Vidya's Blog

My Laundry fiascos

2008-11-14T06:16:00.003+05:30

I was a typical kid brought up in C(India). I have never washed clothes, folded or ironed clothes. When I came to the states, I had enough clothes for the first two weeks so I didnt have to go to the laundry room. And then.. the nightmare started.. I have a bunch of clothes all piled in a corner of the room. I had to take them to the laundry room to do my laundry.. huh.. what.. I thought you had it at home.. Ya right welcome to the world of apartments and coin laundry.

I ask my roommate who is the "most " helpful person to guide me.. she says.. " The machine is on the top floor of this building. go and do your laundry there. Take your clothese in your stroller if you want." I gather my clothes and go up to the laundry room. Now I load my clothes into a machine that is empty. Now what do I do next?

It then dawns on me that I need the detergent.. So I rush down stairs and borrow laundry detergent from my friend. Now the machine is all loaded and everything. I click the start button but the laundry machine does not start.. I wonder why.. I turn the knob, adjust the clothes inside the washer. i try everything. Nothing seems to help. I see a $ sign.. Now that means money.. But I never used to see Amma pay money for laundry .. So whats with this machine. luckily a lady walks in with a pile of clothes to launder. I ask her, innocently, what do I need to do? She says I need to put in coins so the machine would start. I again go back to my room and grab the cash and complete my laundry.

When the clothes come out of the dryer.. they are all dyed in a shade of blue.. I wonder why...........

Going to USA for a Vacation!!!

2008-06-17T23:29:00.003+05:30

When I was a kid, we used to go from C(India) to J(India)( to my Aunt's place) for vacation. Then came a time when my Aunt used to come down to India for vacation from the US of A. Now, people from India are coming to US of A for a vacation!!!

Times have changed and very quickly at that ..

Why?

2008-02-26T06:40:00.000+05:30

You make a lot of choices in life. But it is only a few that makes you ask yourself, "Why?"

Click! If you are Sick....

2007-10-16T20:44:00.000+05:30

What has the IT done to us? We can now go online to find a doctor in the locality, which is good. But what these guys are proposing is just attrocious.. The patients can now enter their symptoms and register the call and doctors would repond via email.. Next step ? Streaming video, so that the doctor may see your symptoms live/ recorded and prescribe medicines..

Innum konjam naal la doctors e irukka poradhu illai.. ellam robots than... hmm.. I just hope I dont see that day..

2007-04-18T21:22:00.000+05:30

Akku pore - Meaning.. Miscellaneous

The other day when I was travelling with my friend on a bus. My friend sat next to a hugh black lady who was wearing a fur jacket with a fur hood and had covered herself up from head to toe with it.. I was just thinking how warm she must be feeling when suddenly my friend says, "Etho Karadi pakathila ukandha madiri irukku' and I burst out laughing...

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I always wondered why people here wore very little clothes in summer.. I now kind of know.. wanna know why? Well I think that they are tired of wearing so much clothing that they want to wear as little of it as possible :) :)

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America here I come...

2007-03-04T06:35:00.000+05:30

I walk out of the Airport, with a light fleace jacket, my hands tucked into my pocket and head held high up in the air.. V says it is gonna be a cold outside. But I look through the glass windows to see a clear star studded night sky.. back home.. this meant that the weather would be pleasant..... but not here... I step out and the cold wind hits me like a knife through soft butter, I open my mouth to say something to my husband, and I see white snakes spewing out of my mouth.. I am wondering.. whats wrong with me? whats happening? Is my stomach on fire or something? My hands go numb and my ears start to get blocked. I hurry towards the car. But a brave facade..when my husband asks are u feeling cold? I say "No.. not at all"

We then hit the road and my husband manuvers the car out of the parking lot. Until he hits a stop sign I dont realize whats happening coz I am frozen and all I can think of is how cold it is outside...I start calling ppl back home saying that I have arrived and when they ask me where I am I say " I am on my way home but V seems to be driving on the wrong side of the road!!"well road la than apadi na.. they walk like that on the pavement too.. I almost created a pile up by walking on the wrong side on the pavement..Oh. how many times have I stood on the wrong side of the road for the bus and wondered why cars were going on the wrong side of the road...

And then Snow arrives.. it was a Monday morning.. and I had to go to work..It has started as rain the previous evening.. here they call it freezing rain..I woke up around 6 in the morning I see the roof tops being covered with some white powdery stuff.. It looks so nice.. and the snow is falling from the heaven above like small cotton balls floating in air..it was so pretty to watch it.. i spent close to an hour in front of the window watching the snow fall down.. and then I had to go out... :( Outside is a whole different story. The snow is like crystalline rain. It is white, slippery and slushy..and it is cold.. a combination that will make anyone hate snow..

I had a tough time getting used to the weather.. It still is tough.. but when u dont have a choice you get used it, now dont you..If you ask me if I like America.. I would give u a very polished reply..." it is nice" .....

Well it is a different experience.............

Back .. with a Bang?

2006-12-28T02:10:00.000+05:30

Lots of things happening and lots of things not happening.. So it took a while for me to settle down.. I am now in a new country, a new place, with new ppl, a new house , a new job and a brand new husband :) So u can see why there I went missing for sometime now.. :) ..

But I am back now.. and will start posting soon.......

Return(ed) Gift..

2006-10-29T19:51:00.000+05:30

I went to this family function sometime back and I came back with a stainless steel plate that had a label that said that it cost Rs. 8.. Like this there are numerous plastic and brass figurines of Gods, candle stand, cups or a blouse bit.

Now I dont believe in giving gifts unless it is to a loved one .. but a return gift just does not make sense to me at all.. Okay I can understand if u gift something to a person who has invited you to an ocassion thinking that the gift would be useful to them. But what is the reason behind a Return gift.

Okay lets keep aside the reason for returning gifts. Lets focus on the gifts first.

1. A Stainless Steel plate - Useful in the kitchen.V's opinion - I like things as sets and this one off thing is reallly odd...
2. Brass and Plastic Figurines of God - Show pieces in our showcase or can be placed in the Pooja room.. V's opinion - one is good.. but over a period of time they accumulate
3.Blouse Bits - Can be stitched as a blouse for a sari/ used as cloth for other such clothingV's Opinion - I hardly find people using these in a fashion conscious matching blouse society.. It is almost always recycled.....

Next question .. what do you do with these gifts..

1. Use them - well that was the purpose of the gift but this hardly happens

2. Return them - this is hardly done.. often considered rude.. keep it in the house whether u like it or not..

3. Recycle them - this is the most common method used .. People wait for occasions to recycle gifts.. But then u must be very careful to remember who gave u what and when coz sometimes in a conversation they might probe on the whereabouts of their gift and also be careful not to unknowingly return the gift back to the gifter..

4. Throw them - this cannot be done.. what ever it is they have also spent money buying these gifts....

I dont know why we must give a return gift and why people expect it.. not only expect it but compare their gifts..but then how else do u display your wealth and buying power and ur generosity...

Scratching my head!!!

2006-10-25T22:01:00.000+05:30

Sometimes you feel the whole world is against you, that nothing seems to go the way you want it to go. that the sun rises only in te east and sets only in the west and not the other way around..

Hmm I was just thinking.. is it us who made the wrong choice and decision or is it that we are looking in the wrong direction and complaing that things are not going the way they must go?

It can be either or both the above... Sometimes we make the wrong choices and sometimes we are just off the target and wonder why things are not happening.. But how do we find out if what we are doing is right?

My Response

2006-08-31T21:44:00.000+05:30

Can we recreate Tirupathi?

There can be no two exactly alike things on earth. So a replica will be a replica and I think you would agree with me. But the question is "Will there be the same positive energy seen at the replicas???"

I believe that the energy that we feel is prevalent all around us. It is just that we want to associate it to one place and one idol. If u look at it - a Dharshan at Tirupathi and Dharshan at T.Nagar( the Venkatachalapathi temple here) is the same.. (albiet more peaceful here as there is lesser crowd)

If you ask me, to recreate something like the Tirupathi experience is impossible for the experience is not just about the deity like Gils pointed out but the entire trip across seven hills, the Ram Bhagicha, the never ending queue, the sea of tonsured humanity, the telugu characters( as Vivek says "jelebi ya pitchu pota maadiri)and the jaragandis.

But to associate the energy that u feel at tirupathi is possible coz that is the energy thatyou feel when you are around the idol. To me I can feel the same energy when I visit the local Goddess' temple here.. So, does that mean that it is the deity that exudes the energy? No, it is my mind that associated such energy..

So now it is upto you to think and decide if there will be that "positive energy" at replicas.

Replica of Tirupathi

2006-08-07T20:16:00.000+05:30

Read this article....

http://www.mumbaimirror.com/nmirror/mmpaper.asp?sectid=4&articleid=85200622124046885200622122315

It is about building replicas of Tirupathi in various cities..
My Question : "Will there be the same positive energy seen at the replicas???"

PS: I will write about what I think after I hear what u have to say to this.

Food for Thought

2006-08-02T11:46:00.000+05:30

Life is about choices where somebody else chooses for u and u just accept it. The best part is that u r fooled into believing that you made the choices....
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Happiness is not something u get when u have achieved one level but what u get when u learn to accept what life has to offer to u...
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I know really morbid thoughts .. I am back.. Will get back with a nice and lively post... Until then...

Attachment...

2006-06-19T15:02:00.000+05:30

Since I have joined work, I have changed about 8 workstations/locations. But, it was only the last two shifts that I was a little sad about. Why is it that u get attached to a machine. Isnt a machine , well, just a machine? Everyone of them is identical , at least in office.. It has a dabba monitor, a CPU tower and a Internet Keyboard(Only in name .. there isnt any special button on it tho) and the configuration is the same...I dont know if it is the machine or the place and the people around u that makes the shift painful? . Even if the same people move with u to a different location, u still complain that ur old machine was better.

Machines, although a big bundle of wires, plastic and metal, are different . Some are slow, some are fast, some are dark(Black) while some others are fair(White). U r used to them, their little idiosyncracies. Like my keyboard had a problem with the control key.. and u know how it is if the control key does not work and that too for a s/w engineer..:D

I have often heard friends say, " hey my old machine was not like this. It was so sweet." Why a friend, my own old machine was damn slow. when I say damn slow I really mean slow. To open a word document it would take 2 minutes.. ( Well I got bored one day and timed it) But I still like that machine... why because it was slow.. I would just start an application and go for tea or go to my neighbour's desk for a chat and come back :)... But the new one was faster so that luxury is no longer there.. But yes this has its own advantages.. Its atleast faster...

Okay, I Know, You are wondering what I am trying to get at. Well, what I am trying to say is that we get attached to even inaminate things .. which seems very natural. This attachment to material things happens almost automatically. It isnt good but thats how the mind is .. it loves to get attached to "material things".

The Gita will tell u "Do not get attached to material things.. they will give u momentary happiness but u will never be able to get the complete eternal bliss that every person is looking for". But do u think that is possible?

A friend, Philosopher and Guide....Alan Sir

2006-06-13T14:08:00.000+05:30

It is not often that you get a teacher who not just teaches but also guides you. Mr.A was one such man and whom the class is always indebted to. Alan, as he was fondly called, took classes for us from the fourth semester and right through to the eigth. We had so much fun in his classes. From being a timid teacher, talking to the blackboard, he became our guide and a dependable friend.

Alan Sir, you have been our inspiration, our teacher, our friend , our philosopher and guide. I thank you sir for all that you have contributed to my life.

Happy Birthday Alan Sir...

2006-06-12T14:32:00.000+05:30

Who/What is God?

