i couldnt care less

2012-01-26T00:30:00.000-08:00

Dear Dow Chemicals,

You have yet to compensate the victims of the Bhopal Gas Tragedy. You have a moral and financial obligation towards the victims and their descendants. How the hell are you are sponsoring the London Olympics? And just because the original plant was bought over by another entity does not entitle the new entity to go scot free.

Dear Indian Government,

Why is that you are ready to take steps against a person/ entity/ group only when the whole world creates a hue and cry? Lakhs of Indians are still physically and mentally affected by the exposure to the gas leak on that fateful night of December 1984. Your own citizens. Today is the 26th of January, our Republic Day. But I feel no pride. The real pride lies when the Government and its people work towards the safety and welfare of its citizens.

Dear Anderson,

Still alive and kicking, really?

Tidda hua bored

2012-01-25T12:11:00.000-08:00

Waiting for things is a very frustrating experience. I have been extremelly bored and been cleaning the house for lack of things to do. Something to keep me occupied. You know it used to take a lot to get me to tidy up the house. My sister, in fact, used to call me a 'Tidda'. For the benefit of those who dont know the story of the 'Tidda', it goes like this- Once there was a Tidda [grasshopper] who was very very lazy. During summer when other insects stored food for the approaching winter, the Tidda whiled away his time playing andd hopping around. Finally when winter came, the Tidda had nothing to eat and almost starved to death. Later his friends helped him with their own stored food. And the Tidda learnt his lesson.

Anyway this name stuck on to me for a long time. If I think about it, I was indeed a Tidda back then. But now I think I have changed quite a bit. In fact sometimes I border on the lines of being a 'Monica'. Necessity is definitely the mother of all change.

2012-01-16T02:20:00.000-08:00

Nobody tells us that we shall live forever. But why do we always end up thinking so. We say death is cruel, causes unimaginable distress and makes our remaining lives miserable. Why is that? A very dear man passed away recently. When I first heard the news I was so mad. Mad that he did not fight death. After sometime, I cried that I would never see him again. It was only later did I think of how much he would have suffered on his death bed. Sure, it was one of my worst nightmares coming true, but at some corner of my mind I knew that someday he would leave us. Why did that not make things easier? The cycle is clear for all of us to see. I guess we are plain greedy.

FYI: My Dear Non- Tamilians

2011-12-05T04:36:00.001-08:00

I need to make some things clear. They are, inter alia, the following:

i) All Tamilians do not wear veeboothi* on their forehead all the time;
ii) All Tamilian women do not wear silk sarees/ flowers on their plaits/ buns;
iii) Tamilians do not move around with oiled hair all the time;
iv) Yes we love Rajnikanth, but that does not mean we only appreciate Jhakass movies. Many of our movies are so good that they can kick the bollywood movies' pompous a****;
v) No, not all Tamilians are good in Maths and Accounts;
vi) Dont even start me with the dark skintone, which I must say is something the Westerners are dying to acquire with their tanning beds and lotions;
vii) Contrary to our neighbours up North, Tamilians have better idea about the Southern, Northern, Eastern and Western states;
viii) Yes maybe Tamilian names are longish, but isnt that common in many other races? In any case, whats your problem with long names, are you even going to use of person's full name all the time?
ix) No, not all Tamilians are trained in Bharathanatiyam/ Carnatic Music;
x) Tamilians eat curd rice for a reason. It is the most soothing food to eat when it is warm and humid. How that becomes something worthy of a joke is something I fail to understand.

Btw, The Dirty Picture was so bad that I wanted to cry. Someone told me the movie was very depressing, but now I understand why. Such a badly made movie! Silk Smitha must really be turning in her grave.

*Veeboothi- a white ash mark worn by men and women on their forehead

2011-10-29T04:52:00.000-07:00

There are times when you feel so low that you start wondering why you brought this upon yourself. That is the hard part. It is easier when you have someone else to blame. Self-pity is a consoling warm feeling. But to know that something went wrong because of something you initiated is the worst. I dont believe in fate anymore than I did earlier. I do try to check if a pattern is repeating itself. But when all you have to look back upon is your adolescence, it is hard to find a similar pattern.

On a happier note, this week I did something I have never dared before. I jumped straight into the deep end of the swimming pool. I am nearing the end of my swimming lessons and my instructor wanted me to jump into the deep end and swim back the entire length of the pool. Even after I learnt to stay afloat, I never managed to jump into the pool. I would daintly sit and then slide into the water. But earlier this week, I was directed [not asked] to jump and I just stood there like wax statue, full of fear. I just could not bring myself to do it. The instructor tried all sorts of inspirational quotes. In the end he also said that if I dont jump, it meant I din trust him. Even that din help me jump. My swimming partner tried her best as well. In the end I was scared that they would push me in. That made me jump in. Wow and it was not scary at all. Such fun actually to bounce up as soon as one jumps in. I ended up doing it many times. And was very pleased with myself. Now, thats three off my list :)

2011-10-23T11:17:00.000-07:00

Was speaking to my sister today when she asked me what we had planned for my bday next month. Nothing is planned as of now but I told myself that it would be nice to go watch a good play on that day. And so later I went to lastminute.com and started checking out the ticket prices. P was sitting next to me and I was telling him how I was dying to watch 'Love Story' and 'Driving Ms Daisy'. 'Love Story' was not available and so I told him, lets book 'Driving Ms Daisy'. He, very uncharacterstically, rejected the idea and said it would be a boring. I knew he loved the movie and so said we 'had' to watch it. But he din agree. After a while he got up and showed me a sheet of paper. It was two tickets for the play booked on the day of my birthday [ordered weeks earlier]. Now if that isnt sweet, what else is? :)

2011-10-15T03:28:00.000-07:00

If you ask me the thing I badly wish for, my answer would always be- to have cats and dogs around me. The wish is so bad that sometimes I give a serious thought about leaving my legal profession and becoming a dog-walker or a cat-claw trimmer. Unfortunately, none of my family members have been in favour of having pets at home. Except my father. We both used to bring home stray cats and dogs all the time. This would create a big drama at home. My mom used to threaten us saying it would either be her or the animals at home. And we would have to give up. But sometimes my mom used to soften and allow us to keep a pet at home. When I look back on my childhood, those seem the best days I had. I dreamt of studying to become a vet and opening a shelter for animals. Unfortunately I had to take up commerce and my dreams of becoming a vet remained a dream.

P does not hate animals per se, but having a pet in a city like London is pretty difficult. More so when both of us are working. So I make the most of it when I see a cat or dog on the street like this. Miss you, Appa.

2011-09-16T05:17:00.001-07:00

Certain posts on FB can really kill you. Like this girl who posted this on FB- 'My skul has been voted the best skul in India'. Shame that they did not teach her to spell 'School' at her 'Skul'. Seriously some of the status messages are so dumb. This girl I know had posted a message to her husband on FB that she has posted a letter which he wanted her to post. This is her message- 'Hi I posted the letter'. Seriously this is as silly as it can get. If she wanted to convey that she completed a task to her husband, why would she not text or call or mail him? Why message on his FB page.

This other girl posted 'Have a nice day' as her status message. And two people 'liked' it! The worst was today's news on Viewspaper's page about Azaruddin's son dying in a road accident. 110 people 'liked' the news!!

2011-09-11T09:11:00.000-07:00

There was discussion on television this morning on whether Muslims are regarded as demonic elements in Britain. This is one topic close to my heart, I must admit. The panel consisted of leaders of certain organizations and also certain Government representatives. For once, I found both sides of the arguments just. The Muslims here obvioulsy state that they feel quite at home here, safe and are troubled that they are considered as outsiders after living here for generations. The English [or rather the members from the Christian organizations] said that this country is primarily a Cristian country and members from all religions are free to live here. They are tolerant towards all religions, but in the end it does that change the fact that this is primarily a Christian nation.

While I agree with all this, my disapproval is towards the fact that countries, in this century still identify themselves based on their religions. Why call oneself a Christian or Hindu country. Does that help in any way? Why cant people keep facts about their religious beliefs to themselves? Why is important to assert it? Even if you assert it, why use it to isolate or cause prejudice against another race, din things like this result in the World War? Have we not learnt anything from history?

2011-09-05T06:07:00.000-07:00

As the ten year anniversary comes closer, 9/11 documentaries are being telecasted repeatedly on television channels. Incidentally the Rajiv Gandhi assasination news is also making its rounds these days because of the death sentence of the convicts being scheduled on the 9/11 this year [now the date has been stayed by the Courts].

