Variety is the spice of life

The year began with lot of uncertainties. Being not a big fan of wholesome changes, i was nervous to say the least and had lot of doubts. While the conscious me always looks for ways to settle and sleep, the mischievous unconscious one, has its own ways to look out for trouble. Its the one that never allows me to settle down and is always in contradiction with myself. Ides of March, marched in and moved me from one side of the earth to other. Nine months have lulled by and I am still not sure if i really wanted this one. I keep arguing with myself on the reason why i am here. After coming here, i had tonnes of time to reflect on myself. The setup here was a lot different from the places i had been to. The major change being, there were very few single people around and majority were family crowd. Took a while to adjust to that at first, for i had never been in such an environment before with so many "grown-up"s. I felt the same when i visited NJ to my friends house. The o...

Roomie: Planning to go for haircut today itself Me: Why man? Wait till tomorrow..why waste 15$ if world ends tomorrow? Roomie: I want to look decent in hell..hehehe Me: !!!! Oh yeah...if you get a crew cut they will fry you in special double refined oil !!! Some parts of the world have already chimed in 21st december while rest are waiting with bated breath :) THE day of all days has finally arrived. This one is unlike Dec 31 1999, where in the new millenium made "anti-christ" and satan the heroes for the day and which pushed "End of world" scenarios into prominance, for the dawn of the new millenium had quite some positive vibes about it. My engineering friends took pride in the fact that they would be the first batch of Engineers into the new millenia. The babies born on that day hogged the limelights as millenium babies. The cyber world had beendone with its digital nail biting getting over the fear of the Y2K bug, which was a major windfall fo...

BasYaadein Yaadein..Yaadein reh jaa thee hain.. Kuch Choti Choti..Baathain reh jaa thee hain.. I stumbled on this song by Aryans (of Puraani jeans fame) while updating my playlist. True to its theme, it took me on a nostalgic visit on how i ended up with this song :) There used to be a Andhra style restaurant called Madhuri, right near the entrance to Wind Tunnel Road in Murugeshpalaya (Bangalore). It was exactly 800 meteres from our office entrance, atleast thats what the digital meter autorickshaw's showed, consistently !! Me and two of my colleagues will catch an auto during lunch. We used to order full meals. But even if we walked all the way back for digesting the umpteen platefuls that we gobbled, adichi poatta mathiri thookam varum. Will sleep walk through the rest of the day in office. Weekends mean, getting up at around 12 noon, thothify any friend on his bike, round katti adichify food in Madhuri and veetuku vanthu continue sleeping till late in the evening. If too laz...

First Thanksgiving in US. Everyone were going crazy a week before the day over what to shop, when and where and which is the best option to buy - online or in store. Every detail was discussed and dissected and plans were framed like military attack operation. Teams were formed and stores were assigned to each of them. Everyone were asked to be on touch over phone and any surprise sudden deals were to be announced immediately. All credit cards were fully recharged and were prepared for a good night full of bashing. The day finally came and the whole day was spent lazing around waiting for the sun to set. It was the proverbial calm before storm. As the clock crept towards 6 PM everyone started pouring out of their houses onto their cars and within the next half hour the entire complex was empty. And even that turned out to be late. For shops that were set to open at midnight, the parking lots were already full by 7PM. Electronic appliances stores had queues stretching for miles. As usua...

Adrian Monk - America's answer to Sherlock Holmes. And my latest addi(c)tion to tv series. Its a detective series, where the lead character is the most eccentric of all detectives you would've ever seen. He is like "Thenali" Kamal with 312 phobias (as of season 6 episode 3) and is quirky at his wonderful best. An ex-cop, who lost his wife to a car bomb and part of his sanity, blessed with photographic memory and over the top analytical mind, the series revlove around not just how he solves each case but how he over comes each of his fear in the process. The way in which the stories are structured, in most of the cases, the "who" and in some cases the "why" also will be known before hand. Its always the "how" which would be the best part and would never be easily guessable. Well, thats the essence of a good mystery right. Monk episodes are testimony to it. The best part about the series is the subtle humour in each of the episodes. Kud...

