O, WONDER THAT!

Be What's Next!

2010-11-27T03:26:00.002+05:30

For the benefit of those who don't know about Thiruvadhirai - It is that day in the year south indian women fast and offer special prayers to get the same husband for their seven lives to come (though they might already be in their 7th).

To insist on its importance and in a desperate attempt to instil the culture and the custom into her renegade daughter, my mom would tell the same short story every year. Mytholgy has it that 'Even when her son was lying dead, one devoted wife, rolled him up in a mat, put him in the attic and completed her 'thiruvadhirai' penance before grieving over her dead son. And every year, I would ask her the same question - 'Mom, wouldn't you be bored with the same husband? - You need not switch husbands in the same life, but, come on, you should have some variety across lives..'
I am into my 3rd year of following the penance to a T and NOW it dawns on me.... I am also praying for the same husband for all my subsequent lives..

After putting in a lifetime of effort training one bloke, you better have an advantage in the subsequent lives. Why would you even think of training another one? Who wants variety... man, I choose sanity.

But this, being the technology age, we do have an advantage... We could pray for an upgraded version of the same husband.. I love husband 1.0, but in my next life, please add a kitchen helper service pack and probably an enhanced calendar feature(which remembers birthdays and anniversaries). It will be great to have a firewall which I could customize to block access to people(read girls) I don't like. Dear Lord, one more important add on. Please install some sophisticated sensors, (Pranav Mistry has already de-mystified sixth sense, and Murugados is working on the seventh), say series 10.0, which will sense what is running on my head. Yes, Sankar has created a Robo like this...but we are talking about a human with all the flaws of current version and user-friendliness(you know, like a Microsoft upgrade)

So God, offering you unbroken adai-butter, kali (South Indian delicacies) and my sincere prayers to upgrade my Husband 1.0 to 'Be What's Next'!

All in a Day's Work

2009-08-21T04:04:00.005+05:30

It was yet another work day. There are umpteen blogs that explain what an IT professional's dog day is like.
My Scheduler for the day, did not have anything different. Few meetings to attend, few documents to complete, few issues to analyze and a presentation to make.
On such a mundane day, It was a the first conf. call that made my day!

When it was time for the call, I dialed the bridge number and waited for the welcome message('Welcome to the con. call set up. At any time of this call, enter your pass code and the # sign').

But, the message was different this time - It said 'To indulge in a conversation, dial 1-800-T A L K'. I thought I had dialed the wrong number, cut the call and re-dialled - got the same message.
Without giving much thought about the choice of words or the tone in the previous message, I dialed 1-800-T A L K, assuming that they should have got a fancier number and are using that now for the conf call.

To fully and exactly understand the situation, those reading this blog from the US, try dialing this number from your office phone. For those who are not in the US, the word 'indulge', a female voice, and an imaginable tone is enough to tell you where I landed.

I could not control my laughter for the next 1 hour. A simple typo by the person who arranged the meeting, brought tons of laughter into the call! We might have to deal with some code of conduct group later...

மிருக கண்காட்சி

2009-05-10T19:57:00.004+05:30

மணியடித்தால் சோறு, எண் பொறுந்திய சட்டை, சிறு அறையில் அடைப்பு,
கொடுங்க்குற்றதிற்கு தண்டனை சிறைச்சாலையில்...
மனிதா, என்ன குற்றம் செய்தோம் நாங்கள்? அதே நிலை எங்களுக்கும் -
கதவு திறந்தால் சோறு, எண் பொறுந்திய பட்டை, சிற்றிடத்தில் அடைப்பு!

Homographs

2009-04-01T07:20:00.001+05:30

My colleague K turned to me and asked 'how do you spell project as in projection? Before I could reply, he shot his next question.
Does project (as in projection) and project (as in software projects - tasks) spell the same? Again, before I could say anything, he knew the answer.

What a 'Eureka' moment for him, after decades of knowing and mastering the language!

As he was typing a mail, I could hear him murmur, how do I make them read it as project instead of project. Being in the software world, I could totally understand his problem.

This really makes us wonder why the language is so short(not the opposite of tall) of words?!

Jai Ho

2009-01-12T21:32:00.000+05:30

Jai ho... Jai ho... definitely a Jai Hind moment!

A HUGE leep for Indian music and yet so simple and humble. Thanks ARR for mentioning about '1 billion well-wishers back home!'

1 billion fingers-crossed for Oscar! All the very Best!

Now...

2009-01-10T23:41:00.003+05:30

Hope this is a reason good enough for the long hiatus.. Just got back to the ground and with so much happening around me, should get to the speed soon. By the way, I am curious to see if this new status will change my blogging style!

Hasini, you got it all wrong!

2008-08-11T08:11:00.002+05:30

Or did I? Let me explain it better..

(disclosure: This is a review of a movie review and might contain spoilers for Kuselan and Hasini Pesum padam on Kuselan)

super star yaar nu kaeta chinna kuzhandhaiyum sollum!
adhe madhiri, Kuselan movie paatha yaarai kaetaalum, who did the title role nu solliduvaanga....

Innuma purialai? okay, one more chance...

Super star's dialoge in the movie : ' Indha Kusalan ai than panathunaale kuberan aakiya andha Krishnan en Balakrishnan'

Can't be more explicit.. ippo sollunga paakalaam... Yaaru Kuselan?

Whatever be my opinion on Kuselan, this is one dialogue that I cherished the most in the movie. One line that is the essence of the story...and the beauty of it too...

When somebody reviews the movie, how on earth could they get this wrong?

Watch 'Hasini's Pesum Padam' on Kuselan for further details... For those who don't want to go thru the pain, excerpt from her review :

'Original kadhai le. Kuselan, Krishnan ai thedi povaar... aana indha padathula. Mohammed. does not go to the mountain. the mountain. goes to Mohammed.(syllogism vera). Hero Ashok. kuselan barber irukura. graamathuku varaar.'!!!

( the . in between the statement indicates the pause in her speech)

The movie was reviewed till the end with this concept.

Don't ask me if I was that jobless and bored to have time to watch Hasini Pesum padam....ironically, yes, I was...

Ivalo confident a avanga review pannadhai paatha appo, did I understand it wrong nu enakulle oru chinna confusion...

What do you think?

(Meaning is in the eye of the beholder - could be an answer to this question.)

Japanese hi-tech experience

2008-08-04T01:02:00.011+05:30

On my way back to New York from Malaysia, it was a 5 hr transit at Tokyo Narita. I have always thought of Japan as an amazing blend of technological advancements and ethnic culture. Though I could not get out of the airport, I was wondering what was in store for me at the airport. Little did I imagine that the technology that would baffle me in Japan would be in a toilet seat!!

Yes, you read it right - a toilet seat. Though I was a little intimidated and had some embarrassing moments acquainting myself to the hi-tech seat, I was amused and amazed by it!

If you are brought up with Indian toilet habits, having access to water in a toilet will give you some peace of mind. This toilet seat will make you more than happy. It gives the comfort of a western toilet, the cleanliness of the Indian way and the luxury of electronic technology without making things too messy. What more do you need if you could listen to some recorded tunes too :)

I have not been to too many international airports or places to know if this is common, but, definitely I did not see them in Germany, US and Malaysia. I think these countries will not need it either because of their toilet habits. I did not take pics of this wonder-toilet, but have added some from the net, to give you a better picture. These pics will speak the 1000 words which I cannot say without being crude.

Check out the various options. I was fooled by the 'flushing sound' button. As I was so intimidated and was frantically searching for the flush, I just assumed that the button with word flush around it would just do the job. To my dismay and embarrassement, all I heard was a loud roar of the flushing noise. Why that button exists, I leave it for your imagination to answer.

The bidet functionality could catch you unaware if you are standing in front of the seat and trying out the buttons.

I was curious about these toilets and googled for the manufacturer TOTO and got this. Interesting!

Bird's Park - A Love Story

2008-07-27T21:01:00.008+05:30

Wise Bluebrown :What is the reason for the melancholy in your eyes?

Smart Green :Oh, Wise Bluebrown, hope you can help me.. I am deeply in love with Preity White. But am afraid she will reject me. She is as fair as snow and has a house of her own. I live in a tree branch

Wise Bluebrown :Did you ever ask her? How could you assume? It is better to knock at the door than to assume that it will not open. Her heart and house might accommodate another person..

Smart Green flies to Preity's house and knocks on the roof...

Preity White: uh, Who is it?
Smart Green : It's me. Smart..
Preity White: Good to see you Smart.. How are you? what is up
Smart Green : ummm...ummm..Preity, I have come here to pour my heart out...I am so madly in love with you...Will you marry me?
Preity White : Oh, Smart!! I thought you would never ask!!!

Archer

2008-07-25T00:38:00.001+05:30

Aim - shoot - Win. Aim - shoot - Win.

I have known great archers only by name - Arjunan, Karnan, Ekalayvan.
I have seen great shooters only on TV - in fact only Jaspal Rana

For the first time, I saw the action live - Bulls eye at every shot and the thumbrule was simple!

Aim - squirt - Eat. Aim - squirt - Eat.

Archer Fish!

When the caretaker of a fish farm at Langkawi stuck a moist bread piece on a wooden pole 2 ft above the water level, little did I anticipate what was to come.
I thought, the fish was going to jump up. I was wondering if it can do it without being knocked down by the pole.

I should say, I under-estimated this tiny fish(about the length of my palm). Suddenly a jet of water hit the bread piece with force making it fall into water.
I missed it the first time.. I didn't see the source.

The target was raised to 4 ft. We were all eyes looking at the fish. He moves a bit adjusts the angle, concentrates for a few seconds and squirts! Bulls eye again!

Now the target was raised to 6ft and perfect shot again. It was an amazing sight to watch this unique adaptation!

I was imagining Dhronacharya, a school of fish, and the following conversation

D'acharya : What do you see?

li'l clown fish : em.. people, wooden pole, em.. trees and..
baby shark : showing his teeth, fresh blood and flesh - people
archer fish : tiny white piece of bread

This youtube video says it all

Fruits of Malaysia

2008-07-24T00:45:00.002+05:30

Durian, Rambutan, Pomelo, Langsat, Mangosteen, Pitaya

FRUITS! Fruits that I had never seen before.(Mangosteen - yes, but all the other fruits were new and strange)

Strange? you may wonder..
If you thought jackfruit and pineapple had a weird epicarp, wait until you see Rambutan(frizzy, fuzzy) and the dragonfruit (lotus ball like)

If you think you have seen a big grapefruit, wait until you see Pomelo(the XXL)

The best of 'em all, the biggest surprise..
If you thought you knew how 10 spoilt onions put in a sock which was continuously worn for 30 days by a soccer player would smell, wait until you smell a durian.
It is the national fruit of Malaysia - very, very unique and interesting! Many public places and hotels had the sign 'No Durians Allowed'. In fact, this fruit was featured in 'Bizarre Foods of Asia by Andrew Zimmern and I saw that episode a few weeks before my visit.
But, I did not know that it was widely available and widely consumed!

I missed the opportunity of tasting any of them, during this short stay, but I am sure, I will try all of 'em during my next trip.

For pictures of these unique fruits,checkout http://www.pulau-pangkor.com/tropical-fruits.html

On a different note, I(O) wonder that, when a small tropical country had about 6 native fruits,so distinct, why do we widely see only apples, oranges and grapes in our fruit stalls in India?

What happened to our own fruits? did we have any? What happened to elandhai pazham, vilaam pazham, etc?

West to East

2008-06-19T23:59:00.006+05:30

I hope and pray that it is only by coincidence that
'jal' means water in sanskrit and
'JAL'(read Japan AirLines) flight flies over Pacific Ocean to reach Tokyo.

Visiting Malaysia...
* First trip over the Pacific
* First visit to an East Asian country
* First long, really long, travel alone
* First self-sponsored air-travel

A little nervous and anxious about it...
Meeting Parents and brother after, more than a year... All excited about it..

After my parents moved to Malaysia, I saw so much of it.. I saw it in Billa, I saw it in 'Kannaamoochi Yenada', I saw it in 'Arasi', I saw it when the tamil film fraternity visited to celebrate 75 years of tamil cinema, I saw it in TV telecast of 'Entrapment', I am seeing it in 'Varanam Ayiram' trailer...That was really an overdose. But, still can't wait to see it for real.

Added after the trip:
- The hospitality in JAL was really good.
- The food (Asian vegetarian) was decent.
- The flight always reached the destination ahead of schedule. Infact the flight from JFK to Tokyo reached one hour in advance
- Wonderful, happy trip

Happy Earth Day! Going Green

2008-04-22T21:41:00.003+05:30

We have been doing it right for centuries...

1.When there is a mass gathering, be it marriage or funeral, we use banana leaves to serve food - saving land fill and feeding cattle

2.We had designated our own left and right hands - saving paper and plastic

3.Tender coconut was our primary thirst quencher - only if we had invented ways to add flavor and fizz to this natural soft drink

4.We used oil for setting, sikkakai for cleaning, even soap kottai for froth, kadalai maavu/pachai payaru for cleaning -
- only if we had invented ways to add natural scents and pooled in stars for advertising

5.We used just cotton for summer, wool for winter and silk for celeberations

6.We use flowers and rice for blessing and celeberations - not confetti

7.We made bio-degradable marapaachi dolls and choppu - only if we had shaped it up and marketed as 'Barbie'

8.We Still use 'kal chatti' and 'mann chatti' for cooking and storing

9.We still build olai veedu and ottu veedu

10. We even made natural dyes, eye-liners and a whole range of cosmetics

In an age old civilization, we have been doing it right for centuries. 'Bio-degradability' and 'minimzing waste' seemed to have been the agenda for the way of life.
I am not against technological advancements and modernization. But, over the years, we could have spent a fraction of our focus on modernizing our own roots than frantically running to catch up with westernization!

btw, an interesting read on 'why Indians eat with hand'
'Food' is a treat not just to the stomach, but to all our senses - Good Food, is a perfect blend of color, taste, smell and texture served sizzling hot('served sizzling hot' is my addendum - I forgot how it is a treat to the ears).

Kids - Priceless Expressions

2008-02-11T05:51:00.001+05:30

Stumbled upon this video on net recently. Had a good laugh!

Apart from Charlie and his brother being cute, the patience of the elder one was amazing. Toddler's bite can hurt badly. It is surprising how he still waits for Charlie to open his mouth to take the finger out!

Missing Home!

2007-11-06T00:09:00.000+05:30

First time... A Deepavali without....
1. The fun of going as a big group to buy new dresses and sarees.
2. The pride of telling dad, mom and brother 'this is on me' - take what you like.
3. Getting to taste fresh hot murukku, rava laddu, halwa, ribbon pakoda, mysore pa, mixture, boondhi, adhirasam and telling mom 'it's perfect' and to see her smile
3a. Making fun of the kitchen mishaps of mom and aunts
4. Dad forcing and indulging to take as many dresses as possible
5. Umpteen visits to the shops
6. Showing the new dresses to aunts, uncles, cousins and getting to see their new ones
7. Missing the TV shows to go around giving sweets and savories to neighbors, friends and relatives (not without complaining..)
8. Crackers, Crackers, Crackers, Crackers and Crackers
8a. Mary Aunty's 10000 walas
8b. Evening Fireworks at the park
9. Wishes over the phone to distant friends, relatives and acquaintances early in the morn
10. The Smog, the festive spirit and the crazy shopping crowd in T.Nagar
11. Giri Chithi's [only ;-)] speciality Thengai burfi
12. Knowing the latest trend from the young college goers
13. Introducing Darsh to new crackers
14. Dad, Mom, Sriram, Maama, maami, Lali chithi, Ilango Chithappa, Ravi maama, Gayathri maami, Giri Chithi, Suresh Chithappa, Vasantha akka, Karthi, Saravanan Anna, Arun, Vidya, Prakash, Ramya, Mouli, Harish, Abirami, Sri and Darsh.
15. The fun, the laughter, the joy...

A Deepavali...without all this...is just Vali.....

One of the frantic ways to feel at home :) look up on Google Maps

American'iced' Breakfast

2007-09-21T19:48:00.000+05:30

Long since I saw, tasted a home made 'suda, suda idly'. Infact, in 4 months of my living here, I just had it once. Thanks to Uma(a friend's friend's cousin), who served us hot idlys soaked in delicious sambhar.

Actually, it is quite some time since I had our delicious Indian breakfast.
Gone are the days of Idly, dosai, upma, pongal, aapam, poori. It is funny how my reaction to idly has changed over time. Gone are the days when I grumbled 'how many days of idly? can't we have anything more delicious than steamed dough?'
Now, when I see idly, my face lightens up, a smile blossoms in my face instinctively and the eyes brighten up - If there is sambhar or gothsu to go with it, my lips and tongue go smacking!

All said and felt about glorious past, let us get to the sour truth. I do not have the luxury of time or resource to make Indian breakfast everyday. So, giving the excuse of health and diet, stick to cereals and milk. - Quite contrary to our Indian breakfast - cold, bland(only if not sweet), liquidy. But, this is the best of what I can have. A friend of mine here, is in bigger misery. He has bagels with jam for breakfast :) - cold, bland and rubbbery!!
Sometimes it becomes a little tough, when my roommate, an American, offers, lovingly, to make breakfast for me! Pancakes or crepes with maple syrup. Having a sweet breakfast is just not my plate of food('cup of tea' - phrase substitute)..

That reminds me! the tea varieties here! - I've spoken to so many tea-drinkers, tasted the varieties they praise and tried my best to acquire a taste for it... But they are just not my cup of tea. I have tried the mint, jasmine, crysanthemum, orange, what not? After 2 sips, it requires great lotta courage and determination to take the cup to the lip!

In a nutshell, naaku coma stage ku poiduchu

Aatha, naan fail aayiten!

2007-08-26T06:08:00.000+05:30

NJ driving knowledge test is supposed to be one of the toughest in the US.

Yeah, I have to say that! coz, I flunked :)I did read the manual, but should admit that I went a little over-confident. According to me, the common-sense should be able to help in this exam.
But, guess it was not enough. Or, rather I did not have enough :)

For those who are not aware of the NJ-DMV process, it is an online test for 50 questions and you have to get atleast 40 correct.Ironically, I got 39 :(

Some of the questions that bowled me out:
When is the road most slippery?1. After the first few mins of rain 2. After a heavy rainfall3. After a storm4. All of the above
When the car skids, which side will you turn the wheel? (I skipped this qn to be answered later, and see what I got next)What is the first thing you do when the car skids?

My expression was...
Venaam! Azhudhuruven!

Rubies in Silver

2007-08-10T07:42:00.000+05:30

A mastepiece of nature that I recently saw and admired...in New York Botanical Gardens.

Isn't it a beauty? Jewellers - check out. A design worth imitating!

btw, does anybody know the name of this flower?

After a long time...

2007-07-18T01:43:00.000+05:30

Yes, am back.. and in good cheer!

Last few months had been a roller-coaster ride - up and down, twist and turn, good and bad, high and low, tears and joy, this and that..

Discovered few truths of Life.
1. One cannot write blogs sitting on a roller-coaster
2. One can't even read others' blogs riding on it
3. Not always can you behave as you wish to
4. It is better to knock on a closed door than to assume it will not open and walk past
5. If you knock and do get in, all who did not knock, will be upset with you
6. It is easy to punish but difficult to forgive somebody
7. It is difficult to punish but almost impossible to forgive a loved one
8. ikkaraiku akkarai pachai (transliterates to : For this side, that side, green)
9. My tongue hates bland food.. commits suicide if served with it for 3 full days
10. Keerai masiyal is one of the easiest, delicious, healthy dish that goes well with rice

Death Sentence

2007-01-09T21:05:00.000+05:30

How does it feel to know that you are going to die tomorrow?
How does it feel to live through a day knowing that it is your last?
What is it like, to accept the fact without a choice or without fighting?
Do you believe in re-birth?

