DappanKoothu

This is what I call a real Tamil Nadu dance. This super dance style lays maximum emphasis on the beat. The best thing about dappan koothu is that it is informal. Anything goes and this gives the dance a sense of freedom that cannot be matched. (Ok, maybe 'disco dance' is also like that...but this is so very local-Tamizh).

One does not need formal training in dance to do a dappan koothu. In fact, perhaps formal training will not help for dancing dappan koothu, since you need to let go. You just need to get with it, feel the beat, groove and MOVE. The moves can range from very stiff to very loose. Cool, huh?

Ideally, the dancer's back will be straight, with head held high unless the step requires you to bend a bit. The impression is one of confidence and mock seriousness. Then come the funny steps which make the others laugh and stop their dappankoothu for a bit. Seriously, life does not get more fun than the uninhibited dappan koothu. 'Koothu' itself was (I think) derived from a sanskrit word meaning dance, but is also loosely used to describe a fun scene or incident with some amount of chaos in it. Dappan Koothu is for everyone -- those with grace and...those without.

Ideal film songs for Dappan Koothu of different types and moods (maybe available on youtube)...but hardly a comprehensive list:
1. Vaalameenu from the film Chithiram Pesudhadee
2. Jalsa pannungada from Chennai 600 028
3. Surangani from where I dunno (!)
4. Annatha aadurar from Aboorva sagodharargal (quite an orginal dappan koothu variety)
5. Appadi Podu from Gilli
6. Singari sarakku from Khakhi Chattai
7. Indadi Kappakazhange from Dhool (PUCCA dappan koothu beat)
8. Kathala Kannale from Anjadhey
9. Nakku Mukka from Kaadhalil Vizhundhen
10. Yennadi Muniyamma (remix version?) from Vaadhiyar -- stylish yennadi muniyamma

Some people look down at dappan koothu. They are the uptight la di da ones. Quite 'ignorable' folks, those, only fit for a cuppa and smooth, formal talk. Besides, who gives them right to look down at any folk dance?

The only thing is you have gotto be in the mooood for dappan koothu.

Dappan Koothu -- very very 'local' and very very good.

Wannabe

Quite idly only...

Not at all in order of priorities, I wannabe...

1. A music composer
2. A popular writer
3. A fabulous mother
4. A best friend
5. A pianist
6. A good entertainer
7. A good singer
8. An artist (woo hoo even I did not see this coming)
9. A model daughter (in law too;))
10. An aerobics instructor (in my cousin's words, BWAHAHAHAHA, I know)
11. A DJ
12. A pilot (finally, something you cannot laugh at!Yes, a PPL does count;)
13. Streetsmart
14.An excellent cook
15. A kind soul
16. A frequent holidayer;)
17. A strummer (guitar)
18. A modest know-it-all!
19. Less fat (very noncommittal)
20. A party animal...but only sometimes. Not as young these days, you see...

'BLEAH!' to the pseudostars, cos SAROJA does Kollywood proud!

SAROJA entertained me for three hours today. From the first scene, until the end. The movie refreshes Kollywood to say the least. Even though I am yet to watch 'Chennai 600 028', I did learn about this entertaining film from a friend (www.spotlightsu.blogspot.com) and when I got the opportunity to spend my Monday midday with Saroja, I just upped and went.

The film is mainly about friendship between four friends. It is also about other things -- a missing girl, another friendship, unrequited love, and so on, and everything is the main plot! Yes, plot it is. Even if you did anticipate somethings in the film, which is unlikely, it is a very well taken film.

Now, I don't usually do film reviews, nor can I call this one. But, I so enjoyed it that I felt it deserved a post on my blog.

I enjoyed it because...
1. I was watching a film after a long time (3 weeks to a month;))
2. It was unscheduled...
3. I expected it to be good (weird logic I know, but it worked for me)
4. The friendship portrayed between the four guys was wonderfully painted and so realistic...such as fighting with each other in a crisis, finally standing by each other, working together against odds, showing weaknesses openly, sharing 'two-aside' secrets, inviting a spouse's irritation by 'just being' , etc.
5. The fights seemed real, unlike in most films when the hero lifts a leg and sends the opponent flying through a glass wall, or he punches / gets punched fifty times and the fight still stays fresh with the fighters quite unscathed. Also, the fights did not have the hero (es) fighting gunmen with his/their bare hands, oblivious to lethal weapons. Oh and people got hurt even when you did not want them to...
6. The songs were pretty good and entertaining with one song showing Macarena-like steps, except it was just A step;) Cute and ...doable. Watch the film and go back and try the moves. Hoo hoo. and upload to youtube or at least pass it to me for MY entertainment.
7. Imagine, I was not even interested in my popcorn and cold coffee. The film was enjoyable enough. Now, that's a first!
8. The dream scenes were scarce, but when they appeared, they were as funny as they ought to be.
9. There were no idiotic duet songs with a couple dashing around or rolling around.
10. The pace was racy.
11. The actors all delivered. Except perhaps for Prakash Raj (who was average), whom the other actors with less experience, simply outshone!
12. Because of one of my favourite actors' presence -- Jayaram. Now, HE delivered.
13. THERE ARE NO SIX PACKS! Whew. Relief. These guys look real and act it.
14. The girls look their age and part. AND, they are attractive; even the siren is super good looking.
15. THE HUMOUR in it...and not always from the designated comedian (although it seemed there was one*), but from the entire cast.
* The guy (Premji) truly brought out the full meaning of the phrase 'comic relief' with not just witty, meaning-to-be-funny remarks...he was funny as a person, and never-endingly so.Definitely a must-have guy in any gang of friends!
16. Fairly good looking villains;) (Sampath, his cronies, etc.)
17. It actually made me long to be part of the cast!
18. The 4 guys -- SPB Charan, Shiva, Premji and Vaibhav were all believable and likeable characters and not because of their looks or screen presence but because of how well they were 'in character'.
19. The film made me laugh heartily, loudly, scream in frustration or fear, yell suggestions and egg the characters on...basically, I lost myself in it and reluctantly found myself again at the end;) Even the end credits were entertaining with not unusual clippings of funny takes.
and
20. The background score...scores. Yuvan Shankar Raja I think. Damn good.
21...Oh, dear! I wish could go on, but the rest will be the story, which I ought not to divulge and rob anyone of their enjoyment. I will just stop now and say...FINALLY, it's not a bad thing after all that Rajini and Kamal, the original Kollywood superstars are getting old....cos there are some super duper films being made and excellent performers being served up. As for the pseudostars, even if you pull up your socks and work at those six packs to make them five and a half or whatever (Sheesh!), or deliver more of those lame punchlines, you DO have some great guys to compete with, who don't even have THE so-called LOOKS to brag about. Well, pseudostars, 'BLEAH!' to you!

It's a Venkat Prabhu film, by the way.

Cheers!

Yours truly entertained,
Teesu.

Bear Hugs

A bear hug is the best kind of hug.

I don't think I want to be hugged by a bear in real life although a bear hug from a human (wonlee a human I be liking very much;)), is great. We Indians -- oh, ok, we South Indians, tend to underestimate the hug as a gesture and often get embarrassed by them -- regardless of whether we are looking at people hugging or experiencing a hug.

Hugs are great. A hug is a gesture of affection really, and nothing more, nothing less.

I am not referring to the kind of pseudo hugs that are followed by one or two 'Ummm...uahs', which are kisses blown in the air by smacking your lips. Typically, these Ummuahs go with: "Hi, darrrrling" or "Oh, hellllloo sweetheart" and so on. That would be drip drip drip, my pseudo ship.

No, I mean the kind of hug you may give / get when you are meeting and greeting somebody after a long time (at least a month) and you have really missed and / or are REALLY happy to see him or her. The hug should be tight, warm, whole hearted, platonic (thank you) and feel-good. Ahhhh, yes. Such a hug is almost like therapy, I say.

Anyway, so, sometimes we may be a bit shy to hug someone or are put off by the false hugs. But I don't let such hang ups stand in my way these days. I was taught the art of great hugging by a friend from college and must remain thankful to her forever:). Before that, hugs just made me uncomfortable and conscious of onlookers.

Now, I hug like ...a bear. I do pseudos too sometimes(!), but cannot bring myself to Ummmuah anyone;)

Pommanaati (Tamil word)

Pommanaati.

I am sure there is something seriously wrong with this word. I love my mother tongue Tamil or Thamizh to be precise, but this word I strongly object to. It means woman -- general, just 'woman', but I sure cringe every time I hear it.

It is the sound of it being pronounced that sounds ugh. Somehow, even though it just means woman, it sounds like an insult. 'Pombalai' sounds better although am sure it came from 'Penn Pillai' -- quite charming then.

I am sure there are more words I dislike but for now, it has to be just pommanaati.

Pee in my pants!

Umm no, don't get scared. This is not actually about the pee in my pants, nor is it about me peeing in my pants (well, maybe a little about that!), because that is another story, he he. No, stories -- plural.;)

What I want to say is that I miss the pee in my pants. Er no, I don't want to suffer from incontinence or any other such embarrassing health issue, nor do I want to be in a situation where I am so scared I pee...but I want to laugh so hard that a little pee will make its way out.

For a really satisfying laugh, something has to tickle you. For a really hearty laugh, the laugh has to last. I want both obviously.I honestly think it's been a long time. I do of course laugh from time to time but not quite that way.

Oh, and when such a laugh happens, it is most enjoyable if it comes on in the company of your best crazies -- friends or friendly relatives(!). During such a laugh, you will laugh so hard you cannot stop, with belly shaking, eyes watering, stomach aching, a lot of noise making, looking at each other and shaking your heads, which will keep triggering off more such bouts and then finally for the grand finale, some pee will escape and you will think "uh-oh, I have peed in my pants and I had better stop now...". This thought itself can make you laugh even more a;though you will now be guarded (more pee = wet spot and all that). Sadly then, like all good things, the laugh too will come to an end.

