PhotoRomance – Unforgettable Memories of a Bygone Era❤️

I am a ’90s kid. No, not that I was born then, but I was in my youth in the late ’90s. So, it goes without saying that the only forms of entertainment back then were the television, watching movies in the theatre, the telephone, books and magazines.

I read plenty of Tinkles, Targets and Amar Chitra Kathas when I was a tween and then there were the Tintins, the Asterix etc. Then came the Reader’s Digest which I used to diligently read till about two decades ago. For girls, there were the Filmfares and the Feminas through which we got to know about the lives of bollywood and other celebrities and the latest in Indian fashion.

Among all these, there was one particular magazine that was a real rage among girls. It used to be a secret treasure that every girl possessed, rotated, read and re-read… It was the PhotoRomance magazine. Does it sound familiar? I have asked several friends of all ages in Bangalore about this magazine but none seem to know anything about it or that it even existed. So I can’t help but wonder, how were we, living in a tiny hill town, back in our school days, acquainted with it?

Pic Courtesy: Google

Anyway, ‘a PhotoRomance magazine is a romantic story illustrated with sequential photographs in the style of a comic strip.’ I copied this definition from Google. They used to come in two types – one was called Kiss and the other Darling, both in English.

Pic Courtesy: Google

Unlike Mills & Boons, these stories were more realistic and believable and more than anything else, they were a treat to the eyes… I mean quite literally! They used to feature handsome men and pretty women and contain oodles and oodles of romance. I guess one reason why I am a hopeless romantic even today is because of ‘excessive reading of Photo Romance.’😄

I had two favourite heroes, one was Luigi Alfieri- his intense gaze and suave masculinity appealed to me and the other was Gordon Gray. Boy! wasn’t he hot! While reading their stories, I used to see myself in the place of their heroines. 🤭

Luigi Alfeiri(top) and Gordon Gray😍🥰 from Google Images

Although PhotoRomance was all about love, there wasn’t any adult content, no nudity or any sex scenes. There would be pictures of light kissing in some. That is probably why we were allowed to have them. I had a huge collectible and I read them again and again. I, with my friends who liked reading PhotoRomance used to discuss new releases, talk about our favourite actors, exchange magazines and mostly go gaga over the men who were our teenage hearthrobs. 🥰

I am recollecting those memories while writing this post right now. I am amazed that it was so long ago as I can still remember the actors so vividly. I recal some characters and stories like I read them yesterday… so unforgettable! That was the impact that the humble magazine had in our innocent lives, at a time when we small town girls found pleasure in the simple things in life.

❤️❤️❤️❤️

This blog post is a part of the blog challenge ‘Blogaberry Dazzle’ 
hosted by Cindy D’Silva and Noor Anand Chawla 
in collaboration with Dr. Preeti Chauhan.

Three Must Watch Movies on OTT

One of my regular pastimes is to watch movies and series on OTT. I really enjoyed three that I watched recently. They left me with a hangover. Along with heartwarming stories, all three have genuine, outstanding and stunning performances that touched me more than anything else. Let’s find out which movies they are:

1. Laapataa Ladies: Imagine getting married to one man and landing in the home of another. Sounds horrific right? Well this is the tale of Laapataa Ladies in which two newly married girls get exchanged accidentally. One lands in the home of another and the other becomes homeless. Now this movie justifies the phrase, ‘simple is beautiful.’ It is set in a rural village. The portrayal of the characters is so genuine and has such depth that I was left stunned. All the artists have done a phenomenal job. The protagonist Deepak who has featured in ‘Jamtara’ earlier is someone to look out for.
My verdict: A masterpiece!
OTT platform: Netflix

Pic courtesy: Google

2. Manjummel Boys: A fun boys trip to Kodaikanal turns into a nightmare when one of them falls into a deep pit in a cave from which no one has been brought back alive.
I was in Darjeeling when my husband told me that he had watched this movie and that it was amazing. So it was on my watchlist. By the way, I watched Laapataa Ladies in Darjeeling with my niece. This one I watched alone in Bangalore. Because it is a Malayalam movie, I first tried the Hindi dubbed version but I didn’t quite get the feel so I switched to Malayalam with English subtitles. It’s only in Malayalam that you can feel the emotions at play. The hindi dubbing sounded fake to me. Based on a true story, Manjummel Boys is about Manjummel Boys… their friendship, kinship and emotions, expressed beautifully through brilliant performances. I love watching my kind of Malayalam cinema and appreciate the authenticity in them. This one is no less.
My verdict: Brilliant!
OTT Platform: Disney Hotstar

