Inheritance.. finally

For those who do not know, Inheritance is the 4th book in the Eragon series. There's Eragon.. I have amnesia.. I cannot remember the 2nd book's name for the life of me..then there's Brisingr and finally Inheritance.

The entire story starts with Eragon, who becomes a dragon rider and his dragon Saphira. I thought the first 3 books were okay. I did not find them to be breathtakingly exciting or anything of the sort. So, my expectations were not very high from the 4th instalment in the series. In the first book, it was all about Eragon and Saphira. Uptill the 4th book, some other characters also came into prominence like Nasuada, Roran etc.

Like any other book, there has to be an "evil" to be conquered.. the objective to the entire series. In this instance, evil is present in the form of Galbatorix, the magician.

So here, I thought, the entire finale will be about Eragon defeating Galbatorix and there would be nothing else to it. I simply bought it as I had already read the first 3 books and just had to finish the 4th for my own satisfaction. And no, curiosity had nothing to do with it.

Funnily enough, I quite enjoyed the book. Inheritance, I am happy to report, is not about Eragon and Saphira. Yes, they do have their own part to play. But so do all others and their role is definitely not inconsequential. In fact, if anything Eragon couldn't have achieved anything much without them. And that stands out.. and I quite like it.

I liked the character of Roran. The strength of character, the intellect I should say.. way better than Eragon. I quite liked Nasuada,Murtagh, Orik, King Orrin, the magician Angela, the werecat Solembum etc. Each one had a definite role to play and I enjoyed reading about each one immensely. I do not think I would be off the mark, if I say all of these characters undermined Eragon and Saphira. In fact, that's the very reason I liked it. It was by far the best of the series.

There were 2 things though I couldn't come to terms with - a) Galbatorix. After the entire build up to Galbatorix, the character is weakly etched into the book. Throughout the entire first 3 books, his character builds fear, despair in one.. pretty much like Voldermort. Sadly, the strength of character doesn't live up to the build up at all. He appears and disappears as quickly.

b) It is quite a thick book. And it keeps you absorbed, almost till the end. The post Galbatorix part gets a bit annoying and becomes more of a drag. I just wanted it to end. But it goes on and on and on with Eragon dithering over things. It was so not required.

But all in all, surprisingly, I enjoyed it. Time worth investing in.

Don 2

I had wanted to write about Inheritance.. but Don 2 takes precedence.

I just watched it last night you see. Question No 1 - Did I like it? I am not very sure actually. You read my post and tell me if I liked it.

SRK as don - his entry into the screen frame is just awesome. If only I could whistle. He looks lean and mean.. literally!! His hair is long and untidy, tied into a half pony (as we used to call it). He is on this motorboat. He is thin. Thin to the point of looking malnourished. He looks as if he hasn't eaten for days. He has an untidy beard to go along with the untidy hair. And he just looks fantastic.

He looks every bit mean as Don was meant to look like. He looks positively villainous. His dialogue delivery is brilliant. He is ruthless, he doesn't care two hoots about anyone. The first half an hour.. Don in the Thai Prison is just all about SRK. And don't we just love it.

But then.. there's always a but isn't it! Then suddenly he reaches Berlin.. all clean shaven having escaped from prison.. and his hair is all nice and shampooed, dyed even. And I missed the Thai SRK throughout the movie. The plot tries its best to be intelligent.

It is definitely a slick movie. Theres no doubt on that. But I got bored in the middle.. for a good half an hour.. and I was thinking about intermission and eating popcorn..tried to peer at other people's faces to figure out their reaction, twiddled my thumbs.. I am sure am exaggerating.. but then again, I was mightily bored. Is there a word called mightily?

In any case. There was no need for Roma or Mr Malik in the movie. Remove them from the equation, it does not make an iota of a difference to the movie.

Lara Dutta looks ravishing, especially in the title song. She beats Priyanka Chopra hands down. But as much as she says, "mere aur bhi khubhiyan hain" etc, none of the other khubis besides her beauty and dancing skills get displayed in the movie.

And there was absolutely no need for Don to start swinging and singing and dancing in the song. The entire meanness factor built up in the initial bit of the movie goes for a toss.

And what was it with getting Don to roam around with cops to free hostages. With a gun in hand.. and Don doing heroics and saving people!!!  Villainy destroyed. And which cops in the world would allow a dreaded criminal like Don "jisko pakadna mushkil hi nahi namumkin hai" to roam around like this. Many funny scenes dominate the bank heist. With SRK sitting sitting in the bank and calling Malik and asking to speak with Roma. Malik also obliging and giving the phone to her.. him complaining about helicopter lights etc..And to save best for the last, Roma still in love with Don and unable to shoot him. Whhhhhhhhaaaaaattt was that all about.

And there was another character in the hacker.. who seems to explain every step he takes, for the Indian audience (??). Example.. now I am recording this.. now I will show the same clip on video to the silly guards.. and now I will switch off the lights.. grrrrrrrrrrrr


Finally in the end, they grant my wish and show SRK with his beard ..  close to the Thai Version and I am happy.

It could have been way better. A tp movie for sure. A slick movie for sure. A hollywoodish movie for sure. BUT, I wish..

Already 2012!

Where did the year disappear. Someone pinch me. I feel as if I have sleepwalked through the year. It was just a few days back that I was at my previous company.

I changed companies after some 5 years and am pregnant. Quite a year I must say, though I still cant tell you what is it that I have exactly done in the year.

Next year, 2012, is full of change of course.. given my situation. I wonder what would I be doing next year. Here's what I wish I would be doing next year, besides the baby part of it :

a) Traveling
b) Reading
c) Blogging
d) Being with my family and friends, as much as I can.


Some of you, who know me from before, would be aghast that I haven't added working to the above list. I have always been a workaholic. Work has always defined who I am. This year saw a change in that thought. And no it is not a pregnancy related realisation. The change in priority started way before. The questions started last year I think - Is work really that important in my life, that I have woven everything else in my life around work. I used to map my entire day, week, month basis work. Well, I still do it.. but not as fanatically I used to manage things earlier.

And its not that suddenly work holds no importance in my life. It still defines me, to a certain extent. I still wouldn't know what to do if I did not work. But, these days I think, if I ever were to take a break from work, I don't think I would be at a loose end.. twiddling thumbs.. getting scared of thinking, rather brooding about "no job" situation. Somewhere I would like to think I have changed a bit. At least I say it aloud - I am bored of working, of whatever I am doing. Earlier, I would be astonished at people who could say such things.

If I had written a post an year or so back, Work would have been the top most item in my list. But now, am ok leaving it off work. But that does not mean I do not want to work. I do. I do get scared of the "no work" situation and becoming totally dependent. I don't fret as much about clients giving me a hard time or team not doing well or not meeting numbers.

As compared to the earlier me, I probably am not as likely to get into a panic about it.. am more accepting .. or so I would like to think.

This post was meant to be something else!!!!!! Its different :D

I am inspired by a post by melee  on weight issues. My post doesn't have anything to do with weight issues but on the dieting pain that I can now understand.

I do not need to diet. I have never had to diet. And I wonder how many people I doled out the advise to - "come on, just eat a bit less of this or don't eat so much junk etc". Careless statements, I know realise.

I have been told not to eat -

a) Pickle - pregnancy related, doc recommend. Apparently high on salt content
b) Fried stuff - same as above
c) Chocolates - doc recommended, caffeine and sweet
d) Pumpkin - In laws said not to eat
e) Mango - Mom said not to eat
f) Any sweets including ice cream - doc recommended as right now I have high sugar
g) Red meat - Doc recommended, Have no idea why
f) Chinese - Doc recommended, I guess because of the ingredient ajinomoto
g) Coffee - Doc recommended, caffeine

Now, a few months back, I would have scoffed at this list. What do I care about coffee? I am a tea drinker. Mango - who has so much mango anyway!! This is easy peasy.

Ever since I stopped eating all this, I crave to eat each and every single item on the list. I realised the importance of pickle in my life post becoming pregnant!! It brings so much flavour to same dreary home food that I eat everyday for all 3 meals. When I say dreary, let me also clarify - my cook makes same food almost everyday. Her repertoire is kind of limited. Everytime my mom comes over, she teaches her one or two new things to make. And I eat the same food for lunch as well as dinner. And many a times in the evening too when I feel hungry. She really cant make too many things!! My " food outings" are very limited these days!! You can imagine my plight. Pickle just instantly uplifts the flavours of everything I eat. Initially I didn't have pickle, but I have started it everyday now. I cannot live without pickle. Anyway, now that mom is here for a few days, I am eating interesting things - macaroni, sandwiches, mooli paratha etc!! And I am loving it. But the dark dreary days will be back again with a vengeance soon. :(

I love chocolates. I do not like sweets. I bought a pack of nutella. Its sitting on the kitchen shelf, forlorn. I cannot eat it as my sugar levels are high. How I want to cry everytime I spy it on the shelf.

Pumpkin is one of the favourite vegetables in my mallu household. Before marriage, my mom used to make it about 3-4 times a week. Post marriage, I used to make it a few times in a month. But now I crave for it. Because of random superstitions, I cannot eat what I love.