I was reading some of the investigation reports published online in the RG assasination case. All evidence seems to point directly at the LTTE's involvement though its chief had consistently maintained that their hands were clean. While that is something for the CBI to resolve, the thing that interests me is the way the assassins involved in this exercise were recruited. Each of them handpicked after careful consideration. And brainwashed to believe that RG had to be killed. Though the background of these assasins is not clear from these reports, one thing is clear, they were people in dire need of money.

The level of brainwash one would allow oneself to undergo is shocking, given the risk of an imminent death. What amazes me is the kind of will power and courage these people must have had and the manipulative powers those who influenced them possessed. If only they had an opportunity to put it to good use.

Far from the Madding Crowd

2011-09-01T06:06:00.000-07:00

Our trip to Belfast was great fun. Unfortunately the downside of any such trip is that the euphoria stops lasting as soon as you board your flight back home. It takes forever for the body to understand that life is not all about laughing and having a good time and that there tons of boring things waiting for you.

Was reading this post today and got to watch this video. Hilarious is an understatement. However, the sad part is that most Indians supporting or pretending to support this cause are like Arindham. Clueless. But desperately want to follow the crowd. I can understand people taking part in a strike or fast to show solidarity or even create awareness. But how many of them understand the reason or rationale behind such a cause or protest. Few friends of mine dont even understand what the bill is about, but still claim to support it. Such a support is a lost cause and merely a waste of time and energy, if you ask me.

In any case I am ready to tear my hair off if I come across another mail/ post about Anna Hazare. I have started reading 'Far from the Madding Crowd' by Thomas Hardy. I am enjoying the book immensely though it is taking me forever to get past the first 50 pages. Part reason is that I re-read some lines because I find them so appealing. For instance this one-

'To find themselves utterly alone at night where company is desirable and expected makes some people fearful; but a case more trying by far to the nerves is to discover some mysterious comapnionship when intuition, sensation, memory, analogy, testimony, probability, induction- every kind of evidence in the logician's list- have united to persuade consciousness that it is quite alone.'

Message from those lost

2011-08-16T01:50:00.000-07:00

This news brings tears to my eyes. It takes a lot to not seek revenge when such killings take place. May we all learn something from this man.

Mice, Sirens & Swings

2011-08-10T09:32:00.003-07:00

If I were to give someone a quick update on my life, this is what I would say-

* Current jobs sucks and I took a day off today just to show my Boss how the place would fall apart without me. Aint I an Angel?

* I found a dead mouse in our living room. The methods used by the pest control people have worked, though not completely. The nincompoops were supposed to die outside our house. But probably found our carpet an ideal place to die. I found this fellow with his stiff legs in the air this morning, right after P left [my rotten luck]. So I called up P and informed him of the misfortune. He very cooly said- 'well then throw it out'. I was aghast obviously. How can I even go near a dead mouse, leave alone throw it out. So I said, I shall not and he will have to do it when he comes home in the evening. He then tells me-'imagine you are the last person on earth, then you would throw the mouse out yourself right?'. Hello, if I were the last person on earth, I would bloody well go and live in the Buckingham Palace instead. But in any case I mustered all the courage I had, took two newspapers, pushed the dead body into one and quickly threw that into the garbage bag. Man, that really took a lot out of me, so I rested for an hour to treat myself after that :-)

* My relatives and friends have been calling. mailing me all day to find out if I was safe. This worries me more than the sirens I hear outside. Though I havent witnessed anythign firsthand, I see shopkeepers closing down their shops and people rushing back home after work. Who is to say, what could happen. The worst thing is how these riots started. I am reminded of the hooligans in Chennai who used to break into shops if one of their leaders or a popular fim actor passed away. The funny thing is, I dont think most of the rioters are even aware of the Gangster whose death apparently started off these riots. Just an excuse for the unemployed to make some quick cash and ease their built-in frustration. In the end, the poor dont just keep getting poorer. They start snatching from wherever they can.

*We are moving to a new house this weekend. I am so so excited about it. It is so close to the docklands that we can view it from our window. Also, it is very close to a fantastic park. The park has a tennis court, basketball court, cycling track, a pool and lots and lots of swings :-)

2011-08-07T03:50:00.000-07:00

One question- Why 'Super 8'? Why not 'The crazy train' or 'The maneater of Lillian' or 'The Zombies makers'?

Seriously Mr. Spielberg, have you lost it?

Is it still there?

2011-08-06T10:58:00.000-07:00

One advantage of being married is your spouse can point out when you have food stuck in your teeth. Always helps.

Some days are not meant to be

2011-08-03T09:10:00.000-07:00

So I have reached such a low point in my career now that any change is going to seem like an extraordinary improvement.

If the Lord has a door, I am pressing on the calling bell really hard now. Do listen please.

Blinky, Pinky, Inkey..

2011-08-01T07:48:00.000-07:00

I was in my 6th class when we were introduced to computers in school. I found it awfully boring even back then, somehow knew I would not be into computers for sure. The teachers appointed for teaching us computers were awfully young and they made the classes as interesting as possible for us. But nothing could push me towards it. Nothing, expect for Pac-Man.

Having a PC was like owning a swimming pool in those days and the only times we got to touch a comp was during the computer class. To increase our appetite towards computers, our teachers indulged us and let us play for half hour a day on the computers in the lab. In the beginning I had no clue about the games one could play and used to chat away during that half hour. But suddenly I noticed L not participating in my conversations much. For the records, I am very possesive about L. I cannot bear her giving anything more attention than me. Not that things have changed much now ;)

So I realised that Pac-Man was the reason for L to be distracted. Obviously I started playing as well and got really hooked on to it. Now the problem was that it was a class of 50 kids and 49 of them were keen on playing the game. The exception was that one kid who was a pushover and couldnt say no to anyone. There were 5 computers in the lab, so you do the math. We fought like crazy about who would play next. And Pac-Man is a game that one cannot play just once. The one game per person thing made us want to move on the next levels as much as possible. The rule was that as long as you had those 'lives' you could play on and nobody could take over your seat. But mostly I used to die off in the first three levels and would have to give up my seat. It used to be so so frustrating.

Some lucky kids had a PC and used to boast about playing at home as well. But those bloody kids wanted to play at school too. Now, if I had a PC, I would have given up my turn for a kid who did not [ok, maybe I would have played just once :p] But Nobody wanted to do that.

My father would have got me a PC if I had asked for it, I am sure. But it was bloody expensive and I did not have the heart to ask him one, just so I could play Pac-Man on it. I was a good kid that way.

Now after years, I have re--discovered Pac-Man. That mad rage has returned. I am playing in between meals, rewarding myself at work by playing one game between emails and so on. The game sure is great even today. But somehow that mad chase in 6th Class to find the next turn to play made the game all the more fun. That is the onyl thing missing right now.

Bliss

2011-07-29T08:52:00.000-07:00

Oh, what I wouldnt do to be a part of this picture :(

Thats Jhilmil n Azula for the uninitiated.

The world of Cineworld

2011-07-28T06:45:00.000-07:00

We watch atleast 3-4 movies a week. Among the movies we watched recently, the one I liked the most was Roman Polanski's Repulsion. It is a psychological thriller with very few characters in it. It has very few dialouges as well. It is about this young Belgian woman whose lives with her sister in London. She acts strange throughout the movie. She is indifferent towards a man who is madly in love with her, hates her sister's boyfriend who comes and stays with them on and off and is absent-minded at work. Her sister goes away for a week and she stays alone at their apartment. All along she feels that there is someone about to come and rape her. This fear eventually results in her killing her suitor and their landlord. Needless to say, I saw the movie with my hands covering my eyes half the time :D Ok, it is not a horror film, but it does have its scary moments. The movie is quite slow but I felt the pace was just right.

Friday we watched the tamil flick Deiva Thirumagal. People have been raving about it on fb and I wanted to see what the fuss was all about. Lately the tamil movies I have seen turned out to be really bad [the latest ones] including 'Avan Ivan'. So I was quite apprehensive about this movie. But since people were already declaring National Awards for the movie, I decided to watch it. I found it an average movie. Seriosuly, found nothing great about it. Ya the kid is cute and does not overact like most child-actors these days. Vikram has put in a lot of effort and is quite effective. But the screenplay is poor. Also the direction. Unnecessary actors and dialouges make the movie lag in many parts. Santhanam is being included in movies just to make them run better, I suppose. Afetr Koundamani and vadivelu, I think the Santhanam era is ready to begin :)

On Saturday we saw Transformers 3. This is hardly the kind of movie I watch but P badly wanted to watch it and so I went along. And fell asleep in 10 mins :-p Ya can you believe that? As soon as I saw the laptop turning into a robot, my brain cells shut down and I dozed off. You should have seen P's face, one would have thought he directed the movie himself. So offended he was :D

Last night we saw Zindagi Na Milagi Dubara. With my three heartthrobs in it, I would have watched it anyway. Hrithik is so good that I wonder if he is human at all. His expressions were amazing in few scenes. In fact even the Kat acted decently for once. The movie was fun to watch and I loved few of the poems Farhan Akhthar recites in between. Man, what a voice.

