Variety is the spice of life

Wanted to type something scene..but the best line i could come up with was this.. Aiyaaahhh...naanum NYC paathuten :) But this post is dedicated to a very special person and a very special family. Few posts back and in several other posts, i had always mentioned about my fetish for time travel to my happy place. While planning for the trip, it was a happy coincidence that, my friend was staying in a close by town and invited me to her place. To me, more than visiting NYC, the best part of the trip was to meet her family and the time i spent with them. My friend (SSN) - she had always been one of a kind and surprisingly, she still retains the same persona, even after marriage!! But the astonishingly happier part is that, her husband matches her letter for letter. If at all there are marriages made in heaven, i am sure, their union was solemnised there. One word to describe that family - Heaven. A picture perfect family. En kannay patrum nenakren. Postuku drishti suthi poatukare...

I think whoever settled in this country first were not exactly big fan of the English way of doing things. Obviously, if you are exiled or shipped as prisoner from some country, it may not rank high on your list of favourite places. But athukaga ivlo extreme!! Avanga oorla left turn na inga right. Anga switch keezha push panna ON aagumna inga ulta. Ivlo enga...saavi poatu kathava thorakka kooda lever ultava iruku!!! Actually you see..normala..nalla naalulaye namakku velangidum ithula ivlo kanpoosans vera iruntha kozhantha enna thaan pannum (kozhanthainnu enna sonnengarathu pretty obviousngarathalaa remind pannala). Intha veena pona oorla innoru kodumai ennana..ella apartmentskum oray colour, oray height, oray shape and oray set of  floors. Thoorakenthu paaka ennamo greeting card set mathiri irukaynu aasapattu veedu pudicha..hmmmm.... Almost all of my colleagues and their friends stay in this apartment community. So, ingaye veedu paatha vasathi sollitu, till the time i took a h...

Heart melting. You would've heard this phrase repeated for all and sundry to the extent of being abused off its meaning. Watch this movie. You can feel the phrase. I couldnt control my emotions sitting throughout the movie. Every single living being in the movie..oozes with warmth and genuine affection that it makes one feel proud to be human and realise how GOOD it feels to love someone without any expectation and inhibition. There is no villain in the movie and it could almost become an awareness creation ad campaign but for the meager production values. The movie is so simple and pure, with a single line story and shoestring budget. But it is riveting right from the first scene. The characters are all so natural, the situation so obvious and precise, the acting..was it acting?? I thought it was a candid camera on a real life granpa and his grandson. Amazing performances. And lilting background music. With tamil subtitles it feels as if they are mouthing their dialogues in tamil...

Veli oor vantha enna pannanum? Well..you see..actually..basically..physically..chemically..logically... ipdi egappata ly poatu pesanum. And sambradhyaapadi intha oor makkal pathi sollanum. Ibn Batuta kaalathulenthu itha thaan ellarum panitrukaanga. And me no FateMove (Vidhi vilakku you see) to that. *** First thing that stuck me after coming here was the slogan of Godzilla movie - Size does matter. Rather..inga size doesnt matter.. at all. Namma oor makkal can learn this as much as their thick skin can. Despite pionnering(??!!) the fashion world with the concept of size zero, the majority of these makkal hardly bother how they look. Obesity may be the highest in this country, but  doubt if fast foods alone are reason for that. People dont get stressed with the way they look. But again, there are 2 extremes here. Those who are freaking fit conscious, i see one thonnooru vayasu thaatha lifting weights in gym, and those who dont give a damn to how they look. Its the second kind ...

Ambulimama, Balamitra kathailalaam vara mathiri literalla pala kadal malai kadanthu oru vazhia America vanthadaintha Gilsanandaaku,  Aappu, startersla thara soup maathiri, suda suda was waiting. First day..First show..che..pazhakka dosham..First day @ aapeece. Colleague signs up for me to take me in and security gave temporary access card. "Machi...first time entering..valathu kaal vachu vara vaa?" "Dei..ithenna first night rooma..etho oru kaal vachu vaada..vanthathay 2 hour late..ithula sagunam veraya" "VEEEEEEE VEEEE VEEEEEEEEE VEEEE" Suddenly siren sounds filled the air and enakku pinnala queuela ninna makkals took two steps back. All security guys were looking at me with suspicion. My colleague, who by the way was well aware of the potential of my luck, was slapping his head. "Inga vanthumaaa!! Velanignaa pola thaan" Nalla sunda kaachina thaar mathiri, pala pala nu oru aasami, atleast 7 ft in height and Godrej buearu maathiri b...

Ram meets Priya near by to his house and invites her home. "Hey..ithaan first time enga veetuku vara la nee" "Ada..aamaa..ithana naala inga vanthiruken..aana unga veetukku vanthathilla..hmm..unkitta onnu solanum" "hmmm?" "Neria thadava varalaamngara idea mindla vanthaalum..unga veetla thappa nenachupangalonu oru bayam..athaannn" "En?? enga veetla en thappa nenachukanum?oh..antha ponnu paakara mattera solria..athelaam maranthay poirupaanga ithana neram" "I dont think so" "Seri..viden ..athelam ethuku ipo..enna saapdra?" "Unaku samaikalaam teriyuma??" "Evan sonaan..maximum kitchen left sidela iruku matum teriyum" "Aprumennamo samaichu kudukka poravan mathiri enna sapdra kekara?" "cha..antha ketta pazhakamelam kedaiyathu..ethahum biscuit..juice..snacks..apdi ethachum offer panlaamnu ketaen" "hmmm...veedu semma neata iruku. Sathiyama nee maintain panra mathiri te...

Than muyarchiyil satrum manam thalaraatha Gils..carrying the burden of the Vethaalam of 'Travel', boarded the flight from London. (Spoiler alert for thalai Ramesh - Intha flightlayum air hostess semma sumaar ;( ) My seat was almost at the tail end of the bay and the moment i belted myself to the seat..i slipped into my mini coma state, only to be woken up by my seat mate(?? for want of better term). She was carrying a huge paperback version of 'Shantaram' and got engrossed into that book. I was about to re-enter dream land when the crew woke me up to serve breakfast. I politely refused. The same sequence was repeated for lunch also. "You dont like airlines food is it??" I gave her a surprised look and said with a tired smile "yes" "You better have some drinks atleast..its going to be another ten hours before we land..." and then the conversation went on......till we landed :) We spoke about everything under the sun, which by the way wa...