Ramayya and the Bulldozer

"Seekiram pa. We have more work to do" shouted the guy with a huge moustache. There was a guy on the bulldozer, a contractor and a few lazy souls sipping tea and munching politics in the nearby tea shop. Their gaze shifted from time to time on the huge bulldozer and the house near it, but their eyes were indifferent. Only one pair of eyes were getting mist witnessing the whole scene and they belonged to Ramayya. He looked at the name engraved near the gate of the house that read "LAKSHMI ILLAM".

LAKSHMI ILLAM. The name he had given to his house....no no...to his palace. 20 years before his Manager Mr.Ramanujam had suggested him to buy a piece of land in the Old Mahabalipuram Road (OMR) and Ramayya had obliged. He got some money from his father and sold his mother's and wife's jewelry and built his dream PALACE.

A house is not just a enclosure built out of bricks, cement and mortar. It is the identity of a person. A person's desire, dreams, ambition, anger, love are all reflected in the design of his house. This house had shared a lot of emotions with him than his other family members. The house had witnessed the first child born here and it being named lakshmi after his loving mother, her first words "mmmmma", death of his father, birth of his son, his promotion, his daughter attaining womanhood, his son getting enrolled in a medical college, engagement of his daughter and so on....


The usual myth is that women are always very sentimental and emotional. But the oft ignored fact is that men are very sentimental about their belongings. You might have come across men who will never forgo their first bike, first car, first house inspite of the fact that they may be old and worn out. Today Ramayya's son was a prominent doctor in town and was married and settled in a posh apartment in Adayar. Inspite of repeated pleas to settle with him Ramayya had declined it. He couldn’t bear the thought of parting with this house.

But...the gods were laughing at him. The government had notified the destruction of houses on the OMR road to complete a 6 lane project. Ramayya had little choice but to oblige. He and his wife had moved yesterday to their son's house. Today was the day when the house...no no...his dream palace would be brought down. When the huge bulldozer brought down the compound wall Ramayya felt as if he was crucified. It was like a father watching his son being hanged to death.

Unable to watch it, he got into a nearby auto and said "Adayar po pa". The auto driver would never know why his passenger was sobbing.

P.S : Inspired from a split second image witnessed on OMR Road

How to Name It

LOVE

The basic question that has baffled everyone is that why should one fall in love in first place. Everyone knows that love causes anxiety, depression, joy, sorrow, excitement and any feeling related to that fist-sized thing on the left part of the body. Man may have made rockets to reach mars, he may have created wires about 9 times thinner than a hair’s breadth and yet he still finds it hard to know what excites a woman :-).


Bright Side
Although I am unfamiliar to the brighter side in my own personal experiences, I have seen some one them go places from close quarters (of course to my friends). The symptoms as far as I have seen are as such
• Excitement about anything from her side. It could be as much trivial as a 1 rupee note with her name on it to something as much important as her photograph with our guy smiling sheepishly along her side
• Waiting for her phone calls at unearthly hours
• Any product or shop with her name arouses interest in our guy (unless her name is Jayalalitha our boy is safe)
• Lack of sleep
• Bragging to his friends about her. (aval azhagu enna, gunam enna…enna enna enna)

In short she becomes the epi center of his small world. If the love is certainly not for time-pass and is seriously pursued to end in a blissful nuptial knot….I bet they are a LOVELY and LUCKY couple.

Other side
Men always fall in love easily. Very easily. I have seen many of my friends go through their so called LOVE and as a guy I have been through it myself. The trouble is (now what I am going to say is something guys won’t agree and women would accept instantly) that men are too naive to understand what love is.

Any girl that looks cute is a 25% target for love, and if she smiles at you the probability becomes 50%. If you happen to talk to her and she responds well in return it becomes 75% and if this continues for more than 2 days, it is 100% love. BOOM. Look.....how easy it is.


Why Love?
1. The economy needs to grow and for that people need to spend. Why the hell on earth would a boy buy some expensive bloody gift to a boy or taking him out to movie, restaurant, beach etc? Of course not. That’s y he ends up falling in love with a girl and burns his pocket for her sake.
2. Men love bragging and showing off. What better to show off then a hot chick and I bet that the most lovable thing they would brag about is how a girl talked to him, how he flattered her, how she responded to his signals (idenna transmitteraa??) and how she fell for him(although its always the other way round).
3. And yes…. the final one is the catch. It’s the thrill of being in love.

