Hairy Otter. Oops! I Mean Harry Potter.

Yesterday, I managed to get a copy of the latest Harry Potter from my neighbor. Thought I’ll watch the movie once more. I enjoyed the movie just as much as I did when I saw it the first time, thanks to the funny senseless sub-titles!

The person who did the transcription could have done a better job, had he/she used the book to find those dialogues.

Here are a few of them. Enjoy!

Original Dialogue: It’s a ‘portkey’

Sub-title: It’s a ‘pokick’

Original Dialogue: Three schools for a series of magical contests.

Sub-title: These schools for a series of manticore contests. (???!!!)

Original Dialogue: Can anyone tell me, how many unforgivable curses there are?

Sub-title: Can anyone tell me, I forgot how many classes there are? (lol!)

Original Dialogue: The use of any one of them will earn you a one-way ticket to Azkaban.

Sub-title: They used funny word of the world and you don’t have any one way to get into Azkaban. (Excuse me, but is that even a sentence?)

Original Dialogue: Longbottom is it?

Sub-title: Long one was it?

Original Dialogue: Prof. Sprout tells me you have an aptitude for herbology

Sub-title: First our spell tells me you are up to pursuit for hypallage.( err… what?)

Original Dialogue: Ron was here?

Sub-title: Roast it?

Original Dialogue: It’s as much as a fairy princess as I am!

Sub-title: It’s as much a wary process as I am!

Original Dialogue: You know how to duel I presume, first we bow to each other

Sub-title: You know how to duel I presume, first of all we’ll bark at each other. ( This one had me in stitches!!)

Mumbai Meri Jaan

I am going to Mumbai next week! Yes, I am very excited and I have every reason to be. It’s been almost six months since I made my last trip to Mumbai and after all I have started thinking of it as my home town now.

I never really had a place I would like to go to during my vacations, because my grandparents live with us and they had sold their house in the village ages ago, even before I was born and never bought any place after that. During vacations I used to visit Chennai or Mumbai and spend time with my cousins who lived there or dad used to take us on trips to different places, I really used to like that because I have almost seen all the beautiful places in India.

Till the age of 11 I have lived in different cities for a minimum period of 6 months to a maximum period of 3 years. I even believed that every family does that; no one lives in the same city for long. Later I realized that only some of us keep moving because of our parent’s occupation.

And then at the age of 11 I landed in Mumbai (then known as Bombay). I hated it. I couldn’t speak Hindi and the kids used to tease me whenever I spoke in English. On top of it all I had to study a whole new language- Marathi!

Slowly I discovered new friends, started learning Marathi in which I scored more marks than I did in Hindi, learnt the worst colloquial Hindi which is still dominant when I start talking in Hindi. People immediately come to know I am from Mumbai! Nothing I am proud of because I am one of those many people who ruin that language!

Every year dad used to say, looks like we are going to move this year, which was fine with me except when I was in the 10^th and then 12^th, because those were crucial years. Nothing happened and then I went to college. In my second year of college, dad gets transferred to…..where else….Chennai! At the same time, Amber’s family, who had moved a year ago to Mumbai, got transferred to Bangalore. So, it was finally decided that the three of us-Amber, Amethyst and I would stay as paying guests for our education’s sake.

I discovered a whole new life of living all by myself, had some real fun, learnt a lot of new things, met a lot of new people, went out quite a bit (I hardly went out when I was at home, don’t get the wrong picture)which I wouldn’t have done if I were staying at home.

And so the two years of having fun and staying out came to an end. Went through a phase where I was confused as to what I want to do in life. I didn’t want to come to Chennai, but nothing went right when it had to. Tried for a job really late because dad wasn’t sure I should stay in Mumbai alone any more. So came to Chennai started preparing for entrance exams for further studies. Got a job which wasn’t great but was something, but decided against taking it up because it would leave no time for exam preparations……. That brings me to today, sitting in front of the computer, thinking about Mumbai and the life that I had there. I am unbelievably sentimental about that city. Whenever I see Mumbai on TV or in movies I try to guess which place is it….. sometimes I sit and think about the places I really love in Mumbai, the beaches, our gang’s hang-outs, those few amazing places in Mumbai which not many people know about but which my friends and I discovered…..and many more sweet memories…

After spending ten years there, that's the only place I can think of as my home town.And, home is where the heart is….

Leave Letter;)

Hey ppl,
There has been hardly any activity going on on this blog for some time now.There is a good reason for it. Amber's computer has conked and my net connection has had some problems since one week. Will be back with new and better posts very soon. Posting this before i get disconnected again.
Ciao.
PS:- I'll be back....

What I Did This New Years Eve - Amber's Version

December 31st, 2005

Saw a movie and hung out with a friend.

Spent the night with Jade, Amethyst, A.B. and two of Amethyst's other classmates C and V ( the two seemed intimidated by me and Jade,). We had the house to ourselves, Jade got totally drunk for the first time in her life (drunk enough to eventually throw up), Amethyst and A.B. - who were'nt as drunk - picked a fight with each other (Amethyst in tears, A.B. trying to pacify her and everything). Thus, I (having had only one breezer) basically spent the night playing nursemaid and arbitrator, and generally feeling sad, irritated, lonely,amused and angry by turns.

January 1st, 2006

The next morning...