I cant say I love mutton. But the other day at Koshy's I fought with A on ordering a mutton stew. I salivate whenever I see mutton curries. And I have to eat its poor cousin - chicken curry :( am sick of it.


And these days, I love the coffee smell. Especially the filter coffee smell. Everytime we go to a South Indian joint, I am the only sitting duck, probably in the entire restaurant who orders tea!!!

I crave for the "forbidden fruit"!! Its only now I realise the importance of these things in my life. And next time, I wont be so free with my random advise on people's eating habits.

Gawd, its painful!! And my patience is fast running out.

I want to have momos right now!!

ps: I have 2 more crib posts. Sorry,  but thats how it is. After that, I will try to write to happy posts!!!! For now its grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr

Of course I am annoyed right now. My driver has decided to take a circuitous route to a meeting saying its a short cut. Just told him off. I am late and the roads are bad!!

The language issues

Whats with calling someone "babe"!! I know it doesnt have anything to do with language .. but there are some words that annoy me to the extreme.

The other day, a friend called me and said, "how are you, babe!!" I find it so unnatural. And I have a name. I guess this friend is used to being abroad and thats how they refer to each other which I can still comprehend. What irritates me is this "babe" thing on FB. Conversations between women, girls will have one "babe" and one "muaaahhh". I cant help but cringe at the sight of these terms used affectionately (??). To me it sounds so wannabe!! Maybe I am becoming senile.

Another thing I do not like is the abbreviated version of english that you see on FB. "dis" for this, "dat" for that etc. A young cousin of mine messaged me on FB. Her message was full of "dis" "dat", "d" (the), "hv" (have), "ma" (me.. this one annoys me the maximum I think). After trying to comprehend it for 5 full mins, that I had to finally ask her to message the same message again but this time in proper english. Turns out, all she was asking was the distance between 2 places in Bangalore!!

Even the kids in my team send me such messages regarding work. Its so awful, this rubbish I am subject to. Till now, I havent pulled up anyone though I really had to control myself!!

I shudder to think of this kind of language permeating to official emails! Going by what I see, by the time my cousin starts working, it may very well happen. What is the world coming to.

Master Chef yet again..US this time

This is going to be a very profound post. So if you do not want to read a profound post, this is the moment where you can close the window. I am sounding like the prologue chapter of Series of Unfortunate Incidents. LOL. Nevertheless.

I say profound because of 2 reasons - I am writing on the way to work, while traveling in my car, even before I have started working! So, probably something profound coming right up. I have never been motivated enough to write when in the car. This is a first!!

And second, its on MC again. Hah!! Profound Cr**.

So, Kate won MC Aus. I am happy.. happy Micheal did not win. Gawd, he is so whiny!!!!!!

After MC Aus got over, I was still semi-happy as MC US was starting in the same time slot. At least something to watch.

So after 2 days of MC US bakwaas, I was motivated enough to post. If none of you have caught it -

Day 1 of MC US - Selection of Top 50 or whatever it is.

One guy comes in with a girl to cook.

Gordon Ramsay : Is she your wife?
Contestant : No
GR : Is she your girlfriend?
Contestant : No. She is a part of the dish (or something to that effect). I am going to make you body sushi.

And then, the girl removes her dressing gown and guess what, she is totally naked. This contestant puts a mattress on the cooking table and proceeds to put sushi on her unmentionables!!!

To which GR says : "I wouldn't want to get any hair on my sushi" (GROSS)

The contestant dribbles the sauce over sushi which is flowing everywhere.

GR : "your sauce is dribbling all over her."

Of course, they didn't select the contestant. Rather I should say, Thank God, they didn't.

Theatrics define MC of all other countries. Why cant they just focus on food like MC Aus. Why do they need to do all this drama. Even contestants are like this. One girl who has won beauty pageants.. and says in her introduction, I have bl***y walked in 5 inch heels in a swimsuit on a stage... trying to talk about how she is different and what all accomplishments she has had in life!!

Or another one.. this time a lawyer who pleads her case with the judges.

Or a judge (GR again) who tells a trucker who has a tattoo on his b**t to show his tattoo.. and he promptly drops his pants and shows it. The other judges tell him to wash his hand before cooking.

What the heck is this show about!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Why are the contestants so arrogant and cocky. Why cant they be normal like people in MC Aus. Even people at MC India are better.

This show is like another version of big boss. And all it incites you to do, is slap people.

Some fillup required

From you guys!

Please post. With the exception of melee, no one is posting. Please help me get on a higher plane.

Help me help myself.

Crib time

I am sick and tired of visiting docs and getting tests done.

My schedule for the week starting today :

Friday : Went to the hospital to meet a diabetologist. Waited for 2 hours for an appointment which took exactly 2 mins

Saturday : Need to go to my doc to show reports

Sunday : More tests involving drinking glucose. And not just once ...Uggggggggggggghhhhhhhhhhh .. and a half day process, there goes my weekend. :((

Tuesday : Go to diabetologist again in the hospital

Saturday : Meet the doc for a regular check up

And in between all this, I need to meet 2 docs. They have been referred by my doc who is retiring. So I now need to figure out who will take me through the next 3.5 months.

No wonder am pissed off.

And did I tell you how I hate hospitals! I had forgotten about it - today's visit brought it all back to me :(

A million ad breaks

Now I know why there are ad breaks during any show. A combination of MC Aus and HD made me realise why there are these 5 min breaks between the show and why it is a heaven sent.. for people like me!!!!

I have HD on my Tata Sky. And watching anything without a break is quite a treat really. It attracts you like never before. You don't need to channel surf, you can just watch a programme in its entirety together!! No cuts in between.

Come MC Australia, I have changed my mind. While I would love to watch the show without any break, the problem is the timing. It is on air between 9 and 10pm and that's the time I have my dinner.

So many a days, while watching MC on HD, I would sit with a plate in my hand.. loath to get up for a second helping.. even worse, sit with a plate that goes totally dry waiting for the show to end. I didn't want to miss a minute you see. And one thing I hate, is a drying plate, a drying hand. The minute I finish eating, I get up to wash my hand.s I really hate sitting around. Even during breakfast, if I finish eating but am still having my tea, I first go and wash my hands and then have tea. You get the drift, am sure.

And now am back to watching MC on regular TV. I need the breaks. The first break to heat my food, another one for second helping, a 3rd one to wash up and a 4th one to clean up.

Never thought would say this - cheers to the million ad breaks!! :))

Cooking ahoy

This weekend I am on my own. I remember having posted earlier on the joys of being alone for a change, the fun in shopping alone. In this situation, remove the driver from the equation and things turn on its head.

Actually the driver was present yesterday, but I had to get tests done. Thankfully, it didnt take too much time. I wanted to go to a bookstore and sit there for a while but these days, I get tired out quickly and run back home.

I ate, read, slept, put some clothes in the washing machine. And then asked myself - now what. So I made a lemon pickle for myself.

And today it was a cake.. a plain vanilla cake. I have no idea of how it has turned out. It is cooling in the kitchen.

When you dont have company, 2 days really stretch in front of you!!

In my free time, I figured out a good site for Indian recipes - NDTV cooks. They seem to have nice chicken recipes.

And a nice place to stay at Coorg - Rainforest retreat it is called, I think. It is a farm basically and is run by an NGO. There is no electricity at the plantation. Seems like an ideal place to switch off and relax. For whenever, I can travel next!

And now I again find myself at a loose end. Thankfully, a friend is visiting soon.

***************************************************

Anyone caught MC India? Yesterday's episode was not bad at all. The challenge was similar to MC Aus though I thought that Indian one was tougher. They had to mix and match a core ingredient and a cooking instrument. In the Indian context, they got ingredients like marigold, grapes, thai aubergines (which are bitter), tinda etc. Some of the instruments were old things used in pre historic times - a tawa, a stone thing (looks like a pestle, used to be used in Kerala apparently), a steaming instrument etc. One pair of contestants made tarts.. on a tawa!!!!!!!!! Another one made chicken stuffed with crab meat, a berry sauce and a pomegranate couscous. I thought these guys were very innovative.. a far cry from last year's MC where they would stick to what they know.

Time to check on the cake!

Update: Cake is rock hard! When microwaving, I checked using a knife. Though it came out clean, the top was moist. I microwaved it again and now it is like a stone. :((

Maternity wear.. pah!!!!!!!!

It really is.. pah!

I want to wear nice clothes. I DO NOT want to wear a sack or some ridiculously insipid clothes.

Can someone please go and tell Mom & Me stores that! It was the most upsetting...my visit to the store. The thing is I am quite happy wearing my old nice Cotton World tops - I don't want to hide my belly or anything.  Cotton World has lovely cotton tees, which is really thin and comfortable to wear. They just stretch over you, the right way.. without making you feel constricted.

Then I have pairs of shorts, Abercombie & Fitch and Cotton World again - which I love wearing. What I am missing is my pair of jeans. I have 4 pairs and 2 are redundant now. There are 2 I can wear but the doc has now advised me to give it up. She was the one who asked me to go buy maternity wear.

So I went to the Mom & Me store. I was really upset, I cannot tell you how much. Not only are the bottoms ugly, they are ridiculously overpriced!!!! 2K for a pair of this baggy green 3/4ths. Can you imagine! Even higher than beautifully fitted Levis!!! Just because you don't get maternity wear in India.

