Book reco - Arthurian legend

My friend recommended these books to me sometime back. They are about Merlin the magician. They are supposedly some of the best on the topic. I have to agree. The first one, Crystal Cave, is about Merlin's younger years and his growth to become the high king's prophet. The second one, Hollow Hills, is about his helping Arthur to be crowned the high king. Fascinating reading, to say the least. I have yet to read the third in this trilogy, The Last Enchantment, as soon as I can lay my hands on it.

Her tales are very descriptive, and in this trilogy, it helps in bringing these stories to life for the reader. Anyone interested in magic tales, fantasy or just well written fiction, would enjoy this book.

recycling gifts

I came across this article today, about re-gifting.

Sometimes we end up getting duplicate gifts or end up with gifts that are not suited to us at all. I don't see anything wrong in recycling them. The survey says about 78% of pollers have done it.

And then there are the gag gifts which do the rounds, because their usefulness ends right there.

Now, what are the chances you get the same gift that you gave away? Would the same concept as 7 degrees of separation work here?

LRMB

It was a pleasure to watch Munna Bhai and Circuit go at it again. I think sending this movie to the oscars is fully justified. The message conveyed is definitely the need of the day. This is of course too much idealism, impractical for today's world. But, may be this saturation will help a little bit at least.

Arshad Warsi's comic timing is great, as witnessed in some of his recent movies too. To me, he was the best thing in the movie. If I can enjoy a movie inspite of a dopey faced hero, it is all because of this sidekick.

Vidya Balan is beautiful and acts well too. Her "Goodmo...rning Mumbai" has become a rage at home, with my kids trying it out at the top of their voices, every chance they get.

Another important part of the movie is Boman Irani. What an actor! He gets better with every movie, if that's possible.

The songs were enjoyable too. I liked the way they had treated vandemataram.

And no half-baked characters here!

I have always had a soft spot for clean comedies in Hindi, this one is no exception, although I did feel that it was a tad more serious than MB1. Who knows, decades from now, this movie might be as popular as Hrishi da's movies are today!

Gandhigiri zindabad!

Ghajini aunty

A few years back, I met this lady at a party, her husband works with mine. She asked my name and talked to me for some time. Some time later, at another party, she says, "I don't think I have met you before". I didn't think much of it and re-introduced myself. But this repeated everytime I saw her. And she would always, always, walk up to me and say the same thing, ask my name and details. We were invited to her son's wedding reception, and yes, she asked me again. She apologized that her memory was not all that great. Tell me about it! :-)

The weird thing, the conversation was always the same. Asked my name, who was my husband and about my kids, and then, you don't look old enough to have kids, blah blah blah. A sense of deja vu, without really, in her case.

I later, found out that she had this medical condition that made her forget recent events. She remembers other things, older stuff, but not much in her recent past. I wonder how terrible that would be. Then again, may be not.

I met her again a few weeks back and the routine repeated. Since I was more aware of her condition, I indulged her, but didn't engage in a lengthy conversation this time. What's the point?

At the rate that I am losing my memory, I wonder how long will I take to get to her stage.

The dancer moves on

I have long admired Padmini's grace as a dancer. Madurai veeran (Nadagam ellam kanden) still stays fresh in my mind. Marainthirunthu paarkum was one of her best. She recently moved to Chennai, only to move on to better things. It is sad when such a bundle of talent passes away.

pilimpare awards

Missed the beginning half of the show yesterday. But caught last year's comedy man getting his pillim pare award.

Kamal's little girl, Akshara is so beautiful.

Lizzy on screen after a looong time, still looks the same. mostly.

Vikram talked quite a bit. That guy likes to hear his own voice, eh!

Thanga mudiyallai - Namitha's tharuviya tharamattiya, Cheran's new hairstyle.

puriya villai - What was with some of these dancing actresses wearing a long kovanam over their pants?

The kannada actor's (Prem?) tamil, kadichu thuppinaalum, paravayillai, kekka nalla irunthichi. At the other end, Trisha and Asin were pretty, but didn't speak much in the local lingo.

Chimp without moush!

Was there a tremor in Rekha's voice? Still gorgeous though.

Shreya can dance.

Discovered

(Source: Yahoo)

This one has been brought out of hiding! How many more are out there?

Rajini thaatha?

Going thru some spectacular shots of the big wedding on behindwoods.com, came across one that piqued my curiosity.



Is it true?

Remembering them

As a kid, I was heavily influenced by Mrs. Alamelu. She was a strong woman, who inculcated a lot of values and beliefs in me. Her lessons were very interesting, though she mainly taught Hindi, I have had her for Science lessons too, but the best ones were those where she digressed to examples in Hindu mythology or other such. She could sing beautifully, could yell at us if we misbehaved or say a kind word when needed and always motivated her students. She took care of cultural activities too and was a lady of multiple talents. When she decided to move to her village, we felt a keen sense of loss and even though she visited the school once more, we lost her then. A few years later, there was a rumor that she passed away. I hope that was indeed a rumor and she is still spreading sunshine around her.

Mr. A was one of my favorites. He taught French and English and for some reason we had a strong rapport. I kept in touch with him for some time after school years and I do hope to meet him again soon.

Mrs. L was such a sweet lady. Never a harsh word, the strongest reprimand we got was a gentle word to act properly. I owe her my love for English classics, whatever little I have. One more person, I have lost under the wheels of time.

There were the funny ones who (unintentionally) made us enjoy their lectures, the every-angry ones who turned their disappointments on their students and the shy ones who kept to themselves pretty much. Some who inspired and motivated, as they were meant to do.

Today is their day and I salute them.

Book(s) watch

As usual, there are a bunch of books I need to catch up on. Kite Runner is languishing on my nightstand while I try to finish Journey to the River Sea by Eva Ibbotson. She is one of my lately discovered writers. Read her which witch? recently. I had bought it for my daughter, but haven't ever heard about it or her, wanted to read it first to see if it was appropriate. Loved it. What's more, I see that she is a contemporary of JKR and shares quite a bit with her (Read here).
Another favorite, Mitch Albom is also out with his latest, for one more day. I have loved his other 2 books and so looking forward to this one too.

Then there is Elizabeth Aston who writes books based on the Darcy's (Jane Austen). Her latest is out, The True Darcy Spirit: A Novel.

Then the master thriller spinner, Baldacci is out (soon to be, rather) with The Collectors, part of the camel club series. A few from my favorite, Nora Roberts, to catch up to.

And then, I feel a distance from Harry Potter that needs to be closed, so got to re-re-read 1/2 blood.

between dance classes, music lessons and soccer practices, I got to squeeze in some soul time.

So little time, so much to do!

Maggie cuts her hair

Anyone who has read "Mill on the Floss" would know what I am refering to.

Tom followed Maggie upstairs into her mother's room, and saw her go at once to a drawer, from which she took out a large pair of scissors.

"What are they for, Maggie?" said Tom, feeling his curiosity awakened.

Maggie answered by seizing her front locks and cutting them straight across the middle of her forehead.

One delicious grinding snip, and then another and another, and the hinder-locks fell heavily on the floor, and Maggie stood cropped in a jagged, uneven
manner

My youngest one has lost her bangs! What can I say!

Ramayana as a history lesson?

Came across this article - NASA Images Find 1,750,000 Year Old Man-Made Bridge.

To believe or not to believe?

There are those who find similarities between the dasavatharam and Darwin's origin of species.

Violence is never the answer

Violence begets violence. Are their problems going to be solved by decimating a few hundred human beings? How many more people need to die in the name of religion?

A possible witness?

Helpline

Words

Came across 2 articles today on one of my favorite topics. Don't ask me why, but words (etymology, usage, etc) have always fascinated me.

One was about new words that were added to the dictionary. Do you know what Mouse potato and soul patch mean? The first one is obvious and the second one denotes the fuzz under the lips that some men wear. (Kind of non-sequitur - Any of you remember that PGW story where Wooster sports a fungal fuzz that Jeeves is so disdainful of? Hilarious, that one!)

The other was about simplying spelling. This one, I don't know if it is a good idea. Learning a new thing is good as long as you don't have to "unlearn" something that is so automatic.

NaRukkunu 4 vaarthai

I came across this post through Ravi's blog

That is a very well written article and true to the last word. A must read for all Indians, especially the bureaucrats!

One of the points, discrimination against the foreign tourist, is a shame to the country. We are known as the land of hospitality, but are we really?

And for day-to-day life, the worst are the powercuts and potholes, to say nothing about potable water, traffic or clean living standards. Such simple things are a big deal for the common man.

I know a lot of people would consider this India-bashing. But these are the things that are glaringly obvious to a visitor. Something that each of us needs to consider.
In order to appreciate something or to get the bigger picture, you need to step out.
Living outside my birth nation, I have to grown to appreciate its finer points as well as to look at it objectively.

How many of us have no problems cleaning the house and throwing the garbage out on the road?

Lost friendships

Ever lose touch with friends and wonder where they are now? We live in such hurried times that we walk away from friends without a glance back. I have been thankful many a times when I have found some of them through the internet or through another mutual friend.