Well, these are all the feelings that is currently running on my head. Yes, I am being terminated from this world tomorrow. If Saddam's execution disturbed you, in spite of all the charges against him, hold your breath - I am being executed for no mistake of mine.

However, this is quite common in my world. There are many of my peers being awarded a death sentence and the execution is almost immediate - In a day's time.

What hurts the most, is how my executioner let the world know about my death sentence. He actually made me make an announcement to every single person. Since today is my last day alive, since morning, I have been telling each of my/his friends that I will not be alive tomorrow.

Now, all I have to do is wait patiently for death and then wait for resurrection (yeah, I strongly believe in re-birth).

Yeah, I am kind of prepared for this. I am only a slave and my master has decided to do away with me! I do not have a choice. Does a mobile number whose owner decides to change, have a choice?

Note: A tribute to my mobile no. which I changed recently.

Love at first sight!

2006-11-20T23:50:00.000+05:30

I first saw her right outside Isphani.That was my first glance and I knew I fell for her right away. She looked gorgeous in a light pink saree heavily studded with svarovski crystals. With the saree draped so stylishly and her complexion just a couple of shades lighter than the saree she was wearing, I just couldn't take off my eyes from this divine beauty. Contrastingly,I was in a wrinkle-free khakhi trouser, with a cool derby striped cotton shirt buttoned out with a white cotton tee inside. With a rugged hairstyle, many of my friends thought I looked cool! But I knew, it wouldn't please a princess like her! Nevertheless, I kept looking..I had her image trapped in my eyes and I knew it was there to stay!
***
A few days later, I met her at a party in Park Shereton.. We had a common friend who was forced (of course by me!) to give us an intro. The good news was that we were in the same profession and also that the chances of meeting her often, can be created! After a few minutes of chit-chat, I knew it. She was not just a beauty, but a beauty with loads of brains! I also decided, She is the one for me! But just exchanged courtesies and knew a little about her and parted. Now, she had not only filled my eyes, but my head too!
***
However, I didn't expect to bump into her near Valluvar Kottam! I was in a Park Avenue Tuxedo, grinning away to glory, when she came up with a gang. A cool gang of rugged men and women in pre-washed, bullet-shot, torn jeans!! She was sharing a joke with her friends and at the same time was longingly looking at the Azmi Diamond earring in the hoarding near by. There again, I locked her up in my eyes and thought, I should get her those earrings for our wedding! I just couldn't stop grinning or looking at her. Then suddenly it started raining, or rather pouring.. I am not sure if i should be saying this, but I thought she looked very, very attractive! I stood there, lost, looking at her, unmindful of the brand new tuxedo getting drenched!
***
Now again, outside Isphani..I am standing in my same old place, in the same old costume and what do I see in the car that is parked in the signal below?!! That is my lady gorgeous!! But, who is the guy next to her? Who is driving the car? I duck a little, twist my neck and just can't believe what I see!!! It's me who is driving the car!!I made it!! I made it!! I give a satisfying grin, sitting on a rugged mountain from the 'Derby' hoarding above!
***
From inside the car:
Lady Gorgeous : Look, another place, where you and I are posing in adjacent billboards!
Our hero : Well, I should say, this is where I first saw you!
Lady Gorgeous : But, I started noticing you, only in the Valluvar Kottam billboard. You looked great in the tuxedo.
Our hero : (just grins and shifts to first gear)
***
Yadhvi: Should I say that our lady gorgeous is sporting an Azmi solitaire in her ears?

(Inspired by plethora of hoardings in Chennai city!)

Patel Shot

2006-10-24T14:48:00.000+05:30

Patel Shot n. a candid photograph with a person in the foreground and a place or object of interest (such as a tourist destination or landmark) in the background. (Src: Double-tongued Dictionary)

In India, with international travel booming in the IT industry which employs almost 40% of the eligible educated bachelors, 'Patel shots' are the in-thing for quite sometime now. I am not sure if it is by choice or chance, 90% of such IT world groom-to-be snaps that are exchanged happen to be shot abroad in a well known tourist spot!

It is not the same with the opposite sex though. Bride-to-be pictures are usually shot at home, studio with a plain background in ethnic wear. Women travel abroad too, but the pics in western outfits in tourist spots are not preferred.

What is the psychology behind a 'patel shot'?

1. Implicit advertising - if your daughter marries my son, she will get to travel to these spots

2. The guy/his family thinks, foreground object looks all the more attractive, when the background is attractive

3. Even if the prospective bride is not impressed by the guy, she might be impressed by the location and say 'mmm' approvingly

4. It acts as an ISI(Internationally Salaried Indian) mark, which increases the guy's value

5. Assume if the prospective bride gets pics from 2 similar alliances, one shot in India and the other abroad, she is more likely to choose the foreign one

Heights of Patel shots:

1. Mr.X in front of Eiffel tower or a tall structure, and the photographer would have tried to cover the entire structure with X as a miniature.

2. Mr.X with shades and a cap standing in Brooklyn Bridge or near Niagara - wonder if they are attempts to hide the squint and bald head

3. Mr.X standing with a group(usually 4 or 5) of eerie looking friends (all guys though!) next to a Toyota, Ford, Chevy(rented from Avis, Budget).

4.Mr.X standing close to a railing with hands stretched out on the railing and right foot crossed in front of the left foot(ishtyle!!!) and glaring into the camera with side grin

5. Mr.X with a leather jacket, woodland shoes/boots, hands inside the jacket pocket, standing(shivering?!!) in snow covered area.

6. Mr.X standing amidst the colorful trees and leaves of autumn.. Could that be to morph into Maddy in 'Pachai nirame' song?

Wonder how guys/their parents will react to such pics from the prospective brides!

Law of Convenience

2006-09-29T13:00:00.000+05:30

It was so magnanimous of the TamilNadu govt. to give a tax waiver for movies with Thamizh titles. I also admire our Chief Minister for being able to, till date, give speeches and converse without English influence. But, there are some anomalies unhandled and a good potential to tap.

It would be a wiser decision of the govt. if they extend this kind of tax waiver to TV/ Radio channels as well. First - The Channel name and then the channel programs. That would encourage channels like Sun TV, Sun News, Sun Music, Suryan FM, KTV, change their english names. It is important for the govt. to realize that in today's world, TV media has a bigger impact on the kids than the movie. Hence, Tamilicizing, TV channels and programmes become all the more essential.

Apart from creating a tight corner for Jaya TV to change the show titles like 'Mom and Me', 'jackpot', etc., It would also encourage Pepsi Ungal Choice, Hello kuttis, Comedy Time, etc. to change their titles.

It is high time the Sun TV stakeholders realize that they have some conspirators in their own board trying to create a controversy. While the board suggests good local language names for their Malayalam, Telugu, Kannada arms like Kiran, Surya, Udaya, Teja, they have been repeatedly suggesting anglicized names only for Thamizh - including Sumangali Cable Vision and Sun Cinema ( the discontinued channels). It could well be their competitor's plan.

Note: Thanks to tea session and Sriram for sharing this thought.

Disclaimer: This has been published in this blog in view of protecting the best interests of the Thamilnadu govt. and Sun TV network.

Luncheon Problems

2006-09-21T20:53:00.000+05:30

After some years of work experience, a group discussion chaired by the COO might not make one nervous. Atleast, I was not nervous or excited. But, I was more worried about what was to follow. It was a discussion over lunch - which means, lunch is served in the board room, as we discuss. Here comes the complications. To save the hassle of serving and avoid spilling, usually, pizzas are served during such sessions.

What is my problem? I really don't think I do a great job at eating a pizza neatly!
I would be rated 'clumsy' while tearing a cold pizza with fork and knife.
I would be rated 'yucky' when the dried mozzarella stretches without breaking especially when 1/2 the piece is inside my mouth.
I would be rated 'avaricious' while trying to finish the pizza hot to avoid the above problems
I would be rated 'dirty' as it is quite instinctive to pick the capsicum piece and put it into my mouth, before starting on the pizza
I would be rated 'best' when eating it with my hands - munching away.

With all these thoughts running on my head, I was quite relieved to see packed boxes from Sangeetha being served. 'Sangeetha' doesn't make pizzas, and I could manage a neat south Indian meal.. Sigh of relief.

But the story doesn't end there. It was a closed box and I was anxious to see what was in store. I was eagerly waiting for a cue and when the guy in my left opened the box, quickly sneaked a look at its contents - Lemon rice, Bisibellabath, curd rice, chips, mango pickle, chick-pea sundal and pineapple kaseri!! Now, that definitely is a decent treat for a hungry soul!

Rubbing my hands, sitting straight, forgetting the topic of discussion, getting the salivary glands rolling, I opened my box.....Horror! Dismay! Disappointment! NO CURD RICE - NO BEHELABATH!!! The mango pickle looked delicious, but where's his partner?! Instead of the curd rice, I had a second serving of the Bisibellabath :-(

Somebody's careless mistake, and I have been victimized in a board room where I cannot raise it as a concern. How would a group of techies discussing organizational concerns such as incident prevention and disaster recovery understand my problem? I wouldn't have been bothered had everybody had two servings of Bisibellabath. It was ONLY me!! and why ONLY me?

So, all you guys in catering business...Please, please be more careful.. Your careless deed could upset a software engineer and shoot down all her grey cells! Her ideas and innovations would be suppressed and she would be de-moralized by your insensitivity to client satisfaction!

Geared Tear Glands

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

I wish God created me with this add-on feature. At least, would like to know what it would cost to incorporate one. Would have saved a lot of trouble right from childhood. Now, to elaborate more on the problem, leave alone having a gear, my tear glands mal-functioned when in dire need. Not that I was suffering from Sjögren's Syndrome or something, but I just can't cry.

When as a child, this lack of lachrymal stimuli, has caused enough damage. A mistake from my side, would start off as a mild rebuke from my mother. If only I had turned on the engine and cried in first gear, my mother would have felt content, that her words have made me repent. But, even after some voluntary twitching and scrubbing, not a tear would roll down! Enough indication of stubbornness. This would just about aggravate her enough to whack me to get that tear out!

Over the times, I learnt to live with my handicap. I began to believe that 'Tears were expressions of weakness and surrender' and that am mentally strong not to cry. There were times, in childhood, I used to sit back and wonder, what if I don't cry for a bereavement? What will people think of me? Won't they call me stone-hearted? I was more worried about this than the loss from a bereavement!(Cruel Me - I used to think).

There were enough people around me who, capitalized on their geared tear glands. There were enough of them to make me jealous and yearn for this feature! Game or fight, competition or team work, the elders thought the crying or the meek were being bullied by me and were pitied. Grrr..

How many cry for emotional movies? There is this friend of mine who has tears rolling, even if the villain gets hit. Remember Anjali? or My dear kutti Chathaan? Almost all the kids, coming out of the movie hall, came out crying, except me!

Now, as an adult, there are a few pressing issues that had me cry my heart out in silence, at nights! I've cried for hours and days.. But, again, when I have to do it in front of others, my glands fail! My brain sometimes realizes that a 4th gear tear now, will save or help - But refuses to convert that into a command to my glands. I used to wonder if it is an ego problem!

Over so many years of analysis and living with this problem, there are a few things I realized.

1. There is an emotional gear – at least in case of bereavement! The more closer I am to a person, more the tears
2. Not many can control tears - just that many can start their vehicle in 3rd or 4th gear, while I jus can't
3. If a guy doesn't cry, he's considered to be strong. If a girl doesn't she is just too stubborn

Whatever be the justification, I really wish I could cry, when I want to!

Back from the Slumber

2006-08-29T16:04:00.000+05:30

Top 10 things that keeps one away from updating the blog

1. Laziness
2. Sudden loss of interest in blogging without any reason
3. Drained imagination/boredom
4. Tied down to work
5. New found interest in something/somebody else
6. Other pressing issues
7. Sudden guilt about lack of time management
8. Comfortable going into the shell
9. Life is not as interesting/humorous as it used to be
10. Just don’t feel like it

It was all the ten of the above reasons that let downtoearth- down for sometime.
Now, I have really woken up with roaring energy and cheer. Hope to be more expressive soon!
But, I did think of some wacky reasons too.

1. Appraisal time and you better pretend to work hard
2. You are an hibernating species
3. You don't like reading your own blogs
4. Decide to spare your friends who are forced to read
5. Suffering from Gajini style Short term memory loss
6. Fingers refuse to type b-l-o-g-g-e-r-.-c-o-m
7. The reading part of the brain works better than the writing part

Interestingly, they seem to hold good too!

Grow Up!

2006-07-19T15:11:00.000+05:30

There are so many little things, when taken care, can make a big difference to your professional outlook. At college, you are still a student and can do as you please! But once at work, please realize that there are so many jobless people noticing you. The way you carry yourself, reflect the kind of professional you are.

Listing those little things which sometimes is missed grossly.

1. Think twice before you scratch an itch. I am not sure if itch guard is a good alternative, but do guard your instincts.

2. Telephone is a device you speak into. You point should reach only the person on the other side of the line and not to people around you.

3. Converse of the above. You can murmur. But extended such personal conversations can be irritating.

4. Maintain a queue where one is expected. Worse, don't cut an existing one.

5. For goodness sake, when you are in a queue stand alone! Don't hold hands, hips, shoulders of your friend. Grow up!

6. Check if someone has the time and width to accommodate your questions/clarifications. Don't just barge in

7. Dress-up to command respect neither to kill nor kindle

8. However the opponent is dressed-up, look at their eyes and face when you speak
I have noticed more often, women do to women and men do to men - giving a glance at the outfit as they speak!! It is highly irritating

9. If there is a mirror in a public place, you can definitely glance into it. But for adjusting your hair-style, looking at the pimples, moustache, etc. please use the one in the rest-room. For heaven sake don't use it to look at people standing around you. That is not a rear-view mirror.
I see more men do the above! who said women are beauty conscious?

10. You may be the boss. But above and other company rules/standards applies to you too.

Supersinger R E T U R N S

2006-07-06T20:23:00.000+05:30

Note: This is not a spoof cocktail of Airtel Super-singer and Superman Returns.

My knowledge in ornithology is almost -Nil-. But, I can definitely differentiate between the common species like crow, koel, hen, peacock, owl, swan, duck, crane, parrot, pelican, penguin, pigeon, woodpecker and kingfisher (Excuse the childish list. I started to list them assuming I'll have only about 4 to 5! Continued at one shot and this is impressive!). I can also identify some of their calls.

In this city so famous for its crows, encountering a bird of a different kind always makes me happy. Be it a pigeon, sparrow or parrot I have always loved to sight them! I haven't seen a koel at close quarters, but, when I heard her koo from the mango tree in our apartment, right outside my room, I was thrilled.

She does have a mellifluous voice - high pitched, sharp, loud, smooth and clean! No wonder 'Kuyil Paatu' (Koel's song) is honored in so many cinema songs! Her sincerity and whole-heartedness shows out in her early morning 'saadhagams'(singing practice). The only itch being, she starts out her Saadhagams quite early..say about 4.00 AM! Well, her voice definitely does not wake me up in spite of having the window facing the mango tree open, but for my uncle, who lives in the 2nd floor, 2 floors above my room, she serves as the morning alarm.

We first heard her sing last June (2005). Couple of weeks went by and everybody in the apartment had noticed her and heard her voice..My uncle once sighed 'En ippadi kathudhu nu thrialai...adhoda jodi ya tholaichudthu pola irukku!!(meaning: Not sure why she is giving those desperate calls, may be she lost her pair)

2 year old Sneha in the first floor, once stood in the balcony and yelled back 'Enna Venum ka-ka(She probably thought all birds are ka-ka) unakku?(meaning: Ms. Crow, what do you want?) Sometimes, when the squirrels are discussing aloud about their mango stock and deciding on territories of the tree, it is a complete concert!

By the way, did I tell you, it is only of late, I discovered that a koel can koo in 2 different ways! Crow says kaa-kaa, duck says quack-quack, parrot says kee-kee. But the koel is multi-faceted! She can either sing 'ku-ku-ku-ku-ku', monotonous short koo's or long loud ones like 'koo-ooo', 'koo-ooo' ('oo' as in 'boot'). The first kind is quite heart warming and makes one feel brisk and cheerful in the morning just like hearing 'chinna kuyil paadum paatu kaetkudha? ku,ku,ku,koo,ku..'. But the latter, grips you up. It always makes you feel, the koel is calling out to someone, wants something or singing a pathos - 'kuyilai pudichu koondil adaichu..'. Even 2 year old Sneha can feel it!

Getting to the reason for this post.. This koel in my mango tree, suddenly disappeared in 2 months time. I used to wonder if it was because of the insult by Sneha! May be the koel thought 'How dare this little one calls me ka-ka?'! Or, may be, she found her partner. So, since September 2005, the mango tree was just housing squirrels and crows.

But now, much to the joy and wonder of everybody in the apartment, She is back..the Supersinger is back to her mango tree! Looking forward to more saadhagams and kutcheries for the next 2 months!

Apple of the Eye - II

2006-06-26T17:41:00.000+05:30

Visually Impaired?

The 'Mall' culture is very much en-vogue in Chennai. It is an irony that they've become the most happening place in a city with wide variety of spots for out-door entertainment like beach, theatres, temples and exhibitions. Yesterday, was my first visit to Citi Center(yeah, a li'l outdated, but for some reason, it didn't appeal to me as much as Spencer's or Lifestyle showroom did).

While I was there, I just realized that 'Lifestyle' is not only the name of a showroom but is a loud and clear statement by itself. It reflects the changing lifestyle of the people of Chennai - More so, related to the topic, 'lifestyle of parents and kids'!

I see more parents in 'mukkaal touser'(3/4ths?) and 'cut banian'(sleeveless t-shirts). Well, it suits the weather, so no complaints. While I was walking across the shop floor, with raised eyebrows looking at the price tags, designs and people looking at them, a loud sharp cry disturbed not just me, but, all the shoppers.

'Somebody help me!' yelled a 'mukka touser' lady. All eyes on her as she continued..

'I lost my kid, somebody help me, my daughter is missing - Aarthi..'

Before, the crowd could react or the situation could sink in, her husband came from somewhere, carrying a one-year old. The kid had a blank look, oblivious to the tension. She hadn't even realized that she got lost.

He said, 'Don't worry, I found her, she's here'.

After this, the lady reacted like Kamalhassan! a mixture of tears, smile and a growl.. and loudly enough, asks the one year old in Junoon Thamizh- 'Enga da pone nee?'

She has been so careless and engrossed in her shopping to miss a one-year old! And, to top that, asks the one-year old toddler, 'Where have you been?' !!! The crowd literally laughed at her.. and hope she realized it.

How did mothers of yesteryears manage with 8-10 kids in a kovil thiruvizha(temple festival)? I wonder!!

That was not it!

After a while, as I was walking, I saw a 50cms tall kid walking alone in front of me. I brushed her hair and heard a voice from behind,

'Is that your kid?'
(Err.. 'Not that I am aware of.. what made you think I'll own up with my parents around?' Thought me..)
But, said 'NO'
The lady then replied, 'I think she has lost her parents and is searching around'
!!!!
We walked behind her, a little worried. Then the lady stopped her to check if she needed help.