Slushy Float

2006-05-29T18:52:00.000+05:30

A friend of mine ordered "Slush", Black current "Slush" at that. It is made of crushed ice and syrup. My friend had just one sip and said it "sorry boss, I cannot have this.. its awful"..

We felt sorry for the guy and asked him to order something else. This time around he ordered "Float" , Orange "Float" at that. Now u can guess what that is... he he .. It was Orange "Slush" with Ice cream on it..

Poor guy.... u shud have seen the look on his face. Like a sad little puppy :) .. The entire gang started laughing and only stopped when we all went back home :)

Gold or Golden....

2006-05-12T13:38:00.000+05:30

Did u see the rate of gold in the market? My God... Its Rs.967 per gram of gold. It has doubled in just 6 months. And thats not it.. it seems to be rising as fast as the heat in Chennai and predicitons are that it will reach as high as Rs.1500..:O

Okay now let me come to the most important questions. What is it about ornament gold that makes it so valuable. Why is it that people attach so much importance to gold. Agreed that it is the most malleable and ductile metal. Agreed that it is inert to most chemicals. But that does not make it so precious or does it..

Now what can we do about the price rise.... Well because of the price rise and the forecast people are buying more gold saying it is an investment. I think we shud boycott gold for sometime.. There are other metals too, that look good on jewellery..

Now dont get me wrong... I am just thinking aloud... wondering if we shud buy gold at all......

A Star Wish..

2006-05-07T12:20:00.000+05:30

Star light Star Bright
The first star I see tonite
I wish I may, I wish I might
Get my wish true tonite

Today after a long long time I saw the first star in the sky and immediately I closed my eyes and made a wish and when u open ur eyes u must look at a lucky person.. I was on the road so it was the person in front of me.

I dont believe in it now but its something that has stuck on from when I was a child. Its a superstition, yes. Just like children believe that there is a tooth fairy who gives us money in exchange for our teeth. I knew little boys who tried to pull out their teeth to get more money. But all this is fun. U do eventually understand that none of this is true and yet u believe. Why is that? I dont know for sure

Perhaps something real good happened when I wished for the first time or maybe I just hope that it may happen soon. What ever the reason, at that point, for one instant, when I wish, I truly believe that what I wish for will come true....

Giving brings Happiness

2006-05-04T18:11:00.000+05:30

Until now, I have never felt happy about giving anything coz when I give, it will ususally be something I cherish and I part with it... My dad always says, "Giving brings more happiness" but I always refuse to even give it a thought. Does it even make sense.. giving.. and bring happiness? definitely not. How can you be happy if u part with something that u cherish or buy something that u think.. I repeat think will make another person happy.Even if it is not something that is mine, nothing really gave me pleasure coz when I bought a gift, I'd buy something that none of us had and that would make me more unhappy..

But, recently, I gave a gift to a very close friend of mine. The happiness on his face when he got it, well .. I have no words to explain that. I felt happy too.. I felt like I had touched somebody's heart for the first time. Then i understood what Appa meant by, "Giving brings more happiness"

But there is just one thing I noted. It is not what you give that matters, it is the feeling with which you give it that matters. This time I wanted to give this present to him and boy, I have never been happier in my life about giving gifts to people. I guess I have grown up..... ;)

Humor....

2006-04-25T15:12:00.000+05:30

It is not often that I post something that I have read. But here is something that made me laugh real hard.. good one :)

Read it patiently….amazingly comical By Dave Barry... humour writer... Pulitzer Prize winner too I think...

So I was at this party, and I wound up at a table where three attractivesingle women were complaining about - Surprise! - men. Specifically,they were complaining about the pickup lines that had been used on themin a bar a few nights earlier.

One woman said: ''This guy comes up to me and says, 'Are you a teacher?'I mean, is that supposed to be romantic?''All three women rolled all six of their eyes.

Another one of them said: ''This guy says to me, 'I've been looking atyou all night!' So I go, 'Hel-LO, we just GOT here.'''

At this point all three women - and I want to stress that these areintelligent, nice women - were laughing. Not me. I was feeling bad for the guys.

I realize that there are certain hardships that only females mustendure, such as childbirth, waiting in lines for public-restroom stalls,and a crippling, psychotic obsession with shoe color. Also, females tend to reach emotional maturity very quickly, so that by age 7 they are no longer capable of seeing the humor in loud inadvertent public blasts of flatulence, whereas males can continue to derive vast enjoyment from this well into their 80s.

So I grant that it is not easy being a female. But I contend that naturehas given males the heaviest burden of all: the burden of always having to Make the First Move, and thereby risk getting Shot Down. I don't knowWHY males get stuck with this burden, but it's true throughout the animal kingdom. If you watch the nature shows on the Discovery Channel, you'll note that whatever species they are talking about - birds, crabs,spiders, clams - it is ALWAYS the male who has to take the initiative. It's always the male bird who does the courting dance, making a totalmoron of himself, while the female bird just stands there, lookingaloof, thinking about what she's going to tell her girlfriends. (''And then he hopped around on one foot! Like I'm supposed to be impressed by THAT!'').

Male insects have it the worst. The Discovery Channel announcer is always saying things like: "After the mating, the female mantis bitesoff the male mantis' head, and then she and her girlfriend mantises use it to play a game that looks a lot like Skee Ball.''

Because I live in Florida, my patio is basically a giant singles bar for lizards. On any given day during mating season, I'll see dozens of male lizards out there making their most suave lizard move, which consists of inflating and deflating a red pouch under their chins. They seem to think that female lizards really go for a guy with a big chin pouch, but I have never once, in 14 years of close observation, seen a female respond. They just squat there looking bored, while all around them males are blinking on and off like defective warning lights.

Every now and then you'll see an offbeat TV news story about some animal, usually a moose, that has for some reason fallen in love with, and decided to relentlessly court, something totally inappropriate, suchas a lawn tractor. This animal is ALWAYS a male. On the TV, they show ithanging around the lawn tractor with a big, sad, moony look, totallysmitten, while the lawn tractor cruelly ignores it.

My point here is that, in matters of the heart, males have the brains of a walnut. No, wait! That is not my point. My point is that perhaps you women could cut us males a little bit of slack in the move-making process, because we are under a lot of stress. I vividly remember when Iwas in 10th grade, and I wanted to call a girl named Patty and ask herto a dance, and before I picked up the phone, I spent maybe 28 hoursrehearsing exactly what I was going to say. So when I actually made thecall, I was pretty smooth.

''Hello, Dance?'' I said. ''This is Patty. Do you want to go to the Davewith me?''

Fortunately Patty grasped the basic thrust of my gist and agreed to goto the dance. This was a good thing, because if she had shot me down, Iwould have been so humiliated that I would have never have been able togo back to school. I would have dropped out of 10th grade and lied aboutmy age and joined the U.S. armed forces, and as a direct result theRussians would have won the Cold War.

That is the awesome power that you women have over us men. I hope you understand this, and the next time a guy walks up and uses some incredibly lame, boneheaded line on you, I hope that, instead of laughing at him, you will remember that he is under the intense pressure of wanting to impress you enough so that you might want to get to know him better and maybe eventually, perhaps within the next 15 minutes, marry him, thereby enabling the survival of the human race, which believe me is the only thing that we males are truly concerned about.

In conclusion, let me just say to all females everywhere, on behalf of all males everywhere, that you are very beautiful and your eyes are like two shining stars, unless you're a female fly, in which case your eyes are more like 2,038 shining stars. So please give us a chance. And if you're not interested, could you introduce us to your lawn tractor?

Poindi, Potche, Its Gone

2006-04-07T21:05:00.000+05:30

We had just delivered the code to the clients and now, the system is in the testing phase. Now our Client comes to us with a bug reported by the QA group. She asks us if this was by design meant to be the way it is or was it a pre-existing issue. We tell her that this feature existed in production, but only under one particular condition - for a case where multiple components were used. When used as a single component, the bug isnt evident. Now, that we have enhanced a feature, it doesnt work for any component.. So the client aptly summarized the situation - 'You have made the system consistent by making it not to work for all the features.'

94444 44414 & 28999599

2006-04-03T16:49:00.000+05:30

Have you noticed the way people spell out the phone numbers? I was just thinking about how they spell out er.. read these out. Each person has a different way of doing it. Now, isnt that confusing?

You are used to a certain way of reading the telephone number and suddenly, somebody calls you and adds a different punctuation and reads the number to you in a completley new way. Would you understand it? Well for me, I kinda get dis-oriented for a while..I guess my brain is tuned to look at the phone numbers in a certain way and a new way is well, new.....

Okay let us take the example of this cell phone number 94444 44414 ( I do not know whose number this is but it just caught my fancy ) and some of the ways or saying it..

Person 1 : 94(Ninety four) 44(fourty four) 44(fourty four) 44(fourty four) 14(fourteen)
Person 2 : 9(Nine) 444(triple four) 444(triple four) 414(four one four)
Person 3 : 94(Nine four) 444(triple four) 444(triple four) 14(One four)
Person 4 : 9(Nine) 44(double four) 44(double four) 44(double four) (That is three double fours.. this is for extra clarity that people say ) 414(four one four)
Person 5 : 9(Nine) 444(triple four) 4(four) 444(triple four) 14(One four)

When it comes to landlines numbers, it is more fun.. Say you have a number 28999599. The possiblities are little less, I know, but I have heard the weirdest possible ones in these eight digits. Not just the punctuation that differs but also the language.. and if u r someone like me(only the English!)..then man that is surely gonna drive you nuts. Okay so here are some ways of spelling it out

Person 1 : 2(Two) 899(Eight Nine Nine) 95(Nine Five) 99(Nine Nine)
Person 2 : 28(Two Eight) 999(triple Nine) 5(Five) 99 ( double Nine)
Person 3 : 28(iravathi yetu) 99(tonutri onbadhu) 95 (tonutri anju) 99(tonutri onbadhu) (same as Person 2 but in tamil tho!!!)
Person 4: (I term this to be the best I have heard so far..)
rendu kodi, enbathi onbadhu lashathi, tonutri onbadhu aayirathi, ainootri tonutri onbadhu

Oh my God! the number of combination!!!! I am not putting them all down...no no...that would take me ages...

Well, I understand that each person is unique and has a unique way of "looking" at things. But, just one question.. Shouldnt we have one standard way of spelling..er.. reading phone numbers?wouldnt that make lives of people like me easier??

Disclaimer : All the numbers mentioned above are numbers that caught my fancy and any resemblence to an existing landline or cell phone is a mere coincidence.

Raatri Neram

2006-03-31T17:42:00.000+05:30

Why do I like the night better than the day .. Well I dont know.. It starts with dusk I guess, the romance, and moves on slowly into the night as well. I remember the days when, as a child, I used to watch the sun dip and go back home to sit down and do my home work. I used to try and finish all my homework quickly so that I could go to the terrace and look at the deep, dark, mysterious sky.

Oh! how many tales I have spun under her. Sometimes watching a shooting star, I would think that there was a fight amonst the stars or look for patterns in the sky and make stories out of them. I loved to spot the constellations and the planets (Jupitor and Mars thats all I could see). All of a sudden a twinkling star like object would appear from the South western part of the sky and I would conjure up an image of aliens invading earth. Whereas it would only be an aeroplane in the night sky. Sometimes I would wave at it and say "Bye Bye" to the people flying ..

I loved the sound of crickets.. I call it the "Sound of Night". The uncountable stars. I have tried to count them but then I lost count so many times that I gave up.. Maybe someday I must try to count them :)( dont laugh... but this is a chinna periya aasai). In the darkness u can be all u want - sing, dance and even act like u r the queen. Sometimes my grandpa used to come with me to the terrace and he would tell me tales from the Epic. I would be transported to that period, to the times where Krishna plays with gopikas, to the times where Rama breaks the bow and marries Sita, to the times when the rakshasas throw arrows from the sky while Rama and Lakshmana stand guard.

