Ode to the saree

I am one of those Indian women who truly appreciates the saree and how graceful it looks, but alas, am unable to do it justice. Somehow everytime I wear one something goes wrong and it ends up (at least to my eyes) looking not-so-good. I envy all those women who can sling a saree around them in a jiffy and look smashing in it. I appreciate the wide variety and colors and ranges of sarees out there, I truly do. But the sad truth is that, having grown up wearing salwar kameez or the pant/shirt combo, the saree is not my first garment of choice. I huff and puff and struggle my way through it for the odd wedding and function, but am always glad to get out of it!!

Guess I am the exception to the rule that "A saree makes every woman look graceful and beautiful no matter her age or her figure".

Dear Jane

I'm addicted to Jane Austen's books, especially Pride and Prejudice. I probably first read the book when I was 10 or 12 - there is a beautiful hardcover copy in my parents' home, part of a set of classics. I've re-read the book several times since. Recently my interest my was rekindled when the latest adaptation was released. Not wanting to wait till the movie hit screens in India, I googled around, and found a huge amount of sites devoted to Jane.

There's tons of "fan fiction" out there as well- fiction based on JA characters, mostly P&P characters. I'm currently reading several of these.

Finally got to see the movie this week. Keira Knightley as Lizzy is great, but Matthew Macfadyen as Darcy just blew me away. What can I say - he is Darcy and he is HOT :) The chemistry between them is wonderful. The movie itself feels a little rushed - they of course, cannot compress a 61 chapter novel spanning almost two years into two hours. But if someone watched the movie without reading the book first, they would wonder at how Darcy fell in love with Lizzie so fast. The picturization is lovely, the locales are absolutely beautiful. I wonder why they made the Bennet house (Longbourn) look so shabby though. Also, everyone looks so sweaty most of the time - guess they wanted to stay true to the period, and show that daily baths were unheard of then..

I'm adding a picture I found on the web as testament to this Darcy's hotness. Would you agree, girls? ;)