That was it. That was the cue for the kid to get scared and cry! All this while, she was searching for her parents, panicking, but not showing it out. The moment a stranger stopped her, she started yelling. The lady who stopped her, looked rather embarrassed and nervous. She didn't know what to do. I saw myself, backing up a little, just to indicate, 'I didn't do this'.

In about 2 mins, her parents (surprisingly another mukka touser mother) found her...

Now, am not against mukka touser, but wondering if it's got anything to do with losing a kid, missing the apple of the eye(topic has to be related). My saree clad mother, never lost me?!

Lawgical?

2006-06-14T18:34:00.000+05:30

My knowledge on Indian Law is almost -Nil-. All the knowledge I have gathered is mostly from the movies or media and a minuscule from hearsay, reading and practical experiences. So be it. This doesn't mean, that, I shouldn't ask questions in my blogspot. Questions that shamelessly reveal my ignorance. Questions on issues that I think are contradictory.

Now, coming to the question, Is an arrest under NDPS Act bailable?
If yes, why did the media create so much hype and called it 'Non-bailable' when Rahul was arrested?
If No, why is he granted a bail now?

It is ironic that excluding the lawyers, judges and law students of our country, almost 98% of the population (or should I say 99.99%?) are completely ignorant and illiterate in the subject of law. We don't have to know the intricacies, but isn't it our duty/right to know the basics?

We are not civil engineers, but we still learn to measure land, calculate square foot, do some mason work
We are not doctors, but we still use Crocin, Cold Act, inject insulin, decide to take a vitamin
We are not electrical engineers but we fix our fuse, change bulbs, connect wires
We are not a CA/MBA, but we manage our finance, calculate ROI, Save tax
We are no psephologist but we analyze and talk so much about elections

When we take so much effort or should I say, effortlessly learn the basics of other Sciences, engineering and art, why do we ignore law so much?

Of course, We do know things like
When you are over 18, you can take decisions on your own, Section 420 is for cheating A little on fundamental rights - A little here and there...

But have we ever thought of knowing anything more? If suddenly, one day, police comes to arrest me, yes, I am knowledgeable enough to ask for a warrant, but after that? I wouldn't even know what section, if it is bailable? I wouldn't even know how an FIR or a court notice looks like.

If Income Tax comes in for a raid, do we know that there is a limit to the amount of gold we can possess? Do we know that the limit varies for men and women and depends on their marital status?

IMO, Basic literacy on law, should be made mandatory.
But, so what if the govt. is not doing that? Schools can take it up as part of Civics lessons. Don't they teach computer science and Java programming to VII- IX std. kids?
Still, so what if the schools don't teach, Can't we take an initiative and get some awareness just as we learnt to fix a fuse or take medicines?

I really wish the day is not far away!

Getting back to what I started with, it is ironic, that in such a law-illiterate country, we are all aware of one un-written law.. All are not equal in front of the eyes of law. Sahil Zaroo is not equal to Rahul Mahajan.

Quoting my favorite lines from George Orwell’s Animal Farm:
'All animals are equal. But some animals are more equal than the others'.

P.ORR.& Sons

2006-06-07T13:54:00.000+05:30

Annamalai & I went on a shopping spree last afternoon. We had a list of things to buy and were stealing one hour of office time during lunch to get over with this. Since we had definite things in mind and all the shops were on the same street, blocks away, we shouldn't have any problems or delay. Or so we thought.

Having summarized that, now, I should say, shopping for a digital alarm clock at P.ORR & Sons was a tiresome experience! They had a good collection of alarm clocks and we chose the one we wanted in about 7 mins and were happy to have accomplished the task so quickly. Little did we realize then, that getting out of the store was a 45 min ordeal.

The sales boy (yeah, young fellow about 18 yrs) showed our choice to the old security and said 'Idhoda box venum anna' (Need the box for this!).
The security carelessly said 'Ange dhaan irundhadhu - Ulle room le paaru'.
The sales boy handed over the time piece to a sales woman and went in search of the box. After about 15 minutes he came back saying, 'Akka, box enge irukku nu theriuma?'
The saleswoman now carelessly said, 'Ange dhaan irundhadhu - Ulle room le paaru!' and she told the security 'Neenga poi paarunga'.
The security replied 'Paathaachu DQ/5000-34 model dhaane? paathaachu. illai.'

Malai feebly muttered 'Vera box le pottu koduthudunga, appadiye gift wrap pannidunga'
Saleswoman was walking out saying 'Oru 5 mins wait pannunga sir. kedaichidum'
Another 10 mins went by and now Malai asked 'Bill pottudareengala? box kedaikaradhukule?'

Now, if you, thought billing would have been done in a couple of minutes, you are wrong! Yes, it was computerized billing. The computer dated back to PC invention days and the billing system, running on old blue-green FoxPro, dated back to early days of computerization. That is not it. The person in the counter dated back to pen & paper days! Since the installation of the computer, he seems to have used only his right hand for keying in.

Malai put his credit card out as the person started typing with his right hand the clock model number. Now, it is not an automated process and once the model number is entered, the brand details do not appear. He had to type out the manufacturer (Q&Q). Q was fine, but for typing out Shift+7 to get the '&', he did some finger floor-gymnastics and finally got it. After finishing, he looked up, with a blank face and asked 'Credit Card a?'

He had created a cash bill! It has to be re-done for credit card, after some more finger-gymnastics, the bill was done.

Just then, the box also was finally found. The saleswoman, the boy and the security now accused each other for misplacing, not searching and carelessness. The saleswoman put the clock inside the box, stapled it up and then realized she hadn't put the guarantee card inside!. She tried shoving it inside thru stapled gaps! Malai said 'parava illai, thaniya koduthudunga' and we ran out! After all this, we didn’t have the nerve to get it gift wrapped!

To add to all this, it was a very hot day to be in a non-A/c store which had just 2 pedestal fans blowing out hot humid air.

There were 2 other shoppers on that hot afternoon, and they made a sales of close to Rs.3000 at that time!

Will I ever visit the shop again? Naaah...

Not sure if it was a bad day just for us, nor, do I know if all P.ORR & Sons outlets are like this. But, the store and the experience reflected the totally unmotivated, out-dated staff oblivious of customer service.

Schools Re-open!

2006-06-05T13:53:00.000+05:30

Crisp smart(sometimes long!) uniform,
New bag, pencil box, stationery
Fresh covered books and notebooks
Bright white/shining black shoes,
Brisk walk, excited faces,
Cheerful recharged souls,
Tiny head full of holiday stories/fantasies,
Anticipation to meet old friends,
Nervousness about making new friends in new schools,
Pride of being in a higher class,
Planning for lunch time/evening games
Looking forward to new class teacher
Crying kids and worried parents of K.G

There is so much of excitement in the city... cha, really miss that good old days.
School days(Especially L.K.G to Class 10) - One period of life when everybody else worries about you and does the work for you. Parents make you learn, teachers teach and give you notes, conduct special classes for the weak. They take care of you and your studies. You just gotta play around!

Wish I could get back to my school days again!

Art of Dying

2006-05-28T17:22:00.000+05:30

I was a regular reader of Art Buchwald's column in The Hindu. Though, his American sense of humor and satire would sometimes go over my head, most of the times, his column would leave a smile on my face for the rest of the day. Recently, I read about his ailment in the Hindu, and googled for more.

True to being a humorist, this Pulitzer Prize winner, talks on a lighter note, about his approaching death!

In a world and period where people are racing against time and destiny to win over death, What an attitude to not only accept death, but greet it with a smile! Art has refused dialysis for his failing kidneys (It would be a sin on my part to use un-Arty words like ‘suffering’ or ‘ailment’).

He, not only chose a graceful exit, but has cheerfully accepted the fact and quips about his end! This act of courage and strength has not only belittled the gloom around death but, has actually challenged the medical science. It is told that Art is doing very well than expected and is going for a holiday from his hospice. Now, death seems to be too scared to approach Art! Again, so typical of Art to quip 'Never trust your kidneys'

Quoting his golden words : 'Whether it's the best of times or the worst of times, it's the only time we've got.'

I really wish, when I die, it would be a delightful one!

BRB!

2006-05-23T20:57:00.000+05:30

Back after a short break..
My scheduling algorithm gave more time share to Troy, Darshini and cousin's wedding. Even if I had blogged, it would be about one of these...hence, forcefully refrained from blogging.

Hoping to get active soon!

Stress Busters

2006-05-04T11:43:00.000+05:30

Darshini & Troy

Energy Mongers, Stress Busters, Captivators, Addiction, Sheer Joy!

Ad Watch

2006-04-28T17:06:00.000+05:30

A couple of weeks back, got to watch an interview with Louis Banks on Times Now (Brand Equity show). It was nice to see and recollect some of the good old ads.

Listing a few of them and other jingles that were my favorites of the yester years:

In random order:

1. Washing powder Nirma, washing powder Nirma...Ellorum potrum Nirma
2. Yeh zammeen, yeh aasmaan....Hamara Bajaj, Hamara Bajaj
3. Sila vishayame, visheshame, vaazhvile... Cadbury's Dairy Milk
4. Titan Watch - Mozart music
5. As crazy, as crazy as Goldspot...Goldspot, the zing thing..Goldspot
6. Sottu neelam doi, regal sottu neelam doi..enna venmayo, aha, enna venmaiyo
7. Am too old for... too young for...But I think you are just right for Amul chocolate
8. La....la la la la....la.la.laa...lyril
9. Saapiduvai, en uyire kozhi muttai..murgi ki andae(Hindi version is better)
10. Hai, Am Sanjana Got another Pepsi (not for the music though)
11. Ting, tingta ting.. Britannia
12. The taste that gets you started up – Nescafe

Good old DD days (or probably early days of cable channels)!

But nothing can beat this popular the radio commercial...'Ivandhaan my son..ivan......Bison' :-)

Apple of the eye - I

2006-04-13T17:28:00.000+05:30

Read the intro here.

What is in a name?

When a baby is born into the family, a generation is created. The kith and kin are proud. Parents, grandparents are in bliss. The newborn is considered a gift from God to save the lineage. With, so much value added to the baby, parents feel the responsibility of being in charge of another human being. They vouch to do everything right for the little one. Right from the first bath, to the medicines, to the diet and most importantly, to the name. They hunt, analyze, dream, visualize, calculate and plan before choosing a name!

Dad: 'The name should be short and catchy. She might end up working in the US and the Americans shouldn't have a problem pronouncing it'

Mom: 'It should be unique and an uncommon name yet simple.'

Grandpa: 'Use letters from her grand ma's name. She will grow up to be an excellent women'

Grandma: 'Most preferably Devi's name from Sahasranamam'

Astrology: 'pri', 'shy', 'zhi' should be starters for a great life

After all deliberation and argument, the Murthy's were proud of 'Preetha', the little girl and her name. Time sped by and now, Preetha, 5 year old, goes to school.

One evening, Preetha came back home dull, sober and burst into tears. The family was shattered at the state of the little one. They gathered around, consoled, pampered and waited for Preetha to speak up.

Preetha, with a Dairy milk in her mouth said, 'I want to change my name!'

'What?' gasped Mommy.

Pr..(Err. As of now 'Preetha') said, 'I don't like my name and I want to change it right away.

'But, why? What happened?' Dad asked patiently.

'I just don't like it. There is 'Sulthana' who is my class leader. My teacher likes her. I also want to be called Sulthana'

(Grandma almost fainted. Grandpa wonders, how to tell Preetha, she can't be called Sulthana, without saying too much on religeon)

Dad says, 'But Preetha is a nice name. Like a little angel's. special'

Preetha retorts, 'It's not nice, my friends mock calling me 'pee..thaa'. And moreover, there is a bully in class, who is also Preetha. Can you change it or not?' she begs, with tear filled eyes.

Mom, collecting herself, said, 'that Preetha is different. You are our special little one, and God gave you this name'

Preetha replies, 'Then, I will ask God. I will cry to him. If I am Preetha, I know, 'I will die soon, be a bad girl, and not study well'

'DIE SOON? Who taught you such words?!!' mom yelled.

Preetha mumbled, 'I know, I am grown up. All my friends told.'

There was silence in the room and Preetha spoke up again, with determination in her voice

'If you don't like Sulthana, you can call me 'Anusha'. She is a smart akka in school who tells daily prayers and salutes in assembly. I will also be good like that'.

When the family was seriously thinking on how to handle this situation, in came Prashanth, Preetha's brother, a 7 year old.

He said 'Amma, call me Dhoni hereafter. I am going to grow my hair like that and hit six'.

Family:!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Apple of the eye - An Intro

2006-04-13T17:24:00.000+05:30

We have seen enough movies like ABCD(American Born Confused Desi), Bend it like Beckham and many more of that genre. We have also heard enough on stories and lifestyle of a confused NRI generation which is torn between cultural divide of India and the west.

'Apple of the eye' is an attempt to bring out such obscurities, that children are facing within our country. India Inc., is growing and the world is becoming a global village. India is slowly transitioning from an orthodox setup to an open culture. But, what about our mindsets? Are we in pace? Are we ready for handling the next generation? How much can we allow?

If Calvin (of Calvin & Hobbes) is a troublesome American kid, what havoc can his Indian counterpart cause? Gone are the days, when slogan 'Maatha, Pitha, Guru, Deivam' was the de facto for 'good' children. Younger generation parents prefer to handle children as friends. They prefer to guide them than command. But, what is their tolerance level? How much can they handle?

This is just an attempt to bring to light the situation and confuse more on a lighter note. I leave the task of devising a methodology of dealing with such situation at the hands of the individual. I leave it to you, for the simple reason that, you will know your child best and the solution should be personalized.

Spiderman dialogue, “With great power comes great responsibility” might be true. But the converse definitely is not, especially when handling kids. Greater responsibility can never give you greater power over the child!

Beat the Heat!

2006-04-10T17:16:00.000+05:30

Thanks to -

Maavadu, Watermelon, Vadaam Koozh, Honeydew melon juice,

Puzhungal arisi pazhayadhu, Neer ahaaram, Paanai thanni, Jil moru,

Cool sea breeze, Rain tree and yellow gulmohur blossoms and

Noisy naughty kids..

Chennai can be a cool place to spend the summer!

Thanks to mom - Haven't missed much of the tradition being in a metro on hot summers!

Ooty - Owner's Pride Neighbor's Envy

2006-04-06T14:20:00.000+05:30

How many of us remember the days when our mom used to have a bowl of pappu mammu or thachu mammu, run around and feed us?

I hardly can recollect! May be she had to do it when my tiny brain couldn't really coordinate the hand-to-mouth movement and when I didn't know the usage of thumb. Today, even if she tries to put something in my mouth, I fret, back-out, get it in my hand and help myself!

Well, I have seen my cousin run around to feed my niece and it is a wonder to watch the kid have rice smeared all over the face, run around, pretend to throw up, spit out, et al

In one of the recent marriages that I attended, I have also seen the groom feed the bride during lunch, spilling some juice on her high-priced pattu saree. She had a funny expression on the picture that captured the moment - happiness of getting fed by the man, over-shadowed by the cost and the state of the saree

Many more such instances! We've seen an attendant feed the patient, birthday cakes at parties, couples at restaurants and they are all normal incidents. It is something that happens in day-to-day life, and nobody complains.

But, But, why do you have to do it at work? At Tidel Food Court, sitting right opposite me, when I am helping myself, swallowing that sub-standard gruel with the company of three empty chairs!! Not that I protest, but it sure caused an envious 'fire in the belly'(causing severe acidity) for the fellow diners at surrounding tables.

* The geek who was thinking of a bug in java script, in the next table, forgot his 'helloworld' program.

* The french-beard manager, who had fought with his wife, (obviously, that landed him at food court) sighed heavily, cooling down his hot soup in that one sigh

* The young programmer whose girl friend is on a long-term onsite assignment, almost burst into tears

* And I, looked vaguely at the three empty chairs around me!

Why food court? And why right in front of my eyes?!

Now, to link the title…

'Ooty vidradhu thapillai... aana, idam, porul, eval arindhu ooty vidavum'. Ungal Ooty, suthi irukaravangaluku Sahara!!
[Roughly translates to: Nothing wrong in feeding, but just do it in the right place. Owner's pride neighbor's envy.]

PS: And, that makes post no 50!

Happy Fool's Day!

2006-04-01T11:53:00.000+05:30

It is a pleasure to to play a prank and get fooled on this day! Have Fun!

And, this is the closest picture I could take (obviously, of you) when somebody played a prank!

You look very smart! Just live the spirit!

New Shoes at 10.00 AM

2006-03-31T19:12:00.000+05:30

No, I don't suffer from Selective Amnesia like the politicians nor from Short-term memory loss like Sanjay Ramaswamy. I can say this for sure, coz, I remember the trivia, birthdays and telephone numbers. But what skips my memory is that I have to call or wish people on their birthdays!! So, am noted very much for the absent mindedness.

My friends very well understand if I miss their birthdays. I usually call them the previous day, ask 'what plans for birthday?' - forget to call them ON the D-day - Sincerely call up the next day to convey my belated wishes!! And, this carelessness does not stop with forgetting birthdays..

I am very popular for misplacing things as well. I do spend on an average atleast 2 hours per week searching. Searching for Spectacles, car keys, wallet, employee-id, what not?! Though I misplace them, I never lose them. If anything lies around, people who know me would probably pick it up, with an assurance that it is going to be mine.

'Arai Kaasu Amman'*, at my house, by now, would have contracted diabetes!

Now, Why did I have to do this self-revelation? Why confess my weakness in public? All to answer krishis's question and to let you know, as promised, how did I get a new pair of shoes at 10.00 AM on a Monday morning.

Monday morning, got ready to work, started my car, waded thru heavy traffic, got into Tidel and parked my car. All was fine till then. Since, I have the habit of driving without my footwear, All i have to do is, wear it on, switch-off the radio, get off, lock the car and walk to work...

Now, where is my footwear? First, my feet did the search, I just moved it on the carpet expecting to hit on my shoes. As that attempt was futile, bent down, put my hand underneath and tried. Failed again. Got off at Tidel, bare-foot, bent down to see under the seat… No Shoes.. 'Yeah', told my brain, 'how can it be there? You took it out last night to go to the restaurant!!'

When such is the situation, what can I do? what are the possibilities?

1. Go to work bare-feet and set a trend.
It definitely would be exciting, but guess my company's dresscode policy does not allow that!

2. Ping some friends guys/girls and check if they have an extra pair of my size at work.
They would really think I am insane to expect them to have/bring a footwear at work. But, I still did it. Nobody did!

3. Check if one of them who lived nearby had an extra pair, that almost fit me.. and if that person was jobless on monday morning to come with me for shoe-sake.

4. Buy it from a nearby shop - But are shoe shops in Adyar open by 9.45 AM?

5. Go back home 13 kms, for Shoes! - What a way to start Monday morning!

However, I do know #4. is feasible. Coz, this is not the first time am in this situation. I have been through the same, sometime back and have bought from the nearby Bata Seconds showroom.

The shop had just opened, the shutters half up. I parked the car in front of the shop and bought a pair of slippers for Rs.170. The shopkeeper didn't bother to take a box out for me. He just billed and dropped the slipper down for me to wear!

* 'Arai Kaasu Amman' is the Deity to whom it is customary to pray when you lose something. There is a belief that She finds it for you and you just have treat her with some 'jaggery'. It has been true in most of my cases.