A song for no one

2011-07-26T04:23:00.001-07:00

In 'Swami and his friends', Swami is indignant that his Christian teacher tries to preach Christianity in class. This is during the British period, mind you. He complains about this to his father who in turn writes an admonishing letter to the Principal of the school.

I got reminded of this when I heard this news on NDTV, today morning.

Given the condition of the state, I am sure the MP Government could have come up with better solutions to improve its people's lives. What is the point after all?

Why burn in shame?

2011-07-21T03:19:00.000-07:00

IHM had blogged about physical strength of men and women in violent situations which led me another blogger's post about a rape which he had intervened and prevented. One line in his post really upset me. This brave man says that after he resuced the girl and tried to get some women to help her, the girl ran away saying her honour was already being lost and she dint want to lose it totally.

I am unable to understand why women feel ashamed when they get teased, molested or raped. It is definetly not their fault so that removes the guilt factor. They possibly cant do anythign to provoke a rapist/ eve teaser to attack them, they are going to do it anyway. And most of the times the woman tries to escape the situtation to the best of her abilities, which is obvious. So now why would a woman feel ashamed? Some go to the extent of committing suicide. And it is a well known fact that that in certain Indian villages, the punishment for a rapist is to marry the woman he rapes. Pray, who is being punished here? Love a woman, she doesnt pay heed to you? Just rape her and she is yours! Wonderful.

Lights, camera..& blasts

2011-07-13T12:20:00.000-07:00

I just saw a news coverage of today's bomb blasts in Mumbai. It included a video of the victims being taken to the hospital. A young boy was shown crying near the ambulance and couple of mikes were being thrust into his face. Hoping to get some words out of him, I am guessing.

Seriously, you journalists must have a little soul left in you to not do that.

Cant say I forgot

2011-06-26T14:45:00.000-07:00

Facebook is reminding me about our upcoming 2 year anniversary and asking me to send P a message for the same. Uff..give me a break.

Albino Polar Bear

2011-06-26T07:05:00.000-07:00

Have I lived with a guy too long or was Hangover II actually that funny?

Flying back into the nest

2011-06-20T05:40:00.000-07:00

We flew back to London last night. All I did on the 9 hour flight was eat and sleep. And yes, also managed to watch Guzaarish in between. Not a bad movie, if you think about it. It took us exactly 26 hours to travel from Ashok Nagar to Norfolk Road. 26 hours to land into a completely different world. From a land where I stop to talk to every second person on the road to a land where I din have soul to call and inform that we have landed. S and P were the only souls waiting for us, I guess. But they are away in Ireland. This morning I had such an urge to talk to someone and tell them that we are back. I heard the neighbour's kids in our lawn, so I opened the door and informed them that we were back. I think Charlie, the cat was more interested in the information than our neighbours.

Small incidents reaffirm my faith in humanity. Between me and P, we had three large trolleys, one small one and a backpack to carry, all the way from Heathrow to Seven Kings. That means two tubes and a National express. And several flights of stairs and escalators. At 10 in the night, we were helped at every staircase by complete strangers. Most of them did not even offer to help, they just carried our luggage for us without asking. It was so touching. The world does seem like a good place at times.

Ok dont tell her

2011-06-04T10:36:00.000-07:00

So I am back in my beloved city. You know how when you are away from your loved ones you keep dreaming about them and blow their niceness out of proportion? Well, I might have done that. Ya the city is the same and I love her inspite of her many unfavourable qualities. But there is something missing. And I am unable to identify it. Maybe becoz few loved ones are not here anymore, or maybe becoz the sudden change from London's unpredictable cold weather or maybe becoz I am simply missing our cozy little home in Ldn.

The first few things I did was check if my yellow cat was still around and then feel my much loved books. I wish I could carry back all of them. I re-read Ambai's Purple Sea [if you ever come across tis book, I highly recommend you read it], a bit of the God of Small Things and Adrian Mole. It is so tempting to take back all the books I love, but logic advices me to save some space for my violin, jackets and law books as well.

And you know the saying, everything happens for the best? I wonder how true that is. So many things clashing and slipping out of my hand. I feel like Phoebe when she says-'And given my lifelong search for irony, u can imagine how thrilled I am'. So long people.

We are the same

2011-05-25T08:28:00.000-07:00

This month brings to my mind the games we used to play as kids during summer holidays. I was telling P about it yesterday. My favourtie game was 'Choppu' and I had quite a big collection of toy vessels, stoves, cylinders, grinders, mixies etc. I used to pester my parents to buy the choppu utensils for me. The game by itself was not much, but we could spend hours playing it. We used to cook, dress our dolls, go to work come back and cook again.

The best part was we used to fight about who was to cook. The person who had to go office had nothing much to do but carry her lunch box, go to a corner stand and eat it and get back home after pretending to work. But the person who cooked had the best part.

Of course now cooking is not something I fight over. It is the other way around :p It was so much more fun to cook with toys than real vessels.

P's games sound so much different than mine. All his games involved running around grounds, jumping over things etc.. He never as a rule, played indoor games. I asked him if he ever played Choppu. After lot of peruasion he admitted that he did, but hated it. Ha, atleast somethings don change!

2011-05-10T02:46:00.000-07:00

Now, how difficult is it to Not say 'sorry'. I almost practise not saying it but end up apologising for things I shouldnt be! I hate myself for this.

2011-05-05T02:49:00.000-07:00

London is on high alert for terrorist attacks according to the newspapers. This is supposed to be a perennial status, from what I understand. But the killing of Osama seems to have put the London Police into crazy frenzy. They have requested the public to be vigilant and trust their instincts when it comes to observing something or someone who appears suspicious. For a person from a relatively safe place like Chennai, this is scary. I imagine walking through the Liverpool Street station and bursting into flames. When I see a police van screeching through the streets, my heart beats beyond recommended limits. When I see a lonely man sporting a long beard and whispering into a phone, I think of picking up my phone to dial 999. I remember this friend telling me about how once while travelling in the tube he noticed a Muslim reciting prayers with passion rocking forward and backward and my friend almost typed a goodbye msg to his wife.

At school we read this story about a man called Baba Bharti. Baba had a beautiful horse and he was extremelly proud of it. The horse was so beautiful that it attracted people from neighbouring villages. One day a man approached Baba offering to buy the horse. Baba refused politely and the disappointed offerer went away. Few days later Baba was riding his horse in the fields when he met a beggar. Baba immediately took money from his pockets and offered it to the beggar. The beggar was sitting on the ground and requested Baba to get down from the horse and give him the money since he was unable to stand. Baba obliged. But swift as a cat, the beggar got up, mounted the horse and galloped away. Baba screamed in anger and ran behind his horse. After chasing him in vain for sometime, Baba told the disguised beggar-'alright take my horse, but please dont tell anyone about this incident'. The thief was surprised and asked him the reason. Baba told him-'If you tell people how you stole the horse from me, nobody would trust a beggar anymore'.

I feel guilty when I judge people merely because they belong to a certain sect. I feel sorry for my Muslim friends who are judged and stamped merely because certain terrorist outfits claim to be followers of the same religion. It is a sad world we live in.

2011-04-20T09:30:00.000-07:00

Whatever your day has been till now, I assure you this blogger is going to make you laugh.

This is the best since Holden Caulfield or Adrian Mole.

2011-04-18T06:33:00.000-07:00

Could we all pause for a min and stop judging the people around us? How would it feel to not judge and know that you are not being judged. Would we behave differently? Would we smile more often or act in a more kind manner? Would we work with a carefree mind which is devoid of doubts and insecurities? Would we jog up to our destination instead of trying to walk in the acceptable fashion? Would we wear clothes we like than what others would appreciate? Would we sing and dance with passion not worrying about people teasing us? Would we kiss our loved one right where we want to instead of saving the feeling and forgetting it later? Would we look out of the bus/ train and absorb the beauty of the life around us than making mental notes about the behaviour of the people sitting next to us?