Now that it's been such a long time, I really won't care if I do laugh and the grand finale happens.

Right here...waiting for you

The song. 'Right Here Waiting For You' by Richard Marx, whose songs all seemed to me to sound sommmmewhat similar! Yet I chose that song for my hitherto one and only solo vocal performance. Oh, yeahhhh, those were the days when i roamed around the campus with my guitar in hand. Heavy stuff.

The guitar, I meant. Definitely not my perfomance.

I chose that song in my final year of school in the inter house competition (Western Music category) precisely because it was not challenging and I would not easily make a fool of myself. Now, I don't normally sing soppy stuff, but this was an easy song, I say! So I went up there on the stage and sang my heart out. Closed my eyes and all. Really FELT the moment of waiting for 'you'. Thankfully, when I opened my eyes, the audience was still around. In fact I got them woo-hoos and cheers. Oh well, after 14 years in the same school (Rosary Matric. Chennai), I had better have been at least that popular!;) Although, of course, it was my big group of friends and acquaintances who rooted for me.

SIGH. In spite of all that, I did not get the best vocalist prize -- even out of 4 measly singers. Sour Grapes Inc.

But I contributed to my position too. Not by singing badly -- er, not that I sing great but my friends did tell me I sang SOULFULLY and was very impressive -- AHEM. The truth was, because of a misguided goodness of the heart, I went about coaching another girl (my at-that-point VERY nervous and high strung junior and my namesake) competing in the same category on how to sing 'Nothing's Gonna Change My Love For You' and taught her to use her high-pitch moments beautifully. Stupid I was. I see it now. Only 16 years later.

Lost moment of glory.

Hmph.

Keep it on your head!

So many motorcyclists around me. They weave in and out, zig and zag, fast and aggressive or slow and wobbly. And so many of them have no helmets or worse, have their helmets attached to the handle at the rear of the seat. What is that about?Are these characters in so much of a hurry that they forget their heads? Literally, they can forget their heads. Ha , ha. Morons. I feel even those with no helmet in sight are ...well, as stupid and careless. They obviously don't care if they may at any point become brain dead -- well, then if that's the choice, HMPH.

Those who ride their bikes and hang their helmets around them -- oh please! I want to shriek at them, I want to intercept them, put my hazards on, get down and go and shake the twit's shoulders and yell into his face "WHY DO YOU HAVE YOUR HELMET BEHIND YOU IF YOU'RE NOT GOING TO WEAR IT?" Obviously, he has taken the pains to buy his fat head a helmet. What for, then?

Please one of you idiot bikers, have mercy on me and tell me what it's about. Is there some funda my small brain is not able to fathom?

Going crazy with this here.

And another great man or woman will say "I am only going a short distance so I do not need a helmet". Or, "Mine is only a scooty. It does not require a helmet". I salute you, dumb sirs and madams. Your logic is astounding.

Perhaps I really don't know better.

Oh and don't even get me started on all those who let their small kids hang out at various angles from their motorbikes.

That deserves another special post...later. I am all wrung out now.

Arrey, baba!

The gym I go to. Yes, it is a very good one with very good facilities. That's why i go there. Point made.

Now, I am no GREAT writer but I am usually with it when it comes to writing simple sentences. I corrected a badly written 'thought for the day' kind of thing on this gym's notice board, which is visible to all members as they work out.

The weirdly written thought for the day glared at me for ten minutes until I could bear it no longer and summoned the one who wrote it and requested her to correct it at least to SOME extent. The whole thing goes something like this -- i.e. the corrected version: -

"Try to be unique in life the way 'SALT' is -- Its absence makes things tasteless / useless"

Right. Slightly more relieved though still not 100% satisfied, I continued with my workout, which was the purpose of my going to a gym! (Yeah, yeah and not to vettily / joblessly edit stuff, but mind YOU, I did not stop huffing and puffing all through my suggestions.)

Then I saw another member -- a guy whom I shall now unfondly call Mr. Know-it-better-than-you (who was watching all this), call another gym-employee and make a further (SNORT) correction to the above. Below, please find the wronged version...(Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr)

"Try to be unique in life the way 'SALT' is -- Its absence make things useless / tasteless"

Yes, he removed the 's' so I now understand that 'SALT' is plural.
Soooper pa.

Arrre... arrey... arrrrrrrrey Baba. I really need to scream long and hard sometimes.

I still cannot bear it ("its absence make"...ARGHHHHHHHHH)...
You know these people can even have you doubting your own eenglees I say!With such confidence they go about wronging things!

Am sure tomorrow, I will wage a fresh war. Today, I managed to focus away from the damn notice board!

Is it just me?

Catty talk, but heartfelt;)

Oh God. This Kollywood place is full of them. Heroes, heroines, comedians, villains, monkeys, donkeys and more (last three are mostly wannabes). This post however, is only about heroes, not heroines -- heroines are quite a separate chapter. No, wait, I may mention them too.;)

Coming back to heroes and the sheer numbers out on the loose...

Agreed -- with all this knowledge and information explosion, more is 'in'. Gone are the days when a handful ruled the roost. MGR, Shivaji, Gemini, Muthuraaman, etc. followed by the nextgen Kamal, Rajini and more recently Suriya, Vikram, Vijay, Ajit...but does it stop there? We got Arya, Vishal, Simbu, Dhanush, Prasanna, etc. also on the scene and admittedly, doing quite well for themselves. Okay. BUT. but, but but.

There are also all kinds of new faces that honestly, I don't GET. Oh, how do they think they will make it as heroes? Beats me. Now, am not going to name those who just are not going to sell, because quite frankly, I don't even want to KNOW their names leave alone, remember them. Even some heroines...ugh.

Okay, I AM all for 'beauty lies in the eyes of the beholder' (um, kinda my point) and high self esteem, etc. Being a wannabe is also very important because what's life without some hopes and dreams? But there is a LOT of over-confidence and blind faith in one's saleability as a filmstar, and these are often but not always limited to, sons and daughters of the who's whos in the industry. Romba Dhayariyam (lot of courage) for some, I must say. But I call it Ashattu Dhayariyam (silly courage). And who suffers? People like me of course, who might chance upon such movies with such actors. Even if such characters ASPIRE to become film STARs, it can ruin the moment. (not my life, nope...always the silver lining!;))

Just reading about these characters bothers me...enough to write this post! At the very least, I would ask people interested in Kollywood adventures to gaze for LONG at themselves in the mirror and analyse what roles they would be best suited for, if any. Good looks alone are not enough although they are of course, necessary. If not GOOD, at least some arresting characteristic, please. And if nothing's there, how about some talent? Huh?

Analyse, analyse ...it's not just for your own sakes, please!

So, wannabes of Kollywood, I say, please rethink and get objective opinions before launching your mugs out there. There is only so much the world can tolerate.

Miaw.

Gyan No. 4

The real power is will power.

What's a good word? Pang!

The English language maybe a bit of a puzzle sometimes and maybe 'other' things as well. But there are some nice words that really give the real feeling of the meaning behind them. One such word is 'pang'. There is a certain ring to this word. "He felt a pang" is self explanatory. To a Tamilian it means the 'dwainnngk' sound. It may be a pang of hunger (insistent ringing of the stomach for food) or a pang of grief (a DWAINNNGK dramatic sound) or just a pang. This last one would be a strong whoosh of feeling-feeling (will take a true Chennai-local to get this) -- an emotional pang, that is.

That's why I like the word pang. It means what is says.

Serious Question (perhaps morbid too!)

Ok, so we all have to go one day. But where do we go? Heaven, hell, space... cyberspace? True, I am sadly ignorant since I don't read books on spirituality or LIFE or certainly not on life after death. Still, the question persists in my mind and I now insist on asking it. What happens after?

I asked a dear friend this question soon after my father died. Since this friend is definitely older (just a tad) and always seems wiser than most people I know, I remember I posed the question to him in utter grief and frustration: "But WHERE do they go? Can you tell me?" I vividly remember that his answer was equally helpless but deep. I say deep because....I dunno. It sounds deep, at least in this context. Shaking his head decisively he replied "I don't know. I just don't know." Clearly, most people don't know. Perhaps even the ones who die will not know. Hah. How weird is that thought?

I think we also on some level may not want to know because we then will invariably think of death itself and then spend some feverish and paranoid moments wondering how that fellow will greet us! Ugh. The 'how' puts me off it even right here and now.

Right. So, since I am too lazy to read any of those 'telling' books, if anyone knows, please feel free to enlighten me... perhaps as briefly as you can because lengthy explanations are the reason I don't wade through them books. I could not even finish The Monk who sold his Ferrari because of the long, rambling and seemingly similar stuff about some things that I just found blah. No offence to the book or its author because: (a) It is a bestseller (right?) and (b) I could also see on some other level, how it could be useful to one in a similar or close-to-similar situation. I personally own no expensive car leave alone a Ferrari (hmph.) for it to make a world of sense to me and bring that damn elusive halo closer to my fat head.

Ok...so back to my question: Twinkle twinkle little star, how I really do sometimes wonder what you are. Ok, ok, I know you must be a celestial body or something but... are you more than that???

P.S. Please do NOT teach this version of the rhyme to any child, thank you;)

Cheers!

Tag on Page 123 of a book

This tag came from my cuz. Bit of a 'homework piece' for me and not the random sort of bullshit I usually like to indulge in;) Hence, the delay. But am still obviously OK to do it quite cheerfully and so here I am. Also, was a wee bit 'embraced' about the book am presently reading so the reluctance. Then I decided...what the heck?
(And now as I REALLY read the rules herein below I realise that it is the NEAREST book. All this while I had thought it had to be the book I am currently reading. OHO. )

Now, for the Page 123 tag.These are the rules:
1. Pick up the nearest book.
2. Open to page 123.
3. Find the fifth sentence.
4. Post the next three sentences.
5. Tag five people, and acknowledge the person who tagged you.