When i had taken learners permit, it was more for an id proof/address proof kind of thing and never had any intention of taking it up further. When roomies went for driving classes, joined them for fun and even after going for half a dozen training sessions, was still in no mood to actually take up the test. One fine day, it finally dawned that, Why not? Afterall i've spent so much for each of those classes, i might as well take up the test. All the while i was playfully attending without showing much interest on learning the rules and the moment i realised i had to prepare for the road test, it was throwback time to the school days. Looking at the way i was driving, the instructor booked a much early slot for me and all of a sudden things were not so easy anymore. The same roads, that were comfortable to Vrroom around appeared like obstacle courses. During the final class, looking at the way i was driving, the instructor asked me to pull over. "What the hell is wr...

Be it Brit or American, any author worth his salt, or if at all he wishes his name to be seen on NY pulp fiction best seller list, there has to be a novel on the US govenment and particularly involving the president, be it his romantic escapades or attempts on his life or the run up to the presidency. Many of Jeffrey Archer's novels, my favourite author and my English teacher to a large extent, are based on these premises. And almost all of them are blockbuster hits. My favourite picks are "Shall we tell the president" and "Prodigal Daughter". The first one deals with an insider's plot to assasinate the incumbent president while the latter traces the rise to the top post of a Polish immigrant's daughter. I strongly believe, Archer was in love with that character, Florentyna Rosnovski, for the way he had shaped the story is so special and is probably even better than his master piece "Kane and Abel". Being a conservative, he somehow has a prefe...

Ada... Dumeelu thaan dumeelu thaan...gilsu gun nula sutta dumeelu thaan :D:D Erkanavay athu dappanguthu song..athula lyrics change vera thevayaanu kekareengalaa :D yesssuuuu...for..me the floating in air :D Enaku pudikumngarathaala generalise pannala, but i guess, for most of the guys, their childhood aasai would definitely be to own a toy gun. The noisier and funkier it is the better. Me a huge fan of all LEO Toys products ( a kambeni that was swallowed up by the Fisherprice, Toys R Us monsters..down with FDI ). They had launched a machine gun model that made the typical rat-tat-tat-tat-tat noise along with flashing lights and also came with a dart. It was the ultimate toy i could ever imagine and whenever i went to my friends place who had bought that gun, i would never keep it down. It was way too expensive and i never had a chance to own one. Once while walking on the Nagai kadai Madaveethi my dad suddenly asked me, "Do you remember that gun toy?". I was into...

Finally!!! Today will be a very special day, having been reunited with my childhood companion (As per Gilstionary childhood is a period stretching over two and half decades), with whom i lost contact for a while in between. Something that been part and parcel of my life for a major portion of my school days, stretching well into my college life as well. To me, like for millions of other fans, Ambulimama (Chandamama in other languages) , played the role of a caring friend, loving relative who wouldnt mind spending time telling stories to you, a treasurehouse of knowledge about our rich and diverse culture and above all, the master entertainer. Maybe my dislike for serial stories began with this magazine i guess, unable to bear the suspense of waiting for a week or two to get to the next episode. I remember the days, when i used to pester my mom for 50 paise to get the ragged old editions from near by kaayalan kadai, who will dutifully refund 50% of t...

"chellaam" "Kannaaaa" "Raasaaaaaa...epdi pa irukkaa..thurumbaaaaaa elaichitiyeee" After a gap of 3 months, if a mother sees her kid, ipdi ethachum dialog varumthaana expect panuveenga. Athaan illa. Had a skype chat with mom. Indhiya tholaikaatchigalil mudan muraiyaaga mathiri..it was the first ever time my mom was in video chat. Solli vacha mathiri, video was not appearing in their end due to some connection problem. After a few minutes of voice chat, suddenly the video issue got resolved. First question from mom. "Ennadaa thalaya ipdi vachitruka!! anga poitu hair cuttay panniakalaya?" Avvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv..... Rapunzel ku aduthabadia intha hairstyle issuesnaala ivlo kushtapattathu gilsa thaan irukum. For me, intha yogi sithar mathiri jadaa mudi hairstyle romba pudikkkkum. My reminder to get hair cut would be that if and only if, it falls like wiper blade on my specs. There was this Pomeranian naaikutty called Julie next to our...