If life could indeed be so much better by this simple act, why don we try it?

Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth

2011-04-13T02:24:00.000-07:00

I see ppl thanking the Lord for their I-Phones, Mac Books, DSLR etc..Isnt the Lord supposed to have taught them to un-love materialistic stuff?

My article in the Viewspaper :)

2011-04-04T02:05:00.000-07:00

http://theviewspaper.net/many-a-question-unanswered/

Chamathu, anyone?

2011-04-01T07:05:00.000-07:00

I never stick to my words. So here it goes:

The Tamilian people can be classified into different categories. This classification is based on their character, virtues, educational qualification, skin colour, length of hair, size of nose...ok you now get the drift. I am only going to talk about one category at a time. Today is the one which people are scared of falling into, it is called the 'Chamathu' category. As you age, you might like being classified as 'Chamathu', but as a kid, it is a dreaded category.

Ok now let me explain what 'Chamathu' is. Lets start with the guy, because I am a woman and would love to give the first chance to men :p A Chamathu guy is one who oils his hair regularly, recites his slokas at appropriate points of time during the day, makes earnest conversations with 80 year old thathas who spit more than they talk, goes to the temple regularly [Note: going to the temple everyday would make him a 'pazham*'], does not talk to girls unnecessarily [which means only for reasons such as borrowing books, notes, seeking career advise and of course if the girl is older than him], does not smoke or drink [raama, wat were you thinking?], wears his hair in an orderly fashion [no spikes or gelling for this boy] and always comes home on time. These are just few qualities, I shall add more if/when I remember.

In any case, the 'chamathu' boy cant tread the forbidden lines at any time, howvere tempting it is. He completes his B.E or MSC or B Arch [lil more ambitious than required] and lands in the perfectly perfect job which will not let him waver away from his normal routine. His friends might joke about him not drinking, but that will not deter our man. Sometimes, he might fall for a random girl and after finding out she doesnt care two hoots for him, get drunk. But the Chamathu boy allows this to happen only once. How can he repeat a mistake?

As far as I know, boys hate falling into this category. They find it un-macho. They dont care about principles as much as they care about their friends teasing them. Being a Chamathu boy can mean you are pushed to the first seat in the classroom, training rooms and other such places. It can mean people assuming you would not do anything unpredictable. In short, people think yours is a monotonous life. Now, unless you are some character out of a Jeffery Archer book, you would not want people to think that your life is monotonous. There is always something hot happening with you, though you know in your heart that the last hot thing that occured to you was the morning filter coffee.

Now coming to the 'Chamathu' girl. In contrast to a guy, some girls like to be called Chamathu. First you need to understand how you can qualify as a Chamathu girl. You should know to play all the indoor games games, wear long skirts or salwar kameez, oil annd plait your long hair, study like crazy, complete all your homework on time, be patient and understanding even if your little cousin has set your plait on fire, know to cook a 3 course meal, visit the temple daily [this does not include the girls who visit temples to meet their boyfriends] and sing only Saami paatu when asked to, during Kolu and family functions. This list is non-exhaustive like the above, of course.

The reason why [I think] girls prefer to be called 'Chamathu' is coz this eases a lot of tension for people around them. Predictability is a virtue and it'l help the girl in her future life. This quality makes girls appealing to many and hence appeals to the girls as well.

And this is just one category. There are lots more left. You need to know all this in case you are interacting with the male/ female species of the tamilian clan. And trust me you will have to someday, considering there are 74 million Tamilians in the world.

*p.s- I wrote this after a visit to the 'London Murugan Temple' last eve where the poojari asked me my gothram nakshatram etc. and I blinked blankly before P rescued me. Not a Chamathu Tamil girl after all :p

* Pazham- a fruit, in the literal and true sense. A person who does not do anything worthy of his age

2011-03-31T08:36:00.000-07:00

I dont think it makes any sense to write anything until this World Cup madness is gone. P and I bunked office to watch the match ystd. True, there is no feeling that equals the one of patriotism. I just wish people did not remember to be patriotic during the cricket matches alone.

Not our cup of joy

2011-03-24T05:59:00.000-07:00

To tell you the truth, it is highly irritating to hear women discuss cricket. Before you go on and judge me, hear me out. FIrst of all, there are very few women who actually know and understand the game. Most others would watch it only if India is playing [like me]. I have been watching cricket for more than 15 years now, but still dont know what they mean by LBW, sqaure leg or midwicket. It is not rocket science for sure, but just that I enjoy watching the larger details of the game than the finer nuances. Sometimes P starts explaining these finer things to me. But then my ears automatically close up and it all goes over my head.

I have heard lots of my women friends and other women I know [whom I would not like to refer as a friend] declare their love for the game not knowing what a 'wide' is. I dont have a problem with woman proclaiming their love for any sports. But why pretend when you obviously are not? I mean, do they think it makes people think of them differently? Maybe they pretend so that men think-'wow this lady loves the game too, she would make a great companion and watch all the games without complaining'. Trust me, that never happens. In the end all you will be doing is complaining about cooking while your man is sitting n watching the game.

Anyway, what I am getting at is, why the hell do women want to mask their true self in some ugly garb and then complain that nobody understands them. I could go deeper into this, but that would require a longer post and I need to get back to my work now. So ciao people!

So much for a Job!

2011-03-22T10:04:00.001-07:00

You know you are highly stressed with your job search when you write a personal mail to your uncle and before clicking on 'send', your cursor autmoatically moves to the the 'attach files' option :p

Random, wat else?

2011-03-11T07:57:00.000-08:00

Have you ever wondered if the person next to you heard you chewing your food as loudly as you could hear it in your own head?

From the Sister

2011-03-10T07:36:00.000-08:00

If the Radiance of a thousand suns were to at once burst in the sky,
That would be the brilliance of me.
I am the Empyrean . I am the Abyss.
The genesis of life, in me . The Woman.
I am all that there is. All that there is.

Archana Shivmani Rao

p.s- you can read her blog here- www.arayofgold.blogspot.com

Amateur Mice?

2011-03-02T09:42:00.001-08:00

Apparently, the mice which live at our place are 'professional' mice. These rodents have wrecked my life. Rmbr there was one at our house in Chennai and P 'killed' it. For some reason I assumed that we would not face such problems in a city like London . Man, was I wrong. It seems all the houses here are troubled by these rodents. I saw one run into a hole in our living room and freaked out as usual. Later I had that hole and few other probable places fixed by a handyman. Last week P and I were watching a movie and we saw this tiny guy scurrying his way into the kitchen. Then we saw another one. And then another. Now, I am not sure if there are 3 mice or it was jus one supermouse making his presence in every room. So P and I rushed to the nearby shop and got a rat glue trap and some grain coated pellets. These devices had a warning printed that these would only help in getting rid of amateur rodents.

2 days later the glue trap lies unattended and the pellets have all been eaten. And the little fellow is still running around. Not an amateur, I am guessing.

2011-02-23T05:52:00.000-08:00

I was in a meeting with some UK Nationals today and this Indian [North Indian to be more specific] was talking about the Indian market. This person goes on to mention which are the Tier one cities in India and includes Chennai in the tier two list along with Bhuvaneshwar, Chandigarh and Cochin. I was like, what the hell? Since when did Chennai become a tier two city? It is a metropolitan city, damn it. And what is this with the North Indians, they seeem to think India ends with Maharashtra. To them the south is never of significance except when they want to holiday in the beaches. Chennai is one of the most important cities in India in my viewpoint and contributes tons to the Indian economy.

Ignorance about your own country's resources is really sad. And to pretend that it is not significant is sadder.

Saat Khoon Maaf

2011-02-20T01:45:00.000-08:00

I am thinking of the pain Ruskin Bond would have suffered seeing his story being destroyed like this.

2011-02-17T09:48:00.000-08:00

I am mighty irritated with everybody today. Some days are just not meant to be!

2011-02-15T06:14:00.000-08:00

Qs. What are the chances of someone catching you doing something really embarassing.
Ans- Plenty!

So I am at my office restroom admiring myself in the mirror. I am wearing these new boots which I am totally in love with. But the problem is, I have not seeen myself wearing them yet, coz we do not have a full length mirror at home. Sadly there is none at the office premises [Duh!]. The restroom is empty so I decide to jump and look at my boot's reflection in the mirror. Right at that moment this lady walks in..It was so bloody embarassing, I swear. I just smiled feebly at her and ran out of the room. If only I could disappear at will!