Drifting apart is sad, but a reality of life. Sometimes, we take the effort to reconnect, sometimes easier said than done. There are some friends we can always call after a hiatus and still have that special camaraderie. Friends who don't expect much from you. Who doesn't like them!

Countless times have I tried to find out about this girl I went to school with, but haven't been able to find out what happened to her. Another one, we drifted apart after meeting up again.

My husband seems to be better at keeping in touch with old friends than I am. Is it just a personality trait or plain laziness? I wish I could make that extra bit of effort, but it is oh so easy to drift away.

Out of the blue today, I remembered Sho and her sister Dee. Sho must be around 28 or so, her sister a year or 2 younger. I helped them with homeworks and projects, they moved out of the locality and we lost touch, although I saw them in school occasionally. Wonder what they are up to now?

Super(b)man!

He flies, zooms and rocks! A great movie with awesome special effects! Lois Lane was so-so. Routh as Superman is perfect! I feel a bit disloyal to say this, but he fits the role better than others(incl. the TV ones!). The little kid is cute! Kevin Spacey, needless to say, shines as Lex Luthor. And then our desi dood, Kal Penn as one of his side kicks. And he goes the way that all evil sidekicks go! And while on this topic, check this out. Also, a lil bit of trivia about the forelock of justice.

The trailer for Spidey was intriguing, to say the least! MY

Eeyore, etc

How many of us share his personality? Just wondering.

caught up on some movies over the weekend. Fanaa - could have been better, Phir Hera Pheri - laugh riot, keep your grey cells at home though, Chithiram pesudadi - Good one, Narain's body language needs improvement and there was a lot of needless yelling in the movie.

Krrish - yyess!

Superhero Krrish is out on the streets and the reviews are good. The movie is kid-friendly, which is definitely a rare thing in Indian filmdom. It promises to be cheesier and cornier than koi mil gaya, its prequel. How about that!

Soccer fever

(Yahoo!)

A view from the outside

Came across this website , a log of an American's journey through India. Interesting, to say the least! I haven't read all of it or watched the videos, but will get to them soon.

Back to the blo(g/ck)

Some training and some conferencing and now back to the daily grind.

Family vacation - a short trip away from the family - nice, but 10 more pounds to worry about!

Current read - Mitch Albom's Tuesdays with Morrie - Good so far!

A new favorite - Moe's

Cars - A must see movie, esp for the pseudo realistic locales!
Over the Hedge - Another good one, some risque dialogs that swishes over the little bitties' heads. Thankfully :-)

Time to watch something more on my level.

PS: 10 pounds is a lot on the way (hopefully) down.

oppression or democracy

Da Vinci code is banned in TN. Why? It offends some people. Didn't Boys "offend" more people? Doesn't SJS offend more people? Anything for a vote!

All these politicians need a crash course on democracy! Better yet, just a crash! :-)

They need to take care, if this goes on, some higher power might decide that the country needs to be "relieved" of such oppressors and deliver "freedom".

Would that be good or bad? hmm!

Reservation row

I got an email forward of the interview on Devil's Advocate between Karan Thappar and Arjun Singh (You can read it here).

Dumb politicians! They have no vision, only caste based politics is in play. To me, reservation should not be caste based. In fact, there should need be none. There is this quote by Nehru, that Thappar mentions in the interview -

dislike any kind of reservations. If we go in for any kind of reservations on communal and caste basis, we will swamp the bright and able people and remain second-rate or third-rate. The moment we encourage the second-rate, we are lost. This way lies not only folly, but also disaster.

This was after his idea of reservations failed to help the people who needed it most.

Would I want a barely-passed physician/surgeon doing a surgery on me? How many politicians would be willing to do that? If they need to help, they should help the brilliant but economically backward students. A rich sc/st guy's spoilt brat doesn't deserve it!

Would you drive on a bridge knowing that the engineer who built it was not qualified to do so?

I rant on this because I failed to get a seat in maths undergrad even though I had 91% in the subject whereas, my friend who got 70% had no such problems!!! I was lucky to have other options. But how many others lack that advantage!

Let the deserved get it. If we want to eradicate casteism, this is definitely not the right way to go about it.

Provide educational facilities to economically backward kids, provide them a good education until high school. Once they are out of school, it should be each to his/her own, if he/she is smart enough and DESERVES it, provide financial assistance for higher studies. This way, we not only help the ones who deserve it, but we make sure that jobs go to qualified people, improving the whole society eventually. And need I say, no quotas on job postings anywhere. Period!

Happy times are here again?

Seems to be the season for comedies in Tamil. Crazy's Jerry is on its way, while Shankar's house will be coming out with Imsai. I hope this signals a new trend for kollywood. They are any day better than sappy melodramas!

Visitation

I had to go to a visitation yesterday, a close friend's mom passed away. It was only when I saw the body, did I realize that the last time I had seen one at close quarters was my dad's. Till now, I hadn't had the nerve to attend a funeral/visitation - a fear of re-visitation.

There is a smell you can associate with death. And it came back yesterday. I still haven't been able to get rid of it. Time heals, but the scars never go away!

How valid are these exit polls?

IBN live posts the possibility of DMK achieving power (the right word).

Do these exit polls mean anything? Some say not.

I can't believe there are people who think he would be any better. They both belong to the same category, he is more seasoned in corruption, she is more seasoned in arrogance.

As long as the common folks keep running in circles, nothing will be achieved, except more corruption. We need to think out of the box, er, circle!

Disgustedly ranting...

Naushad

One of Hindi cinema's greatest composers passed away. I have grown up listening to and enjoying his songs. He gave some of the best classical numbers in movie music.

His biography

Some of my favorites:

my most absolute favorite of his - madhuban mein radhika naache re and Rafi was superb here.

O Duniya ke rakhwale

Pyar kiya to darna kya

Suhaani raat

mohe bhool gaye saanwariya

aaj ki raat mere

gaaye ja geet milan

Almost all songs in Pakeezah, Ganga Jamuna, and countless others.

Aptronym

What is that, you ask?

Refer here.

Now check this out.

polygraphing campaign promises

I think we need a new rule that all campaign promises should go thru polygraph testing. Where are the color tvs and 2 acre land going to come from? sonnatha thaan seivaara? Enge pochu intha concept last reign timela? Vanthutaangapa!

Thaanga mudiyala! Oru saathaarana clerk postukkey retirement age limit irrukkum bothu, oru oora katti meikkarathukku vendaama? nadakkave rendu aalu help vendirukku!

inge ittaanga antha manchaa colora (RDB)!

ellarum mosam thaan, aana ivanunga worsht of the worshtu!!!

Ithaiyum nambaraanga paaru, athungala sollanum! democracy is not for them. ivanga servilelaavey irunthaachu, maara maataanga!

propaganda vent! :-)

Spring fever

What I like about Spring:

Driving up a just rained road on a hill, surrounded by lush green, roads carpeted with mowed grass.

Driving up through this dense cluster of green, green trees, a moment's vacation during a busy work day.

A carpet of red and green beside the interstate - wild flowers at their best.

The warmth, oh yes, balmy, not too hot and not too cold. I can spend the whole day out there.

Being able to jog outside, listening to birds, and if I am lucky, meet a bunny or two sneaking into someone's garden.

Sighting a crane in the creek. (haven't seen this one yet this year)


What I don't like:

Tornado weather

sneezes, itches and headaches.

Car covered in yellow (thick pollen)

Not exactly Dickensish, as in best of times and worst of times, but close.

Jane Austen

I love Jane Austen novels. I love their spinoffs as much. I have been reading a series by Carrie Bebris, who writes mysteries solved by Mr. Fitzwilliam Darcy and Mrs. Elizabeth Darcy. There have been 3 so far in this series. All the three were good mysteries. This last one, North By Northanger is based on Jane Austen's Northanger Abbey. We see a return of quite a few Austen characters. It has a good flow and is a quick read. If the locale was shifted to modern times, I am sure it would be as good.

Her first 2 were Pride and Prescience and Suspense and Sensibility. I am not sure how many would be in this series as there were only 6 novels written (published) by Jane Austen.

If you like Jane Austen, you might also enjoy the Jane Austen mystery series by Stephanie Barron. What is interesting in her books is that she introduces an historical figure in each of those books. I have seen Kipling, Churchill, Jack London and others featured as characters in her books. And they are good mysteries.

Then there is the Darcy's daughters book series by Elizabeth Aston. I have read 2 of those, and I think the third is out now.


Some interesting links:
Jane Austen: A Love Story


A review of Barron's first mystery

A list of other spinoffs

An austen blog


Who knows, in another 50 years or so, we will have Potter spinoffs!

Amirtham

When I saw a trailer of this movie on Sun TV, I was intrigued by what I saw and was curious enough to rent it over the weekend. There was the Brahmin background and good music.

The direction was shoddy at best. It could have been done better, much better. Navya Nair can act, and can also dance, I discovered. I loved the songs and the rich classical aura in the movie. If the thought is what counts, then yeah, they got that one right.

So, this was Bhavatharini's music, I hear? Loved a lot of it. Especially that small piece on kurai ondrum illai followed by the little alapanai. nice.

