1. Last movie you saw in a theater?
Jalsa..OK Time pass movie.. Last English movie I saw in a theatre was Juno ( I think)
2. What book are you reading?
Blink - Malcolm Gladwell, All Souls - Micheal Patrick Mc.Donald. Just finished A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini and re -read Sister of my Heart.. I know I know.. I read several books at one time
3. Favorite board game?
Pictionary
4. Favorite magazine?
Filmfare, People, US Weekly..
5. Favorite smells?
Chanel No.5.. Cheese melting.. Coffee beans, Bread baking
6. Favorite sounds?
Personalized ring tone I have set for D or when my fone says "Amma".. My fone talks, I swear!!!
7. Worst feeling in the world?
Knowing you cant do anything about the shitty situation you are in!! When things are beyond your control and you are significantly affected..(or is it effected!!)
8. What is the first thing you think of when you wake up?
"Every morning when I wake up..Before I put on my make up.." OST My Best Friends Wedding..
9. Favorite fast food place?
Gangotree or Chef Express (for those who remember it). Not hugely into fast food..
10. Future child's name?
As a kid, I wanted to name my kid Sachin(after Tendulkar).. Now I am not so sure.. Lets just call it "IT"
11. Finish this statement. "If I had lot of money I'd....?"
be Tata Birla!!! he he he.. I would prob make a movie.. or more realistically buy more books and a house
12. Do you drive fast?
No, I drive notoriously slow.. S and N can vouch for that.. I drove at around 45 on ECR!!!
13. Do you sleep with a stuffed animal?
Nope.. With two pillows though
14. Storms - cool or scary?
Cool if I am indoors, scary if I am driving...
15. What was your first car?
Fiat, The first one I drove though was a Santro
16. Favorite drink?
Indian Coffee, Java Chip Frappuchino, Water, Diet Pepsi with Lime
17. Finish this statement, "If I had the time I would...."
Read more..
18. Do you eat the stems on broccoli?
Yep
19. If you could dye your hair any color, what would be your choice?
I wouldn't dye all of my hair any color.. I wanted purple highlights though, I settled for a dark maroon or some such thing..
20. Name all the different cities/towns you've lived in?
Madras, Chennai, Hyderabad, Seattle, Boston
21. Favorite sports to watch?
Cricket if India plays.. Not a big sports fan.. Yeah I know I live in Boston.. And yeah I watched the Superbowl
22. One nice thing about the person who sent this to you?
Considering that all I know of her is that her name might start with an N!!! But otherwise, very nice writer and reading her posts remind me a lot about myself!!!
23. What's under your bed?
Carpet
24. Would you like to be born as yourself again?
Yes!
25. Morning person, or night owl?
Night Owl.I am not much of a morning person..
26. Over easy, or sunny side up?
Never an over easy person.. Haven't eaten egg in a couple of years now. But I almost always like it scrambled..
27. Favorite place to relax?
Hyd house on my couch..
28. Favorite pie?
I want to say Pecan, coz I like the way Paula Dean makes it.. But not much of a pie person..
29. Favorite ice cream flavor?
Vanilla with chocolate chips in it.. Mocha (coffee flavored).. Kesar Pista, The over sweet vanilla served at Indian weddings.. Good chocolate..
30. Of all the people you tagged this to, who's most likely to respond first?
I am tagging N.. coz her blog is dying... I wont let her give up this fast..
And now, I tag..
N .. Dandilsa...
Tuesday, April 15, 2008
Thursday, April 03, 2008
Kimi Gayo
Sitting under the giant window sills at the back of Mrs.Simon's class in first standard I made a friend.We were assigned to be room-mates in the "hostel-hostel" game we were playing.Last month that friend got married and I couldn't attend. She defined the meaning of the word friend to me. She is the first friend I can think back to cronologically.Incidentally, she has shared many of my firsts with me.My first un-supervised outing,my first sleep over,my first major crush,my dream of leading my house(in school),my first experience in a co-educational institute, my first job interview, my first job and my first experience of living away from home.
The first memory I have of her is the above mentioned "hostel-hostel". The other one being our mothers standing under the big tree discussing us. Sitting for hours making plots to kill Pitchaikannu(individual who wrote 12th Maths Textbook -2001),DDLJ vs HAHK, "Hua kya naa jaana", plotting 8A vs 8B wars (yes wars!!!!)to sitting around after school trying to prepare for sports day.( I can aver that neither of us know squat about sports) while eating samosas and bugging lil chubby baby Manicha..(read Manisha).Then before we knew it we parted ways,writing in each others slam books,wishing each other the best in life and promising to meet up in the Buckingham Palace.(trust me you don't want me to go into detail - point is it dint happen).Four months later I get a call from her. She and I are in the same college. We laughed about the slam book.Entering the portals of SVCE she and I were in different departments, making new cherished friends along the way. Blooper in front of Archan-Preethi's Preethi.. he he he ...And before we knew it one stormy night we were both riding home in pouring rain "employed gals" with job offers.We parted ways shortly after that. We filled slam books again.This time we laughed about our prev entries.This time we promised to meet up in Bay Area..(again,trust me you wudn't want me there).6 months later my fone rings. This time though its long distance. She has been posted in Hyderabad.Could she room with me?? I was jumping with joy.My friend was rooming with me.Our mutual love for SRK!! and a certain member of the British Royal family, for hours at Red-E Food court reading a certain report(better left un elaborated), for Hyd and Prasads, for the thousands of movies watched at Satyam, hours spent chatting in Hyd with G3. Trying to cook food and dreaming up of setting up Dosas to combat with Chutneys. Hosting sleep over parties for office friends.
Intelligent,smart,padips,strong minded are all the words that come to my mind when I think of her. Her big smile, her amazing sense of humour. Here is wishing you all the best in your married life.
With lots of love from D Mugs to P Mugs.
The first memory I have of her is the above mentioned "hostel-hostel". The other one being our mothers standing under the big tree discussing us. Sitting for hours making plots to kill Pitchaikannu(individual who wrote 12th Maths Textbook -2001),DDLJ vs HAHK, "Hua kya naa jaana", plotting 8A vs 8B wars (yes wars!!!!)to sitting around after school trying to prepare for sports day.( I can aver that neither of us know squat about sports) while eating samosas and bugging lil chubby baby Manicha..(read Manisha).Then before we knew it we parted ways,writing in each others slam books,wishing each other the best in life and promising to meet up in the Buckingham Palace.(trust me you don't want me to go into detail - point is it dint happen).Four months later I get a call from her. She and I are in the same college. We laughed about the slam book.Entering the portals of SVCE she and I were in different departments, making new cherished friends along the way. Blooper in front of Archan-Preethi's Preethi.. he he he ...And before we knew it one stormy night we were both riding home in pouring rain "employed gals" with job offers.We parted ways shortly after that. We filled slam books again.This time we laughed about our prev entries.This time we promised to meet up in Bay Area..(again,trust me you wudn't want me there).6 months later my fone rings. This time though its long distance. She has been posted in Hyderabad.Could she room with me?? I was jumping with joy.My friend was rooming with me.Our mutual love for SRK!! and a certain member of the British Royal family, for hours at Red-E Food court reading a certain report(better left un elaborated), for Hyd and Prasads, for the thousands of movies watched at Satyam, hours spent chatting in Hyd with G3. Trying to cook food and dreaming up of setting up Dosas to combat with Chutneys. Hosting sleep over parties for office friends.
Intelligent,smart,padips,strong minded are all the words that come to my mind when I think of her. Her big smile, her amazing sense of humour. Here is wishing you all the best in your married life.
With lots of love from D Mugs to P Mugs.
Wednesday, March 26, 2008
Random Thots
Being married allows you to enter a secret adult club.. 50 year old aunties will tell you personal secrets!!! Other older married women will discuss periods,cycles, babies, labor and certain other gross details.. I dont understand how being married makes you privy to extremely personal, unrequired details!!! But this weekend we met up with another couple we did fun stuff, played games D played cricket and the girls beat boys at Sequence..Thanks to the R and S..
I keep thinking of funky things to write about on the way to college. Entire blog posts form in my head and then today when I sat down to write blankness happening!!!
Most people who know me would say I accost and haunt people. I talk a dime and dozen, won most extempore (excuse if typo) competitions and generally an extremely talkative human being!! I think I am the most un -techie person ever. I can probably code to save my life but beyond that I cant code. Buuuuuuuuuuuuuuut I jus discovered (courtesy my EA mid-term) that I am a techie. I think technically and write technically about non - technical aspects. I keep thinking that under grad is party time.. Where we (read I) blunder our way through, gaining life experiences.. Who knew that somewhere along the way something actually sticks.. SVCE Zindabad!!!