2011-02-08T05:42:00.000-08:00

Apparently I dream about eating. Or so it appears. Around 4 a.m last night, I heard P asking me if I was eating anything. I was in that sleep-dream-awake phase and knew that I had been chewing something in my sleep. But was really groggy to reply. So kept quiet. I heard him ask again and pushed him and off and mumbled no and went back to sleep. This morning he asked me if I remembered what happended. I said of course yes. He said he thought I was chewing on something. I was like, hello, what do you think I would be chewing at 4 in the night. And he says your hairband!

p.s- i dont chew my hairband, for the records

2011-02-02T07:15:00.000-08:00

127 Hours is truly one of the most inspiring movies I have seen.It is based on the real life story of Aron Ralston, a moutaineer whose hand gets caught between a boulder and a rock wall. He spends 5 days trying to free his hand off and finally when he resorts to the idea of death, he finds his inner resolve wake up and frees himself by amputating his hand off with a knife. And it doesnt end there. He needs to walk seventeen miles to reach his car and seek help. Finally he is airlifted to the hospital and gets treated.

James Franco has done an awesome job as Aron and the way he portrays his helplessness and strength is commendable. Certain scenes like the hand amputating scene etc.. make you a bit pukish, but the Director has all in all done it tastefully. The only thing I din like about the movie was the background score, which I felt, did not sync with the movie at all. The music played when James finally comes out of the cave made no sense.

Anyway how awesome is this guy, Aron? Cutting off your hand to defeat death might be the solution anyone in such a situation would resort to, but implementing it is a totally different thing. Wow, hats off to this guy.

This story somehow reminds me of this really heart-wrenching story I heard few years ago from a friend. Now, if you are really weak at heart, please stop reading. It was the last day of examinations at this school my friend was studying in. From the next day the school closed for 2 months of vacation. There was this little boy who was reported missing from school. I guess he was in the third standard and his parents looked for him in each and every part of the city. They assumed he must have been kidnapped coz the school authorities claimed that he had left the school after the exams got over. In the end, when the school reopened after 2 months, the boy was found dead in one of the classrooms on the top floor of the school. Apparently he had fallen asleep after the exam and the school watchman had not seen him and locked up the classroom door. 2 months. And no one had the sense to check the classrooms. It seems the school authorities were very sure he left the school so probably the parents din think of the possibility that their kid was very much alive in his own classroom. The kid had in desperation started eating his own clothes and shavings from the wooden benches. I feel the parents would have suffered lesser guilt had he been kidnapped and murdered later. RIP little guy.

2011-02-01T06:55:00.000-08:00

If I see the words 'we want a vibrant and diverse workforce' anywhere once again, I swear I'l travel up to the employer's office and bang his/ her head against the wall and ask him what exactly they mean by that. Why pretend to be all-accomodating, when you're obviously not? In the era of transparency, you only end up looking foolish making statements like this.

Ok I guess this rant wont make any sense to most of you there. Anyway lets move on to more juicy topics, such as bitch about the latest irritant in my life. Desis with fake British accent. This someone I know is from an interior part of India. Born and brought up there and been in London for approximately one year and ten months. But you should hear her talk. It is the fakest accent I have ever heard. Pathetic. And this someone can speak in normal English as well. That is, when none of the true Eglishmen are around, she speaks in normal english. I know the desis with fake accents have been done to death by humorists, but when you encounter someone in real life, its so shocking. And embarassing too.

2011-01-24T07:03:00.000-08:00

Did I tell you that we went on a vacation to Turkey. It was a fantastic trip and lasted a week. A week is short time to discover a country's beauty. Most people we met on the trip were backpacking for a month atleast. Wish we too had the time.

Ephesus was beautiful and we are still not able to be get over how skilled and talented people back in those times. We are talkin 150 AD mind it, there were no machines, no technology invented and everything made with bare hands. But one look at the architectural designs and you will not believe it. 50 feet high tombs and temples. Theaters with seating capacity of 24,000 people. Wonderful drainage systems. Well thought of roads built for business. Seriously, after seeing all this, I really wonder how much man has grown from what he was earlier. All we have invented seems so futile in comparison to what was made by these people with zero facilities.

Nature, nothing to beat it and Pammukale had us awestruck of course. The pure whiteness of the stones and the warm water found on top of a freezing mountain was a treat to the mind and body.

We visited almost 15 places in 7 days and obviously were pretty weary at the end of it. But totally worth it. We came back on monday early morning at 4 and spent the rest of the day sleeping.

On other news, I joined work here. It seems such a blessing after staying at home for 2 months. I promise not to crib about work anymore..ok atleast for the next one month :-)

2011-01-18T03:00:00.001-08:00

I remember my father being nice to everyone, irrespective of their status in the society. In fact, I don remember him distinguishing anyone based on where they worked or how much they made. A driver was treated with as much respect as a General Manager. I grew up not knowing otherwise. The only caution I administered was against overoptimism. Sometimes its simply not worth having principles. But I strive to behave like my father in most situations. I was told that in a foreign land, people may always not put forth their best behaviour and you cant afford to be overly sensitive. I prepared myself for it. But all preparation is not enough for real life. Coz it comes from quarters you least expect from. You are thrown off guard and struggle in your mind and heart on how to react. Should you become a mirror and ape the other person's actions or be yourself inspite of all that is thrown in your face? It is a challenge but at the end of it, I guess, you grow up.

2010-12-31T05:41:00.000-08:00

Wats with people posting all sentimental new year messages on facebook. i find it really dumb. I mean I wouldnt be able to write up a message which I would like my colleagues, family, friends, people i hate, people i wish to ignore, people i wish i hadnt added on my list to read. I saw this message which said- 'i had a bad year at work with bad colleagues but hope the new year will bring me something to look forward to.' Imagine how this person's colleagues [who are obviosuly on the friend list] would feel readin this.

2010-12-27T05:05:00.001-08:00

It is with a sinking feeling that you realise you are behaving more and more like your grandmother :-(

Wonder Years

2010-12-22T06:59:00.000-08:00

Was watching the Hardware Store episode from Wonder Years and it brought back memories of the time [wow i sound old] I used to work in my Uncle's firm. He was a Customs & Central Excise Lawyer and quite well known in the legal circle. But a man who lived by the old school of thought. I used to work there during first half of the day and then push off to college. Strangely, our college did not have any restrictions on what students should wear. It was upto your own choice. But since I had to leave to college after office work I was forced to wear white and black. He used to tell me that in order to feel like a Lawyer, you need to dress up in the Lawyer's colours. It used to bug me so much to go to college dressed in white and black when all my friends used to wear all colourful clothes. But the old man was really strict with me and din humour my pleas. He used to make me use a notebook and pen instead of the computer. He used to make me do research using books instead of using the online research tools which my friends who were doing similar work were using. I used to wonder why he tortured me so much. I was only a student and he should have surely understand how I felt. Now when I think about it, I wish I had a little more sense back then and understood him better instead.

2010-12-16T03:07:00.000-08:00

From what it appears, our neighbours upstairs are vacccuming, grinding on a stone grinder and bouncing a football all at the same time, wearing roller-skates. And this they seem to do the 'whole goddam day'. All the time. Except when the lady takes a break to answer nature's call. I can figure even that one out coz she seems to hate the bathroom door and bangs it everytime she opens/ closes it. Actually few days after I came to this house, I visited the lady upstairs. She was very sweet and helpful. She told me that both she and her husband are Lawyers which thrilled me. They have two little kids. One exactly 9 months older than the other. Can you imagine!! ANyway she told me that the kids have the tendency to make lot of noise and if I was disturbed I should let her know. One of these kids is an year old and the other two. So cute that they can break your heart. So like a big idiot I told her- of course they don disturb me, even if they did I wouldnt mind at all. But little did I know that the kids' parents would be running aroung the whole day around them. God! Now I cant even go and request them to lessen the noise coz I acted as if it were no big deal.

ok now i cant write more coz I think the lady is running around wearing stilettos.

2010-12-01T00:39:00.001-08:00

Was readin an article about the poor management of the tubes in London. It seems recently, one of the trains got stuck on the tracks due to ice formation and so the passengers were stranded in the freezing train for a couple of hours. The article goes on to describe the agony of the passengers and reads:

'One guy in his twenties had a massive argument on the phone with his girlfriend who thought he was lying about being stuck on the trains and other passengers offered to speak to her'

:D

2010-11-27T14:08:00.000-08:00

Give me some snow, I say. How long are you planning to make me wait?