A good social message but the chaos was overwhelming. The hero was pathetic. I think I would have been better off watching just the songs (actually just the one where Navya dances) and buying the audio cd. Not that any of this was a surprise when I rented it!

Comeuppance?

Mugglenet.com has this little news blurb today:

Warner Bros. charges Bajaj with copyright violation

Warner Brothers has charged Bajaj Auto Ltd., a motor company located in India, with copyright violations. Jadoo, an Indian television show, has been running ads with a character that bears striking resemblance to our favorite boy wizard. A spokesman for Bajaj had the following to say:

The West feels that anyone in a red bikini is Baywatch and any flying boy is Harry Potter. Our concept of Jadoo is unique and we don't believe it's copied from Harry Potter....We feel the claim is exaggerated.

More here

I have seen this ad on SunTV, and it is very very , I mean very similar. But then these people (WB) need to look at all the movies that are released in the country. It is a way of life, copyright as in right to copy.

...that which we call a rose
By any other name would smell as sweet

speed bump

Anybody follow this regularly?



This might come true soon ;-)

A chimp named cheeta

On my morning drive, heard about the chimp that acted in the 30's Tarzan movies celebrating its 74th birthday with a sugar free cake (diabetic). Apparently, he is the oldest known chimp. What caught my attention was its name. Why would they name him so? More here

Need of the hour

Came across this website - http://www.lokparitran.org/

This is definitely something to be encouraged and supported. I don't know how far they have gotten in TN, but every positive step counts. Let's do out bit and get the word out.

An article in the Hindu

frustration of the day

You wait to take a left turn, bearing the barely-healed scar(e)s of a '(left) turn accident', waiting to get in between the bevy of cars on a surprisingly-busy-usually-quiet street and you get honked from behind. That definitely warranted a digit signal that I was not rude enough to demonstrate.

who is he?

Yesterday, while working out at the gym, caught a bit of My name is Earl, the titles mentioned a Vali Chandrasekaran as the writer. Curious, googled the name and found this blog. Same guy, looks like?

The other Chandrasekhar in Hollywood being Jay, the Dukes of Hazzard guy.

Height of a mismatch?

Sims with Chimps!

Ram wins for Jeeva

It is indeed an honor that a newcomer gets an international award. Jeeva won the Best Actor award at the Cyprus International film fest. The movie also won for music (YSR). Read in Tamil here.

The official website has only 2 awards listed, for Jeeva and YSR. Looks like tamilcinema stretched it a bit and gave 2 more to the movie.

That is something really!

Feels good!

A bit of this and that

Watched Sandakkozhi yesterday. Though there were shades of Run here, it was a good entertainer. This is the first Vishal movie I watched and he seems to have what it needs. Fights well, dances well, tall and muscular (not overly so), and seems to be ok with acting too. Meera Jasmine is cute and naughty, very few heroines seem to do well with comedy. This one does. Rajkiran seems to be gaining back a bit of importance in recent films, he gets a good role here. Was Lal the villain or a wannabe comedian?

May be I have learnt to pick good movies, but of late, most of the Tamil movies I have watched have been tolerably good.

---

The bitter half will be talking about all the hard labor of the last few days, when we decided to redo the little one's room. It did come out good, inspite of his complaints of curvy lines. I did what is called color blocking, using purples and pinks to complement Dora stick ons. I love doing up rooms, provided I don't get to do much of the labor ;-)

---

The older one had her annual party, and for once I decided not to bake the cake. That was a good idea considering all that work and exhaustion from painting. And for once, not much leftovers to clean up.

---

Watched sun tv's Friday review of kalabha kaathalan. Arya looks good, no doubt about it. But his voice needs some help. Definitely.

---

If you get a chance to see Bollywood Dreams, do so. They have captured the essence of Bollywood very nicely. And the guys will surely enjoy watching the 2 female leads.

Jeopardy try out

Want to try for Jeopardy?

Now is your chance to try it out. I have been a long time fan of this game show. There have been other game shows, their craze haven't lasted as long as it has been for Jeopardy!

Who knows? May be one of us would get to participate!

ARR on CNN

Yep, this weekend on Talk Asia show.

Talking to Lorraine Hahn of CNN, Rahman said: 'You have like 18 hydraulics moving on stage...in three and a half hours... it's amazing stuff.' The interview will be showcased repeatedly Saturday, Sunday and Monday on CNN's 'Talk Asia' show.

Can we see it here?

Che G's Bro wannabe

Inspite of those warnings about scary eyes, watched Maddy in Thambi yesterday.
Edutha eduppiliye, comedy padamnu therinju pochu. T'ai chi Maddy style was oh so funny! Then those eyes - reminded me of Halloween, when we can buy those plastic eyes to scare people. Direction was quite lacking. Dialogs were so 70s-80s style.
The worst was Pooja trying to be a great dancer. Man, she butchered that wonderful thillana. Thankfully she doesn't exhibit her 'skills' too much, but enough to make real dancers barf! Biju Menon seems to have gained a few pounds since I last saw him.
To cap it all, ending credits are again accompanied by Maddy style T'ai chi! And oh, were they being sponsored by a Shampoo company or what? Sometimes, I felt like I was watching a very looong shampoo ad, what with Maddy flaunting his glorious mane!

Three things to keep you off this movie - Maddy's eyes, his T'ai chi, Pooja's excuse for B'natyam.

Tamil Razzies

Where ever you see, people are giving away movie awards like the candies on I-day. I think we badly need a Tamil equivalent of Razzies. Now, that would have a healthy competition.

Worst actor nomination:
1. SJ Surya (tops my list)
2. Chimpu
3. Dhanush
4. Gabtonne
5. Ravikrishna
6. Sibiraj

Worst actress nomination:
1. Namitha
2. Sonia Agarwal
3. Sa(a)da
4. Ankitha

Worst Movie nomination:
Hard to pick just one here. Suggestions invited.

Pi day

Today is Pi day. Why? 3.14, that's the date. So a good day to celebrate your love for Math. If we can have boss day, secretary's day, even a dog day, we can surely have one math day.

Check the braingle web site or go eat a pi(e)!

The clown and ten

I rented out Shalimar the clown from the library recently.
Don't ask me why I picked this. Probably because there was a part of India in it. And also because it was Rushdie's. I read it through in a very disinterested way. The only thing that I liked about this book was the description of Kashmir, the beauty that was. Rushdie likes to ramble quite a bit. He starts talking about one thing and goes off on a tangent. The book is full of such tangents. I don't think I am going to read any more Rushdie novels unless it comes highly (very highly indeed) reco'd.

Saw Dus on Sony yesterday. It was not a bad movie. Some parts of it were even interesting. I watched it mainly because Abhishek B was in it. 2 things that would have put me off this movie - Drugged Dutt and Eeesha Deol. Could have been better of course. And now I hear, there is going to be a sequel named, guess what, 11. Natural progression!

Seems like the creative heads in Bollywood have stopped adapting from the west and recycling their old stuff. Kabhie Kabhie is probably heading for a remake. Then of course, there is Sholay, Guide and Don.

oru kutti kadi

Jurassic park thamizhla edutha enna paer veppanga?

mahap(b)allipuram

kids and their mother tongue

This post has been inspired by Vikrum's. Ever since I came to this country and observed how parents here try to instill some thing of their roots in their offsprings, I have been affected by this side of parenting. Teaching your kids to speak your language.

To me, it is more to help them be at home when visiting with family and friends. It is also a bit about passing on what (little) I know of my culture. I try to have writing sessions every Saturday in Tamil. It is not too hard to learn to write the alphabets and to read fluently. My problem has always been writing. I cannot write as well as I do in English. So teaching my kids write, in a way helps me too.

I have always encouraged them to learn languages. Both my husband and I are polyglots and would like that for our kids too. It is not just about the mother/father tongue. And learning a new language before they turn 5 helps them speak better in that language.

I remember being shocked at this dad who would not speak to his son if he didn't speak in Bangla. Now, I do that too. May be not at that strict a level. When we lived in Florida, we had quite a few hispanics in our neighborhood. All the kids spoke fluent Spanish. For that matter, most Gujarati kids speak their language quite fluently.

Is it because they hear it more? We try that too. We make it a point to speak only tamil at home. The kids understand quite well, if they have to speak, they stumble, but they try. I am glad for that. In order to learn, you have to be receptive. So, we let them struggle and help if necessary, but I have hope that they will be fluent soon.

Most parents don't want to try. Nothing is easy. Everything takes effort. I remember the early years of struggling to learn Hindi. What does help is to hear it spoken often. They don't have to become scholars in that language, but enough to be comfortable with it. We have boundaries, while at home and with other tamils, speak it. I don't force it, but say that this is the only way they can learn.

When we have the grandparents visiting, their tamil seems to come easier. Watching tamil on TV helps too, unfortunately, there are very few age appropriate programs/movies for them. They might never read and enjoy Ponniyin Selvan in the original form, but if they can share a joke from anantha vikatan with you, that in itself is something. And who knows, may be someday they will want to read Ponniyin Selvan all by themselves.

