The Whimsy Bookworm: A Book Blog from India

 Dear Diary,  Today was a good day.  I took down my Christmas Tree and even packed it away in the loft. Always a bittersweet feeling. Tidied up the flat and even sorted through and moved my coffee mugs around.  Had a cup of delicious cardamom tea, the weather has cooled down and it was a perfect morning to enjoy some chai.  Watched an amazing Bengali film called Habji Gabji on Hoichoi which shows the perils of video game addiction and how harmful it can be for young kids.  Also re-watched Godzilla Minus 1 and loved it.  Read a little and had a very chill day.  So grateful 🧿 for these mellow days of early January.  Here's what today looked like.. 

 Hello, hello! This year has been a bust as far as the Indian movie scene was concerned (for us). We watched a few good ones, though and so, are sharing those as solid recommendations to enjoy over a long weekend!  Laapataa Ladies (Lost Ladies): Hands down, the best movie of the year! Won't be writing much here because we have a whole post about it. Read it ! :) Streaming on Netflix.  Kill: A gory, thrilling, slick action flick that's made in India! Fast-paced and so, so, so thrilling. Streaming on Netflix. Watch it!  Stree 2: A sequel that is not a sophomoric disaster! Yes, please! This movie takes us back into the Stree universe, except, we have a new villain and also, some new allies. A fun, spooky watch, for sure! Streaming on Prime Video.  Munjya: A nicely made horror movie inspired by the myth/ legend of the Brahmadaitya- the belief that if a Brahmin youth days within 14 days of his sacred thread ceremony, he becomes an evil spirit/ entity. Highly recommen...

 Hello Loves!  Here are some recent faves:  Cozy and introvert friendly things.  December is allll about that cozy life and I just want to seek out comfort and joy and slow down.  Presents under the 🌲 tree.  Grateful and happy for the little treats.  New books 📚 on my eshelves.  Current Comfort Read.  Always hits the spot.  Christmassy corners of home and alll the joy they bring.  Happy Friday the 13th my loves.  I've already seen three spooky films:  The Well, on Prime is more gore than scares.  Grudge and Grudge 2, also on Prime were re-watches I enjoyed very much. Mostly because I don't think I've ever seen these films since I saw them first back in the early aughts.  Also started watching The Ring again and that's a classic.  The plan is to watch some more spooky films and make the most of this Friday 👻 the 13th and a full moon 🌕. 

 Dear Diary,  Today was such a good day.  We had cheesecake (for birthday cake). Read good books. Had kheer. Watched a sweet film. Laughed and had a slow and simple day. Had sushi for dinner. 🍣 Celebrated my sister's birthday in a quiet and simple and happy way.  It was a good day 😊 Put flowers in my little vases.  Sushi 🍣  A  Christmas RomCom.  Yes please!  Sweet Treats 🩵 I love slow 🐌 days. 

  Subho Bijoya and Happy Dussehra 🙏 The end of Pujo always feels heavy and sad.  So we eat something good and bid Maa farewell and pray for her return and good tidings.  Come back soon Maa.  On Bijoya, in my family, we don't eat rice or non-vegetarian grubs. This used to bring me so much joy as a kid. We used to sit eating in bed and eat mishti and luchi.  Tonight I cooked some Kashmiri Dum Aloo and Boondi Kheer (since no rice).  A simple and yum dinner.  It was a quiet and almost solemn Pujo this year. I hope next year is brighter and better.  Watching an old classic tonight.  My first ever brush with Christie. And still one of my faves. 

 Hello Loves!  Hello from a hot and humid Friday evening here in Mumbai. I am for one praying and hoping for Rain. I hope this weekend we see at least a sprinkling of some monsoon showers.  Anyhoo, here are some things I loved best this week. Of course, the Election Results are my absolute favourite thing ever. Such a wave of hope and such a dopamine hit ❤  Here are some lesser faves for the week:  Clouds teasing us but not delivering on their promise.  I love grey skies and can't wait for some seriously cozy rainy days 🌧 Things I've Watched:  Under Paris on Netflix is a shark attack film with a dose of climate change. Different and entertaining. I love me some shark films and this was good fun.  Summer means re-watching some of my favourite Agatha Christie adaptations. These are streaming on Sony Liv and I cannot recommend them enough.  Reading Faves:  Read Mayadevi's London Yatra by Bulbul Sharma this week and thoroughly enjoyed it. I...

  Happy Birthday Mr. Ray 📽📖📽  I am pretty Ray obsessed, everything from his magnificent films to his stories, his creations bring me so much joy.  I plan on reading this book, The Cinema of Satyajit Ray by Bhaskar Chattopaadhyay, through the month and watch, well re-watch some of my favourite Ray films. May is already looks promising ❤

  Hello, hello, We just finished watching Laapataa Ladies on Netflix and we loved it so, so much that we simply had to get on here and recommend it to all of you!  So, without further ado, let's get into our top 5 reasons for watching this absolutely smashing movie: 1. The writing! OMG, the writing! It is funny, insightful, wise and so pitch perfect! I haven't watched an Indian movie in the past 5-6 years where the writing made me actually clap more than once! So, so good!  2. The story. A simple story of two brides getting lost because of being inside navel-length ghunghats. Phool, married to Deepak, sleeps on the train and, Deepak mistakenly takes Pushpa/ Jaya to get off with him at his station because both women are dressed in similar bridal sarees with a huge ghunghat. Chaos ensues! The story is about how both the women find their way back home and to themselves.  3. The found family in this movie so absolutely adorable! The people that Phool (Deepak's wife) find...

 Hello, hello, We come to you today with some very random (and not new) movie recommendations.  Let's get into it, shall we?  1. Wait Till Helen Comes (YouTube) First of all, if you want to watch a bunch of horror and thriller movies and are not finding anything on your usual subs, then go to YouTube and search for horror movies and you will find a bunch of not-so-bad movies!  Wait Till Helen Comes is a decent horror movie about a family that moves into a church-turned-into-a-home and strange things start happening.  2. Devil's Diary (YouTube) A teen/ high school horror flick. Kinda inspired by The Craft but is still its own thing. A mysterious blank journal that makes evil desires come true falls into the hands of the high school outcast. All kinds of evil shenanigans happen.  3. Solstice (2008 movie) (YouTube)  A pretty decent horror-thriller movie. The print on YouTube is not the best but it is okay if you are watching it on your tablet or phone. We...

 Hello, hello, Welcome to the very first Friday of 2024!  I hope you are as excited as I am that the work week is done and a weekend (and all its myriad possibilities) spreads out ahead of us!  Sharing some of the recent things that we've been loving!  The beginning of any New Year means setting up our planners and journals. This here is my sister's Hobonichi Techo. She is back in the Hobonichi after 3 years and this cover is from The Black Canvas . The crochet pencil case is from an Instagram shop whose name I can't remember.  Are you a fan of stickers? We are. They just brighten up things like laptops and Kindle and iPad cases and can be easily removed and replaced with other stickers. This one is from the Strawbabie store . The Kindle cover is from Amazon . My sister has the slightly larger 11th Generation Paperwhite and it is so difficult to find a good cover for it.  I spent some time organising my journal/ planner supplies in my The Ink Bucket planner...