Watched a new Tamil movie after a long time. Its called Anjadhey. It was directed by a guy with a strange name. Anyways, if I want to be all "in" about it I could say,it was different, it had interesting camera angles, and very natural setting.. But I wont. It was a story that existed since the very famous "mera paas Maa Hai". There were no camera angles to speak of. There is a scene where the entire time the camera is showing people's feet. You know, I think that was different for the sake of being different. Prasanna had a horrible wig and Fab India kurtas. I din't know gangsters wore kurtas from FabIndia. The lead guy looked/acted like Surya from Kakha Kakha. Some assumptions are very drastic. You know there is one thing I did like about the movie. It had just one song. Atleast, strange named director guy realized that songs take away from the story in this movie. But anyways, I think the cast and crew tried something different and if people liked it then kudos to him. And for the record I think natural lighting should be left to PC Sriram and ManiRatnam movies.
Reading a book called 'Blink'. An interesting read and explains a lot of things. But beware read only if interested in non-fiction. There is hardly any story in it.
I tried thinking of a conclusion. There isn't any. Just covered the last few weeks of existence. Reading, socializing, movie-ing and in case you missed it mourning over my mid - term grades. So for the lack of a conclusion..
Thodarum!!!
I keep thinking of funky things to write about on the way to college. Entire blog posts form in my head and then today when I sat down to write blankness happening!!!
Most people who know me would say I accost and haunt people. I talk a dime and dozen, won most extempore (excuse if typo) competitions and generally an extremely talkative human being!! I think I am the most un -techie person ever. I can probably code to save my life but beyond that I cant code. Buuuuuuuuuuuuuuut I jus discovered (courtesy my EA mid-term) that I am a techie. I think technically and write technically about non - technical aspects. I keep thinking that under grad is party time.. Where we (read I) blunder our way through, gaining life experiences.. Who knew that somewhere along the way something actually sticks.. SVCE Zindabad!!!
Watched a new Tamil movie after a long time. Its called Anjadhey. It was directed by a guy with a strange name. Anyways, if I want to be all "in" about it I could say,it was different, it had interesting camera angles, and very natural setting.. But I wont. It was a story that existed since the very famous "mera paas Maa Hai". There were no camera angles to speak of. There is a scene where the entire time the camera is showing people's feet. You know, I think that was different for the sake of being different. Prasanna had a horrible wig and Fab India kurtas. I din't know gangsters wore kurtas from FabIndia. The lead guy looked/acted like Surya from Kakha Kakha. Some assumptions are very drastic. You know there is one thing I did like about the movie. It had just one song. Atleast, strange named director guy realized that songs take away from the story in this movie. But anyways, I think the cast and crew tried something different and if people liked it then kudos to him. And for the record I think natural lighting should be left to PC Sriram and ManiRatnam movies.
Reading a book called 'Blink'. An interesting read and explains a lot of things. But beware read only if interested in non-fiction. There is hardly any story in it.
I tried thinking of a conclusion. There isn't any. Just covered the last few weeks of existence. Reading, socializing, movie-ing and in case you missed it mourning over my mid - term grades. So for the lack of a conclusion..
Thodarum!!!
Thursday, March 13, 2008
Chiku Bukku Tagged
Rules:
1. Put your MP3 player on shuffle
2. For each question, press the next button to get your answer.
3. You must write the name of the song no matter what. No cheating!
IF SOMEONE SAYS “IS THIS OKAY?” YOU SAY?
Adhi vo Alladhi vo - Annamayya..
OK!!! God's Residence..
WHAT WOULD BEST DESCRIBE YOUR PERSONALITY?
Nandi Konda - Geethanjali
spooky!!! wtf?? I haunt ppl??!!! In a strange sense maybe coz I used to study well at nite and I was born in the nite!!!
WHAT DO YOU LIKE IN A GUY/GIRL?
Boss's life - Snoop Dogg,50 cent
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! My husband loaded this song in my i-pod so I guess!!
HOW DO YOU FEEL TODAY?
Century lo kotte vaise madhi - Aditya 369!!!!!
When you want something all universe conspires to give it to you.. With a mid-term on Monday I am writing this post..Shows how many centuries I am gonna hit!!!
WHAT IS YOUR LIFE’S PURPOSE?
Say Na Say Na - Bluffmaster
To get married???!!! Or to steal!! Donno.. Kinda weird..
WHAT IS YOUR MOTTO?
Ossa Ve - Happy
My motto is a crass lil known 'gaana' song from a semi- hit Telugu movie!!!
WHAT DO YOUR FRIENDS THINK OF YOU?
Orru Deivamthanda Poove(Male) - Kannathil Muthamital
haar haar haar.. God's gift to them.. I sure hope so.. Was expecting loose penne( i must be honest)
WHAT DO YOU THINK OF YOUR PARENTS?
A Whole New World Instrumental - Alladin
Okie..No comments!!!
WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT VERY OFTEN?
Naatu Saraku - Puthokotail Saravanan
Y are all the crucial questions lil known 'gaana' songs from flop movies.. If you don't know this song or never heard of it..totally fine!! Its that unknown
WHAT IS 2+2?
You and I - Jalsa
maybe 1+1 but 2+2 donno!!
WHAT DO YOU THINK OF YOUR BEST FRIEND?
Its the time to Disco - Kal Ho Na Ho
Dedication to Pasha and Families
WHAT DO YOU THINK OF THE PERSON YOU LIKE?
Sunta Hai Mera Khuda - Pukar
My God listens to me!! Very appropriate so contended.
WHAT IS YOUR LIFE STORY?
If its another gaana song I am gonna give up, I swear.. OK here goes.
Emi Sodhara - Tolli Prema
My life is a confusion na.. Naaku Kopam ostondi..Kinda like the time I got Catch 22 for the book I resembled most..
WHAT DO YOU WANT TO BE WHEN YOU GROW UP?
Entrentum Punnagai - Alaipayuthey
Fair enuf.
WHAT DO YOU THINK WHEN YOU SEE THE PERSON YOU LIKE?
Chalore Chalore - Jalsa
We are gonna be travelling all our lives!! I donno..Hope not.
WHAT DO YOUR PARENTS THINK OF YOU?
Papa Kehte They - QSQT
I swear this is true. I am not making it up.. haar haar
WHAT WILL YOU DANCE TO AT YOUR WEDDING?
Considering I am already married,it should be did u dance..but anyways..
Happy Days - Happy Days
Would not have minded dancing for this..But hadn't released back then.
WHAT WILL THEY PLAY AT YOUR FUNERAL?
Theme Music from Bombay
Was hoping it wouldn't be another gaana song..
WHAT IS YOUR HOBBY/INTEREST?
Kattu Kuyilu - Dalapathi
Dancing around boghi fires. or thalivar.. considering its neither donno..
WHAT IS YOUR BIGGEST SECRET?
Natpinule - Kadhal Konden
Ok!! I don't get it though
WHAT DO YOU THINK OF YOUR FRIENDS?
Suvvi Suvvi Seethalamma - Swatimuthyam
D loaded this into my ipod.. Not sure how it relates to my frnds.. Dancing with pots near a river!! Maybe falling into Pykara falls..
WHAT SHOULD YOU POST THIS AS?
Chiku Bukku - Gentleman
Okie!!! Fun!!
Fun... Nandita tagged me.. I tag ttgiant and ne!!!
1. Put your MP3 player on shuffle
2. For each question, press the next button to get your answer.
3. You must write the name of the song no matter what. No cheating!
IF SOMEONE SAYS “IS THIS OKAY?” YOU SAY?
Adhi vo Alladhi vo - Annamayya..
OK!!! God's Residence..
WHAT WOULD BEST DESCRIBE YOUR PERSONALITY?
Nandi Konda - Geethanjali
spooky!!! wtf?? I haunt ppl??!!! In a strange sense maybe coz I used to study well at nite and I was born in the nite!!!
WHAT DO YOU LIKE IN A GUY/GIRL?
Boss's life - Snoop Dogg,50 cent
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! My husband loaded this song in my i-pod so I guess!!
HOW DO YOU FEEL TODAY?
Century lo kotte vaise madhi - Aditya 369!!!!!
When you want something all universe conspires to give it to you.. With a mid-term on Monday I am writing this post..Shows how many centuries I am gonna hit!!!
WHAT IS YOUR LIFE’S PURPOSE?
Say Na Say Na - Bluffmaster
To get married???!!! Or to steal!! Donno.. Kinda weird..
WHAT IS YOUR MOTTO?
Ossa Ve - Happy
My motto is a crass lil known 'gaana' song from a semi- hit Telugu movie!!!
WHAT DO YOUR FRIENDS THINK OF YOU?
Orru Deivamthanda Poove(Male) - Kannathil Muthamital
haar haar haar.. God's gift to them.. I sure hope so.. Was expecting loose penne( i must be honest)
WHAT DO YOU THINK OF YOUR PARENTS?
A Whole New World Instrumental - Alladin
Okie..No comments!!!
WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT VERY OFTEN?
Naatu Saraku - Puthokotail Saravanan
Y are all the crucial questions lil known 'gaana' songs from flop movies.. If you don't know this song or never heard of it..totally fine!! Its that unknown
WHAT IS 2+2?
You and I - Jalsa
maybe 1+1 but 2+2 donno!!
