Desibaba

Goa is known as one of the most exotic holiday destinations in the world. Lots of tourists visit Goa every year to spend their holidays.

Goa has various sandy beaches like, Anjuna, Arambol, Agonda, Calangute, Colva, Dona Paula, Miramar, Palolem and Vagator. There are various adventure sports offered at these beaches that include, water skiing, parasailing, wind surfing, water scooter and river cruises.

Goa also has some wonderful churches located at places like, Mapusa, Margao, Panaji, Pilar and Vasco da Gama. There also is the Basilica of Bom Jesus, Reis Magos Church and Church of St. Paul that upholds the rich cultural heritage of this place.

Goa also offers lots of great places for shopping. There are markets located on the beaches. Also there are some local shops that offer some interesting local items. There are markets of handicrafts and various other souvenir items. There are shops selling brassware, shell work, crochet, carved furniture, terracotta, Paper Mache’ and bamboo work.

Goa also offers lots of festivals and fairs. There is the Goa carnival which is attended by thousands of tourists from different places all over the world. Also there are popular festivals like Zatra of Shri Shantadurga, Novidade, Kalas Utsav, and Bonderam Festival.

There also are cruises offered in Goa that are full of thrill and enjoyment. Also there are cruise trips like, the Sunset Cruise, Sundown cruise, Dolphin Fantasy Cruise, Full Moon cruise, Pleasure Cruise, Pearl of the Orient and the Backwater Thrills.

Also there are large numbers of casinos in Goa. Here the tourists can try their luck and play the various gambling games like Roulette, blackjack, Craps and Baccarat. The major casinos located in Goa include the Cidade de Goa Beach Resort and Casino, Renaissance. There also is the Treasures Casino Majorda Beach Resort.

Indeed Goa offers really exotic holidays.

If you have been to Goa and would like to send some of your pictures to Desibaba please feel free to send me a message using the contact us form.

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Desi baba

In recent years no book as garnered as much controversy as a single novel, written by a not so famous writer. The book was ‘DA Vinci Code’ and it was written by Dan Brown an American author. The Da Vinci Code was published by the Doubleday Group in the United States and in the United Kingdom its publication was done by Bantam Books.

The book follows a time in the life of Harvard symbologist Robert Langdon when he is forced to investigate the murder of a old man in Paris’s Louvre Museum. In the course of his investigation, Langdon learns about a centuries old tussle between the Priory of Scion and Opus Dei. He also stumbles upon a conspiracy regarding the marriage of Jesus Christ of Nazareth to Mary Magdalene and a blood line started by them.

The Da Vinci Code was a stupendous success in the year 2004. It was featured on the second spot of all the best sellers list with the first spot being taken by Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix.

The book also won the 2004 Book Sense Book of the Year Awards that are given out for the Adult Fiction. Its popularity was not limited to just sales and rewards instead it gave birth to a large number of conspiracy theory fanatic groups. The book also spawned a large number of offspring works. It also was reviewed quite well by publications like the New York Times, The Washington Post and the people.

The book also increased the sale of other Holy Grail related books. Some books like the Holy Blood and the Holy Grail, The Last Templar and The Templar Legacy became best seller due to the interest generated by The Da Vinci code.

Have you ever heard about a movie actually bringing a change into the society? Chances are you have, with the recent protest against the terrorist attacks on Mumbai made by the students all over the country will remind you about a movie which truly became a movement, Rang De Basanti.

The movie starred the superstar Aamir Khan along with Soha Ali Khan, Madhavan, Kunal Kapoor, Siddharth Narayan, Sharman Joshi, Atul Kulkarni and Alice Patten in leading roles. It also starred veterans like Waheeda Rehman, Om Puri, Kirron Kher and Anupam Kher.

The film is seen through the eyes of a British documentary filmmaker who comes to India to make a documentary on the Indian freedom fighters who were extremists. He took his grandfather’s diary entries as a basis for the documentary. She then meets a group of college going youngsters, who are really alienated from their culture and are not affected by the state of affairs in India, he then request them to act in her film. Once they agree and start filming one of their dear friend’s who is also the fiance’ of one of their group mates dies in an aircraft crash, caused by government corruption. This event jolts them and they become individuals driven by their passion who look forward to avenge the death of their friend.

The movie has one unique thing about it, it does not preach, instead it tells you that how if we are not a part of the solution, we are a part of the problem. It motivates you to do something about the problems, you see all around you on daily basis.

Stephen King is well known for scaring the wits out of people with his horror novels. Here is a look at what most of the people think of as his scariest work so far.

‘It’ is a bestselling horror novel by the renowned author Stephen King, the novel was published in the year 1986. The book is considered to be one of Stephen King’s most visceral and truly graphic works. Some people also consider it to be his masterpiece putting it on the same pedestals as his another best seller, The Stand.

‘It’ is treated as a landmark in King’s writing career as it introduced some themes which were used by Stephen King in most of his works. Some of the main themes dealt in ‘IT’ are: childhood trauma, the power of memory, and the ugliness that lies under the so called perfect life of a small-town façade.

The ‘It’ is one of those novels by Stephen King that features a nonlinear narrative. The novel’s narrative actually keeps on alternating between two entirely different time periods. It also follows the different perspectives and stories of its seven protagonists, one after another.

‘It’ was very popular and still is, Hollywood took notice of the novel and soon it was adapted into a Television movie in the year, 1990 with the same name title. It features actors like, John Ritter, Harry Anderson, Tim Reid, Annette O’Toole, Richard Thomas and Tim Curry as Pennywise the clown. It was also listed as the best-selling book in America in 1986 by the journal Publishers Weekly.