Now, very revealingly, the nearest book to me all this while was the Gourmet Guide!! (Chennai's restaurant finder -- like I need one!) but then the book nearest me today right now is one MODERN Mills and Boon called The Billionaire Boss's Secretary Bride by Helen Brooks. It is rather boring (too much thinking on the part of the lovebirds and not enough conversation) though the theme was good since the usually skinny, svelte, slender and downright frail heroine has in this book been replaced by a curvy and rounded figure which although does not necessarily translate as 'fat but beautiful' (Ahem!), is still better than the 'I will huff and I will puff and I will blow this Mills and Boon heroine away' types;)

The necessary part from Page 123 for this tag is:
"She needed milky cocoa to help her sleep, she told herself firmly. And perhaps a couple of slices of buttered toast too. Her heart might be in shreds, she might be looking at an empty future devoid of husband and children and all the things she'd thought she'd have one day, but she was n't going to crumble into tiny pieces now or at any other time."

Now for tagging others. My cousin shyam tagged me and now I ain't gonna. Anyone wants to take this on, you can feel free. Cos am lazy to think of anybody now.:)

Oh and if I had gone with the Gourmet Guide, I would have landed on this supposedly snooty restaurant called Prego where a meal for 3 may cost Rs. 9000/- (hearsay) and this restaurant is located in the Taj Coromandel hotel in Chennai. The hotel's chinese is rather superb but that restaurant (Golden Dragon) is presently closed for renovation.

Cheers.

Ten Secrets

Ten secrets about me (copied idea from my dear cuz's blog).
1. When I was around 4 years old or just over, I developed a major crush on MGR after watching him relieve a lion of it's pain (thorn in the paw) in 'Vettaikaaran'. So much so that I wrote feverishly on the walls of my home ..."MGR MGR MGR MGR" punctuated by the odd "Latha" who used to be his then heroine.
2. I wanted to become a vet until I realised I would have to treat pigs and cows too. (I had seen a vet put his entire forearm into the womb of a cow to remove the placenta after the calf's birth -- at least I think that's what he was doing!)
3. I was my older sister's 'fan' until I turned a teenager. I am not sure if fan is the right word. She was my master!
4. I was mortally afraid of my father until I turned around ten or eleven even though he never ever beat me even once! I was just shit scared of him. My mother did a good job of "Appa kitta sollatuma?"(Shall I tell dad?)
5. I am still a bit scared of my mother! (Though it does n't look that way)
6. Although I always wanted to fly, once I started learning, I was actually quite scared of the whole thing. Only through sheer will power did I get through my PPL course. But was not scared after the intial hours in the sky.
7. I am horribly afraid of natural disasters -- earthquake, tsunami, volcano eruptions, storms and even rain! I am paranoid too!
8. I am afraid of the dark.
9. I have once lied blatantly to a policeman once and pulled a fast and smooth one on him. He stopped me in my car once on Mount Road after midnight and asked for my license. I knew I did n't have it with me in the car (though I had/have a valid one) but I said "Sure, sir, RIGHHHT here" and leaned over to the dashboard. I was so convincing and dramatic that he quickly waved me off without checking!
10. I once stole (I was 8)my classmate's ruler from her and NEVER gave it back. I felt bad later but still did n't own up. Later that same year, I also stole a fountain pen. When i later discovered my then best friend crying and hunting for her new pen, I panicked, dropped it down somewhere and then pretended to 'find it' and pounced on it and triumphantly handed it back to her. I never stole anything after that!

How are my secrets?;)

Gyan No. 3

It's food that makes the world go ROUND.

I....I...I...

May as well say am a copycat. Nyooo problemo.

I am: BASIIIIICCCAALLY nice;)

I think: too much about some things that don't deserve so much thinking.

I know: that my thinking is at least a bit impractical.

I want: to grow old looking and feeling GOOD.

I have: more body weight than I care to have.

I wish: I had more will power.

I miss: my childhood.

I fear: losing loved ones.

I feel: bad for the orphaned, old and lonely.

I smell: usually bad before a bath and good after.

I search: for misplaced bills mostly.

I wonder: who will read all this.

I regret: having regained much of the weight I lost.

I love: being in love.

I ache: in weird places at weird times...(eeks. too honest?;))

I care: too much about those who don't really matter sometimes.

I am not: a rule breaker.

I believe: in love, in music and in the fact that a healthy low fat diet combined with exercise is the ONLY good way to lose weight. (HMPH.)

I dance: a GREAT DEAL less than I want to.

I sing: these days better than I ever did before.

I cry : at movies very easily.

I don’t always : get my pedicures done.

I fight : sleep some days for no good reason.

I write: for deadlines that I have now come to dislike.

I win: when others lose to me.

I lose: quite easily, as history as shown.

I never: sleep at night without brushing my teeth.

I always: pray to God before I sleep.

I confuse: too easily for my liking.

I listen: to most people who want me to.

I can usually be found: if someone really wants to find me.

I am scared: of many things.

I need: a lot of love (high maintenance;)

I am happy about: my school and college life.

Gyan No. 2

Size Zero...HEY! Where did she go??!

Gyan No. 1

Life's short, yet we can't always make the most of it!

Lofty twits

I had some handycam back-up to be taken pronto and it took me three phone calls to be convinced that Konica Nungambakkam would do it for me in an hour just as they promised they would and I convinced myself of this through my various cross 'qosteens'. Cos I needed it done in a hurry.

Then, I had all these great photo-stands and all these great snaps that I wanted printed and fitted into some nice stands and frames. So, I took it along to Konica Nungambakkam together with my handycam. Now, this place is supposed to be good, and the 'ultimate' Konica in Chennai. Whatever.

The reticent lady there first fumbled with my handycam and looked disbelieveing when I told her it was a hard disk camcorder -(bet she did n't know much about it -- well, i did n't either but SHE ought to have) . She coolly told me :
1. that it would take 2 days to get the dvds from handycam done
2. that TWO of the 3 photo stands I gave to her to examine would fit only ONE photo in each slot although I repeatedly told her the design was such that one could slide two in -- front and back. She steadfastly refused to agree and insisted in her reticent way that only one would fit into each.

Now, do I have some sort of anti-people personality that puts many people into some sort of loop where they feel giving me wrong or incomplete information gives them a sense of satisfaction?

Anyway, the person I am now trying to become, I told her in no uncertain terms...
1. that she had BETTER get me my dvds that day since I had spoken to that office the previous day and they had given me their word that they would do it in one hour...so she reluctantly made a show of consulting colleagues and said it could be done in 5 hours. (something is better than nothing)
2. that i wanted double the number of photos than was suggested by her despite her 'expert' advice, 'just in case' my idea about the photo stands worked.

Well, I got my DVDs ok that day and my photo stands are now proudly sporting all the photos I got printed and more. The words imbecile and incompetent come to mind when I consider this woman. Sure, it is no earthshattering mistake, but it was indifference mingled with lazily misplaced over-confidence. Had it not been for my inherently innocent-turned-suspicious nature that most 'service' people today don't give a damn and that I better look after myself, I would have had to make 2 more trips for this small job.

Grrrrrr.

Make out list

Ok, another from my cuz www.shyamram.blogspot.com where she listed ten literary characters she would totally make out with, but with whom she won't because...you know. Now, I'm not as well-read as she is, and therefore cannot remember that many literary characters and so, I am going to change the rules slightly.

SO, mine will also be a list of 10-20(!) characters or actors;) , NOT whom I would 'totally make out with' (yedhukku vambu?) but er, those I was/am romantically or generally inclined towards, shall we say?: -
(Pssst! It means the same , does n't it?)
(Psssssst, cuz whom I copied from, forgive me, I know not what I do -- am going overboard as many literary characters went flying out of my head suddenly!)

1. Rhett Butler in Gone With The Wind. (oo la la anyday -- be he or be he not, Clark Gable)
2. Dick of Famous Five -- as a kid, was quite interested in this character with his humour and all that -- Julian was a bit of a bore. George of course was not a boy...SIGH;), Anne not an option.
3. Frank Hardy from the Hardy Boys -- again, WHEN I was a teenager, if you please. I think I liked his name and dark hair more than anything else.
3. Ned Nickerson, boyfriend of Nancy Drew -- Again during my early teens, and imaginary boyfriend-nabbing is/was no problem. Also, at the time, his surname did n't bug me as much;)
4. Cary Grant -- if I had been born at that time
5. Rock Hudson -- if he had n't turned out to be gay...and if I had been born around then
6. Karthik -- ONLY in Mouna raagam and Agninatshathiram
7. Kamal Haasan -- in Sathya and younger version in Nayagan and as Raju in Michael Madana Kama Rajan
8. Sirius Black -- Harry Potter's Godfather as described in the Books (not movies)
9. Severus Snape -- the supposedly mean ol' Professor in the Harry Potter Books, not films. As an adult, but after a good shampoo bath followed by conditioning of course.
10. Sylvester Stallone -- in Over The Top
11. Surya -- as police officer Anbuchelvan in Kaakha Kaakha
12. Vikram -- as police officer Aaruchaami in Samy
13. Vikram -- in Dhool
14. Sivaji Ganesan in his youth-o-youth, portraying ...some characters -- angry young man or stylish and suave 'eng' man!! (shocking, is n't it?)
15. George Clooney unless he is smaller made in real life
16. Michael Moretti -- the bad, powerful man in Sidney Sheldon's Rage of Angels
17. Rajinikant -- as the autodriver with the Don-past in Baasha
18. Laurie -- Little Women
19. Jeff Stevens -- the conman from If Tomorrow Comes
20. Superman!

Gosh if there's more, will add/replace. Not to mention many of the Mills and Boon heroes who have wasted my time...and still do!

Cheers!

Four-time movies

Young and impressionable days -- teenage is full of them. Much of my leisure time was spent with my gang of friends --chats, lunches, dinners, cuppas, sleepovers, spend-overs(!) and movies.

Movies we loved because
a) we loved the hero / heroine,
b) ONE of us loved the hero/heroine,
c) we or some of us loved the movie
d) we loved the experience of going to that movie together or simply
e) all of us loved everything about it.