WHAT DO YOU THINK OF YOUR BEST FRIEND?
Its the time to Disco - Kal Ho Na Ho
Dedication to Pasha and Families
WHAT DO YOU THINK OF THE PERSON YOU LIKE?
Sunta Hai Mera Khuda - Pukar
My God listens to me!! Very appropriate so contended.
WHAT IS YOUR LIFE STORY?
If its another gaana song I am gonna give up, I swear.. OK here goes.
Emi Sodhara - Tolli Prema
My life is a confusion na.. Naaku Kopam ostondi..Kinda like the time I got Catch 22 for the book I resembled most..
WHAT DO YOU WANT TO BE WHEN YOU GROW UP?
Entrentum Punnagai - Alaipayuthey
Fair enuf.
WHAT DO YOU THINK WHEN YOU SEE THE PERSON YOU LIKE?
Chalore Chalore - Jalsa
We are gonna be travelling all our lives!! I donno..Hope not.
WHAT DO YOUR PARENTS THINK OF YOU?
Papa Kehte They - QSQT
I swear this is true. I am not making it up.. haar haar
WHAT WILL YOU DANCE TO AT YOUR WEDDING?
Considering I am already married,it should be did u dance..but anyways..
Happy Days - Happy Days
Would not have minded dancing for this..But hadn't released back then.
WHAT WILL THEY PLAY AT YOUR FUNERAL?
Theme Music from Bombay
Was hoping it wouldn't be another gaana song..
WHAT IS YOUR HOBBY/INTEREST?
Kattu Kuyilu - Dalapathi
Dancing around boghi fires. or thalivar.. considering its neither donno..
WHAT IS YOUR BIGGEST SECRET?
Natpinule - Kadhal Konden
Ok!! I don't get it though
WHAT DO YOU THINK OF YOUR FRIENDS?
Suvvi Suvvi Seethalamma - Swatimuthyam
D loaded this into my ipod.. Not sure how it relates to my frnds.. Dancing with pots near a river!! Maybe falling into Pykara falls..
WHAT SHOULD YOU POST THIS AS?
Chiku Bukku - Gentleman
Okie!!! Fun!!
Fun... Nandita tagged me.. I tag ttgiant and ne!!!
Friday, March 07, 2008
On Feasting and Fasting
Before people accuse me of pilfering a title. The book is Feasting,Fasting. And for those of you haven't read it. Please do so(free publicity for Anita Desai).
Hindu families check the stars and the moons and various other planets before giving their child his/her morsel of solid food.And they call all and sundry and the sundry's friends and family.
When a friend visits abroad or when we need to go visit somewhere we check out the food available or carry loads of podis and avakais and appadams and vodiyams and goodness knows wat else. My parents had an exchange student from Minneapolis and that boy came with a whole suitcase of food.Mac and Cheese(first time I heard of it),loads of frozen food, chocolates and gum.
Weddings,funerals,engagements,birthday parties all revolve around food. The chunk of a wedding budget for the grl's father is the wedding meal.And they each have their special set of food. Telugu ppl serve Boorulu and Pulihara at weddings and Tamilians serve Boorulu at funerals. Caused a bit of quandry at my wedding. Birthday parties need cake. Engagements just need grand food period!!!
If we want something real bad we are advised to give up our favorite food.Amavasya,Pournami, Ashtami, Navami, Sunday, Saturday, The day the sun rises in the east at 4.45 am we give up solid food. Or maybe a meal. Most people I know who give up a meal hog big time on the other meal with tiffin. I thot the concept was you eat light or eat nothing or something.. If there is a pooja, festival, wedding at home then you need to chill till the pooja was over.. I for one could never do it.. So, I was snuck food when the pooja was going on. At my wedding folks found a work around for me.. Cereal isn't solid food. Its almost just milk.. So its ok.. And so Kellogs Wheat Flakes( I don't think they have it here in the States) it was..
Why does our life revolve around food..What to eat?? What not to eat?? What should I eat to shed the pounds?? What shud I eat if I need to control diabetes?? What did I do to get diabetes.. I mean besides being born into a family where its hereditary..??
Folks, shud excuse me if they wonder what the hell I am trying to talk about.. See the thing is I am learning to write management memos for my class(yeah the one where I am passing time!!) and they need to be absolutely to the point. And my blog is about having no point watsover. And my brain is just unable to make the transition fast enuf from that to this and vice versa.. Quarter life crisis, I guess..
In conclusion, Anna Datta( annam provider, need not jus be annam..watever one eats) Sukhi Bava(live well)
Oh!!Oh!!Oh!! In second conclusion, do any of you folks remember the scene from Nuvvu Nakku Nachav where Venkatesh prays to God for his dinner..Check it out..Hilarious.. and the non-golt blog readers check out the similar scene from Parent trap!!!
Hindu families check the stars and the moons and various other planets before giving their child his/her morsel of solid food.And they call all and sundry and the sundry's friends and family.
When a friend visits abroad or when we need to go visit somewhere we check out the food available or carry loads of podis and avakais and appadams and vodiyams and goodness knows wat else. My parents had an exchange student from Minneapolis and that boy came with a whole suitcase of food.Mac and Cheese(first time I heard of it),loads of frozen food, chocolates and gum.
Weddings,funerals,engagements,birthday parties all revolve around food. The chunk of a wedding budget for the grl's father is the wedding meal.And they each have their special set of food. Telugu ppl serve Boorulu and Pulihara at weddings and Tamilians serve Boorulu at funerals. Caused a bit of quandry at my wedding. Birthday parties need cake. Engagements just need grand food period!!!
If we want something real bad we are advised to give up our favorite food.Amavasya,Pournami, Ashtami, Navami, Sunday, Saturday, The day the sun rises in the east at 4.45 am we give up solid food. Or maybe a meal. Most people I know who give up a meal hog big time on the other meal with tiffin. I thot the concept was you eat light or eat nothing or something.. If there is a pooja, festival, wedding at home then you need to chill till the pooja was over.. I for one could never do it.. So, I was snuck food when the pooja was going on. At my wedding folks found a work around for me.. Cereal isn't solid food. Its almost just milk.. So its ok.. And so Kellogs Wheat Flakes( I don't think they have it here in the States) it was..
Why does our life revolve around food..What to eat?? What not to eat?? What should I eat to shed the pounds?? What shud I eat if I need to control diabetes?? What did I do to get diabetes.. I mean besides being born into a family where its hereditary..??
Folks, shud excuse me if they wonder what the hell I am trying to talk about.. See the thing is I am learning to write management memos for my class(yeah the one where I am passing time!!) and they need to be absolutely to the point. And my blog is about having no point watsover. And my brain is just unable to make the transition fast enuf from that to this and vice versa.. Quarter life crisis, I guess..
In conclusion, Anna Datta( annam provider, need not jus be annam..watever one eats) Sukhi Bava(live well)
Oh!!Oh!!Oh!! In second conclusion, do any of you folks remember the scene from Nuvvu Nakku Nachav where Venkatesh prays to God for his dinner..Check it out..Hilarious.. and the non-golt blog readers check out the similar scene from Parent trap!!!
Monday, February 18, 2008
Fancy Pants Writing, Ikat Writing!!!!!
The immigrant lady with her tightly made bun.She sits with her plastic bag of lunch in her lap. A wind cheater and lace up sneakers. She is hunched up in half her seat. The mom in her "mom jeans" and Walmart sweater. Her stroller in front which can seat two. Juice boxes and small toys litter the stroller.A bundled up daughter in it and her son peering out. The awkward "Hindu-East Indian" pregnant housewife. In ill fitting,brightly colored off the rack mass produced "Modern" clothes. The vermiliion in her parting and all jewellery to indicate her marital status. The African-American woman in her business suit and punching emails into her Blackberry. Her expensive hair cut and shoes-bag combo standing out. The pre-teen girl with her straight blonde hair. Her braces are still not out, her sidekick held out in front of her almost like a weapon and her fingers dancing over it. Ipod plugged in and playing "Hannah Montana".
And then suddenly the doors opened. It was my destination and I stepped out to run to catch the next train
And then suddenly the doors opened. It was my destination and I stepped out to run to catch the next train
Friday, February 01, 2008
You have grown up soo much!!!
Scenario 1
Fat old balding uncle to young kid. "Pappu,what do u do??"
Young kid to balding uncle. "I am in 4th standard."
Fat old balding uncle to young kid. "Good, you must have something to pass your time."
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Does it sound odd.. Well that is because its odd. Because no one ever tells a school going/college going kid that. Now read the scenario below
Scenario 2
Random guy/woman to me "So, wat do u do cogito??"
Me to this random person "I am doing my Masters in IT at such and such college"
Random guy/woman to me "Good, you must have something to pass your time."
