well, it's been an year since the d'kation (decoction) extraction began!
started off with a travelogue, strolled on to a political view, threw in a few anecdotes, couple of movie reviews, so-called-poems - picking up kaapi-likers on the way, and an year is gone.
hey kaapi-drinkers - you have been my inspiration to continue my hobby. thank you all!
well again, this aandu-vizha-post (anniversary post) i like to dedicate to my soon-to-be-life-partner - kala. (the reason why march was blog deprived ;-)
here is the attempt-at-a-poem that i wrote for her on valentine's day!
a single no more on valentine,
dusted and sold rights of 'koi humdum na raha' pristine,
profit boom reports phone company on magazine,
i don't know why i wrote that line!
see everywhere my angel divine,
imagine like had caffeine-cocain combine,
making me do things asinine,
can obtain shoreline in dark mine or ravine,
when i have you, my valentine.
Monday, April 13, 2009
Monday, February 16, 2009
my dear army officer
my thatha (grandpa, mom's dad) - a perfection demanding, brisk walking, british english speaking, melody songs loving, hindu crossword cracking, arithmetic wizard. but the icing - a very very short tempered man.
to give you an essence of the shortness - when he is tempered, a crying child in the next house will freeze, put a finger on its mouth, and put one on its mother's.
as a kid, i admired him for his knowledge, but avoided the army officer. i had to keep my radar sharp, lest i would have to undergo a smartness and sharpness check by the officer, which i used to fail consistently.
periodically, he would set a trap for the evasive kid, capture me, make me sit, and teach me wren-yuck-martin. those doses of grammar sucked, and the homework he gave, zapped my energy. even multiple cups of maltova was not enough to re-energize. (amma should have given me coffee then!)
i rejoiced when my parents moved to madras, away from thatha's 'guantanamo bay' - madurai. thatha-payrun (grandson) meet ups reduced, and even when we did meet up, grammar was not on the agenda.
years have rolled.
now, when i turn back, i notice that the little impeccable qualities, crossword solving prowess and peter-english that i possess have their dues to the seed implanted by my dear army officer.
today is his thithi (death anniversary - 9th). in his remembrance, i raise a cup of coffee to him, without any sugar in it, the way he used to drink it.
why is it that the scent of a person is more palpable when he/she is not around ?
i miss you thatha.
to give you an essence of the shortness - when he is tempered, a crying child in the next house will freeze, put a finger on its mouth, and put one on its mother's.
as a kid, i admired him for his knowledge, but avoided the army officer. i had to keep my radar sharp, lest i would have to undergo a smartness and sharpness check by the officer, which i used to fail consistently.
periodically, he would set a trap for the evasive kid, capture me, make me sit, and teach me wren-yuck-martin. those doses of grammar sucked, and the homework he gave, zapped my energy. even multiple cups of maltova was not enough to re-energize. (amma should have given me coffee then!)
i rejoiced when my parents moved to madras, away from thatha's 'guantanamo bay' - madurai. thatha-payrun (grandson) meet ups reduced, and even when we did meet up, grammar was not on the agenda.
years have rolled.
now, when i turn back, i notice that the little impeccable qualities, crossword solving prowess and peter-english that i possess have their dues to the seed implanted by my dear army officer.
today is his thithi (death anniversary - 9th). in his remembrance, i raise a cup of coffee to him, without any sugar in it, the way he used to drink it.
why is it that the scent of a person is more palpable when he/she is not around ?
i miss you thatha.
Monday, February 2, 2009
cow can fly
"c..o..w...cow, c..a...n...can, f....l...y...fly", actor1 reads out from a hand written notebook.
"cow can fly", repeats actor2, a second grade school student.
"wait a second! cow can fly? no it cannot be", said actor1.
actor2 gives a look of an inverted exclamation mark.
actor1 confidently says, "this is wrong kanna (dear). there must be something else here as 'cow cannot fly'."
"no!! cow can fly. my teacher told me."
"cow cannot fly. you might have noted down incorrectly", kindly said actor1.
an offended actor2 objects, "no....cow can fly. my teacher told me so."
"cow does not have wings. it cannot fly. let us rub this...", said a bit less kinder actor1.
"NO....cow can fly..... my teacher told me so. do not rub it", says actor2, and grabs the rubbing hand of actor1.