Even worse - if I say Mothercare, what comes to your mind? I walk into Shoppers Stop with the same intent of picking up nice maternity wear. There is this big giant board that announces in capital letters MOTHERCARE. And I find only baby stuff there. Dude, who named this store Mothercare. Go check a dictionary. It is mothercare and not babycare. There was not a single thing for a woman in that part of the store. And if that is Shopper Stop's doing, of not stocking stuff related to moms, then WELL!!!!!

As you can see - its incredibly frustrating. Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrr.........I don't want to wear drab bedsheets. I want to wear nice stuff. Why doesn't anyone understand this. Stupid companies.

Someone I know bought material and got it all stitched.. the dresses. I, for one, don't have so much patience.

I think I will stick to M size at Cotton World.. soft soft comfortable beautiful material I want against my skin. Had I seen any company person there, I would have slapped them hard. Silly asses.

Pictures as promised

A few pictures of Fisherman's Cove, Chennai. A beautiful property, and am sure you will agree!

Bay of Bengal

The sea changed colours everyday. The first day, it was the colour of ink, deep blue. And the next day, when it was cloudy, it became steel grey. Just gorgeous. I can actually sit in front of the sea for hours at end.. without even a book in hand!

A pathway within the property

This was a path running through a certain stretch. You cant see it, but there is a framework on top that covers this path and there are bougainvillas planted on the side. Seems like they would be covering the entire roof with flowers. It will be even more beautiful soon! Or will it? I liked the night lit sky as well.



White flowers, dont know which ones

A part of the butterfly garden within the property. It looked beautiful and I couldnt resist taking a picture.



Remains of a fort

And right somewhere in the middle of the hotel grounds, besides the pool, in the midst of the garden, is this wall. Apparently the only remains of an 18th century dutch fort, that used to exist where this hotel was. They say it was possibly a small armory. I, for one, am extremely fascinated with history!!!



Post the rains

I dont know what plant this is. But it was a bright green in the midst of all greenery. And this picture was taken right after it rained.

First day of my last vacation?

Last vacation with only the 2 of us, I should say.

We are at Fisherman's cove. It is a beautiful property on the outskirts of Chennai, about 1.5 hrs drive  from the city. We had actually made this plan with 2 of my good friends who ditched me (are you listening, mommie). But we decided to go ahead with the plan as I didnt want to not go on a vacation. Its only a 3 day vacation, before you people feel envious or anything.

It is a beautiful place, I know I said that already. Nevertheless, this picture should do it for you :)

I am sorry guys. Mail on my phone is not working..so I cannot show you how blue the sea looks, how inviting the path lined with lights look. The minute it works, I promise to put up pictures.

There is no plan for next 3 days, except to laze and enjoy my last vacation as one without an attachment :)

I wish I could take another break in January :(( . After this, I can take my next break only post June I guess  :(((

Can time please pass slowly?

Diwali uptill now

A hectic Diwali to say the least.

It all started last evening when we stuffed ourselves at lunch, tried to light some ghee diyas, tried to pick up Diwali presents for people at work in the middle of a heavy downpour (finally unsuccessful), picked up about 40 diyas and colour to make rangoli.

Since morning, I have put my mom upto making laddus. This time of course it came out right.. turns out I had missed a crucial element when making laddus on my own. After making boondis, you need to put some more ghee in the remaining sugar syrup and thicken it and then add the boondis yet again and wait for the sugar to crystallise before rolling it into laddus. Thats why my boondi didnt stick!!!


The plan for rest of the day -

Step 1: Take a nap
Step 2 : Go to parlour
Step 3 : Figure out a sari to wear in the evening. The thing is none of my blouses fit. So we worked out a solution, my mom and me i.e. .. I will wear my mom's blouse (it just about fits) and my own sari
Step 4: Make Rangoli
Step 5 : Cook dinner, rather help mom do that. A's family is dropping in to celebrate with us. So we are planning to make Cholle - Puri!!! Given that we need to make some 10000 puris (out of 7 of us, 4 men!!!), I have decided that we will make only 20 puris and rest will be rice. Mom wants to make kheer as well!! Gawd!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I already dont have the energy even though my contribution to the laddus is very small.
Step 6 : Wear Sari
Step 7 : Do a quick puja
Step 8 : Light diyas and put up bulbs.
Step 9 : Eat puris, cholle, laddu and kheer AND CRASH

PHEW!!!!!!!! Thank god tomorrow is a holdiay.

I hope it doesnt start raining. HAPPY DIWALI everyone!!

It has a face

Well, what do you know. It has a face!!! Joy and glory.

Till now, it has been there - a thing, a foetus in me. I never thought of it too much except the discomfort it was causing me. But now that I am more used to it, I am somewhat more amenable towards it.

Day before, I went for my 5th month scan. And I actually saw its face!! It has a chapta nose like A.. A says it has a small brain, like me!!! So we are even. :)

And the funniest, when the doc was showing me my blood flow to the baby, only one thought came to my mind and I have to say this in Hindi : abhi se mera khoon choos raha hai. I somehow controlled my laughter. Totally contrary to what the doc must be facing in and out : women in tears at the first sight of their child. And here is this woman laughing!!

But of course I didnt make my thought public. But it was quite funny, at that time!!! My stomach was wobbling with the effort of silent laughter.

Here's to hoping it causes me as much amusement and merriment as it does right now :D

ps : Are my posts becoming as scattered as I think they are becoming?

A day post.. a first

So this is how it feels like.. I am at work and posting during the lunch break. There's no one at work besides me. Everyone has gone out for lunch except me. Well, I have to get "home lunch" everyday and no, am not cribbing. I am quite happy doing that, having faced outside food for a long time!!

But I digress. As I was saying I am alone at work - we are only 6 of us and hence being "the only one at work" for some time an easy possibility!!

So I read and subscribed to Dilbert, ate my lunch, replied to personal mails.. ho hum... and finally decided to put in a post.

About nothing at all.

It is anyway a dead day - clients are off. People are off. Its Diwali. Why the hell am I at work!!

I should go and do Diwali shopping. Hrrmmmpphhh

I am BORED. Its a topsy turvy world..just yesterday I had a very exciting day at work and today I dont feel like lifting a finger up.

Well, such is life. I think I should close this random post. Until tonight, then :)

Another MC post but what the heck.

Yes I know, we are back to the same old topic. But I cant help it.

This post has come to the fore because of the reply to Bluestocking that I had put on my blog yesterday. I had said, I like most of the MC contestants. The minute I posted that I realised it was untrue.. LIAR that I am.

A quick correction - I don't like some of them. Now that there are only 8 or 9 contestants left, you can start to make out what each person is about.

Hayden : I like. Initially he appeared to be cute, charming, sweet. He has been a part of many eliminations and in most of them, he decided to stick with his team and face the elimination except for the one last one! Shows strength of character.. and he is quite smart mind you! Not the picture that a lifeguard creates in your mind. But he is good.

Billy : He is my FAVOURITE. He is always cheerful not matter what happens. And he is b****y good!!

Alana : She is pretty. But besides that I haven't really formed an impression about her. In the last team challenge though, she played the role of a very good leader.

Kate : She is sweet, down to earth, seems very motherly, helps out competitors in challenges!! Nice but doesn't evoke the feeling that Marion used to evoke in me.

Peter : Well he got out. He was a strong contender but very under confident. I would say that the judges moulded him a  lot. He was quite cool by the end of it.

Sun : I find her strange. I cant say I like her, I cant say I don't like her. I am not able to read her. She normally doesn't say anything, express anything. Even if she wins a challenge, she doesn't react. Don't know what to make of her.

Ellie : She is pretty with a smile that lightens up the place. Though she is all over the place most of the times, especially in team challenges.

Michael : I LIKE him. He is really good, very creative and seems very very very grounded. In fact, he is one person I have liked throughout the competition, besides Billy of course!!

Dani : Now her.. I don't like her. I don't know what is it about her that I don't like. It is not that she does something wrong, but I don't know why there is this something about her that I don't like. She used her immunity pin!!!!!! I know that she has earned it and and she should use at the first opportunity. But she was the captain of the team. She was supposed to be the lead, why they didn't get dishes out in time - the primary responsibility would be hers, being the captain.
Ah well, when I think rationally.. all of us are like her aren't we. All of us at work, we usually want to look out for our interests. I do. So why is it wanting to win, seems so out of place in this scenario!!!

Beats me.

Who are you rooting for? Scarlett, you are not allowed to post any spoilers. :p

Restlessness

I do not know why I am restless. I am not able to pinpoint the reason.

Work, pregnancy, lack of sleep, the heat, traffic snarls, general irritation, health of family members, annoying people all around me.

I think I am due for a break.

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Billy left MC and came back. The one single person am rooting for.. Awesome.

Coming up : my favourite festival

Diwali.

I just read a post on Bluestocking's blog. And I just had to write about it. My fingers were itching to write about it.

I love this festival. Actually I love this time of the year.. the run up to new years. The most festive time of the year. And Diwali is my favourite - I have very many warm memories associated with it. It is one festival, where I make an effort to dress up, really dress up. Even now as I am writing this post, I am feeling happy.