Low Tides..

2006-03-28T12:26:00.000+05:30

On a gloomy night, when the tides are low,
The tiny stars in the sky glitter and glow.
What more can they, so afar, do to say...
'Good times ahead', stay happy and gay!!

Well, this is not my attempt on poetry... I know it can hardly pass as a rhyme :-) It is just to reflect how little things made me smile on a dully gloomy day!

I was really down and out Monday morning... and on Tuesday, I reflect, how many little things made me smile!

Thanks to all those tiny stars that glittered through my dull day..

1. Morning flowers in the garden, the koel and crows on the rain tree
2. Got a new pair of shoes at 10.00 AM!(should blog about this separately)
3. Little note of appreciation from a tough manager in my mailbox
4. Friends and well-wishers pinged me oft
5. Food Court made Gulab Jamun for lunch
6. Malai gave me his Gulab Jamun too (2 GJs made my day!)
7. Code worked fine at the first stroke of keys
8. Left my car window open but nothing got lost
9. The usual cheering tea sessions
10. Went to a temple by the sea, calm and serene...

Standing by the sea, I looked up at the sky...

On a gloomy night, when the tides are low,
The tiny stars in the sky glitter and glow.

An Unusual Cast

2006-03-14T20:34:00.000+05:30

Those who didn't read 'A Usual Story' yet, please read that before you continue.

Statutory Warning: Please do not scroll down without reading the previous post, or you will miss the tiny element of suspense I intend to treat you with.

And, for all those who read that and thought that it was a big budget adaptation(Shankar's version) of an old Bhagyaraj flick featuring the famous 'Ek gaon mein, ek kissaan...' comedy, read ahead and do let me know if this impresses you...

Maggie's demands:
It was a simple request. Actually, an offer. She said, 'One who loves me most, will have to live with me 24/7’. She said, 'He should be able to denounce his job, commitment and come with me to lead a happy, royal life ever after.' She added, 'We will be taken care of, provided the best of facilities and will not have great responsibilities.'

This, was quite an awakening offer for our three heroes!

Freddy, Lead Marijuana tracker, K-9 division NYPD.

Max, Most Valuable Player (MVP) of NYU pediatrics trauma therapy division.

Sam, 'Best Guide for blind and deaf', Red Cross, Specially Challenged support division.
(with his trinket)

Will they leave their career for Maggie, the royal beauty?!

No, they didn't! - just the way Maggie wanted!

They realized, Maggie was just a distraction...They also understood, they would be courting better suitors, who adored them for what they are capable of!

Maggie was a good friend of them now, and didn't distract any more..

Pic Courtesy: WWW

Disclaimer : These pictures are ONLY author's choice to suit the characters and any vague resemblences to anybody is purely coincidental.

A Usual Story

2006-03-13T18:18:00.002+05:30

Scene : NY city
Cast :
1. Freddy, Working for NYPD,
2. Max, Trauma Therapist in NYU Hospital,
3. Sam, Member and Service worker with Red Cross
4. Maggie, rich, cute, adorable, smart, adjective, adjective, adjective...

Freddy, Max and Sam have lots in common, but, each one is so different from the other! Though all their ancestors had migrated from Europe, especially Germany, during WW-II, they are all so American. All three of them are so molded by the nature of their work. They are, what their work demands, and are very good at that too.

Max, is all fun, cool, extrovert and relaxed. May be, his job demands such a disposition, but he is so typical. He never frets over anything.
Freddy, is a very responsible chap. He means business in all his approach. He's so professional, chats less and is very wise.
Sam, is compassionate, patient and fun-loving. Anybody can approach him for help and it will be given a best shot.

Of course they had a few things in common too.. All three loved their jobs, and they also had a habit of beginning their day with some work-out in the Central Park. Yeah, the same park that has played an important role in may Hollywood flicks. To make the long story short, they soon became acquaintances and would spend sometime together everyday.

All was well until Maggie walked (rather ran) into their lives! She had just moved to NY from LA, and comes jogging in Central Park. Can there be a prettier dude in the city?! She was not only pretty, but also very, very rich. She came to the park in different high-end model cars, more often in a huge shining BMW, visited best of the salons and was royally mannered!

Now the story becomes a run in the mill. All three get so psyched up and spent most of the day planning to please and acquainting her. They started competing and out-smarting each other to grab her attention. She was friends with all three of them and did not give a clue on who she liked the most. But, Maggie, definitely was eating up quality time of Max, Freddy and Sam!

Freddy, once, while at work, thought of the perfume Maggie uses and as a result, missed to catch a marijuana trader.
Max, was so upset, when Maggie sprained her petite ankles, that he just couldn't cheer a group of kids who met with an accident
Sam, started, expecting and accepting trinkets in return to his services. He wanted to flash and gift them to Maggie!

Such was an impact of their infatuation! and Maggie, being smart, realized it soon! She liked and respected all three of them, more for their work and service to the community than for their affection towards her. She decided to teach them all a lesson. She said, she liked all three equally and would court one of them who could do what she asks for. Her demand was simple, but made Max, Freddy and Sam understand things better.

PS: Maggie's demands, and star cast in the next post.

My Best Friend’s Wedding

2006-02-27T23:39:00.000+05:30

Yeah, one of my best buddies’ wedding is scheduled on May 18th 2006. Yesterday, they fix my cousin’s wedding also on May 18th! Ironically, their names are so similar! Aruna & Arun. To add to the coincidence, both their spouse’s names start with alphabet V!

Now, my problem is, who’s wedding should I attend? One wedding is in Palakkad and the other in Thiruvaroor

* A Friend is somebody who I cry to, a cousin is not!
* A Friend is somebody who worries about me, a cousin is not!
* A Friend is somebody who’ll feel my absence, a cousin might not!
* At my friend’s wedding, I have other friends to have fun with. At my cousin’s, well, relatives are not as fun as friends…are they ever?!
* Cousin has a reception later, but friend doesn’t…
* Friend has already invited and booked the tickets, cousin, well, am not sure if I will be invited. It is just assumed that it is mandatory to attend.

I am not sure if there is an easy mode of transportation between Thiruvaroor & Palakkad. Even if there is one, will I be allowed to travel alone?! Frankly, I’d love to attend the friend’s wedding and my cousin’s reception.

Well, am not a rebellious feminist without family values, but, only during such instances, I feel guys have an advantage over women in an orthodox family setup. If it was a male member, commuting between Thiruvaroor & Palakkad wouldn't be an issue!

What are the odds that I will be let to do that? Will I win the case? Isn’t my wish a reasonable one?

Shrubs in the sidewalk

2006-02-23T10:40:00.000+05:30

Dear Van Anna,
I want to grow big. When I grow big like Daddy, I want to try and catch the moon. I will jump up and say hello to the flying bird. I will try to pluck mangoes and tamarind without throwing stones at them. I will hold the top-bar when standing inside the bus. I will ride a bike, climb mountains.

When I grow big and go in a car of my own, and you are old, I will take you in my car. I will also buy a van and drive fast like you. I will not ask your help to climb in and out of the bus.

I will even walk before your van/bus and will be seen from your seat..Until then, please be a little careful when you drop me off and start your vehicle. I am only 2 feet tall and will not be seen until you peep...

Please allow me to grow tall...grow big, soar...

Yours Little,
Tiny toddler

Kids are not shrubs in the sidewalk to be carelessly run over! [news]

Bird's eye View

2006-02-20T23:34:00.000+05:30

An Alternate Angle...

"Bird's Eye View". This phrase is often used as a metaphor to describe an overview about something. It is very obvious that when Bard's ancestors devised the phrase, they had imagined a bird in flight on the sky, trying to look at an object on the ground below. The phrase and its meaning perfectly matches the visualization. When we look at a problem/issue from a distance and it is described as the bird's eye view.

But have we ever wondered of a bird's vision when it is at the ground level? Off late, I happened to watch the behavior of crows, pigeons and parrots at close quarters and since then, this question has been lingering on my dumb head! However, I would like to omit owls and bats from this analysis for the anatomical positioning of their eyes.

For the rest of the common species of birds, their eyes are at the sides of their tiny head, equidistant from the nose. That is, when they sit straight facing North, they will get to see East & West. I seriously wonder how they manage to correlate between the left and the right eye. Left eye can show them delicious fruits and right eye can show an approaching predator! Now to what will the brain respond? Vision becomes more complicated, when they wanna look down or up. They actually turn their head at right angle, position one eye to see down (or one eye to see up??!!) and look down(up??!!).

I got this doubt, when I saw a pigeon seated at the parapet from the 10th floor window. He/She tilted his/her head to look up/down. One eye looking up and one eye looking down, how will his/her tiny little brain between the eyes, understand which is up/down. How will the teeny-weeny brain make out what exactly the bird is looking at?!

Based on the above confusion, I think we should coin a phrase, 'Sitting bird's eye view' which would simply mean, looking at a problem/issue on two different 180 degree angles and getting confused.

Special Valentine's Evening!

2006-02-15T14:16:00.000+05:30

I wrapped up my work at 7.50 and came out of office. 2 days after full moon, the silver ball, was shining bright and big. It just added glamour to the romance in the air. I hurried to the parking lot, humming an all time Ilayaraja favorite 'Thoongadhe vizhigal rendu'. I switched on the radio and Radio Mirchi was playing 'Oru maalai ila veyil neram'. Perfect romantic evening. Cut.

As I pulled out from the parking space, just realized my car was behaving crazy. She was not the same old buddy who'd dance to my tunes. I said 'reverse' and she did it sluggishly. I said 'Turn right' and literally dragged, she budged reluctantly. That was very unlike her! I put her to an halt and got out to examine... And Lo! Found a flat tyre'!. Cut.

The flat tyre did give me a mixed feeling. This is probably the 3rd or the 4th instance of punctured tyre in 3 years. But, never once at work. She'd never let me down. Usually, she'd contract a puncture at home and I will have my brother/dad/ Narayan Anna to help me out. For once, I get to change the tyre all by myself, and am happy about it! Yes, 'Happy'. I always thought, I should learn to handle it myself. One is never assured of a helping hand always in life.

I parked her back into my parking slot, opened the boot and pulled out the spare tyre. Just when I was trying to pull out the jockey, a guy came to me and asked "Ennanga tyre puncture a?" He was a driver waiting at the parking lot, and before I could reply, pulled out the jockey for me. I got it from him, and went down to place it under the car, He came there, got it from me and started working on changing the tyre. I felt so disappointed. I really wanted to do it myself.

It was very nice of him to come and help even before it was asked for, but what do I tell him? I was really contemplating. Even if I politely said, 'I'll learn to do it myself', Later, what if I couldn't unscrew the tyre, it will be a little embarrassing. I also wasn't sure if he'll really understand my intention! So, I just let him help me.

Now, there were loads of other questions running thru my head. 'Should I offer to pay him for the help?', 'Will that be embarrassing him?', 'If I have to pay, how much?', 'Is Rs.20 fine? or Rs. 50?', 'Do I have those bills in my wallet?' Ughh...

After he was done, I gave him the scrap cloth to wipe his hands. I also pulled my wallet out and he said 'Parava illai irukattum'. I felt really awkward. To my dismay, 'I just had a Rs.10 note and rest 100s!' 'How can I ask him to take 20-50 and give me change?' He said 'Parava illai' a couple more times, and I decided to leave it alone. Told him a 'Big Thanks'. Cut.

After about 20-30 mins of this work, when I pulled the car out again, I thought I heard something..Somebody singing 'Solaiyilum mutkal thondrum,naanum,neeyum neenginaal..' Stopped and looked around, again, I heard something that was totally unbelievable! I heard my Zen murmur to the Santro in the next slot, 'I tore myself to get this extra time with you on this nice valentine's night'.

‘Naan Unnai, neenga maaten…Neenginaal thoonga maaten…’

Jujube Jelly

2006-02-03T19:24:00.000+05:30

How many have been lucky enough to taste this scrumptious delicacy of the south? If the fruit, by itself is a delight, created by God, then, this delicious man-made tidbit, is a symphony to the taste-buds.

If the name does not ring a bell and you are still wondering what am drooling about, I’ll spell out the tamil equivalent - E-L-A-N-D-H-A-I V-A-D-A-I!

Elandhaipazham / Elandhai vadai is probably the most un-hygienic things I indulge myself to... Who cares about hygiene when it tastes so good! When Chinese cuisine is full of worms and other creepy reptiles, swallowing a couple of crushed worms won't kill me...

If, L.R. Eswari and Kannadasan honored the fruit with the famous number of the yester years 'Elandhapayam, elandhapayam..chekka chivandha payam', Ilaythalapathi Vijay added glamour with 'Elandhapazham, elandhapazham unakku dhan'

Yeah, so what if the fruit is sold in open strollers on dusty T.Nagar and Purasaiwalkam roads? So what if the fruit cannot be washed? A fruit is a fruit is a fruit! and a delicious one too!

Getting back to Elandhai Vadai, the rustic local brands sold in Kumbakonam and Mayiladudhurai districts are the best. Though it is very difficult to find them in Chennai, there are a few stores like Ambiga Depot which sells a cleaner looking version.

It is a pity that this fruit didn’t get its due recognition. On googling further, I find that this tiny blob is rich in Vitamin C! One good reason to have more jujubes..

Hail Jujube!

Myokymia?!

2006-02-02T21:07:00.000+05:30

When I looked at the mirror on Saturday morning... My right lower eyelid was twitching. I didn't find anything odd about it, considered it a usual phenomenon and left it at that. But on Monday, when at work, when my friend said, your eye is twitching, I realized, that it has been like this for 2 days! The twitching, by itself did not bother or hinder, but the thought that of it did!

Past Monday and Tuesday, it still went on and on! It became quite a habit to wake up early in the morning and check in the mirror to see if it was twitching. When am jobless, I look at the mirror and start timing the contractions and sometimes create music beats out of it! it became so part of my eye...

On Wednesday, decided to google about it and came up with hi-fi medical terms. I was surprised this problem had a name and it indeed is a documented ailment! And some were scary too. After Wednesday, I had names like Myokymia, Blaspherospasm, hepifacial spasm, fibromyalgia :-) and to think it is one of this was err..thrilling!

By Thursday, I had scared people enough with information and specifics, that dad ended up booking an appointment with a neuro-surgeon. It took some efforts to talk him out of this. They are slightly on the panic mode. The family doctor, zeroed in on Myokymia(yeah!! I knew it already), to start with, and asked a few questions.

1. Do you intake too much caffeine? Nope.. I don't drink coffee
2. Alcohol? Err... No.. and even if I did, will I tell you?
3. Were you stressed out? May be, if browsing, solving crosswords is stress..
4. Do you sleep well? at work, yes.

After this, he gave me some simple medication.

Now, to elaborate on what google taught me, Myokymia is just a muscle contraction, which will be alright in a couple of days.

But, if it is any other hi-fi ailment, it is a neuro problem, and one suggested that this was the initial symptom of a mental disorder!! Guess this is one of the down sides of too much medical information on the net!

It is 9.00 PM, Thursday and my eyelid goes on and on and on!

Drive...

2006-01-25T14:05:00.000+05:30

"I Drive Getz, What Drives you?" is probably the most wishy-washy tag line of all the recent ads. Every time I get to see this one, I wonder, why didn't the not-so-creative head, think of a statement with better English if not catchy. Even, "I Drive Getz, What do you drive?" or "Getz Drives me, What Drives you?" would have done justice! It becomes all the more dumb, when Sania has an expression of 'Am doomed! what dooms you?' on her face.

Well, the purpose of this post is not to indict the men behind this ad, but to elaborate on my remake of that statement!

"Scooters drive sardarjis, Sardarji drives Scooter"

(Though 'ride' is better English, I am retaining 'drive' to give credit to the original).

And, when I say scooters, I mean the Chetaks and Vespas. It is a known fact that scooter sales in Punjab, outnumbers the chappathis they make in a day. But, they retain this tradition when in other states as well! I had a Punjabi classmate who came to college in scooter! And today, I saw a sardarji in his brand new Chetak in the IT highway!

I am not against scooters. In fact, my first vehicle ride was in a scooter which dad owned in late 70s and early 80s. But, am just wondering, what drives the Sardarjis to buy one, even today.

Listing few probable reasons for this scooter craze:

1. Sardarji ancestors have been trained to use hand gear and have passed that knowledge to their heirs as well. Kids go to buy a bike, don't find the gear and end up buying a scooter

2. Junior sardar's top knot turban can hide the view if he's sitting on the fuel tank of a bike viz-a-viz standing in front in the scooter

3. Sardarjis believe their wrists are strong and needs regular exercise

4. Riding a 4-stroke bike and the speed could render them turbanless. They obviously can't afford to stop to pick 'em up everytime it flies

5. Sardarjis believe the bikes can die easily as it does not drink as much fuel as the healthy scooters do.

6. Sardarjis believe in Joint Family and only scooter ads feature sentimental values

7. Sardarini always wants a separate seat and bikes don't offer this feature

above all..

8. Whatever be the problem, Scooter starts if they are tilted and put to rest for sometime, but bikes don't!

P.S: This post is just to give a humorous touch to the affinity for scooters and is not meant to hurt or mock anybody

A Gentleman and Puffy logic

2006-01-24T12:15:00.000+05:30

Last night, when I was leaving for the day, I met a senior colleague at the lift lobby. We started discussing about project and company matters. It was a 'walk the talk' session down Tidel entrance, until I looked for the car key inside my bag and couldn't find it. Now, this is the nth time, I am doing this, so, was pretty sure, I had left it behind. I excused myself in the middle of the serious conversation and he looked at me weirdly and waved goodbye.

I turned to get back, still digging my bag, and lo! the key was inside an inner compartment! Now, if that senior colleague noticed me walking a few steps behind him, he would think, that it was a gimmick to cut the conversation short. You can't expect him to believe that a car key could really get lost inside a 10" bag! To avoid this, I decided to catch up with him and continue the talk. But, to my dismay, he had lighted his cigarette and had started walking down.

Now, do I embarrass him by talking to him? or Do I just tip-toe behind him or Do I simply ignore and walk ahead? Thought for a few seconds and walked behind him. I thought, 'I better decide soon, he could turn any moment in the pretext of crossing and could notice me!' I decided to put the ball in his court. Leave the choice to him... So I called him out and told him, I found the keys.

Now, it was his turn to decide. Should he cut the conversation short and continue the puff? Should he sacrifice his unused cigarette and continue the conversation with the lady? or should he do both - talking and puffing?(and put the ball back in my court!! with an ace). I was wondering what he'd do?!

He hid the cigarette in his hands, and stood in the parking lot talking. I tried hard not to look at his hands. I was just getting curious. We were in the middle of some serious discussion, that he completely forgot the puff in his hands...It just burnt up and hurt his fingers. I noticed him dropping the bud with a shock and a slight 'ouch' expression in his face!

I didn't show any reaction, though I found the whole thing funny! He must have cursed me for making him waste a cigarette! But, he definitely is a Gentleman!

I got to the car with a chuckle and the satisfaction of saving his lungs from one cigarette ;-)

Outdated!

2006-01-18T17:04:00.000+05:30

So much said and fought about generation gap and wavelength mismatches with parents and grandparents, it is quite a revelation to know that I am already a generation behind! Most of my cousins are school/college goers and I keep myself updated by discussing current affairs with them!

Listing a few things that you might have to be enlightened about, to stay updated:

1. Just when I thought that I've finally mugged up all the "Evolve forms" of Pokemon, it is outdated..My cousins don't discuss Pokemon, Pikachu, combat characteristics any more!

