Sameera Nandi's blog

Finally, after almost 10 months here in Amsterdam, I got to see a decent Bollywood flick on the big screen. Those who know me, know that I like watching movies in the theatre, on the big screen. As opposed to TV or laptop. I have been mostly out of touch with what is happening on the Hindi movie scene. I have watched a few movies, either online or downloaded. But like I said, the enjoyment is not quite the same and sinking into a nice cushy seat and watching it on the big screen. 

ZNMD, directed by Zoya Akthar is a film about male bonding and gives some gyaan about living life and pursuing one’s dreams. The film definitely has its moments. Farhan Akhtar is brilliant. Hrithik looks as gorgeous as ever. Abhay Deol ( one of my favourite pin up guys) could have been utilized better. Somehow he didn’t shine so bright in this movie. Katrina is the babe that she is. She and Hrithik made an unbelievably hot jodi. On the downside, I thought the length of the film was a bit much. Maybe I am influenced by the length of English movies I have been watching latelty (HP is an exception…long movie). I think Zoya could have made the film shorter by a good half hour. This is a movie made on the concept of the great “road trip”. The basic premise of the movie is nothing new. Carpe Diem – sieze the day and all that. How we ought to stop existing and start living. 

One thing is for sure, it did inspire me to check out some adventure sports. I don’t know to swim, but now I am very tempted to try scuba diving. Bungee jumping and maybe even sky diving. Barcelona is on the list of travel destinations. Maybe Madrid too. I still haven’t been to that part of the world. Spain, Portugal, here I come…[i.e. when I have enough money saved up J] 

As I mentioned in my previous post, summer is a misnomer here. It’s been raining and its cold here this July. But from yesterday, there have been no rains and I am praying that it should continue so. We could do with some sunshine and warm weather. Amsterdam is crawling with tourists as of now. Good weather will help them enjoy their vacation. I , for one, have to work for my living. No long vacations like these European folks. The daily grind from 9-5 it is. The only vacation I have is the weekend. That’s when I can go where I want and go see some places. That way, I can go visit any city in Europe over the weekend. The longest flight would be about 2-3 hrs. That is what I have been doing. But now, when I look at the way my colleagues holiday, I think 2 days is too less to do justice to some of these beautiful places. One should stay for atleast a week. That would be a holiday in the true sense. 

I am grateful that I working here. But the downside to that is I get very limited leaves. So my bosses would never sanction a week long leave to roam around. But, I am thankful for whatever I do have. I live within reach of many a lovely place and I can go explore them, if only on weekends. I could not have dreamt of doing that back in India.

So, its all good.