I think the maximum number of times we have seen the same film on the big screen is 4. Four times! The films that enjoyed this ...er, privilege are: -

1) Mouna Ragam -- deserves a mention even if we did not catch it 4 times on the big screen (we were around 13 then and probably not allowed out all that much!) but together, we would have seen it at one of our homes at least 10-12 times. And a few of us knew the dialogues to the 20 minute Karthik's part of the film BY HEART! Boy was he fab then!

2) Jo Jeeta Wohi Sikander -- Aamir Khan, whom i did not much care for in QSQT -- uruchuvitta kozhi look (plucked chicken) and all that, as I was always after macho-er men in reel life. BUT in this film, he was...my GAAAD. The film was great, had this whole cute love story thing going as well as great songs -- one in particular that triggered off this post is 'Pehla Nashaa' , which is still a beautiful song. Then there was the 'schooly' competition (bicycle race) thrown in. Wonderful experience although am pretty sure 4 times were warranted only because it had one of those first time kissing scenes (aamir khan and pooja bedi) that gave us desperate housegirls;) a major kick.

3) Agni Natshathiram -- because of Karthik, t'was a great entertainer and also because 2-3 of us liked Karthik while one liked Prabhu and the rest liked the fact that we liked them...oh, the joblessness of teenage...mmmmm. (Nostalgia bout)

4) Gopuravaasalile -- Karthik again. Just for him (although he was already beginnning to lose it then; his hair as well as his charm). And for the songs. Otherwise, a very sidey film I must admit. But 4 times we did see it on the big screen ...and in quick succession. HOW did our parents allow us to do so? Beats me!

Can't think of anymore although I did see Cliffhanger (Sylvester Stallone) 4times in the theatre -- once or twice with friends, once with my mom(!)-- yeah, ANYTHING to drool at the SLYman then! --and once with some other unsuspecting friend;)

Am sure there are more on the list. Perhaps some friend from that movie-hungry gang who reads this can help me out.

Those were the days!

Cheers!

Ring Ring

One of those 'chargrining' things is when the phone rings just when...

You drop off to sleep in an 'anandhamaana' (blissful) way and then...ring ring
You postpone a trip to the loo because you were...just postponing it and then as soon as you hit the pot...ring ring
The door bell rings on one of those mad days when it just rings too often and then comes the phone simultaneously...ring ring
You are on your cell phone having a scintillating conversation with someone when your landline goes...ring ring
You are reading a fabulous book and are totally into it; it is that unputdownable stage of the story and then...ring ring
You are watching an interesting film and not in the mood for any conversation when...ring ring
You are enjoying the most wonderful hair (or body) massage ever and drifting into space when...ring ring

OK, ok, I have nothing great to post. But feel I must. So, this;)

Friends, please continue calling me, this is just a post!

Bad on me

It's in my head but not in my actions. So many one liners are lurking in my head, born from so many thoughts and experiences. Many are funny and usually, am on the throne when they come to me and I end up chuckling to myself, appreciating my own wit. But when I exit the loo, they have left my head.

It's in my head but not in print. I have so many little things I want to write about and they are roaming around in my head but I do not actually sit down and write them or type them out.

It's in my head -- all the things (mostly nice) that I want to say to people -- close pals or relatives and they are kept inside my head safe, since I do nothing about them.

It's in my head -- my imagination and creative ideas, because I am not implementing them.

It's in my head -- imaginary conversations that I should have had. (Conveniently blocking out whatever 'loser'-conversations I ended up having).

It's in my head that all this holding back and non-action is very wrong and a colossal waste...

The one good thing I have deduced from all this introspection is ...there is SOMEthing in my head. And it's working. Now for the rest of the body to follow suit.
Ahh. That's another matter altogether. Or is that the main matter?

How tough IS it??

When someone smiles at you, DO smile back. I mean how tough IS it? When my smile is greeted by a suspicious look, I can tell you, it is most annoying. It's not as if I smile all the time (idiotically, like some -- ahhh that's another post!) but there are situations when you can indeed, acknowledge another human being by smiling at him or her. Earlier, whenever my smile drew a blank, I would be highly embarrassed and try to act like my smile was not actually a smile, but more of a grimace. ..to myself. (Who wants to seem goofy?) These days, older, wiser and all that good stuff (self proclaiming), when I get THE LOOK in return for my smile, I can actually frown at the jerk and go quick from warm to frosty. Cannot help it. Art of survival...for smiles, anyway.

Most of us look fine enough when we smile, if not more attractive. I cannot think of a single person who would look ugly or horrible when he or she smiled. On the other hand, 'long' faces are a nightmare.

Unbelievable. One thing that human beings can do over the other beasts is smile and laugh . I mean can you imagine if you caught (say) a buffalo grinning at you? You would probably take to your heels thinking you saw Yama!

Oh, JUST smile now and then and be done with it...it is said to make people wonder what you are upto.

Those one-offs

Ever notice how chance buys end up being great buys? You shop and you shop, thinking you know what you want -- you may even have a list. Then, you see something that you kind of take a fancy to and voila, you have paid for it thinking that you don't REALLY need it. But then it turns out, that you REALLY do and it soon becomes a much-used item and eventually, something you treasure. For me, it has been a pair of earrings, a pair of trousers (for that great fit), a tray, a penstand or even underwear. (There's more on the list but my hotshot here-and-present memory only allows for these) It's that one-off buy that brings the greatest satisfaction despite not having got that coveted place on your to-buy list!

The downside to chance buys is that you cannot, often, repeat them. The thing becomes elusive -- usually, just after it has been established that it was a great buy. Try as you might, you may never be able to get your hands on quite that kind of similar item. No new ones for old ones on chance buys. It's the ONLY one. I have finally resigned myself to this (all good things must be tough to obtain more than once) and after one attempt to repeat, I move on to something else. I figure if the last great chance buy was a T shirt, this time, it might be...sommmething else...

One word

Copycat time -- from shyamram.blogspot.com

One word answers! Anyway, I love these 'about me' questions;)

If you get something out of a vending machine, it's most likely to be: Nothing (vending machines intimidate me)
A word you sometimes catch yourself misspelling: misspell
You least want people to see you as: Mean
You're a little scared of: Hospitals
The least attractive thing you do in your sleep: No idea...drool?;)
The number of contacts in your cell phone: Fifty+
How many of them are restaurants: 4
You lose your cool when someone: derides
When you go to the drugstore, you often can't leave without buying: something
Your dance moves can best be described as: safe
The majority of your underwear is: comfortable
Something you eat even though you hate how bad it is for you: chips
You think you're really not a great: guest
How much cash is in your wallet right now: Rs. 1000
The majority of your shoes are this color: Black
You don't think you'll ever be able to get rid of your: fears
If your breath is bad, it's most likely because you had: onions
You feel embarrassed when you: trip
The last public place where you used the restroom: aeroplane
Something you don't like to debate in mixed company: periods
You don't think you can pull off wearing: stilettos
Something you own entirely too much of: knickknacks
Someone you would love to see in concert who might bring down your street cred: MJ
The last thing that you spilled on yourself: Water
If you were on a reality show, the producers would likely portray/characterize you as the: Jester

Excuse me?

So, I met this older lady at some dinner at someone's house (don't ask me whose cos I cannot remember -- new acqaintances, part of some rotary club) maybe a couple of weeks or more ago. At the dinner party, we sat next to each other for at least a good twenty minutes and even were on the same team of three that played a very funny game.

Then, today at a wedding reception, I saw her again. Frankly, I did a spot of feverish thinking to place her and once I did, I went up to her and sai 'hi! Do you remember me? From that rotary dinner party?'

Vague smile at first turned to bewilderment and then recognition. This was sadly followed by a 'i must recover by blabbing' statement. She said to me" Oh, you were wearing another dress that day no? That's why you looked different then".

I agreed with her. Yes, I was INDEED wearing another dress. "Which dress.....????" she pondered to me. Yes, she actually did ask me this.
Really.
I said happily 'I have NO idea whatsoever'. I think she realised that I thought there was something quite wrong with her and her statements because she stood just one foot away from me for a full ten seconds (it seems longer during awkward pauses) looking ....silly.

(After such statements, am sorry to say, my saying 'silly' is quite polite).

Beaming I said 'ok, bye then'. Clearly, I was not gunning for a bosom-friendship with her in the near future. Ta ta.

Did she think i wore only one outfit to all parties? Was that the problem? The i-did-not recognise-you bit in a conversation should be breezy right? But here, it was the focus. And it was MY fault. For not wearing the same outfit and making it easy for her to recognise me.

Excuse me.

Poem from a long ago

I wrote this poem at work when I was a shipping executive and the stars in my eyes over a period of time merely became the lights from that colourless office which shone bright...
This job that i don't enjoy

The Dream:

Am in a job I thought I would like
And one that would appeal to my psyche.
I thought it would take me places literally and figuratively,
And would enhance my potential positively.
I thought I would do some extensive travel...
The mysteries of shipping I wuld unravel.
From Trainee to President I would rise
Albeit for the success I would pay the price!
Perhaps a few enemies I would make,
And a lot of stress in life i would have to take.

But in the end, I would make it to the top
And be someone to reckon with -- a true daughter of my Pop!

The Reality:

Am in a job that I now actually dislike
And that does some serious damage to my psche.
It has taken me absolutely nowehere
And has chased my high spirits away to...I don't know where!
It has led me to suffer severe stagnation,
And has begun to leave little hope of any salvation.
I have visited places only on a personal level;
More towards home and hobbies my mind has begun to swivel!
From Trainee to Officer I have progressed-
Though in my 'personal achievements' I have sadly regressed,
I am feeling very much a failure nowadays...
I may be hard on myself now ... maybe it is just a phase.
Few real friends have been made, some acquaintances gained-
Career-wise, dithering away uselessly -- about this, am pained.