Why Not?
The greatest fear that every love story faces is...the fear of rejection. What if she says NO? Half of the love stories in the world are the ones which start in the eyes, travel in the heart but never make it to the lips. Just 3 little words...8 letters...but they weigh like several tonnes of weight hanging around the body, soul and mind and make any sane person go mad with rage.

Love has become a time pass for many and so it comes cheap in the market of hearts. People LOVE for few months..maybe days..go to Park, beach, cinema and few places..enjoy each others company and BOOM...its Bye Bye.

The logic that defies my understanding is that girls agree instantly to marry good guys once their parents find a match for them. But if the same guy were to propose to her and tell her that he wants to be with her for the rest of their life...they reject it flatly. Why the double standards for love and marriage?

But then for all the ordeals faced on earth, it is worth every dime…for the one enchanting smile of the girl you are in love with.

Oh..the joy of being in love :-)

Cape of Good Hope

"Congratulations! You have been promoted to the next level". Satish was grinning from ear to ear. Just as he was to receive the offer letter, someone was pulling his hand. He was stunned to see that it was Gayathri...his other half. "You need to go to office early today. WAKE UP" she shouted. Then he realized that it was a dream.

He fumed that he was not getting his long awaited promotion even in his dreams. What was the day today? He questioned the calendar which obediently answered Sunday. "Oh God! Today is Sunday" Satish sounded as if Poes Garden was on fire.

Gayathri "So What? Throughout the year 24*7 you have been in the office. Does it matter if today is Sunday?"

Satish knew this was coming. They had been married for one and a half years and had been blessed by a son very recently. They had named him Sanjay and Satish called him Sunny. His project in office was a complex one and so Satish had been working for the past 3 months without a days break. He decided to put an end to this today.

"OK. How about going to Mayajaal today and watching Rang De Basanti today?" Satish asked. Gayathri looked at him as if she was exorcised. Then she smiled. "Wow..nice to see some rang change in your face" said Satish and he went to take bath. He came out and was changing his clothes, when he had a look at his son. "Sanjay...Sunny" he said aloud to himself.

"What should you become? No...not a software engg. You will have to work hard and though you will be paid well, you would have to compromise between family and work. How about a Cricketer? Hmmm...but then you will have to play more off the field than on the field. Is Chess fine for you? Oh...I forgot. I was always bad with it in my childhood days. Being my son I don’t think you are gonna be too good in that. Tennis? Yeah...that should be great. I will send you to this coaching academy. You will be Champion in the under-10, under-14 and under-17 championionships and then we will travel to Wimbledon. Maybe we will get Federer's coach for you. Does it sound fine Sunny?" Sanjay kept on talking to the kid.

His dreams were interrupted by his mobile phone. It rang and the display on his phone had a "CALL 1". It spelt danger. This meant that the onsite guy was calling him up. Mouthing some unprintable words Satish attended the call. His onsite guy Dibyankar called him up and said "Hey Satish. Dibyankar here. There is an urgent production issue that has come up. Are you in the office now?"

Satish masked his displeasure and said "No". Dibyankar "Hey. Appreciate if you could fix it up man. Its very critical and the client is all over us." Satish had listened to this dialogue a 1000 times and knew how 'critical' it was. But he heard himself saying "No probs man. I will go right now and take care of it."

Gayathri was looking at him from the far side of the room and said nothing. Frowning, Satish took his car keys and was just starting when he saw his son. "How about becoming a singer Sunny?". His son smiled as if he has approved of his father's wish. Satish smiled for the first time in the day.

P.S: Dedicated to my colleague Mr.K who has a kid (3 months) at home but slogs 24*7 in the office.:-)

Kaisi hai yeh rut..

"Lets Go" Anjali shrieked from behind as Rahul vrroomed his Pulsar to top gear.

Rahul still remembered the first day he met Anjali. It was the first day of the college and one senior asked him to give a red rose to Anjali and propose to her. Shaking with fear Rahul did it and he must have been the only guy in the whole solar system to have cried while delivering rose to a girl...and that too to Anjali. He later apologized and since then they have been best friends. Now in his heart Rahul wished that someone could rag him to do the same and he could do with his full heart..but alas..life's play is not scripted the way we want it to be.