According to a recent announcement Sci Fi Channel has decide to make another adaptation of the novel under the same name. This time it will be a 4 hour TV movie.

Well it looks like, ‘IT’ will surely continue to become King’s most famous work.

The Exorcist is a 1973 film, credited with putting the horror genre into the mainstream. The film was an adaptation of a novel of the same name, written by William Peter Blatty, first published in the year, 1971.

The Exorcist deals with the demonic possession faced by a young girl. The girl’s mother desperately attempts to win back her daughter. She contacts two Christian priests for doing an exorcism on her daughter.

The film starred Ellen Burstyn, Max von Sydow, Kitty Winn, Linda Blair, Lee J. Cobb, Mercedes McCambridge and Jason Miller. It can be safely said that the film as well as novel take inspirations from a real exorcism that happened in 1949 that was performed on a 14-year-old boy. The film started a cycle of the exorcism movies as it as followed by the Omen series and Rosemary’s Baby.

The film also cemented its position in the history of cinemas as one of the most profitable horror films of all time. The film grossed $402,500,000 around the world. The film also earned a total of ten Academy Award nominations, it ended up with two Oscars, one for the Best Sound and one for the Best Adapted Screenplay.

It was also nominated as the Best film but it ended up losing the award to The Sting starring Paul Newman and Robert Redford. The film became so much famous that not only it caused a boost the novel’s sale but it was also restored and released with some new and extended scenes. The re-release happened on March 17, 2000 and then the restored version was released on September 22, 2000.

So if you have not watched the film, go ahead rent it and spend a night getting scared out of your senses. The Exorcist is easily available o0n DVD in both original and restored versions.

Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi was arguably the most popular soap opera to ever been broadcasted on Indian television. The show was produced by the television production house, Balaji Telefilms.

Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi is based on the life of a fictitious Gujrati family, the Viranis. The Viranis are really successful and enjoy a fantastic reputation in the corporate world.

The story focuses on Tulsi Virani, who at first was the daughter of the Virani family’s priest. She married the Viranis’ eldest son, Mihir against the wishes of most of the family.

Due to this, the elder daughters-in-law of the family blame Tulsi for charming Mihir into marrying her just to enter their rich household as a means to get out of her middle-class life. However, Tulsi stands against it and takes his mother mother-in-law and aunt-in-laws. The entire serial then focused on the face off between Tulsi and her Mother-in-law, in process of teaching the mother in law and aunts in law a lesson so as to earn respect from all her family members.

It had become the longest running daily show in India. Its broadcast started in the year 2000 on the channel, STAR Plus. After 8 years of following a 5 days broadcast routine the serial finally went off-air in November 2008. This happened as a result of its failing popularity; as a result the broadcast channel, Star Plus made a decision to axe the show a long time before its actual contractual date ended.

This move has created a tussle between Balaji Telefilms and Star TV India, where the former has filed a case in the court for a breach of contract.

The fact remains that Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi was one show which made Star Plus, a big name in the media industry.

Do you want to watch a film which is counted as one of the best films in the world and has a strong Indian connection? Well go for The Sixth Sense, which has been written and directed by M. Night. Shyamalan, of Indian origin. Also the film is based on the very Indian theme of life after death.

The Sixth sense is a critically acclaimed psychological horror film. The film narrates the story of Cole Sear, who is a young boy seemingly troubled and living an isolated existence. He has a very strange problem he actually sees ‘Dead People’ and even talks to them. His case is handled by an equally troubled child psychologist who understands his problem and tries to help him out.

The film established Shyamalan as a successful screen writer and director. The film also introduced his attraction towards twist endings. The film was both critically acclaimed and patronized by the cinema going public. It ended up as on of the highest earners that year and even earned six Academy Awards nominations that also included nods for Best Picture, Best Actor, Best Director and Best supporting actor.

The Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America awarded The Sixth Sense with a Nebula Award for Best Script in the year 1999. The film also earned #71 spot on the 100 Scariest Movie Moments chosen by Bravo. Recently the film has also garnered a new acclaim, being named the 89th Best Film of all time, by the American Film Institute in the year 2007.

The film has become extremely popular over the years. People often quote a famous line form the film, “I see dead people” as a catchphrase. It has reached the number 44 on AFI’s 100 Years…100 Movies Quote List. The Sixth Sense’s popularity also made it as one of America’s most “heart pounding movies of all-time”.

Balika Vadhu is a popular TV serial, which has become the country’s most favorite serial in the recent times. It is broadcasted on the channel, Colors in India. The serial is based on a social problem of Child Marriage which is followed as a custom in the large parts of India.

The show is set in one of the rural areas in the state of Rajasthan, ‘Balika Vadhu’ shows us the life of a child bride Anandi who has been married at an age when she should be going to school and playing with her friends. She is married to a boy, Jagdish who is almost equally young, but belongs to an extraordinarily rich family. After her marriage the ‘Balika Vadhu’ enters a new alienating and confusing world. She is taken away from a life where she should be enjoying her childhood to that of a bride in a family of strangers. Here she has to act like a daughter in law, a wife, a lover and a friend.

The show, ‘Balika Vadhu’ has been praised for it’s very sensitive portrayal of the plight faced by young girls who are married off forcefully, in the name of some long dead tradition, and how the rest of their lives are affected by it.

The show has been received very well in India; it has enjoyed strong word of mouth as well as critics’ reviews and high TRPs. One of the various reasons for the success of the show is its very bold and unconventional story line. The show has also been praised for its taut direction, amazing art direction and true to life dialogues. As of now it has become a program with the highest viewer ship status. .

The show has been very significant in the meteoric rise of the TV channel, Colors. The channel has now become the number two channel in the Indian subcontinent.