Sure I could be making a mountain out of a molehill,
But that is because I have a lot of time here at work to kill!

Idle Thoughts

Idle Thought 1: Not that am going to have a tombstone, but I think I might want mine to read: "In hindsight..." It sums up my understanding of most things. All real knowledge about people, events, things, comes 'in hindsight'!

Idle Thought 2: The world would be a better place if we could spend every weekend with our favourite people doing what we like to do best whether it is eating, lazing, partying, chatting or playing games like pictionary...

Idle Thought 3: Giving advice for me is NOT like a piece of cake because I would not want to part with THAT, whereas advice...hey! Need any?:)

As you can see, present status: IDLE

Road-bummers

This morning at around 9.30 a.m., I met with around 40-50 morons. All in one shot. Yes, they were all driving westward bound on St. Mary's Road. They had formed at least 4 parallel lanes of which 3 were unauthorised. Poor me, going eastward on St. Mary's Road as usual and was suddenly confronted head-on by 4 lanes of vehicles acting like no rules existed.

Bah. Being a lone woman driver and afraid for myself(and not for any nobler reason), I steered clear of expletives but insisted on asking them with angry, wild gestures "WHAT in the world ARE you doing?". At one point, I was quite unnerved because I was the only car facing the 'right' way on my side of the road, while all the rest in front of me were facing me and trying to bully me to go...where, I don't really know. Where was the space? Suddenly I wondered whether this road had been made a one-way overnight or something. I took heart in the fact that there was a possibility I was right, since some vehicles were right behind me.
(Imagine, they had me doubting my rule-abiding senses!)

I tried to nudge through aggressively and am quite surprised how no one bumped or scratched me. Sheer good luck, I tell you.

Then, I finally decided I could not beat them -- the rogues! So, I swung extreme left and managed to get out of that quagmire of morons and shot out of there like a bat out of hell (Hah! always wanted to use that bat expression!).

I spotted a policeman further down and asked him what the heck was going on and whether the road was a one way to which he said nope. So, I was even more indignant and told him to go sort out the chaos. Thankfully, he understood my frustration. (In chennai, you cannot ask for more, usually.)

Mildly satisfied with dispensing a piece of advice to a cop, I belligerently ignored the red light and the waiting motorists whose green signal it was, and swung into a lane leading to my destination,
secure in the knowledge that no one was going to pull me up after what I had been through.

Nobody did.:)

Cheers.

Qs and my As

I copied this idea and list of Qs from my newest favourite blog, www.shyamram.blogspot.com. I also love answering questions like this if only for myself... gives me the importance I think I deserve;)

1.)Q. Can you cook?
1.)A. Yes. But dislike cleaning up after myself...in the kitchen.

2.)Q. What was your dream growing up?
2.)A. To fly, become a pilot; which I did but not exactly the way I wanted, since today, am not a ‘professional pilot’.

3.)Q. What talent do you wish you had?
3.)A. Bit of talent in many things, which does not quite cut it. Wish I were better at outdoor activities – inclination and skill-wise too.

4.)Q. Favorite place?
4.)A. My Bedroom

5.)Q. Favorite vegetable?
5.)A. Colocasia or arbi or cheppankazhangu (all mean the same)

6.)Q. What was the last book you read?
6.)A. Why can’t I remember the name? Although do remember story and the author’s name. Very light and vetti (jobless) read.

7.)Q. What zodiac sign are you ?
7.)A. Scorpio but am sure am weirder than most.

8.)Q. Any Tattoos and/or Piercings?
8.)A. Pierced ears. Tattoos? Ugh.

9.)Q. Worst Habit?
9.)A. Many, am sure… two top the list -- procrastination and nail biting.

10.)Q. If you saw me walking down the street would you offer me a ride?
10.)A. Only if I know you and like you, or if you are a lost child below 5 years –can’t bear the thought of lost children and what they may come to – I would desperately want to return you to your oh-so-desperate mom.

11.)Q. What is your favorite sport?
11.)A. Have not one but I do like to swim (though I don’t often), play badminton or snooker, if I get the company. Just don’t care for watching sports.

12.)Q. Negative or Optimistic attitude?
12.)A. Mixed. Sometimes this and sometimes that.

13.)Q. What would you do if you were stuck in an elevator with me?
13.)A. Depends on who you are. But unless you are a gallant, hero-ish kind of person, I would panic big time. Scared of elevators.

14.)Q. Worst thing to ever happen to you?
14.)A. Dad’s death.

15.)Q. Tell me one weird fact about you:
15.)A. Too many. Just one of them, not necessarily the worst, is that I must check if sleeping people (especially children) are breathing normally.

16.)Q. Do have any pets?
16.)A. Not currently

17.)Q. Do u know how to do the macarena?
17.)A. I know how to do ‘a’ Macarena.

18.)Q. What time is it where you are now?
18.)A. 12.15 p.m.

19.)Q. Do you think clowns are cute or scary?
19.)A. Neither. Just not very impressed with them unless they are VERY funny.

20.)Q. If you could change one thing about how you look, what would it be???
20.)A. Size and hair! Oh, only one thing? Then size;) And I can change it but it will take a lot and am not YET up to it.(looks like!)

21.)Q. Would you be my crime partner or my conscience?
21.)A. Conscience but only if I HAVE to. I don't care to partner much.

22.)Q. What color eyes do you have?
22.)A. Brown

23.)Q. Ever been arrested?
23.)A. No and don’t ever want to be!

24.)Q. Bottle or Draft (draught)?
24.)A. Don’t know the difference except that I do know there is a difference.

25.)Q. If you won $10,000 dollars today, what would you do with it?
25.)A. Spend some, give away some, save some.

26.)Q. What kind of bubble gum do you prefer to chew?
26.)A. Don’t like the habit at all. Except if am in desperate need of a mouth freshener in which case, strawberry.

27.)Q. What 's your favorite bar to hang at?
27.)A. It’s the people I bother about when it comes to hanging out, not the place.

28.)Q. Do you believe in ghosts?
28.)A. Why?! Is there one here??? Quick, stay close to me and we can try to scare it away together.

29.)Q. Favorite thing to do in your spare time?
29.)A. Workout or do yoga and meditation. HA. Who am I kidding? No, I like to read, watch TV, spend time in front of computer.

30.)Q. Do you swear a lot?
30.)A. Yes. And I usually vow to myself to swear less each time after I just finish swearing.

31.)Q. Biggest pet peeve?
31.)A. I don’t get a reasonable amount of space and time to myself.

32.)Q. In one word, how would you describe yourself?
32.)A. Nice (basically).

33.)Q. Will you repost this so I can fill it out and do the same for you?
33.)A. No, sorry, you do it yourself and let me know how / where I can read it.

Jolly Walkers

Why in India, at least in Chennai, do walkers do their best not to make eye contact? Ok, they may be complete strangers but one walker will either acknowledge another with a cold stare or furtive glances, or simply by turning away his or her face to avoid any expression.

If someone does decide to overlook these cold-shoulder techniques and smiles at another co-walker, he or she is usually greeted with suspicion -- either a suspicious look or a tentative half-smile which says: SHOULD I be smiling back at you?

I usually appraise a co-walker in the far distance and screw up my eyes in concentration to see if he or she is recognisable. If so, then I quickly think of how to go about saying hi and figure out whether I really want to stop and talk or just pretend to see them in the last moment and quickly say hi, how are you and bye. If I don't know them, so much the better. As I get closer I 'check' him or her out and then decide if I fel like giving him or her more than the one furtive glance (Thiruttu muzhi it is called in Tamil).

'When in Rome...' syndrome, i call it. Don't want to be known as the only whacko who smiles at everyone in sight.

Of course, I need to clarify at this point that I do not really qualify as a 'walker' -- two days does not cut it. But having gone for walks erratically and otherwise for oh so many years, I have observed enough walkers to know better than to smile at co-walkers I don't know.

Mostly cos I hate it when my smile is not returned!

Weird things

There are people who hang up the phone as you are talking to them, cutting you off in mid-sentence. There are those who don't say hi when they answer the phone and know it is you -- they say "mmm" (HOWW ruuude) and then those who hang up without saying bye.

Also, don't like those who respond to your phone 'hi, are you busy?' with a resigned 'Tell me'. That's lukewarm, to say the least. May as well say 'yes, bit busy..later?'

Then there are those who laugh noiselessly. Worse, there are those who shake their shoulders on pupose while laughing, supposedly to convince others that they are indeed laughing. Annoying habit.

Many hide whatever they are feeling with laughter and happy talk. Heck, I do that myself sometimes.

Then come those who laugh at their own jokes...alone. Nope, I ain't one of them...yet! But the world is getting weirder and weirder by the day that I consider often, of going with the saying: If you can't beat 'em, join 'em'.

Stand up!

What's the deal with stand up comedy? It seems to be everywhere now. I have always been QUITE interested in watching some acts but it took me rather by surprise (bordering on shock) that one of my friends SERIOUSLY thinks I should try an act of my own. Now, she is quite a wise and knowledgeable woman so when she keeps saying this "You should be a stand up comedian" I am like "REALLLLY?!!" Hmmm. Time for a quick spot of introspection I say...

I know people who are far funnier than I am. Friends and family, in fact. They would be better stand up comedy candidates because of their presentability and flow of speech and wit. Me, I am a bumpkin fraught with stage fear.

(According to some who know me quite well, i only have stage fear until I get up on stage but I cannot take the risk of checking THAT theory out!Not at this RIPE YOUNG age)

So, as many of us weirdos are wont to do, I began imagining it: my act, picturing myself standing up on some bar (I HAVE to be informal, no coat-suit and boot for this ol' gal) but why a bar? Why not on some stage or platform or spotlight-y corner...oh, wait. I know where I got that idea...it's from 'Cocktails', the Tom Cruise movie in which he was at his cutest best and much more than a decade BEFORE he jumped up backwards onto the sofa on Oprah Winfrey's show to proclaim his lovvvve for that Kate (or Katie) woman. Yup, that jump backwards was a jump backwards indeed! Am seriously unsure I will be thrilled with a sissy man wearing too wide a grin proclaiming his lovvve for me.
Men should grin, no doubt. But wickedly or sexily. NOT continuously and gleefully, to say "I LOVVVE her'. At least not in front of so many women. Oprah Winfrey did laugh but am sure that was because of how famous that episode of her show was going to be.