"ella pa (no dear)....let us change this."
actor2, now an angry actor who is almost in tears - "don't.... rub..... my..... teacher told me", and starts crying.
actor1 continues rubbing the almost indelible pencil writing about cow's flight.
the crying actor2 presses hard on actor1's hand, and pleads, "no. my teacher will scold me, don't rub."
actor3 intervenes. "amma, leave it. let the cow fly today." the actor turns to the kid, "dei! ask your teacher tomorrow and correct it. if your teacher still says 'cow can fly', let us all go to her house and watch the cow take off."
actor2, the little-dear-incorrigible brother of mine, was relieved and was all smiles.
"cow can fly", repeats actor2, a second grade school student.
"wait a second! cow can fly? no it cannot be", said actor1.
actor2 gives a look of an inverted exclamation mark.
actor1 confidently says, "this is wrong kanna (dear). there must be something else here as 'cow cannot fly'."
"no!! cow can fly. my teacher told me."
"cow cannot fly. you might have noted down incorrectly", kindly said actor1.
an offended actor2 objects, "no....cow can fly. my teacher told me so."
"cow does not have wings. it cannot fly. let us rub this...", said a bit less kinder actor1.
"NO....cow can fly..... my teacher told me so. do not rub it", says actor2, and grabs the rubbing hand of actor1.
"ella pa (no dear)....let us change this."
actor2, now an angry actor who is almost in tears - "don't.... rub..... my..... teacher told me", and starts crying.
actor1 continues rubbing the almost indelible pencil writing about cow's flight.
the crying actor2 presses hard on actor1's hand, and pleads, "no. my teacher will scold me, don't rub."
actor3 intervenes. "amma, leave it. let the cow fly today." the actor turns to the kid, "dei! ask your teacher tomorrow and correct it. if your teacher still says 'cow can fly', let us all go to her house and watch the cow take off."
actor2, the little-dear-incorrigible brother of mine, was relieved and was all smiles.
Monday, January 26, 2009
SALE! SALE!! SALE !!! Everything Must Go!
over the last few years, i have seen the caption put up as a sign outside a good number of shops in new york downtown. i thought it was a strategy employed by a shop to push its products. once the sale is done, the shop would either rename or relocate.
the same sign met my eyes outside a circuit city outlet. this time, for a change, i did believe the shop's outcry. circuit city, the number two electronics seller chain, has been short circuited.
yesterday, me and my friends, on our way back from a drive to point pleasant beach, decided to stop over at the outlet. heavy crowd and light discounts (10-15%) were omnipresent in the shop. tvs and monitors were selling like hot cakes.
a 60 year old business being shutdown in this fashion was a bit saddening. i felt for the employees who seemed to be engaged in hara-kiri.
PS: money savers, you might want to check circuit city stores in a week or two for better discounts.
UPDATE : jan 31 - got the battered flier from the battered company. check out the store if interested.
the same sign met my eyes outside a circuit city outlet. this time, for a change, i did believe the shop's outcry. circuit city, the number two electronics seller chain, has been short circuited.
yesterday, me and my friends, on our way back from a drive to point pleasant beach, decided to stop over at the outlet. heavy crowd and light discounts (10-15%) were omnipresent in the shop. tvs and monitors were selling like hot cakes.
a 60 year old business being shutdown in this fashion was a bit saddening. i felt for the employees who seemed to be engaged in hara-kiri.
PS: money savers, you might want to check circuit city stores in a week or two for better discounts.
UPDATE : jan 31 - got the battered flier from the battered company. check out the store if interested.
Monday, January 12, 2009
six two
in india, one is blessed to have the option to outsource certain mundane, trivial chores. ironing of clothes is one of these. damn! how much i miss it.
when I was in hyderabad, I used to walk to the ironing lady's shop, that was couple of streets away from my home, to drop clothes. the following day i collected the clothes minus the wrinkles.
on my first visit to this shop, I was unwelcome-d by a 5 year old kid who was standing at the shop's threshold. upon seeing me, he ran into the shop, stood at a distance, and stared. i gave him a smile, and a wink. no change of expression on his face and he continued to stare.
the kid welcomed me the same way on my next visit. my broken telegu, like "ikkada ra…" (come here), peter-english-hi, didn't help.
on the third visit, he garnered some guts ( I dunno from where!), and walked up to me. i smiled. his stare had now metamorphosed into an awe.
the kid set his head in a pendulum motion, and starting at my knee began to raster scan me. as his eyes reached mine, he stopped, sighed, and exclaimed, "enthaa...bedha manishi!". (what a big human!)
