New Year Charades

Satyam Shivam Sundaram.

That's what the card said. How do you act it out?

The evening started with me not arguing with mom for once about the timing of a party. You see, my parents are very punctual people. If someone tells them to be at an party at oh, say 8 pm, they will be there at 8 pm. You lose nothing by being a punctual Bengali, except 2 hours of your life waiting for the other Bengalis to show up. Ever since the other car broke down and had to be sold, we have been depending on my car for everything, and are waiting for next summer before buying another one. So the earlier I could drop my people off at their party, the earlier I would be free to do what I want.

We were playing Charades at a friend's place for our new year party. For some reason Hindi movie names were also allowed. I also noticed the guys were giving English ones, and the girls Hindi.

Now, *modest cough here* I am considered somewhat good at Charades. So inevitably I get stuck with some of the tougher (read: Hindi) ones. After getting Satyam Shivam Sundaram I was given Ganga Jamuna Saraswati to act out. And you can probably guess the guys would rather drink mud than see a movie called Ganga Jamuna Saraswati. Fortunately we had a few girls in the team as well.

Hindi movies are terrible to use in Charades. First, we are accustomed to thinking in English. Second, you can make so many varieties with Hindi movies. Use Hum, Tum, Main, Pyaar, Hain and you got a dozen Hindi movies.
Hum Tumpe Marte Hain
Hum Tum
Main
Pyaar
Pyaar Pyaar Pyaar
Maine Pyaar Kia

And now add Dil to that mix and you got a never ending supply of Charades picks. The toughest English one I could think of was One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest and To Kill a Mockingbird.

Sometimes you just give a movie to a person just to see them act it out. One time, with some other friends, we had one girl, Sangeeta, who is a bit conservative and shy. Once we were doing Charades, and she was asked (by me *imitating Jon Stewart imitating Bush laugh*) to act out Basic Instincts. After two or three attempts at trying to explain 'Basic', she decided to do 'that' scene. As soon as she pulled out a chair, people were tripping over themselves to shout 'Basic Instincts'.

The fireworks of Toronto was nothing to write home about, and I wasn't too impressed. Even the ones of New York, Chicago and others (which we saw later on TV) pale when you compare them to Dubai. And Dubai has such fireworks every *friggin* day during the Shopping Festival. I thought Australia, China and Taiwan put up some spectacular shows. Besides, it was really cold outside in Toronto, and they had a bunch of no-names ringing in the new year. Honestly, how hard is it to get one or two famous people to play at Nathan Philips Square?

Happy New Year 2006 everyone. May the new year be full of prosperity, joys and realized dreams for all.

Update (1.20 pm): Did anyone catch the Zee Bollywood New Year concert in Dubai? It was a 'lol' sight to see burkha-clad Arab women jumping up and down to Salman Khan's entry.

Tags: New Year Party 2006 Toronto New Year Charades