Look, at a poker game with his friends kicking him under the table, yes, a man may allow himself to grin about his LOVVE find. But on TV? With a female talk show host and thousands -- millions of women watching? Ugh. Nothing like starry eyes to take the man out of the manly.

Anyway. Tom Cruise made a real 'Tom Loose' of himself. (Tamil 'loose')

So...where was I? Ah. My idle thought about stand up comedy.

Heck...it remains idle. Too many bozos to compete with.

Happy New Year

Why do we wish each other a HAPPY NEW YEAR? Is it because we were not too thrilled with the year gone back and the next year had BETTER be happy? We are all always after 'happy'. I am a great example of that. Even though a nagging voice tells me that happiness has really to do with me, myself, rather than other people, I continue to happily point fingers at people around me and accuse them of messing with my happiness. Mind you when they actually make me happy, I don't bother mentioning THAT as much. Just generous with the pointing fingers;) (When am happy, I just grunt and grin. When annoyed, I rant and rave. Hey, don't look at ME. Am sure I have something in common with you even if not this particular virtue!;))

So, this new year 2008 had better be happy. Am not pretending to be something I am not...at least not in THIS post anyway; but here goes ...

Let's not ask for the moon.

Speaking of the moon and halos, this new year, let's ask for a lot fewer people to go hungry, let's hope terrorists will kill far fewer innocent people in their quest ...for whatever (hope at least THEY know what they are after!!), hope I become VERY fit and lose flab (ha. i am sure my selfish hope ranks first...for ME!), hope people (ESPECIALLY those i love -- yup selfish again) get HEALTHIER, hope fewer children end up or stay in orphanages, hope fewer marriages break up, hope NO babies and kids suffer and / or die, in fact, hope I don't hear any bad news at all...not just this year but forever!(Ok, now, let me just ask for the moon and get this wishlist over with)...you get the picture.

In my defence, I read in a weird-titled poem in iss-school (titled: SAY NOT THE STRUGGLE NOT AVAILETH--what the hell IS that supposed to mean!) : "If hopes were dupes, fears would be liars". I have forgotten the meaning but I think it sort of means you can hope all you want since you already are stuck with negativities like fears! Or maybe it means if you have fear, you can have hope too -- the silver lining types.

Whatever.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Warning! Socialite ahead!

Socialites are sometimes hogging an entire page in newspapers. Ugh! Most of the time, most socialites are up to not much good (and sometimes perhaps up to NO good at all!) so why should they get all the positive attention? They are almost always rich and trying to get famous. Their only claims to fame are coffee mornings and saturday night-outs for which they dress up, apply make up and strut. That's it. What's so noteworthy about that?

If YOU had the money, you could visit the beauty parlour every other day and wear branded clothes, make up and accessories too, right?

I hope not. Perhaps you could stay elegant and well turned out -- sure, but you could also actually do something worthwhile like contributing to businesses (get a job) or better still (since you have the money and the time) help with social causes...all through the same strutting that usually gets you nowhere but an invitation to the next party.

I don't mind being corrected if I am wrong here about socialites in general...willing to listen to any comments that could change the current picture in my mind of empty people. And why are they usually women? WOMEN, this is not good at all. As a woman myself, I must say this is not a feather in this gender's cap. More like a feather in the brain! Ok, perhaps the only use is that these socialites get photographed at some event or restaurant or bar, etc. and thereby bring publicity to that business which organises the event or to the hosts of the party.
Hmmm....nope, 'that don't impress me much'. (Thank you, Shania Twain)

When someone nudges me and says.." Look! There is so-and-so. I am like 'uh? WHO's that?' Sure, i don't know EVERYbody but if the explanation is just 'she is a socialite', I always feel the need to ask "But what does she DO?"

Partying as a full time occupation? Too much of a good thing never sounded more apt!

Western Voices

There are some 'voices in song' that can raise those goosebumps on you and get that lump up and big in your throat, leaving you a bit spent...such gifted voices belong to singers like Barbara Streisand. What a glorious voice and non judgementally speaking, a personality to match!

Old goldies like 'The way we were' and 'Memory' -- just listen to them to get that stirred-up feeling...brings out emotions and memories(!) nearly long-forgotten. I am constantly amazed by what music can do...no wonder they say it is for the soul.

You can see the emotions in the song when Barbara Streisand sings...It got me thinking that for best effects, the singer ought to be not-so-young so that experience can add flavour to every word. I can appreciate that more now with, ahem, age!

And how about those song writers at that point who wrote simple and meaningful words! (Doubt: Does anybody know ehther Barbara streisand herself wrote the lyrics for 'The Way we Were' and 'Memory'?)

A song without lyrics is like...well, it has a different effect -- subtle but pretty strong really. Oh well, that calls for another post altogether!

Old is gold

Why is it that people are paranoid about getting older? Wrinkles, extra curves, lines and grey hair all seem to bother them a great deal. Creams galore, machines and dyes and various 'beauty/anti-aging' elements, pills are prevalent today. For what? Surely, no matter what you do, you are going to look your age (give or take 2-3 years?)...and so what?

If these people would concentrate on health or even beauty (to some extent), that would be fine. But to grapple with growing older is stupidity. I mean why would a fifty year old yearn to look 35? Beats me. But maybe I cannot understand it because I am not even 35 yet, ha ha.

Besides, I always have considered growing older as a good thing. It means you're staying alive, collecting experience;). It does not mean that you have to look young till the day you drop dead. Nobody in their right mind would want to die young so be prepared to look your happy old and hopefully graceful age until it's 'your time to go'.

Old is one thing. Haggard is another. At 70, you may look haggard and that could be the time you could consider anti-ageing stuff. At 40 and 50 if you look haggard, it's your overall health that is the problem, not your skin and hair. At 30, 40 and 50 if you are trying desperately to look younger, you have too much time on your hands;).

There's something great about growing older, something wise, something graceful, a calm outlook, and something else...oh, yeah, you are still alive!

So, oldie (!), pull yourself together, get some fresh air, laugh yourself silly over something, catch up with friends, maybe even have ONE or TWO drinks ...and then check out your smiley expression in the mirror. Those wrinkles will look like laugh lines!

Cheers!

Dad-daughter cuteness

I noticed a father dropping his 6year old daughter off at school. However, perhaps it was a late, rushed morning,the girl did not have her hair neat and combed. The Dad whipped out a comb whilst just outside the gates of the school and for a full five minutes tenderly and smoothly combed his daughter's hair, gently getting rid of the tangles and really, doing it just as well as a Mom might!

I don't know what it is about fathers and daughters that melts my heart -- maybe cos I am a super 'Daddy's girl' candidate, but to watch dads bonding with their little girls is a real little pleasure indeed!

Coincidences

I love coincidences! Not the depressing ones, but the small stuff. For example, I was imagining what I would call my non-existent column in some famous publication and then, a few hours later, an old, good friend gave me his blog address and when I checked out his blog, there was one of the three options I had thought of for my column-to-(may)be! I was so kicked about it. Fools may seldom differ but then great minds think alike as well!

Then, there was the time when I wondering why one of my old, good pals (abroad) had not wished me for my birthday and I had just finished stating at home that she was the only one, surprisingly, who had forgotten my birthday and weirdly, within ten minutes of that, her mother who lives here in Chennai, called to wish me and it was too much of a coincidence not to mention it to her! Anyway, it turned out that my pal did not forget my birthday, she just did not manage to get through to me...frankly, in this case, the thought counted!

Then there is the 'vetti' (i.e. insignificant) coincidence of noticing a car in front of you on the road and it's number plate and on another location, a few minutes later, spot another one that shares the same license plate number.

All right -- I am a coincidence person. But it's the people-related coincidences that make my day!

JLT

'Just like that' I felt like updating my blog!

Went for an EESHA YOGA presentation of sorts last night -- to celebrate that Guru's 25 years of eesha yoga -- when, in his opinion, he became one with the universe. (Or did he say earth? or galaxy?). I would ideally have skipped it had I known that it was such a big do with the Chief Minister and his daughter attending the programme. SNORE is what they made me do. Intentions might have been good. But pompousness never goes down well with me and the speeches they gave were tolerated only because I was surrounded by friends and I busied myself minding a toddler (from a stranger-family)who was sucking on her hairclip thereby giving me the creeps and I pounced on the father on whose lap she was sitting "watch what she is doing!". You know, it's amazing how people will listen to you when you use a certain TONE. It has to be authoritative, know-it-all and brisk.

Anyway, people rambled on about tree planting which is always GREAT (tree planting, not rambling ESPECIALLY by speech-givers) and i am all for it. Just not interested in 4 different versions of it in one go.

The speech by THE GURU was interesting, couple of anecdotes -- very enjoyable and the meaning of yoga was made clear. Yoga by the way means 'union'. Then, there was this mass meditation for God-knows-how-many-minutes. The beauty of the 'meditation' was that it was punctuated by (our eyes were supposed to be closed and the focus on a spot between the eyebrows with face slightly up-tilted) the Guru suddenly singing in a slightly creepy way. Not to be outdone, some of the youth in the audience timed their screeching / howling VERY well during the pauses in the Guru's singing. I had to laugh. Come on, life's little pleasures and besides, the Guru did start off saying women were to laugh more (and more loudly!!) and men ought to shed more 'tears of tenderness'. Then came on the drumming and tribal-like music. VERY VERY good music i must say. But my eyes could not remain closed for long in this mass meditation. Felt uneasy and bored. So, that attempt at meditation was not great.