Today they were going to the Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy show in IIT Open Air Theatre (OAT). Rahul had bought tickets for him and her and knew that she too loved music as much as he did. The show began with Shankar Mahadevan's Breathless which left everyone speechless. Mahadevan was like the snake charmer and the crowd literally danced to his tunes. He asked the crowd to do a Birdie act for the song "Jise dhundta hoon main har kahin " from Dil Chahta hai and the crowd obliged. He asked them to show their mobile phones for "Kal ho Na ho" title song and boom..the phones were everywhere.

When Ehssan Noorani plucked his guitar, Rahul knew what was coming. Out of instinct, he kneeled down, grabbed Anjali's hand and crooned in sync with Shankar Mahadevan
"Agar Main Kahoon
Mujhe Tumse Mohabbat hai
Meri bas yahi chaahat hai
To Kya kahogi?"

(Translated it means "If i were to tell you that i love you and it is my only desire, then what will be your reply?")

Anjali looked stunned. And then she smiled. When a guy proposes and a gal smiles, it means that its over. But if she smirks..it means that he's over :-). The language of love is uniquely universal. It is a language spoken by the eyes and understood by the heart. Anjali's smile said it all. For a few seconds, the OAT appeared empty, Mahadevan sounded cacophonous and time came to a standstill. Anjali hugged Rahul and she was crying with a smile on her face.

P.S : The guy standing next to them smiled and sang softly "Jaane kyon log pyaar karte hain ?"

Tagged again :-)

TamilPonnu tagged me, the rules of this tagging stuff are given below:

1. The tagged victim has to come up with 8 different points of their perfect lover.
2. Need to mention the sex of the target.
3. Tag 8 victims to join this game & leave a comment on their comments saying they’ve been tagged.
4. If tagged the 2nd time, there’s no need to post again.

P.S: Rules cut and paste courtesy TamilPonnu

Here are my answers:

My perfect Lover should:

Similarities
1. Love music. If she sings that is a sone pe suhaaga.
2. Have a good sense of humour.
3. Love to watch movies.
4. Should donate some money to charity

Opposites
5. Could be money-minded to some extent (as i am not one, atleast she should take care of that)
6. Could be strong in mathematics (i was comparatively weak in maths in my school days and i dont want my gen next to suffer in maths :-))
7. Could be good at drawing (i am bad even with drawing a straight line)

Last but not the least
8. Love and like me very much (which should be very easy)

Rule two...Obviously its gonna be HER and none

Rule three...Pozhachchu ponga pa

Rule four..Ensoi :-)

A Wedding and a Funeral

"Oh God " she cried. There was pain, anger, anxiety and desperateness in her voice. All the magazines and tabloids carried the photo and it seemed to be the cover story of the year. She had never imagined this to happen in her wildest dreams and now it had come true.

It was hard to stop her now and she let the floodgates of her eyes open and she cried shamelessly like she did when she was 8 years old and her dog had died. All the money she had amassed over the years made no sense to her and the chequebook in front of her seemed like a pile of color pages. The wedding was due at 11 Am and it was to be aired by some private channel. Damn the paparazzi. They want all the scoops, gossips about celebrities. Little do they think that we are also human beings with emotions, dignity and respect. But then once a person is in limelight, every activity of his comes to public scrutiny. Damn the public.

How happy she had been when she walked the aisle with him 5 years before. Every woman envied her as she was getting married to the hottest hunk in the industry and she could see that in all the women’s eyes everywhere she went with him. They were billed the perfect couple in the movie industry. All the bookies who had bet placed that their marriage wouldn’t last past a year, lost and lost heavily too. But fate took a cruel turn. He was offered a lead role with the supposedly the sexiest women alive. When he asked her about the script she jokingly declared "Wow..Sexiest women and the Sexiest man starring. Sounds cool".

Every marriage runs on faith that one partner has on the other. But sometimes a man's libido wins over his heart and seems so did his. Even when each magazine carried their pictures together she took it as another example of paparazzi stunt. And then he came and confessed. Her world had come crashing over. They parted and it was like a huge wave which blew her sand castle. She remembered the intimate moments she spent with him in their huge villa he had bought her as a birthday present. Little did she imagine that the birthplace of her love would also turn to her cemetery.

"Warning: May cause drowsiness". She laughed and then cried after reading the warning label on the Sleeping tablets bottle. She remembered Shakespeare "Sleep is temporary death and Death is permanent Sleep". They were now exchanging vows and she felt a pang of jealousy in her heart. Slowly the image started fading and she was going to sleep....forever.