NO!! I am not passing time doing masters. Wat sort of a mind can come up with this extremely hilarious statement. Apparently, lots!!! And its irritating me beyond words.. I dont pass my time writing Oracle 10g or read loads of papers on SLA and so on so forth to pass my time.. If I want to pass my time I will read Malika Badrinath and her recipes for cardiac arrest and high colestrol!! If I want to pass my time I will build a TV (Ok I think you get the point).These inane questions irritate me.. When I was in 12th I used to hate it when people asked me what I want to do with my life or better yet if I am studying?? No dude I spent all of my 12th standard I spent partying and watching movies..
I think that if people had nothing to say to me I would rather they not ask me inane questions. Imagine how much more peace would exist in the world if people dont ask dumb questions. Sometimes, I have been considered a snob because I dont ask polite(read dumb) questions. If I ask these questions, they end up sounding hilarious because, it sounds like I absolutely dont mean it.. And most often than not I dont mean it. I dont care!!! I genuinely dont care!!! And when I do mean it, it comes out very concerned. And people know I mean it.
Switching gears, I am really happy about starting grad school.Somethings dont change. I still wait for a bus. But again,there is no N at the bus stop. Psychologically, I dont want to sit next to anyone else. So, I just sit with my bag. N u were the best bus partner a girl could ever ask for.
Now, I have to go and pass time doing some time pass Oracle. And the ultimate inane question of them all.. "My God u have grown up soooo much since I last saw you!!" "No U dingabat, I expected to the same since 1986."
Fat old balding uncle to young kid. "Pappu,what do u do??"
Young kid to balding uncle. "I am in 4th standard."
Fat old balding uncle to young kid. "Good, you must have something to pass your time."
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Does it sound odd.. Well that is because its odd. Because no one ever tells a school going/college going kid that. Now read the scenario below
Scenario 2
Random guy/woman to me "So, wat do u do cogito??"
Me to this random person "I am doing my Masters in IT at such and such college"
Random guy/woman to me "Good, you must have something to pass your time."
NO!! I am not passing time doing masters. Wat sort of a mind can come up with this extremely hilarious statement. Apparently, lots!!! And its irritating me beyond words.. I dont pass my time writing Oracle 10g or read loads of papers on SLA and so on so forth to pass my time.. If I want to pass my time I will read Malika Badrinath and her recipes for cardiac arrest and high colestrol!! If I want to pass my time I will build a TV (Ok I think you get the point).These inane questions irritate me.. When I was in 12th I used to hate it when people asked me what I want to do with my life or better yet if I am studying?? No dude I spent all of my 12th standard I spent partying and watching movies..
I think that if people had nothing to say to me I would rather they not ask me inane questions. Imagine how much more peace would exist in the world if people dont ask dumb questions. Sometimes, I have been considered a snob because I dont ask polite(read dumb) questions. If I ask these questions, they end up sounding hilarious because, it sounds like I absolutely dont mean it.. And most often than not I dont mean it. I dont care!!! I genuinely dont care!!! And when I do mean it, it comes out very concerned. And people know I mean it.
Switching gears, I am really happy about starting grad school.Somethings dont change. I still wait for a bus. But again,there is no N at the bus stop. Psychologically, I dont want to sit next to anyone else. So, I just sit with my bag. N u were the best bus partner a girl could ever ask for.
Now, I have to go and pass time doing some time pass Oracle. And the ultimate inane question of them all.. "My God u have grown up soooo much since I last saw you!!" "No U dingabat, I expected to the same since 1986."
Wednesday, January 02, 2008
Its All "Relative"
Most little kids have a fav aunt. The aunt who is super cool. Who probably relates to the problems u are going thru and for some reason ur mom doesnt get it..the aunt who told u abt sleep overs and so on soo forth( by now my male blog readers are wondering what the hell I am talking about!!!!) Anyways,there is such an aunt in every little kid's life. And most of my adult married life (ie the last one year I have spent being married) I have aspired to be this cool aunt to my nephews and neices. These holidays I have managed to impress on of my kid nephews. When my sis and bro-in-law visited Boston recently, I was a tad sad ( he he the pun just sprung up on me i swear!!!!!!!!) bcoz they came in the middle of a bitter snow storm.. I figured my nephews wont have any fun and they were cooped up in a home with only Shrek for cartoons!!! anyways without going into nitty details... the one thing I did with the older one was take him out in the snow for a bit.. 2 steps outside the front door.. I made him a snow ball and let him throw it.. Forward to a few weeks later and my sis told me that the one thing lil N remembers about his winter break is playing in the snow with "Yours Truly" and he drew a pic and took it to school.
Mailed families wishing them for New Year and only C replied!!!! the non - comp family member wrote me an email and he was the only person who I expected wudnt reply. The others dint..
PS Its OK if you dont understand this its not meant to be understood by non-families members.. Just venting.. N u shud know.. I also dint mail you coz I spoke to u..
It sounds like The Sopranos or the Corleones but no its jus a bunch of my frnds.
Last Thursday the temp was around 10F also read . By Sunday it was about 34F and my other half and I walked around saying that the temperatures were moderate and the weather was improving!!!
In case u wonder what the title has to do with these un related pieces of information provided to you its a play of words on the word "Relative!!!"
Mailed families wishing them for New Year and only C replied!!!! the non - comp family member wrote me an email and he was the only person who I expected wudnt reply. The others dint..
PS Its OK if you dont understand this its not meant to be understood by non-families members.. Just venting.. N u shud know.. I also dint mail you coz I spoke to u..
It sounds like The Sopranos or the Corleones but no its jus a bunch of my frnds.
Last Thursday the temp was around 10F also read . By Sunday it was about 34F and my other half and I walked around saying that the temperatures were moderate and the weather was improving!!!
In case u wonder what the title has to do with these un related pieces of information provided to you its a play of words on the word "Relative!!!"
Thursday, December 13, 2007
Symphony of Faith
Let me assure you that no authorities of my church, or of any other church for that matter, will ever exert influence on presidential decisions. . . . I will serve no one religion, no one group, no one cause, and no one interest. . . . When I place my hand on the Bible and take the oath of office, that oath becomes my highest promise to God. -Mitt Romney December '07.
The Bharatiya Janta Party,was formed in 1980, a major right wing Indian political party. It portrays itself as a champion of the socio- religious cultural values of the country's Hindu majority. - Wikipedia.
But because I am a Catholic, and no Catholic has ever been elected President, the real issues in this campaign have been obscured--perhaps deliberately, in some quarters less responsible than this. So it is apparently necessary for me to state once again--not what kind of church I believe in, for that should be important only to me--but what kind of America I believe in.
- John F Kennedy.
For the first time in the history of TamilNadu, three members from the Vanniyar community have been given representation in the government and given important portfolios. - Chennai Online.
"I think we make a mistake when we fail to acknowledge the power of faith in people's lives," Obama said in his speech.
Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M Karunanidhi's own mentor was M G Rama-chandran. Now we have Sita-ram Yechuri in CPI-M. This should make Karunanidhi see reason behind Ram Sethu, instead of questioning the very existence of Ram - rediff
I can go on and on. I rest my case.
The Bharatiya Janta Party,was formed in 1980, a major right wing Indian political party. It portrays itself as a champion of the socio- religious cultural values of the country's Hindu majority. - Wikipedia.
But because I am a Catholic, and no Catholic has ever been elected President, the real issues in this campaign have been obscured--perhaps deliberately, in some quarters less responsible than this. So it is apparently necessary for me to state once again--not what kind of church I believe in, for that should be important only to me--but what kind of America I believe in.
- John F Kennedy.
For the first time in the history of TamilNadu, three members from the Vanniyar community have been given representation in the government and given important portfolios. - Chennai Online.
"I think we make a mistake when we fail to acknowledge the power of faith in people's lives," Obama said in his speech.
Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M Karunanidhi's own mentor was M G Rama-chandran. Now we have Sita-ram Yechuri in CPI-M. This should make Karunanidhi see reason behind Ram Sethu, instead of questioning the very existence of Ram - rediff
I can go on and on. I rest my case.
Tuesday, November 13, 2007
An idle brain is the bloggers workshop
My husband and I watched Om Shanti Om last weekend and it was one heck of a movie. I think that Farah Khan has created a genre unto herself. Spoofing movies of the 60s and 70s. Her movies are never intended to be serious and are just my kinda movies. Where you sit and laugh for 2 hours, eat some popcorn and come home with a smile on ur face. Her songs are shot on sets and she doesnt use foreign locations. She uses the best cast money can get (helps if SRK is producing the movie) and the best in costumes and music. I noticed that subtittles dont do justice to her jokes so maybe non hindi understanders mite not laugh as hard as the others. About the movie Deepika Padukone was a stick in costumes. She cant act, she cant dance (her steps look like she is counting 1 2 1 2 in her head). She should go back to doing what she can do well - Ramp Modelling where the focus is on the clothes and not the person in them. SRK rocks as the looser. I think no one else can play a looser as well he can. Karon Johar's costumes looked great on SRK. Manish Malhotra did a good job with the heroine. A special mention is needed about Kiron Kher. She acts well, but I feel she doesnt look good in close up shots. Her age and probably some years of drinking show. Nothing Botox cant fix but I dont think Botox is big in India. Shreyas Talpade could have had a meatier role considering the wonderful actor that he is. This movie seems like his effort to enter mainstream Bollywood.