What is it about Diwali that lights my face up? I think having celebrated Diwali in Delhi for the better part of my life, has spoiled me for life.

a) The lights for one. I love lights, I like the fact everything is lit up. I dont like darkness much. In fact, even on normal days. the first thing I do when I step in home, I switch on all the lights. And my most treasured part of the day on Diwali, is the lighting up. I usually put a combination of lights (the small bulbs.. yes I had to convert to  these lights, I didnt have an option.. the diyas tend to go off) and diyas. I buy about 50 odd diyas, and light up the entire house. I find it so peaceful.

b) The brightness of everyone's clothes. I love dressing up for Diwali. As we were in Delhi, we always used to dress up. My mom would wear a new sari. And us kids, we would wear new clothes.. new frocks, new skirts and tops. And we used to so, look forward to dressing up. Even now I do. I wear a sari or a really nice salwaar kameez that I do not wear usually. A also gets into the groove of things and wears Indian ethnic clothes, a big change from his usual shorts!! Post marriage, I go full traditional on Diwali.

c) Sweets. I am not a very "sweets" person. I do not have a sweet tooth. But I have tried to maintain one of the traditions that my mom used to ensure when we were in Delhi. She always used to make Laddus. And we kids used to help her in rolling them up. I still remember we used to make about 60 laddus!!! :)

Now I try .. to make some sweet or the other. And usually I find I am not successful! Last time, I tried to make laddus, I couldnt get the boondi to stick together. And once a cake. Just the day before, for Dussehra, I tried to make kheer and burnt it all. But never mind, this year for Diwali, I will try yet again. Laddus perhaps? :D

And this time my mom's going to be there. So this time, laddus should turn out to be just all right!!

We also used to give and receive sweets from everyone. By the end of the day, we would have about 30 odd packs of sweets! Of course, people became more creative and we started getting nuts, chocolates, juices, haldiram gift packs, biscuits packs etc. And even now, I do it. So what if none of our neighbours celebrate Diwali - we still give everyone sweets.


d) The shops. I love going for a walk during Diwali to a main shopping place and I do not mean a mall. In Delhi (yes I know I keep talking about delhi but I cant help it.), we used to stay near a market place. And we used to visit this market every year. Besides the shops, in front of the shops, by the footpath, these sweet stalls and firecracker stalls would spring up.. there wouldnt be any space at all to keep your foot. And they would put up lights and streamers going across the road. Just so festive. It used to be a pleasure walking down the road.

Oh and the smell of sweets in the air as you walk the road.. the halwais busy making laddus and barfees and gulab jamuns etc. Even without a sweet tooth, one just feels happy!

And buying new clothes. When we were young, of course afforability was much lower. But we still used to buy something new.. maybe a top, maybe a skirt or something. And to date, I buy something for Diwali, for everyone.
As a rule, I dont burst firecrackers. But I do admire the beautiful firworks in the sky. At night, every year, the two of us spend time in our balcony, just there, for a long time, admiring the night sky.

And one thing I terribly miss now that am in Bangalore : Ram Leela. In our colony, in Delhi (yet again), we had an all boys amateur drama club. They used to do Ram Leela every year without fail. Everyday at 10, it would start. And we had to have had dinner and sit there on the carpet put outside on the street. Awesome.


I think all these memories are because of my parents. We are Malayalees and usually Malayalees do not celebrate Diwali. But being in Delhi, also probably because my mom was brought up in Jamshedpur, she used to ensure we celebrated the festival. She used to ensure that we participated in every activity - whether making laddus, lighting diyas, shopping for sweets for neighbours, going to all houses to give sweets, whatever it maybe!

Delhi also has a lot of communal spirit. We used to stay in a colony of surds and all of us used to celebrate diwali together. Actually all festivals - be it holi, diwali, janmashtmi, lohri.. anything and everything.
It is a pity Bangalore doesnt celebrate Diwali with as much gusto. But I am festive, nevertheless. Happily festive.

News is out

Oh well! What the heck.

I am 4 mths pregnant. I didnt blog earlier.. I cannot believe I did not!! Usually whatever I am experiencing, I post online. And a change as big!!! I didnt post it!! Whats wrong with me.

Its the hormones. So its been 4 months. Initially, it caused a big upheaval in my life.. our plans.. our neatly mapped out plans.As it always happens, it was unplanned. With everyone sitting on my head, we had planned or thought of planning for next year. But then ... Hmmmm.. And I guess, right now, we are left with no choice.. pretty much!!

So initially, I was completely off track. Now its been 4 months and I have kind of come to terms with it. I am not thinking of next year - what will we ever do!! But am taking each day as it comes.

And yes I had nausea, thankfully only for 10 days!! And then it passed.

And I am hormonal even now.. I break down at the slightest thing, fly into a temper very quickly!!! Am I excited? Am not sure. I am more"used to it" now!!

I also did not blog about it - as my parents had this "dont tell anyone yet" thing. So only the immediate family and close friends knew.

Day after tomorrow, we have this big conference where everyone will come to know about me.. and it is only right to put it up on my blog first!! :)

And I have started showing. Usually people dont show so quickly.. but I am showing already. Everything is happening too fast and too quick. While I did say am used to it, am wondering, am I?

It is exciting at times.. the future discussions with A.The excitement of your parents and near ones!

But the changes one needs to cope with, frustrates the hell out of me at times. The constant need to eat, people trying to stuff you up always, the everyday food , the frustration of eating the same things over and over again..the same spinach.. the same anaar.. and every 2 hours....I fight with everyone a lot on this. I want to slap people when they keep saying, eat this more, eat that more.. grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr

The exhaustion I can deal with. It is the nagging I cant.. and the changes (both mental and physical).

This post is haywire... just like me and my hormones!!!

But hey guys, welcome to my current world ! :)

A long long time ago..

I posted!!

My blog is going into a limbo. This is just a revival , shake me up post.. to cure me of my laziness and wake me up into posting more often.

The thing is my personal machine has conked off. The battery discharges very quickly. And I usually do not post in one sitting. I do a lot of timepass when writing. So am now discouraged. Also A refused to plug in the cord in the living room. I hate sitting in the other room and posting.. its in one corner and usually am alone. So I dont like being in that corner when I am alone in the evenings. And that deserves another post. I have to be in the living room, watching TV or doing other various things!!

Well, one could argue, I could plug in the cord myself.. I did do it a few days. But A painstakingly takes it out everyday and plugs it in the other room. I hate it!!

Plugging in the cord in the living room requires you to know the basics of gymnastics!! Really. I am not joking. And thats why I have stopped attempting it now.

I do have an office laptop.. but I work on it!!! I cannot bring myself to post using the same laptop that I have been sitting in front of the entire day. And of course, I am tempted to check my office mail.

But today, I have defied convention and posted using my other laptop.

And that is my excuse. What is yours : Scarlett, Mommie, Nothing really, Being Sunni, Moony...

My newest friend on FB

My newest friend on FB is my DAD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

And surprise surprise....... he didnt add me. I added him.

His settings were set to private. My dad.. private settings, doesnt allow anyone to see anything, except his friends.. my dad!!! I cannot imagine.

I could see he has put some of our family pics up, and curiosity led me to add him. Of course, he promptly added me. Lol.

Hmmmmmmmmm.. interesting times? Note to myself : Limit profile lol.

MC Australia - Why I love Gary, Geroge and Matt.

I think whoever watched yesterday's episode would agree with me. For those of you, (Scarlett) who have already watched the entire season, I am referring to the elimination episode where they need to make Coconut Alaska Bombe.

The dish in itself is quite complicated. It has 4 different layers - cherry sorbet, ice cream, sponge cake and finally meringue. And all of it needs to come together, so that when you cut a slice, one can clearly separate out the layers.

Complex doesnt describe it - especially given that you have 2 hours and 4 different things to prepare.

So the people in the elimination round included Ellie (isnt she cute, a 75 mm smile she has!!), Billy (I like him too) and Alex. While Ellie and Billy got on fine with their recipes, Alex struggled to get it done.

In the first hour, Gary plodded along him, tasting his stuff saying things need to be done again. And so did Matt. Perhaps they helped the other contestants too, but they didnt show it on TV.

And finally in the last 15 mins, the judges couldnt stand it anymore. Gary started guiding Alex and helping him out , encouraging him to plate the dish. In the final 5 mins, all the 3 judges were standing behind Alex , trying to get him to plate up till the last second!!!

And plate up, he did. The intention of this post was not to give you a minute by minute commentary on the episode, but I just couldnt help it!! :)

Now compare this with any other show where the judges throw contestants food around, scream at them, throw tantrums, include our very own MC too. There is a reason why MC Australia is the most popular.

The judges are humane and genuinely encouraging. They want the contestants to put their best foot forward. They want the contestants to win. As badly as Alex wanted to plate up the dish, the judges wanted it more!! Never do you get to see such involvement, such passion, such desire in any show.. never ever.

In another previous episode, wherein an apprentice of a heavyweight chef competed with Hayden (MC contestant), the chef helped out Hayden much more than he did his own apprentice, even though his neck was on the line - if his apprentice didnt win on his dish, then it would be embarrassing!!