Dishyoom

Got to see this yesterday night. Jeeva looks promising inspite of his juvenile looks (meesai kooda seriya molaikkalai) and Sandhya seems to have gained a few since Kaathal. Movie is not bad with the shortie Amitabh providing some good laughs. There is only one thing wrong with this movie. Climax - sothapittaanga. It was too funny to see Sandhya's responses using her tears. BTW, when you are lying down, do the tears flow from the center of your eyes or from the outer edges?

Sandhya's mom was too young for that role. She looks prettier too :-)
A nice story, about women using friendship as a shield against falling in love with unsuitable(?) men. Camera was handled well. The best thing about the movie was there were no heavy scenes really, which is quite amazing for a tamil movie.

"Will" Ash star in Hollywood?

Ash is back again in the media, this time with the possibility of a role in a Will Smith starrer sometime end of this year or so. She is one of the few that travelled the distance from B to H. There have been Indians in H and there have been Indians in B who have been known in H, but this will probably be the first(?) time that someone who has established herself in B, moves on to H while managing to have a foot in each wood.

There is talk of AB Jr. linked to her which, I would say, is not a bad choice. Then there is talk of Samyuktha (Prithviraj) in the making, Umrao Jaan, Jodha Akbar with Hrithik. All of them, roles that should make her shine.

Not long ago, when an actress reached 30, she was delegated to sister or (widowed) mother roles. Nice turn, indeed. Talking about 30s, Mrs Nene is promising a return. Going by her performance in the Filmfare awards show, she hasn't lost her touch.

Blank Noise

Came across this blogathon against street harrassment.

Any girl who grew up in India most probably faced it at least once in her lifetime. Did she ask for it? Not everyone is a sado-masochist, thank you.

Can we do anything about it? Not much. Other than wearing protective steel or titanium armor.

A crowded bus needs a big bag, sharp heels and strong elbows if you are a girl. Law of the land.

A thousand Bharathiyaars cannot buy us emancipation.

Altruism, purely human?

Read this study this morning.

Would 3- and 4-year-old chimpanzees find and hand over objects that a familiar human "lost"? The chimps frequently did help out if all that was required was reaching for a dropped object — but not nearly as readily as the toddlers had helped, and not if the aid was more complicated, such as if it required reaching inside a box.

Is that proof that some of us are turning into apes? :-)

Alma's matter

Courtesy: Kaps

more on that.

Avala iva?

Indiaglitz says this one is back in action. She will be on the Natyanjali stage this year. Unfortunately, I can't forget her in kaathal oviyam.

Out of my cocoon

I have been hibernating. Not sure why.
Call me temperamental :-)

Spidey 3 is all black. Is that good or bad? Pink Panther was fun, even though it is not the same as watching Peter Sellers do his magic. My current fascination happens to be Stephen Chow (Chiao) after watching his Kungfu Hustle and Shaolin Soccer. But why do his heroines have some kind of disability?

Caught some of Filmfare awards on Saturday. But unfortunately missed out the Will Smith part. No surprises for Best actor, when AB had taken up two slots in the nominations. Would have liked to see Javed Jaffrey get best comedy instead of Akshay Kumar. That guy was funny and did a good job presenting. Why was Tabu looking a little lost (but gorgeous). Rekha was all decked up as usual. Vidya Balan was the best debutante, and she looked good. Aish danced to Kajra re, which won quite a few awards - Gulzar, ShankarEhsanLoy, Alisha. She has lost weight again- Aish not Alisha who has found some. What is this rumor floating around about Ash hitching up with AB Jr?

IMHO, Hemachandra deserved to win SRGMP!

RDB was good, but Aamir needs to act his age! Kunal Kapoor looks cho chweet, tho he too is in his 40s!

For those missing out watching live performances from this year's Natyanjali, check out Kutcheribuzz's site. Wonderful!

Ada kadavule!

For those who can't get enough of the gab-tonne, there is good news. For the rest of us, a few more future movies to avoid.
Be afraid! Be very afraid!

Journey - Part 2

Sorry for the long delay, folks.

(Part 1)

Ravi was soon fast asleep, his last thought was about the rain drumming on top.

Ravi found himself jerked awake, the pain in his neck sharp. He opened his eyes to find himself almost upside down in an awkward position, wrapped around the chain holding his berth. There was barely any light. He heard lots of screams. He tried to straighten up, holding on to his neck. Something was on his foot. Someone's lighter flickered. As he slowly got accustomed to the semi-darkness, he could see a shape crumpled at his foot. He tried to free himself, but that person didn't budge. He felt something sticky running from his head. His mind slowly opened up to the shouts and screams around him. He sat there unable to do anything for some time. He could hear people moving about. After what seemed like hours, light seeped in slowly. He found out why he couldn't move. A couple of suitcases had fallen on top of the person who was lying on his foot. He slowly moved them out of the way and tried to move the other person. It was the young man who had sat across from them. He seemed to be in a bad shape. Ravi shook him gently after checking if he was breathing. The guy stirred slowly and immediately screamed in pain. He was clutching his leg, which was in an unnatural position. Ravi turned around to see if he could do something. The young girl was sitting up beside him with a stunned look. The young couple huddled together on the other side of the young man. The guy was bleeding in quite a few places, his short dirty and torn. The girl had an ugly gash on her forehead and another on her forearm. They were trying to clean up each other. Mr. Rangabhashyam seemed a little dazed as he helped the bawling Komalavalli madam. Ravi touched the girl on her shoulder.

"Are you okay?"

She nodded mutely, with a faraway look. She seemed to be in shock.

The crowd was fighting to get to the door. Ravi decided to wait rather than fight the crowd. Someone said a bomb had exploded, someone else said the tracks had been missing. No one knew for sure. The crowd thinned out slowly. He helped Mr. Rangabhashyam who was trying to give a hand to Mrs. Komalavalli. He turned towards the girl and tried to get her to move. She did so in a trance. The young couple helped each other and they started moving out. He tried to help the young man stand up on his good leg. It was hard.

"Can someone help here? This young man seems to have broken a leg."

Some kept moving, a few stopped to look, some gave a look of pity, but no one stopped. Finally, another young man came to help him. Between them, they managed to pull him to the door. Someone had dropped a sari from the door above and a few good souls were helping people get out. The train was cleared in another hour. Groups of people huddled near their respective compartments. Some were badly hurt, some had a few nicks and cuts and some were amazingly unscathed. Some men decided to pull all the luggage out of the compartments. Soon the able ones gathered together and unloaded the bags.

Ravi walked around, trying to find out what had happened. There seemed to have been some problem with the tracks, causing the train to run off them. All the compartments were damaged. The news had been conveyed to Vijayawada, a rescue team would reach them soon. They seemed to be in the middle of nowhere. Water stagnated here and there from the rains, a few trees gave some shade from the morning sun.

He sat on top of his bag, waiting it out. He looked around, Mr. Rangabhashyam sat under a tree, leaning against the trunk, dazed and lost in thought. Mrs. Komalavalli seemed to have calmed down a bit, but every now and then, she let out a few wails, wiping her nose on the edge of her sari. The young couple sat hugging each other under another tree. The young man, who seemed to have a broken leg, was being looked after by an elderly woman. She had tied a cloth around his leg and cleaned up his scratches. The young girl sat alone, an island among the numerous groups of people. Ravi went to her and tried to make sure she was okay. He kneeled before her and shook her shoulder slightly. She jerked as if she had been dozing and looked at him.

"Are you all right, Miss?"

"I think so".

"You need to clean up your wounds. Your forehead is bleeding again".

She touched her kerchief to her forehead. Ravi saw that it was already blood-stained and dirty.

"Here, use this". He pulled out a hand towel from his bad and helped her.

"Thanks, Mr..."

"Ravi. And you are?"

"Archana".

"I am going to check on the others. May be you should move to the shade".

Archana got up and moved her bags next to the young couple. Ravi went to Mr. Rangabhashyam and sat down next to him.

"Sir, are you okay?"

Mr. Rangabhashyam turned to him slowly. "Yes. I am okay. A few scratches. Do you have a cell phone?"

"Yes. But the battery is dead."

"I left my family".

"I am sure we can let them know as soon as the rescue team gets here."

"No. I left them for good yesterday. My wife and two kids. I was a coward. I am a coward. I lost my job sometime back and couldn't find another. My wife nagged me constantly. My kids were going hungry. I didn't know what to do. I couldn't take it anymore. So I ran away. I didn't tell them. They don't know."

Ravi listened silently, not knowing what to say. Mr. Rangabhashyam closed his very wet eyes and leaned back against the tree.

Archana looked at the young couple. They seemed to be in a bad shape.

"Are you two okay?"

"Uh, yes, yes." The young man replied. The girl just looked, she seemed to be on the verge of tears.

"I heard the rescue team should be here soon. You can get back home soon."

That seemed to agitate them even further.

"When will they get here?"

"Soon. May be in an hour or so."

Archana looked around. There was confusion everywhere. As far as she could see, there was nothing else except the train wreck with the passengers milling around like ants. Her stomach rumbled a little. She was hungry. She hadn't eaten since the previous day's lunch. All she had was a half-eaten bar of chocolate. That would have to do for now. The girl next to her was sobbing. She could hear the young man trying to console her. Jenny, her name was. He kept repeating her name.