2. I am usually the silent observer of their discussions and this time, I heard about 'babe laid' and was aghast! What a nasty world!! K-I-D-S..talking about the excitement of 'babe laid'!!! Finally, killing all my ego, asked them, "Err...What is babe laid?" Lo! Chotu, the smallest one of all, shows me the new gameing gear - Beyblade! It is a top like thingy which again has different forms I guess.

3. School management conducts raids in all classes - Starting 3rd to 12th. The articles seized vary in all these classes

3rd, 4th, 5th - Cheetos stickers, tattoos, pokemon cards, dolls, beyblades, etc.
6th, 7th - The above ones + occasionally CDs, film posters, Vijay masks, etc.
8th, 9th - Game CDs, movie CDs and some undisclosed CDs, occasionally credit cards(mostly the outdated ones)
10th,11th,12th- CDs, Credit Cards(parent's expired ones and new), Cell phones and sometimes drugs!

They use the word 'Trading' for exchanging all these! Well, we used to trade books, CDs, etc. but never did it got to the extent of bothering the management!

4. SMS trend.. Well, "You are more than a loved one" in a forwarded SMS, just is another forwarded SMS and does not convey any emotional feelings. You are respected by the number of forwards you get/send and not the content of it!

5. Maya teacher for Physics in a famous school in Chennai...just fits the name! She looks so much like Kaaka Kaaka, Jo, that her students exclaim 'Avanga solli kodukaradhu puriyaati ennada? avangalai paathute irukalam!'

6. Kids, (should I use this word?), start teasing friends with classmates of the opposite sex as early as 6th or 7th std.!

7. Teachers do use words like 'boy-friend', 'dance-floor' in class. I studied in a convent and teachers/sisters were saintly those days!

Am not saying, we were naive, but it just looks like the kids are atleast 5 to 6 years ahead.

God save the innocence!

Manager Musings

2006-01-06T20:31:00.000+05:30

Vasudevan got his promotion and was posted as the Branch manager of Unison bank of India. He was taking charge of a brand new branch. This means a lot of opportunities, fresh accounts and huge transactions as that was the only bank in the town - Bommikuppam. Those were the days, when computers were unheard of and banking was based on trust and understanding. It was a powerful, esteemed post for the managers and Vasudevan was welcomed by the Panchayat heads. He enjoyed the honor and respect.

In the initial few days, he had more visitors than customers and Vasudevan thought 'Today's visitors, tomorrow's customers'. Moreover, almost all visitors brought gifts for the manager - Milk, sugarcane, jaggery, home-made sweets, etc. Since Vasudevan realized that it was more out of respect than bribe, he accepted them with a smile.

Soon, all the hype withered out and Vasudevan realized it is not an exciting job after all! If there were 3 customers a day, Vasudevan would call it a 'busy day'! Work was getting mundane and spending time became tougher as his family also had gone on a vacation. He made it a habit to talk nicely and spend more time with his customers.

On one such not-so-busy day, Ramasamy came in to open an account in his name. Vasudevan checked the ration card and residence address. Ramasamy signed a few papers and the account was created in a jiffy. On the next day, Ponnammal, came into the bank, bringing her ration card with a request to open the account. Vasudevan smiled and told her 'You are very special! You are the first woman to open an account here'. When almost all the formalities were over, Vasudevan told her, 'Bring your photograph and give it to me and I'll open the account for you'. Ponnammal went back with a puzzled look.

After some time, Ramasamy walked in with the Panchayat head. It was obvious, that Ramasamy was angry and would pounce on Vasudevan any time. Vasudevan was perplexed and before he could open his mouth, Ramasamy yelled, 'How dare you ask my wife for her picture? I came in yesterday to open an account and you didn't ask! And you tell her, she is special!' Panchayat head, an old man, looked sourly at Vasudevan and asked, 'What is all this Sir?'

Vasudevan, started explaining with a sorry face and finally, Ramasamy and the Panchayat head smiled! Ramasamy shivered in embarrassment. Vasu, sighed in relief.

What do you think could be the reason? Well, it is not rocket science. But just thought I will let the readers guess for sometime. Post in the comments and I will give the answer next week.

Lakshmi in Chennai

2005-12-29T17:11:00.000+05:30

Lakshmi was a bundle of mixed feelings that evening. She just realized that her guardian Muthu, was taking her to the city - Chennai. Not that Lakshmi had a cheerful life in Pazhanjanallur, her native village, but, she had lived there all through her life and got used to it. Though, she had to slog it out for food, get beaten up and chided by Muthu, she could escape into the landscape, roam around with friends and return late in the evening. Her friends, Shenbagam and Gauri had also gone to Chennai, but she never heard from them again. Being an orphan, she didn't think she had much choice. However, she was excited about the journey! This is her first long travel or probably the first travel outside the village. Though, she was disappointed about Muthu taking her in a cement truck, she was thrilled enough to stay awake the whole night.

It was obvious, that Muthu was going to sell her off or hire her out to some domestic household in the city. Her only prayer was that, she should get a kind master. The truck dropped them off in some road at around 4.00 AM and the driver told Muthu, that they could walk to the house. They went to a tea shop and Muthu bought a tea for himself. He cared a damn about Lakshmi's hunger. Her sleeplessness, hunger and fear had made her so weak and meek, that she could hardly look around.

They walked for about an hour and the only thing that excited Lakshmi a little was the numerous film posters. Film posters were rare in Pazhanjanallur. Even if they stuck a few, it would be at an un-reachable height or the kids, would have already torn them to stick it in their houses. Lakshmi thought, when I am left alone, I should definitely come looking for these posters.

Muthu and Lakshmi finally reached a huge gate around 5.00AM. The one hour walk in hunger had made Lakshmi so tired, that she almost fainted. She feebly heard Muthu talking with the security guard. After about 10 mins, they were called in. She met her master, Srinivasan sir, and his wife, Kamala amma, at the enterance. They had a kind and sympathetic look on their face. Kamala amma almost immdeiately realised that Lakshmi was tired, hungry and scared. They summoned Padma akka, their cook, and told her to take Lakshmi to the out-house. When Laksmi last saw Muthu, he was counting currency notes with a sly grin. 'Good Riddens Muthu Anna' she thought!

The out-house was relatively very clean and Lakshmi stayed there for a couple of days. She realized that her master was giving her time to muster energy. They gave her food at regular hours and though it was left-overs and dry food, she thought, it was the best. She had never had better food in her life. In these 2 days, she understood that there were 2 kids also in the house - Rahul and Raji - Her master's kids. Lakshmi loved to play with the kids, but they didn't play with her. They go to school and in the evenings, occasionally peeped into the out-house. Lakshmi decided that she should befriend them soon and probably they will take her out.

Though Lakshmi didn't have a chance to step out of the house, she thought Chennai was the best thing that ever happened in life. She decided to be very good and earn her master's goodwill. Just when she thought her life was going smooth, she heard Kamala amma talking to her husband. She said, 'Our neighbor, Krishnan, wanted to know if Lakshmi could go to his house for clearing their garden. Chinni and Raja from the Police Colony are also going. Shall I send Lakshmi over? He wants to clear it out completely and plant new plants' Srini sir just nodded his approval. He also added, 'Tell them to have an eye on her and keep the gate closed. I don't wanna go searching for her in the roads'

With all the necessary warnings, Lakshmi was sent to Krishnan's house. With all the nurturing and rest, Lakshmi was looking very beautiful. The phrase 'Lakshmi-kalai'* fitted her aptly. Kamala amma and Padma akka mentioned that, and Lakshmi was proud. She was thrilled about meeting Chinni and Raja. ‘They must be like me, but living in the city for a longer time’, she thought.

When Lakshmi went there, Chinni and Raja were engrossed in their work. It was obvious, that Chinni and Raja were friends and that it might take some time for Lakshmi to break the ice. But she was determined in making friends with them. Chinni and Raja lifted their heads up, looked at her. Chinni went back to work, but Lakshmi could see from the corner of her eyes that Raja was looking at her. She also realized that Chinni was turning green with envy at Raja’s new-found interest.

It was a full day’s work, and throughout the day, Raja was trying to make a pass at her. He seemed to be too interested in her and wanted her to share her Pazhanjanallur experiences with him. Raja also offered to help Lakshmi in places where the grass was very rough and sharp. Though Lakshmi thought Raja was smart and handsome, she did not want to give him any ideas. She didn’t want to get into any trouble the new place. What will her master’s family think of her?!

Lakshmi was very happy that day and came back home hopping. Just when she was passing by the patio, she heard Kamala amma talk. Kamala amma told her husband, ‘Annamma from the police colony had come. She said that Raja seemed to be okay with Lakshmi. We could send Lakshmi to their place whenever we want’

Lakshmi was SHOCKED to the core!!! Yes, she liked Raja and he was sweet to her. But, Isn’t this too early? How can Kamala amma ever think of this? What did she come to Chennai for? Lakshmi got all worried. She couldn’t concentrate on anything else for the rest of the night. She sat there, alone thinking.

In the morning, Lakshmi was very clear. She had realized, that being an orphan, sold to somebody in Chennai, she does not have too much of a choice. She also realized that she was indeed bought and brought for this. She will have to succumb and prove her worth for survival. Does a ‘karavai-pasumaadu’** from Pazhanjanallur have any other choice?

She thought to herself, ‘Should demand Raja for some film posters. Unlike dry hay and left-overs, they are very tasty and spicy'.

*'Lakshmi-kalai' - The beauty of wealth and serenity in one's face
**'karavai-pasumaadu' - a Cow that gives milk

Kids say the Darndest Things - 2

2005-12-27T20:34:00.000+05:30

Did you know that 'Whose dress is this?' is a probable interview question and the kid is expected to answer 'Mine' and not "my", "my's", "Enadhu' or "En's"!! We should check with these interviewers if they are saying 'Mr. X and I are conducting interviews' correctly and not stating 'Me & X'!!

This pattern, definitely needs some re-thinking! What are we testing here? Why are we testing the depth in a foreign language? Aren't we supposed to check only the kid's mental ability? Is this a gimmick for elimination? If a 3 year old has mastered a foreign language so much, why would it need admissions to LKG? What is left for the school to teach in Kindergarten?

Above all, what if the kid is wearing his/her sister's or cousin's dress?

On a lighter note, here is another interview saga

The interviewer had to rate the candidate on 'responsiveness to command?!' (Is this some interview for military camp? or a dog-training session?) So, threw a tennis-ball across the room and asked the tiny-tot to bring it back to her!
The candidate comfortably sitting in her chair, amidst some dolls, snapped back, almost spontaneously, with an air of sarcasm: "Nee dhane thooki potte? Neeye eduthuko!"

Needless to say, she got her admission in this school! She must have scored a 100/10 for 'responsiveness' and another 100/10 for 'command' though not together.

Dance of Destiny - II

2005-12-24T22:55:00.000+05:30

Amma said that it will be impossible for 3 adults to manage 9 kids. As that made so much sense, I didn’t press any further. So we started playing, amidst two cricket teams, few dogs, a karate class and many on-lookers. The next one hour was full of fun, laughter, joy, tussles. I too had become a kid amidst the group.

7.50 AM

Amma realized that she has to go home to make breakfast. She thought it would be un-reasonable to let the guests, my aunts, cook. She asked us to wrap up, and surprisingly, none of the kids protested! They were arguing, watching the ships and discussing about harbors and light houses, but were walking towards the car. We reached our car, packed ourselves inside and started in about 10 mins.

Harish(7th Std.) had read about the harbor in his lessons, and asked dad if we could take a closer look at it. Dad was driving on the Beach road, and thought we could just go further down, closer to the port and then go home. We crossed the Napier’s bridge went straight, but by now, amma was getting worried. She wanted to get back ASAP and nudged dad. Dad showed the cranes at a distance and told the kids, ‘It’s kind of misty there and they wouldn’t let us inside’ and turned to go home.

After about 40 minutes drive, we reached home at 8.40. All the people at home, by then had got some news about water entering the city. They also had heard about the earthquake and asked us if we spotted anything different in the beach. We assured that the beach was calm and it could all be rumors.

In about an hour, when there was enough information about the heartbreaking disaster, we just couldn’t believe it. We saw that Sea Goddess had attempted to swallow the same beach road, the same Vivekanada hall! That day, that hour, that minute, that moment was actually gifted to us by God! Till date, am in a trance and it all feels like a magic!

· If my brother had gone jogging, we would have waited for him
· If Amma had agreed to go to the waters?
· If the kids had pleaded for extra time?
· If we had gone to the harbor?
· If amma didn’t have to make breakfast?

The beach scene as we left it was so vivid in the memory. We prayed and wished that everyone should have left just as we did.

It is one year now, and I share this miracle with heartfelt Thanks and pay homage to the victims. Praying to God to give all the strength and support to the surviving…

Dance of Destiny - I

2005-12-23T22:44:00.000+05:30

December 25th 2004 - Saturday 6:30 PM...

Our home was filled with laughter and fun! It had been temporarilyconverted into a play school, with kids ranging from age groups5-15.classes 1 to 11. About 8 of them, my cousins, had come down to myhouse for a vacation. We also had a next generation kid, my nephew(Ist Std). I was at home exhausting my holidays, playing with the crowd and managing them.

In the evening, Chintoo, my 6th std cousin, makes a request. 'Akka. Canwe go to the beach tomorrow morning? It will be nice to see the sunrise andplay in the beach'. All the other cousins second it. My nephew is alreadylooking at his mother for permission. Soon the request turned into a plead and I agreed.

My brother said he'll also join us and would go jogging while I mind the kids. As it was too big and naughty a group to manage, Amma said, she'll join and dad agreed to drive us down. The kids were too excited, had a quick dinner, and were ready to sleep! They had challenges as to who will be up first by 5.30 and wake up the rest of them. They warned their parents not to over-sleep. We stretched out big mats in the living room and with all the kids around I was in deep sleep.

Around 4.00 AM, chotu (2nd std) wakes me up, and I thought it was for nature call…but he asks 'Is it time? Can I brush?' I cajoled him to sleep and almost closed my eyes. I could hear whispers and giggles. The kids are already up and waiting to get ready.

December 26th 2004 6.30 AM

My brother opted out and went back to sleep. We were all ready, about 12 of us, stuffed ourselves in one car and started off to Marina. The sun was just out, but it still was a calm day. We went through Radhakrishnan Road, parked the car opposite Ice house (Vivekananda Hall) and walked to the sands at around 6.50 AM.

The kids have brought a big ball and a frisbee and are getting ready for a match. Amma says ‘Just 2 hours…not more than that’. We started playing, amidst a cricket team, a few walkers and many other kids.

Under popular demand, I asked my mom, ‘Amma, can we just walk up to the waters?’

To be Contd.

Kids say the Darndest Things

2005-12-22T18:42:00.000+05:30

Mrs.and Mr.Dhanashekar, in our apartment looked terribly worried! Tomorrow was their only daughter's maiden interview. This interview would decide her destiny! This interview will pave way for her future. Yes, it is the time of the year for LKG admissions! They have applied for a few schools in the neighborhood, and are in the nail-biting phase - waiting for interview cards. The couple are in hypertension and the kid is very kiddish!

It is a daily routine of this couple to revise alphabets, numbers, shapes, colors, animals, names, what not! and prepare the toddler for the interview. The kid is totally oblivious to the importance, but is enjoying all the attention and sometimes gets irritated when her mom scolds her for not identifying septagon?!!

On the D-Day, the toddler left home proud, with the entire apartment complex wishing her the best. Her parents are giving last minute tips

Dad : Dhairyama paesanum seriya?
Mom : Nee seriya sollita, amma narya toys vaangi tharen
Dad : Kutty chamathu aache! Azhave koodadhu
Mom : Avanga edhu kaetaalum theriadhu nu solladhe da chellam.
Dad : yosichu badhil sollu, mudinja udane ice-cream saapida polaam..

Junior Dhanashekar shook her head and was enjoying this!
After a couple of hours, they came back, parents looking a little grim, and the junior licking an icecream . The interview went okkkay...and an excerpt from that:

Interviewer : (showing a red color paper) Idhu enna color?
Toddler : Apple color
Interviewer thinks, may be it's because I am showing it in a paper..points a red color chair and repeats 'Idhu enna color?'
Toddler : Apple color
Interviewer : seri, apple enna color?
Toddler : Indha chair color
Interviewer : !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Idhu, karagaatakaran, vaazhaipazha joke madhiri irundhaalum, Junior Dhanashekar got her admission! and according to me, she has got the wisdom of a management graduate! Never say 'I don't know'!!

Pledge

2005-12-21T16:49:00.000+05:30

How many of us Indians, remember the school pledge?
For some reason, I tried recollecting, but couldn't go beyond 3 lines. Then, I wondered, how many might remember and started asking. After sometime, this curiosity soon became a quest. I conducted a quick survey at work and friends circle. I wanted to identify at least one person who remembers it and publish his/her name here. After a 3 hour hunt and asking about 52 people, there was one...just one. I proudly present her, 'Roopa Sudarshan'!! my buddy and a former NCC cadet! Did she remember it from school or NCC? I didn't probe...But Hats Off to her!

I felt a little ashamed for not remembering it and memorized it up. Though, this is more a test on memory than a test on patriotism, I think it will definitely be nice if everybody can live upto the pledge :-) India would definitely become a better place to live in!

Before you go further, stop and try recollecting...and if you fail, here it is:

India is my country.
All Indians are my brothers and sisters. I love my country, and I am proud of its rich and varied heritage.
I shall always strive to be worthy of it.
I shall give my parents, teachers and all elders respect and treat everyone with courtesy.
To my country and my people, I pledge my devotion.
In their well being and prosperity alone lies my happiness.

Jai Hind!

Thoongu Moonji

2005-12-16T15:04:00.000+05:30

Some characters get etched in your mind even before you know their names, and she is just one. I have grown all my life seeing her live across the road and I still don't know if she has a name! Everybody in the neighborhood refers to her as thoongu moonji(Sleepy faced) and so is she known. She sits there all day long, sells flowers, fruits and greens occasionally which people seldom buy. She has got her select customers and will readily give it to them even for free. But, she never complains.

What surprises me the most is her ability to follow a rigid time table! She runs a guest house in the locality and works on an accurate clock! I have never seen her sleeping in the mornings. She is usually up before almost everybody in that neighborhood. There are many families living in her guest house.. They are small portions, but many of them. She primarily rents it out to folks who are early-birds, working on early morning shifts. Though she is woken up as early as 3.00 AM or 4.00 AM by her tenants, she doesn't yell at them. She is such a sweet landlady. My mom, who has seen her in the neighborhood for 30 years now, never recollects one sour instance, when this land-lady got angry and asked her tenants out! I have never seen her chat with anybody either. In most of the conversations, gossips and chit-chats, she is only a silent spectator. She also does baby-sits when her inmates are off to work. Mostly, she doesn't agree to feed them, but definitely makes sure they don't get hurt. She is such a gem and I adore her..

In a way, am jealous of her...jealous of her sleep.. Rain or shine, storm or calm, she starts dozing by 6.00 PM and is in a deep slumber by 7.00! In my childhood, I would be surprised about that. Everyday, at around 6.30 in the evening, it was my habit to check is she has gone off to sleep and most likely, she would have. When I am strictly not allowed to go to bed by 6.00 PM (Godly hours - Sridevi enters you home and you shouldn't be sleeping), however tired I am, she just doesn't care!! Probably, that is why, everybody in the neighborhood calls her 'Thoongu moonji' (sleepy face), but she cares a damn about it!