I wonder how many kids do all this now. The pressure on Students to perform well and parents wanting them to study all the time, plus the multi various distractions in the form of computer, TV , video games and now the latest distraction the iPOD is taking kids away from the wonders of Nature and the wonderful stimulation that it is to the human brain.

I miss it now.. I dont go to the terrace as often as I would like to but when I go I really do enjoy it. It is Nature and I love every part of her.

PS: There is no focus to this post.. I know.. but I guess u can take quite a few things out of it....

Obit

2006-03-22T17:21:00.000+05:30

Sunday was a very very sad day for me. How can people be so heartless and they say they did it because she is causing them a lot of problems.. How? I ask. What did she do?

For those who are wondering what I am freting about - well my complex people cut down a young rain tree. I wrote about her last year. And now, when I was eagarly waiting for her first flower, these blasted people cut her down.. I could not do anything. I was a mere spectator as the wood cutter pluged his axe into her and cut right through her. She fell down with a great thud and that was the end of her. Leaves, until then green and gay were now drooping and dead.

Hmm.. I will miss her. Good Bye, Oh Tree! I will plant another one in your memory.

Bliss

2006-03-16T18:22:00.000+05:30

Bhoomi oru veenai Adhai Kaatrin kaigal meetume
Ketkum oli ellam - Sa Re Ga Ma Pa Da Ni Sa Re

(The Earth is like the Venna and the wind is the artist playing it

All the sounds that I hear is Sa Re Ga Ma Pa Da Ni Sa Re

PS: Pathetic translation I know ...n e wayz)

What beautiful lyrics.. I heard this song after a really really long time and I was just looking around to see the trees - Happy and fresh in varied shades of light green and full of new blooms.. A light breeze blowing and the trees swaying in the breeze.. It is magical to watch how the trees too seem mesmerized by the music that the wind creates and were swaying to the music. I tried to listen harder and viola! I could hear it too.. the Sound of Music!!! A moment of absolute bliss and the day begun with a very sweet note!

My fav Rain Tree

2006-03-13T20:09:00.000+05:30

We had a hugh rain tree in our school, around which a stage was built. Each morning, we would all assemble in front of that stage for our assembly under the shade of that giant Rain tree. It was, in fact, two trees entwined as one.. I have had so many cherished memories under those twin giants.

The trees were home to a number of birds and animals. As a child I was fascinated by these winged wonders of Nature. It was home to the green parrots, the white owl -which lived in one particular hollow on a very high branch and looked irritated during the asembly as if being woken up from deep slumber. Then there was the Kite - a large one which had a nest on the highest branch on the tree. It also housed a number of squirrels, chamelions and a number of unnamed (er.. whose names I dont know!) reptiles.

Every morning, during the assembly, I used to fold my hands together in a "Namaste" and look up at the tree while others drooned the morning prayers. I particularly loved to watch the old owl(old coz it was white.. maybe I am wrong.. maybe it was an albino.. I believe albinos exist in every species). I loved to watch its expressions, the occasional hoot that I used to hear, the miffed look.. Somethings can never be put in words. It was a very special bird.. cute and sweet.

Parrots can be quite noisy at times. During our prayer we had a couple of minutes of silence after the "Om Shanti, Shanti, Shantihi" phrase of the prayer. These parrots would create such a din. Sometimes there would be parrot fights. I used to stand there wondering what the reason might be. Trying to listen to then harder , to understand their chatter.. Sometimes, I thought, it was a fight between a husband and wife, sometimes between siblings or guy-parrots(what are they called?) fighting for a girl...What the reason was I would never know but it always amused by them.

I used get to school early, drop my bag in class and run to the stage to watch the birds and animals and the tree. She was hugh.. There was even the throwball court under her shade. Oh.. how many matches we have played in the middle of Chennai's summer. I watched her through the seasons.. In summers she had the dark green leaves that were thick and dense to protect us from the heat. In winter(Chennai's winter.. well what can I say), her leaves would droop. By mid february she would shed all her leaves and beginning of March, she would have light green leaves , fresh and green, colour that brings to life that magic of spring. By March mid she would be in full blossem with soft pink flowers. I had one in my book for long time.. Lost it when I shifted...:(

We used to run out to the stage to play lock and key after we finish our exams. Played till it was time for the bus to start. Not only happy moments, even when I was sad I used to sit under that tree and in a matter of minutes I would be back to my normal self.. I remember once that I was crying, dont remember for what reason though, and a fresh pink flower fell on me. It was as if the tree was saying, "Ms V! dont cry.. Here is a flower to u " ...

A few months back, I happend to pass by my school,after almost 8 years, and I saw that the stage no longer exists. Neither does the tree. School will never be the same again..it looks barren now.. Never can children sit under her again, never will they be able to see parrots fight, never will hear of the wise old owl up on the branch, never can they see the giant kite. Now the tree exists only in my memories. I will miss you Oh Gentle Giant(s)..

Impoverished Thinking

2006-03-06T17:24:00.000+05:30

On an average day, the average person runs about sixty thousand thoughts through his mind. What really amazes me is that ninety five percent of those thoughts were the same as the ones you thought the day before.This is the tyranny of impoverished thinking.

hmm.. got me thinking....

(An excerpt from 'The Monk who Sold his Ferrari' by Robin S Sharma)

Hairy Fairy Tale - Part II

2006-02-27T18:27:00.000+05:30

PS: If you have not read the Part I please do read it first .. I will be refering to some of the characters here.. :)(PS inside PS: I know PS is Post Script.. But I have redefined it as Pre-requisite Script :D)

The next time I went to the beauty parlor was a whole new experience. Until then, I had only witnessed all the things that were done to all those ladies. But this time I went in there to 'Shape my eyebrow' .. You would think that this is the most simple thing.. Just a few strokes and it is done..But no it is one helluva painful process ..

Okay So I went in and told the lady in charge ( ya the red lipstick one) that I wanted my eyebrows done.. I had never done it before so was a little apprehensive about what was in store. As usual I was asked to wait.. They lady sitting next to me looked like a seasoned customer.. So I warily asked her,"Um.. Does threading hurt??". She gave me an amused look and said,' No dear, just a little .. like mosquito bites.. thats all".. Mosquito bites.. yieeekkkks!!(nala naalilliye nambalukkom mosquitoeskum aagaadu..hmm.. )

After waiting in the que for half an hour almost, finally my turn came.. I was happy that the wait
had finally ended but worried that I would have to face the mosquitoes ....er.. whatever.. The seat was like the Dentist's chair with a lot of things jutting out.. I went there and sat gingerly. A sweet looking lady came to me and said,"First time, is it? Dont worry it will be alright." She took a tiny tooth brush ..( er.. I believe it is not called a tooth brush .. But it looks like one so I think I will stick to calling it that.. )and started brushing my brows with it.. Hmm.. only then did i know that you can comb your eyebrows too !!!!

The lady took out a peice of thread, held one end of the thread in her shiny white teeth and twisted the other end repeatedly until it became a coiled rope.. She then bent over my face and with the thread moved it across my eyebrow..As she moved towards my face she came so close that I could see the patterns on her teeth.( If you have not noticed them before .. well get your eyebrows threaded ..he he ). It was like looking at her teeth and face through a magnifying glass.. it appeared gigantic.

The first stroke was really painful.. Is this what u call a mosquito bite?? I wonder what the size of a mosquito would be at her place ???.. Ouch... Ouch... I kept flinching and crying.. But In the end.. it was worth it.. out came Ms.V with a bright face and arched eyebrows.

Well it takes a little getting used to. Once you are used to it.. u still crib .. well I do :) .. But your face does looks bright and nice :) which is perhaps why all we girls do it..

Cricket - A nice explanation

2006-02-21T16:49:00.000+05:30

Have you watched 'Mind your Language'? Well it is one of the most hilarious show I have ever seen.. once there was an explanation on how cricket is played. Let me see how much I can reproduce .. But if you can get hold of the serial do watch it ..

Mr.Brown (The English Professor explains the game) “There are two teams with 11 players each. One side is in while the other is out. Well what I meant was one side is on the field while the other is inside. The first two men, the batsmen, walk onto the field to bat while the other side is on the field, fielding. One guy bowls the ball and the other tries to hit it. When they get out they go back to the pavilion and another guy comes in. Did you get what I said?"

Student : "Oh yes Professorry! I get it.. The point here is while they are in, they are not actually in but they are out. But while they are out, they are not actually out but they are in... palayamo what a game!!!"

PS: Hey Guys I am taking a break for a week will be back next week with more useless topics and useless commentry to addle your brains and mine ;-)

Rambling....

2006-02-17T17:43:00.000+05:30

People are watching you!!!! Isnt this what makes us so aware of ourselves and our surroundings? The fear of being watched.

Why is it that we humans are interested in what the other person is doing? Why are we always comparing and trying to find out where we are and where the other person is.(okay me got enough explanation for this question) It is really unnerving to know that u r being watched ..atleast for me..

There are people who would do anything to get everybodyz attention. But there are some who'd do anything to stay behind the scenes. Most of the time it is a battle between these two that I fight in my mind.. Sometimes I want to let people know what and how I feel but at other times I try to make myself as inconspicuous as possible. There is a constant battle raging in my mind. What would others say .. Is it okay if I say this or do this?

But end of the day if others are happy with u, u are also happy. This is one assumtion on which most people work.. but I dont believe in it. I believe that we must satisfy our conscience.. When we do this automatically the others will be satisfied..Yes there will always be some who still find fault. But they are not to be considered...

I think all of us go through this but we never talk about it , do we? People have told me.. you must do what the society thinks is right.. Some have also told me that you must do what your heart says.. But most of the time we end up doing what both dont like.. At times I wonder why we do things for the sake of others. But we do it neverthless..

I know I started somewhere and ended somewhere else. But just thought Id put it up.. coz I know there are many of you out there thinking the way I do and my little rambling may give u an idea to write about.....

snoooorrrrrrrrrrr...........

2006-02-16T13:39:00.000+05:30

'Its raining, its poring the old man is snoring'

A nursary rhyme that I used to like when I was a kid. Last week I read somewhere that a lady divorced her husband coz he was snoring.. How? I ask ..

Both my Dad and my bro snore so I guess it doesnt seem like a big deal to me.. But yea my mom hates it.. You should see her crib.. By the time I go to bed everybody else in the house is asleep. I hear appa in one room snoring and my bro in the other..

Snoring - Well u shud listen to it carefully.. It may give you an insight into what possible dream a person may have ;).. Appa says he has a dream less sleep.. well so do I but my mind manages to conjure up possible dreams that he might have from the way he snores :) Maybe this will be helpful to all those who want to decipher snores :)

Sometimes I wonder if there is somebody returning home in the middle of the night in an auto.. At othertimes it seems like he is having a fight with this Giant . At other times its a polite whistle which is like a little birdy sitting on a tree outside my kitchen window singing away to glory..

Well its not all that bad.. snoring.. yes it takes a little getting used to .. But I am used to it from when I was in my mommy's tummy so guess would miss it if my hubby didnt snore ;)

SMS Language

2006-02-14T16:45:00.000+05:30

"U mst do tis by urself"

My friend was starting at the monitor for a long time. I just peeped into his monitor and saw this written on his screen

"U mst do tis by urself"

He didnt say anything so I didnt bother. But a little while later he calls to me to help him correct this line

'You must do this to urself'

He showed me the green zigzag line that Word draws on your screen when it thinks what you have written is not right :) I thought he was kidding me. Well I should let u in on the background of this Guy. He is an cellphone addict.. He is always hooked onto his cellphone listening to the radio or chatting to somebody or if nothing else sending SMSes :)

Now the language that ppl use in SMS is always encrypted. Half the time I spend trying to decrypt these messeges. I wonder why ppl send messages that are encrypted. Ask them and they'll tell u that it is faster that way and that is the SMS trend.. Only through experience do u learn what each word is. When u think you have mastered this language a new word will pop up.