"What are we going to do, Rajesh?"

"Don't worry Jenny, we will figure out something."

"What if they find out?"

"They don't know where we are. They are probably thinking that we are still in Chennai."

Rajesh and Jenny, Archana thought. Wonder if they eloped. It certainly looked that way. She sympathized with them. They were in the same boat, well not exactly. Her thoughts flew back to the previous day, to her mother.

"Archana, do you really have to go away from us?" Her mom had cried pitifully.

"Mom, if I stay here any longer, all of you will drown my ambitions. You don't understand what I want in life. I don't want to marry Kumar and settle down. I won't get this opportunity again. Please try to understand, amma. And Delhi is not so far. You can visit me anytime you feel like."

Her dad had not talked to her and she hadn't bothered to reason with him. Their feud had started when she had graduated and had escalated to a point where talking was useless. She had left home a heavy heart, knowing that she could possibly not come back to the only home she had ever known.

The loud shouts brought her back to the present.

(to be continued)

what, not right? good!

One of the countless email forwards that I enjoyed:

"Who's calling?" was the answer to the telephone.
"Watt."
"What is your name, please?"
"Watt's my name."
"That's what I asked you. What's your name?"
"That's what I told you. Watt's my name."
A long pause, and then from Watt, "Is this James Brown?"
"No, this is Knott."
"Please tell me your name."
"Will Knott."

YOU LEFT THE TALKERS AT A POINT WHERE THEY WERE TOTALLY CONFUSED,
READ THE REST OF WHAT HAPPENED...

"Why not?"
"Hunhh? What do you mean why not?"
"Yeah! Why won't you tell me your name?"
"But I told you my name!"
"Didn't you say you will not?"
"Not not, knott, Will Knott!"
"That's what I mean."
"So you know my name."
"Of course not!"
"Good. So now, what is yours?"
"Watt. Yours?"
"Your name!"
"Watt's my name."
"How the hell do I know? I am asking you!"
"Look I have been very patient and I have told you my name and you
have not even told me yours yet.."
"You have been patient, what about me?"
"I have told you my name so many times and it is u who have not told
me yours yet."
"Of course not!"
"See, you even know my name!"
"Of course not!"
"Then why do you keep saying of course Knott?"
"Because I don't."

[Pause]

"What is your name?"
"See, you know my name!"
"Of course not!"
"Then why do you keep saying Watt is your name"
"To find out your name!"
"But you already know it!"
"What?"
"See, and you know mine!"
"Of course not!"
"Exactly!"

NOW THEY ARE AT A POINT WHERE BOTH THINK THE OTHER KNOWS THEIR NAME,
BUT THEY THEMSELVES! DON'T KNOW THE OTHER'S NAME.

"Listen, listen, wait; if I asked you what your name is, what will be
your answer?"
"Watt's my name."
"No, no, give me only one word."
"Watt"
"Your name!"
"Right!"
[Pause before it hits him]

"Oh, Wright!"
"Yeah!"
"So why didn't you say it before?"
"I told you so many times!"
"You never said Wright before"
"Of course I did."
"Ok I won't argue any more. Do you know my name?"
"I do not."
"Well, there you go, now we know each other's name."
"I do not!"
"Good!"

[Pause before it hits him]

"Oh, Guud!"
"Good."
"No wonder, it took me so long, is that Dutch?"
"No, it's Knott!"
"Oh, okay. At least the names are clear now Guud."
"Yes Wright.

We start 'em young

I am busy loading the dishwasher. The kids are getting ready for bed with dad to help. My older one comes and tells me that the younger brat has raided the makeup box. I hurry upstairs. The sight that greets me, do I laugh or yell? I give up to laughter. She seems to have a fair idea how to do it. Mascara used to cover half her forehead, a nice bindi to top it. Lipstick on her lips, and just to make sure she used enough, some on her nose as well. Clips in her hair. Not much on the white carpet. And then, "I am a big girl, I can put clips in my 'air !" Oh, Well! At least it made for a good memory!

Drowned in the tank

Ever since I saw the little ape doing the little super star (little upstar-t?) jig on Doordarshan, I had resolved not to watch anything featuring the ape or the ape junior. For some weird reason, there was a minor ab(h)erration to this recently. Why, o why? And I watched the tankman yesterday. That bugger cannot act. And over that, he looks scary when he tries to emote. Intha azhagula bayangara thenaavettu vera! That tank is fit to be drowned!!! punai peryarukku onnum koraichal illai! Wish Englishkaran hadn't been rented out. The old wannabe is much preferable to the young wannabe!

Triwizards, music and Kamal

Friday, I reached home early and boy, was I lucky? Caught the last half hour of thillu mullu on tv. I didn't remember this movie much, so had a good laugh and a nice surprise was Kamal in the last scene. Nice.

Got to play my veena and it was not a bad effort, being the first.

And then the highlight of the week, THE movie. yep, watched an older Potter, brawnier Ron and less frizzy Hermione. Director Mike Newell has done a wonderful job adapting it to fit the film length. I sorely missed Richard Harris. Dumbledore played by Michael Gambon, was a bit of a letdown. The cool and collected Albus was missing. Cho Chang! What can I say, I was thinking they would have someone like this, breathtakingly beautiful, but no, very ordinary! The Patil sisters, didn't seem to look like each other, even a tad bit, and also, ordinary. Of course, Diggory and Krum are quite the thing. Not bad there. Karkaroff seems ok and also the Barty Crouches. The kids are looking a bit grown up, hope to get to finish the rest quickly. Since most of the focus was the triwizard championship, the usual cast didn't get much screen time. Malfoys didn't show up much. Is it just me, or is Emma Watson's facial expressions a bit overdone? The world cup didn't take too much time either. The special effects need special mention. Great work there. In the scene where they first introduce the world cup venue, I thought I saw the Indian flag. It was too fleeting. Watch out for that one and do let me know.

All in all, crisp adaptation. To me, the only down thing about this movie was some of the casting. Must watch on the big screen.

A quote and opinions invited

Was reading Robin Paige's Death in Rotterdean, and came across this quote.

A woman's guess is much more accurate than a man's certainty. (Kipling)

Now, to me, this looks very accurate and logical.

But this was written by a man, so I guess for him, this was a certainty. Or was it?

What do you say? If you are a man, your comment is automatically devalued ;-) (I am not saying that, just an extension of the above statement).


Seriously, something related to a woman's intuition?

new word for the day: chi chi - ostentatiously stylish. Is that why Govinda is called so?

Seeing Red, etc

Seen on the road this morn - a pickup truck that has seen better days, flannel shirt, baseball cap, smoke stick in one hand, cell phone in the other, back to back traffic. Oh, and also a steaming cup of coffee balanced on the dash.
No, I didn't notice the color of his neck. I assume.

Note to self: I am not going to run on the treadmill again. Ennui!

Less than a week for the Goblet, reviews are too good!

McConaughey chosen by People. Definitely concur! Right, Aparna? :-D Here is the full list. I can't agree with the full list though. No.2 looks a little peaked, a bit of green on the corners. 3, 4, 11 (o, yeah) are fine with me, rest thumbs down. Well, it is all subjective, isn't it?

Sneha to get married, may be not, may be so. And Meera to marry Prithviraj, this one doesn't seem to die! Back to the rumor mill, is the sunshine pair, wedding bells on the ready. Super son-in-law is thinking along hospitality lines, now that his movies are bombing in a predictable pattern. If you haven't caught a glimpse of Kamal's junior junior, do so, pretty that one. And wants to follow parents, careerwise. Jo looking for a new jaaga, I thought she was co-building one!

oh, no! They think SRK can do an Amitabh in the new Don!

Memento and Bewitched, 2 good movies to watch.

Some interesting blogs rolled in!

Resplendent

During my yoga sessions, the instructor tells us to imagine our favorite peaceful place during shavasana. For me, it is usually rolling green meadows and clear blue skies, with the sound of the distant ocean beating against the cliffs, similar to Irish landscapes I have seen.

Yesterday, after a long break, I got back on the track, jogging leisurely in the evening sun. May be it is my imagination or it is the effect of this weird weather, the colors are glorious. I see trees of such beautiful colors, ranging from light green to the deepest reds to golden yellows. And the not-so-distant mountains, looking festive in green and red. Fall is no doubt, my favorite season, the colors vivid. How I wish I could capture them on canvas! I didn't take my mp3 player, instead concentrating on nature, and I was grateful for that.

Some of my favorite holiday memories have to do with fall colors. There was this halloween weekend that we took off to Smokey's and as luck would have it, stayed at a B&B (probably Little Greenbrier) right on the edge of the cliff, overlooking (I think) Cades Cove. We visited in the thick of Fall, the colors at their most brilliant. The balcony off our bedroom, overlooked this huge valley, we were right at the edge.

Then there was this small state park near Paducah, Ky (Lake Barkley I think), where we had a room overlooking the waters. It was drizzling and a bit cold, but the colors were magnificient. We even saw a few deers in the woods.

Fall is, to me, the best time for jogging outdoors. Once you warm up, you don't feel the chill and then you forget your exhaustion when your eyes are filled with such vivid landscapes.