Maybe it is an Australian culture thing. Thats how the people are, maybe - believing in giving everyone a fair chance.

I recorded this show with the intent of watching it again later. A was home and was on a call. By the time it finished, he was still on the call. The minute he was free, I got him to watch the entire thing and I watched it all over again a second time. Such is the pull of Gary, George and Matt.

Scarlett, you had asked which of these 3 I like the best.. I still cannot decide. I like all of them. :)

And all the rest of you reality competition shows - LEARN from MC Australia, just how it is done.

What is next?

I am totally zapped , zapped is too mild a word.But till I can think up a new one, I am totally zapped.

Zapped by social networking. I dont get it. I just dont. There are new applications that are coming up everyday.

There's one that tells everyone where you are at, at every point in time. As if status updates were not enough. Why would anyone want to activate such a thing is beyond me. Why would you want to tell the entire world you are having lunch at XOXO with XOXO. Or XYZ checked into this building. I can understand if you are in a new city, and you want to let your friends know where you are. But wait, there's a phone isnt there. The wanting to meet 2 people need not convert into a mass movement.

Why, I ask you!! And then these people, the very same ones, talk about privacy. They would be vehemently opposed to joint families, and probably constantly talk about space.

I am not annoyed by these updates, they do not bother me as a Facebooker. But I am just wondering about this innate need people have. I wonder how FB or the people who developed this application per se unearthed this money making insight. I guess they must have analysed all status messages and realised that 90% of the status messages are about what people are doing at that point in time. Hmmm

Not to be outdone, there are others riding the bandwagon too. Just saw an ad on TV talking about an application that will tell your friends what you are watching. What joy does anyone get out of reading what some person is watching.

Next will be what - a homing device that uploads status messages like I walked into office, now I am in the washroom and now I am eating daal, and just about now I am chomping on beans.

I dont get it. I really dont.

The perfect job

Is there anything like it? I have been contemplating on this for a long time.. and I keep repeating the same thing over and over again at different points in time at work.. every 2-3 months I think!! And I have been thinking about it, yet again.

When one says a perfect job, for some reason, I can only visualise one :

Meg Ryan's corner bookstore in You got mail. Would'nt I just love to have such a place!! I think it would be a dream come true for many of my book loving friends - a cozy place, surrounded by books and coffee as it rains / snows outside. I can never ever get that place out of my mind. Even now, even though its been ages since I saw the movie. I am in love with the place.

There is this place called Secret Garden Cafe in Bangalore - it is this marvellous verandah of someone's beautiful house. It has plastic chairs and tables and surrounded by mango trees. Amazing - a perfect work life, to own something like this?

Actually it has to be Meg Ryan's corner bookstore.

What do you think? Does it exist? A perfect job?

My tryst with Harry Potter & Zindagi Na Milegi Dubara

I hate to say this.. I enjoyed ZNMD.

What should I say!! Potter. I think its got to do with the expectations that you have with a Potter franchise. It cant be anything but sheer excellence.

Dont get me wrong. Its a good movie. It stays true to the book, mostly. And is visually as appealing and as close to the actual vivid picture drawn up in the book, as possible. And that is something I maintain about all HP movies. They have been very very realistic in how they portrayed the fantastic imagination of JK Rowling.

So when you go to watch the movie, you are already expecting the visual treat that these movies are. You dont expect any less.. and I can easily say, that this expectation is met quite well.

But somehow, I dont know why.. this movie did not thrill me as much as the book did. Dont get me wrong here. I know no movie can ever ever match up to the book. I think to that extent HP franchise has succeeded in coming close to the book.

Its just that the book tends to build up anticipation nicely. The war sequences are amazing - I remember reading about the moment when Neville walks in through Arianna's picture.. it was so thrilling. And the entire war as described in the book. It was awesome. in movie, I felt like we were zipping through it.

In the book, JK Rowling  has taken a lot of pain to build each and every character.. and they each have a story.. a beginning and an end. Obviously its difficult to capture all that in a movie. But I kind of felt cheated. They whizz through the individuals to focus on the story.. there is no mention of Hagrid's brother.. Hagrid himself appears towards the end... Fred / Lupin / Tonks, they are just declared dead. Maybe they could have extended the movie by about 30 mins. No one would have minded. And the Voldemort vs. Harry fight was not much to talk about.

I was let down.
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ZNMD - now thats a movie I went to watch with no expectations. And it turned out to be good. A breezy movie, yet not. 3 central character with their own demons to deal with. I quite liked the story. It was nicely presented. The" hot quotient" of Hrithik Roshan just skyrocketed with this movie.. it certainly helped.

The conversations were easy, free flowing. There were no heavy weight dialogues.. just a simple story of 3 men who kind of find themselves through a 3 week trip in Spain.

And all 3 were brilliant. Farhan Akhtar was a bit over the top. But he was great still. Abhay Deol as always is good. The surprise package to my mind was Hrithik Roshan.. his transformation through the movie.

I quite enjoyed watching the movie.The songs were just superlative. It was a fun 3 hours. And again I am inspired to think of myself - am I really free? Is my mind really free? When was I last free?

Bye bye Blackberry, hello i phone

You are looking at the recent'most' I phone acquirer.

I have had it for a week - but havent used it for anything else but phones and calls. Today I have decided I will download games and archie comics and the likes!!!  :)

Fun times!! More about the fun part later once I download apps!!

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I am watching HP tomorrow!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes!!!!

So there was some problem in booking it online.. while the bookings opened for every damn city, it wouldnt open for Bangalore. From Wednesday onwards, I have been checking sites on an hourly basis.

Finally!!! Finally, I am watching it tomorrow night.

And then Zindagi na milegi dubara day after. I am happy. :)

Waiting

Waiting to watch the latest installment of Harry Potter on July15th.

Only .. now that there are no more books, at least one could relive everything watching the movies.. something to look forward to.

Did it have to end so soon???? :((((((

What will we do after July 15th .. no more books, no more movies.

What will we do now?

Message to JK Rowling - please please please revive Harry Potter. How will we ever live our life knowing there's no more of HP to come!!! Life has no meaning. Sob sob sob sob.

Delhi Belly : Its a 5

This comes in late I know. By now, most of you must have already seen Delhi Belly.

But I had to write about it.

I am sure I say this for every other movie that is released... but this one. What a movie!!!!!!!!!!! What a movie!!! One of the best I have seen in recent times.

Who is the star you ask?

The story.. it just doesn't allow you to pause and say ha! It just goes on.. takes you crashing along in the vortex. The director did a great thing by not putting in an interval. We were enthralled all throughout and didn't feel the need to get anything at all. It grabs your attention and it never ever wavers. I wont get into what the story is about.. watch it for yourself. For some reason, it reminded me of the English movie, Snatch.

The actors.. Imran Khan has broken out of the chocolate hero mould for sure!! He actually looks hot as opposed to cute!! And he is a step up above Ranbir Kapoor as of now. Who would have thought? The beauty about this movie is that all actors get equal attention.. rather you remember them equally. Whether it is Vir Das, the butt scratching Kunal Kapoor or Poorna Jagannathan or the Gangster played by Vijay Raaz.. he was just awesome. The music that comes on when he appears on the screen.. or just his dialogues. He is an intelligent villain. Most of the movies have duffer villains who just laugh evil"ly". But yeah, all of them shine. And shine very bright.

The direction, editing.. Its just superb. Like I said earlier, the movie doesn't allow you to breathe. Editing is just awesome. And the director, Abhinay Deo has done a fantastic job, keeping the runaway movie, characters all together. Leaves us spellbound I must say. And its very real... from the making out scene to the horrible house they live in. Though I do wish they wouldn't show close up of crap!!

Dialogues : Dialogues are a beauty and whoever says it has too much swearing.. really?? You think?? Isn't it normal. I have seen guys in my college talk to each other like this day in day out.. and that was 10 years back. It is real... And very much so. I don't know why people are making such a brouhaha about it.

Music : Bhaag bhaag DK Bose. I hate you (like I love you).. Goooooood music!! Holds it own. Fabulous. Just Fabulous.

And the piece de resistance.. Aamir Khan's item number.

5 / 5 from me. Everyone has to has to watch it.

Oh and BTW, MC AUSTRALIA is starting soon ...AUG 2nd....... Yipeeeeeeeeeeeeee 

If only pigs could fly

Sigh!!!!!! I am not a very talented person.. I have written many a posts about it.

I cannot sing, dance, paint, sculpt, play an instrument, sports .. anything. Cooking? I caann cook.. but I am not at all creative!! I pretty stick to the tried and tested.

If, if I had just one wish.. to be able to choose one talent for myself. What would I pick? 

I would anyday, pick singing. No question, thats what I would pick.

It truly is a god's gift. Probably to a certain extent, you can learn everything else.. but you need to know how to sing.

And of all things, I am the horrible"est" at singing. Everytime I watch these song based reality shows on TV..I wish with all my heart I could sing. For some reason, I get this feeling, more of it actually, when I listen to Hindi movie songs.