For all her sweetness, it is quite unfair, people call her thoongu moonji! But she never complains, coz, she is a tree...Thoongu moonji maram (Rain tree) near my house!!

PS:
Customers - Cows and Goats
Guest house - Branches
Tenants - Birds
small portion - Nests

Pongal Recipe

2005-12-15T18:19:00.000+05:30

Ferrari, for you to try it out.
Ingredients:
Green Rice (Goldie preferably)* 1 cup
Moong Dal(Paithamparupu) 1/3 cup
All the below ones as per your wish..
pepper
cumin seeds
Ghee
cashew
curry leaves
Ginger
salt
Directions:
1. Mix rice and moong dal add 3 cups of water and pressure cook for 4 whistles
2. Take this out and mix it well enough to mash it out slightly
3. Semi-powder pepper and cumin seeds(If you don't feel like powdering, use the full ones)
4. Fry them in little ghee with curry leaves and add it to rice,dal mix
5. chop or paste ginger and add it as well
6. Add salt and and mix everything together
7. Add some extra ghee and mix them again
8. Fry cashews in ghee again and garnish with it

Voila! your Venn Pongal is ready!

Important Note:
1. Don't ever do a naivedhyam of this. Enaku Dheivakutham aagidum
2. Try it on some other human being before you taste.

Caution: Testing on animals is strictly prohibited and is a punishable crime

Disclaimer: This reccipe is just the way I make and might not result in Venn Pongal. For better recipe, refer the net.

*Pachai arisi(ponni preferably)

Maadhangalil aval Margazhi!

2005-12-15T13:42:00.000+05:30

It's Margazhi tomorrow! and for me, Margazhi is so full of mixed experiences!! Just recollecting some of them. My Margazhi Autograph!!

School days:
This is half-yearly exams time, with a cold climate that you never feel like getting off the bed....I usually, give myself 5 mins leverage and continue to extend that. 5 mins..5 more mins, 5 more mins... But the problem is, my big mommy is up by 4.00!! She whacks, and wakes me up! She, not only makes sure that I am out of bed, but also ensures, I don't doze off at the study table.. On the study table, I'll almost close my eyes and suddenly hear her voice...
'Yadhvi!! Ethana dhadavai koopidaradhu? Stove ai niruthu..sonnen illa? 4 whistles ku apuram niruthunu!! Naivedhya Pongal ippo koozh aagidum... padikaama thoongariya?!!!'

(uphh..1st whistle kaetuchu...2nd, 3rd, 4th? appo naan ZZzzzz...)

College Days:
In her anxiousness to make me get some involvement into the culture and customs, my mom passed a law. I should get up at 4.00 and draw a kolam at the entrance before my mom is ready for prayers. I agreed!(as though I can refuse..)the deal being, I can go back to sleep after finishing my kolam! When I agreed, little did I realise that I was falling into a trap!
As it is am bad at drawing! Idhule, paadhi thookathile, ezhundhu, dots count panni vechu, lines join panni kolathai mudikuradhukulle thookame poidum...Idhu ellam andha jil climate le, Eeramaana vaasalle...
Going back to sleep was out of question! appadiye iruttle aandhai madhiri muzhichitu utkandhu irupen, counting the whistles accurately.
Soon, I discovered a counter law, Murphy's type. The lesser the time you spend on the kolam, greater the possibility to get back to sleep. What started as '15 pulli kolam', soon became '5 pulli kolam' much to my mother’s dismay.

Work Days:
These days, amma has become very considerate. 'Paavam ponnu night 11ku dhan vandha' or probably she thinks I'll be married off soon or probably she thinks she just can't instill it in me. She never wakes me up! I get up at around 7.00 come out of the room and feel a little guilty that her prayers are almost over! The Suprabatham, Sahasranamam CD is all done!

Today:
Today, on the eve of Margazhi, I am planning to get up early, bathe and read Thirupaavai everyday!!

Why? Why the change in me?
Am I getting old?
Is the customs & culture finally into me?
Is it because they say 'You will get a good husband’?
Is it because scientifically, the ozone layer is a li'l lower and is good for health?

Well, I don't know the reason. But I am sure it will make mom happy and me a little content! Will I stick to this for the entire month?! Well, that is for time to answer!

Philim style - Mistaken Identity

2005-12-09T13:47:00.000+05:30

Scene: Elevator of a 12 storeyed office complex
Time : 8.12 PM

I was waiting at the 10th floor lobby to get home after work. The elevator door opens and in it are 7 tired men with saggy posture and an empty glance. I get in and join the crowd for a downward journey. The elevator again stops at the 8th floor and when the door opens, there are 8 tired people(including me) with a saggy posture and one just about to enter. Till then it was so eventless. The guy comes in, the door closes. Now there are 9 people inside.

12th floor Man:'HIIIIII' (quite excited)

(Exclaimed the man who was already inside, looking at the man who just entered.
Seven others, glance at the man who said 'Hi' and turned to the second man to see his response.)

8th floor Guy: Bewildered look…quite lost…could not re-collect or associate the face

(Then the conversation continued in Malayalam. Thanks to movies, Kiran TV and my friend Ranj, I understood every bit of it. Translating the same in Minglish)

12th floor man: (Chammi poyee) I've seen you somewhere...Are you from CT?

(I wipe the grin off my face, and stand between them...Of course hearing)

8th floor guy: (grins) Adhu, enda twin. My twin brother studied in CT (grins)

12th floor man: Quite lost..doesn't believe.. 'Ninde paer endhaa?'

The rest seven in the elevator, straighten up...they all have a twinkle in their eyes, some smiling, some widely grinning.. Mez, looking down and grinning, thinking of Engal Veetu Pillai movie..

8th floor guy: Enda paer Anoop, and, my brother is Swanoop. 2004 pass out

12 floor man: You look so much like him :-) Was he in the hostel? nyaan 2002 pass out.

By now, we had reached the ground floor...12th floor man and 8th floor guy walk out chatting and the remaining seven, walked out quite briskly... This conversation had definitely enlightened us...I was thinking of all the movies - Engal veetu pillai, Naalai Namadhe, Moondru mugam, apoorva sagodharargal...

I was also thinking, the brothers could probably switch their workplace if they are bored, their wives would get confused...filmi style imaginations followed..

PS: It was a very ordinary event of mistaken identity. But for the 'twin' story, the conversation wouldn't have been worth mentioning. The existence of 'twin' cheered everybody! I am curious to see if they are look alike.

Eurekha somebody?

2005-12-05T17:13:00.000+05:30

In this rainy season, a common problem for most of the car drivers, is the mist that settles on the wind shield. Chinna thambi Goundamani madhiri, 'Naan appadiye kannai mudipenam, nee vazhi solluviyam, naan ottuvenam' range ku dhan ottanum.

In almost all the cars, the best solution is turning the heater on. Scientifically, the heater would vaporize the moisture and clear it out. But en car le if I turn the heater on, it blurs it out all the more! Th moisture becomes extensive.. After some trial and error, I found that, if I turn the A/C on, the moisture is cleared out!! Idhuku naan kodukura explanation, the heater is not hot enough to vaporize, hence liquefies the cool air that adds to the moisture, while the A/c is effective enough to condense the moisture into cool air.. Any Newton, Archimedes agree with me?

Whatever be the reason, mazhaile nananjitu, indha kulir le A/c pottutu one hour ottradhu rommmmba kashtam :-(

PS: Any suggestions to overcome this, is MOST Welcome!

Chennaiyil Oru Mazhaikaalam!

2005-12-05T16:46:00.000+05:30

No, It's not about the torrential rains, inundated roads or the abandoned match...

It's about how relationship-friendly rain is! A li'l more than a 'Hot cup of coffee'.
Yeah, this is the season you start with 'How about a hot cup of coffee' and discuss about everything under the universe with someone you are interested in building a relationship... But the heavy downpour has provided more opportunities than the just coffee.

1. First one obviously is, sharing the same umbrella. Either you hide yours or bring it out depending on whether the 2nd person has or doesn't have one.

2. God forsaken two-wheelers

2A. If you have a vehicle and she doesn't, pretend that the mechanic shop is in her street, push the vehicle and walk with her. (Un thalai ezhuthu!)
2A(1). Do not have your jerk-in. She'll hold the umbrella for you!!(if you are lucky and if shez interested)

2B. If she has the vehicle and it is conked...wherever the mechanic is, vazhiye illai...nee dhan thallanum!! but 2A(1) still applies.

2C. If she has the vehicle and it works fine (curse it) you still can say, 'Are you sure you'll be able to manage? Do you want me to come along?
2C(1). If your vehicle is stable, drive along and make sure she reaches safely
2C(2). If your vehicle is not trustable.. free ya vidu! you don't want her to curse you..
2C(3). If you are lucky, you can say, 'I'll be a pillion rider and guide you thru'. But, adhuku apuram, oru auto, share-auto, bus pudichu thirumbi varanum!!

3. Blessed 4-Wheelers

3A. If you/your dad has a car, magnanimously, give her a ride. Make sure you don't take your foot off the accelerator in inundated roads. It's embarrassing to make her push the car!

3B. If she has the car, you can ask for a ride. Pakkathile utkaandhu mazhai/traffic a vedikai paathutu poga koodadhu. Got to help her. Glass le mist form aagum, kerchief, tie, edhavadhu vechu thudaikanum..

3C. Of course, pray that she should take her foot off the accelerator! Irangi thallanum!

4. Pallavan maama

4A. She travels by Pallavan? she got a window seat? prachanaiye illai...stand by her seat to help her down/up the shutters.

4B. you still can use Point#1 after getting off the bus, or inside the bus..adhaan bus ellam ozhugudhae..

4C. Give your kerchief, tie to wipe the seat..or if you are lucky borrow hers

Disclaimer: All the above points are based on instances observed on the road. Any resemblance to real-life incidents is purely coincidental - I happened to see you!

Tiramisu

2005-11-28T12:50:00.000+05:30

History has it that Tiramisu is a classic Italian Dessert. Well, I haven't heard about this before. The first time I came across this was in 'Food world' chocolate rack yesterday when my brother picked up one. This is one of the flavors, Cadbury's have introduced under the Desserts genre.
I told him, am not sure, if this will be good. 'I have tasted Kalakand, and it is not all that good!'. This is enough reason for my brother to pick it up.

'Ka..kaa..kaa..' Sani Baghwan utchathile irukum bodhu enaku ippadi Asareeri ketkum! and I usually ignore that...today again!

We did some window shopping in Spencer's and went to the car park. Dad and mom in the front and their 2 good kids in the rear seat. Yeah, good kids! good enough to spend the sunday evening with parents. Good enough to go to Spencer’s with them. Good enough to share a chocolate bar with them. Good brother, especially, as he opens the chocolate and gives a small slab to his sister. Alright, you are not watching a Vikraman movie. So, I stop here…

Now, if the sister was also good, she should have said 'brother you have it! and if there is anything left over, give it to me'.. Eppadi? adhan 'kaa..kaa.' kathuche! So, I put it in my mouth. (idhuvaraikum ellam okay...)

apuram dhan en naakule Sani thandavam aadinaar! And the conversation follows

Me: 'Aha..Rum madhiriye irukku!, yeah, definite Rum flavor dhan! idhule liquor irukka enna?'
Brother: 'cha, idhu Dairy milk dhan..ularaadhe'
Me:(excited) 'nejama, it's reaching the head..quite strong'
(by then, dad, mom and brother had popped it into their mouth)
Brother: 'Aama Rum e dhan! ippadi vaasanai adikudhu!'
Mom : (naively) 'enaku onnume therialai!!' and asks dad 'Appadiya irukku?'
(tricky question, but dad answers carefully!)
Dad:(smiles) 'smell varudhu!'
Brother:(excited) night le full bar(note the word!) saapitutu, police oodha sonna prachanai ayidum pola irukku!
Mom: 'Adheppadi Rum nu ivangaluku therium?' (pudichanga da point ai!!) 'Enaku appadi onnum therialai?'
Brother and me: sethom!!
Me: 'Rum taste therinja, idhu therium' (nakkaluku idhuva neram)
Mom: 'Ungaluku eppadi theium?' (konjam stern a)
Brother : silent...
Me: amma, idhuku munnadi US le irundhu kondu vandha liquor chocolate saapitu irukom illa?
(smart answer)
Mom: Eppo? nee vaangitu varaliye? (cross examination!)
Me: Naan illai ma!, pakathu veetu Kalyani aunty kodutaangale?!

Mom didn't seem to believe...but atleast the conversation stopped... but, dad, had a smug!

Thinking back, Tiramisu, was actually not that strong!! but definitely tasted like rum.
Thevai illama, over a build up koduthuten. The wrapper did not have any indication of liquor in the ingredients.

After googling, I found that, Tiramisu is a classic Italian dessert with liquor as an ingredient!

Observations on TV over the weekend

2005-11-28T11:44:00.000+05:30

Oxymoron of the weekend:
'A time for heroes' - stage show in Sun TV for HIV/AIDS awareness sports the song
'thathai, thathai, thathai,
pala athai petha thathai
andha thathaiKELLAM pottu vaithen poo methai'

with some ugly dancing!

Haughtiness of the weekend: The sitting posture of Sania Mirza's mom in the same show.

Humility of the weekend : Jayaram on stage "I am Jayaram, an actor from Kerala film industry"

Wonder of the weekend : Drummer whizkid Siddharth!

Dialogue of the weekend: Captain in Vijay TV
'Gramathule Kaathu, karupu adikaama irukka karuppu pottu vaipaanga..
Naama ellam karupu vairam..nammalai endha kaathum, karuppum onnum pannadhu'

Sentiment of the weekend: (Ofcourse..only next to samudhram movie)
TSW-2005, MGR's campaign vehicle, was given to our Captain by MS.Janaki Ramachandran , and captain entered politics in 2005! 'yaarukum kedaikaadha adhrishtam?!!' Annike avar(MGR) sollitaar!! Pullarikudhu pa!!

Pledge of the weekend:
' 5 mukkiya thuraigalle lanjathai ozhichu, lanjam illadha nallaatchi' by Captain

Irony of the weekend:
DD still has "Kaanaamal Ponavargalai patriya arivipu" notification on Saturdays! The only improvement being, photos are clearer and are joomed closer! But how many do really watch DD? and how many will be able to identify people from these pictures? Why shouldn't private TVs allot some time for such social cause?

Lazybones of the weekend:
well, yeah, It's me...Didn't do much other than reading Ponniyin Selvan and watching TV!

Thin & Slim

2005-11-22T19:27:00.000+05:30

If it is ‘Fair & Handsome’ omen for men, it is the ‘Thin & Slim’ thingy for their opposite sex. I am personally against the concept of fairness creams, be it for any gender. What is in the color? Since many blogs bragged about it already, I am not elaborating with my justifications. But its counterpart is far more dangerous, causing serious devastation!

I am still not sure when ‘Thin & Slim’ came en vogue?! Mona Lisa was not portrayed skinny! None of the Queens were painted bony! Ravivarma’s models were not lanky! Even if you look at movie stars of the 70’s and 80’s, be it Hollywood, Bollywood or Kollywood, they were brimming healthy!!

Then, what exactly did influence the success of a plethora of weight reduction programs? Where was the need for those drastic (some horrid) measures to stay ‘Thin’?
* Was it Princess Diana? Man, she was suffering from Anorexia Nervosa! Why do people want to model her?
* Is it the popularity of beauty contests? Man, Beauty is skin-deep (actually, skin shallow)!
* Is it ‘50 Kg Taj Mahal’ song? If Taj Mahal was 50 kgs, it would have been carried away by invaders!

In the quest for ‘a great shape’ most of the women are compromising on strength and sometimes nature! I am not arguing for a ‘rotund’ look. But I think, women haven’t understood the difference between staying fit and staying thin. Fitness and Helath is very, very important! You obviously will be the ‘weaker sex’ if can’t carry your own suitcase or a pail of water! Forget, protecting yourself from sexual abuse.

Talking about the weight reduction programs, they are ironical! People pay thousands and lakhs to put themselves into trouble and hardship!
* Organizations charge Rs. 1000/ kg reduction and makes you live on spoonful of food and hours of workout every day
* Surgical procedure costs lakhs to drill holes and suck the fat?! Out of you
* Surgical procedure coils and clips your stomach, so that you don’t feel hungry often…ugh.

I do agree, these methods may be required for some with medical ailment and in need for reduction, but for the rest of the community, won’t a controlled diet and regular workout suffice?

Lost Names!

2005-11-17T19:18:00.000+05:30

Till date, my exposure to tamil literature had been limited only to Anandha Vikadan, kalki, and their deepavali malars. Heee.hee..Well, that is another way of saying N-I-L. Thanks to srivat, Mohandoss and many other buddies, the tamilian in me felt incomplete without having read Ponniyin Selvan. The thought of 6 huge volumes did scare me a little, but I was pretty determined. There were 3 encouraging factors. 1)Every single soul who has read it, applauded, and was full of praises, 2) None ever told me, that they left it half way through, 3) I like history

So, I dived into the world and am swimming across!! Whew! It's wonderful, awesome. I just completed 1 volume and am starting the 2nd. But this post is not about Ponniyin Selvan as a book. I don't think I even deserve to review that masterpiece! It is about something that I observed. The NAMES. As I said earlier, I have just completed 1 volume, and am already flabbergasted by the names of the characters! Almost all the names stood etched on my head.

How poetic! What a variety! How majestic!

Vandhiyathevan, Kandhan maaran, Parthibendhran, Arulmozhi varman, Malayamaan, Sendhan Amudhan, Madhuranthagar...and that is just a few of the male fraternity!

I did not find a single name with 2 or 1 syllables and found a very few with 3 or 4. The name expressed the character! Why on earth did we lose out these names to time?! Why are we stuck with monotonous world of Srirams, Balajis, Ravis, Sanjays, Srinivasans, Karthiks,Aruns in the name of modernity? What is the need to keep it short? When Long is sweeter and meaningful! Apart from the art, architecture, culture and wealth, we definitely have lost out on names as well.

After reading this, you might wonder if I would name my kid Vandhiyathevan or Kundhavai! The answer is a sad 'No'. In my quest for antiquity, I wouldn't jab into my kid's confidence and make him/her a laughing stock. I can't imagine my kid complaining, 'All my friends are calling me 'Vaandhi' or 'vandi'! If it is a daughter, it is even worse - 'Kundha vai' in Chennai slang!

Guess I only can sigh and post a blog on this!

Settlement

2005-11-16T20:44:00.000+05:30

Mr.Kursi Singh joined my company as a lateral. Unlike the sardars we hear about oft, Mr.Kursi was quite intellectual. He was making a lot of friends and was getting active at work. Days, weeks and months went by, but, there was just one glitch. Even after 8 months at work, if somebody asked him, 'So Kursiji, have you settled down?', he would sigh and reply 'Nahi bhai, not yet!'.
So, what was his problem? Well, the problem indeed was.. Kursi...He just couldn't settle down in one seat! one place! When Kursiji joined,
They allotted North wing seat no 144 -> N-144.He walked to the manager’s cabin and the conversation follows
KS: My team is in the south wing, I can't walk across every time I have a question or an answer. Please shift me closer!
Manager: But we have phones at every desk
KS: But, it is never like seeing face-to-face and talking
Manager: This is an MNC. We'll have questions and answers from onsite too :(
KS: But, that is okay. Atleast here, I want to talk directly
Manager: Okay, I'll work on this.