I think I am going to add a bit of color to my shavasana imagery, and make those trees really variegated.

Verbose. or not

Diwali was so unlike one this year. I usually spend a few days making sweets to send off to friends. This time, we got some boxes of sweets from India, but they are sitting in the fridge. Somehow, this year seems to be a low key affair for celebrations. Wonder why! Ennui, perhaps?

Talking about diwali sweets, this is something I read recently. I like looking up etymologies. Surprised that sugar and candy are from the great subcontinent. Shakkar was dried and preserved around 300AD or so. The Persians, Arabs and then the Crusaders spread it around the world. Until then honey was the universal (well, western) sweetener. And another sweet note, Candy originates from Tamil. Now, who would have guessed that!

Email is 34 years old and so is someone else! Someone well known personalities born today - Laura Bush, Walter Cronkite, Will Rogers, Tabu and Markie Post (of Nightcourt fame). Hmm!

Motherhood

Shalu heard her husband moving about. She opened her eyes in the semi-darkness. It was 6:00 AM. She closed her eyes. Ashok shook her awake at 7:00 AM.

"Aren't you going to work today?"

"I don't think so. Can you tell them I am sick?"

"What is the matter with you? It has been more than five months. You need to get hold of yourself and try to move on. You think it is easy for me?"

"It is different. You didn't go through those nine months. I did. I nurtured that tiny life within me, you didn't."

Ashok knew the futility of arguing with her and left for work.

Shalu tried to go back to sleep. Back to oblivion, wanting to forget. She felt like crying, but her tears had dried up along with her milk. Her little son, Sumanth, stillborn, had sundered her heart in two. She had been in therapy for three months before she returned to some sense of normalcy. Yesterday, her cousin had called to announce the birth of his new son. She was happy for them, but it brought back all the heartache and longing. Years of fertility treatment, mental agony and dashed hopes had left her mind quite vulnerable. She was angry against fate for causing her so much pain.

Ashok seemed to be taking it better. He was deeply affected when they lost Sumanth. But while the therapy had been good for him, it was a temporary measure in her case. It was a disease now. She ached to hold a baby in her arms. Sumanth, not any baby. Her Sumanth, whom God had snatched from her, like the sadist He was.

She moved around in her nightgown, unkempt hair and unwashed face, barely eating anything. The TV was on, but her eyes had a faraway look. The phone rang. She let it ring. It stopped and rang again. Then it stopped.

An hour later the doorbell rang. It kept ringing. She finally moved from the sofa and opened the door. Her mom. Always looking poised. Why was she not like that! Mom came in, and hugged her silently, not offering trite words of comfort.

She made her sit, cleaned her face and brushed her hair. She made some food for her. Shalu ate in silence. Just having her mom next to her gave her a lot of comfort. She hugged her and the silent tears flowed in two pairs of eyes.

"Shalu, there is something I need to tell you. I probably should have told this a long time back. May be I could have saved you a lot of trouble."

Shalu looked at her mom, curious to know what she was going to say.

"Your dad was stationed in Delhi then. I was four months pregnant."

"Pregnant with me?"

"No. It was before you. One evening, on our way from a party, some drunk driver rammed into our car, your dad lost control and we hit a tree. I lost the baby."

"Oh, mom. I didn't know. I am so sorry."

"I was in bed for 6 months after that. We tried for another baby for years. Nothing worked. Later, I found out that my uterus had been damaged and I couldn't bear any more babies. I was heartbroken. Just like you."

"Then how...?"

"One of my friends look me to this place for orphaned kids. I started working there. I grew quite attached to the kids. Then your dad got a transfer back to Chennai. I threw a fit, I didn't want to go. Finally, your dad convinced me that we could adopt a child from the place. I agreed to that. You had been left there a month back. You were barely 3 months old then. I had been looking after you for sometime. We decided that you would be better off thinking that you were our own blood."

Shalu sat stunned. All these years, she had had no clue.

"Who were my real parents?"

Mom winced at that. "Does it matter?"

Shalu stared at her for sometime. "No, not really. You are my mother."

Tears of gratitude in her mom's eyes. "I could not see you killing yourself slowly like this. This is not the end of the world."

Shalu wiped her eyes. "Yes, mother." A slight smile appeared like a rainbow.

aaaaabbbbbbbbd ddddbbbbeaaa abbbd aabdd

If you are wondering about that title - long time no c :-) lifted from a PJ forward.

Sprained my back sometime recently. All I could do was lie and watch movies or read books. Very sad, I know. Recos - do not bother with I heart huckabees and power of women. Why did Hariharan do that, eh? A couple of songs were good. Parineeta, Sarkar are in the must see list. Reading recos - if you like victorian mysteries, I stumbled on the gaslight mystery series, set in early 1900s in NYC. Robin Paige is good too. Then there is David Baldacci's Camel Club and Sue Monk Kidd's secret life of bees waiting to get their turn. 5 people you meet in heaven is one of THE most awesome books I have read. Why? don't ask, just read it.

Then there was all that personal drama. hubby almost caught in the chennai flood chaos, water entering home, alone with kids and temporarily handicapped. Felt like I was in a sun tv MS. How do people ( actors and the audience) take this load every day? BTW, should we now have a new word "vidience" for the visual medium? One good thing, loads of diwali sweets from back home. Didn't have to break my back making them at home.

And for the few awaiting the next part of the journey, gotta wait some more time. There is a lot of distance between the mind and my fingers.

Mindblowing!

Only word to describe a concert performance by (Guitar) Prasanna and band. Didn't know someone who was so comfortable with a musical instrument. His fusion of east and west is beautiful. He calls his latest album, Be the Change. True to that, he is heralding a new style to Indian Classical, fusing it with other forms, making it appealing to the younger generation. Who wouldn't love Bilahari and Hamsadhwani, the way he does it! His drummer(Jordan) almost matched him, and it was a pleasure to watch them. His Ragabop (kapi) was awesome! I wish I had the whole concert taped!

Journey - Part 1

Ravi got on the train and found his way to his compartment. He tucked his suitcase under his seat, settled down with the newspaper. He hoped it wouldn't be too crowded.

All he needed was some quite time. There was the usual noise from outside the train and from groups of people trying to find their seats inside the train. His mind was not in the paper. His memories haunted him.

In a little while, others trickled in to his compartment. One middle-aged lady who should probably have booked 2 tickets instead of her one, to cover her ample posterior.

A young couple, looking scared; they were probably eloping, Ravi thought. A middle aged man, bespectacled, his shoulders seemed to be carrying half the world's weight on them. Worry lines ran criss-cross on his forhead. A young woman, ears plugged to some kind of bouncy music, shoved her bag above and sat down across from him. A young man, talking and laughing loudly on his cell phone, sat on the other side. Ravi looked at him with a frown. He was hoping the journey would be quiet. He seemed
to be a college kid, in his tattered jeans and mussed up hair.

The young man seemed to be afflicted with some kind of nervous disorder. He couldn't sit still. What is wrong with these kids these days, he thought. The young man caught sight of the young girl and gave a supposedly winning smile and quieted down. Well, thank God for that, Ravi thought. The young woman was looking out of the window, not bothered with her co-passengers. These young girls have grown gutsy nowadays, they have no problem travelling alone, Ravi sat musing.

The guard waved the green, and the train with a small hoot, started on its long journey. The older lady, who had been chewing her paan , leaned across him to spit it out, raising the heckles out of a bunch of people waiting on the platform to send off their friends and families. She sat down jarringly, a bit too close for comfort.

"Thambi", she called to him, "Could you get me that bag up there?"

There, it's started, he thought. He stood up to reach for her bag and handed it to her.

"Thanks, You are going to Delhi too?", she pestered him.

"Yes". And he turned to look outside.

"Thambi", this time it was the older man.

He turned. "If you are done with that paper, do you mind if I borrow it?"

"Sure". He hoped that would be the end of it.

"How depressing! All the news nowadays is so violent. This one killed a few. That one committed suicide. War in one country. I don't know why we bother reading all this."

Ravi just looked sympathetically and turned to the window.

"I am Rangabhashyam. I am on my way to Delhi too. Business, you see."

Ravi kept quiet.

"What is your name, thambi?"

"Ravi".

"Do you live in Delhi?"

"No"

"Official visit?"

"No"

"Going to see family?"

"No"

Finally, Mr. Rangabhashyam got the hint and hid his face behind the paper, muttering something like "young men these days... hmph".

The coffee guy came by. Ravi bought one. The older lady got one. The young couple got one after deliberating quite a bit. They shared it. The lady slurped hers noisily. She complained it was not hot enough. The poor man promised to bring her straight off the stove next time. Another guy came by to see if anyone needed dinner. The lady ordered pronto. The young couple ordered just one, again. Ravi ordered one. The older lady started off a (loud on her side) conversation with Mr. Rangabhashyam.

Her name was Komalavalli and she was going to visit her son in Delhi. He was a big officer there. She stayed in Chennai with her other son and husband. She asked about
him. He said that he was going for official reasons. Then she took a bag of spicy mixture, and continued her conversation, crunching loudly in between. She next turned to the young couple.

"Newly married?"

"Y y yes."