2010-11-17T08:17:00.001-08:00

Spent 2 hours at Tesco. My mom is going to be so proud of me!

A favor

2010-11-16T00:46:00.000-08:00

If you have been readin this blog for sometime you would know how scared I am of ghosts. Its a perennial fear I have had and inspite of numerous steps I've taken to get rid of it, it hasnt worked. The best solution was keep off horror movies, programs or talks. But once in a while such a thing pops up and the fear seeps into my system again. My mom, sister and P have worked hard for me to get rid of this fear. P, in fact is constantly coming up with some method which would help me out. But it somehow doesnt go away.

Its not like I like this fear. I just hate it. One of the things I love is staying alone at home and doing watever I like the whole time. But that has never been possible. Somehow after 8 I cant stay alone. Once I decided to be really brave and stayed alone and went to sleep alone. of course with all the lights on. usually I have L come and stay with me in the night alone but she had some important exam and could not come over that particular night. So anyway I was fast asleep, or so I thought. suddenly in the middle of the night I woke up to find the room pitch dark. I literally screamed. But I was paralsyed with fear. I was sleeping in the living room that time. I somehow wanted to get out of the house. It was 3 in the morning mind it. But i was in my shorts and tshirt and could not get out in them. and i was too scared to go to the bedroom to change. thankfully there were some clothes drying in the balcony next to the living room, so i changed into them, took the keys and ran out of the door. I wanted to go to L's house which was the building right next to ours. But our main gate was locked. So i jumped the compound wall and went to L's place. And she is such a doll I tell you. Actually the power had gone in the whole area and she had been awake studyign for her examsn. as soon as the power went off she knew I would get scared and had almost come out to bring me to her house. I just ran into her arms and started crying. It might seem silly, but at that moment it was like a ghost was chasing me and I had found asylum. such a relief i tell u.

But now things are different. there is no L. P is leaving to Belguim for few days and I have to stay alone and am so bloody scared. Ok the reason I am writing all this to ask you all to help me out get rid of this fear. P is leaving next week so any ideas before that will be greatly appreciated. And pls pls no ghost jokes. they freak me out too.

2010-11-08T01:56:00.000-08:00

2 degrees is lot more than a Chennaite for 27 years can take. But we'l manage, wont we :)

2010-10-26T08:16:00.000-07:00

My dear Chennai,

I have known this for quite sometime but din have the heart to tell you. Now I have to. I am leaving you soon. I will be moving to a new city, exploring it and maybe fall in love with it someday. You are all I've known and it breaks my heart that I have to move to a new place now. People scoff at me for loving you so dearly. Oh Chennai is so hot, there are only three seaons- hot, hotter n hottest, do you hav any nice places to see around in Chennai? People in Chennai only speak Tamil, nobody knows English/ Hindi, The people in Chennai are so conservative, I heard the men in Chennai move around shirtless on the streets wearing only a dhoti?. All these are remarks I've heard time and again and have vehemently argued on your behalf. One word against you and my blood boils. I know your roads so well. Yes you are pretty big and i have not visited most parts of you. But still when I visit a new part of you, I am never scared. I know I am safe. The autowalas are rogues until you start talking to them. You learn a hell lot about political issues by just talking to them for 15 mins. And yes it is terribly hot, but do we mind? We just pick up our umbrellas and walk on. If it rains, yes we do have our umbrellas so we rejoice. Even if we are walking in knee deep water we rejoice, because its water. Water is the elixir of our lives in its truest sense. The sea, we take her for granted. We are reminded of her beauty only when we take our guests to visit her and hear her praises.

I can go on n on. You are my first love. But sometimes people need to move on. To come back and love more.

Love u,
A

Its my perception!

2010-10-19T22:37:00.000-07:00

Women chatting at office.

Woman 1: I had a fine evening, how was yours?
Woman 2: it was a disaster. My husband came home, ate his dinner in three minutes and fell asleep in two minutes. How was yours?
Woman 1: Oh it was amazing! My husband came home and took me out to a romantic dinner. After dinner we walked for an hour. When we came home he lit the candles around the house and afterwards we spoke for an hour. It was like a fairytale!

At the same time, their husbands are talking at work.

Husband 1: How was your evening?
Husband 2: Great. I came home, dinner was on the table, I ate and fell asleep. It was great! What about you?
Husband 1: It was horrible. I came home, there's no dinner because they cut the electricity because I hadn't paid the bill; so I had to take my wife out to dinner which was so expensive that I didn't have money left for a cab. We had to walk home which took an hour; and when we got home remember there was no electricity so I had to light candles all over the house! After all, I was so aggravated that I couldn't fall asleep and my wife was jabbering away for another hour!

2010-10-16T09:57:00.000-07:00

Its strange the way a change silently creeps up into your life. Very slowly n gradually. But at some point you will feel it hit your face. And at the most unexpected moment. Its that moment I dread.

Seriously??

2010-09-30T00:13:00.000-07:00

Some people freak me out. Seriously. Now there is this lady who has joined our firm two weeks ago. When I was introduced to her, she made some smart ass remark about my surname which by itself put me off. But I'm practising this new theory where I've decided not to judge people in the first instance. Anyway yesterday I had the opportunity to interact with this lady during lunch. It seems she recently got married and her husband works in one of our rival firms. Two mins into the conversation and she started complaining about her husband. He doesnt take me out, he doesnt give me time , this and that. This went on for forty five mins. And this is my second conversation with this lady, mind it.

After a point I couldnt take it anymore. I tried my best to steer the conversation to other topics she just dint budge. I gave up and made some excuse and left the place.

Ok, I am not judging. She has major problems with her marriage and all that is fine. But tellin all this to a total stranger? How weird is that?

I was reminded of Rachel talking about her relationship with people on the plane when she leaves for London to attend Ross's and Emily's wedding :-D

2010-09-28T10:57:00.000-07:00

WB is censoring FRIENDS dialogues and scenes! I was watching the one in which everybody starts thinkin Phoebe is the porn artist. And they were cutting off the word 'porn' from the dialogues. Do we have to watch FRIENDS like this?

Karapaan in the house

2010-09-24T11:01:00.000-07:00

Over Chat:

Me- Hey there is a cockroach flying around in the living room. We'l get lots of money
P- Wat?
Me- They say that if a cockroach flies around the house on a friday night, then Goddess Lakshmi comes to that house
P-Then get one here. We'l cage it and make it fly on fridays.

I did marry the right one!

2010-09-20T01:44:00.000-07:00

I was so thrilled to see that 'Adrian Mole- The Prostrate years' was on sale in Landmark and that too shelved under the 50% discount banner. I grabbed it and while billing it realised that the book was on a 15% discount only. Bloody cheaters. Though Landmark claims they have an upto 50% sale [with the 'upto' written in extremely small print], none of the books bore discounts more than 15-20%. Such liars.

Finished Adrian mole in like 12 hours and felt like kicking myself for readin it so fast :-(

2010-09-14T05:49:00.000-07:00

Cant believe its 5 years since I started practising Law. Its time to renew my bar council membership card, for crying out loud!

Becoming a Lawyer is one thing I have always felt proud about. Since I was 13 and acted as Portia in 'Merchant of Venice', I've wanted to become a Lawyer. And it stuck on to me and I really worked hard to get through the cruel exams, entrance tests to become a Lawyer. And here I am today! Congrats to me :)

2010-08-19T23:18:00.000-07:00

I really don get this. Person 1 who is Person 2's colleague, posts on Person 2's wall on FB asking how his day went. And Person 1 & 2 hold the highest position in the workplace. How dumb can they get???

2010-08-17T22:04:00.000-07:00

I am 876,268,633 seconds old!

2010-08-16T00:17:00.000-07:00

Go watch 'Peepli Live' if you have nothing to do. Actually go, even if you have something to do. Its very good.

On Mightymagic's request:

I guess by now everybody must have heard how great the movie is. For me, the best thing about the movie was the costumes. It was so dam realistic. I mean I literally felt like I was in one of those interior parts of Bihar for a while. The actors of course could not have been better chosen. Raghuvir Yaadav lives the role literally. the casual manner in which he asks his brother to commit suicide was amazing. Though it was a sad moment in the movie, the atrocious manner in which he approaches the solution was hilarious. This guy is really under rated. And Omkar Das as Natha is brilliant too. there is something special about theater artists who perform on- screen. They somehow beat the other actors hands down, however small their role is.