Okay, so this guy asks for help . He says 'Ms V I dont know whats wrong with this blasted machine' . One look at the screen and I said the spelling of yourself isnt urself but it is yourself.. And he says, 'Ah! yes.. so thats the problem'

SMS has created a lot of problems. One is that people forget the right spelling( not that they know in the first place) and two they start using them even in formal mails/letters. I read a while back that there are a number of cases reported in the hospital of sore thumbs. Thanx to SMSs where thumb is very vital to type messages.. Hmm I think a voice to text s/w would solve this problem .. what do u say? I for one.. take a long time to type so I hardly ever SMS.. But I guess it will be useful to those whose lives are dominated by SMS right from saying Good Morning to Good Night..

beep beep ... Oh there it comes again another one..

So, IMHO SMS s mrdrin d eng. lng

( Seri me shall give u the decrypted version - In my humble opinion SMS is Murdering the English Language)

Is 'It' a 'He' or a 'She'

2006-02-13T14:05:00.000+05:30

"Why is it that we refer to a car/ a laptop / any electronic gadget as a she?"

I think we like to humanize anything and everything around us. Be it living or non-living. Initially when cars and motorbikes came into existence, it was the men who learnt to drive it and work with it. With time, they fell in love with these and started looking at them like their women :) Now this was ages ago.. So I guess from then on cars and mobikes have been refered to as "she" .

But if you ask me personally I would refer to my car as a he.. Yes I am trying to humanize my car and you'd say its just a car it is not a he or a she.. But I then I wouldn't like to call it her... Ask a Guy why he calls a car she and he'll probably tell you that the curves make it a female. But to me I think the sheer power makes it male.. Likewise my comp, my cellphone and every thing that i use day to day I would refer to them as "he".

But, the question is - isnt it an "it"??? Somehow I like to look at things like a human. Give it life, emotions, play around with it and have fun at its expense.. It keeps your mind occupied and u get a whole new perspective when u try and put your self in 'something' else's shoes.....

So is 'It' a 'He' or a 'She'?????

My day @ the Bowling Alley

2006-02-08T21:43:00.000+05:30

A mechanical arm sweeps the floor below and a crank clutches me, along with my nine brothers, by the neck and places us on the well polished wooden platform. From my postion I have a clear view of a long staight wooden road, so polished that I can see my reflection on it and a bunch of people at the end of this road waiting for me to settle down at this place.

If you have not guessed yet, I am a bottle shaped pin and I work in a bowling alley. This is a story about my typical day at work.

It is hard to like a job where u are hit, thrashed and swept out of the stage like you are nothing.. But I have always liked my job. Especially when a bunch of newbies come to the bowling alley for the first time.. Today was one such day..

A group of six people with three men and three ladies arrived at the bowling alley. I was placed in my customary 10th position. From here I have a very clear view of the young crowd. They were all twenty somethings clad in jeans and colourful T-shirts and waiting to try their hand at bowling. First was a girl who picked up a 8-pound ball. She was wondering how to hold it..I saw her looking curiously at the round devils(brr..they scare me). These devils have three hollow sockets on their face. They look very wicked especially when they are running towards me with that rage in their face and speed of a jet.

Well, she was a pretty thing, the girl, thin though but very pretty. She finally deciphered how to hold the round devil. She gingerly walked toward the threshold and bent down to roll the devil towards us. As she bowled, I heard a thundering noise of the bowling ball rolling towards us.. As it moved closer, the sound grew louder. I held my breathe and shut my eyes tightly in fear that I might be hit. But thank God!!these are a bunch of kids.. trying for the first time.. the round devil rolled into the side gutter and slowly made its way to the collection bin annoyed that he couldnt thrash us. Sadistic devil him..

Anyways, I breathed a sigh of relief. But I could see that her pretty face wore a sad expression. It broke my heart. But the she very sportively picked up another devil and walked towards us and rolled the ball. This time it hit my brother and he fell on my second and third brothers and finally all except me were down. The girl's face lit up. So happy that she'd hit us. She jumped with joy and the others around her cheered her..

One by one all of them tried their hand and every time I was lucky not to fall. And one particularly cherubic girl said 'One thing I dont know why :)' My! Linkin Park Song!! You may wonder if we have time to listen to Linkin Park but yes we do.. They play it afterwork here, a bunch of boys who clean us up. There were some good shots, there were others that were not so good but the one that I liked the most was by a cherubic girl. She came towads me , clutching a big red devil in her hand. She swung the round devil. I shut my eyes tight in fear. I heard a loud thud as I heard the devil hit the floor. I waited, waited and waited the finally opened my eyes. To my surprise everybody was laughing. I squinted to see what was happening. I saw that she had actually thrown the devil reverse .. ha ha.. and was looking at us with anticipation .. he he ..
These few incidents are what make my otherwise thrashed life worth the living.

PS: I went bowling the other day and this just came to my mind when I was watching my friend bowl in between turns...

Mind-Stomach Relationship

2006-02-07T14:01:00.000+05:30

I have always believed that the mind and stomach are not connected. But today a friend of mine asked me, 'Do you think there is a relationship between your mind and stomach?" My immediate response was 'No'. However, it got me thinking.

I think it works like this. The stomach signals to the mind that it is empty and the mind processes the data and determines that it is hungry. The output of this process is you knowledge that you are hungry. Now, I have always wondered how ppl can miss a meal when they are engrosed in work or when the mind is thinking about something.. Here is a plausible explanation.. I think when there is something more important on the mind, the mind is oblivious of all other signals from your body and hence when u r sad or engrossed you dont feel hungry..

Okies me shall go have lunch :D

Mr.Yellow and Mr.Orange

2006-02-06T15:42:00.000+05:30

Have you heard of a Mr.Yellow or a Mr.Orange..

I was vetti at home on Saturday when I was thinking about the next Sari that I am gonna buy.. When I was thinking about the colour I saw an Ad on TV.. It flashed Mr.White on the screen..

I was just wondering.. Well, I have heard of a Mr.White, a Mr.Blue(Okay tho soap ad nu nineikarein.. freeya vidunga pa), Mr.Brown, Mr.Green but never a Mr.Yellow or Mr.Orange. .. Why are they partial to only the basic colours?

I have heard of girls being named Violet, Purple or pink( read pinky) but no orange.. hmm.. y? Isnt that a nice name? When u can name a person Violet, why not orange.. Maybe magenta would also be good. I wonder if there was a reason behind this..

N e wayz.. just suggesting new names here instead of the traditional Krishna, Rama, Govinda :)

PS: Arbit rambling.....dont ask what I was thinking when I wrote this :)

Lap..er..Desk..Top???

2006-02-02T15:47:00.000+05:30

Laptops are convenient to carry and stay connected where ever u are. But people found that confidential company information was being carried out of the company premises. So in a move that shocked the world( at least it shoked me), the top management decided to bolt the laptops onto the employee's desk in order to prevent people from smuggling confidential information ...... hats off to these guys :) ( adichika mudiyala pa ivangala :D)

Dancing ....

2006-02-01T15:07:00.000+05:30

I recently went for a Western Dance show. It was great and I loved every minute of it. But being a classical dancer I couldnt help but compare the two forms of dance.

Here is what I thought

Unlike Classical dancing, Western Dance does not have a lot of emotion in it. The focus in western dancing is mainly on the steps and the movements. Facial expressions play a very important part in any dance form. Yes Russian ballet has a lot of emotions in it. But I somehow missed the myriad expressions and movements that you can get to see in the classical dance performance.

The dependence of this dance form on music is another thing that I noticed. The mood of the audio combined with the steps create the emotions.. Like the Salasa is a very sensual dance form not just because of its steps but also thanx to the latino flavour of the music. Yes even in classical dance music plays an important part.. Dance is nothing without music. But with your expressions this can be overcome.

Dance, in itself is a means of self expression in which you use your body to communicate what you think and feel. But I dont seem to find that quality on western dances. I think I am being biased. Must explore on this a little more ..

God's Debris

2006-01-30T17:09:00.000+05:30

This is a book by Scott Adams. It is a very different book. The central theme of the book being a novel theory about God and other material and non-material things that exist or dont exist(which ever that is that you believe). The theme was very compelling to read so I picked it up. It is really really good. It has the easy flow of conversation, easy language yet manages to confuse you and then enlightens you. If you are open to interpretations then this is a must read.

U can get the e-book at this link God's Debris

2006-01-29T23:17:00.000+05:30

What did one telephone tell another?

Heights of Comparison

2006-01-25T15:40:00.000+05:30

People have this annoying habit of comparing, dont they? Starting from when a baby is born to the day they die, comparison is almost a part and parcel of life. I think it is at its peak when you are at school. When you show you report card the next question is, ' So what did Shradha score?( Name changed for annonimity.. Well you can read it as Ms. Shradhai also :))'. And this continues in office too where your performance is compared to the others and then "normalized??". Okay this is not what I came here to write about.. It was an interesting conversation with a colleague of mine..

We were having lunch and he suddenly brought in this topic ..

He : There is always a comparison, isnt it?
Me : Yes, Why ? What are you talking about? The appraisal??
He : No, I just had a conversation with my mother yesterday
Me : oh!
He : When I was in school it used to be hard. I was always up against the best. Compared in every way
Me : It happens to all of us , doesnt it?
He : But yesterday was the height of it. She asked me why I wasnt given an onsite assignment while our Neighbour's son went onsite.. How can you reply to this?

Hmm... Somethings can never be answered can it? And I wonder why people compare?

Hairy Fairy Tale

2006-01-23T13:06:00.000+05:30

The first time I entered a Beauty Parlour, I was in for some shock.. Guess thats why men are not allowed, lest they should get scared away and stop looking at girls :D

It was a fine summer day when I decided that I needed a hair cut. I planned to chop my waist length hair to a more managable shoulder length. After a lot of arguments with Amma and crocadile tears I finally walked into a parlour. I dont know why but the parlours are always dingy places.. long winding stairways leading to a narrow passage and at the end of the passage will be a narrow door. Anybody slightly heavier than I am can definitely not enter. (side ways maybe... try pannalam :)

Okay so I go into this place and a really jolly, plump lady with smooth hands, crimson nails and an 'asian paints' face with a jarring red lipstick and an inch thick eyeliner, greeted us at the reception. She looked at me from head to toe.. gauging me.. She gave me this look of 'hmmm.. a lot of work needs to be done on this one..'. She raised her immaculately shaped eyebrow and asked me what I wanted. I told her that I was here for a haircut and her next question was .. " Anything else??" Huh!! what? Dont I look okay??.. I scrubbed myself well this morning when I had a bath.... I polietly said 'No, nothing else"

I was asked to wait as the beauticians were busy with other customers.. I looked around. It was a tiny place, may be a 10-by-10 room, with screens and curtains. On one side, lay a lady who had some mud smeared on her face and henna in her hair.( It looked like she had been to a mud fight..) If not for the cirles around her eyes I would not have been able to identify the right side of her face. :) Another one was sitting on a chair with her hair tied up in a precarious knot, face as white as freshly whipped cream. I think it was cream that was bespattered copiously on her face. She had round cucumbers for eyes. Curious as I was I asked another lady seated next to me what it was . She said it was a face mask... hmm.. good way to hide your face I guess..( vayathukula pogavendiyadu ellam munji mela irunthadu )

A stern looking lady came out of a room with a knife( Then I didnt know it was blunt).Dont ask me what that is used for I dont know.. it sent shivers down my spine. (idu enna kasaapu kadaiyaa?( Is this a butcher's shop??)) Another was bending down on a lady's face with thread held in her teeth and hand and making a jerky movement. The lady below flinching as she performed her ritual. I now know it is called threading which is how ladies get their eyebrows made into a bow.

