भोवरा - इरावती कर्वे

लायब्ररीतून हे पुस्तक आणून २-३ दिवस झाले तरी मला वाचायची संधी मिळत नव्हती. मग विकेंड आला आणि दुपारी पुस्तक घेऊनच बसले. 'यात्रा' आणि 'खिडकी' हे दोन लेख विशेष आवडले. लेखिकेने केलेल्या केदारनाथ, बद्रीनाथ यात्रेची माहिती यात वाचायला मिळते. विसाव्या शतकाच्या मध्याच्या सुमारास अश्या यात्रा कश्या केल्या जात ते वाचून आश्चर्य वाटलं. यात्रा कंपनीत नोंद करायची, मग ते पोर्टर, स्वयंपाकी बरोबर देत. सामानाचं वजन करणे, मुक्कामाच्या ठिकाणी राहायची सोय बघून शिधा विकत घेणे, स्वयंपाक, आंघोळी उरकणे, यात्रेसाठी घोडे वगैरे ठरवणे - कसली दिव्यं करावी लागत. मी तेव्हाच्या काळात असते तर ह्या भानगडीत पडले नसते असंच वाटलं. ह्यानंतरचे आवडलेले लेख म्हणजे 'तितिक्षा' आणि 'कुंकवाची उठाठेव'. पैकी 'तितिक्षा' हा स्थितप्रज्ञतेचा महामेरू असणारया बस कंडक्टरवर तर 'कुंकवाची उठाठेव' हा बायका कुंकू का लावतात ह्यावर जावईशोध लावणाऱ्या महाभागांवर. 'सुटका' हा लेखिकेला सभेत बोलायला आमंत्रित करणारया लोकांच्या अनुभवावर लिहिलेला लेखही मजेशीर आहे.

'किती घेशील दो कराने' वाचून आपणही हिमालयात जावं असं प्रकर्षाने वाटलं. अर्थात टीव्हीवर बर्फ बघून हुडहुडी भरणाऱ्यांपैकी अस्मादिक असल्याने ते कितपत शक्य होईल ह्याची शंकाच वाटते. पण तशी इच्छा मात्र झाली. हिंदू धर्मात खास स्थान असलेली केदारनाथ, बद्रीनाथ ही ठिकाणं 'सिनियर सिटीझन' व्हायच्या आधी हातपाय धड असेतो पहावीत असं खूप वाटतं पण तिथल्या देवळांच्या झालेल्या बाजाराबद्दल वाचून त्यात काही अर्थ राहिला असेल का ते त्या देवालाच ठाऊक.

'भटके', 'दोन टोके', 'विनाशाची सुरुवात', 'सत्याचा शोध', 'भ्रमंती', 'डार्विनचा सिध्दांत' हे लेख वेगळेच विचार मांडतात. महर्षी धोंडो केशव कर्वे हे लेखिकेचे सासरे. त्यांच्यावर लिहिलेल्या 'आजोबा' नावाच्या लेखात अगदी प्रांजळपणे तिने त्यांच्याविषयीची आपली मते मांडली आहेत.

'प्रवास संपला' ह्या लेखाने पुस्तकाची सांगता होते. त्यातलं एक वाक्य पुस्तक मिटून ठेवलं तरी माझ्या मनात घुमत राहिलं - मला आवडलं घर, छान आहे. मरायलाही छान आहे न् जगायलाही छान आहे.

एखादं प्रवासवर्ण वाचावं असं हे पुस्तक वाचल्यावर वाटतंय. मीना प्रभूंची काही पुस्तकं २-३ वर्षांखाली वाचली होती. अजून एखादं लायब्ररीत आहे का विचारायला हवं. तूर्तास विश्वास् पाटील ह्यांनी लिहिलेलं 'संभाजी' आणलंय. पहिला भाग जवळपास वाचून होत आलाय. कदाचित पुढल्या रविवारपर्यंत दुसराही वाचून होईल.

Supernatural - The Book Of The Damned

No, No, No, No, No, No. Someone please tell me Sam didn't give that book to Rowena. I know, it's wishful thinking. Crowley is so right in calling him 'Moose'. He is missing the forest for the trees. When I saw him offering that book to someone for translation, I hoped against hope that it would be Crowley. I would even have lived with it if he had given it to Metatron. But I knew it in my heart with a sinking feeling that when the camera focused on the person sitting in front of him, I would see Rowena's scheming, disgusting face. :-( I should probably stop being so hard on Sam. After all, he and Dean are under the impression that Rowena was after their lives because she thought Crowley was giving them way too much of a leeway, considering that they are capable of destroying him with one swipe of the Blade. They have no clue about the Coven and her quest for the library of the Men Of Letters.