Nawazuddin Siddiqui needs special mention. His sincerity was so endearing.I really wish they hadnt ended his role midway.

Farmers committing suicide has been reported so many times that we have stopped thinking of it as a serious issue. But re-visiting this issue through this movie makes you feel so helpless.

2010-08-15T23:06:00.000-07:00

P visited Thames without me. waaaaaaaaaaaaaah :-(

2010-08-11T22:18:00.000-07:00

Loved this-

The past.....well, it's just like our Great-Aunt Laura, who cannot or will not perceive that though she is welcome, and though we adore her, yet now it is time to leave.
Piet Hein, poet and scientist

2010-08-03T02:07:00.000-07:00

Jhilmil asked my sister if mothers carried the female baby and fathers carried the male baby in their womb. This got me thinking. Imagine a world where either the man or woman would carry the child depending on the sex of the baby. I could ask my colleague-'so who is carrying the child' and if she already has a son and the again father is carrying I could say- sheesh thats too bad'. Men would have morning sickness, bloat, go on paternity leave etc.. Men and women would start understanding each other better. There might not be any incidence of female infanticide. This is under the assumption that men would start understanding the pains and pleasure of bearing a child and would protest again killing of the female child.

Life could have been made lot more interesting this way. Maybe the maker does not have a good sense of humour.

It would be nice to know the possibilities arising out of this. Do reply with ur comments :-)

2010-07-26T21:58:00.001-07:00

I think after a point you understand the pattern of your life. You have a period of boredom, then joy then overwhelming pain, then slow recovery then unbelievable joy and sometimes when you think hard, it could be peace. then again when u start thinking about a phase in detail, it takes the cue and changes. who sets the pattern? Do i do it unconsciously? How is that it is so predictable. And how is it that though I know what phase I await, I am still devastated or upbeat with as much intensity as I would if I had not known what was coming. In the end, the pattern does help me stay sane.

2010-07-22T22:17:00.000-07:00

'I Write Like' tells me that I write like James Joyce... buhahhaaaaaa

Interested? Check it out here- http://iwl.me/

2010-07-21T03:50:00.000-07:00

I strongly suspect my yoga instructor has been hired to kill me. Why else would he torture me so much? Can you believe I dragged myself out of bed at 6 today and went to the class, that too when it was pouring outside. Gosh, money does dictate my life!

2010-07-03T23:47:00.000-07:00

Does anyone else feel the tamil movie 'Madrasapatinam' looks like its an exact copy of 'Lagaan'? More work for us IP Lawyers I guess!

On other news, P has left for London and if things go well we might settle just there. Am not daring to hope even :p

2010-06-11T03:10:00.000-07:00

I had the most interesting morning today [given it is a Friday]. I had to buy mementos for some office work and so went to a nearby shop with my colleague. We had been referred to this place by someone. But when we got there was no shop that matched the description given to us. As we were walking down the corridor of the plaza [where this shop was supposed to be situated], a middle aged man appeared from one of the shops and asked us what we were looking for. When we mentioned mementos, he said- ‘you are in the best place in the world to order mementos’! We were a bit taken aback by his manner coz he said it like Rajnikanth says ‘Na Shivaji da’ in Shivaji. He sensed our reaction and immediately asked us if he could tell us a short story. Here it goes- ‘Once Pele was made to answer under oath in the Court. When the Judge asked Pele what position he played he said Center forward. Next the Judge asked him how well he played and Pele said he was the best in the world. Pele’s friend was in the Court watching the proceeding and later asked the otherwise humble Pele what made him answer in such a manner. Pele replied that he said so coz he was under oath!’ So this humble shopkeeper tells us his shop is the best place to get momentos coz he believes that his shop is the best in the world. Such people usually bug me, but this man said all this so passionately, that I found it endearing. And his stories got more n more interesting as we stepped into his shop. We almost forgot why we had stepped in, in the first place. We sure find interesting people in the most unexpected places!

2010-06-10T00:06:00.000-07:00

When we were 13, our science teacher sent the boys out of the class and had a teaching session for us girls alone. She told us all about menstruation, birds and bees. I was not embarrassed but irritated that this horror freak show was restricted for us girls. It freaked us out so much that L started crying. I remember asking her why she cried, later and she told me that she did not want a uterus!

I don blame the teacher, she explained all this in the best manner possible, but for us it was overwhelming to say the least. Of course, there were girls who knew about all this beforehand, but we never discussed all this with one another. I remembered my mom mentioning something about all this, but she din give me any great details [not wanting to scare me I guess].

The worst part was when the boys came back to join us for the next class and kept asking us what the private lessons were all about. Now in retrospect, I think, it would have helped a lot if the teacher had made the whole class listen to it.

2010-06-07T21:58:00.000-07:00

There is this person in our workplace who loves to see what other people are upto. On ordinary days he doesnt bug me much. But when I am in an irritated mood, I feel like turning to him and asking 'Dude whats ur prob'. My sister once told me- always speak the truth and say it sweetly. I am wondering if there is a sweet of way of saying everything. I mean if, for example, I want to ask this irritating person at office why he wants to peer over my comp screen, how shld I do it. I am sure if I say it sweetly, he will think I am easy n come n bug me more. I wish wikepedia had answers to such questions :D

2010-06-01T06:02:00.000-07:00

I can finally look at my face in the bathroom mirror! Yipee :) Three cheers for the Lasik technology!!!

2010-05-13T21:51:00.000-07:00

Today morning when our newspaper boy was travelling down from the 2nd floor in our apartment lift, the power went off and the lift got stuck. It seems as soon as the power went off, the boy exclaimed- 'aiyo fan off ayiduchu'[Oh the fan has stopped]:D

2010-05-10T05:22:00.001-07:00

My mom's msg to me- 'I am swinging on a swing, never thought I would be able to do it':-)

God sure tests our patience but sometimes I would really like to know- for how long?

2010-05-06T21:51:00.000-07:00

I did it! I finally DID it. I joined a dance class, to learn a dance form called Bachata :-p Remember I cant even get my hips and hands to move in the same direction. Its quite an understatement to say that I have two left feet. But when a colleague told me about this 2 week dance course, I somehow wanted to go there and get over this inhibition of mine. Of course, I pulled along a protesting P. To be fair he protested only little for a person who has no interest in such things. So last evening we both landed at this place along with 5 other friends of mine. To our utter shock the place was filled with 16-17 year olds. The ones who have completed their Board exams and are looking to chill out. We cut quite a sorry figure in our formal clothes holding bags which contained our tracks. We almost decided to back out when they announced that the class was about to begin. I din want to wait coz I knew I would change my mind if I waited any longer so went and joined the rest of the group. As usual i went and stood in the last row. But it made no difference coz the room was walled with mirrors. The instructor was a chirpy young lady who looked like she used the same lines over and over the whole week. She began the class with a basic step which involved all of us moving to our left side. And when the music began the whole class moved to the left except me. Of course, I moved to the right side. My excuse is that the mirrors confused me. Apparently the others were tall enough to watch the instructor directly instead of looking at the mirror. Anyway goof ups of this kind kept happening until we were told that we could finally dance with our partners. Automatically I moved towards P. But this bitch of a girl raced past me and caught hold of P. And he merely shrugged his shoulders. Logically I should have moved to the next nearest guy. But I was busy shooting angry looks at P and suddenly heard the instructor call me. Everybody had found a pair and I was left alone. So she called me to the front to dance with her! Horrors of horrors. The room started spinning around me. Btw if any one of you feel that I am exaggerating, you should come and watch me dance. I am hopeless. Anyway this instructor pulled me and put on the music. I had no other go. I started moving in the same direction as her and then remembered she was supposed to do the male part and so I should be moving in the opposite direction. By the time I got this right, the music got over. Ufff! Anyway this went on and on, but soon I began to enjoy myself and stopped thinking that the whole class was watching me. By the end of the class I was quite looking forward to the next session :-)

If I get through this, I should have one fear less on my list ;-)

2010-05-05T21:30:00.001-07:00

'Every man is a creature of the age in which he lives, and few are able to raise themselves above the ideas of the time'. -Voltaire, philosopher

2010-04-29T07:52:00.000-07:00

when Scott Adams says it, its funny. But when it actually happens, it is not :-(

2010-04-23T01:38:00.000-07:00

Today my sister msgd me saying that she watched my father's fav movie 'where eagles dare' on tv for the first time and loved it. It seems my father often spoke about it and raved about it. I felt sad that I din even get to know my father's fav movie. If only I knew..