Kursiji was moved to S-075, South wing. After a couple of days, Kursiji is at the manager’s desk again
KS: I am wearing glasses, and the bijili(no, no, not gujili) right above my head is glaring at me
Manager: Hey, but, there is a light every 3 feet, almost over every desk
KS: You should find a better place, my eyes are itching and I can't see after sometime. It hurts.
Manager:(helpless) I will try to work it out..

Kursiji shifted to SE-002. One corner, where there was no light above, but close to large glass window. Needless to say, KS is at manager's desk
KS: The light thru the window, hits directly on my monitor, and I can's wee anything except the sky
Manager: Aren't there Venetian blinds?
KS: Yeah, when I cover with that, I see the blinds, instead of the sky in my monitor
Manager(sighs) Can't you angle the monitor in such a way that it's not glaring?
KS: Then I have to keep it on the chair, sit on the desk and work, Is that okay?
Manager:(last attempt) I will request the admin to provide extra cover!

As the extra cover could not cover, Kursiji was moved to SW-083

To be continued in the next post as the saga continues...

HAPPY CHILDREN'S DAY!

2005-11-14T14:00:00.000+05:30

Childhood is a boon and continuing to be one is an art! Happy Children's Day to each of you, who still have the child in you alive and happy! You definitely can celebrate this day
If YOU...

* Can pick up a conversation in Gibberish and can continue for more than 3 minutes
* Take scoops of lactogen, horlicks or sugar and fill your mouth or lick jam/ketchup spoon
* Watch more of Pogo, Disney Toons(No, not just Tom & Jerry) than soaps
* Order the same dish that somebody in the neighboring table had ordered for
* Feel like asking, 'Can you give me a little of that?' when somebody is having a toffee or snack
* Don't open an umbrella when its raining
* Jump into a puddle of water or shake a tree branch after the rains
* Play games and tricks with friends
* Draw figurines in dust or water
* Imagine a heroic act and of course you as the hero in it
* Always wanna ring the bell in temples/pizza corners
* Like watching Ads, commercials, hoardings
* Laugh when somebody falls down (This is wicked isn't it?! But, we did it as a child!)
* Feel excited about driving thru the fly-over
* Watch an airplane on flight/ train till it disappears
* Check your weight where ever there is a machine

There are many, many more. The list is quite endless...

PS: A special mention on Radio Mirchi and Mirchi Suchi for bringing kids from Cancer Institute and Abacus to do Hello Chennai this morning! Nice way to start the day!

Yaaru Loosu?

2005-11-10T00:56:00.000+05:30

I always enjoy Ferrari's he-she encounters! But never did I think I'll be posting one such on my blog... This one is quite typical! Might be the first and last of its kind in my spot.

Stolen snippet from the fag end of a chat script!

he:hullo u there?
she: came back
he: enge pone
she: logged out
he: oHo
he: appuram yen vanthe ?
(how romantic?!)
he: saw my msg just when u logged off eh ?
(nenaipu dhan)
she: Got angry..so, logged out
he: En ma?
he: nee thaane poren nu sonne?!?
she: eppo da 'poren' solluvanu wait panna madiri iruundhudhu!!
(pudicha da point ai)
he: dei
he: seri, will you give me a few mins to reboot my machine -its pretty slow now
she: okay
he: thanks
she: naan 'No' sollitu 'bye' solluven nu dhane nenaiche?
(kandu pidichitaa!!)
she: anti-climax da unakku!!
he: LOOSA DA NEE

Any guesses on what happened after this? God save he!

COPYRIGHTS:
he, she characterization - Courtesy - Ferrari
transcript courtesy - Anonymous

DISCLAIMER:
This is definitely not an imaginary script. There are no doubts about the authenticity of the source.

In Deep S***

2005-11-08T00:36:00.000+05:30

15 kms drive back to home from work is something I cherish the most in a day. That's all the time I have just for me. Listening to the radio, reflections, reactions, recreation, problems, solutions and sometimes, nothing are the things that flash across my head during this drive. Be it rain or shine, peak or wee hours, I make sure there is never a reason to rush. But, today, the drive back home was a Mr.Bean episode!! Just that Mr.Bean had changed the gender and is not a Brit, but a mara thamizhachi - Me!
It was a pleasant dark evening after heavy showers, and I started from Tidel to drop Kalai at Adyar. The road to Thiruvanmiyur traffic light hadn't drained and the water was sluggish with bad stench. To avoid drainage water being splashed on us, I raised the windows and switched on the A/c. Not even 1/2 the km was covered, I realized the stench was getting stronger!! Did Kalai rush to work without having a bath? May be shez got a stomach upset? Or may be it is the car's carpet that got wet in last week's rain... Whatever be it, we couldn't handle it anymore and I switched off the A/c and let some fresh air in! uphh…. What a relief!!.
I just sat back, switched on the radio and relaxed. Radio Mirchi played 'Oru maalai Ilaiveyyil neram..' and I was tapping my feet at the Cenatoph road traffic lights, waiting to join Mt. Road. Did I ever tell you, that I hadn't learnt driving with my shoes? that I drive barefoot? :( I paid for it in full today! I stamped something cold on the floor.. Howz the duster cloth this wet? I thought! and why the hell is it sticking to my foot? As it was dark, I slightly ducked a little under the wheel...and I could smell....Same bad stench... A Flash in my head...just like it would for Bruce Willis in the climax of 'The Sixth Sense'...the bad smell, A/c vent near my foot... I had stamped dog sh!t on my shoes before I could get into the car!!!
I have 10 more kms to cover! and no water in the car! the red light was going to change...10..9..8.. I just managed to open the door and scrub my foot on the road before the lights turned green. After that moment of realization, the drive became sick. I wanted to throw up, get off and was driving badly with just one thing in mind - Reach home and clean the mess. Cursed myself for not learning to drive with the shoes on. Sudden breaks, screeching noise, sharp honks and a couple of snares followed.
By the time I reached Chetput bridge, Varuna Baghwan wanted to have some fun. It started drizzling heavily - Now, do I raise the windows and drive from inside a stinking car? Or do I let the aphoslery get wet and live with that stench tomorrow? I chose the latter. Finally, I reached home and after cleaning and feeling better, it struck me, I should have bought some bottled water, but where? In Mt.Road? Nungambakkam high road? Chetput bridge? Can't really think of a road-side store in these roads on the left side! Got to check out tomorrow. And, for all those who had to live with my reckless driving yesterday, Am sorry!

Gyan #1: Talented are those who can think calmly when in deep sh!t
Gyan #2: People laugh and smirk when you are in deep sh!t. It is for you to clean it up.
Gyan #3: Don’t just curse somebody for reckless driving. May be they are in deep sh!t
Gyan #4: Learn to drive with your shoes on

A Prosaic Tribute

2005-11-04T01:09:00.000+05:30

When was it last that you made good friends with somebody?
I did sit and think about this, .and the result was quite shocking! It is almost 3 years since I made a new friend. No, I am not living in a lonely island. Am very much in the IT industry where we all work as a team! But yet, I sincerely feel, that the ability to make new friends is inversely proportional to ones age! I have acquainted a multitude, but friends, a very few..
If making friends is difficult, Parting is painful. I always thought the term 'farewell party' is a good example of a most commonly used oxymoron. What is there to party about a parting? Even if you are living in an era of technological revolution where communication is just a click away, saying goodbye to good friends is difficult! Well, I had to do it, with a couple of 'em today - Two of my friends at work are getting off to take a different route. They have been my comrades in this big bad IT world. Right from the induction as freshers through this 3 1/2 years, an elite few got together to be a 'tea gang'. We just stuck together in rain and shine. Be it technical, practical, tactical, political - we would be of great help and support to each other! In this highly competitive environment, we are sincere well wishers of each other too! It is quite difficult to get a crowd like this... Hats off to this friendship! But this elite gang shrunk and shrunk and today was a big blow with 3 more leaving! We are just 4 now!
Though I claim to be a practical, level-headed, tough minded girl, I have to admit it took some efforts to keep my cool about these best of friends leaving! I very well know that we will be exchanging mails and stay in touch, but it never is like walking to the desk to share a joke. I didn't mean to sound sentimental, but these are words from the bottom of my heart.

Will miss you buddies!

Little Johnny wants to play….In the rain

2005-10-29T02:11:00.000+05:30

Almost every blogger from Chennai has updated his/her blogspot about yesterday's rains and here is my two drops to it...
I got up only at 7.30 and everybody at home were talking about the rains. It was really dark and my mom had already decided that I was taking off. Dad said there is no way I could drive 15 kms and get to work. My thatha said 'Switch on the TV, lets see the floods'?! I really didn't feel like taking off, but convincing the people at home and getting to work became difficult with the heavy downpour and dark clouds. I had almost decided to settle on the couch, watch the rain, solve crosswords and laze out.
Just when I realized that we didn't get the newspaper, the power went off! So, no computer, no TV, no paper, and it is not bright enough to read a book. Amma started grumbling that she needed to grind the dough for murukku and wanted to finish some diwali savory on that day. paati thought otherwise. Just like how amma decided that I should take off, Paati thought, amma shouldn't do diwali sweets on a rainy day as this! Thatha also was grumbling about no power, no paper and told it was very irresponsible of dad not to have a transistor that runs on battery. I declared 'I have to get to work'!
Paati couldn't just believe her ears. She thought education and work is too much freedom for women. Mom got angry. Dad tried to reason out. Then the deal was made. If the driver(Narayan anna) comes, I can go to work. They were darn sure he wouldn't make it to work. Who would expect somebody to come from red hills to Kilpauk in this heavy lash! To their irony and my joy, the Narayan anna came. At around 10.40, I was off to work in my zen. Of course, with Narayan anna driving.
For the intensity of the rains/ details about flooded roads, please read other blogs. I thoroughly enjoyed my travel. To and Fro. At the beginning of the road, we'd evaluate, if my zen would make it to the end and then venture into it. In this 30 km drive, and heavy rains, there are a few things I noticed:
* Chennaiaites are seldom hydrophobic and their vehicles are partially amphibious. So what if the road is inundated? As long as the vehicle doesn't float, just hold down the clutch and the accelerator and cross the stretch
* We are entrepreneurial - People had acquired spot jobs on the road. A group of young guys would push the halted vehicles on the road for an agreed amount. They were considerate too. PTC buses are helped for free of cost
* Auto drivers are helpful, handy. To substantiate this, I should narrate a scene. A Tata indica had stopped in knee deep water(knees of a 6 footer) and 2 were finding it difficult to push. An auto driver, who came that way, put his leg out, rested it on the car and turned the accelerator of his vehicle. The car was cleared immediately
* Trees that fell on the roads were not lying around for too long. They were cleared almost immediately and hence the traffic was free flowing
* Motorists were considerate. Even in this heavy rains, they would stop to inform vehicles coming in the opposite direction about the safety in the road they just traveled
* Smart and cautious EB officials. Their timely power cuts prevented electrocution. It was a scary silent night! I realized in such weather, I miss the noise than the breeze from the fan!
* The very next day, after 40 cms of rain, life is back to normal and the Sun is smiling on Chennai!
* Chennai city Traffic police were available in most of the roads helping the public.

Call it politics or election stunt, the rains in Chennai has definitely left behind a feel-good factor!

Pottuko! We did it!

'Ayyo..naan innum mudikave illai..'

2005-10-25T20:49:00.000+05:30

No! These are NOT the words of
-A desperate student, who didn't complete his board exam paper
-Somebody seriously ill, worrying about his/her unfinished duties
-A bride, who is called to the stage before completing her make-up
-A doctor, who, half-way thru his surgical procedure, lost the scissors
-A perplexed film director, whose movie's heroine, announces her wedding and pregnancy.
Don't imagine any further...
These are innocent words of a software professional, who didn't complete his tea in cafeteria. If it is such a naive expression over a trivial matter, why blog about it? Well, the expression is naive, but its context is not. Well, to give you a vivid picture, here's the story.
I belong to a gang of s/w professionals, who, from the Day-1 of their career, adhere strictly to schedules. They regularly meet at cafeteria to recharge with tea/coffee twice a day, and get back to work with full vigor. What started as a 'short break', short enough to complete a 4"x3" cup of tea, grew up to be a coffee-table conference in 3 years! What once was considered as a break between work, soon turned out to be work between breaks. The priorities changed over the years. In the first year, more work would demand boycotting of tea sessions. In the 2nd year, work was planned according to avoid boycotting tea sessions. in the 3rd year, work was deferred (mind you - 'not boycotted' - we are still sincere) for tea sessions.
And WHAT is discussed in these sessions? If you are a s/w professional, you wouldn't be asking this question in the first place. For the benefit of those who do not belong here, I should be answering.. Well, Everything in this universe(and sometimes about E.T too) is discussed. Technological advancements, Movies, tv, Sports, Google, Politics, Socio-economic issues, Mythology, Gals, guys, relationships...What not!! You name it..and we've discussed about it! And of course, we sometimes discuss about work too...
Today, the tea session, as usual, was at its best... after about 45 mins, when the professionals thought it was time to get back to work, One o them realised, he hasn't done what he actually came for!! He didn't complete his tea!! But, these days, thats not what we go for!! These days, We don't need the tea to re-fuel.. It's the sessions that we look forward to! and 'Ayyo..naan innum mudikave illai...' just emphasized it!
Now, Do I sound like an experienced s/w professional?

Mazha(la)i...Inimai, kulumai!

2005-10-25T14:02:00.000+05:30

Mazhai and Mazhalai...You can never stop admiring...You'll never get bored of it..
It's quite sometime since we had a kid in the family and all of us had almost forgotten how to deal with a baby. Just then, Voila! Like April showers, came my niece(cousin's kid). Now about a year old, living in the same apartment complex, she keeps us occupied all the time!
Just over a foot tall, this little angel keeps everybody enthralled. I prefer referring her language 'mazhalai' than using its English equivalent - 'Babble'. The thamizh word is a lot poetic and meaningful. Her vocabulary is confined to only a handful of words - 'thatha'(grandpa), 'tata'(I wanna go out), 'atha'(aunt), 'mammam'( I need something to eat), 'paapa'(I/ other kids), 'aaiy'(Mostly 'I dirtied my pants' and very rarely, 'I wanna sh*t). Of late, 'aaiy', with rolling eyes and excited expression also refers to Dog (Naaiy - N). More than these words, its her actions and expressions that conveys what she wants and what she thinks! In a couple of months, we are trained interpreters cracking dumb-charades clues. She can direct us to do exactly what she wants without using any words.
The next thing I admire the most in her is the kid's expressions! It is fun to watch the kid react to many of her first encounters with nature and this big bad world! She admires crows and butterflies, tries to catch the ants and millipedes, loves to get wet in the rain, wants to hold the dog's tail, chases to the shadow of a crow and most of all, craves for spicy adult food and dapanguthu music...
I am also fascinated by her grasping and learning capabilities. It is fun to watch the kid learn with perseverance. Did you know that its by practice, that we shoot the eatables from our fingers into our mouth accurately? For a first timer, the hand does not go to the mouth directly. She made a couple of attempts - First time, on to the nose, second on the cheek, and third time, her hand swayed about, but reached the mouth finally!
I can go on and on about this...but what I need to say, our Thiruvalluvar, encapsulated it perfectly in a tongue twister couplet!
'Kuzhal inidhu, yaazh inidhu enbar,
(tham) makkal mazhalai sol kaladhaar'!

Had fun being out of place!

2005-10-17T16:47:00.000+05:30

I had mentioned in my previous post about the FH&RA and the people who had come for it. It is the *****( 5 star) and ****(4 star) hotel owners and delegates from all over India! Definitely, a down- to-earth software professional, a cool college student, and an orthodox housewife can never fit in the scene! But we had fun!
The college student (read my brother) asked the s/w professional(read me) for a suggestion on his attire for Sivamani's concert. 'Should I wear formals? or casuals?' I, with all the knowledge acquired over the years on dress-code, gave a sly grin, and said, 'Formal? are you kidding? Go casuals dear brother!' My brother, surprisingly, for once, thought his sis was right, and chose to don his favorite hardly washed jean and a denim shirt to go with it. We reached there and voila! All the men folk were in designer suits!! The most casual attire in the crowd was 'khakis' with a solid color shirt - the business casual in the s/w world!! My brother burnt me down with his stare! Thankfully, two other men were dressed in casuals as him, but they were fellow drummers in Sivamani's troupe! The only soothing factor for my brother is that, his sis was the only gal in salwar, plaited hair and plain face! All the other young women were in trousers with their hair left lose and painted face! So we did quite stand out!
At the doorway, a few gentlemen and ladies, were chatting and smoking! First cultural shock for the orthodox housewife (read my mom). She saw them, raised her brows and exclaimed 'Don't we look out of place?!' But, I could hear her pray to her favorite Gods - 'Don't let my kids get influenced by this!!' followed by a worried look.
We went into a silent auditorium and Sivamani's drums was a real treat..Again, I had mentioned enough about the irrelevant audience in my previous post. For the kind of music - typical 'kuthu', be it a college student or a s/w professional, we wanted to get up and dance... But the audience would sit still as if they were listening to Pandit Ravishankar's sitar or Hariprasad's flute!
After the show, was the most funniest part! the dinner! A well-laid Buffet from Radisson - Obviously veg and non-veg. My mom, already had butterflies in her stomach! She was so scared of mistaking a non-veg dish. Her loyal lieutenants assured to help her out. As soon as we entered the buffet lounge, to the left, was a neatly laid table with colorful glasses of drinks. My cousin, an 8th std. kid, went to the stall, turned to us and asked, grape or apple nectar? Just then, we realized she was asking us to make a choice between, wine and beer. Told her, we don't drink fruit juice on Saturday evenings and brought her from there.
The theme of the dinner was 'Tamilnadu dishes' and on the menu, was Meen kaara kuzhambu, kozhi varuval and eraichi masala - items to be avoided by the veggies.. Mom kept repeating these names in her mind and cross-verified it with the name boards. Then, there was a 'Paalkatti kootu' It was a dish out of grated paneer which looked like grated egg.. After having a mouthful of it, mom had a doubt if that was egg!! to add to the irony, my brother, to have some fun, suggested to my mom, it looked like egg.. She almost threw up. She wouldn't trust my analogy with the name. She went to the waiter, to confirm that it was indeed vegetarian.
There was Mr.Strongs juice bar(BAR??) and they came around giving small pints to sample - color of grape and apple nectar again - Mom refused. On further enquiry we realized it was indeed grape and apple and took the pints. Got reminded of a famous tamil proverb - "panamarathadiyil..."
My brother and I had some fun with a game - The goal of the game, to identify the type of the 'madhubaanam' in people's hands and if possible, infer the 'round' the drinker was indulging himself in, by the way he holds his glass, by the way he behaves silly or walks...
After the dinner and the customary goodbye, we were ready to leave. At the exit, Mr. Strongs, were giving promotional gifts to everybody - A bottle of chamagne, red wine, whiskey :-) My brother and I were thrilled. Mom sighed. After we got it, we realized that they were just look-alikes!! It said Old Secret - COLA, Red Wine - Non Alcoholic, Chamagne - 0% Alcohol. Mom was thrilled! We sighed!
But the evening was indeed good! Was a treat to eyes, ears and mouth!