Point of View

He
He was alone. The usually crowded Marina Beach looked like Sahara desert. But then one could not expect anyone to roam there at 11 PM. He had switched off his mobile phone to prevent any intrusion to his privacy. Looking at the wide sea and its could-become-a-tsunami-anytime-waves he wished in his hearts of hearts that a huge wave could come and sweep him off from the world.

He was gazing at the moon and got reminded of her. Wonder which idiot compared ladies to moon, but it had made every lover on earth remember his lady love every time they saw the moon. She was the best thing to happen to him for years altogether. They had been neighbors-turned -friends and complimented each other in a lot of things. She was an avid reader, loved Pink Floyd, whistled for Rajinikanth, and liked blue color...their matching tastes list seemed endless. In course of time he was drawn towards her and he realized that he was in love with her.

He also realized that it was not because of the fact that they had similar tastes or that she was beautiful or had an IQ of 150. It was because he liked her as a person on a whole and she was very much what he had imagined his life partner to be. Today he had summoned courage and asked her the inevitable. And she denied. She was adamant on the fact that they were good friends and that’s the way they should remain to be so. He wondered what was wrong with him. He wondered why women who looked so delicate and soft from outside were actually a box of secrets that could never be deciphered from inside.

He looked at the sky and then at the earth and wished that any one of them could swallow him and leave him...to rest in peace.


She
She was changing the channels on her TV set continuously but was finding it hard to concentrate. Even the usually interesting POGO channel refused to entertain her. She felt like throwing the remote control outside her window, but controlled herself from doing that. She felt a sudden wave of anger and sympathy rush through her face simultaneously.

She liked him from the day they had met. Unlike the rest of the men she had met who appeared courteous in the beginning and turned Casanovas later, he had been decent and also they shared similar interests. He had never crossed the limits of decency and she respected him a great deal for that. But then it seemed that the attraction of opposite sex was always too great to infiltrate the borders of friendship and everyone knows how vulnerable men are.

It was unfair. The society had always been unfair to women. Introvert women were branded moody and extrovert were labeled easy-to-get. Individuality was something that a woman could never dream of in the society. She was shocked and surprised at first when he had proposed to her. She had never given him the thought of being a life partner and so was rude to him.

Tears rolled down her cheeks and they entered her mouth. It tasted bitter....after a long time.

The Onlookers

Sunday. The only day in the week when the buses are not crowded to the brim and you can indeed catch a corner seat in a bus and watch singaara Chennai. There were about 20 passengers inside the bus and it was a boring journey for everyone including the driver.... Until...she arrived.

She boarded the bus and looked around. Every passenger's eyes were fixated on her and she too knew it, but walked unawares. The surprise in the eyes of everyone was because of two reasons. One..was seeing her in the bus and another reason was a child in her hand. "She? Married?" That was the question that sprang to everyone's mind. The kid in her hand and an ugly guy besides her seemed to answer their queries unknowingly.

She got 2 tickets and sat on the right hand side corner seat with the so-assumed husband. Everyone was still staring at her and she still didn’t react. She had become used to it for all her life and she was no longer bothered about it any more. She still remembered the surprise of her parents when they first saw her and the hara-kiri that was caused in her neighborhood. Now she was married and she didn’t want to think about it anymore and live a peaceful life....if these people do let her do so.

But then being an EUNUCH is still considered abnormal in our country......

Thalai pola varuma....

"Saurav Ganguly Axed"

ATM vaasalla watchman velai paakara Sentry lerundu Madhdhiyila Aatchi seyyara Mandhiri varaikkum ellarum ippa hot a discussion seyyara matter "Annan Gangulya ippadi neeki irukkanuma koodaatha". Avan avan mazhaila ninainju poi naari kidakira nelamaila idellam tevayaana oru discussiona nu neenga keakaradu en kaadhula nalla vizhudu. Aana paarunga....naan oru Indian (Captain style la padeenga pu) Soththu ku lottery adichchalum vetti nyayam pesaradu nama ooru kalachaaram. Ada eppadi vittu tara mudiyum?

Sari...nadandadu nadandu pochchu. Inimae Ganguly enna panalaam??