Therefore, i need to meditate. Now. Alone. But I call it sleep;)

Note: I don't intend to cause anyone any insult nor am I belittling the merits of yoga and meditation. I am fully aware that I have a great need for both. But...later; I am just not 'there' right now. Yes, that also happens to be my formidable sister's favourite phrase: I am just not 'there' right now.:)

As the popular song went "...But I still have n't found what I'm looking for..." (Thanks U2!)

My first call

I was not particularly interested in the field of sales and marketing. Yet, I found myself in my first full time job -- in sales, with the impressive and misleading designation of 'Consultant - Internet Services' in a small marketing company. It was my first sales 'call' (The word Consultant at that stage, i think was a gimmick but one that worked like a charm). The company / gentleman I was to call on was a kind of one-man show and located somewhere off Cenotaph road in Chennai.

Things against me:
1. I did not know THAT much about the Internet services I was selling.
2. It was my first sales call alone so i was a bit nervous.
3. I was prone to a chronic cough that came on suddenly in irritant spells and would not go away when you wanted it to no matter what -- water, fresh air, you name it.

So, i reach the address and survey the building apprehensively because not a soul was about. Then I learn that the 'company' was situated above the man's house, right on top of the building - 3rd floor or so. So I started to climb. Slowly, because we all know how embarrassing it is to arrive at any interview or appointment panting like a dog and with a stitch in your side...you know, first impressions and all that!

Climbing past the first floor, I heard some pattering of feet behind me and turned around to see this big dog, a retriever-cross, who even LOOKED cross, or should I say a dog that looked 'no-nonsense'. Being a dog lover you would think I was thrilled to see him. But I was NOT. This dog was eerily quiet and watchful. I was nervous and I knew the dog could smell it. I started panicking. But it was a one-way, spiral staircase and there was still not a soul in sight. Screaming out meant I WANTED a dog bite. So I uncertainly continued to climb, keeping a watchful eye over my shoulder on this stern fellow who kept following me at the same distance but the control he exercised was more unnerving than anything else. On and on I went until suddenly, I just came upon a door. I then understood what the term 'standing between the DEVIL and the DEEP SEA actually meant!

I let the Devil out of my thoughts and knocked on the Deep Sea's door. The 'come in' was so prompt I pushed the door and stumbled into the room wheezing and panic stricken. So much for 1st impressions! Why put a step at a doorway. Annoying habit some builders have I tell you!! The man (just some years older than I was)looked surprised but before he could exhibit his hiding of any amusment at my ungainly entrance, the coughing bout came on...and how. It was HIS turn to panic -- what if this crazy sales woman died of a coughing fit in his office?He offered me water at once which I wheezed, coughed at and waved away. Finally when the damn bout left me, I started to blubber about my company and its products. Turned out, he was better informed than I was and was not going to buy anything, so i gave it up quickly as a lost cause. My mind was on how to descend that what i call Rapunzel staircase (it may as well not have been there for all the steep and spirally design, HMPH) without encountering the dog again. I asked him that and he assured me that the dog was friendly.

Needless to say, my flight down the stairs was quick and painless unlike the damage to my ego!!

A song and dance about nothing!

What is it with these singing and dancing competitions on channels like vijay TV? The 'super singer junior' or whatever it is called, is absurd. Simply because, you are testing CHILDREN on their singing skills based on FILM songs. If this alone were not bad enough, you have these parents of the contenders CRYING with the stress of waiting to find out whether their child made it; acting as though their lives depended on the outcome.

I am all for singing competitions. But this is going too far. I blame the parents for their immaturity and for what? For a film song! At least if it were Classical or Folk music, it is understandable because we are culture-oriented people. This is complete dilution of our rich culture. Call me conservative but kids ought to be guided the right way and this is not it. Especially because, many of the film songs have inappropriate words for a ten year old to be belting out (although, I have to say, these kids are immensely talented with the actual singing) and the songs also have unsuitable vibes like romance and even lust. Even now, as an adult, I would cringe with embarrasment if I had to sing some of the songs those kids sang from the films.

Why can't people see this?

Today I happened to be flipping channels and came across this dancing competiton (thankfully for adults) -- Jodi No.1 or something on Vijay TV. Again, so frivolous -- dancing to film songs. As if it is not enough that the filmstars even, look a tad foolish doing the actual song sequence in the movies but that at least is part of what they DO in a film besides acting. Sure they want to put 'any which' talent out there. But, where is all the importance classical music and dance deserve? Dancing to a Vijay or Simbu number, HMPH. But even that in itself is Ok. For fun...'chumma'. But then getting emotional and hyper about the 'judges' decision is atrocious. Tears of joy or sadness / disappointment are also quick to follow. Hello, people...is THIS REAL TALENT?

Where is all this going?

To the dogs, where else? !

Jaya TV's SPB show is rather better. And all those on Sun TV , etc. (the ones you get Sunday mornings) are also acceptable - but just about. Sure, classical can get heavy and is not as glamourous or 'fun' as the film songs but there is also an in between that's almost dead and gone and which deserves a mention - folk music. Folk music is part of the rich Indian culture too and anyday better than the ridiculously worded songs of today's films. Please, bring it back -- better than the sicko film songs being churned out.

I am sure the Americal Idol kickstarted this trend in India. But we must remember that those were not CHILDREN who competed and withstood those judges' (one judge in particular) caustic tongue. We are teaching our kids rubbish again and again. Er, no, what do I mean by 'we'? I mean 'YOU', the parents of those children in that competition who had to face some super-smug one-song-is-my-claim-to-filmy-fame judges.

Besides, what IS the actual caliber of these judges anyway? ARGH. Let me not get into THAT now. Enough said ...I think;)

Hey, some one has said I am caustic in my blog. I not like that word. Are my complaints not genuine?? But the comment has set me thinking...in my fervour to get some cribs out of my system, I have forgotten some funny anecdotes and some interesting ones as well that I should also definitely share...coming up then... next time.

Cheers!

The toilet seat exercise

Ok, so we are talking about the western toilet here. The throne. I fail to understand why women want the seat down (especially in the west) all the time and any man sharing the loo with them has to ensure he lets the seat down after he finishes with his 'small' job.

My point is...woman, why can you not just put the seat down yourself when it is time for your reign on the throne?

I would personally feel 'ugh' if I thought the toilet seat had remained down and the guy had sprinkled his tinkle all over the seat! This I think is a much graver problem. If the seat were up, at least I would know, the seat cover which I am going to use will not have his dew drops (yuck!).

If someone can explain this business to me, that would be great.

Anycase, I don't like the idea of sharing my loo (or kakkoos as we charmingly call it down south) with anyone on a long-term basis but ... I am afraid we can't always have all that we want!!

Sighhhh.

On another note...
As a passionate bathroom-lover I must say that whenever I travel and then finally get back home, the thing I look forward to most is performing my 'jobs' in my 'wown' loo. Aaha. Inbamo inbam that is!

Inspired by Blogeswari

This piece is in honour of Independence Day, August 15th as well as my dad's tenth death anniversary, 7th August, and the thoughts were pretty much awakened by blogeswari.blogspot.com's sharing of patriotism.

I was in the eleventh standard (or so) and very very enthu about most things. I considered myself quite a patriot. Loved the Indian national anthem (and still do) and find it difficult most times these days, to finish it without them lumps in the throat! My Dad had always insisted on being as much of an Indian as possible and he taught me to sing the national anthem always standing up and erect...even whilst practising.

So, I am in class -- twas just a regular, routine class and some kids were rehearsing the Independance Day programme outside class and we could hear most of it. When they came to practising the national anthem, I suddenly realised that I was lounging around so i quietly got up and stood, not caring about the rest of the class's giggles. It took a few moments for the teacher to realise that one of her students was not seated. She look astonished and asked 'What are you doing?' (I was a favourite although lousy at her subject) I said 'National Anthem, miss'.

'It's Ok, sit down' and no matter how many 'buts' I stammered out, she waved me off.

I came home and told my Dad what happened. He was most disappointed in the teacher. "No wonder our country's going to the dogs' he said.

Even today, I am wondering which attitude is right.

But I still stand up whenever I even hear it.

'Jai Hind!' I say...always!

Pesterfering Phony Panni

He was not exacty a colleague although he worked for the same company I did. As a punishment for being employed by the same company, I met him a few times (totally perhaps 6-7 times) during my 6 years in that office. I was never particularly fond him although he was fairly polite with me and not bad looking either!! BUT...

He would say some things...stuff, which he ought not to be telling some woman whom he barely knew. Things about his wife and just how disinterested with her he was or something along those lines. Only, he phrased it differently "She has a problem". SHE! Right. But I NEVER (even on terribly bored days) encouraged this subject. In fact I studiously ignored it. But consistently, he would make it a point to show his lack of interest.

Later... I was not in the company any more. Nor he. Professionally also, he had a few black marks to his credit, er, DEBIT, I mean. However, he got my home number from some blessed colleague of mine and called me one day out of the blue. First he wanted me to 'be his friend'. Then he wanted to know if I 'knew any one who could help him in a land dispute' (YAWN!) I did not. Neither did I jump with joy when he said "You are my only friend in Chennai". Oh you sicko. Am sure there is a reason you have no friends. Well, as it turned out, there are many reasons. Then, we got back to the sob story of "My wife has a problem. Untreatable. We live separate lives". SNORE. I took two calls like that -- pointless talks with people I doubt sincerely don't do it for me anymore. So, I stopped taking his calls. He tried, tried, tried. Smsd. Like EVERY day. One day I picked up my house phone (no caller id) and he wanted to know if I wanted a job in the company he worked for. "Nope" I said. Then he actually came home (Don't know how he got my address....eeks) and wanted to see me. I was really mad and told somebody to take a message as I was 'not home'. The message was his visiting card. Hmph.

Then I simply continued ignoring his smss and calls again until MAYBE he got the point. This was around 5 months ago. To cut this long story short, it has now turned out that the man had pestered enough other people to earn him some serious trouble with the law in his romantic, extra-marital endeavours. Ha. PPP I believe and HOPE is being correctly punished for focussing on rubbish instead of on LIFE.

