna-Alex Lake
4. Comfort and Joy-Kristin Hannah
November
1. Between Sisters-Kristin Hannah
2. Storm of Swords-George R.R.Martin
3. Purple Hibiscus-Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
4. To Kill a Mocking Bird-Harper Lee
5. Digging In-Loretta Nyhan
December
1. The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society-Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows
2. Chikkadoddavaru-Shivarama Karanth
3. Summer Island-Kristin Hannah
4. Home Again-Kristin Hannah
5. Wedding Night-Sophie Kinsella
How was my year 2019? Well, all I can say, I was happy, super busy and content. I can remember last year's new year celebration like yesterday and here I'm in the year 2020. This space has been neglected and the guilt continues. Same goes to our travel blog. I was out of my mojo or had I the blogger's block when it comes to writing. Let me reflect the highlights of the bygone year.
Thankfully no deaths in the family this year. Since my father's untimely death whenever I say goodbye to loved ones my instant thought is probably this is the last time I'm seeing them alive. It is quite an obsession and I can't get this feeling out of my mind. The good part is now I consciously make an effort to give my cent percent attention, time, and care to them. However guarded I'm about this phenomenon when death strikes it brings all the pain and sadness creating an emptiness in your heart. This year I'm grateful for having my loved ones alive and kicking.
This year I have ticked off Egypt from my bucket list. As I have said many times before Egypt, Greece and Italy were my top 3 list in terms of traveling. Standing in front of Pyramids is an ethereal experience, so is cruising in Nile like Pharaohs. The presence of heavy military forces all over the capital was unsettling a bit. Neither the political unrest nor harassing Egyptians could not dampen the spirit of our holidays. The next country was Oman, my first in middle east. Other than yearly vacation we traveled quite less than what I would have liked. Melukote, Chikmagalur, Mantralaya and Thanjavur. That is mainly because of hubby's eye issue for which we had to go to the ophthalmologist every alternating weekends. Since I could not drive the travel took a major back seat.
I failed the reading challenge too. My set goal was 50 books for the year. I could read only 40 books. When I told this number hubby was astonished. According to him 40 is a big number. My reading was oscillated between all genres except sci-fi and horror. Maybe this year I will try to break this barrier by at least reading one book of these two genres.
Compared to last year the films that I have watched is less as well. The number is still staggering 110 and on an average 1 movie in three days. The list ranged from excellent to good to average to bad. I'm glad to say I've attended International Japan Film Festival this year, which was amazing to say the least.
The reason for declined number in films is binge watching on television series, especially the rerun of Game of Thrones before the grand finale which consumed a lot of time space. Also this year we have watched many plays and cultural performances that kept us busy on the weekends.
This year I have reduced my social medial time to less than an hour including FB, WhatsApp, Instagram, Youtube and Twitter. Among these I sheepishly admit I'm a little addicted to Twitter and I'm going to detox myself from this platform in the coming year.
This year I tried consciously not to get into arguments with bigoted family, friends, or acquaintances, but for a few occasions. I have decided to declutter them from my life slowly as they bring only hate. As I'm a sensitive person I don't have the energy or time to deal with such vicious people who don't have the sense to know what is right and what is wrong.
Year 2019 has been kind. Let's see how year 2020 pans out.
When I look into this space it stares blank at me. Last 31 days of the year and I haven't done half of the things I wanted to do. Was I lazy? I don't remember sitting idly anytime. I'm not a person to get glued to the phone always. At least not yet! I have quite active presence in Insta, Twitter, FB, all and sundry social networks, but my usage is minimal. I would rather read a book than fiddling the phone. Why I'm fretting is because the guilt I feel for this neglected space.
No doubt life has been busy. When we plan a vacation it eats up almost two months' of whatever little free time we get. I was holidaying the last week of September and first ten days of October. One of the destinations was on my top three list, Egypt where it all begins. Standing in front of the pyramid was an ethereal experience. The Egyptians are a lot like us Indians. They harass travelers, try their maximum to cheat if one is not careful. I just hope it's all because of their poor economy and political unrest.
Another destination was Oman. This will be my first time in the middle East. We consciously make an effort to choose our destinations as per its culture and heritage, and our inclination towards that. Oman is the poor country in the Arab world. We weren't surprised when we get to see and talk to a lot Indians, Bangladeshis, and Pakistanis. But it pained us to see our fellow countrymen treated badly in a foreign land. Dignity of labour is unknown in this part of the world. I couldn't help but wonder if our country could provide job opportunities to these people why would they leave their motherland. I digress. The details of the trip will soon be updated in www.milesandtrails.com.
Immediately after returning from holidays we had to go to Mantralaya as a family to fulfill MIL's wishes. But for the Brindavana there's nothing much to explore. To my surprise the food served there was very good and palatable.
As a custom I celebrated the Deepavali festival in native. There was a talk about meeting school friends, which never materialized due to heavy rains. And I secretly was wishing it never will because of lack of time. Strangely school friends are the ones with whom I'm in constant touch now. Maybe the innocence of childhood and adolescence is what they hold on to.
During Kannada Rajyotsava weekend we traveled to Tanjavur to visit the iconic Great living Chola temples. The climate was mild in Tamil Nadu that made the trip more joyous. Same weekend cousin A called to inform about the sudden move to Pune for her job. My cousins and I were stressed and worried, which amused hubby to a great deal. It took me sometime to explain that he was brought up to be self-sufficient and independent, wherein we were all overprotected and pampered, so it takes sometime for us to get adjusted to new places and until then it stresses us. Now one month into it cousin A is comfortable in the new place and soon will start painting the city red.