One lady was sitting in a corner with her feet in water and another scrubbing her feet. I guess that would feel like a maharani!! But no I just happend to see that she was scrubbing with some hard, stone like material.. Poor hands and feet.. This is what they call manicure!! .. Hmm to get that blemishless face u need to go through so much!! ( it reminds me of a scene from My Fair Lady when Elisa comes to Mr.Higgin's house and Higgins sets his maids to give her a bath.. )

I didnt know how long I was sitting there.. maybe an hour.. and then out came a lady and said in a rather irritated tone,' haircut?' I said yes. I said I wanted the hair chopped of to shoulder length. and then she asked me, 'u,v,straight, feather, wedge? which one?'. me gave the blinks to her :) ' What is that?' I asked. Annoyed with my ignorance she explained that they were different styles of haircuts. I said U, Mom said V and An aunty next to us suggested Step.. I dont know what the lady understood, when she finally finished cutting my hair she proudly showed it to me.. I was left with this horrible hair style which was er.. I dont know what it was called but it looked like a combination of all the three styles mentioned. I was throughtly irritated. I had a mop of hair in front and uneven in the end. It was shorter than I had expected.

I did complain but what can you do? You cant stick it back on.. Once cut, its gone.. And so, I had to go around with that nasty hair style for the next three months until I could cut it back again. I had to go back in there to get my hair fixed although I would not have wanted to go back in there ....

PS: Inspiration for this post is a post that I read at Kaushik's Blog :D That one is really really hilarious :).. This post is not done yet.. there will be a sequel :)

Remembering my prized possessions :)

2006-01-22T23:06:00.000+05:30

I used to carry a silver coloured pouch filled with various pens with coloured ink. It had everything.. from stapler, glue to even a bell pin.. You would wonder if such a tiny,shiny pouch could hold so much.. But it did..

I love the smell of fresh paper, the smell to ink on crisp white paper and the sound of flicking new crisp pages. I still have a set of brand new notebooks that I keep stashed away in a corner of my desk.

I had a very wide range of stationery thanks to my Mom :). I remember my lucky orange erazer that I used when I was in college. It was with me for four years.. I finally gave it to my bro who lost it..I had an eraser that looked like a roller ball-pen. I had one jumbo sized erazer that I didnt have the heart to use.. It is still there I think.. amma said she saw it hidden in some purse :)

I was even more fond of my ink-pens. It used to be my morning routine to fill black/blue ink into my parker( beta parker that is ) .. Wasnt particularly fond of ball-pens but liked the various shapes amd sizes that u get in them. At one stage there used to be the aroma ball pens and I had atleast two dozens with different scents.. My fav was a red coloured floral pen.

Now in office there is no need for it.. Well not that we dont use stationery but just that we no longer have to carry it with us.. I miss my kutti sliver pouch. Even now, when I go to the Stationery section I get lost there.. My friends have to drag me out of the place.. But I guess I can still indulge myself when I get kids under the pretext of indulging them ;-)I love stationery.

Thamattavaraka and Aamanakku

2006-01-20T17:24:00.000+05:30

I have heard of a number of varieties of beans. You have the English beans, the avarakai(dont know the english counterpart names but will give u a description of the vegetable) ( Flat broad beans) and the Kotthavarakai ( the think long light green ones). Three is all I know( contradicting my first sentence i know.. kandukadheinga) but only today I heard of a new variety .

Aparently this is a distant cousin of our beans called avarakai and this one is called Thamattavarakai :D...(I have been repeating this word the entire day in fear that I would forget it :) There was a creeper ouside our complex and a lady in the van that I take to commute to office was commenting on it when I got in today morning. She said 'Thamattavaraka'. I said 'Uma akka varala'. Everybody burst out laughing and then this lady points to this creeper and a fruit( er.. vegetable) and says 'Thamattavaraka'. It is a slimmer version of avarakai and I believe very tasty as well. That was one new word for the day

The second word was 'Aamanakku'. This again is a wild plant and people in the village extract oil from it. This oil is supposed to be the purest form of oil and has a lot of healing powers.

Good then. Two new words stored in my memory... but the one I like the most is the Thamattavarakai :)

Fuzzy Logic..

2006-01-18T19:05:00.000+05:30

What is good? What is bad? What is right and what is wrong? What I think is good, may be bad to someone else and what I think is bad, maybe good for somebody else. There is almost never a clear demarcation of the right and the wrong or the good and the bad. This grey area is, I think, what most people exploit. But then again why am I calling it exploition. I dont know if I have to think about anything as good or bad but I think, end of the day, it should be what I like. I think it must just be the feel good factor for each individual that finally gives us a clear picture of right, wrong, good and bad..

Saayamkala:

2006-01-17T15:19:00.000+05:30

Evening is the best time of they day. I love the pallete of colours that nature creates at twilight. She unleashes some of her best compositions then.. I read in a fellow blogger's post, where he compares nature to an invisible painter. I liked that comparison very much. Very true isnt it.. The azure sky slowly turns pale pink and gets darker and deeper to a dull orange.. where the Sun appears like an orange cradled in cotton ..slowly dipping and vanishing into the horizon. If you listen carefuly you can even hear a blip when the sun sets :). Even after the sun has sunk you can still see the few errant rays trying to brighten up our world while the darkness from the other side tries to swallow them.. The darkness finally wins..

The cacophonous melody of the homing birds that rush home to their hollows and bends in the trees. They seem to be in a hurry to get home, to the safety of their nests, to sleep and get refreshed for next day. The leaves of trees and plants seem to be drooping, sad that their beloved sun has disappeared. The flowers are no longer gay. Yet, from some other part, another life begins.. the life of the nocturnal..the crickets, the frogs, the owls, the flowers, the stars and the moon. The sight of Venus, the morning and the evening star on the horizon and the sound of night fall is distinct with the nocturnal beings welcoming the moon and the stars.

There is something inexplicably romantic about dusk. Dawn is good, but to me Dusk is the best time of the day :) ( guess me am too lazy to wake up in time for dawn:). It makes me sad that I no longer have a garden to just sit down and while away my evening, watching the sun sliently dip into the horizon whispering.. 'Shubha Ratri' and making a silent promise that he will rise again.

Insights

2006-01-16T17:08:00.000+05:30

My weekend began, as usual, with me getting out of bed late.. But once I was up I could not switch on the TV. I had moved to my Thatha's place and there is no TV here. The very thought.. 'No TV!!' is scary..What will I do for the whole of two days. My friends were not in station, so I couldnt go out to meet them either. The prospect of spending two full days without a TV looked pretty daunting..Until last weekend, I did not realize how addicted I have become to the Idiot Box.

I tried to read a couple of magazines. But still time seemed to move very slowly. I listened to some music..I racked my brain.. Still didnt know what else I could do.. It looked like time was actually moving reverse rather than forward.. heights of boredom... Oh I forgot to tell u no comp either.. During the week I can manage without TV or comp.. as I come home late from work have dinner, maybe a novel and then to bed.. So you dont have to kill too much time.. But weekends is a completely different story..

But now I realize that TV sucks up so much of your useful, fruitful time.. Whoever called it an Idiot box, called right. Now I am making a conscious effort to avoid watching TV.. God it is one big addiction..

*****************************************************

I have never thought I was very attached to people. Everybody I know says that I am a little detatched. But I dont know why, when Thatha fell ill I was really worried. I just could not think about anything else. I dont show out my anxiety but deep down there is a fear, a concern. Perhaps this is what they call love for a person? I wish there was no time lag, no visa and stuff. I could just fly to the US and visit Thatha..Now, all I can do is to hope Thatha gets well soon.

Pongal - o - Pongal

2006-01-13T15:21:00.000+05:30

Have you made Pongal in a mud pot facing the sun ? Well it is an experience in itself.. Let me try to tell you how we celebrate Pongal at our school.. its done the traditional way..

Pongal is a harvest festival celebrated in praise of the Sun God. In school, we had twelve groups each representing one zodiac sign or one month of the year. In other words the 12 raashis.. We would have rangolis of each of the zodiac signs in front of our chullas.. In the center would be a giant Rangoli of a Ratham( a Chariot) which was the vahana of the Sun God. We would spend the previous evening making this one.. Margazhi pani illa dupatta vai talai illa potundu colour kolam potundu hmmm...those were the days ..

The Pongal(read as ponga) paanaigal(Earthen pots), were placed in front of the Deity of our choice.. Once the karpooram (Camphor) was lit and the bells struck, we would take our Pannai to our respective zodiac houses and get ready to make the pongal..

The pongal is made this way .. If I remember right.. First the paanai is placed on a tripod chulla. We then light the firewood and the chulla is ready.. The worst part about a chulla is that the smoke really smokes u :) and u have to continuously keep fanning it.. Wonder how ppl cooked before the LPG days ...We then pour milk and water and wait for it to boil. When it comes out ( didnt find a very apt word for pal pongaradu) we say,'Pongal -O- pongal' and put the rice and the dal in it to cook. We then add jaggery and ghee and keep stiring it until it is cooked... Once it is done we garnish it with raisens and cashews ...

We even had a competition as to which team would say "pongal-o-pongal' first.. It is really thrilling to wait anxiously for the 'pal' to 'pongu'( er.. no other better way to put it in english :). The excitement that you get when your pongal is made and that too when u have never entered the kitchen and this is your first attempt :):) . Then we go around tasting the pongal from the other team. It is served in the traditional 'donnai' (A cup made of Lotus leaves)

Its fun to make pongal out in the open, facing the Sun, decorating your pot and your zodiac sign and wearing a sari :).. its nice to do a lot of things for the first time and even better when u can show what you have made to your parents ( they didnt believe that I er.. we made it :) Did I tell you about the pongal.. Well it had a totally different flavour..( no it wasnt burnt ).. the earthy taste combined with the smell of burnt firewood..and yummy with the cooked pongal soaked in Ghee... A different flavour .. a flavour that we can never get from a cooker pongal.. :)

Happy Pongal To all of you!!!!!

Enna kodumai ithu..

2006-01-11T16:26:00.000+05:30

Pongalukku mattundhan government leave vidumaa,

Idly thosaikellam kedayaadha??
Enna kodumai ithu….
----By idlykaga varutha padum iliaya thilagam

Translated for the non Tamil speaking bloggers:

'Will the Government give a Holiday only for Pongal Why not for Idly and Vada.. ?

-By a Youngster sympathising with Idly'

( Some things can never be translated, can it ?)

Bilahari - A different note

2006-01-07T20:54:00.000+05:30

Come Marghazi( December month in tamil)the music festval begins in the quaint old city of chennai. But now, even after the season is over, we are being treated to a different kind of music...

In the middle of the night I wake up to the high pitched bilahari. Wondering if Appa had accidentally left the radio on, I switched on the light. It was silent all around. I could only hear the sound of the ceiling fan now. So I guessed it was an overdose of music or my hyperactive brain dreaming about something. So I went back to bed. In a couple of minutes I heard the same sound..

Eek!! It was the mosquito.. they were back... making my life miserable as usual..They somehow manage to find your ear and sing in their high-pitched tone 'Hum Honge Kaamiyaab'(he he like in the mortien Ad). Buggers.. if they cant sleep why do they want to disturb me.. They have even become immune to Banish and the like..I make it a point to kill every one of them when I am awake but you are helpless when u are sleeping. My brother says I will be tried in the court of mosqitoes someday :) What ever ...these pests are worth killing.. atleast I will get a Good Night's sleep..(yawn...)