Hindi movie music and I have a kind of an inseparable relationship. I grew up with Hindi Music. English music came into my life much later.. when I was already a teenager (except for Boney M and Abba, I hadnt really heard anything). All India Radio, that was our lifeline then. I dont how much I appreciated music then.. but I guess somewhere, somehow it stayed with me. The Binaca geet mala.. Ameen Sayani ...used to define AIR for us.

A few years back, when A used to work very late... I remember one night I got scared of the silence. I was scared of falling asleep. And music was my solace. I dragged the speaker of my home theatre system and listened to the comforting sounds of old melodies. Of course, the very next day A bought me a stereo.

Till date, I fall asleep listening to the radio. I cannot imagine bliss as pure as listening to old hindi movie songs to the beat of rain. Some songs are so beautiful.. I get goosepimples when I listen to them.. songs of Andhi, badi sooni sooni hai, tum jo mil gaye ho, beeti na beetayi raina, rimjhim gire saawan, yeh kahan aa gaye hum.. actually there are too many to be able to list down!!

And everytime I hear any of these songs on radio, I too sing along.. all the time wishing I could sing well. And at that point in time, there's nothing more I want... that desperate crazy all encompassing want.. to be able to sing.

If only pigs could fly, and I wish it with all my heart.

If you had to pick one single talent for yourself, what would you pick?

A city I thought I remembered well

I was in Delhi the last 2 days. I was curious to visit the city I left a few years back.

It is one of my favourite cities.. it has a lot of charm, culture and history associated with it. So I was curious, to know if it was still the same.. the way I left it.

I had visited Delhi last year but I did not get a chance to experience it much - I was pretty much cooped up in the hotel the full 3 days. But this time, I had decided, come what may, I will take some time out for my beloved city.

It was a strange experience to say the least. I had heard about the bedazzling airport.. so I wasnt surprised. I came out of the airport in a daze of walking a million miles.. well you do!! If you land in terminal 3. And if you have a car parked somewhere.. well, what should I say. I just recollect, going up and down several times. Phew.

First thing that struck me.. I could not recognise the road when I got out of the airport. And I used to traverse this road everyday. Everyday .. for how many years I cannot recollect now 3-4 yrs maybe!!! I was disappointed that I could not recognise the road to Palam, the hanuman mandir.. then I was later told this was a new road. Damn!

How I reached Aurobindo Marg without recognising a single sight or sound of Delhi is beyond imagination!!!!

Anyway, I consoled myself with the thought, everything will be fine once I eat Delhi food. So I ordered Chole Bhature as my mid morning snack/ breakfast. Err.. I didnt enjoy it.
For lunch, I had chaat. That was not bad, but I have had better. And for dinner, I ordered daal makhani and chawal. Daal was floating in butter ... not the other way round... and it did not titillate the taste buds.

Somehow any of it.. didnt match up to the Delhi taste. Maybe it was all in my mind.. the breathtaking food perhaps has something to do with the fond memories associated with the city..

And then swanky flyovers and toll nakas and the metro stations that have sprouted everywhere making it totally alien..  To top it all, I didnt even see many sardars during my visit.

All in all.. disappointing, saddening :((

I for one, cannot be Aunt Linnie

For the uninitiated, Aunt Linnie is a character from Enid Blyton's book .. the six cousins and mistletoe farm!

It is a nice book.. takes me way back to my childhood when I used to read Enid Blytons.. the rosy apples, the sparkling streams et al..

This book is basically about a family staying in the country side and are basically into farming. Their "townie" cousins come and stay with them as their house gets burnt in a fire.
And of course the town bred look down upon all farming activities, the chores everyone needs to do around the house etc.

And being a typical Enid Blyton book, both the sets of cousins learn from each other. The townies learn the value of helping out at home while the other learn how to be well groomed and be courteous.

So Aunt Linnie who is the farmer's wife - she is shown to be someone who is always on her toes.. cleans hen house, counts eggs, cleans, cooks, not just cooks meals but makes preserves, makes butter and sews .. you get the picture. She does everything in the house.. doesnt spend a single paisa on herself.. is a plump lady with a face that is always red (because of slaving over stove.. really, thats how the book describes her) .. the last time she got a dress was about 12 yrs back before her 3rd child was born. She whips a giant meal when having a party..obviously everyone loves her, adores her, husband waxes eloquent about her..

And on the other end, is the mother of other set of cousins.. who is only bothered about personal grooming, needs household help and doesnt do much work at the farm.

Both the characters are so starkly painted black and white.. not a twinge of grey.

I assume the times Enid Blyton was in, the "Aunt Linnie" character was what you had to be.. she would be the epitome of a good woman .. a good housewife and a good mother.. a self sacrificing wife..

And I wonder, if this book were to be set in today's context, what would Aunt Linnie be like? What balance would Enid Blyton find her? I cannot imagine a woman in these times to be like this character drawn up - not having a new dress for 12 yrs??????????? And of course the author keeps punctuating the story with things like.. even though Linnie is worked off her feet, her joy is in seeing to everyone.. and it is fine as you must think of your family everytime before you think of yourself. Which actually we all do, but its just that its too extreme!!!

What do you all think?

ps: loved the book. :)

Wake up Sid.. yet again..

And again and again and again. I am watching this movie the umpteenth time.

About 2 years ago, I had written a post on the same movie..  Wake Up Sid, Yawwwn  the title was!! I really cannot fathom why I was yawning throughout or why I called it a movie that college kids would be attracted to. What was I thinking!!!

I am watching the movie now as I speak. And everytime it comes on TV, I watch it. And I have it on my laptop as well.. I watch it when I am feeling restless and dont have anything "feel good" to watch. And like today, I was just channel surfing, came upon this movie and stopped.

I love it every time I watch it. Why you ask - I dont know. Its so refreshing a movie. Maybe in some parts I identify with the independence Konkona displays.. the cooped up feeling that Ranbir talks about.. the idea of being with someone with certain particular traits that all of us dream about and realise that in real life, things are so different.

I like it for the portrayal of love they show in the movie - the warmth and comfort. It is so nice!! Makes me feel very happy..yeah, this movie does.

I take back the critique I wrote 2 years back. This movie should have got and gets 5 stars from me!!!

Running a business is not for the faint hearted

I always knew this.

Starting up on your own is not for the faint hearted.. but I always envisioned the problem to be something else.. getting the business for one.. who will give work to someone wet behind the ears kind of a thing.

Little did I know.

And no I haven't started my own business.. this is like a surrogate to doing so. Need to start something on my own.. but part of an organisation.. makes sense? Starting a branch that is to say.

And I am restless. I hate working from home.. and that is exactly what I am doing. Why? Because I dont have an office here yet.. Why? I am looking for one.. and I suck at it. And its only been a week.. And I hear horror stories of how it took 2 months and more to find a place.

And I am a one man army.. as of now. My team is not there yet.. next month hopefully, it should all be sorted.

There is no one to talk to. And my boss is not bothered about what I am doing with my time.. errr.. yeah you heard me right. I always thought that would be the most delightful thing... the best situation to  be in. Its crazy I know.. but I do start when I want to.. stop when I want to.. and I am bothered by it. God knows why.. but I am.

Years of being monitored I think. Now that I am not.. I dont know what to do.

Basically I am not a self starter. I become restless very quickly.. I realised that every organisation I have been with till now.. I have always come into the middle of a crisis and my first week at work always till date, entailed late nights!!

And now as I twiddle my thumbs .. looking at a blank piece of paper.. thinking of how to start, where to start... trying to do something I have no idea of (finding an office, doing random admin stuff, thinking of expenses).. I realise its tough.

And funnily enough, business does not worry me. It will come.. I know.  It is running an office that is staring into my face. And I shudder to think of how I will run an office!! lol.. yeah, its funny!!! I will probably be crying on the shoulders of all freshers who join me. Poor souls. Hehehe..

A decade of work

I cant believe it. Today was the day, 10 years ago, that a young girl  with rosy view of the world stepped into the big bad corporate world. 10 years ago.

A babe out of the woods.

I used to run scared hither thither at a mere look from my boss. I had no idea what office politics was all about. I didnt know one could say no to work, whether mine or someone else's. All I knew was that I was grateful... someone was paying me to do something. And since they are doing such a huge favour to me, I better work my a** off!!!

I still remember the first assignment my new boss gave me - I had to work on some data.. calculate something.. I had some 10-15 sheets of paper with rows and rows of numbers. And 10 yrs back, we had a limited number of computers. There were about 4 computers shared by some 15-20 of us. And that day I did not get a machine. And I used a calculator.. an actual one (not the PC one) and did about 1000 odd calculations. After all, I couldnt let an excuse like, no machine, be the reason why I didnt complete the first assignment !!!

And in 10 years time... much as I would like to tell you that I have become street smart.. no one can get the better off me ... much as I was prepared to write how have I changed and all that.. very honestly, I am still the same. A little wiser perhaps. But I still, however much I may claim otherwise, am a grateful person, at heart. Grateful and a bit amazed that people actually pay me for what I do!!!

Time flies fast. Indeed it does.

Did anyone lose their posts / comments?