1. West Bengal Annatha Buddhadeb Bhattacharya (peru sollumbode vaai sulikikkum pola)oda support annan Ganguly kku irukiradunaala, avar Calcutta la MP Seat ko illa MLA seat ko nikkalam. Eppadiyum makkal oda anudaabam ellam avarukku votea maari vizhum. Appadiyae padi padiya munneri avar Bengal kkae CM a kooda aanalum Aachariya padaradukku onnum illa.
2. Neenga teruvula road la padam varainju kaasu sambaadikiravangala paathirupeenga. Adae maadhiri Ganguly Howrah Bridge Naduvula Batting panni kaati sambaadikalaam. West bengal Govt avar kooda tie up vechchu Tourism promote pannalam.
3. Illana Dalmiya kitta assistant a serundu adutta BCCI election la ninnu avar BCCI chairman a appoint aagalam. Appadi nadanda Avar Rahul Dravid a Dravida malai aera sollalaam. Greg Chappella indiya saalaigalila Chappel illama mottai veyilla nadakka vechchu kodumai padutalaam. Oru over la oru bouncerkku mela potta Cricket lerundu Life ban pandra oru sattatha amal padutalaam.

4. Obvious choice...Avar cinema la nadikalaam. Avar kku avalava dance aada varadhu, nadikka teriyaadhu (appa avar tamil cinema la hero va nadikalaam nu neenga kaekiradhu ennaku kaekkudhu). Aana sandai nalla poda varadu naala avarukku action hero vaaippu kaathu kidakku. Kadaisiya kidaitha tagavalin padi Naghma avar padatula herione a nadikka samathichirukaanga.

Unga kaivasam enna idea irukku?

Like good old days.....

After a lot of pestering my friend Nithy(a) Nandoo started to write a blog. A statuory piece of warning for those coming here and about to go there...if u r weak in tamizh..u can very well close the cross marked devil on the right hand side of your screen. Nandoo is one Tamil nuttie and is awesome when at his best.

What a fantastic weekend!!!! For a few minutes i had to make myself believe that i was in chennai and not cherapunji. Had someone photographed me on Friday night, my company's shares would have plummeted to Indian politicans honesty's levels. With a bag in my right hand, a pant up to my knee and a shoe pair in my left hand, i did present a pitiable sight.

After having watched all the news channels and all interviews cursing the government about its lack of readiness u must be having a gloomy picture of the rains in chennai. So for a change i will give u a whole fresh perspective of the rain in chennai and the positives out of it. Water flooded mine and my friends room and obviously there was no power. We slept friday night among chennai's fav and habitual kosukadi and woke up to a boring saturday morning. My friend called up to enquire my well being and informed that his parents had gone out of station and offered us to stay at his house. And that is where the fun begins.

Imagine 11 bachelors in one room watching tv!!!A horrendous site. Usually saturday and sunday guys just go out somewhere to either beach or cinema or mostly office with the last one being the most prominent. After a long time so many of us were together at one place and for so long. Everyone kept pulling the others leg and needless to say that the guys were in great form. The only affected creature in the whole process was Nithys 60 day old labrador dog. The poor creature could harldy figure out who the hell were we occupying his kingdom. The best part of the 2 days was when we had dosai and uttapam prepared at home for all the 11 people. One batch kept eating and another kept preparing till we ran out of the dosai maavu.

The only time one realized that fun was over was when monday morning dawned and everyone grew duy consious and were back to their responsible self. Hmmm....i am not surprised why we all hate Monday Mornings!!!!

Thavamaai Thavamirundu....

Karuppu color saari. Summa nachchnu irukku. Avan avala paarthaan. Avalum avana paartha aana paakatha maadhiri irundutaa. Vazhakkam pola avan ava azhaga paathu engine vandi maadhiri perisaa perumuchchu vittan. Idae bus standla kadanta sila maasama rendu perum paatukiraanga, ore company la work pandraanga, ore bus la yum poraanga aana oru Hi ill Hello kooda sonnadu kidaayadhu.

Eppadi paechu kudukalaanu avan marubadiyum thalaya soriya aarambichchan. Ovvoru dadavayum avan ada try panumbothum avanukulla irukira bayam avana gaali panidum. "Ennatha thaan ponunga T-Shirt Jeans potaalum, Pudavai katuna thaan pa oru ponnu sema azhaga iruka" nu avan thanakku thaane jollikittan. Cycle la pogara 10th standard paiyan, Onsite la irukiravanoda sandai poda vegama Pulsar la pogara S/W engg., Chumma poi mail check panna Elantra la pora manager,Pallavan bus ottara Thaatha,vegama vyaabaram paaka pora Ambani lerundu padila thongara bemaani varaikkum ellarum avalae sight adikiraanga. Pugaichchal !!!!!

