Thursday, 13 March 2025
Saturday, 8 March 2025
Ramoji Rao City - Enchanting Escape from Routine Life!
My Review of Ramoji Film City Published on Tripadvisor.com!
Reviewed November 13, 2017
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| Behind the reel! |
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| A penny for your thoughts! |
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| Posing with pensive Charlie! |
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| Welcome to Ramoji Rao Film City! |
Exotic birds' park:
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| Qaid mein hain panchchi! - How sad! | |
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| When is Valentine's Day? |
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| Intricately carved fountain |
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| Colorful wall-paintings |
All of us have been to this City before! How? Through our movies, of course!
But seeing is believing, so off we went to see and experience this fairy- tale like, enchanting City!
Though the experience is an expensive one at the steep cost of a thousand precious bucks per person, it's a totally 'paisa-vasool' trip.
What makes it priceless are the impeccably maintained roads, transport facilities inside the city, amenities and of course, the film sets, locales, shows and the tour guide's humorous narration of the City's highlights.
We enjoyed our forays into the serial Ramayana's set, the filmy airport, complete with an aeroplane which one could board and occupy seats therein, the railway station with a train that runs on tyres, a Buddhist monastery set in a cave, a replica of the Pink City - Jaipur, a Japanese garden, etc.
The spoiler was the restaurant which could barely manage the tourists' lunch orders, besides being too expensive!
As we can't carry eatables inside the City we are forced to buy the expensive stuff there.
The tourists have a choice of free and paid rides at the amusement park there.
We enjoyed the juggler's show, the dance show and the 'Making of Movies' show.
A cap/hat/scarf, cotton, casual wear and goggles are a must to beat the scorching heat at this City.
All in all, a welcome respite from day-to-day reality! Escape into this wonderland at least once!
Date of experience: March 2017
The copyright of this review and photographs is with Mrs. Priya Ramesh Swaminathan.
Friday, 7 March 2025
What Does Neha Seek? - Neha's Quest - A Fresh Excerpt
Neha's Quest (Life's Topsy-turvy!)
A Kindle Countdown Deal will be on for this e-book at www.amazon.com till 8th March, 2025. It will be available at a discount for just $1.99. Do consider purchasing it and perusing it. Don't forget to post your reviews online at the Amazon website!
Thanks in anticipation.
Priya
An Excerpt
The majority of girls would be shy and timid and scoot at the
very sight of the other gender. The male-dominated environs of Uttarpur ensured
that girls were not encouraged to be forthcoming, either in their way of
dressing or demeanor. In fact, they couldn’t speak their mind anywhere. Even if
they talked, they would do so in muted tones and to the point.
Laughter too
was a subdued affair. Only their shoulders would move and some giggles would
try to escape in vain through their tightly pursed lips. All their mirth would
perforce be conveyed mutually through their eyes.
If some male
member from the family chanced upon them then, they would sober down instantly,
lower their eyes, adjust the veils on their heads and scamper out of sight or
they’d become stock-still as if a lion was standing in front of them!
No wonder then, that Neha was valued like pure gold, by the guys in that mofussil town.
End of the Excerpt
The copyright of this book is with Mrs. Priya Ramesh Swaminathan.
You could also preview it for free at www.amazon.com.
Here's the link:
Saturday, 1 March 2025
Neha's Quest - What does Neha seek? - Kindle Countdown Deal
Neha's Quest (Life's Topsy-turvy!)
Much as we like to call ourselves progressive and our society civilized, often we deviate from the rightful path to indulge in wrongful or immoral activities, to satiate our greed and lust. To feel alive!
We also have double standards wherein we treat men and women differently and expect women, the so-called weaker-sex, to conform to societal mores, without a murmur. Of course, we frown when anyone terms it hypocrisy! This is our culture; we say with self-righteous pride and revel in it.
Woe betides any woman who dares to stray off the beaten path! The path carved out for her by society, on which she must walk demurely, looking straight ahead without a side-ward glance! Following all the stringent rules to a T!
And lo behold! Every once in a while, comes along a gutsy girl like Neha who breaks every rule in the book to follow her own path in life, braving the storms with grit and gumption.
A breath of fresh air or a tempest? Who are we to judge her? She doesn’t need our judgment!