Arrrrrrrrrrrrrgggggggghhhhhhhhhhh

Has anyone lost their posts? For the last couple of days, I couldnt see my most recent posts.. the last 2!! And now that blogger is finally not under maintenance.... grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr... it was such an annoying experience.. really!! I couldnt log on.. and if I just went to the site, it showed a post I had written a few days back. A really frustrating time I had.. I was logging in every hour or so to check.

And then finally my net gave up. A friend checking the site yesterday told me it was still showing the same old post. I was extremely angry. I dont know why!! Maybe its the age.

Today the net has started working. My posts are back. BUT whatever comments were there HAVE GONE!!!!!!!!! I hate it.. absolutely. My precious comments.. grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr

A victim of cute salesmanship

I bought a bag today. My mother and MIL following me from one shop into another faithfully. We walked the entire length of commercial street.. their faces downcast when they realised I didnt intend to buy one today. I visited about 4 places and if you know me, thats a lot. I dont quite like shopping. I get bored very quickly.

Thats one of the reasons I have been sticking to HiDesign. Its quick and simple. I had actually liked one of their bags. But I have been picking up their bags for last 5 yrs and I felt like a change. My plan was to check out various places today and then go back to HiDesign to pick up the one I liked.

In any case, finally once we had seen every shop (Baggit, Westside, Green Hills etc) and I had rejected every garish / too small / too big pieces, I contemplated if I should climb into one final place called Thunderbird. I could see a lot of leather jackets and wallets in the place. We were feeling too tired and finally my mom prodded me on. One last place she said.

We walked in and I found at least 3 bags I liked. And I picked up a nice big brown (safe colour I know.. my next purchase will be purple / green, I swear) bag. It fits me properly, if you know what I mean.

And that boy who sold me the bag .. a teenager still in college probably. He talked so nicely, not the slang or "dude" type English which I find extremely annoying. That could have been easily one of the reasons why I may not have bought from there. I cannot stand obnoxious kids who think very highly of themselves. But this boy... not only was his English proper, his clothes were also not the falling off the bum variety!!!

He talked to my mom and MIL properly. In many of these places which are pretend swish places, they dont treat old ladies well.. as in they maybe polite but you can actually see them smirking away to glory probably thinking 'what do these old ladies know, they cannot be coming to such places'.

And here is the best part, he was not working there full time. He was actually helping out his mom in his free time!!! How cute!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

He sold me the bag. The world is a better place...mmmmm..... I am easily swayed!! :))

Changeling, Percy Jackson, Grown ups etc

I am racing through books and movies I have on my laptop.

For some reason, my brain has decided that I would not be able to read  or watch movies much once I start working again.

So in the last few days, I have read and bought at least 10-15 books.. the entire Percy Jackson series, White Mogul, some Vampire novel I dont remember the name of, Anthony Bourdain, some Archies etc etc etc.... I am somewhere half way right now. Am racing through the books, reading continuously. For some strange reason I want to finish reading all this by coming Monday!!!

And am watching one movie after the other. Yesterday was Changeling & Grown ups and today I started watching Mothman Prophecies.

What is it with taking a break. I have this morbid fear (totally irrational as I used to read even when working like crazy) of not having the time to do things I like. It is the taste of freedom I think!!!

I promise, NJ, you will take a break someday for at least 2 months.. and for yourself.. to read, watch movies, write and learn dancing and swimming. And on that happy thought, I will retire for the night. :))

Turning into a shrew

Its not that difficult really. I have been developing (ed) into this mean creature. It has been festering inside me for quite a while. And while I know, I realise I am being mean, I am unable to let go of it. I like it, I am enjoying it.

I have been at home for now 2 weeks. 2 weeks that I thought would be for ME, about ME. But unfortunately, my parents and MIL arrived for these 2 weeks. My parents had planned for a trip in week 2. I was happy bout that as Week 1 I would have been alone. But MIL turned up in Week 1 (unplanned). Any other time would have ok (would it?). It would have been ok. MIL is reserved. You can see she is getting bored. But we dont have much common interests. While there is no expectation from me that I need to hang around with her every waking moment, you know it is. You feel guilty half the times!!! Thankfully my parents landed.. they can / have been entertaining each other.

So the thing is, it is a weird state of mind. I dont do anything the entire day. I eat, sleep, read, watch TV...try to make conversation. By the end of the day,I feel lethargic which continues on to the next day.  The first few days were fun as I was alone. I would just get out of the house for sometime and do something.

Now I just feel very guilty of leaving them in the house while I go off gallivanting somewhere. So I dont go and I end up feeling insanely miserable and broody. Of course the feelings are more intense towards MIL. I can tell my own mom whatever I want!!! But you cannot do that to MIL. Poor her. She is a sweet soul who has to hang around a morose person like me. So we do go out.. but all of us together, not me alone.

And of course, A is having the most hectic week of his life. He leaves in the morning and doesnt show his face till 12 in the night when everyone is fast asleep.

As I cannot vent on anyone else in the house, I am taking out all my frustration on him. Everyday, my maid cooks food which we eat for both lunch and dinner. And invariably something falls short for dinner to be had by 4 people (A has dinner at home).  Day before, both the ladies decided to keep the potato subji (left from lunch) for A as potato is his favourite and made bhindi for us late in the night. I tried to tell them not to do all these things and that he can make himself an omlette if he likes (which he does most days) but they were like, no no let him have it. Not only this, they saved him a big bowl of daal (a small bowl is not enough, no sir)  just in case we finished it and he has nothing to eat.  And he left the damn potato!!!!!!!!!! Gotcha!!!!!

Yesterday saw a repeat performance but I put my foot down on anyone cooking anything late in the evening. Anyway, again we saved a big bowl of daal and subji for our man friday!! And we, the ladies had more of curd!!! And I told him off late in the night.. how people cut their dinner so that he gets fed nicely (yeah I can be very mean).

You may think why does this annoy me. This kind of a thing is always done by women. Have you ever seen a man do this?? In our house, my mom / aunts, all the ladies would sit later.. so all the curries will vanish. Only thing that would remain is the rice. If it is breakfast, then chutney would be over by the time they come into the picture. And no matter what amount of chutney you make, it will always be less.

Once I really scolded A and bro in law for not being considerate enough to notice that there are other people wanting to eat. This really really gets to me. Just because someone is at home, doesnt mean they are anyone's slaves. Really. I dont know what is it with housewives. Is it the guilt at self inflicted thoughts of non contribution?

My sis, being the smart one, found a remedy for this. If we are sitting in the 2nd round, she saves a big bowl of "whatever" for us. My mom of course keeps every damn thing on the table. Hmmmppphh.. she will never learn!!!

So coming back to the frustrations of the mind.. all this built up desperation is relieved on A. I punish him by not talking to him.I have been avoiding him. Poor thing, he has been trying to talk to me.. smsg me from work. But the ice wont melt. He should also be punished for what I am suffering. Dont ask me why I am doing all this. I think I am finding comfort in the fact that I am not going through this alone (I get fed have the babies talk by both parties.. isnt it reason enough). He can also suffer. Hrrrmmmphhh

The weird thing is.. weirdest I should say, I am also enjoying this. As in, if I dont brood, I am enjoying with my mom / MIL. We do whatever we want. Watch movies. Read. Watch IPL. I just dont tell A. Out of spite.

Its funny...as soon as they step out of the door I start missing them. Then I will be depressed. It really is depressing to come back to an empty house after a long time.

:((

So what is it, again, I am troubled about? I dont know. The evil me is enjoying attention while it lasts. I am trying to reign that part of me in without much success.

My Blackberry, sniff sniff :(

My blackberry is behaving very erratically. At times it gives up and refuses to switch on. At times, it hangs.. wherein I cant make or receive calls, or sms. Some keys refuse to work - like I mentioned in my previous post, I just realised I use the keys N and H a lot!!! Its transferring mechanism from phone to laptop stopped working long time back. And its buttons (all rubber frame) fell off.. dont ask me how. First it was the volume button and then the camera and then whatever was left...  in order of usage. I use the phone a lot.. mis'use' as my husband would put it as.

I have about 200 songs on my phone.. about 100+ photographs .. the ones I keep posting as "pic of the week"... about 50 odd videos (all corrupted now).. I text a lot.. ever since I started using instant messenger on my BB, I stopped counting. Its for free you see!!! :)

So as I said, I use(d) my phone a lot.

Now am wondering which phone to pick up. I really like blackberry 8520 (my current phone), and A says I can just pick up the same phone...!!!!! Men will be men!!!!!!!!!!! I of course would love to try out something new.

You all must have understood my usage pattern - so please to suggest what should I buy now!!! I don't have any touchscreen preference. Even if I have a touch, I would prefer to have a QWERTY keyboard too. Any ideas??

Grrrrrrrrrrrr

He is expecting me to pay  electricity bill since I am anyway at home!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  The cheek!!!!

Really. :(( Anyhoooo...

I will pay it tomorrow.

But today, have my MIL around. So wondering what to do. Yesterday spent my alone time at the bank, crossword.. remember? She was sitting and twiddling thumbs.

I have decided today is movie day. I will take her along as well... I had, before her arrival i.e., planned to experience watching a movie alone. Whats there I say!!! Its not as if you need to talk to people during the movie. And whats an interval really.. cant I spend 15 mins without blabbering / feeling secure that if I need to urgently talk, I have someone to do so. But whats there I say!!! I have my phone.So what if I need to slap it a bit to get it to function.