Bike la pinnadi ukaandirukira Maami lerundu bus la tamil language oda kaetta vaarthai ki ilakanam vagukira muniyamma kooda avala look vidarada gavanichchan. Avan galija edho yosikardhukku munnadi thaan avanukku adu strike aachchu. Avanga paathadu avaloda anda attagaasamaana Pudavai apparam jolikira Thanga necklace. Ida paatittu pona ella pombalainga veetulayum purushan kaaranukku Deepavali confirmed nu avan ninaichukittan. Adukulla Bus vandadinaala ellarum bus la eritaanga.

Enna aachariyam!!Kudukura deivam kuraya pichikittu kodutudu. Ore seat thaan gaaliya irundudu. Ava ukkanda aaparam avan ava pakatula ukkandaan.Chivalry kaaturaaraam!!!

"83 peru" Edho citizen ajith Attipatti sonna maadhiri avan sonnan

"Ennanga?" Ava

"Naan sonnaen 83 peru" Avan

"Neenga enna solreenga nu puriyala Mister.."

"En peru Satish. Satish Kumar" Manasula periya James Bond peran nu avanukku ninaippu.

"En peru Anjali. Neenga eda pathi pesareenga?" Ida sonna udanae A R Rahman avan pakkatula Key board vechchu Anjali Anjali paata paadi mudichitaaru.

"Inikki Bus stand la ungala 83 peru ungala sight adichaanga"

"Ada neenga ennikittu irundeengala" Ava sillaraya sedaravitta..sorry sirichcha

"Teriyala..gap la naan ungala paakumbodhu onnu rendu miss panni irukalaam"

Avanukku mattum power irundirunda ava siricha anda siripukku Americavayae vaangi kudutirupaan. Enna Bush maama kochukivaaru.

"Neenga enda project?"

Ippadiyaaga avargalin azhagaana vaazhkai kadhai aarambam aanadu........

P.S : Mudal paathi reala inikki naan bus stand la paarthadu..Second half? adu nadandu irundirunda naan yen inda blog ezhidikiti irukkaen??

FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION

We all love our country and i truly believe that we all are proud about it as well. But there are moments when we feel shameful to be part of this whole lot crowd. We all must have read and heard a lot about this whole commotion raised about this KHUSBOO issue and her views. Come on guys, this is a free country and anyone is free enough to voice her/his opinions unless and until it hurts some individual.

We Indians gave KAMASUTRA to this world. We are the second most populous country on earth. And still talking SEX is taboo in our country. You, I and the ones standing outside her house with the broomsticks are products of harmony of a man and women and i believe that we didn’t fall from trees. Khuswanth Singh is correct. We Indians are the biggest Hypocrites in the whole universe..possibly solar system. The most painful thing is the mileage given by the press to this whole issue and making a mount out of molehill. I presume that most of you reading this article have friends in your opposite sex and have a nice relationship with them as well.

Today’s youth I believe, know the boundaries in relationships and barring a few odd people everyone is conscious of their limits. Had a male told the same about pre-marital sex he would have been termed as bold, visionary and ahead of his times. And when the same is uttered by a woman, all hell breaks loose and there is a cloud of doubt on her character. Why double standards? Are people stupid enough to realize that this whole issue has been blown out of proportions by opportunists to make their presence felt in the society? Ultimately pre-marital sex is every person's individual interest and opinion, but what’s wrong in saying that it can be practiced safely.

Sadly and truly, Freedom of Expression exists only in the Airtel ads in our country :-(

Fat boy slim....

"Motu","Haathi","Takkali","Gunda","Yaanai"....these are some of the few words that i was addressed with when i studied in school. First i used to think that there was something wrong with my approach towards food, but later i realized that it was in my genes as all we cousins were blessed with some extra few kilos and harry potteresque spectacles (Thaatha enna sottu vechutu ponnaru nu kaetta ida thaan sollanum).

All throughout my school life i wanted to be slim, athletic and have a Arnold (Not russel arnold!!!)type figure. Infact it also presented me with an inferiority complex about my physique and hence i never got well along with girls (ippa mattum enna vaazhudu!!!). Infact i weighed so much in my 9th standard that even my seniors used to fear me just for my size. Perhaps after GODZILLA, i realized that SIZE DOES MATTER :-)

I managed to reduce my weight in my college days as i was away from home and also i hated my college food and ended being starved for most of the time. Whenever i used to go home i ended up eating like a native of Somalia. But still i managed to pull my weight down by my personal standards. Half of my relatives hardly recogonized me as they had never seen this downgraded version of mine in their span. Just when i thought that i had almost become a normal person....boom....i join the IT industry...i hardly do any physical activity..and i my weight has shot up.