Pic courtesy: Google

3. Maidaan: A sports coach of the underdogs aims to turn his team into the best ever. Does it sound familiar? Maybe another Chak De? When I saw the trailers, I wasn’t too keen to watch Maidaan but the IMDB review made me change my mind, so we watched it and I am so glad we did. I loved it and guess why? Because it is not about cricket or hockey, it is about football. Now who would’ve thought that the Indian Football team (in a country where cricket outshines everything else) many decades ago, played fantastic and was at its peak. Courtesy! One man and the team’s coach Syed Abdul Rahim. The movie is based on his inspirational real life story of sheer determination and selfless will to form a strong team from all over India and not Bengal alone.
I have become a big fan of his and I am a fan of football anyway. I love the sport; so much that if I had had a son, I would’ve made him a footballer anyhow.
It’s a period movie, but still, the VFX could have been better in some scenes. That aside, it is a must watch!
My verdict: Terrific!
OTT platform: Amazon Prime Video

Pic courtesy: Google

Somehow, all three movies struck a chord. Each story is very different from the other but similar in their basic essence- of determination, will and above all selflessness. They’re inspiring and of course mind blowing. Please watch it to believe it!

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This blog post is a part of the blog challenge ‘Blogaberry Dazzle’ 
hosted by Cindy D’Silva and Noor Anand Chawla 
in collaboration with Dr. Preeti Chauhan.

Mangoes & Memories

Having grown up in a place like Darjeeling where it rains half the year and is cold the other half, there is nothing about the monsoons that I like – No! no getting wet in the first rain, you will catch a cold almost immediately. Washed clothes remain wet until they start to give off that foul smell, the sun is out of sight for months together, there is major power disruption; and, add to that the fear of devastating landslides… monsoon in Darjeeling is virtually a nightmare! 

However, there is this one saving grace, a something that everyone looks forward to during this bleak season – mangoes! Mangoes are the only thing I like about the monsoons. I love it when it rains mangoes!

When we were kids, during this season, we couldn’t wait to get back home from school. A big bucket* full of mangoes would be waiting for us. After changing our uniforms(my kids don’t even wait to change) and freshning up, we used to dive straight into it, take out the best piece and suck it till only the fleshless pit was left. No one taught us how to eat a mango. I learnt it the hard way😄. I used to suck from the bottom and within seconds the flesh used to ooze out from the head. My siblings however, would be eating it without much spillage. That’s when I figured that we needed to bite off the stub first and eat from that end. And then, it used to be so hard to let go of the finished mango that sometimes we broke open the endocarp and ate the seed inside. I remember it had a close to bitter taste but we just kept it in our mouths like supari (betel nut). Some ‘separation anxiety’ tantrum that was… hahaha!

*[Why were the mangoes kept in a bucket? Well, hill breds and maybe others too believe that peak summer/monsoon fruits like mangoes, litchies etc may cause allergic reactions such as bloating, eruptions around the mouth, sore throat etc. Therefore we soak them in water, head down, for several hours and then eat it. I don’t know if this is a myth or is real but I still follow it in Bangalore too].

Sucking the fleshy part out of the mango was the only way I knew how to eat it until I learnt the more civilized way (when I was pregnant with my second child)… slicing it! I feared mango worms would get into my pregnant tummy. These days again, I still mostly only suck. Only if it looks a little suspicious I slice and eat it. My younger daughter comes up with quite a few fancy ways of cutting a mango.

Isn’t that cool😊

Once I moved to Bangalore, I learnt that there are numerous varieties of mangoes and each has a name. As a kid, all I knew was big mangoes, medium mangoes and small mangoes and yes, just one other name that was synonymous to mangoes for us… Langda! Turns out, this was also a type and is native to Uttar Pradesh, and my favourite by far… then and now! I like other types as well but when I eat a langda, the earthy fragrance that is unique to this variety immediately transports me back to my childhood. Happy memories come back to life and with the yummy taste of the mango in my mouth, my heart warms up to the  memory and I feel a peculiar sense of bliss. 