Resources - "Human" Resources

2006-01-03T18:19:00.000+05:30

In school we have all read geography where we have read about natural "resources" like minerals and metals (verum kallum mannum than). It was not until I joined office, did I hear of people being referred to as resources. Yes, I have heard of the word 'Human Resources' but the way these people use or should I say abuse the word resource makes me want to cry.

The first time I ever heard this word(in this context) was when I overheard a conversation between my Team lead(TL) and my Project Manager(PM)

TL: I have requested for more resources for this project

ME( silent spectator but actively thinking :):Oh! he must be asking for comps for us..

PM: Okay. Have you logged a call on the xxx site requesting the new resources?

ME(thiking): Thats nice! they even have an internal portal to get stuff they want .. cool!!

TL: Yes, Sir I have

PM: Okay then. I will approve it and I think in about a couple of weeks or so the you will get your new resources

After this we had a team meeting where my TL announces,"we will have two new resources added to our team in the next couple of weeks or so. SO now our head count will be 5!"It was only then did I realize that he was refering to people and not computers!!!

Well I guess it is alright to refer to people as resources. But to me it sounds like they are refering to another piece of office stationary. Say a pencil . A pencil is a resource and it can be a Steadler or a Nataraj. Same way, these "Human" is a resource and he can be a java resource or .Net resource. It is pretty demeaning to be called some resource when you are more than just a resource. Dont you think it would be nice to refer to people as people instead of resource. After all we contribute more than a pencil!!!

Another time, I heard two people discussing -

Person 1: Hey you have a resource whoz working on abc stuff, right?

Person 2: Yes, why do you ask?

Person 1: Well I just wanted to pull this resource into my team

Person 2: I wouldnt allow you to do that. I am already running short of resources for my project. If you want him then you need to give me one from your team

Person 1: Oh! Not an Issue(this is another term that was added to my corporate vocab)

This sounds like a a deal! Doesnt this remind you of the 'joote do paise lo, paise do joote lo' song..

I tried asking people ( even some APMs) as to why they use the word resource. Their answer was that resource refered to a new or reserve supply. So anything or anybody who has something to offer is a resource. But the very sound of that word puts me off.. Then again, I guess I gotta get used to it as the entire industry is refering to its "man-power" as resource.

So, are we all just resources .... nameless faces working diligently to get some other resource's brain wave working with the aid of other dumb resources(read computer)!!

Muruga! Shanmuga! Karthikeya!

2006-01-01T13:49:00.000+05:30

Karthik is a probably the most common Indian name I have come across. And for the number of Karthiks I know, I think I would need a personal assistant to keep track of all of them:)

Now Karthiks come in a number of variations. Some are called Kartik, while some call themselves KartHik and some others like to spell their name as Karthick(numerology stuff I guess). There are others whose fullname is Karthikeyan or karthigeyan who also call themselves Karthik. The end result - upto date I know about 25 karthiks. Somehow I manage to meet atleast one Karthik wherever I go!! So this time around I was thinking about maintaining an online list of the Karthiks I know.. I guess it will need constant updation :)

Okay, lemme start with my cousin Karthik. Then it was SK who was my schoolmate. My neighbour was also called Karthik. In my twelfth class my class alone there were two- KK and GK. There was also a commerce Student called Karthik. My VP's son was also called Karthik. I remember a senior who is now a playback singer TK from school.Then I have a couple of friends from NIIT called SK and BK. College is a place where get to find more karthiks.. sigh.. I knew about 4 of them.

It was at work that I got to know so many more Karthiks. To start with my PL was called Karthik. A team member was also called the same. Then there was this bay-mate called Karthik. An e-mail friend in office called Karthik. I used to travel by company Bus and used to get in at an intermediate bus stop. So I used to beeline to the first empty seat.(well didnt mind who was sitting in the next seat:). This way I made a couple of friend who were again called Karthik. Oh and a good friend of mine in office called karthik Vaidhinathan.

I guess that was twenty.. Then, I have a couple of chat friends whose ids are Kartik so I presume they are also called karthik. Well I think Balaji's Kid(a fellow Blogger whose blog I visit frequently) is also called Karthik :).He is probably the youngest in the list and most definitely the cutest. A couple of Film actors are also called Karthik. One is the old timer and the other who acted in kanda Naal Mudhal :). Ah I forgot to mention the numerous prospects for a possible alliance that I get whose names are Karthiks.. well if I include them, the list will reach half a century soon .. Well I decided not to include them as I have never met them...

The best part is that am still in touch with 15 of them.. :D. I have sort of made it a mission in life to remember all the Karthiks I have met. Well the list will be updated as and when I meet some more:).

PS: I was wondering if I should include all forms of Karthikeya's names.. what do u say.. shud I include them too??

Resolution Time ^_- Happy New Year!!!

2005-12-31T21:36:00.000+05:30

This year, as all the previous years that went by, I have a resolution, yet again. This year, my resolution is to exercise regularly and thin down( well this has been my resolutions for the past five years now) and I end up breaking it :). Lets see what happens this year. I think I will end up breaking it. Very optimistic right?

Anyways, Happy New year to you all. And I hope you guys have made resolutions that you can break :D

PS: Will be back with interesting commentry on useless things next year.. :)

Oh Butterfly! Butterfly!

2005-12-29T18:16:00.000+05:30

I was out for a walk in the near by park where I noticed lots of kids playing . It brought back memories of my childhood days. Some of them were on the swing, some on the slide, some on the sea-saw while others flying a kite. But there was one little kid, who was moving stealthily towards a bush like a tigress moving towards her prey. I moved a little closer to her to see what she was upto and to my surprise I saw a bright orange and black butterfly, perched on a milky white flower and drinking in the honey. As I moved towards her the little girl turned towards me, wide-eyed with a finger on her lips urging me to be slient. Slowly she moved towards the butterfly and caught it by its wings. The triumph on her face was a real treat. I then began to wonder what she was going to do with it... Well she looked at the poor butterfly, gave it a soft kiss and let it go.... It just brought a smile on my face.

Its is really rare to find children playing out in the open, running and chasing each other. Now that the TV and computers have taken over the play world ...(sigh). But it has become even more rare to see a kid chasing butterflies, catching them and letting them go!Its so much fun... and the thrill that you get when u catch one of them...... The yellow ones used to be very difficult to catch, I remember.. It is these small joys in life that makes life worth living :D

etc.... etc.....etc.....

2005-12-25T10:37:00.000+05:30

Etc.: A sign to make others believe that you know more than you actually do.

I have alway wondered if people knew exactly what they were trying to say when they say et cetra... Most of the time no. It is a very cleverly coined word to give an impression to the listener that the speaker knows what he is talking about but is just too busy too explain them..But in reality it is a word used to cover up his/her ignorance.. okay not always but most of the time..

So the next time you use the word et cetra be sure you know what the et cetra is about coz you may have a listener like me who will prod you on what the etc is about :D

Round and Round the Mulberry bush

2005-12-21T15:03:00.000+05:30

Have you ever gone round and round with arms spread like the wings of an eagle gliding in the sky? Its an amazing feeling to cut through air, feel the resistance, to go round and round like a maniac and then, you can take it no more. So you drop to the ground and gaze at the blue sky. Everything around you is spinning, moving at speeds you never imagined. Slowly, everything slows down and the place is as still as ever. I still do this sometimes, when I go to the terrace, all alone.

But, only off late did I relate it to our lives.. This may sound crazy but here is what I thought .. When you start off, you are like the child, not knowing what is in store and how it will be. As you go round and round you like the feel of it which will be your adolescent and early twenties. You then increase your speed and spin as fast as you can, which I think will correspond to the middle ages where you amass a lot of wealth and build a family. And then you can take it no more, so you stop. I consider this to be the retirement stage. When you lie on the ground and watch the world spin , it will be your old age, reminiscing and watching others trying what you did . And finally the world comes to a halt and you are no more.......

PS: I know it is heights of imagination but just thought I'd share it with you guys :D

Bluffmaster- Review

2005-12-18T22:48:00.000+05:30

We were out on a team outing and there were six movies runing, Aaru, Kanda Naal Mudhal,Sandakozhi, Thavamai Thavamirundu, King Kong and Bluffmaster. Except bluffmaster,I had the reviews of all the other movies. So we decided to take the risk and it paid off ..

Bluffmaster is a good entertainer. Personally, I do not like AB(Jr) or Priyanka Chopra. But their chemistry was too good on the screen. With a down to earth character, she looks so natural. She seemed really right for the charater( Something like Asin in Gajni.. she was just right for the role).

The movie begins with gangster type scene with two guys negociating over a phone call. You wonder if this movie is gonna turn out like all the other Gangsta movies but you are in for a surprise!!

The story is about a guy how hoodwinks people and robs them. He compares people with the various types of fish.. a very interestng analogy. He makes a living out of this. Like any other story he falls in love with this girl and proposes to her. They decide to get married and on their engagement day, the truth about his profession is revealed. Now this guy is really really dejected and all .. Then one day he faints and they find out that he has brain tumour. (all that u can get in a masala movie).. The guy is dejected ..

Here is where the best line in the movie comes doc asks him ' How many days of your life do you remember? 10? 20 ? okay 30 days? 30 days out of 30 years of living.. So why waste the rest of the days complainign that you dont have more to live. live life to the fullest.. "

The most interesting character is the Villian played by Nana Patekar. A superb character. Right from his intro scene he captures the attention of the audience(I am a little partial to Villians.. amazing scope for acting..)The scene where a guy accidentaly hits his car and says,'it just looks like a little scratch, here is my card. I will pay for all the damages' and NP says, 'Do you have a pen please?' The guy gives him the pen and NP hurts him on his face and says, 'it just looks like a little scratch, here is my card. I will pay for all the damages'. Wow .. that was an amazing scene... He even takes an arathi of himself! The twist in the movie comes in the climax. I wont tell you what the twist is. But it really takes you surprise.

Overall, I would rate Bluffmaster 7 out of 10. A lot of humour thrown in and enough action to keep you on the edge of your seat. Its a good movie to watch....

Morning Blues

2005-12-16T22:32:00.000+05:30

Its 6 o clock in the morning and I hear a distant sound. It is a very familiar sound.. The sound gets louder and clearer...where have I heard it? Oh no! its my phone trying had to awaken me from my deep slumber. I switch off the alarm and snooze for a while and then..again my phone starts to buzz.. This goes on for a while .. the battle between my alarm and sleep ..zzzz..Finally I get out of bed..reluctantly.. waking up to another day of boredom...

I wake up with this song running in my head..
I want to live, like animals

Careless and free

I want to run through the jungle

With wind in my hair and sand in my feet..(Savage Garden)

Ah! How I wish I could be that way. Sometimes I wish I never grew up. Just being that 'whining' school girl, dragging myself to school in the mornings with pigtails and a lunch bag.. ( school bag wasnt really important was it?:D). Those were the days when going to school so much more than just studying, going to school meant meant fun . Each day brought new things..new friends, new fights, new topics to discuss, new lessons to be learnt.

As we grow up, more so once we start working, somehow we lose it all-the want to make friends, to talk for hours on the most tivial of things, to fight and to learn. Yes, we are now grown ups and we must act our age..Now all we do is to go on planned outings( team outings), play planned games(team games) and do planned stuff and talk about planning and the planned..The uncertainty that was there when we were kids is now replaced by this more mature way - 'planning'.. But it takes away the thrill of meeting each challenge that a new day brings with it.

I dont think we will ever be able to act like kids anymore but I guess we can still pamper the child in us.. So be yourself, quit planning and enjoy each day for what its worth. After all Life is short....