The best excercise someone recommended i received for weight reduction was "Turn ur head left, then turn it right, now repeat the excercise for about 10 times and make sure you do the same when someone offers you yummy food."

Any suggestions???

Rain Rain go away....

"It’s raining men...hallelujah..." Geri Halliwell was crooning loudly on the CD player. Chandru, aged 8 was dancing to her tunes and was watching the rain from his balcony.

Watching the rain was a joy and even more joyous was getting wet. Of course the trouble of catching cold was always there...but then who cares. The whole area around him seemed to have turned into an island and there was water everywhere. It seemed to him like the scene of the movie WATER WORLD where there was no sight of land anywhere. He had a small fishing net and he was fishing standing on the wall just a few meters away from his house. Life is full of fun...or so Chandru thought.



Suddenly there was commotion all over. His mom came and asked him to pack his clothes. He wanted a reason and no one gave him one. After a few minutes a few policemen came in boats and asked them to get into the boat. His parents and his neighbors alighted into the boat with some sobs and it seemed as if he was the only one who was happy at the sight of rain. He wondered why elders despised rain so much when they got to be thankful for it.

Then he remembered that he had left his favorite cycle in his house and asked his mom if they could return back. His mom already angry and furious slapped him hard and Chandru was left crying alone. Out of rage he jumped out of the boat and tried to swim. But the tide was high and he found himself drowning...drowning...drowning.....

"Chandru...Chandru..wake up. I should not have allowed you to watch that stupid flood on TV. Wake up. You are getting late to your school".

Chandru, woke up to face a new rainless day to his school in a 'desert'ed Rajasthan city.

P.S : Happened to see a boy fishing standing on a wall near my company.

Murder

"Oh My god!" he yelled.

It was unfortunate and he knew that he should not have done that.
There was blood smeared in his palm and it was disgusting to see it.
He did not do it intentionally,but was forced to do so as he had been irritated.
He saw around and went quitely to wash his hands.

Still his conscience was not ready to accept that he had killed a mosquito.

The Grudge

He saw her in a coffee shop and was shocked. It had been 10 years since he had met her and only then he remembered how he too had aged since these 10 years. Seems nature had a graceful way of making people look old. She too saw him, but didnt react as he thought she would. They had resided in the same city for these 10 years and still avoided seeing each other.

After checking out that she had come alone he went to her table and sat without asking her permission.

He :"How are you?"
She:"Yeah fine..and you?"
He :"Yeah..How is your husband? How many kids do u have?"
She:"He is fine. One boy and a girl.How is your wife?"
He :"Yeah fine."

There was an awkward silence in between them and both knew that it was out of guilt. They parted with a Good bye like old friends.

Walking out of the coffee shop he realised that even after these 10 years he could not forgive his only sister for marrying against his wishes.

The king rocks Chennai....

Ilayaraja. If some stranger were to look at him, he could mistake him for an ascetic with respect to his serene face and attire. But Raja is one single force which has changed Tamil music industry and perhaps india's as well. This show was a small tribute to the man who rose from a small village to reach the heights of the philharmonic orchestra.

The evening began with "Janani Janani" by Raja and hearing it u feel jealous of this man whose voice has not aged for ages. SPB followed suit with "Mandram vanda tendralukku" and the crowd went wild. But Raja requested the crowd to be silent when the songs were rendered which is quite the opposite of what the rest of any musician might have wanted on his show. Shreya Goshal picked up "Kaatril endhan geetham" from Johny. She wrongly pronounced the word "Thedude" as "Thodude" and when she did pronounce it rightly the crown applauded.Chennai kusumbu!!!

Raja sang "Naan thedum Sevanthi poo" and the crowd went beserk. Everyone asked for Once more and the king responded suitably. Some of the best songs of the evening which the crowd really loved were "Sundari Kannal oru seidhi" by SPB and Chitra from Thalapathi, "Shenbagamae" by Mano and Sadhana. Vaali and Raja shared their malarum ninaivugal of the same. Chitra was as usual at her best in "Paadariayen padipariyaen" and as a bonus also sang Mari mari and delighted the crowd. Personally i felt that we all missed the versatile S. Janaki. Her absence was felt when other singers rendered her timeless classics as "Kaatril ethan geetham", "Senthoora poovae", "Aasaya Kaathula" and still felt short of her standards.