Anyhow, I am taking her along as well. The only change to the program being .. Source Code to Dum maaro dum. Hope she doesnt slap me after this movie!! Hahaha.

I want to be a Housewife

That is my new found ambition. And before you say it, I do not have kids..  So I would be doing exactly .. NOTHING except things I like .. like sleeping, eating, cooking, reading, watching TV.

I am so swayed by this entire thought.

Dont blame me. I spent the last week in Goa where I did nothing. And this week.. On Monday I went to a bookstore to browse, met a friend, cooked mutton curry. On Tuesday, met a friend for lunch, did some house work, met old colleagues and then watched TV at home. Today, I made breakfast, read Archies, watched the movie Parichay. The only taxing work I did was to go to the bank. 

And I really dont feel like going back to a hectic lifestyle. I just want to loll around more... I dont want to think about work for sometime.. sometime meaning a few months. It would be so nice to just plan your days with what you feel like doing. I would probably join a swimming class, go for a walk in the evenings, cook, learn a language maybe, meet friends, watch movies.. ah!!!!!

That moment when you realise... when you dont need to think of running back to work post a lunch.. well, you can have as long a lunch as you want.. and drink too.. that moment is just breathtakingly beautiful. You can sit in the sun for as long as you want, run around after butterflies if you want, sit and have coffee post lunch watching the raindrops pitter patter.. there is no hurry.. and you have all the time in the world. Mmmmmmmm...

Its kind of difficult to let go of this nice, insanely warm feeling.

And I wonder, when did I forget to live.

what ho, what ho, what ho...

I am back. tralalalalalalaa.. come to think of it, how many times I have started my post with the same sentence... I am back!!!

So in any case, the thing is.. I am very happy. Very very very very very happy. Why you might ask?

I am in between jobs. Isnt it the best feeling in this world!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I spent the last week in GOA. The best part... the bestest part about the trip was there were no mails to check. No one called me to take my inputs on any presentation, on any crisis.. on anything. You see I had declared my last day in the company to be the day before I left for Goa.

So Goa was completely, bafflingly idle ... nothing.. NOTHING distracted me from  the pure blissful state I was in.

And for the first time in.. in about 8-9 yrs.. ever since I have had a cell phone, I discovered that I can .. REALLY CAN, live without my phone .. for at least 5 days. I was using my phone only to clock in with my parents everyday. That is IT!!! Well, mostly... a couple of messages did happen. But if you know me.. I send and receive at least 30 messages a day!!!! So you can imagine what it was like. Unadulterated fun and no phone.

This is what our typical day looked like :

a) Wake up at 9 (me, not A.. he was up at 6 am everyday)
b) Go for breakfast
c) Come back to the room, wash.. wear a sundress.
d) Sit in the sun deck chairs by the pool, in the shade..
e) Order bloody marys, jal jeera, lassi (that was A), aam panna.... and read.
f) Break for lunch.
g) Come back to the same position.. and read more.. drink more
h) Go to the beach by around 5ish
i) Stand in the water hand in hand.. just stare at the far yonder.. and ponder..will the next wave reach till our knees.. will it splash my dress
j) At 7, walk back to room.. change into swimsuit and jump into the pool. I dont know swimming... well I tried. A tried to teach me. I can just about manage to float!!!!!  Note to my self : I must try to continue with the swimming lessons
k) At 9, dress nicely.. toodle off to one the restaurants.. it used to be a tough decision : free meal vs paid meal. Not free free... we had taken an all meals inclusive offer. But the buffet gets boring after 3 meals!!!!!
l) Take a walk.. and crash

Add to these .. a spa session.. a TT match with A.. cycling..a tatoo (the washable variety.. I got a pretty butterfly done on my shoulder) Awesome. Why cant everyday be like this, I ask you!!

The hotel was Taj Exotica in the south of Goa. It was really really nice. The best part about staying in a hotel.. you dont need to clean up.. you mess up the room during the day and when you come back in the night.. the room is beautiful, sweet smelling room again!!!!

We spent a bit.. a fair bit..  but whats money in the face of a bit of peace of mind!!! Its the memories A says.. I agree.. well, I better!!!!!!!!! Thats how I console myself... turn a blind eye ..

We celebrated our 5th anniversary there!!!! Doing the same as above from points a - l. And a special dinner. What an anniv but. A very superior experience :)  I recommend it to everyone.

*************************************

My phone is not working.. you can make calls.. kind of.. and you can sms.. though it is a bit trying as half the keys are not working.. apparently I use a lot of n, h, space key  exclamations etc. I just found out.. it works if I slap its behind!!! lol

No matter.... I am still on leave.. in the nether world.. phones do not matter! Have i received enlightenment you think?

*************************************

I watched Chalo Dilli. An above average movie. I liked Vinay Pathak. Lara Dutta was also good. But the moral of the story was so not required!!!!!!!!!!! Niether was the entire skirmish with hooligans. Besides that, the movie was quite fine.

There have been so many movies on Delhi recently - I guess it is because movie makers have suddenly discovered that there is a lot of personality to people from Delhi.

Whatever it maybe, I am happy to hear the sights and sounds of Delhi!!

***************************************

Today is Monday and didnt have to go to work. Thats why the song. I am enjoying my time off.. by sleeping in.. going to Blossoms and buying many books.. and chatting with a friend over lemon juice..

I also discovered, at Blossoms, that there are many PGW that I havent read. And many of these are out of print.. but joy....I found them on Flipkart.. well some of them.. And I intend to order all of them. This month no salary.. so I will order them One by One!

Right now, I am trying to make mutton curry.. a recipe I caught on BBC entertainment today. I am also discovering interesting TV shows!!!BBC entertainment (a channel I never watch BTW and which I intend to correct) has quite an entertaining programme called the antique roadshow. People come with their bric bracs and get them valued. A very interesting show! Where do people get all these ideas!!!

And now am onto Uma Thurman and Kill Bill  Vol 1.

Ah.. life is but a song....... lalalalalalalalalaaaaaaaaaaaa

Palace of Illusions : Mahabharat through Draupadi's eyes

A book by Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni that I just finished over the weekend.

Let me rephrase - I just could not put it down. I finished the entire book in 2-3 days (including Saturday when I read in between the match.. can you imagine!!!!).

Scarlett had messaged me about this book and when I saw it at Crossword, I couldn't resist after I read the backflap.

It is a wonderful book. It is about the age old epic we have all been brought up with - stories we listened to, watched on TV .. who can forget BR Chopra's Mahabharat aired every Sunday!! The magnificent sets , the glittering jewellery, the handsome men (yes yes, about 15 yrs back, there really was a glut of handsome men on TV.. Alok Nath was all we had :( , the beautiful jewellery.. ah..  Now though when I see the rerun, I gawk at it!! Why did I like it again? Never mind.. back to the topic at hand.

We are talking about Palace of Illusions. Mahabharat through Draupadi's eyes - one of the most powerful characters in the epic story. What a wonderful concept - it could have gone wrong completely. It could have been the same old Mahabharat we all know. And I am happy to report - it is NOT!

It brings to light a different world, with the same events.. but a completely different world. It is as if you are wearing a different pair of lens when seeing the same set of instances.

The book starts with her birth. All the events unfold around her.

I thought the author would not be able to bring in the events from before her marriage to the Pandavas that do not involve in her.  But she does. And weaves each of those incidents in, so nicely.

There is no chronology that is followed. That was refreshing. Sikhandi is introduced in one of the initial chapters itself without a context as to who she is. There was no introduction to Pandu and Kunti.. But do not despair - she does manage to give the story about each and every character.

So in a way, the complete epic is encapsulated in this narrative.

The focus of course is on Draupadi - what she feels, thinks as all this is happening around her. Every facet to her personality is explored - the initially insecure woman blooming into a full blown confident woman, her patience, her arrogance, her envy, the struggle for power, how she feels about being married to 5 men.. everything. 

For a change, her character is drawn out to be a bit grey portraying a dark side to her personality as well , very unlike any other mythology serials on TV - fter all she is a goddess. But through this book, she just like any other woman like you or me.. with her doubts and fears and insecurities.

She is shown to be an extremely forward thinking woman who has her opinions and does'nt hesitate to tell anyone. When reading this, you wish she had been born in the world. She would have been an awesome person for anyone to contend with.

There are many things I came to know about her too - I didn't know she had a soft spot for Karna, or that she was dark in colour (like Krishna), or that Krishna used to refer to her as Krishnaa, or that she had a power struggle with Kunti, or that she did not bother with her children too much.

I liked it for the aspects of this grand epic it opened my eyes to. I loved it being a woman - a book about a powerful woman like Draupadi and her fears and joy. The nuances she brought in to Draupadi's personality was breath taking.

The only thing I was left wondering is if it was all fact or was some of it fiction. I presume especially the ones where her emotions are described would be fiction. But its so nicely done.


I was really racing through the book - to know how she felt when Duryodhan fell into the water, was she really so arrogant.. what about the time when Dushasan tries to remove her sari.

I just completely loved it. It is a must read for everyone. I, for one have been recommending it to all the women I know!