Books' Counter

Here goes another Counter on the Air.
The books I read and a short review about each will be updated here. The idea actually came from Mr. Paul S Randall who is a SQL Server Specialist and runs his own company.
He updates the number of pages read/day every year/month which is good.


Hence here I am started my own way of reviewing and counting what I am reading.
I've read so many books since my self realization in my Engg. days


Some of them which I remember are here:
Oscar wilde - short stories
Kushwant singh - Burial @ Sea
Kushwant Singh - A Train to Pakistan
Kushwant Singh - Delhi
Charlotte Bronte - Jane Eyre
Jane Austen - Emma
Jane Austen - Pride and Prejudice
Anthony Trollope - the Warden
Oscar wilde - the picture of dorian gray
Chetan bhagat - 3 mistakes of my life
Chetan bhagat - one night @ call center
Chetan bhagat - 2 states
Kiran Desai - The Inheritance of Loss
Mimi Spencer - 101 things to do before you diet
Wilkie Collins - Basil


There are lot and 'll update as and when I recollect.


Currently I am reading "William Makepiece Thackerey"'s Vanity Fair.
Also I am reading this "101 things to do before you diet" by Mimi Spencer;
Completed reading the above book on diet, its so damn good and cheeky; I've skipped a lot of pages which pertains to women's clothing and style.
This book is so good, i just love it; full of wit and humour, i didn't understand some of the phrases as they seem to be part of modern british lingo.


Basil is unlike a regular classic, this has suspense and this seems like a thriller. I finished reading this quite soon, very few times I have completed books like this.
I enjoyed the suspense, there are some pages where Collins describes the feelings and the nature of the events etc which I felt was like filling up pages. Other than that it was an amazing piece of work.
I'll have to complete Vanity Fair before I jump onto another one.


Completed this book (i think on 11th july '11), "Daphnis and Chloe by Longus " - translated by Ronald McCail.
This is a Greek classi written somewhere in 3rd BC.
This book is supposedly written to teach young lovers what love is. This is mostly similar to the theme of "blue lagoon" movie.
Now started reading Kiran Desai's first book, "hullabaloo in the guava orchard".

Greatest myth of my life revealed

Yes its true and its official now.
Alcohol has the highest calorie content next to Fat.
Oh my god, this is the greatest mistake I've been doing all in my life for the past 7 years.
Can I believe this as true?
Yes ofcourse, I just realized how great pig I am.
I read now in lot of articles now that have 7 calories per gram which is way too high.
approx each peg/shot amounts to 55 cals.


I've been dwelling on why I couldn't reduce my stomach size despite following staunch fitness routine and a good diet high in fibre and proteins.
I used to do rigorous swimming, like 1 to 1.5 Km 5 years ago, after that I used to jog for 2 Kms, used to go to Gym and burn 300 cals. Then started cycling for 10-12 Kms atleast 3-4 days each week.
Despite doing all these high octane exercise I couldn't reduce my Belly fat, the only reason I just discovered is because of Alcohol consumption.


I even had a discussion a couple of hours ago with my Gym instructor; I just vent out my frustration about my abdomen fat, she gave lot of tips and advised me to consult dietician on the ground floor.


I should remember this day for sometime to come, I found the true fact that Alcohol is a high calorie food.


To all those who drink alcohol, please bear in mind that it increases weight as it has calories, beer/wine have carbs as well.
So the best thing is if you drink, drink less and don't eat snacks while drinking.


Jaago grahak Jaago

My own personal attack on me

I wanted to write what's not right with me physically and mentally.
So here it is my own personal attack on me.


I am of average height, 5' 8.5'', fair to very fair if I have to say among indians but among europeans/aussies I am brown.
My nose is little broad not pointed; my hairline is decreasing day by day, means losing thousands of my hair, I am not officially bald now but can join the community if this continues for a year.
I wear goggles or lens; the power of the lens fluctuating between 3 and 4, after a long 16 years it's managed to touch 4.
I am arrogant with tons of ego; anger is my first emotion; not a great communicator when it comes to opp sex; frankly I should say I am shy when speaking to girls.
I have no big memory and understanding skills, I have to read 10 times each topic to remember it properly; that's why I always used to read during my college/school days.
People call me very hard working! Uh! they don't know its because I couldn't remember/understand easily.
I am weak towards girls, can't make friendship with them, can't talk to them properly. Can't have a valid discussion without looking into their eyes sharply and thinking if she is beautiful.
I admire people who are beautiful, so here I am a racist.
I don't listen to others' suggestions or advice, I do what I want to do.
I think I am a good dancer but people find it funny.
I am no good singer;
I always see people's negatives, tend to criticize quite often at everything and everyone.
criticism is my born right!!
I have few friends, I always think I am the greatest of all.
Though I boast of being a dietitian, being health conscious , I ignore my own principles every weekend and eat/drink like a pig.
I can't swim fast, can't run fast,  can't cycle fast; 
I don't know how to play songs on Guitar properly.  
I always tell others how great I was and I am. Always discusses others' -ves infront of others. I can't bear sunlight.