Raja sang "Thendral Vandu theendumbodhu" from Avadharam and really if u were to close ur eyes and listen to that mellifluous voice i promise u could feel as if on heaven. In between Bharathiraja, kamalHaasan ,Suhasini, Vaali made entry and paid homage to the king. We expected Kamal to render "Unnai vida" from Virumaandi but he dissapointed and it was even more dissapointing to here Tippu render the same. Sadhana Sargam gave her best in "Paatu Solli" from Azhagi and she is perhaps the only breed of the North singer who sings with minimal mistakes. Parthiban kept the crowd in splits with his gundaka mandaka dialogues.

Infact the crowd enjoyed the 80s song much more than the ones which were recently recorded. "Maanguyiale" from Karagaatakaaran ruled the crowd more than one from Oru naal oru kanavu released recently. Still there were songs which we thought could have been rendered as "Ilaya Nila","Poomalayae","Raakamma","Amma endrazhikkahda","Paartha vizhi", "Sangeetha megham"...the list is endless. Whats ur list of Raja's best?

The last 15 minutes belonged to the versatile Siva Mani and he showed why he is the best drummer around. He had Drums and sticks in all imaginable sizes and played them effortlessly. Raja also sang a 3 swaram song comprising of just sa ri ga and leaving out rest 4 swaras ma pa dha ni.

Some of the yuppie gen felt bored as there were no hip shakers..but then people....this was one of the few occassions where the body took backseat and the soul took precedence. For those who miss it too much....the idiot box is always there.

To do or not to do...

He was afraid. His felt a knot in his stomach at the very thought of it. The letter in his hands which might have weighed just a few grams felt like a ton. His first reaction on seeing Gauri was to run away from the scene with the letter. He had heard of people before who given letter to Gauri and how she had shred them to pieces along with their aspirations. But he had to do it and do it NOW.

After praying all his deities he handed over his leave letter to his project Manager and hoped that she would spare him a day’s leave.

P.S : I am going to my hometown. 5 days ensooooiiiiiii.

Grahanam....

This is my friend VENKATRAMANAN's take on Grahanam in an average indian Iyer household.
Jus check this out

The PowerCut

Darkness. Mankinds greatest fear since evolution. Most people deepest fears evolve in darkess and hence mankind despises it to extremes.

Yesterday Velachery came to a standstill when it was made to suffer in darkness. The moon looked prettier than usual but unfortunaltely not many were ready to share my enthusiasm or poetic sense at that point of time. Literally i could feel the meaning of PowerCut as everyone seemed to be deprived of power and people behaved as if without electricity mankind never survived. The powercut brought me memories of my childhood and college days.

As a child i used to hug my mother out of the fear of darkness after i saw some stupid sitcom where a character got killed in a power cut sequence.I remember times when power cuts were as regular as Ganguly's batting failures in test matches. It happened every saturday and i remember how everyone would finish their samayal activities earlier on saturday.

The college days powercut are cute to remember. Immediately after power cut we used to play hide and seek. Nobody enevr knew what or who hit them and it was damn fun for everyone ...except the sufferer. We used to play Anthakshari where everyone singing talents(or the lack of it) came to lights (!!). We used to walk along the road in the moonlight talking about everything from Bush to babes. Most of us used to stare at the Ladies hostel and wonder what they must be thinking at this time:-)

I particularly loved power cuts during exam times. It was a good pretex to keep the book down and avoid studying although there were pazhams who studied under candle lights. Otherwise even if u dont want to study you had to force the ritual after watching the rest do it.

We seem to be pampered by technology. When i told my 8 year old niece about how i got lost in my childhood, she asked innocently "U did not have a cell phone to call?" She talks as if people lived in rock ages before cell phones came to existence. Powercuts are the rare times when people listen to radios and i could see it that every house in the locality had Suriyan or Mirchi shouting at the top of their voices. Also it was a relief away from the idiot box as we all friends chatted endlessly till everyone fell asleep tired of the days chores.

My roommate seemed so much pissed off that he decided to go to his company and sleep in the dormitory. Another friend of mine told how the dormitory in his company got filled after employess living nearby realized that power was not to come at the earliest.

Have we become slaves of technology? People did survive before us without these luxuries, then why do we behave as if we would be dead without them?