Hotel Marina in Daman..Old house of a Portuguese Lord.

“Stay in the House of a Portuguese Lord at a price you can afford “  -- the website of the hotel claims and it is no tall claim, mind it! Situated right in the heart of Nani Daman, this 150 year old bungalow which earlier belonged to a Portuguese Lord, has been renovated few years ago and opened for guests visiting by Daman. Hotel Marina has 10 rooms with all the modern amenities like TV, telephone, AC. The best thing about the hotel is the Old World charm it still exudes. During weekends and holidays, pre booking and confirmation is a must.

The sign on the wall of the house says “Reedificada 1861” meaning Rebuilt in 1861.So it even older than 1861!! This heritage house is now owned by a Parsi couple Mr. & Mrs. Tehmten Wadia who also live there.

The hotel has a small bar and a restaurant which serves Chinese and Indian food besides the Daman specialty seafood. The Goan prawn curry needs special mention. In Daman, liquor is much cheaper and the Bar menu of Marina is also no different. 

All other famous eating & drinking places are just a walk away from the hotel. So while enjoying all that this charming Portuguese town has to offer, one can easily come back to his/her private space in this quiet old bungalow. 

But there is one thign which I didnt like in the hotel. The Plastic chairs inside the restaurant didn’t go with the whole ambience of the hotel. Conveyed the same in the feedback form as well. Hopefully they will get rid of those!

Address :: Hotel Marina, Behind Police Station. Nani Daman.

As 2011 begins........

A new year has started..hoping for a new beginning or some life changing moments..Cant say. Not sure. But looking back at the year gone by, it did have some of those. Exactly on the last day of the 6th month, I shifted to this big bad city of Mumbai. Honestly this city never held any charm to me. Infact I felt intimidated by the city. Now after six months in this city, even though I have not grown too fond of it ; atleast the city doesnt scare me now.
Trying to welcome the new year with an open mind. Not with much expectations. Lets see.........Que Sera Sera.!

Taare Zameen Par

When an Aamir Khan movie is announced , the expectation already gets build up. It grows more and more with the tidbits published on magazines , papers and finally when the promos are on air, the expectation reaches the culmination. No doubts there were some HUGE disappointments ! ( Remember Mangal Pandey !!) But still an Aamir Khan movie still catches every filmbuff’s ( Hindi ofcourse) attention.

When Aamir announced Taare Zameen Par as the director and producer, surely the expectation was high. And surely he did not disappoint the viewers. A truly “ Hat ke” movie from a “ Hat ke” actor. Taare Zameen Par is the story of Ishaan Awasthi ( Darsheel Safary), a 8 year old child who loves kites, dogs, fishes and loves to paint. But he suffers from Dyslexia. Dyslexia is a problem related to learning. When one suffers from Dyslexia , he finds it difficult to read or to make out the alphabets , words and numbers. But it can be overcome. But under the sheer pressure of “ performing” , Ishaan becomes frustrated, so much so that he rebels. He is sent to the boarding school by his father. There he is crushed completely. Lonely and scared, he further gets into a cocoon. Ram Nikumbh ( Aamir Khan) , the new art teacher of the school could make out what’s exactly wrong with Ishaan and slowly tries to bring him out of his shell.

My heart really goes out to those small children carrying bags almost as heavy as him/herself to school. Not that I belong to some other era, but yes we definitely did not carry such loads to school. ( There , I again, start like a granny) But under constant pressure to “ perform” I wonder will these children ever enjoy their childhood. Of course my parents had breathe fresher air than me and my siblings in their childhood, but the air we breathe was also fresher than now. But the pressure to “ perform” was there always with us also. May be our parents had lesser pressure than us. I remember the great hue and cry when I was to appear in my 10th . Then when I was in 12th , atleast few people cared to ask. Graduation and PG, except for my family noone. Ofcourse after that , all those “ caring” aunts want to know my qualification so that I can “ settle down” . Now I only use the admit card of my 10th Board exam , as the official proof of my age!!

Taare Zameen Par is a good movie. I went to see the movie because I am an Aamir Khan fan , but I came out of the theatre as a Darsheel Safary fan also. What a brilliant performance! Infact every actor had done so well. A word of caution , it’s not a children movie , don’t get mislead by the cartoons on promos. It’s a movie about a child , maybe every child in someway, which every parent should watch.

I saw the sun rising over the Ganges

The Ganges – a river synonymous with India and Indians ! A river associated with so many stories , legends and myths. A river which a part of India’s conscience .

Heard from friends that the evening “ Arti” in Varanashi is a sight to behold and remember. No, I have never been to Varanashi. But this time on my way back from Bangalore , I had to spend one night in Kolkata. The place where I stayed , my friend’s place is right on the other side of the road by the river. When I finally reached her home it was already 8.30pm. She told me that I would get to see the river in the morning from the balcony.

Worrying about missing my flight back home, I got up early. I woke up and from the bed, through the mosquito net the whole sky getting ready to welcome the sun. I came to the balcony. There she was the Great Ganges – calm and quiet. The sun was like a bright orange against the grey sky.

It has been how long since I had actually seen the sun rise ? – I wondered . During weekdays from the moment I get up till the time I sleep, my mind is always occupied with many other things . Weekends – by the time I get up , the sun is already halfway through the West. After God only knows when , I saw the Sun coming out in the morning. It was awesome. I really am not sure when will I get to see this again!

Quick visit to City Of Joy

Kolkata...the city still fascinates me. I realised that all over again in my last quick visit to the City Of Joy. May be because I love Sarat Chandra's novels, Satyajit Ray's films, Bengali Food...may be just may be! And of course those mishti Bengali buddies I have.
Kolkata, with all those tall modern buildings and fly overs is amongst the most modern cities of India. Still those old city buses and the narrow lanes of remind one of the old city charm Kolkata had / still has. This time I stayed at Uttarpara, Hooghly district. I was scared while going to my friend Ruchira's place. Soooooo far, I kept on saying. Boss, who very generously gave both me and Ruchira a lift by his car, reassured me that I wont miss my flight back next day. There's a new Highway opened and I would be at the airport in 20 minutes. 20 minutes..I still had my doubts. But looking at Ruchira's glowing face ( we were meeting after years ) I decided to " buy" a ticket if I miss my flight. Boss also stayed thatway, 15 more minutes from Ruchira's place. But I let go off all those thoughts of " missed flights" once boss stopped the car near a " Poochkawala". We requested for extra spicy poochkas. Those were yummy. The old buildings at the place reminded me of the Ray movies and ofcourse Sarat Chandra novels. So much so that I commented " May be Ray's Charulata is looking through her window right now at us gulping poochkas". My boss and Ruchira both were laughing at my imagination.!!
From Ruchira's place the view of the Ganges was awesome. One can feel the majestic river even at dark. In the morning while coming to the airport we crossed Dakhineshwar. I just saw the building from the bridge. I wished I could spend one day and visit that place. But noway it was possible. I had to leave and I left promising myself and Ruchira that I will be back soon, and thattime I will go for morning walk by the river, visit Dakhineshwar and have some more poochkas.

And yes, Boss was right. It took me only 25 minutes to reach the airport from Ruchira's place.