Vow, it seems there are too many -V'es that I can tell about myself, i'll keep adding to the list as and when I get a new one.
Since I know all the above are my weakeness, I tend to overcome them.
I use a lot of techniques to change my behavior and consciously introspect.
That's why my life is in balance; 
If I read this post again I would defintely feel bad about myself but I am going to write another post about how great I am to counter this post!!!!

Eat like a pig counter

Yeah I know, one more counter in my life.
This is for me and to have a check on how much I eat.
Yes I am on a strict diet, eating only necessary for my living and for weight lifting.
But this discipline is only on weekdays when I don't drink, but on weekends? I will become a pig, eat like a pig, my stomach won't stay "stop", my hunger cells stop working, there is only one word "go".
So on weekends when I sit with friends/roommates and drink, I just lose count on how much calories/protein/carbs/fat/fibre I take. They just don't matter.
All my efforts on weekdays just go waste because of me becoming a pig on weekends.


Too bad my fellow and hence is the necessity of starting this counter.


Counter value 1:
date, venue: may 6th 2011, unilodge, melbourne, australia
had salted peanuts, potato chips along with 3-4 pegs scotch and then on top it, rice with curry.


Counter value 2:
June 3rd, 2011, melbourne, australia
venue: Jaisalmer palace
though we ordered limited items I was overanxious to eat Akbar biryani, hence odered so.
The biryani was too high with lots of chicken pieces and all too tasty, before that I had a couple of beers in the office, then I had one more drink in the hotel. As starters I ate pakoda then jumped to Biryani. 
It was too heavy but since I don't want to get my name added in my "food wastage counter" I had to clear the plate, I did so with difficulty and finally won. That was kind of "man vs food" program in Travel&living channel.

Bazaar movie review.

Just saw this movie, Bazaar released in 1982 starring naseeruddin shah, smita patel,  farooq shaikh and supriya pathak.
This is written and directed by Sagar Sarhadi who wrote dialogues for kabhi kabhi, silsila etc.


This movie is all about how poor muslim women get married in Hyderabad.
It shows how old people buy these muslim girls in the name of marriage.
Khayyam's beautiful music adds to the pain, tragedy. There are a couple of romantic tracks as well in this movie.


Overall watching such a movie for 2 hrs needs patience, since I am a smita patil's fan, I have completed watching this movie full.
There is n't much to smita's performance in this movie other than the usual rona dhona.
But she is looking splendid, with kajal, black hair and the traditional hyderabadi chudidars.
Vow she is a beauty.
The movie has some gazals from Mir, though I don't understand much urdu but I like these.


I also like the romantic part between farooq shaikh and supriya pathak. it is very beautifully portrayed, how farooq tries to talk to supriya, how he rides the rickshaw, how he acts as a bangle seller. vow I like it, and later when he gets to know about her marriage he says he would die for her.
One dialogue is so heart touching.
he says, "there wasn't anything in my life before you came", "you made my life"
listen to this line in urdu when Farooq says, "kya tha zindagi mein tere pehle",
The agony a lover feels for his love is shown here; the tragic part is supriya dies immediately after the marriage, we don't know what happens to Farooq though.


Overall you can give 6/10 for this, its a must watch to all Smita Fans but not for naseeruddin's fans.

herbal spa

Not one of those interesting topics to write a blog on but thought I would capture my experience so it would be fun when I read this again and again after some time.


Went to Day Spa in my Gym(melbourne city baths), 59 bucks per hour.


the lady, mariame showed me a bath tub with warm water in which some herbs, lavender, rosemary, sea salt were soaked and I was asked to soak myself in the tub for 30 mins.


I was thinking how to pass 30 mins all alone in a bath tub. after much difficulty i was able to finish my 30 mins, looking here and there, filling the tub in intervals.
But when I started to get up I felt so dizzy and I was unable to move my hands, legs etc.
Its all seemed so empty, I got out and told her how I felt, she said yes this was not a normal hot water bath but herbal bath; it will cleanse the system, purifies and releases all the toxins from the body.
I was given water, drank two glasses slowly and I could feel I was coming to normal slowly.
At the same time, another middle aged woman came for the spa and my masseurs was explaining the history about the baths and the place, it did have an effect on me as she was telling the century old building and the bath techniques they used in those times.
I went to the toilet and was almost normal but yes with a little bit tiredness.
Then I was asked to sit in a different chair with back facing outside, she says she designed it specifically for massage, she did the massage on my back, shoulders and I felt good.
and then on another chair, she massaged lightly my arms with rosemary cream.
I almost came to normal due to all this and could feel the affect of the herbs.
then paid her, thanked her for the service and walked my way back to Unilodge.
Yes its worth the money I paid, but the dizzy effect could be due to my heavy drinking y'day night. I know that, and yes I have to make sure that I reduce the no. of pegs I take on weekends.
After coming home, the food was ready(y'days chicken and rice), warmed it a bit, ate it and slept nicely for 3 hours.
It was awesome, a bit of experiment and experience and I would remember this for some time.