Why not just let every girl follow her heart and carve a niche for herself? See how far she goes in the journey of life? Is it too much to ask for?
***************
Dear friends,
A Kindle Countdown Deal will be on for this e-book at www.amazon.com till 8th March, 2025. It will be available at a discount for just $1.99. Do consider purchasing it and perusing it. Don't forget to post your reviews online at the Amazon website!
Thanks in anticipation.
Priya
An Excerpt
She broke hearts everywhere she went. Left, right and centre! Throughout high school and college, young lads had been smitten by her. Though not beautiful in the conventional sense, she had some oomph and lots of style.
A smooth-complexioned, fair face, with small and sparkling eyes, round cheeks, lustrous black, shoulder-length hair and a slim figure was what attracted the guys to Neha, at first sight. But as they would get to know her better and interact with her, they would progressively be drawn into her charming web of love. She knew how to lead them on.
A glib talker, she would coax them in the smoothest of tones to do her bidding and they would unquestioningly do it
End of the Excerpt
The copyright of this book is with Mrs. Priya Ramesh Swaminathan.
You could also preview it for free at www.amazon.com.
Here's the link:
Monday, 10 February 2025
Kindle Countdown Deal, February 2025 - Just Not meant For Marriage!
Dear friends,
What happens when a person finds his soul-mate but that soul-mate is unwilling to reciprocate?
Read on to experience it in my e-book titled Just Not Meant For Marriage!
A Kindle Countdown Deal is on till 16th February, 2024 at www.amazon.com for this e-book which will be available for just $1.99. So hurry and purchase it. Read and review it. Enjoy your reading and reviewing sessions.
You could even peruse my other 27 books.
Eagerly awaiting your invaluable feedback!
Thanks.
Priya Swaminathan
EXCERPT
Preet had an annoying habit. It drove girls literally up the wall. He would court all the pretty girls in college, have them eating out of his hands and eating out their hearts for him and then spoil it all by popping the most-dreaded question. It was not the eagerly looked forward to, “Will you marry me please?” No, that wasn’t the most-dreaded question. It was, hold your breath, “Are you just not meant for marriage?” All the girls who had swooned over him some time in their college lives had been flabbergasted by that bomber.
But eventually, everyone had reconciled themselves to the inevitable, ridiculous proposal. In fact, no girl was still quite sure what that absurd question meant. Did he mean that he was asking her to marry him in a back-handed manner, or did he want to cast her away by insinuating that she was not worthy enough for marriage? And that too after wooing her as if she was the last girl on earth!
******************
Preet was the equivalent of Amitabh Bachchan, Rishi Kapoor, Salman Khan and Naseeruddin Shah; all rolled into one combo package of style, romance, brawn and smoldering intensity. As for looks, he had everything going for him, right from grayish-brown dreamy eyes fringed by thick lashes, smooth high forehead, well-chiseled cheek-bones and chin, tawny complexion and thick black hair that was always styled as per the latest trend in town. His gym-toned body was just meant for modeling as he wore smart outfits that suited him to the T. Towering well above six feet, he stood out from the rest of the college boys.
Almost all the girls who enrolled in Universal College fell in love with him as soon as they set their eyes on this impossibly good-looking dude. After all, seeing the above-mentioned heroes on screen and seeing their combo in person, was different. Well actually, thrilling! They just couldn’t believe their luck. Each girl tried to get into his good books and charm him as much as she could. In fact, these girls thought that education and careers were secondary, as their primary aim was to land the catch of Preet! It was the be-all and end-all of their existence.
Thus Preet got to see girls of all shapes and sizes, dressed in all types of clothes from mini-skirts to saris, ‘artificially’ made-up or ‘naturally’ made-up and with all sorts of fancy accessories. His friends envied him but joked that thanks to him, they also got to see well-dressed lasses and feast their eyes on them! Preet was cool and casual in his manner towards the girls. He didn’t lead anyone on. He obviously was waiting for someone special to light up his life. He just knew that one look would be enough to separate the grain from the chaff. His heart would tell him so!
END OF THE EXCERPT
Did you like what you just read? Would you like to find out what happens next?
Kindly purchase the e-book and read on.... Preet is waiting for you....
Here's the link:
The copyright of this book is with Mrs. Priya Ramesh Swaminathan.
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