Coming out of the movie theatre in freezing cold (32 deg) I had a smile on my face. For several reasons.. I was reminded of the joke in Boys where Bharath asks some dude in the bus stop about his preferences. "phil collins number" and the like. The boy answers "naan kadaisiaga patha english padam Sholay!!!". Sometimes, movies are just for fun and forgetting all anxieties and angles and artistic touches. Its just about falling off your seat laughing and tapping your feet to the music.
This was my first Deepavali ( I wont call it Diwali!!!) after marriage. I made some sweets.. (see this is y its fun to be a child or live in ur parents home - u dont need to make sweets to eat them, someone else does) and lit some candles. But what was somewhat weird for me was discussing with N about what to make. She and I have been best of frnds and discussed a whole lot in life, but never once swapped recipes. I felt that our frndship has grown with us and now entering a new phase. It was one of those moments for me!!!!!
Reading Catch 22 and its one of those books which cannot be "data streamed" as my husband calls it. As in, you cant read it in the loo, while cooking, on the T etc. You need to sit with the book and some peace and quiet. also read "the home and the world" by Tagore. That was a really nice book about the freedom struggle showing a new angle of the wife supporting the Swadesi movement and being an idealist and the husband is practical and realizes the downside of the movement and its inherent flaws.
Thursday, October 18, 2007
Veritas
Veritas, Roman Goddess of truth. Verity meaning truthfullness.
They maintain a high standard of educational quality and a whole bunch of individual schools inside. Initially it was called the "the new college." (on a tangential note - there is a para cheri porriki college in my area in Chennai called New College). A guy named John Harvard donated half of his estate - around 780 pounds and some 400 volumes of books to the New College set up in Cambridge. This New College was founded in 1636. Cut to some years later. 1674 to be specific. There was a massive fire which destroyed all the 400 volumes our man donated along with all pictures of him (God bless the poor guy). When they rebuilt the college they decided to name it after its major benefactor - Harvard and just decided to call it university.. Chumma for peethals sake...
Now in the middle of this wonderful school is a statue. I can aver that is the most photographed statue in Boston (atleast Cambridge!!) Tourists rub the toe of this statue for good luck. Harvard students pee on it. But I am not here to write a blog post about Harvard University... You can read about it elsewhere or come and visit it... But what I do want to talk about (this is probably when you want to switch to a different page..so I am getting to the point) The statue reads "John Harvard, Founder 1638."
John Harvard dint found Harvard. Some other dude did..He just donated money because he had no children and dint know wat to do with it.
Harvard University or for that matter New College wasnt founded in 1638 but in 1636.
I saved the best for last... In the big fire which razed the campus, all portraits of him were razed too!!!!!!!!!!! So who is this guy who is sitting there taking credit for wat he dint do... No one knows... Some guy who probably got paid $10 to sit for a statue. he he he.. Wait.. before you say it could be his son John Harvard the fifteen hunderdth!!(brit humor) JH dint have any children, which is why he donated the money in the first place.
Now coming to Veritas. This is the motto of the Harvard University. Easily the most prestigious school in America and probably one of the most prestigious schools in the world.
They maintain a high standard of educational quality and a whole bunch of individual schools inside. Initially it was called the "the new college." (on a tangential note - there is a para cheri porriki college in my area in Chennai called New College). A guy named John Harvard donated half of his estate - around 780 pounds and some 400 volumes of books to the New College set up in Cambridge. This New College was founded in 1636. Cut to some years later. 1674 to be specific. There was a massive fire which destroyed all the 400 volumes our man donated along with all pictures of him (God bless the poor guy). When they rebuilt the college they decided to name it after its major benefactor - Harvard and just decided to call it university.. Chumma for peethals sake...
Now in the middle of this wonderful school is a statue. I can aver that is the most photographed statue in Boston (atleast Cambridge!!) Tourists rub the toe of this statue for good luck. Harvard students pee on it. But I am not here to write a blog post about Harvard University... You can read about it elsewhere or come and visit it... But what I do want to talk about (this is probably when you want to switch to a different page..so I am getting to the point) The statue reads "John Harvard, Founder 1638."
John Harvard dint found Harvard. Some other dude did..He just donated money because he had no children and dint know wat to do with it.
Harvard University or for that matter New College wasnt founded in 1638 but in 1636.
I saved the best for last... In the big fire which razed the campus, all portraits of him were razed too!!!!!!!!!!! So who is this guy who is sitting there taking credit for wat he dint do... No one knows... Some guy who probably got paid $10 to sit for a statue. he he he.. Wait.. before you say it could be his son John Harvard the fifteen hunderdth!!(brit humor) JH dint have any children, which is why he donated the money in the first place.
Now coming to Veritas. This is the motto of the Harvard University. Easily the most prestigious school in America and probably one of the most prestigious schools in the world.
Tuesday, October 09, 2007
You Know You Grew Up in the 90s iF
Hilarious list of things...
1) You know the words to ‘In-pin-safety-pin’ and ‘akkad-bakkad’ by heart
2) Cricket is almost a religion for you, and you idolize at least one of Kapil Dev/Rahul Dravid/Sachin Tendulkar/Saurav Ganguly
3) You have read at least some Chacha Chaudhary or Tinkle comics
4) You’ve watched Shaktimaan on TV at least once in your life. And you can immediately recognize the character when you see him.
5) You have some ‘NRI’ relatives.
6) You couldn’t wait for it to be December so you could have the Toblerone chocolates your NRI relatives brought you
7) You watched Cartoon Network, and then the late night movies on TNT that came after Cartoon Network ended.
8) You watched corny dubbed versions of Small Wonder, Silver Spoon, and I Dream of Jeanie
9) You were THRILLED when McDonald’s opened in your neighborhood (or even eight kilometers away)
10) Your first burgers were at Wimpy’s or Nirula’s.
11) A visit to Pizza Hut used to mean a special treat
12) You have seen Kuch Kuch Hota Hai and Hum Aapke Hain Kaun at least 5 times each
13) You still remember the theme song to Hum Paanch.
14) You have played hours upon hour of Pukdam-pakdai, oonch-neech, kho-kho, ‘Doctor, doctor, help us!’, ‘Lock and key’
15) You have played ‘Uma Joshi’ more times than you can remember.
16) Dog ‘in’ the bone was your favorite co-ed game.
17) Much of your free time in school was spent playing UNO.
18) You collected trump cards of wrestlers, cricketers, and airplanes, and did not quite understand why your younger siblings were obsessed with Pokemon and the other Japanese trends that followed.
19) Your summer vacations were often synonymous with visiting your grandparents
20) Your parents, at some point, told you ‘Dark Room’ was a bad game to play. But you still loved playing it.
21) Bole mere lips, I love uncle Chips!
22) You know the song ‘Made in India’ by Alisha Chinoi
23) You have seen many many many episodes of ‘Antakshri’ on Zee TV and know the only thing constant in the show is Anu Kapoor.
24) Many evenings have been spent watching little kids gyrate vulgarly on Boogie Woogie on Sony.
25) You were the coolest thing in class if you had a computer in your house while it was still the 90s.
26) You learnt LOGO in school!
27) You couldn’t wait to start 4th/6th standard so you could start writing with PENS instead of with pencils!
28) You often you terms and phrases like ‘kutti’, ‘abba’, ‘same to you, back to you, with no returns’, and ‘shame shame, puppy shame, all the donkeys know your name.’
29) You most probably saw Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge at the cinema at least once. You also fantasized singing songs in mustard fields like in the movie.
30) You have seen David Dhawan and Govinda movies and laughed at them.
31) You have said ‘haw’ or ‘haw ji ki pwji’ when you saw people kissing in English movies
31) You have seen Titanic at least 12 times.
32) You thought seeing English movies and speaking English made you the coolest thing ever.
33) You remember the Orissa cyclone, even though you didn’t know what a cyclone was.
34) You remember the Gujarat earthquake very clearly and could possibly tell everyone EXACTLY what you were ding when the earthquake occurred.
35) Barbies for girls, and GI Joes for boys were the ultimate status symbols. You just wanted more more more and more. And how can I forget Hot Wheels, for both boys and girls?
36) You have worn Osh-Kosh B’gosh and United Colours of Benetton clothes while growing up. And you thought ‘imported’ clothes were definitely way better than ‘made in India’ clothes (never mind that a lot of clothes brought from overseas by NRI relatives were actually made in India, before ‘Made in China’ started appearing on EVERY existing thing)
37) You know the words to ‘Posham Paa’, and like it better than ‘Oranges and Lemons’ even though you’d sing the latter to sound cool (see 32 above).
38) At some point or other, "cool" was your favourite, and therefore, most overused word.
39) Captain Planet was your first introduction to environmental consciousness.
40) You have tried to convince people around you to not burst crackers on Diwali, and then gone straight back home and burst them yourself.