Serialsay pudikaathu..serial paakrathelaam oru pozhappa...apdinulam dialog vittutu maanju maanju serialsa paathutruken :D I like the variety that these series offer. Oru pakkam semma original comic series and innoru pakkam action thrillers. The amount of effort and money that they pump into these series is amazing. Each episode resembling an individual movie in itself. As mentioned in previous post and after numerous attempts, finally a post on 24. When my friend recommended this series an year back, never did i imagine that i would be this much addicted to it. First episode paathapo to be honest avlo impressiva illa. DVD print was bad could also be a reason. Enna thaan nadakuthunu paakalam sollitu tried the second episode and avlo thaan matteru. Got hooked right into it. Every single scene goes lighting fast and you will never feel like hitting the stop button till the finish. Right from the way they've structured the series, to editing to dialog to characterisation to screen...

Last weekend i met my colleague and his wife on a supermarket. Even before i could say "hi" she gave me that look, which damilnaatu poleece like gabtun  reserve for theeviravaathis. "Is this the one?" asked her, to which the hubby was non-committal, after which the tirade started. He gestured something to me from behind her, which i couldnt quite make out, but that he wanted me to keep quiet was very clear. "Enpaa...neengalaam bachelors..so neram kaalam kedayaathu...eppo venumnaalum thoongalam pogalaam varalaam...ivara yen kedukareenga....rendu pasangalaachu...innum kooda chinna paiyannu nenapu manasula..athenna padam? 25 ya?" "24" came the quiet correction from behind her. "Rombaa mukkiyam..sathaa sarva kaalamum athey gathi nu ukaarara vendiathu. Nethu enna paneenganu sollatuma?" Now i was really curious to know what happened. Knowing that i am going to pour more oil into the inferno, he waved frantically from behind not to ...

America as a country might enjoy just its third century of Independence. But culturally, its even younger. Historically even more so. Unlike other civilisations, which stretch across millenniums and are rich culturally, the natives of this country had hardly anything to tell their children. They had a tough time in wiping out any signs of resemblance to their imperial masters and were busy in resetting every single thing that related them and went about meticulously in changing everything to opposite, right from the way they drive to their door knobs to switches and the very basic current voltage. They were always at war with England claiming every single invention with a American patent in response to English. As much interest they showed in expanding geographically by purchasing lands from so many countries, they hardly showed any in their own history, may be covertly but never in open. The one thing that they were never able to change was that their history began...

Gilsbert and Edison are similar in one aspect. Avar kandupudicha bulba athigapatchama vaangina perumai (!!) Gislbertaiye saarum. Throw in few kids, Gilsbert and food..you are guaranteed a Bulb vaangum ceremony. Ipaadi thaan paarunga........(tortoise coil suthingss)... Venue: Spice Garden restaurant Occassion: 2 Birthday party of colleague's kid Gilsbert seen roaming around the buffet table in semma pasi, waiting for the cake cutitng to begin. "Yaenga..eppo cake cut pannuvaanga" "Gilsbert..ithoda naalavathu thadavaiya enkita kekara..en paiyana vida unna meikarathu romba kushtama iruku..poi apdi ukkaru. Cake cut panni mudinjathum first panthila unna kootitu poren" "avvvvvvvvv......ithey thaan one houra solitrukeenga..pesama naanay cake vetitu happy birthday paadida poren" "Murugaaa....Mahathi..inga vaa...uncle paaru..paavam bore adikuthu solraar..konja neram uncle kooda velaaditru" First day schooluku porachay thirumbi thirumbi paath...

Nope. The title is not a typo of meaningless words. January 21 A quick look at Wiki for this date reveals several interesting events associated with it. It looks like a date favoured by destiny, for events of historical magnitudes. From Royal beheadings to Nuke sub launches to natural disasters, its a date which can be called a complete package of disaster. (The more i read about it, the more i feel our doomsday date could've been a month preponed by mistake!! ) In the year 2008, this date took a more sinister avatar. For stock brokers of the world, it was nothing short of Apocalyptic showdown, as stock markets of the world, tumbled like Indian cricket team, put into bat first, on a green top. On that very date, which had the business communities scampering for cover, another earth shattering event, happened almost unnoticed. Being unnoticed, being the reason for that event couldnt be any more oxymoronic. It was the day when Maria Smith Jones breathed her las...