We sometimes took mangoes to school, in the bottom section of our lunch boxes. My thulbaba(uncle) used to cut them into immaculate cubes. You can imagine the delight when we opened the box and got hit by the aromatic whiff accompanied by compliments for the perfectly cut pieces.

Another happy ‘mango’ memory is of my sanbaba(dad). He used to roughly slice the fruit into small flat pieces, dip them in milk and refrigerate the mix for an hour or so. When he took it out, the milk would have a beautiful yellow tinge to it. He used to give it one good mix and then the dessert was ready to be eaten. It tasted heavenly… mmmm… Mangoes and memories!😌

It’s amazing isn’t it? How the smell or the taste of some things transport you back to another time and place or remind you of a particular person?

Does that happen with you too? And do you also have a happy childhood mango memory?

Do share it in the comments section. Would love to read it.

🥭🥭🥭🥭

This blog post is a part of the blog challenge ‘Blogaberry Dazzle’ 
hosted by Cindy D’Silva and Noor Anand Chawla 
in collaboration with Zariya Healings.

In One with Nature at Rangbul-La

Picture waking up in the morning to the sounds of a variety of birds in a mist-enveloped, enchanting, wooden cottage, nestled in the tranquil woods, with the gurgling of a mountain stream in the distant background… dream like? This is a reality at Rangbul-La, a boutique stay in Rangbul, Darjeeling, located just three flights of staircases below the main road(NH 55), and a safe distance away from the hustle and bustle of the main town. It is a place for couples, families with kids and solo travellers.

When I was home this summer, my friend Sherry and I decided to spend a night at Rangbul-La. We were planning for quite sometime for a quiet some time but it hadn’t materialised. Finally on a rainy morning we set out for our one-night stay. It wasn’t difficult finding the place as the GPS and the local transport from Darjeeling town dropped us off more or less there.

Prakriti, our friend(who also happens to be the owner), was eagerly waiting for us at the entrance but we were not interested in greeting her at all… the place looked so gorgeous and inviting that we couldn’t help admiring it first.

That’s her 😊

The property has one main cottage with a sitting area, a dining hall and a kitchen downstairs and three attic bedrooms and a lounge/recreation room on top. In addition there is a single-room bamboo cottage and a back-packers hostel that accommodates 10 guests. We slept in the bamboo cottage and luckily we were the only guests that night so we literally had the entire property to ourselves. The day before and till many days after, the place was fully booked.

Rangbul-La is an eco-friendly retreat. Natural products like local timber, bamboo, mud, rock etc have been used in its construction along with upcycled materials such as broken marble, marble dust, broken tiles, tar, tins, thermocol, boxes, eco bricks etc. Even the wholesome meals served there are prepared using locally sourced products. 

Pic courtesy: Prakriti

If I were to describe Rangbul-La in one word, it would be ‘down-to-earth luxury’ as although it is mindfully constructed, the aesthetics exude a humble yet sophisticated charm with the choicest furnishings and decor items in the interiors and beautiful ornamental plants and flowers in the exterior. I really loved the geraniums adorning the front wall of the main cottage and the collection of healthy succulents inside. Every item is sensibly curated and finds a fitting place there. Nothing is over the top or garish. It’s the kind of place that makes your heart brim with happiness.

After taking a tour of the property and ample pictures, we settled in the sitting area in the subtly chilly evening, sipping on hot toddy and engaging in banter as well as serious conversation with episodes of laughter and pouring of emotions… I mean whatever women usually do when they meet up and are tipsy…😉

The meals were tasty, simple and homely. The couple who look after the property were friendly and honoured our requests without hesitation. We called it a night around 10:30 which is pretty late for the hills and tucked ourselves inside the warm pre-heated bed.

We woke up relaxed and rejuvenated the next morning. After all, we were happy that our wish for some ‘quiet time’ came true, that too in the coziness of this beautiful home in the lap of nature.

Cheers to that… 🥂

🍂🍂🍂🍂

P.S: This is NOT a sponsored post.

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This blog post is part of the blog challenge ‘Blogaberry Dazzle’ 
hosted by Cindy D’Silva and Noor Anand Chawla 
in collaboration with Zariya Healings.