41) You have had endless packets of Parle Gluco G biscuits, and of Brittania Little Hearts biscuits.
42) You loved licking off the cream from the centre of Bourbon biscuits.
43) There were no Nike, Reebok, Adidas, Puma- Bata and Liberty was the way to go for your sports shoes.
44) You have probably consumed more Frooti in your lifetime than there is oil in Iraq.
45) You watched Baywatch on Star World even though (or because) your parents said you shouldn’t watch it.
46) You bought packets of potato chips for the specific purpose of collecting Tazoa. And you had Tazos depicting everyone from Confucius to Daffy Duck to Daffy Duck dressed as Confucius.
47) For the longest time, the Maruti 800, the Premier Padmini, THE Fiat, and THE Ambassador were the only cars you saw on the road, and the Contessa was cool because it was bigger.
48) You would literally jump up in excitement if you ever chanced upon an imported car (Oh my gosh, is that really a MERCEDES?)!
49) You spent a good part of 1998 drooling over the Hyundai Santro and the Daewoo Matiz , debating which one was better.
50) You used to chew Big (big) Babool and/or Boom Boom Boomer chewing gum. They were bright pink and disgusting tasting, but you loved them for the temporary tattoos.
51) Talking of temporary tattoos, you sometimes had contests with your classmates about who had more tattoos on their arm, leg, knee, hand, forehead, wherever.
52) You thought Mario and Tetris were the coolest things ever invented, especially if you were a boy.
53) You knew that having the latest Hero or Atlas bicycle would make you the coolest kid on the block.
54) You can imitate Sushmita Sen’s winning gasp to perfection.
55) You have, at some point of time, worn GAP clothes (real or fake) like SRK in KKHH.
56) Seemingly senseless acronyms like SRK, DDLJ, KKHH actually make sense to you.
57) You have at some point debated who was more beautiful- Aishwarya or Sushmita.
58) If you lived in Delhi, you went bowling at Essex Farms, or Go-Karting at 32nd Milestone and couldn't think how you could get any cooler than that.
59) Baskin Robbins ice-cream was THE thing to have!
60) You know what Campa Cola is. And you also knew that Coca Cola was THE drink.
61) When you would watch WWF keenly every evening/afternoon and really think that Undertaker had 7 lives and he made an "actual" appearance in the Akshay Kumar- starrer Khiladiyon ka Khiladi.
62) When all backpacks (or 'schoolbags') and water bottles and tiffin boxes had strange cartoon characters that were hybrid versions of seven or eight different characters, and you still bought them, because a green man wih a water pistol, boots, a jet-pack, Johnny bravo hair, a rajasthani mustache, gloves, and underwear (long johns) over his pants, called 'Mr. X' was OBVIOUSLY a status symbol.
63) You remember the Nirma tikia jingle.
64) You remember the Nirma girl.
65) You remember the 'doodh doodh' ad and also the 'roz khao andey' ads.
1) You know the words to ‘In-pin-safety-pin’ and ‘akkad-bakkad’ by heart
2) Cricket is almost a religion for you, and you idolize at least one of Kapil Dev/Rahul Dravid/Sachin Tendulkar/Saurav Ganguly
3) You have read at least some Chacha Chaudhary or Tinkle comics
4) You’ve watched Shaktimaan on TV at least once in your life. And you can immediately recognize the character when you see him.
5) You have some ‘NRI’ relatives.
6) You couldn’t wait for it to be December so you could have the Toblerone chocolates your NRI relatives brought you
7) You watched Cartoon Network, and then the late night movies on TNT that came after Cartoon Network ended.
8) You watched corny dubbed versions of Small Wonder, Silver Spoon, and I Dream of Jeanie
9) You were THRILLED when McDonald’s opened in your neighborhood (or even eight kilometers away)
10) Your first burgers were at Wimpy’s or Nirula’s.
11) A visit to Pizza Hut used to mean a special treat
12) You have seen Kuch Kuch Hota Hai and Hum Aapke Hain Kaun at least 5 times each
13) You still remember the theme song to Hum Paanch.
14) You have played hours upon hour of Pukdam-pakdai, oonch-neech, kho-kho, ‘Doctor, doctor, help us!’, ‘Lock and key’
15) You have played ‘Uma Joshi’ more times than you can remember.
16) Dog ‘in’ the bone was your favorite co-ed game.
17) Much of your free time in school was spent playing UNO.
18) You collected trump cards of wrestlers, cricketers, and airplanes, and did not quite understand why your younger siblings were obsessed with Pokemon and the other Japanese trends that followed.
19) Your summer vacations were often synonymous with visiting your grandparents
20) Your parents, at some point, told you ‘Dark Room’ was a bad game to play. But you still loved playing it.
21) Bole mere lips, I love uncle Chips!
22) You know the song ‘Made in India’ by Alisha Chinoi
23) You have seen many many many episodes of ‘Antakshri’ on Zee TV and know the only thing constant in the show is Anu Kapoor.
24) Many evenings have been spent watching little kids gyrate vulgarly on Boogie Woogie on Sony.
25) You were the coolest thing in class if you had a computer in your house while it was still the 90s.
26) You learnt LOGO in school!
27) You couldn’t wait to start 4th/6th standard so you could start writing with PENS instead of with pencils!
28) You often you terms and phrases like ‘kutti’, ‘abba’, ‘same to you, back to you, with no returns’, and ‘shame shame, puppy shame, all the donkeys know your name.’
29) You most probably saw Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge at the cinema at least once. You also fantasized singing songs in mustard fields like in the movie.
30) You have seen David Dhawan and Govinda movies and laughed at them.
31) You have said ‘haw’ or ‘haw ji ki pwji’ when you saw people kissing in English movies
31) You have seen Titanic at least 12 times.
32) You thought seeing English movies and speaking English made you the coolest thing ever.
33) You remember the Orissa cyclone, even though you didn’t know what a cyclone was.
34) You remember the Gujarat earthquake very clearly and could possibly tell everyone EXACTLY what you were ding when the earthquake occurred.
35) Barbies for girls, and GI Joes for boys were the ultimate status symbols. You just wanted more more more and more. And how can I forget Hot Wheels, for both boys and girls?
36) You have worn Osh-Kosh B’gosh and United Colours of Benetton clothes while growing up. And you thought ‘imported’ clothes were definitely way better than ‘made in India’ clothes (never mind that a lot of clothes brought from overseas by NRI relatives were actually made in India, before ‘Made in China’ started appearing on EVERY existing thing)
37) You know the words to ‘Posham Paa’, and like it better than ‘Oranges and Lemons’ even though you’d sing the latter to sound cool (see 32 above).
38) At some point or other, "cool" was your favourite, and therefore, most overused word.
39) Captain Planet was your first introduction to environmental consciousness.
40) You have tried to convince people around you to not burst crackers on Diwali, and then gone straight back home and burst them yourself.
41) You have had endless packets of Parle Gluco G biscuits, and of Brittania Little Hearts biscuits.
42) You loved licking off the cream from the centre of Bourbon biscuits.
43) There were no Nike, Reebok, Adidas, Puma- Bata and Liberty was the way to go for your sports shoes.
44) You have probably consumed more Frooti in your lifetime than there is oil in Iraq.
45) You watched Baywatch on Star World even though (or because) your parents said you shouldn’t watch it.
46) You bought packets of potato chips for the specific purpose of collecting Tazoa. And you had Tazos depicting everyone from Confucius to Daffy Duck to Daffy Duck dressed as Confucius.
47) For the longest time, the Maruti 800, the Premier Padmini, THE Fiat, and THE Ambassador were the only cars you saw on the road, and the Contessa was cool because it was bigger.
48) You would literally jump up in excitement if you ever chanced upon an imported car (Oh my gosh, is that really a MERCEDES?)!
49) You spent a good part of 1998 drooling over the Hyundai Santro and the Daewoo Matiz , debating which one was better.
50) You used to chew Big (big) Babool and/or Boom Boom Boomer chewing gum. They were bright pink and disgusting tasting, but you loved them for the temporary tattoos.
51) Talking of temporary tattoos, you sometimes had contests with your classmates about who had more tattoos on their arm, leg, knee, hand, forehead, wherever.
52) You thought Mario and Tetris were the coolest things ever invented, especially if you were a boy.
53) You knew that having the latest Hero or Atlas bicycle would make you the coolest kid on the block.
54) You can imitate Sushmita Sen’s winning gasp to perfection.
55) You have, at some point of time, worn GAP clothes (real or fake) like SRK in KKHH.
56) Seemingly senseless acronyms like SRK, DDLJ, KKHH actually make sense to you.
57) You have at some point debated who was more beautiful- Aishwarya or Sushmita.
58) If you lived in Delhi, you went bowling at Essex Farms, or Go-Karting at 32nd Milestone and couldn't think how you could get any cooler than that.
59) Baskin Robbins ice-cream was THE thing to have!
60) You know what Campa Cola is. And you also knew that Coca Cola was THE drink.