Mellifluous Thundershowers

2005-10-17T13:55:00.000+05:30

Last week's rains had given Chennai a fresh, clean makeover, and I was enjoying my weekend lazing out, and admiring the lush green neighborhood. I had not planned anything for the weekend. I made a few attempts to grab a ticket for 'Maestro' - Illayaraja's live concert, but in vain. The weekend was quite eventful, considering that I did not have any plans until Saturday noon. Dad got an invite for FH&RA's(Federation of Hotel and Restaurant Asscoiation's) All India Convention - Golden Jubilee Celebrations. This is a 3 day convention with lectures in the morn and cultural Shows in the evening followed by good dinner from Radisson. Obviously, our area of interest was the cultural show and the good food.
On Saturday, Sivamani was performing live! I've always been awe-struck by his magical hands. I've heard him in cine-music, I've heard him in instrumental albums, but always in combination with other instruments. Being a lover of soft, carnatic genres of music, I really wondered if a drummer could treat my ears for hours with pleasing music!
It was a treat indeed. The very sight of Sivamani amidst his array of percussion gizmos of all sizes and shapes was breath-taking! And, to see him handle them and produce music out of them is amazing! The rhythm and the charm in his hands weaves a roller-coaster ride for you.. It might be easy to play Indian folk, Indian classical, western folk, western classical, heavy metal one by one - But to flow from one genre to another keeping the rhythm and back-ground note the same was astounding..
The piece I liked the most was his Afro-music with a 'Tarzan hoot'.. It really felt like hanging in the vines of a jungle with Trazan and Jane! I was also thrilled to watch him produce music by tapping his mouth! The hall was acoustically constructed, and the sound waves traveled well. The decibels were at the right level. But for a misfitting audience, the show was indeed a mellifluous thundershower, and I enjoyed getting drenched! The top brass of hospitality industry from all over India was indeed a wrong crowd. They enjoyed his music, but wouldn't react much. It was like shunning from a cool drizzle with a black umbrella on a hot summer evening. Mild claps would be the result of a complicated rendition. I strongly feel, the best applause a musician could get, is the audience involvement. That would encourage him to exhibit his talent to the fullest. This audience participation or rather the lack of it was quite disappointing. At the most Sivamani could get out of the audience was a few rhythmic claps in sync with his performance.

Tangled Knots II - Missed the Miss?

2005-10-06T10:35:00.000+05:30

Cast : Betty, Rexx, Tony, Andy, Larry, Sam, Freddy
Betty and Rexx were best of friends. They did their school and college together, but now, have moved to different cities and had lives and interests of their own. Yet, they stayed in touch and were close buddies. Rexx lived in a different town and Betty was with a good crowd of friends in a different city. Betty was a cool socializing gal and she made lotta friends in the city but two special ones - Freddy and Sam. Freddy and Sam were so different from each other! Sam, a genius, was a practical introvert with slapstick sense of humor. Freddy on the other hand, was a party animal, an artist and fun loving. Betty and Freddy got along very well. They had lotta things in common and were very comfortable with each other. But it was Sam with whom Betty was awe-struck! She liked him so much, she wished to impress him. Betty and her friends went for a holiday trip. Betty spent most of the journey with either Freddy or Sam.
It was Betty's birthday. On this special day, she got a surprise gift from an anonymous person! The gift was amazing and expensive. A Swarovski crystal cut intricately into a caged parrot.
But who could have sent it? The gift was just signed 'Your Friend'! How will Betty find this out?!
Is it her lifetime buddy Rexx? Is it the introvert Sam? or Is it the artistic Freddy?
With the help of Sherlock Holmes and Hitchcock of her gang, Betty figured out that it was Freddy! She was elated by the reciprocation of her friendship!! So thoughtful of Freddy!! But what the naive Betty missed, Hitchcock and Sherlock smelled....This is not just friendship! They did tell Betty about it. But Betty was naive and could not/ refused to believe it. The birthday bash went fine and it was obvious to the rest of the world that Freddy was getting interested in Betty. But Betty had no clue!
Will Freddy propose? Will Betty accept? What happens of Rexx and Sam? Do they choose to be her friends? Who will Betty accept if they also choose to propose?

It's for time or my Episode: 2 to answer!

Gyan #1:
Theorem : When you give hints to a girl, it is most likely that her friends will realize your intentions perfectly than the girl herself!
Corollary : If you are interested in a girl, give hints to her friend ;-)

Commercial Break

2005-10-03T16:19:00.000+05:30

In the TV world, commercials time more than the episode hours for a mega serial. Here, we'll have commercial breaks only between full episode runs. And it is time for one. That 'DDLJ eh kya?' is over, I would like my readers to come out of that and get ready for the next one. So, relax and analyse the commercials.. The standard of commercials in India is getting to be better. Witty, Cool, chweet, sentimental, acrobatic - what not? They all display a good amount of brain and hard work . And of course, we have the controversial ones, not so good ones and really bad ones.
Talking about the controversial ones, the one that comes immediately to my mind, is the latest Lux Ad, featuring King Khan! Lux Beauty soap which had featured India's top Bollywood Queens like Madhubala, Hemamalini, Madhuri Dixit, Juhi Chawla,Karishma, Aiswarya Rai now has a male! For the first time in 75 years of history!
So, what is the analogy behind this? What was the thought process that led to such a major decision? How did the agency dare to change the legend? What was the business strategy behind this? An analysis at these various aspects in an angle of my own follows... Lets answer the following questions! with a logic
1. Who are the target audience and prospective buyers of the soap?
Girls and Ladies
2. What is the age group in India who are choosy about their soaps?
Now: 12-35
3. Are these prospective buyers naive, uneducated and ignorant?
No
Gone are the days when Ladies believed that a beauty soap can really make them look like Hemamalini or give them that complexion. Gone are the days when the uneducated women goes to the shop and asks for Madhubala's soap or Juhi's soap. And, most importantly, gone are the days when women felt embarrassed to watch a commercial featuring revealing men. It is very, very logical of the ad agency to believe that SRK could get his prospective buyers to watch the commercial than what Kareena can!
Considering the equality in thought and behavior that women are claiming, it's more likely that a person like SRK who has a great fan following of the fairer sex could attract them as well. The most feministic mind would think, if gals can endorse after-shave lotions, why can't guys endorse beauty soaps?
Consider this scenario: Aish endorses and the ad comes up between a mega serial and a couple get to watch it. The scene at home would already be sour as the wife will wanna watch the serial and the husband will want to switch channels. But, when the ad comes up, our man will watch it open-mouthed and the wife will wanna switch channels.
1. Will the wife ever buy the soap?
2. Even if the husband buys it for her, what will she infer from this action?

Considering all the above factors, I think it is quite a brilliant idea to make SRK endorse Lux. Additionally, if the guys also buy the soap, will HLL have anything to lose? ;-)

Tangled Knots I - DDLJ eh kya?

2005-10-03T13:37:00.000+05:30

Episode: 4
Jessi actually spotted the chemistry between Raj and Simran. She knew both of them were interested in each other but are not just saying it out..She gave them courage - Raj, the courage to propose and Simran, the courage to accept.
The proposal and the acceptance sequence can itself go for 2 episodes and can be rated 'comedy' - Yes. You read it right! 'C-O-M-E-D-Y' not 'R-O-M-A-N-T-I-C'. But am not going into the details of it. That is in no way related to our analysis on the complexities of human relationships. You might wonder if the first 2 episodes were, if this episode is and will the future episodes be? But as you already know the answer, mega serials neve talk to teh point.
Simran is a good Indian daughter and her Parents are typical Indian, orthodox parents. They love and care for Simran and had great dreams about her wedding. So, when Simran and Raj broke the news to her parents, they flipped out! They can never accept Raj. They can never accept Raj coz he doesn't have a mouche! Simran couldn't just believe it! All for a Mouche?
Yes. All for a mouche..Her parents couldn't imagine being ridiculed by their relatives. They strongly believed that guys without mouche cannot suppot their daughter life long.. Raj and Simran being good kids, decided to wait till her parents agree...
You might wonder, Why can't Raj just sport a mouche?! Well, can you imagine SRK with mouche? For some, it is by birth, they cannot have a mouche. Blame it on God! But losing your loved one for that is too much to ask for!
So, Raj and Simran decide to play the 'waiting game'... From days to months to years...It is 4 years and they are still waiting for her parents to accept.. Their careers lead them to different destinations. In 4 years, they got to meet each other on a daily basis only for about 1 1/2 years. Rest of the days, they were thousands and thousands of miles apart, but just a call away..
Now, relating to the title, will Raj be able to claim Simran's hands with her dad's nod, is for time to answer...

Wait for a new Episode soon..

Tangled Knots I - DDLJ eh kya?

2005-09-13T18:41:00.000+05:30

Episode:2
Unlike the mega serials, all the questions of episode one are answered here....

Yes, Preity did propose...
Yes, Rani gave a strong hint. Strong enough for our naive Raj to understand
Yes, Bunty called Simran 'honey' giving her a HINT!
But how did Raj and Simran react to all this?
Amidst all this confusion, Raj and Simran met, by chance.. Right from the very first meeting, it was chemistry and cupid at work...They met in the campus and had a general chit-chat. Going back to the hostel, Simran elaborated the meeting to her friends.. Raj, had spoken about it to Preity...and to Simran's surprise, Preity came and asked her, did you meet Raj?! :-)
Simran and Raj met too often after that..Their paths crossed often... and most of it was a planned coincidence...
Now, you know what happened to Preity, Rani and Bunty....but how each one reacted to the situation sketches their character...
Preity got wild, went to Simran and said 'Beware of Raj and gang. They will use and throw you'?!
Rani was still hopeful...she said... 'Anything can still happen in the next 2 years' and talked no more.
Bunty, was a gentleman...He still was friends with Simran.
Getting back to Raj and Simran - It was getting a little obvious...Simran's friends knew, Raj's friends knew... Though Simran was head over heels in love, she did not show one bit of that, she knew it will not be accepted by her parents.. But they were still good friends....Went around the city, partied et al... Simran was naive...Raj was not... Raj was a scheming lover boy...Planned a bike ride, car drive, sang songs, did everything possible to give a hint...Simran didn't understand one bit..
Here, I should mention about Jessi, Simran's close friend...she was friends with Raj as well...
If, the Pomeranian in HAHK, made it happen for Salman and Madhuri... it was Jessi for Raj and Simran. In fact, she sacrificed one of her exams, to help Raj and Simran...

How did she make it happen? What happens to Raj & Simran?

Wait for Episode 3

Tangled Knots I : DDLJ eh kya?

2005-09-13T13:53:00.000+05:30

Episode : 1
Cast : Raj & Simran, Simrans' papa/mama, Rani, Preity, Bunty and a lotta well wishers

Chennai Mt. Road: Simran is driving a white esteem with an 'L' board. Raj is right behind her in a white Maruti, with a group of friends - honking and over-taking Simran's car...he's on his way to a party. They are celebrating Raj's admission into one of the reputed colleges in a different city...No! he doesn't even look at her...
First day of college for Raj and he makes a lotta new friends in class...Babloo, Raj and Guddi happen to become best friends.. Raj was friends with Preity and Rani as well... Both Preity and Rani likes Raj a lot... No! Simran is no where in the college....
A year goes by...We are not sure of what Raj learnt this one year, but by then had made a lotta friends and a few enemies as well. He, for some reason, had impressed Preity and Rani so much that they are having ideas about him! and Of course, that is a well kept secret which Raj is oblivious to.
Chennai Mt. Road: Simran is driving a white esteem with a group of friends..They are on their way to a party, celebrating Simran's admission into one of the reputed colleges in a different city... Raj over-takes her car again, with Babloo and Guddi. They are on their vacation, working on their summer internship... No! he doesn't look at her again...

(What kinda story is this? Won't Raj & Simran meet?)

First day of college for Simran and she makes a lotta new friends in class.. She gets some very good friends in class and they are a gang in the hostel as well. Bunty, Simran's senior, is an all-rounder in college... The first time Simran sees him, is in the college corridor, doing a square drive. Square drive in college corridor?! Confusing?! Well, No explanations... by the way, Bunty is teacher's pet in college and everybody has a good opinion about him...
Bunty introduces himself to Simran and they become good friends...He makes it a point to meet up with Simran in the evenings near the lab and discuss for hours - about Chennai, Microsoft, Silicon Valley, voice recognition and what not?! While they talk current affairs, people around them seem to be rumoring about their affair?! Affair?! But, they are just good acquaintances. Who cares?! This rumor reaches Bunty and Simran as well. Simran just ignores....Bunty thinks deeper...and decides to make the rumor a fact!!
At around the same time, Preity thinks that she should reveal her thoughts to Raj... She is thinking of proposing to him! But Rani is cleverer. She thinks she might not be able to take the rejection and hence decided to drop hints about her feelings for Raj..
Well, Is Raj smart enough to catch Rani's hints? Did Preity propose to Raj? Did Bunty succeed in making the rumor true? Above all, did Raj & Simran ever meet?

Wait for Episode 2

Tangled Knots - The Beginning

2005-09-12T18:10:00.000+05:30

How do mega-serials(Indian Soap) get their story?
Why are the story-lines of mega serials usually "one liners" or "two liners"?
What does it take to write a 'mega serial'?
If watching a serial a 'time killer' or the dumbest thing one can do, Imagine thinking soo much about it?! Worst, is to think of writing something of that sort in a blog!! But, I have strong story lines!! All real-life characters, characters, who are my friends, whom I have heard about...each of them exhibit the complexities of human relationships!! I have enough to write about... Enough to make another 'Chithi', 'Anni', 'En thozhi..En kadhali..En manaivi', 'Oru pennin kadhai' and what not...
But do you have the patience to read them?! Well, these blogs are more for my CUGs..People who know the character exists..People who can associate their friends with my characters...
Why am I writing them if only CUGs will enjoy? I just wanted a medium to record the complexities, characters....Write down the current 'affairs' and later look back at the history... Now,
Will it be of any use to you? Absolutely 'No'....By any chance, if it is, it is purely 'unintentional'.
Will the episodes that follow, make you cry? mmm...That depends on your EQ...the living characters mostly laugh at them....but if it still makes you feel sober, the author is in no way responsible.
Such a mega serial will always begin with a disclaimers:
1.'All the characters in the following episodes are purely fictional. If there are any resemblances to real life characters, it is purely intentional. But, the author is not to be blamed.'
2.The author reserves the right to twist the story line for various reasons... Increasing the viewership is definitely not one.

Manager's Day Out!

2005-05-05T20:55:00.000+05:30

IT is an industry that requires continuous learning! Who said so?
You'll have to be technically good to climb the ladder faster! Who said so?
Are managers still learning? Were your managers technically good? Well, I got to find out the answers for all these questions in the hardest way possible..
What will happen if a manager decides to learn technically and picks you up to teach, coz you do a great job!
Well, on the surface, that looks like a compliment - a token of appreciation..
When a manager, who takes home 10 times your gross, actually wants to learn from you, you are elated.. well, that's only THE beginning!
I guess the above statements, if not the title, gave the required build up to explain how hard it is to be a teacher to a manager...
If the manager, was the baby, I play the role of the kidnappers, yeah plural!...had to suffer as much as the three put together did..
It all started as a simple request from my humble ex-manager - 'I might need your help in learning this',
I was too obliging, told a 'sure' right away..and added it with 'call me over whenever you need help' and later realized 'HELP' is a relative term!
For me, 'help' was answering his questions, and assisting him if the study material was not explanatory enough..
but for my manager, 'HELP' was literally baby-sitting...sitting and flipping the pages of his study material and telling him where to find things, how to drag and drop, how to right-click...ugh!
Does this remind you of your 1st std. teacher who taught you computers?! atleast, I felt like that!
If teaching was this difficult, escaping a day's class, is a nightmare...Everyday, my 1 hour drive to office, is spent scheming of ways to escape the class..with Radio Mirchi for BGM
I would come up with many reasons like, onsite calls, quick fix, emergency work request and escape the class for a day... the next day will be hell...The conversation would be:
'I had to wait for 1 hr yesterday and you didn't turn up to teach'..
'But, last minute request',
'Yeah, but you cold have told me earlier'
(in my head:'how can I anticipate a last minute request dumbo!')'yeah..am sorry'
'I wanted to finish this, but was browsing..I would have atleast gone home'
(in my head:'browsing? what do you do otherwise?!)'May be, you can go through the sessions and collect your questions'
'But, I waste time hunting for things, itz easier if you are around'
(in my head:'I am not you seceretary dumbo!')'But, the ppt is very good, self-explanatory'
'Can you spend 1 hour today?'
'!!!!!!!!' :-((((
Ironically, this ex-manager, few months back, had given a piece of advice for my colleague, who complained about his rating.
and it goes like this: 'You are out of college and should adapt to self-paced learning' at work, nobody is going to spoon-feed'
!!!!!!!
My daily prayers: oh God, Please don't make me dumb as I go up the ladder.. even if I am, let my dumbness not show, even if it shows, let it not affect others..

Treasure Trove

2005-04-13T21:55:00.000+05:30

Pondicherry…
Better known to the world for Auroville, beach resorts, French colony and to the lesser mortals for tax-free alcohol... This little union territory turned state unfolded as a treasure-trove when I visited the place last weekend. The visit wouldn’t have been such an eye-opener had I not gone through the hassle of furnishing a house with very little funds. Especially, when you want an aesthetic look, with a lot of wood, it costs you a fortune..
The designer in me had loads and loads of ideas, but very little funds…Part of this unaffordable dream was wooden pillars, a wooden swing, and a diwan. We needed them for our living room, to recline and laze out aesthetically …After checking out the stores in the metros, we decided, living rooms do not need them after all…We can still live there and laze out in our old furniture.
Some divine soul had told dad that they sold used furniture in Pondicherry… Furniture, used by the French/Dutch of Pondy, Chettiars of Karaikudi, Mughal descendants of Karaikal, Zamindars of a better world and many other ancestors… If new furniture is very expensive, used furniture should still be expensive, but, we decided to give it a try.
Lo! Behold! (guess that is the expression for amazement in antique English) ...Suddenly, Pondicherry was a whole new(Should I say ‘old’?) world... Furniture world…Antiques....Elaborately designed, intricately carved, remarkably strong furniture…Lying there with all its serenity attained through age…They have outlived mankind and have witnessed the high and low of life – prosperity and poverty, royalty and rubble.. Pillars that once adorned mansions, cots that lulled the rich, chests brimming with silk and gems, now dismantled and at the mercy of the trader for its life and lusture.
Getting back to reality, all this, for a very affordable price. We bought a lorry load of furniture which was quite a variety – pillars, a swing, a chest, a diwan – all this for INR 28,000!! All’s well so far…But how can human mind accept satisfaction this easily?! DOUBT! and DISTRUST! crept into our minds.. If it is this less expensive, can it be genuine?
I looked into WWW for satinwood...coz we hadn’t heard about it before, it says, this is a rare durable wood...and there is an American website selling antique pillars which is around $4500 per piece!! If the pillar we bought has xylem relations with what is flashed in this website, it triggered a serious thought in me…
Like the colonial days, we are still being looted…. We are being looted not only by the East India company, but by companies from East, West, North and South now! The riches of India, is being bought for a few thousands from our struggling small scale traders, and is being sold for outrageous rates abroad…
So, if you are thinking of buying furniture, take a look at the shops in metro, then go to Pondicherry....and look at the tiny shops there.... you might not only end up as a happy customer but would really help in retaining wealth and prosperity in India…It might not be practically possible to help the traders get more money, but you can stop the riches of India from being exported…