...We laughed over Jade's behaviour (She was hilarious, and in hindsight adorable in a way), listened to music, shopped for ingredients for breakfast (I made a gigantic tomato, onion, capsicum, cheese omlette and burnt the toast), ate cake and chips and drank 7Up (all before 10 in the morning); after which we spent the day at A.B.'s house (where I guess I napped for 2 hours in between lunch and dinner) just hanging out and playing with the dogs.

--------------------------

And there you have it. My extremely brief account of how the three girls and the dog (he spent new years at A.B.'s, with A.B.'s dog for company. Actually I think he drove the other dog crazy with his antics...) rung out the old and rung in the new...

:)

Happy New Year, everyone...

So What Did You Do This New Year's Eve?

Guess who’s back!!

I went to Bangalore or should I say Bengaluru for New Year’s. Spent time with Amber, Amethyst and the Dog.

We decided to have a house party or something close to a party.

Amethyst wanted to booze a lot this time and I generally thought it wasn’t a bad idea… only if I had known better…sigh…

So it was somewhere around 6 in the evening, Amber was at her friend’s place and said she wont be back any sooner, Amethyst was bugged and was totally in a crappy mood and didn’t want anyone to come( not that a lot of people were expected anyways). A.B. our friend said he wasn’t in the mood either, but said he would come anyways since I had come all the way from Chennai… and I was getting bugged because everyone around was in a rotten mood and was left hoping that Amber would come home soon.

A.B. turned up in some time and we went liquor shopping…

We got back and found two of Amethyst’s friends, C and V, waiting for us at the door. And I realized they were the only ones to join us and even those two were gonna leave at 10:30. I don’t know why they thought they could leave at 10:30, it was New Year’s damn it! Its not gonna happen earlier this year! Some company we had….

Amber was still not back and we hadn’t yet ordered dinner…so we all set out to buy dinner.

By the time we came home it was around 11…

Finally settled in and started boozing… and this is where the real story of the memorable New Year starts!

We all started out with a few Bacardi breezers and Amethyst and I were trying to finish everyone else’s bottle too. Then we brought out beer and I was busy making personal bottles for everyone with the empty breezer bottles. By now Amber became really quiet, she didn’t like the way Amethyst and I were gulping down beer and behaving silly. The two guests decided to stay back and weren’t much of a drinker. A.B. challenged me to do another bottoms up….so I drained another bottle. I was kinda drunk by now, but didn’t feel drunk at all. It was 12! Yippee! Happy New Year everybody!

So what the hell, we brought out some vodka. Ended up gulping it directly from the bottle, which totally did it!

Everything that happened after that is still a blur. I later came to know, Amethyst got pissed with A.B. because he said something and she was also a bit drunk and they both were fighting inside. I was trying to reach A.P. on the phone, in spite of the jammed network. I couldn’t hold the phone properly, so I was asking everyone to help me reach him….even explained to V how to dial the number!

I realized when I am drunk: 1) I am very polite.2) I get an accent, as my tongue grows all numb.

Since A.B. was busy fighting and Amber was bugged and was inside. I ended up in the hall with C and V.C was trying to help me with the call but then got busy attending his calls. V looked a bit worried because he didn’t drink at all and didn’t know what he was doing in the mad house! So left him alone.

By now I got really bugged and don’t know why or how, but I started crying. That did work because everyone rushed to me. Amethyst took a break from the fight and said, “You wanna call A.P. na? Gimme the number.” She dials and wow she got through the number. Me thinking, ‘Thanks gurl! These men are good for nothing!’

Started ranting to A.P. about how others didn’t help me and Amethyst did. Amethyst realized I was using her phone and she didn’t have much money left in it and was after me trying to take it from me. Spoke but forgot to wish him Happy New Year. Amber says, “Gimme the phone” and she spoke to A.P. told him I was just a bit drunk, but I was under control.

Me still thinks I am not drunk and to prove that I go looking for the vodka bottle, but couldn’t find it. A.B. tells me it’s over. I found out the next morning that he hid it behind the TV.

Laid my hands on a pack of cigarette that the guys had bought and wanted to smoke. I asked C to get me a matchbox and he comes with an empty matchbox, like it was some joke! I threaten him that I’ll go and switch on the stove if I don’t find one and so he helps me light it with the gas stove. I almost burnt my hair trying to light the cigarette.

The way I smoked, the guys must have thought I have one everyday. Smoke is not meant for me and I realized it once again.

I don’t remember anything after that. Except asking Amber to gimme some air in the room and not wanting any flavor in the sugar water which Amethyst tried giving me to save me from dehydrating.

Things I did this New Year’s eve:

• Ended up with my head in the pot.
• Apologized to Amber a dozen times for spoiling her new year.
• Called A.B. a bitch I think or was it someone else?
• Was yelling at the middle of the night.
• Became a joke in front of two guys whom I didn’t know at all. ( They made sure that everyone in Amethyst’s class knew that her cousin was drunk!)
• Entertained a bunch of bored people.
• And of course got drunk for the first time in my life!

Day 3

Copyright 2005 Amber

Field trip to Balmuri falls and a nearby bird sanctuary.

Took some good photographs.

Found out how much fun it can be to jump and lay on a haystack.

Held a lamb in my arms.

Figured that being in a boat in the middle of an almost totally calm/still lake, with only the sounds of birds and the oar lapping through the water penetrating the stillness has got to be one of the most peaceful experiences on earth.

Day 2

Booooooooooorrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrring, with a big B.

The only saving grace was an half-an hour lecture by one of our professors, which made us feel good about our institute (He was so much better than the other faculty present) and the fact that I took some good photographs.