61) When you would watch WWF keenly every evening/afternoon and really think that Undertaker had 7 lives and he made an "actual" appearance in the Akshay Kumar- starrer Khiladiyon ka Khiladi.
62) When all backpacks (or 'schoolbags') and water bottles and tiffin boxes had strange cartoon characters that were hybrid versions of seven or eight different characters, and you still bought them, because a green man wih a water pistol, boots, a jet-pack, Johnny bravo hair, a rajasthani mustache, gloves, and underwear (long johns) over his pants, called 'Mr. X' was OBVIOUSLY a status symbol.
63) You remember the Nirma tikia jingle.
64) You remember the Nirma girl.
65) You remember the 'doodh doodh' ad and also the 'roz khao andey' ads.
Tuesday, September 25, 2007
No I Dint Die
No I Dint Die and go to heaven. I am very much alive and kicking. Lots been happening in life lately.. But have observed that certain other bloggers too haven't been active of late.. Raju of Raju's Blog, TTG though he does have a new post up now, Suze etc.. Been reading a new blog lately, a certain cookery blog, link is on my page.Prema's Cookbook. Have tried out a couple and must say they were quite awesome and easy to make.. I started a cookery blog decades (read few months ago) and havent written a single post yet..Will get started on that asap.. Even if it means I have to put on a few pounds trying new recipes.. Well its all for a good cause. What did I do in the past month and a half u ask? Well for one I learnt a lot of big new words which I am intentionally not using in this post. I learnt to write good essays. Again, I am refusing to use it (explains the lack of paragraphs), travelled across the country visiting loads and loads of places.. Mite never do the road trip again but it was fun while it lasted... Took me a month to want to eat a sub again.. Found and moved into a new apartment which rocks by the way.. We have an awesome view of the Boston skyline from our bedroom.. Please do read my other blog vantagadhi in a few days, I should get something up by then,please do keep reading my blog, I promise not to die without notice..
PS If u notice any flaw in this blog gramatically or otherwise I am tryin to un-learn what I crammed into my head the past month..I shall return to my normal coherent self soon!!!
PS If u notice any flaw in this blog gramatically or otherwise I am tryin to un-learn what I crammed into my head the past month..I shall return to my normal coherent self soon!!!
Friday, July 20, 2007
Auld Lang Syne
Pic- Sea-Tac Airport with Rainier In the Background
Should an old aquaintance be forgot and never brought to mind
Should an old aquaitance be forgot and Auld Lang Syne
AS a little girl in Madras, I had one dream.. That was to come to the States and study. AS I grew up and Madras became Chennai, the dream modified a bit. I would come to America to set up a family and study!! You get the drift. It was never to visit Disneyland.(Was never too much into cartoons.) Never to see LA or Vegas or Niagra Falls etc.(K I am rambling on here)
Finally one day I came into live here. During one of the most brutal winters Seattle has ever had. Edmonds to be more specific. (City north of Seattle). This city taught me soooo many things I cant even begin to list them. Helped me undergo an experience I cant put down in words. I have realized inner strength I never imagined I had.Started the studying I was dying to do(Maintained a 4.0 mind you) And now I am leaving this place in 1 week, and it struck me. I might never come back to Edmonds and my wonderful 1st floor apartment that my husband and I so lovingly furnished. Here is a few of the wonderful snaps of Edmonds.
My temporary Alma Mater - EDCC
Pike's Place Market
Space Needle
Edmonds Ferry
I-5
My hangout.. University of Washington
Wednesday, July 11, 2007
Material Girl
Ok the title sounds MOKKE!! But what I am trying to convey is that I am in love with the city. Any city. Cities in general. With malls and theatres and clean public toilets and fruits and veggies sold in packets. I know, I know India is an agricultural country(yeah right!!!) and most of the country is in its villages, but that is not me.
I was watching this show about Glamping. What is Glamping you ask? Glamarous Camping. For about 200 odd dollars per night you can live in the woods but feel like you are living in a 4 star hotel. With antique mirrors, monogrammed sheets so on so forth. Now that was taking things a bit too much. I wouldnt mind a bed and maybe some mosquito repellent and a clean bathroom. Then the woods wouldnt be such a bad bet for me atleast.
I dont need glamping. I can live in a town for a maximum of 5 days. After which the lack of cable will frustrate me, the lack of theatres will distress me further and the lack of cell phone network will just drive me up the wall and I will want to go home. Normally on hiking trips after 30 min into the trip I will be irritating my husband beyond words. I am sometimes surprised why he doesnt leave me there and drive back home!!!
I am quite sure that is something that isnt exclusive to me. Yes, I did my research on it.(what some people do when they have time on their hands!!!)If you look at the five things I cant live without column on Orkut. Here is how the list goes for most people esp those in the 15-18 group(first of all these arent allowed on orkut but whatever!!) here was the list.. Cellphone,Music,Internet,Laptop and then comes frnds and families. Family isnt a thing but ok.. What is the youth of today coming to? We are sooo caught up with wants that they are slowly becoming needs.
I was watching this show about Glamping. What is Glamping you ask? Glamarous Camping. For about 200 odd dollars per night you can live in the woods but feel like you are living in a 4 star hotel. With antique mirrors, monogrammed sheets so on so forth. Now that was taking things a bit too much. I wouldnt mind a bed and maybe some mosquito repellent and a clean bathroom. Then the woods wouldnt be such a bad bet for me atleast.
I dont need glamping. I can live in a town for a maximum of 5 days. After which the lack of cable will frustrate me, the lack of theatres will distress me further and the lack of cell phone network will just drive me up the wall and I will want to go home. Normally on hiking trips after 30 min into the trip I will be irritating my husband beyond words. I am sometimes surprised why he doesnt leave me there and drive back home!!!
I am quite sure that is something that isnt exclusive to me. Yes, I did my research on it.(what some people do when they have time on their hands!!!)If you look at the five things I cant live without column on Orkut. Here is how the list goes for most people esp those in the 15-18 group(first of all these arent allowed on orkut but whatever!!) here was the list.. Cellphone,Music,Internet,Laptop and then comes frnds and families. Family isnt a thing but ok.. What is the youth of today coming to? We are sooo caught up with wants that they are slowly becoming needs.
Thursday, June 28, 2007
This brought a smile to my face
1). The Lecturers don't teach... The Students don't study... The only guy who benefits is the one who owns the 'Dhaba' next to the college.
2). Rules are made to be broken.
3). Promises are made to be broken.
4). Deadlines are made to be extended... ALWAYS!
5). Guys always think the chics in the next college are more beautiful.
6). The geeks are the most pampered lot during the internal exams.
7). The lab assistants are the most respected people (During the lab exams i.e)
8). The watchmen are the people who are bribed the most.
9). The HOD is the person most respected! (Heights of sycophancy here :D)
10). The Principal is the person who is abused and insulted the most! (Behind his back... Obviously!)
11). Dropping subjects is 'Cool' (Arey yaar... Drop the idea of dropping subjects plz).
12). There is always a lecturer in the college who can't speak proper 'English'.
13). Night-out is the second most important tool to ace the exams.
14). The most important tool... the Bhramastra... is the 'Chit' in which the words can only be understood by the person who wrote them (in most of the cases i.e)
15). The freshers are the most sought after people in the college... Be it in the canteen, during the 'free' periods or for completing the records, assignments.
16). The second-years are the ones with the 'I am the don-of-the-college' feeling.
17). The third-years are the ones with the 'So-many-backlogs' feeling and the poor souls get down to studying after bossing around in the college for so long. But the fun still continues.
18). The fourth-years have no connection with the college whatsoever... With no interest in ragging, pulling each other's legs, the b'day parties, the b'day bumps which they enjoyed so much all these years till now. All they want is a good placement and a '1st-class' tag attached to their resume.
19). The first three years are spent in cursing the college, the people there, and the system.
20). But towards the end of the fourth year, people tend to feel nostalgic about the pure unadulterated fun they had for 4 years. The very system they disliked, the very canteen they cursed, the time that they spent there, the b'day bumps they suffered... All these become the best days of their lives...
2). Rules are made to be broken.
3). Promises are made to be broken.
4). Deadlines are made to be extended... ALWAYS!
5). Guys always think the chics in the next college are more beautiful.
6). The geeks are the most pampered lot during the internal exams.
7). The lab assistants are the most respected people (During the lab exams i.e)
8). The watchmen are the people who are bribed the most.
9). The HOD is the person most respected! (Heights of sycophancy here :D)
10). The Principal is the person who is abused and insulted the most! (Behind his back... Obviously!)
11). Dropping subjects is 'Cool' (Arey yaar... Drop the idea of dropping subjects plz).
12). There is always a lecturer in the college who can't speak proper 'English'.
13). Night-out is the second most important tool to ace the exams.
14). The most important tool... the Bhramastra... is the 'Chit' in which the words can only be understood by the person who wrote them (in most of the cases i.e)
15). The freshers are the most sought after people in the college... Be it in the canteen, during the 'free' periods or for completing the records, assignments.
16). The second-years are the ones with the 'I am the don-of-the-college' feeling.