It has been three years since I lost my father. There's isn't a day that passes without missing him. Slowly but steadily I have learnt the art of blocking the memories when it starts to hurt. And still I haven't stopped asking why my dad?
In September Ammamma lost her younger sister to old age. She doesn't express her feelings but we all know how close she was to her sister and how deeply she loved her. In fact everybody loved H. Ammamma who was exuberant, loud, funny, and entertaining. Just a week before her death she disapproved my child-free status asking my mother why the hell did I get marry if I had no intention to reproduce.
The reading pace is slow and I did read few books. However I doubt whether I will be able to reach my reading challenge for this year. The movie numbers are quite okay. In web series We have watched Bard of Blood, Family Man, Leila and few plays. An idea is brewing at this point and I can only act on it next year because of the pending projects.
All I can say I was super busy personally, professionally, and socially. Let us see whether I'll be able to reach the unrealistic goals I have set for myself in the next coming 30 days.
I was down with viral fever for almost a week right at the beginning of the month. The weather was cloudy and damp, and all I ever wanted to do was snuggle in and sleep.
The first Sunday of the month was Friendship day. On this very day I was able to reconnect with one of high school best friends. We were a group of five friends. The one I'm talking about is the first one to get married. I haven't seen after the wedding day. Here and there I heard little nugget of her life from other friends. It was before the revolutionary cellphone era. After regrouping with other friends it took almost a year to finally get hold of her. And viola. She was searching for me as well in FB and Insta. Most of my friends know me only by my first name as there was no last name attached to it in any documents. I was truly touched when she said she even tried searching with my birthday. So our 'Fabulous Five" (Corny I know) group is completed and since then it's been very active.
August is the birthday month of little men in our family. Nephew A is a year old now. I can see a lot of peer pressure accumulating already. Every one is curious to know whether he walks or talks or jumps. Since they were traveling at the time we celebrated his birthday the next weekend. Nephew V is seven-year-old now and I would like to believe a little wiser. I hear he is addicted to cellphone games and his gadget time has been restricted. With no one to play it is the norm with every kid of this generation I guess and I'm sure they will also turn up okay. And their birthday falls one after another.
August is the month where I go shopping to buy cards and Rakhees. The quality of greeting cards is minimal to zilch. Options are very few. I'm told nobody buys cards anymore. Hubby and I just reminisced the bygone era of Archies and Hallmark and selected whatever best we could.
Rain created havoc in the state. Hubby and BIL were eager to bring MIL to stay with us because of heavy downpour in hometown. But she vehemently declined saying she will be able to manage. If not she will go to her brother's place and stay there. Thankfully, the rain stopped eventually without causing trouble. I just can't imagine the plight of people who were fighting this battle. Either it's drought or flood in the country. Global warming is a serious thought to ponder with.
Cousin A shifted to Bangalore after being campus selected. Aunt B called and I could feel the empty nest syndrome. I ensured her that she will not like kids being home again in less than few weeks.
I read just two books this month. Montana Sky-Nora Roberts and First to Die-James Patterson.
Compared to reading the movie part was lot better with 14 movies. The climate was right to be couch potatoes with a general holiday in-between. The list goes like this "The mountain between us, Monsoon Shooting, India's Most Wanted, Christopher Robin, Aladdin, Avengers End Game, Rustum, Mauruder, Ant man and the Wasp, Amar, Sonchiriya, A walk Among Tomb Stones, The next three days, Killer Ellite.
And binge watched Sacred Games 2 on a lazy weekend.
Between full-time work, social life, household chores and planning a holiday, I find less and less time to writing. Our travel blog is begging for attention. I tried to lessen my guilt by updating Insta feed as and when I could. Sometimes I feel 24 hours a day isn't enough for me.
August was kind. Let's see how September pans out
The month whooshed past as the rest of the year. This month I refused take any guilt trip about neglecting writing, organizing, or socializing. I just relaxed and read quite a lot. If one count numbers there are only five books, but 'Clash of Kings' by George Martin was humongous in volume. The list is Big Girl-Danielle Steel, Family Ties-Danielle Steel, Bitter Sweet-Danielle Steel, Clash of kings-George Martin, and Angel Fall-Nora Roberts.
During our visit to the native this time we have gone to a restaurant that has humanoid robot as a server. It is one of its kind in Karnataka and we were curious. This one speaks in English and Kannada, and serves water and food. When I say serve it's only limited to bringing trays to our table. The actual serving is done by the humans. It's a huge crowd puller and staff encourages clicking snaps with the robot. Apart from this the food is tasty as well, so we might visit the place as and when needed.
The movieS we have watched are Article 15, An extraordinary journey of a Fakir, Kavacha, Dumbo, Shaft, Ant-Man, Kalank, De De Pyar De, Kidnap, Aftermath, and London Boulevard.
And I've been busy planning the upcoming holidays. As we create our own itinerary it needs a lot of groundwork and fine tuning. Currently most our conversation circles around that topic. Planning a trip gives us such an adrenaline rush. When your hubby is your best travel partner life seems totally blessed.
Nephew A is growing up fast and I can't believe he is going to be one next month. A happy child I would like to call him, however brother and SIL beg to differ saying I've not seen his ruthlessness or crankiness. Quite handful he is I will give it to them. I'm happy to see my little brother being the hands-on father like our father was. And proud of SIL who takes such a good care of the child. I can see her life revolves around this little man now.
July has been kind.