PS: All this sounds good in theory but its never gonna work I know.. so I guess its back to being our usual self..sigh...Back to work.. mails, meetings and management...

Ear Chandeliers

2005-12-10T15:59:00.000+05:30

Earrings come in so many different shapes and sizes. Some are long, some are short, some squat, some thin, some dressy while some aren't. Oh my! The world of earrings has so much to offer to girls these days.

I love collecting earrings. In fact I have a Hugh collection, a collection I started when I was in my fourth or fifth grade. Whenever I go to shopping I invariably get one or two. It was only in the newspaper that I happened to read of this phrase 'Ear Chandeliers'. Sounds good, doesn't it?

So in my curiosity I went to this shop keeper and asked 'Ear chandelier irukka pa?' He gave me one stiff stare are then relaxed a bit (guess he didn't want to drive me away). He showed me a number of things but none fitted the description in the newspaper.

Disappointed that I could not find my ear chandelier, I went to my friend's place. She had also apparently gone out shopping and was showing me some of her goodies and viola! I found it ! the ear chandelier. Yes, it looks very much like a chandelier with crystals and pearls intricately studded and draped around a gold jhumka hanging in a hugh gold ring. It is very pretty and looks dressy when you wear them.

On my way back I got myself a ear chandelier and with that I have added to my collection another interesting word- 'the ear chandelier'

Cartoons, I love them...

2005-12-03T21:24:00.000+05:30

I was talking to a friend of mine and he gave me this look when I said I still watch cartoons. He apparently doesnt..

Well, how can you not? They are funny, they are logical and they are illogical, they are imaginary and they are real, and they are so full of life, all just in one cute bundle!!

Cartoons drag me into this world of fantasy where possibilities are the limit of one's dreams. You could be like anybody you want. You could be this beautiful princess with long golden hair being kissed by a Prince charming or flying on magic carpets and exploring exotic places. You can do anything..dance like no ones watching, sing like no ones listening, act foolish or funny or even make the sun raise from the west! This is what the world of animations has to offer to u.

The famous cartoon where the cat chases the rat and the dog chases the cat.. yes I am talking about Tom and Jerry... is my all time favorite. Even my Dad watches it !!It is pure, unadultrated fun. From Fred Flintstone to George Jetson, from Scooby-Doo to Popeye the sailor to the latest Japanese cartoons..(ah.. Inu Yasha...drool.. he is sooo cute!) every one is a master piece.. Each character is unique. Yet you can connect with them at some level. They are my panacea for stress. It works guys! try it..

If u have not watched a cartoon or have stopped watching them thinking they are childish , believe me u are missing quite a bit in life :)

PS: Now I get to see only those aired on POGO and ANIMAX thanx to the set top box :( .. Curse the TN govt..

Modernity - A new definition

2005-11-30T23:18:00.000+05:30

What is modernity? Is it the way we dress? or is it in the way we socialize.. like mingling with the opposite sex? Breaking away from tradition is considered modern by some. But is this really modernity?

Well, I was talking to a friend of mine and discussing about modernity... and this is what his views were......

Modernity, in my opinion, is heralded by the coming of a new way of seeing the world. The world view in which we see clear demarcations between different kinds of identities.

Consider the following two examples:

I belong to a traditional family in a remote village of Tamil nadu. My family migrates to some place in Maharashtra. In my new neighbourhood, there is a temple of a goddess. This goddess is considered very powerful by the local people of that region. What would my “religious” mother do? She would visit the temple and pray there as it is considered powerful. Will she think that the goddess does not belong to her “religion”, because she has never worshipped her before? No. She wont. I would cite an example here. We here a lot nowadays about santhoshimata. This god I don’t think existed in tamil nadu till sometime back. It should have been some village goddess somewhere in north India. But what has happened now? There are so many people worshipping her in tamil nadu? Reason, we feel we are one people and don’t have any qualms in worshipped the “Gods and Goddesses” of “another” group of people here.

Now another situation: My family migrates to Mecca instead of Maharashtra. The locals there consider a stone in the heart of the grand mosque as sacred and powerful. Will my mother go there to worship it? Will she give offerings? No. Why, because it is a “muslim place of worship”.

Consider the second scenario with a difference. About two thousand years back. My family migrates to Mecca. The grand mosque still stands there (It is a pre-islamic structure). The stone is still there. It is sacred. Will my mother go there? In all probability she would, because it is something similar to the first situation. Why? The concept of the “other” did not exist then. An average human being from India did not see it as “alien”. Yes, people would still be others. But we would see them as people belonging to another village with another village God. Not as people of a different religion.

This is the change that modernity is all about. Differences always exist and will exist for ever. But the way we see differences is what matters. The borders have gotten more rigid now. They seem impossible to change. This is modernity. When one person thinks the other is incorrigible. When one thinks the other is wrong. The inability to think wide. This is modernity. The same disease is there in the “most modern” nation USA. The same disease plagues the most modern religion too. A basic intolerance towards what is defined as the “other”.

So far I was under the impression that modernity means breaking barriers. But this explanation that he gave got me thinking on what modernity really meant......

PS: These views expressed are just one angle of looking at the term "modernity".. each one has his definition and I guess I could write a book and still not come to conclusion on what it really is

Floods in Tamil Nadu

2005-11-30T16:25:00.000+05:30

For the last five years there has not been adequate rainfall in Chennai.. as a matter of fact in the entire state, which left its dwellers in draught. Last year, this time, people were cursing the weather God for not showering us with enough rain. There were even the a yagas done in order to please the Rain God but no, mother nature was very stubborn..she wouldnt budge..

It seems quite ironic to me, now, a year later, she is showering us with her magnanimity. So much that we are literally drowning in her benevolence. There is so much rain now, that people are praying for it to stop. I wonder why she is so angry with us or is she depressed and crying her heart out? ..

Its really heart rending to see the plight of the people in Cuddalore District of Tamil Nadu. Three depressions(in the bay) in quick succession brought in so much rain that it has flooded the entire stretch. Never has Tamil nadu seen so much rain, not in 50 years. People living in this area have lost everything- their land, their crops and everything they owned. Not an inch of land is visible. The rooftops of the flood washed houses look like islands in the middle of the sea.

There is aready a fourth one brewing.. Dont know when Mother Nature will be done with her revenge on us poor humans.. I just pray that she is pacified soon....

24th November 2005..A special day

2005-11-27T19:35:00.000+05:30

Gr8 day. For one, it was my birthday. I also got an appreciation note from our client.. :) The day began as usual, got out of bed late.. Only difference today being that everybody at home said 'Happy Birthday' instead of 'Good morning'. Hurriedly, I got ready and started for work. Most of my friends remembered.(It feels good when ppl remember u on your B-Day)

Today, CTS had decided to celebrate its yearly cultural fest and I decided to go!I haven't been to a cultural fest in a long time now.. As a matter of fact not since my tenth grade ..hmmm wonder why I have stayed away for so long... anyways it was good. The music, the crowd(generally stay away from them), the dance and the whole atmosphere...I screamed, shouted, cooed and enjoyed myself thoroughly. Rocket ellam vittein :)

Usually my birthday celebrations are limited to my friends and family but this time it was different.. The entire company.. close to 8000 people were rejoicing on my Birthday..Yes not all of them knew it was my Birthday but ...any birthday means celebrations and everybody was celebrating.. so it just seemed to me that they were celebrating my Birthday..

But....just one thing that I was sad about.. Unlike all my birthdays, this time around I did not have a birthday cake :(..Hmm a Birthday does not seem complete without the Bithday cake, does it? So now, I have decided that I will celebrate all my birthdays by cutting my Birthday cake( childish as it my seem to you I think we must all indulge the child in us!!!!).And I know I will cut a Birthday cake even at the grand old age of eighty if I ever live to be that old :D

Majaa… semma majaa

2005-11-21T23:30:00.000+05:30

This weekend I happened to see one of the worst movies in the history of my movie watching ….. This movie is apparently the remake of the super-duper hit mallu movie… I wonder how it became a box-office success there. With a thin….er.. would be better if I say NO … story line the movie starts with a murder… Argh… bad taste to start with…

I was hoping, at least after the initial few scene, the movie will get better.. But no.. The script writer insisted on making my life miserable… The story.. Two orphans.. who are brought up by some man, are petty thieves. One day they decide to quit and lead a very straight forward life. They buy a lorry and start off on their journey. But due to some mechanical failure the lorry ceases to move and they are stranded in a desolate village. The gang decide to camp there for the night.. As they are hungry they steal food from a house close by.. The father eats it and is miraculously saved. The sons confront the man living in the house to ask why he had added poison in the food, but the man confesses that the poison was meant for him…. Interesting huh?? (We are not even through with quarter yet.. and you are bored? already??)

Okay, so I wont bug you with the story… But you expect the role of a heroine to be a little significant considering that this is a masala movie..If you are going for that, this movie has nothing of that sort.. Asin fans are in for a gr8 disappointment…. :(….The few highlights of the movie are the action scenes, a little hint of humour here and there and the “sollitharava” song…

Overall, if you have a lot of money waste and time to kill, then go ahead, watch this movie…

Warning: Please take an entire strip of Saridon with u…. U’ll need it ;-)

Boulevard of Broken Dreams....

2005-11-20T13:13:00.000+05:30

I love this song by Green Day. You think about it and you realize how true it is. The lyrics are amazing..

The song starts like this,

"I walk this lonely Road
The only road that I have ever known"

Although there are so many people who come in and go out of our lives, don’t we all walk this lonely road called 'life'? He continues to say

"Don’t know where it goes
But its only me and I walk alone."

This journey through life is so unpredictable and fascinating that he says he really doesn’t know where it goes. We are the only people who embark on this journey, alone, treading the un-trodden paths of life. We do not know what life has in store for us, who will be part of it and who wont but we continue this journey in a hope to unravel the mysteries life poses to us.

The best line in the whole song is this

"My shadow is the only one that walks beside me!"

How true... coming to think of it.. Its only u (your mind and your physical self) that has to make it through this adventure …or is it misadventure… called life. Some are remembered for their adventures. and some aren’t... thats the way life is ...

The song represents a very individualistic idea..and that’s probably what I like about it.. The singer is a little depressed when he sings it ..that aside the song itself is very well written

PS: I am not disillusioned with life.. but this is yet another perspective to this "illusion" called Life!!! I hope, someday, I will unravel this mystery called "Life"

A spoof on the song "Bachelor Boy"

2005-11-17T21:20:00.000+05:30

When I was young, my mother said
Daughter I've something to say...
And what she said I'll never forget
Until my dying day.

She said, daughter you be a spinster girl
And thats the way to stay
Daughter you be a spinster girl
Until your dying day

When I was sixteen I fell in love
With a guy as handsome could be
But just in time I remembered
What my mom had said to me

She said, daughter you be a spinster girl
And thats the way to stay
Daughter you be a spinster girl
Until your dying day

Tillu Dear.....

2005-11-14T22:55:00.000+05:30

A forward from a friend of mine with a lot of pics of a small pup brought back a flood of memories of Tillu. Don’t know why... I remembered Tillu...

Tillu was our pet Dog. He came to us as a bundle of white and black fur ball. I remember that day very clearly, Appa asked our servant maid to bring us a pup so that my brother (then a very small kid) would stay at home. She first brought us a black pup. Although it looked cute.. some how Amma didn’t like it. She brought another which had one black eye :) and then she brought Tillu. We immediately fell in love with him… This was twelve years back.......

There are several incidents that come to my mind when I think of him.

It was fun watching him on a mosaic floor. He never walked on it for the first few days. When he tried, he'd slip and fell flat on his nose. But slowly, he learnt and he soon became a master at it....