"Eloping?" Her face brightened with an unholy gleam.

"N n n no", the girl this time.

"The younger generation is too bold, I say. They do whatever they want, dress as they like, no fear or respect, I say. What do you think, Komalavalli madam?" This from Mr. Rangabhashyam.

"Yes, yes. Take my daughter-in-law. No respect towards elders. Always arguing about everything. Those days we never opened our mouth unless spoken to."

Ravi thought, you are compensating quite nicely now.

"My neighbor's brother's daughter ran away with a Christian boy, you know. And then he abandoned her when her father and brother went to seek her. Spineless fellow, you know. All these movies and western culture, you know, spoiling our kids. Very bad."

"Mr. Rangabhashyam, I agree sir, it is this new culture. They watch MTV at home all the time. It is hard to switch to my favorite shows nowadays. I have to fight to watch the good programs. Why can't they watch these serials with us? They are so good, very real, things that happen in our houses. But they want to watch all these foreign channels, so they can ape them."

The young man who had been silently eyeing the young girl, seemed to be annoyed at this and walked towards the door. Mrs. Komalavalli finished her packet of goodies, took out a bottle of water, drank some and burped loudly. The young couple smiled at each other. The meals started arriving. Mr. Rangabhashyam opened his home-made packet of curd rice and pickle and ate that with his bottle of water. The young couple put the plate between them and ate it together, smiling and talking among themselves. Ravi opened the lid off his plate and tried to swallow the barely edible fare provided. Mrs. Komalavalli, ate hers with relish and when she was done, opened a tiffin box from her bag and literally swallowed 2 huge laddoos. A few burps followed. The young man took out a bar of chocolate and chewed on it. The young girl seemed to have dozed off.

Soon everyone got ready to climb into their berths. Ravi went up to the top one. The young man stretched out on his seat. The young couple had the upper and middle berths. The young lady had the middle, right under Ravi. Ravi guessed that they must have switched berths among themselves. The older couple occupied the lower births. They were both snoring, each to his or her own rhythm and tempo. The young man next to Ravi kept checking on his girl below. Soon things quietened down except for the snores.

Cine muni - 4

Vettaiyadu Vilayadu seems to jinxed. The movie again came to a standstill due to lack of funds. Now Oscar Ravichandran has bought it (on Kamal's reco) and plans to reinvent it, meaning rename it. At least it is following the current trend - renaming :-)

Chimp is looking for English tongues to dub his manmathan for Hollywood. Anyone game? :-)

June R hero is again Biju Menon. What is Surya's cameo then?
Update: Acc. to my latest kumudam/AV mag, Surya is R in June R.

Anbey vaa is coming back. Supposed to be a rib-tickler with a message. Now wait for the MGR fan group to raise their voice against the name

Amitabh and Jaya Pradha in Police with Prashant, supposedly a bilingual in Tamil and Telugu. She looked good in salangai oli. And then she moved to hindi and starting acting in mystery movies. She used a whole box of pancake makeup everytime that it was a mystery how anyone identified her.

Thalavattam (Mohanlal in one of his best) in its hindi avatar, kyon ki (shirtless star) is ready for release.

Something to snatch your sleep away: village king is back as hero of Madurai Thangam.

ungal vote-u...

TN politics is undergoing (hope it is) a major change. Assuming no kootanis are formed (big assumption), who would you vote for?

1. oor sothu en sothu
2. oozhal samrajyam
3. gab-tonne
4. peraa maathu, cinema hitler.
5. Other - Specify


Hope keeps the world going!!

Dancing the years away

I love to dance. Classical, folk, movie, latin, all kinds fascinate me. I am still a student when it comes to bharathanatyam. Of course, I would probably have been better learning it at 13 instead of 30 :-) But age has nothing to do with learning a skill/art. It is all in the mindset. But when it comes to performing, I prefer to be in the company of similars. Imagine dancing with kids half my age. Which is what I did this weekend. Should I be embarrassed about it? It has not bothered me really. But don't mistake it for a wanna-be symptom. It is just that, when my feet are moving and my heart is singing, I care very little about the rest. Quite a few people came up and asked me how it felt to dance with the teenagers and then added that I didn't look too bad with them ;-) I don't know whether to take that as a backhanded compliment.

I have always been interested in learning to dance, but never got around to it until recently. So it is fun to dance alongside my daughter :-) What really motivated me was this 50plus lady coming down to Chennai for her arangetram. Even Rukmani Devi Arundale didn't start until she was in her mid 20s.

Agreed, it is not easy. It took me sometime before I could sit in araimandi continuously for 5 minutes. It took me much much longer to perform my first classical piece, but I did do it. But in a way, it has helped me spiritually. I feel closer to my faith, when I do something on Ganesha or Krishna, than I ever did going to the temple.

My mind is faster at grasping the nuances of an item faster than my body does which is good and bad. By the time I master the piece, I know exactly what I am doing. But the time taken to reach that point is, let us say, proportional to my age.

And added to all this, I am planning to learn to tap :-) What fun!

Cini Muni - 3

Kamal is in the news a lot lately. His next one, Dasavatharam helmed by K.S.Ravikumar sounds promising. 5 heroines for 5 Kamals, the other 5 Kamals will be single. Asin and Vidya Balan (Parineeta) are confirmed. Search is on for the other 3. Since the trend is to rename all movies, this should probably be renamed to 10 Kamals and 5 heroines.

Talking about films being renamed, Jayaram and Pandiyarajan are doing one together, pillayarpettaiyum kandu vattiyum, initially named pillayarpattiyum kandu vattiyum. Another one that might be renamed is thiruvilayadal starring the going-nowhere-tho-I-am_Super's-SIL Dhanush. Whatever happened to democracy and free country?

Heavyweight N. threatens that she has lost a few inches.Does it make a difference?

So for the next elections, Rajini is supporting Gab-tonne's DMDK?

Never-say-die hero Ajith's Paramasivam has never-say-die heroine, Laila.

JuneR Jo's new film, has Surya as the hero, but it is just a one-act show.

Meena too joins the small screen brigade with a quiz show on Jaya TV. And Devayani won a best actress award for Kolangal.

Seems like Kanda naal muthal is one to watch out for. And one of the guys in that, Karthik Kumar ( he ponn parthufies Shalini in Alaipayuthe) is Radio Mirchi's Ms.S's fiance.

SJS should title his next movie ulley veliye and base it in a prison ;-)

A dubious honor?

Suresh Joachim of NY, originally from SriLanka has won another guiness record. That of watching TV for the longest time. Check this cnn link.

Rules for the couch potato honor, as stipulated by Guinness, allow for a 5-minute break every hour and a 15-minute break every 8 hours. The viewer must otherwise be constantly looking at the screen.

Imagine, just watching 1 channel, ABC, no surfing allowed. But all for a good cause, he says. Now, if we could switch channels, I am sure a lot of us could beat that ;-)

Cine Muni - 2

Big news in recent times is Rajini's Sivaji, the latest being Ayesha Takia is doing the female lead. What happened to Rani then?

While on Rajini, he attended Paramasivan's poojai, starring Ajith helmed by P.Vasu. Since PV is R's current best friend, the spontaneous visit was quite welcomed. And he has advised son-in-law to open a restaurant. Smart move!

Thotti Jaya has been reviewed as a must-see!

Nila of Ah aah, is touted as the next Simran. Anyone noticed her muzhu-nila-like thoppai. How can she be so skinny and yet have a well rounded middle? And someone needs to make sure that SJS has his hands tied securely when he talks! He waves it much faster than Rajini ever did :-)

Gab-tonne is everywhere. vellaiyum solliyuma, announcing no drunkards can enter his maanaadu. So how does his eyes get so red-rimmed?

Maniratnam is on his way to Hollywood!

Surya in Jo's home production! Should we read between the lines?

For classical dance enthusiasts, a movie to look out for is Shringaram. It is based on devadasis of old times.

Fictional favorites

Books have been an important part of life. Some of my favorite fictional characters, who have influenced/inspired/invigorated me to a great deal have been listed below. I have gotten so involved in their lives while reading the books that I have forgotten my own.

Scarlett O'Hara - A definition for optimism. The never say die woman, not perfect, but possessing a lot of strength.

Tracy Whitney - Another one for strength, courage and smarts.

Howard Roark - Believed in his convictions.

Wooster and Bingo Little - funny dudes

Dumbledore - basically, the likeable old guy. The grandfather figure.

Samwise Gamgee - loyal like Hanuman :-)

Elizabeth Bennett - No pretense in the land of pretensions

Atticus Finch - Good samaritan and a good father

Sirius Black - the underdog, unlucky fella, true friend

Hercule Poirot - for his grey cells


You got favorites?

varnanai varalaru - II

The question came up in a previous blog regarding descriptive songs of the male variety. Agreed, not too many. Some that I could remember. Some direct and some not so.

style-u style-u thaan super style-u thaan

thekku maram udalai thanthathu in the song maan allavo nadayai thanthathu

karuppu thaan enakku pidicha

vaan poley vannam kondu vandhaay gopalane

antha vaanath pola

mathurai veeran thaane (paravai muniamma) and koduva meesai



I am sure there are more Rajini/Vijaykanth/Kamal songs that I can't think of now.

cine muni followup

last postil siriya pizhai - kandu pidiyungal please

latest news: Abi B doing Veeru's role in the new Sholay. Father pitted against son!