Looking for the proverbial silver lining, Castiel got his Grace back, or whatsoever is left of it at least. Is he a 100% angel now or somewhere halfway through? Too bad the crafty Metatron got away with the Demon tablet. I could not understand one thing though - if Metatron has become mortal, how in the hell was he able to weaken Castiel in the library by smearing some word in his blood?

Since I read Castiel's interview last week, I have been living in mortal fear of what's in store for us in the Season finale. He has hinted that it's not going to be the case of 'and they lived happily together thereafter'. I just hope I see Dean, Sam, Castiel and Charlie unharmed by the end of it. But Humanity as a whole, is probably going to be at the receiving end of it - if they succeed in taking the Mark off of Dean.

Elementary – One Watson, One Holmes

I am seriously wondering whether I should devote one hour of my life to watching this show on a weekly basis. The storylines are becoming more and more mundane with each episode. Sure, the episodes depict the usage of the modern technology that is available to everyone in 21st century. They seem to be staying in tune with the current world affairs e.g. the member of ‘Everyone’ refers to ISIS in this episode. But I have been increasingly feeling that the old world charm of Sherlock is somehow getting lost in all this. His deductive powers are not putting us in awe anymore. It’s too much use of technology.

I really wish Sherlock would go on vacation in an English countryside and crack a few mysteries without the aid of any modern gadgets. Oh, and while I am at it, I also wish we would see less of their personal lives.

The Calling (Spoiler alert!)

The plot looked novel enough – an elderly woman is murdered in her own home in a small Canadian town. There is no sign of a forced entry but her face is frozen as if she is trying to say something. Postmortem reveals that the face is made to look like that by the killer. The task of solving this case falls to the town’s aging police officer, who is battling her own demons of depression and ill-health. One murder follows another and she starts wondering if there is a serial killer involved.

Like I said before, the plot looked novel enough – till the creepy looking priest drove up in an Oldsmobile. From there on, there was not much doubt as to who the murderer is. The only puzzling thing was the motive. And I feel that was not adequately explained – at least not to the extent that the movie’s non-Christians audience would understand it. E.g. how can the prayer which worked for Christ be expected to work for mere mortals?

Apart from that there were other unexplained story threads. How the powder that brought about the end of the elderly was able to cure the sick child? Why did the priest set the faces of the dead? What was the story behind the cop’s suicide attempt?

If you don’t mind watching a thriller that leaves a couple of unanswered questions in the end, then this movie is for you. It doesn’t show a dead body every 15 minutes or so and appears to run in show motion at times but certainly manages to keep you engrossed.

Gajalee, High Street Phoenix

Despite many visits to this shopping mall, I had never set foot into this seafood eatery. That’s because I don’t eat much of seafood except for pomfret. But lately I had heard rave reviews about their Bombil Fry and hence decided to check it out during my recent visit.

I wasn’t sure I wanted to try any mutton or chicken dishes because this is mainly a seafood joint. But there wasn’t much in the seafood section to my liking – except for Bangda Ambat Tikhat. So I ordered it along with Bombil Fry and Ghavane. Within minutes the server was at my table saying that Bangda Ambat Tikhat was not available. He said something about parcels going out but I failed to understand what that had to do with my order. Then he asked me if he should bring Bombil Fry and Ghavane. I have no idea what he expected me to eat the Ghavane with but I cancelled that order as well.

As I waited for the Bombil Fry to be served, I took a sip of water from the glass and immediately regretted doing so. The glass smelt very strongly of fish. :( Just then another server trouped to the nearby table with a dish containing huge raw crabs and pompfrets. I was bewildered for a moment wondering if this is any new form of Sushi. But then I realized that it was brought so that the people could choose which seafood they wanted to go for. I guess if the server had come to my table, I would have fainted at the sight of that huge crab. :)

The Bombil Fry (4 pieces per plate) was served with a chutney, onion and slivers of lemon. The fry was crisp and the chutney was yum. The server told us that it was made of onion, coconut, garlic and ginger. I think it also must have contained Kokams because there was a tangy aftertaste to it. What’s more, the Bombil Fry didn’t have the fish’s peculiar smell.

So even if you are not a seafood lover, do try Bombil Fry at least once.