Sunday, December 28, 2008
iGhajini
either i have a memory loss or ghajini is the first hindi movie to be named after a villain. probably the director named it so because the villain had a better phone - the iphone.
only if 'air voice' had a tie-up with 'iphone', aamir's post knock-out-punch life would have been much less painful and less stressful. iphone would have been his savior, and one stop shop remedy for his 'short term memory loss'.
instead of scribbling all over his body, aamir would need just one tatoo - "check iphone - password 0007."
the manager knocks on the door, and would say, "hello sir! i am your manager. please check your facebook."
also, the free cool apps would have attempted to improve aamir's memory power, and make him less impatient. games like 'labyrinth lite' would have held him to his seat at the medical college auditorium, while the movie audience could have heart-fully savored the-hot-but-cannot-act jiah khan in the 'latoo' song.
google maps would have rendered the street view of mumbai. aamir could have done better things, like dance to another number, instead of mapping out mumbai on his wall.
sanjay singhania could have gone green, and in lieu of writing those bulky diaries, he could have blogged, from his iphone, at ihatesrk.blogspot.com .
hey murugadoss, had you directed iGhajini, steve jobs would have definitely bought the overseas rights, and dubbed the movie in english.
memento chritopher nolan's understand did not folks who - would have made fresh memories of 'short term memory loss', and iphone sales would have sky rocketed.
only if 'air voice' had a tie-up with 'iphone', aamir's post knock-out-punch life would have been much less painful and less stressful. iphone would have been his savior, and one stop shop remedy for his 'short term memory loss'.
instead of scribbling all over his body, aamir would need just one tatoo - "check iphone - password 0007."
the manager knocks on the door, and would say, "hello sir! i am your manager. please check your facebook."
also, the free cool apps would have attempted to improve aamir's memory power, and make him less impatient. games like 'labyrinth lite' would have held him to his seat at the medical college auditorium, while the movie audience could have heart-fully savored the-hot-but-cannot-act jiah khan in the 'latoo' song.
google maps would have rendered the street view of mumbai. aamir could have done better things, like dance to another number, instead of mapping out mumbai on his wall.
sanjay singhania could have gone green, and in lieu of writing those bulky diaries, he could have blogged, from his iphone, at ihatesrk.blogspot.com .
hey murugadoss, had you directed iGhajini, steve jobs would have definitely bought the overseas rights, and dubbed the movie in english.
memento chritopher nolan's understand did not folks who - would have made fresh memories of 'short term memory loss', and iphone sales would have sky rocketed.
Wednesday, December 3, 2008
all's well that ends well
sometimes...it is good to fail.
my failure to get into "the daily show" the last time, got me tickets to watch the live recording of today's show from the vip stand.
in fact, i had two extra vip tickets that i offered to few of my friends. none of them took it. some were not ready to leave work early, some had prior appointments, while a couple of them asked, "who is jon stewart?".
the show was hilarious, and jon stewart is a rock star. his wit, humor and presence of mind is just 'out of the world'. before the recording started, he took few questions from the audience.
someone asked, "can i get to intern on your crew?".
the host replied, "sorry. i don't know anyone on the show. anyways, don't take up internship here. they won't pay you, and you will be sodomized, like in the white house."
damn the show director, the camera does not cover the audience. so, hear me laugh in tonight's edition of "the daily show". if you miss it on comedy central, you can catch it tomorrow on http://www.hulu.com.
my failure to get into "the daily show" the last time, got me tickets to watch the live recording of today's show from the vip stand.
in fact, i had two extra vip tickets that i offered to few of my friends. none of them took it. some were not ready to leave work early, some had prior appointments, while a couple of them asked, "who is jon stewart?".
the show was hilarious, and jon stewart is a rock star. his wit, humor and presence of mind is just 'out of the world'. before the recording started, he took few questions from the audience.
someone asked, "can i get to intern on your crew?".
the host replied, "sorry. i don't know anyone on the show. anyways, don't take up internship here. they won't pay you, and you will be sodomized, like in the white house."
damn the show director, the camera does not cover the audience. so, hear me laugh in tonight's edition of "the daily show". if you miss it on comedy central, you can catch it tomorrow on http://www.hulu.com.
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