We had a huge garden and we let Tillu run free there. He ruled the garden and fiercely protected his Kingdom. He was the uncrowned Prince of the garden .... The first animal that he killed was a chameleon. We had left him in the garden that day and when we returned we saw Tillu, waiting eagerly for us to show us his kill.. He led us to his priced kill and barked proudly at us, showing off his first kill. I would never forget the pride in his voice and eyes when he showed us his prey.

Tillu loved milk. One day Amma had to go out and left Tillu at home. She forgot his milk and so Tillu had to stave that day.. But when Appa came back home.. Tillu immediately picked up his bowl and took it to Appa. Amma walked in almost at the same time. Appa asked Amma to give him milk and Amma did. He promptly lapped it up. A short while later, Appa checked to see if Tillu had had his fill .Seeing nothing on his plate, he felt sorry for the poor dog and gave him another glass of milk. Greedy as he was, Tillu lapped this up too and walk into the house like a pregnant lady with his tummy bulging. It was a very funny sight.

Another day, Amma had placed milk on the table for me. I, as I am, like my milk cold and left it on the table to cool down. Amma was busy working in the kitchen when she heard ..klup..klup..klup... She quitely came to the dining room to see what was going on.. To her surprise it was Tillu. He had climbed onto the chair, with his fore paws on the table and his hind paws on the chair, was standing there laping the milk from the tumbler.Amma threw a fit when she saw him like this.

Tillu was a very very naughty dog. He would chew on chappels and jump up and tear bedsheets drying on the clothes line. He would run away with my books and towels. It was very difficult to catch him. I'd keep chasing him around the house but never could catch him.. The only thing that worked was a treat. When we offered him his favorite "Porai" he'd condesend to give back our things. He would get jealous when Amma petted us. He would poke his cold, wet nose on us , nudge our hand and place it on his head and ask us to pet him or he’d just rub himself on us like a cat. He used to hate crows, particularly Peggy, a crow that used to frequent our home. He’d chase her and bark at her as if some intruder had entered his empire.

Tillu loved food and would do anything for it. His favorite hunting ground was Tirumathi Aunty's house. Ask him "Tillu maadikku polama?" and he would immediately dash to the door. If we don’t take him, he would whine.. and plead with us to take him.. you should see the look on his face... (a pavam sorta look). It was a different chemistry between them, him and Aunty. He liked her very much and she like him too...

Tillu, the charmer.. He could make anybody fall in love with him. My uncle loved him so much that he'd bring a bone for Tillu from America when he visited us. All my relatives, whether or not they enquire about us would definitely enquire about Tillu. My Thatha, a dog -hater until Tillu, loved him too.

Tillu, the brave. He had a stentorian voice and would scare away people. Although he was very brave he hated crackers. He used to dread them. Any blast and he’d immediately start shivering and shaking like a leaf. During one Diwali, Amma was in the Kitchen, wondering where Tillu was as she could not find him all morning.. Then to her surprise she found Tillu inside the kitchen!!!( Kitchen was prohibited area for him) curled up in the farthest corner, shivering like a leaf. When Amma saw him, he ran to her and curled up under her feet. Oh.. the brave Tillu

Tillu has taught me many things. He taught me how to love and care for others. He taught me how to be myself. The devotion that he showed was something that i guess you will find only in dogs..I used to be afraid of the dark and never would go to the terrace alone at night. But after Tillu came, he'd tag along and I slowly lost my fear of darkness. He was a moral support. When my chips were down he’d nudge me with his wet nose and cheer me up. He would know when you are angry, when your sad, when you are clam and when you are elated. I was a very angry kid, sulking and cursing, but Tillu really turned me around. He has made the person I am now....soft and gentle….

His last days were very heart rending…. He was a very hale and healthy dog. He would occasionally eat something and then vomit and get alright . We thought this time was another case like that .. But he only got worse.. On the morning of his death, he went from room to room, sat in all his favorite places…It was as if he knew he was going to die. We took him out for a walk and he could not walk back up.. so Appa left him in the basement and went to fetch a doctor. Amma just felt something was wrong and that she had head Tillu crying out. She sent my brother to see what was wrong. When Varun reached the basement he saw that Tillu had somehow mustered enough strength to just get to the lift. He stepped in and immediately collapsed. Varun brought him up and cried out for me I carried him in and placed his head on my knee. It was as though he wanted to see us all, once, for the last time, before he died. He stayed alive for as long as he could, until Appa came back, Appa entered, Tillu saw him and then…… he saw no more……

When he died it was very difficult for us to get used to a home without Tillu. Never will we have anybody waiting for us at the door or peeping out of the balcony. Never will we have somebody who would greet us heartily when we came back home.. Never will we ever hear his commanding voice or see him running like a horse. Never will we have somebody to play with, to talk to, to tease and to pet. Tillu was not just a dog to us; he was part of our family. It has taken me two years to talk about him like this... It was a very great loss to us when he died.... And I write this blog as a tribute to him

As Amma would say

"How I Love you Tillu Dear,
Though your eyes like frogs appear."

My Trip to Office

2005-11-14T21:55:00.000+05:30

Initially when I was moved to the city office I hated it.. I was alone, a new project, new teammates, new workplace and new mode of transport! It took a while to get used to. I used to take the office bus to commute from home to office and back but since this was the CITY office I had to find my own means of transport.

I do not own a two-wheeler and I will not drive the car all the way. Left with no other option I used to took the MTC buses to commute. It was quite a journey. First of all there was only one bus in this particular route, perpetually crowded and not very frequent. I would push myself to take a bus in the mornings and evenings..It was a torture. But then, somebody told me that there was a "Share Van" and then started my daily excursion to office!!!

You can find the most eclectic group of people who travel with me in this van. Around 12 of us take the van and the group constitutes mostly of middle aged men and women working for the postal department. Let me tell you about some of these interesting people.

Well there is this lady who likes to boast but does it in such a subtle way that it takes some time for to sink in :) She goes on grumbling about her work load and her children. On a normal day she would start of saying, "My daughter you know she doesn’t eat properly.." (read this very carefully u'll find how she drives home her point) She goes on to say,"I place food for her on the dining table but she is sitting on the sofa watching stuff on the TV. While my son is listening to the radio. But I am very strict I dont let them eat sitting on the sofa as they will spoil the carpet. But I have to shout at her to get her to eat and she doesn’t even clean up the table and put things back in the refrigerator.... " she goes on and on like this.. ( Hope u got what I wanted you to c..:D).

Then there is this man, who is as stiff as a rod, wont even talk. He has got such piercing eyes , it really unnerves you. But he is very intriging as he can communicate with his wife just by looking at her.. It was interesting to see the unspoken words being understood and such a chemistry between the two. Well thats new to me!!

A lady who is perpetually late and thinks she can do 'trivial' thing like having breakfast and making up the hair in the van. The lady loves flowers. She has got shoulder length hair and pulls it into a neat pony tail and decorates it with so many flower garlands that I wonder if people would mistake her to be a walking flower garden...:)

One interesing person in the van is this Lady with a big mole on her nose... From what I gather, she was brought up in a village and moved to the City in search of better opportunity. But this lady is very knowledgeable. She talks on varied topics starting from exchanging recipes with the other women to current topics like the Kushboo issue.... She talks about land /rent rates, invesment plans and what not ...a very interesting lady indeed... hmm.. She is one person I look for when I board the van every morning.

It would not be complete if I dont mention my Van driver. He is the stereo-typed driver, irritated with the world,constantly complaining about how the ladies delay at various bording points, driving rash, cutting corners fine, cursing the traffic, the road, the corporation maintaining it and everybody in general...

And to top it all the radio blares with ‘Mirchi Suchi’ and her usual inane chatter.... and those gross tamil songs.. (dapanguthu). It is quite a trip to office. Its amusing to see this eclectic group of people traveling to their destinations, some preoccupied with work while others still thinking about what they have left undone at home, reluctantly going to office for yet another day of drudgery. The half hour trip to office, every morning, is perhaps the most entertaining part of my otherwise boring day.

A full cycle...

2005-10-30T23:15:00.000+05:30

I have wondered about the existence of GOD.. I have questioned myself and many others about His existence but never actually got a satisfactory reply..(Hmmm.. I wonder why we refer to GOD as Him and not Her or It....a good topic for my next blog I guess)

I have come a full cycle . First it was my mom telling me that God existed in the pictures and every thing around you.. even in you.. the umpteen stories that I have heard as a child .. the "Prahalada kadai" for instance. But then as I was growing up I started questioning His existence.. Where does God come from.. does He have a start and an end point? if He were omniscient why doent he gratify all your whims and fancies.. These were questions that bothered me and soon I started disbelieving in Him..I vehemently disageed on any theory put forth by others to convince me of his presence. I strongly believed that work or my" Karma" alone can yield me success..

But it was my twelfth class exam results that shook me.. I was first throughout the year and somehow .. I dont know what happened it was my Physics paper, it got lost and I was graded very low in the exams... it shattered me.. I believed until then Hard work and hard work only pays but here I was with proof that hard work alone does not pay.. call it luck(bad or good), call it His will .. the fact remains that there is something beyond our ken that has a hand in the way your life goes...What is this Force .. if I may call it that, that plays such hugh role in your life? Now I dont have an answer to that..

So now.. I have come a full cycle.. I now believe in some superior Force beyond our Ken. Call it God. Call it Knowledge call it any thing you want.. But it know that It exists..

May the Force be with you
(ya.. i flicked the phrase from Star Wars :)

Beauty.... still analyzing

2005-04-07T09:08:00.000+05:30

When u see a person the first thing that u notice is probably how they look. A tall, handsome and charismatic man or a beautiful, slim girl will probably stand out in a crowd . Why is it that the eye looks for beauty? i once saw a show on discovery where the scientist explains that the mind is looking for symmetry and a symmetric face is what is attractive. The eye is able to distinguish even the smallest deviation from symmetry and thats why some people are more appleaing than others. but the body just reflects the state of your mind. If the mindis happy .. your face is glowing and you have a spring in your step.when you are sad the body language shows and your state of mind is not permanent it keeps changeing.......So must we pay as much attention to outter beauty?

Most of us believe Beauty is just skin deep.. but the inner beauty is what really matters. but then again.. what is the inner beauty? That is also a state of mind.... what you are at this moment you will never be at a different instant of time.. and values and principles keep changing with time. ...

My father used to say "If you are beautiful/Handsome, half the battle is won...." may be its rite.. there is even an old Sanskrit saying "Sarve Gunaha kanakam aashrayanti" meaning - All good qualities are attached to gold............
But if beauty is such a ephemeral thing then y are we looking fo it?? ..........................

Random Thoughts

2005-04-06T14:10:00.000+05:30

Its been a long time since i wrote a blog. Since the time i have started working i havent realised how much i miss until saturday last ....After 2 months of hectic schedule and working for three weeks straight with no holidays in between, I finally got this weekend off. It was a day of rest and rest i did.. But while i was sitting in the balcony i saw pink flowers bloomed on the tree rite outside my flat. I wondered how i missed it this year. This was the tree we planted 4 of years back and it did not flower for the first 3 year. But bloomed last year . I was so thrilled to see the flowers then. And now one year later .. hear i am standing in front of the tree and not noticing that it is in full lossom. It is a pretty sight now. It has so many flowers that the leaves are almost invisible....That is when i realised that this working culture tha we have makes us mere Robots .. sitting in front of computers and typinginane stuff incessently .. What a life.. you only get to enjoy the small pleasure of life on pictures forwarded to u by some good soul...

But really we must all stop to think .. Is hat we r doing worth misssing so muuch?? After all we only have one life to live!!!

A quote

2005-02-24T09:38:00.000+05:30

"Advice is what we ask for when we already know the answer but wish we didn't."-- Erica Jong