17). The third-years are the ones with the 'So-many-backlogs' feeling and the poor souls get down to studying after bossing around in the college for so long. But the fun still continues.
18). The fourth-years have no connection with the college whatsoever... With no interest in ragging, pulling each other's legs, the b'day parties, the b'day bumps which they enjoyed so much all these years till now. All they want is a good placement and a '1st-class' tag attached to their resume.
19). The first three years are spent in cursing the college, the people there, and the system.
20). But towards the end of the fourth year, people tend to feel nostalgic about the pure unadulterated fun they had for 4 years. The very system they disliked, the very canteen they cursed, the time that they spent there, the b'day bumps they suffered... All these become the best days of their lives...
Monday, June 18, 2007
Creative low
I have hit a creative low. An official low point where there is a desperate urge to write but no topic good enuf. Loads happening in my life but when I sit in front of the laptop with blogger open in front of me I am hitting a blank. There is a certain pressure to write about something that is not trite and also something that is funny and captivates you and makes you relate to it. Phew!! what pressure on a house wife!!!!
Anyways, I want to bless my cousin another one to get married later this week. Pretty much covers the whole bunch. Hard for me to believe it but a whole generation just grew up. The images that run thru my head are of us all lining up in front of tatagaru to take our muti-vitamins. Or M standing behind tatagaru and me stuck in front of tatagaru listening to some lecture and he running around making fun of me. Or M and me sitting on top of the tank trying to identify stars. Or M and me writing a letter to M telling him to stop bullying his little sisters and dropping it in the mail!!! Not the one year that I spent in Hyd but the childhood memories stick. And we all just grew up!!!! God Bless her and the new life that she is about to embark on.
IF you wondering what the hell there are soo many M's in the family. Well our parents made some amazing freaky co-incidence decision to name us all with the letter M.
Well I saw the movie that was almost 2 years in the making.It was apparently the most expensive movie made and yadda yadda. And for three hours the Umerican Desi's left all their dignified Umerican-ness and yelled and screamed and threw paper in the air and generally had a ball. Yead the movie was Sivaji.Like my better half says " you can feel Talaivar's screen presence". I say" Yeah if he is on the screen for pretty much most of the movie you cant miss him"!!! Vivek did a great job according to me. He looks good and acted hilarious.
We are at the end of the our lease agreement so we are house hunting and someone called me Matthews. I have been called a lot of things in life but never been called Matthews!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
The course I wanted to take up in summer was cancelled. CANCELLED!! Now why would they do that. I wanted to do it real bad.
Wow!!! I managed to get out a post. And I thot I was at a creative low. Nothing hilarious but definitely trite. Well maybe about the M part of our family. And Oh Oh Oh I am cooking interesting things and they are tasting nice.
God bless and Wish that wonderful cousin of mine a Happy Married Life.
Friday, June 01, 2007
Friday, May 18, 2007
Coffee and my tryst with it
Lingering over a cup chatting with friends. Sitting near a window staring out and contemplating over life in general. Gulping one cup down quickly before sitting down for loads of work. Sitting down with one before a long night of studying. And of course the large steaming cup to help reduce the headache. I am sure that most of us use our cup of joe for the above mentioned reasons and a whole load more.
I stumbled upon coffee when I was 19 at a kalyana mandapam where they served nothing but coffee and tea.(ie no milk!!!) and fell in love with it. The sights and smells of coffee give me a high (of the non alcholic kind). To me coffee is not an addiction.. As in, I dont need it to survive or start my day. But I do have an extremely hilarious addiction. I need coffee at weddings. Maybe it has something to do with my inception to this drink. As most are aware Telugu Weddings are at absurd times of the night and the only thing that will keep me going is coffee. 2 30 muhurtam..no problem, if i start drinking coffee by 11 by the end of 5 cups it will be 2 30. Dont look at me like that.The cups at the kalyana mandapam are usually really little. My wedding was at 10:11 in the morning. But I dint want to break the tradition (bad karma et al) . So I had my shots of coffee. 5 minutes before muhurtam with the sheet between TTG and me when he couldn't see me I had my coffee.
Back in my Wipro sojourn 16 hour days usually meant coffee at the end of 8 hours. And another one at the end of 10 hours. By which time they would shut the coffee machine. And I am not a big fan of the instant variety that the Lipton vending machine dispenses. Half of its water anyway!!! I need my black coffee with milk. More black than milk. The best coffee I have had is a a huge giant tumbler that an aunt made for me in Bangalore, when I was interning there.
I do get a lot of the caffeine thing and back when I was in India and un-married I used to get the coffee makes you darker thing. I also get the coffee can be addictive thing and the general coffee is not good for your health thing. But what the heck. I am not addicted to it. Just need it like a bit of adrenaline now and then to get me through activities. That is not wrong is it? (Gawd, I am sounding bad even to myself)
However here comes the problem, I dont make good coffee. Well, atleast I dont like my coffee(that is the coffee I make). I make great tea. However, I dont like tea!!! Recent solution that I have hit upon. TTG (though he doesnt drink it) makes a really good cup of coffee. I also discovered a StarBucks within walking distance from home (heck, I wouldnt go if it was further, I would just loose the urge for it)
I am a strong liker ( big fan) of small bistros or the friendly coffee shops where you can sit with ur cuppa and chat and eat a whole lot of cookies or biscuits. There is something about the ambience and the smell which gives me the "feel good" feeling. But till I discover that, TTG I am depending on you to tide me through the migranes or if we do attend any weddings around here.
A little mokke that I thought of.. If you dont get coffee, eat tiramisu.. haar haar haar..
I stumbled upon coffee when I was 19 at a kalyana mandapam where they served nothing but coffee and tea.(ie no milk!!!) and fell in love with it. The sights and smells of coffee give me a high (of the non alcholic kind). To me coffee is not an addiction.. As in, I dont need it to survive or start my day. But I do have an extremely hilarious addiction. I need coffee at weddings. Maybe it has something to do with my inception to this drink. As most are aware Telugu Weddings are at absurd times of the night and the only thing that will keep me going is coffee. 2 30 muhurtam..no problem, if i start drinking coffee by 11 by the end of 5 cups it will be 2 30. Dont look at me like that.The cups at the kalyana mandapam are usually really little. My wedding was at 10:11 in the morning. But I dint want to break the tradition (bad karma et al) . So I had my shots of coffee. 5 minutes before muhurtam with the sheet between TTG and me when he couldn't see me I had my coffee.
Back in my Wipro sojourn 16 hour days usually meant coffee at the end of 8 hours. And another one at the end of 10 hours. By which time they would shut the coffee machine. And I am not a big fan of the instant variety that the Lipton vending machine dispenses. Half of its water anyway!!! I need my black coffee with milk. More black than milk. The best coffee I have had is a a huge giant tumbler that an aunt made for me in Bangalore, when I was interning there.
I do get a lot of the caffeine thing and back when I was in India and un-married I used to get the coffee makes you darker thing. I also get the coffee can be addictive thing and the general coffee is not good for your health thing. But what the heck. I am not addicted to it. Just need it like a bit of adrenaline now and then to get me through activities. That is not wrong is it? (Gawd, I am sounding bad even to myself)
However here comes the problem, I dont make good coffee. Well, atleast I dont like my coffee(that is the coffee I make). I make great tea. However, I dont like tea!!! Recent solution that I have hit upon. TTG (though he doesnt drink it) makes a really good cup of coffee. I also discovered a StarBucks within walking distance from home (heck, I wouldnt go if it was further, I would just loose the urge for it)
I am a strong liker ( big fan) of small bistros or the friendly coffee shops where you can sit with ur cuppa and chat and eat a whole lot of cookies or biscuits. There is something about the ambience and the smell which gives me the "feel good" feeling. But till I discover that, TTG I am depending on you to tide me through the migranes or if we do attend any weddings around here.
A little mokke that I thought of.. If you dont get coffee, eat tiramisu.. haar haar haar..
Monday, May 07, 2007
Another mile stone - Big Dreams
You know when you are really little -people who went to college were big people.And you couldnt wait to go to college. And then when you come to college - married people are uncles and auntys and only friends of your parents are married. And when you graduate and start working you are sort of stuck with this awkwardness of whether to call ppl aunty and kids call u aunty.(what is the fixation with aunty!!!!!!!!!!!) Well, I have graduated so I am a big person and I am married so I am an aunty. And I am gonna turn a year older in less than a week!!!
In the last one year I have seen loads of things and grown up ages. I gave up a gothram and took up a new gothram, I got a whole new family along with my own, I moved to a new country and started a certification in management (Wait all that happened in the last 6 months) In the 6 months prior to that, I changed hair colours, I worked maniacal hours, I wrote my TOEFL and forgot my glasses at the test center, ate out of cartons (to avoid washing dishes) and worked 14 hour days. Phew isnt that a lot to be doing over a year. Gone from one extreme of the spectrum to another. I would definitely say that I have grown a lot in the last one year. I think I have done justice to the whole year and made the most of it.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)