Ok, Now I think this guy's a waste of space in my blog. Will give it a few days and then delete it. Since I mentioned PPP before, just wanted to take the tale to its logical ending.

On the train with Pervert Prabhu

2001 August or so, I travelled by overnight train to Bangalore and back with my mother. On the return journey to Chennai, there were only men in our compartment -- which bothered me somewhat. Still, it could not be helped and it was soon time to lay out sheets and lie down. I had the lower berth as did my mom. I helped the guy in the middle berth (just above mine) to spread the sheet on his berth. Really, I did not help so much as give the sheet a twitch and a tug once. I would do it for anyone...well, not anymore. The guy mumured thanks to which i just smiled non-comittally. (I no longer do this--my middle name is now Grumpy-Face).You'll see why. The guy was in his late twenties or so...normal looking.

The lights went out -- I had a vague opinion on one of the other guys on the uppermost berths -- that he was rather selfish and brash. Don't remember how that opinion was formed...anyway...so, it was dark and I thankfully had my blanket pulled right up to my chin. Say around 1 or 2 a.m., I was woken up by some weird pressure on my toes! I looked to see this middleberth 'thanker'-turned-pervert massaging my toes. MASSAGING! Ugh. At first, i could not BELIEVE my eyes. So I waited in complete bewildement and disbelief. Then he came again over the edge of his berth (footside) and did it again. Then I yelled "You $%#$ stop that" and then he stopped as if shot and went back onto his berth..disappeared from my line of vision. I was shaking with anger and ...ugh-feelings. I shouted out again, calling him some names. Bloody so and so...you get the picture. Still, nothing happened. The guys around seemed disturbed but nobody did anything.

My Mom asked me what happened, i told her (taking care to be loud)and I was even more annoyed when all she said was "do you want to switch places with me?" So I got up and walked a bit up and down the corridor looking for a cop. OBVIOUSLY there are no cops when one desperately wants to see one! So i switched on the lights and came back to lie down on my berth. I did this cos I wanted to rouse the morons who surrounded me (I was equally angry at the rest of the co-passengers for not caring about my yells). After a few minutes, the selfish fellow on the upper berth said "what is this? i am trying to sleep -- who put the lights on?" Aha. This was what i was waiting for. "I did" I retorted loudly. "There is an indecent guy on the middle berth above me and I don't feel safe so I switched the lights on". The selfish jerk then says "But madam, that is between you and him...why should you disturb the rest of us?" At this, I was pretty enraged. I got up and faced the whole compartment and shouted and raved about their selfishness and the guy's bad behaviour.

Pervert Prabhu who had been pretending to sleep pretended to look up groggily and I bit his head off. Figuratively of course...who would touch that jackass with a tenfoot pole? I snapped at him and said "don't pretend!" One guy half-heartedly, reprimanded PPrabhu. I told the lot that when we reach Chennai, i would summon a policeman and take it from there and as the chivalrous men in the compartment did not care for my discomfort or safety, i would let them get back to their beauty sleep, I would switch off the lights. BUT...IF anything further happened, I would lead the whole lot of them into a lot of trouble. I then went back to my berth in a huff after switching off the lights.

I bet the guys got nervous with my big talk cos one crept out and put some dim lights on and thereafter nobody (MUCH to my satisfaction) slept. They kept going to the loo. Serves them right.

In the morning as I was itching to get to a cop, Pervert Prabhu sidled off his berth QUICKLY and disappeared in a jiffy. As for me? I ranted a bit at my Mom who did not have much to say (i am still a wee bit bugged!) and then thought of the best way to cleanse my toes although he did not touch me directly - only through the blankets. Still...YUCK!

I came home and scrubed my feet hard for a few days.

And only then did i sit back and dare to consider rape victims...actually, i did NOT dare. It is too horrible to even think about. I am quite proud of my actions that night. All I regret is not having slapped him a few times. THAT would have sealed the deal. What say?

Next in line...PPP.

Btw, thanks for the 4 comments I got for my previous. Yes, LKS, I do know that the US folks have your point as one of the few better-than-Indian things about them. I was there for 6 months 11 years ago. I found there that nobody cared how others dressed--GREAT! (But also, nobody...cares!)

Cheers!

Appalling people - I regret not kicking these butts!

Nearly 2 years ago...

There was this one lady in my gym (We will call her Mean Madam)who started the girls' locker room-talk with "so tell me, how come you got so fat?" Aha! Always the right note to make friends - a real charmer! I was so pissed off I told her "well, the obvious way -- too much food and not enough exercise". If it was today, i bet I would have said something a lot less polite to her and more satisfying to me. As it was, I was terribly shocked at her meanness and just avoided her thereafter. And only few months later, when i was getting tired of playing 'hide' from her (not hide and seek--did nt wanna seek THIS dame!) , did I learn from my aerobics classes pals that this one was a majorly unpopular number, being mean all around to everyone. The point to note is that she herself is not exactly svelte! Hmph.

The next is about a man who I am still playing 'hide' from, at the gym. This ManduMister was just another member who offered the stretch machine to me from what I thought was perhaps chivalry! Hah. Fat assumption. He turned out to be a plain ol' jerk. I accepted the machine out of turn cos I was in a real hurry and after i had finished, I got ready to leave but turned back to smile and say ' i am in a hurry today so, thanks'. Now this twit responded with "can i ask you something?". Apologetically, I said "yes...but am in a bit of a hurry...?"

So, Mister Twit says "How did you put on so much weight?" Again as apalled as i was, I said 'er...in the usual way' and he pressed on "Do you eat nonveg?" I said "Er.......no...err..." I mean who the hell is he to ask me any of this? So why do I owe him an answer, honest or otherwise? Of course me today, would have stuck my tongue out at him or given him a cold look and walked out on the conversation, but me then, was a pushover.

So he goes on "ah, then it must be easy to lose weight if you are veg" (Well, DUH!heard of the vegetarian mammal -- The ELEPHANT?) Blubbering on..." What do you eat in the morning?" "DUHHHH. Am i going to discuss my life with you?"

So i said "Look, as I said, I am really in a hurry...so.." and moved away a bit. Then he goes" ok, ok, sorry, but you have such a nice face and..." This was the last straw. Hitting on and insulting me at the same time! It was not even like he is some James Bond variety! Definitely had a James Bonda face and a very irritating expression and a horrible dress sense and an annoying, receding hairline! None of these I would have noticed MIND you, if he had been a nice person in the first place!

Saying "Thanks..." for the 'compliment', I strode off. Later I heard from a friend at the gym that he tried asking her out for coffee to discuss his marital 'issues'!! Basically, a man best avoided!Also learned his name which I have now, (predictably?) forgotten!

Even today, if I see him around (which i thankfully don't much), I simply dart in the opposite direction! Escapist I definitely am. Else, might throw something at him but usually have nothing filthy enough to do so.

That's the story of Mister Twit.

As for the Mean Madam, she is hardly to be seen and if seen, we all make sure she is not heard!!

Next post will probably be about my encounter with a sicko on a train...let's call him Pervert Prabhu! Ohhh and I must follow that up with the Pesterfering Phony Panni (PPP), the guy who was looking for extra marital affairs in the name of frienship and called one of the most unlikely candidates for it in the world...yeah, ME!:)

But those are not gym tales...just tales;)

Just wait...till my next post.

Cheers!

Back to the future!

Got back to the gym yesterday. After 3 months, I discovered, my various and abundant body parts are still functioning well. But my enthusiasm had waned. Probably the old poster that said " I might as well exercise. I am in a bad mood anyway" has taken the front seat. Bad mood caused by weight gain of course. The fault is mine of course. Which makes my bad mood worse of course. This is the reason I don't think too much these days...about anything!!;)

So half-heartedly, I went through the aerobics routine yesterday and today find that my belly has identified the outer adipose wall which constitutes my biggest ache. Wish I had considered exercise as normal as brushing my teeth, bathing... and you know other 'needful' activities from when I was very young. But as it is, I find everything is an effort -- moving and shaking and all that!

Still, I have gone back to some routine for workouts however sad my attitude is. I relished my workout today cos the woman on the efx (crosstrainer) next to mine was cribbing about another guy in the gym - a tall, weirdo who apparently does annoying things like switching channels constantly on the TV monitors and also moving weirdly to the music. This kind of entertainment is enough to take my mind off the workout at hand and the number of calories required to be burned.:)

There are some good stories from the gym that I can share here...not great stuff but it all strives to keep my interest alive. Weirdos from the same planet. Ahaaaa. I will write about one guy, whose name is Babber (actually it is another name but I want the name to be silliier than it is cos HE is definitely an ass).

Good, good. Looking forward to next post then...It's gonna be a bigtime crib, I tell you!

Another day in paradise indeed!

Chennai is very pleasant indeed today. Rains in the morning and cloudy and kinda cool the whole day. I set out in the afternoon and saw someone on the pavement-- a man all curled up and shirtless. He was sleeping I think. How would I know exactly what he was doing, considering I was in an airconditioned car and travelling at 30 kms/hour? Anyways, that fleeting glimpse was enough to set me thinking that perhaps the man might be cold...maybe hungry. Well, what was I going to do about it? I was anyway on my way to Mainland China, a nice Chinese restaurant for lunch with a friend. Such luxury! So, I did nothing. But, like once before, I just wished I had carried some unwanted clothes with me. On the previous occasion, I had a bag full of baby clothes which I satisfiedly gave away to a beggar woman with baby; not that it made me a better person...but at least I was not any worse. Least I can do really.

So...this man remains shirtless am sure and don't even think i will do anything about it except, maybe, carry the unwanted stuff around with me hereafter(big effort in itself) and then as and when the occasion presents itself, I might help someone.

Just the average, sef-centered person...not 'thinking twice' meaningfully ...as yet. If you have heard Phil Collins' award-winning song, you will get what am saying...