There is an episode in "How I met your mother" series where Ted Mosby (the narrator/ hero) is pestered into breaking his routine of spending the evening at his favorite club haunt by Barney Stinson, who always claims to be his best friend. He promises Ted of a "Legendary" night out and takes him to an airport - one of his numerous hangouts to pick up gals. What follows is a goofapade which results in both of them travelling to Philly on a plane, following two good looking gals, only to find out that the gals are on their way to meet their boyfriends who were going to propose to them and due to the shenanigans of Barney, both end up getting arrested. When Barney, not learning from the events of that night, further confronts him with a challenge to lick the Liberty Bell , Ted gets obviously angry over Barney for messing up his routine life. But he succumbs and guess what, they do lick the bell which turns out to be one of those famous weird personal experiences story...

While watching Ramany Vs Ramany, the first thing that stuck me was the lifestyle portrayed. Right from the house to every person characterised, it takes one right back to those times. A typical, urban middle class, chennai household, with a lengthyyyyy hall connecting one entrance to another with rooms spanning about like train compartments. A mandatory tree or atleast a sampling of a plant at the entrance with a scooter rusting near the gate, with girls tying cloth peice as hair bands, their modern style statement of that time ala simran and square specs competing with googles..the list is endless. It seems like the original feel good series. You can even realise the infamous chennai mid afternoon peak summer heat with most of the actors seen wearing sweat stained costumes. The series has two parts. In the first part the lead pair are Prithviraj and Vasuki. The story setup revolves around the troubles and travails of newly married couple. Especially when both of them are w...

He was standing and wondering from the very edge of the cliff of confusion. "Intha "purpose" "purpose" nu solraangalay...the ONE thing that is the basis for everyones life...that thing, that which drive people to wake up every day and look forward to that day..that which motivates them and makes them feel worthwhile..that which justifies their very existence...that which makes ones life meaningful...yen en lifela mattum athu ilaamaye poachu??" HE felt totally at loss with himself with mind whirring at full throttle. Ellaarum schooluku ponaanga..avanum ponaan. Or rather was sent to. Classmates computers padikanumnu aasapataanga. He went along with them. Aprum engineering, IIT nu ponaanga. For once in his life he didnt follow the mob. Ippo avann friends oru orutharum irukara range paatha, it may not be the best of decisions he ever made. But a very satisfying and happy one, he felt. Three years, where he went after t...

Door opens and roomie enters the house, carrying that aura of sadness and gloom and with a look of a person fed up with the world. (okay..before you proceed any further..it had nothing to do with my imsais) "what happened" "mumble..mumble..mumble...vaazkhaiye sogam" came the reply. "congrats..great news" "Dei...naan enna sonnentu..nee congrats solra?" "enna sonnanu purila..seri..positive newsa thaan irukumnu oru nambikkaila sonnen" "Enda..enna paatha positive news solravan mathirya iruku?? kaduppula irukken..nee vera verupethatha" "Enna machi...y veruppu kaduppu nu TR mathiri pesitrukka? aapeecela problem? pakkathu seat aunty propose panidicha??" "athu onnu thaan kuraichal...enda intha velaikku sernthomnu irukku" "unna recruit pannavanum itheye thaan solitrukannu kelvi patten" "seriousa machi...at times..yen itha panrennu enakkay purila..enaku suthama Java pudikala...naan adikar...

I've always felt that people who have lived abroad for a decent number of years and having come back to India fall under two types - those who are overtly critical of Indian lifestyles and look out for chances to catch the next flight out and those who bring in their experience of living outside and try to simulate the same friendly environment on their home country. When i was talking with my friend, he said, Indian women in general, find it easier to live outside India. The reason being, they dont have the pressure of the tedious norms of our culture that even on its best days are predominantly male chauvinistic. They feel they've more freedom to lead the way they want to live more at abroad than in India. Sila chinna chinna intrusions on their personal space like, what time they get up, what do they wear, what do they eat and cook and how they address or interact with their spouse and friends, in general avanga pesonal life, even after marriage or even while studyin...