2010-04-15T06:28:00.000-07:00

Last week I was reading 'Dork- The Incredible Adventures of Robin "Einstein" Varghese ' by the blogger Sidin Vadukut. I am a great fan of his blog and the book was pretty good in the beginning. Later it got very silly. I use the word silly here for the want of a better way to describe his writing. Actually I felt that Sidin wrote the first part and asked someone else to complete it. Cant believe I wasted time reading the book.

After looking for a DVD of Shawshank Redemption for a long time, I finally found a CD and watched it last friday night. The movie was very good, but I would still rate Green Mile above it.

Its so bloody hot in Chennai that you could get baked [or roasted if you are one those oily kinds :p] if you step out of your building. And its gonna get worse, we hear. I am sure we Chennaites would not suffer much in hell, considering how much we are programmed to endure on earth!

2010-03-30T04:06:00.000-07:00

Amitabh Bachchan has his son n daughter in law to write about, Sherlyn Chopra has her boobs n butt, Chinmayi has her dubbing sessions and finally me, what do I have to write about? Nothing.. the heat is very bad already and i cant imagine how May is going to be. I've started working in the litigation wing for sometime now and work is really good but hectic. Movies, of course, I cant stay away from them. Finished watching Seven pounds. Such a beautiful movie, I recommend that everybody watches it. Today over our morning coffee and newspaper readin session, i noticed this ugly ad for a movie named war of titans or somehting like that. it had a pic of several green snakes held in a person's hand.. Just as I was about the exclaim about whos ever goin to watch this movie based on this ad, P exclaimed that he has got to watch that movie. So much for a marriage :p

2010-03-17T05:59:00.001-07:00

Thou still unravish'd bride of quietness,
Thou foster-child of silence and slow time,
Sylvan historian, who canst thus express
A flowery tale more sweetly than our rhyme:
What leaf-fring'd legend haunt about thy shape
Of deities or mortals, or of both,
In Tempe or the dales of Arcady?
What men or gods are these? What maidens loth?
What mad pursuit? What struggle to escape?
What pipes and timbrels? What wild ecstasy?

Heard melodies are sweet, but those unheard
Are sweeter: therefore, ye soft pipes, play on;
Not to the sensual ear, but, more endear'd,
Pipe to the spirit ditties of no tone:
Fair youth, beneath the trees, thou canst not leave
Thy song, nor ever can those trees be bare;
Bold lover, never, never canst thou kiss,
Though winning near the goal - yet, do not grieve;
She cannot fade, though thou hast not thy bliss,
For ever wilt thou love, and she be fair!

Ah, happy, happy boughs! that cannot shed
Your leaves, nor ever bid the spring adieu;
And, happy melodist, unwearied,
For ever piping songs for ever new;
More happy love! more happy, happy love!
For ever warm and still to be enjoy'd,
For ever panting, and for ever young;
All breathing human passion far above,
That leaves a heart high-sorrowful and cloy'd,
A burning forehead, and a parching tongue.

Who are these coming to the sacrifice?
To what green altar, O mysterious priest,
Lead'st thou that heifer lowing at the skies,
And all her silken flanks with garlands drest?
What little town by river or sea shore,
Or mountain-built with peaceful citadel,
Is emptied of this folk, this pious morn?
And, little town, thy streets for evermore
Will silent be; and not a soul to tell
Why thou art desolate, can e'er return.

O Attic shape! Fair attitude! with brede
Of marble men and maidens overwrought,
With forest branches and the trodden weed;
Thou, silent form, dost tease us out of thought
As doth eternity: Cold Pastoral!
When old age shall this generation waste,
Thou shalt remain, in midst of other woe
Than ours, a friend to man, to whom thou say'st,
"Beauty is truth, truth beauty," - that is all
Ye know on earth, and all ye need to know.

2010-03-16T21:54:00.000-07:00

Suddenly the sorry state of my blog has improved. Yes there are more than 2 comments on my last post and however sad that sounds, that makes me mighty happy :D

Ystd was P's bday and we had major fun the whole day lazing arnd, shoppin, taking a short nap and then dinner at my mom's place. Super cool day I would say.

Started watching Seven Pounds on Monday night. But could not complete it. But till what I saw, it was beautiful.

Ok got to go now. Ciao ppl. And pls do keep visiting, if not anything, it makes my day :)

2010-03-03T23:16:00.000-08:00

According to me the only entity liable to be punished is the Sun Network for broadcasting the video of the Nithyanandan fellow continously on air. If they claim to be moral guardians of the State, then pray what happens to those young kids who watch this video on the channel?

2010-03-01T21:43:00.000-08:00

If people are good only because they fear punishment, and hope for reward, then we are a sorry lot indeed. -Albert Einstein

2010-02-19T02:45:00.001-08:00

Now why should'nt Rakhi Sawant get married to Rahul Mahajan?

2010-02-14T22:09:00.000-08:00

P got me a lovely blouse and presented it to me at 12 in the night. He is such a sweetheart I tell you. Since we were with the family the whole day, we decided to take a short romantic walk in one of those lonely streets in Bangalore. Cant believe its 2 years since we met. Love you P!

The other love of my life was quite occupied this time to express her love. But love her like crazy all the same.

Btw have any of you dared to watch this show named Emotional Athyachaar on NDTV Imagine [I am not entirely sure]. Oh God, its horrible to say the least. I really don see the point. Whats the producer's excuse for such a show, I really want to know.

2010-02-10T21:23:00.000-08:00

What would you do if there were only 1411 homo sapiens left on earth? [P's question to me :p]

2010-02-09T05:26:00.000-08:00

Yesterday, P got up in the middle of the night and started dialing a number and calling somebody. I was extremely sleepy but managed to ask whom he was calling so late in the night. He din reply and fell asleep. I ask him this morning and he says he doesnt know. And there is some arbit number dialled from his phone. Work pressure does wonders!

2010-02-08T21:32:00.000-08:00

'Ishqiya' is beautiful. I never thought I could develop a crush on an aging man. But Naseerudin Shah has changed it for me. His dark gleaming eyes which smile when he smiles.. oh! And the scene where he leaves that photo on the table of the chaai shop was so touching. When Arshad n Vidhya Balan make out, I was almost in tears. Want to watch it again for the brilliance of the actors and of course the songs.

2010-02-05T03:21:00.000-08:00

Had the best afternoon today.. of course started with the yummy lunch at home consisting of mor kozhambu, aloo curry, keerai [not a big fan of this but it helps the skin]and rasagullas for dessert.Then was waiting for an auto to take me to the patent office. This woman auto driver came along and she was the most cheerful auto driver I have ever seen. When asked how much she was going to charge for the journey, she replied, whatever u think right. And she drove so well... I almost hugged her in pride. Then i went to the patent office where I met this lady who works in the cash Dept. She is an ex- football player [though doesnt look like one] and has formed a team of little boys who are school dropouts and also interested in football. She is meeting the Sports Academy officials to get them a chance to play at some competition and also secure admission in the Sports Academy. It was amazing that this lady, who barely makes both ends meet with her salary, was taking so much effort to improve the lives of the ppl arnd her. Really amazing.

2010-02-04T01:37:00.000-08:00

Got a call from Limelite today. They were conducting some customer survey and wanted to ask me few questions. I was sleepy at work so said 'sure why not'.
Limelite Surveyor: Pls rate between the range of 1-5 with 5 being the best. Service?
Me: hmm 3
LS: Reception at parlour
Me: hmm 3 [they gave me water n asked if i wanted juice / coffee so that gives them a 3]
LS: Hygiene
Me: 2 [the bathroom was dirty]
LS: Customer Counseling
ME: 2 [there wasnt any]
LS: Would you recommend us to your friends
Me: No
LS: So pls tell us what you think of our service Maam

At this point I was flabbergasted. How dumb can these ppl get?

2010-02-02T21:57:00.001-08:00

Aisi ulji nazar unse hatt ti nahi
Daant se reshmi dor katt ti nahi
Umar kab ki baras ke safaid ho gayi
Kaari badari jawani ki chatt ti nahi
Walla ye dhadkan bhadne lagi hai
Chehre ki rangat udne lagi hai
Darr lagta hai tanha sone mein ji
Dil to bachcha hai ji
Dil to bachcha hai ji
Thoda kaccha hai ji
Haan dil to baccha hai ji
Aisi ulji nazar unse hatt ti nahi
Daant se reshmi dor katt ti nahi
Umar kab ki baras ke safaid ho gayi
Kaari badari jawani ki chatt ti nahi
Ra ra ra ..