Cine Muni

Prashant the evergreen bachelor, is finally tying to knot, under the auspices of the hon. CM of TN. Ash is supposed to attend.

Rajini's Shivaji apparently has a role for a son-in-law. Wonder if real-life s-i-l will get a chance? He apparently reco'd kannada flick Jogi to s-i-l. The movie seems to be creating all kinds of rumors as usual. Shrikant was rumored to be in. Ash might be in it. ARR is definitely in it.

Thankar Bachan, finally removed the foot from his mouth, wonder who is next? Strike success

Namitha plans to really "hog" the screen next. Double roles with Arjun in Markandeya. Scary!

Saadha with Ajit in AVM's production.

Big B might finally do a tamil flick. His khakee is being remade in Tamil with Prashant.

The latest entrant in singing for tamil films is Surya. He plans to do one for his Chennayil oru mazhail kaalam. Aside, that title evokes wonderful nostalgia.

Oru Naal oru kanavu bombs, though the rumor floating around is a sure award for soon-to-be-married Bhava for her rendition of Katril varum geethame...

Gab-tonne is planning to produce his own movies. (Vera vazhi?) It is going to be used to spread his political thoughts. Well, at least no more of his movies on Sun TV :-) But he is really going to be a Gab-tonne, That is a scary prospect. And if he (God forbid) becomes the CM, watching those movies might become a necessary condition to live in TN! :-P

munthiri thoppu (aka grapevine)

Looks like a baby boom is going on in kollywood. Maddy had a son recently. Now Devayani is expecting (which means kolangal is being wrapped up). There was another murmur about Rajini's eldest born. Ajit and Shalini are left out of the loop here? :-D

Sneha is supposedly getting married to a gult hero (probably one she is currently working with?). Surya and Jo not getting married soon, so they say. Ms. Muzhi's market has climbed up a little now. She is doing Shock in telugu.

SJS is fast attaining notoriety in Chennai. :-) Foot in mouth disease going around kbakkam. One good example, ThankarBachan. Meera Jasmine is being rumored to be cuddly with (oh-so-cute) Prithiviraj. What happened to Lohita dahling? And Chimp is worried about having no girlfriend ;-) I am sure the girls are sighing with relief :-P

Naane kadavul is on hold for now. Ajith is probably still trying to figure out what struck his boat. :-)

And there is a kozhayadi chandai going on for the prime role of Sivaji's heroine. Trisha amidst that.

Pazham

Can you identify this fruit?


UPDATE: This was a red seedless grape, or should I say, a few redless grapes. Lack of growing space did this to them. Imagine overpopulated India in a few decades. Scary!

Relatively speaking ;-)

What Famous Leader Are You?
personality tests by similarminds.com

Inspired by Sathya, if you can call it inspiration ;-P

Porutham

pennai parthaargal
perazhagai potrinaargal
paada sonnaargal
naaL kurikka sonnaargal
thirumanam
orumanam aakkavillai
mugathil theriyumo
agathin azhagu?


An older one here

Melvin Durai

I have been reading this guy's columns for a few years now. And he has produced some really funny ones. Check out his website here. Some of the ones I have enjoyed recently:

AIRPORT SECURITY: DON'T TAKE IT PERSONALLY

language barriers - had me literally ROTFL!

Couch potato. or not!

Varnanai varalaaru

Today morning I woke up with a song on my mind. Kattodu kuzhal aada aada, what a beautiful melodious song. That started me thinking on songs that describe a girl/woman and how things have progressed(?) over the decades. These were some of the songs that came to my mind.

kattodu kuzhal aada aada
kann endra meen aada aada

azhage azhagu devathai
aayiram paavalar ezhuthum oviyam

vaadi en kappa kizhange

maanin iru kangal konda maanae maanae
thaenin suvaik kannam konda thaenae thaenae

Ooa PARTY nalla PARTYdhaan
oa BEAUTYyinnaa BEAUTYdhaan
pinnazhagaik kaattich chinnap paiyangalai vaatti
minnalidai aatti varum manjal nilaa nenjaik killaadhoa

Telephone mani pol siripaval ivala

inthaadi kappa kizhange


And in kannum kannum nokia - there are weird metaphors and similes. koLLai koLLum mafia, capuccino coffee, apple laptop penney.

What next?

meendum oru kaathal kathai

kathiravanukku kaathali mel kobam
bhoomi pen, vaadi nirkiraal
megangaL adiyaatkaL
kaathulukku thadai vithikkinranar
kaathalan anullaai kothikkiraan
naatkal sella, kobamum
thanigirathu,
megangaLai virattugiraaN
oduginranar, mutti mothi
karaikinranar
bhoomi kulirgiraaL,
anantha mazhaiyil nanaigiraaL
adutha sandai varummattum

'Air Apparent

Most Indians are blessed with luxuriant black hair. At least the ones who have hair ;-) So what is this new fascination with dyeing them a weird washed-out shade of brown, I don't understand! Right from movie peeps to kids on the street, they are sporting brown highlights in their hair. Being mod and up-to-date seems to have taken a whole new meaning. People look better in what suits them, than what suits someone else. Brown hair does not suit brown people. It makes them look mousy, dowdy and washed out. I am not even going to talk about blonde looks.

It not only makes them look shabby, it spoils their hair too. These chemicals are quite harsh for the hair and over long term use, can make it really dry and coarse. Rediscover the magic of black, glossy hair.

Growing up, we were always subjected to 1 bottle of coconut oil every day. The oil not only fried your hair in the unforgiving chennai sun, it also helped add some color to your pillows and walls and sofas. People got out of that only to get here!

Most people do not use a good conditioner after a shampoo. Unless you have really, really oily hair, a mild to good conditioner is a must. And the shampoo leaves a cruddy deposit that robs the shine out of the locks. It is always good to use 2 different shampoos, one preferably to remove such deposits. A weekly deep conditioning treatment is beneficial. The best treatment can be found at home. Eggs, yogurt, black mehndi (dries up hair if used by itself, mix with an egg), coconut or gingelly oil are all good weekly treatments.

Shampoo should not be used directly on the scalp, mix it thoroughly with some warm water and apply the suds to the scalp. Leaves less deposit. Hair dryers and curlers and iron should be used as little as possible.

In case you are wondering about the title, my little one has a slight cockney in her tongue. She asks me for 'elp to brush her 'air.

meendum oor vambu

Latest news circulating is that Surya and Jo are getting married next month (Thatstamil.com. Puli varuthu, puli varuthu kathai thaan po! And that was his sister next to him during FF awards function. So chances are she might not act with Kamal in VV. Could go to Nayanthara. Incidentally, she is doing an "item" number for Vijay's Sivakasi.

Saw Velli Nakshathiram(Mal) yesterday. Good (Horror!?) movie with pathetic special effects :-) Funny rather than scary! But Prithviraj is definitely drool worthy. He dances quite well. The little girl is cho chweet!

The chimp with the beard looks scary, too much like dad.

Postage stamps on MSS and Gemini are set to be released soon!

Bombay Dreams will be touring this year, plan to catch it!

Can someone tell me why Anniyan is the number 1 movie right now?!!!! And that Sun TV comperer said Sadaa and azhagu in the same sentence :-D

Ajith is a never say never die man! He has signed AVM's next venture!

Yoga

It has been more than a year that I have regularly been practising yoga. I have been exposed to it on and off all through my life. But only recently, have I started doing it in earnest. Towards the end of the day, it helps me unwind. It builds flexibility and posture.

It has become the latest fad to do this as an exercise. This article on yahoo lists some benefits.

This last month or so, I haven't been at it as regularly as I want to and this is when I really felt the advantages of doing it. My joints tell the tale. I could jump, run and climb and do my araimandi with no problems while practising my asanas regularly.

My favorite kind is the power yoga - intense, advanced asanas, which is a low-impact aerobic activity. Builds flexibility and stability. Needless to say, shavasana is my favorite ;-), but I do like my animal and bird asanas.

I know this yoga guru who is a centenarian, fit as a 40 year old, active and still teaching the art. A proof of the benefits of life-long yogasanas. This is one exercise, good for the body and mind, with no age restrictions or fitness levels. If at first, you can't reach down even to your knee level, keep at it with patience, eventually you will be able to place your palms on the ground, and the journey would have done you a whole lot of good!

I tried teaching yoga at a kids camp recently and it was fun. The children enjoyed trying out various poses, the breathing and relaxing. In fact, it is a good habit to cultivate from childhood. My 2+ year old also loves to do it with me :-)

So if you haven't ventured there yet, go for a spin(al twist).

Translation help needed

Tamil pulavars and pandits, please help. Sometime back I learnt Varanam aayiram as a dance. But I am not satisfied with the way it is being depicted. I found this site which gave an approximate translation. But this is not enough for choreo purposes. I need help with certain words. Any help is highly appreciated.

I love this dance. I feel it needs to be fully understood before one can express what it conveys.

vAraNam Ayiram SUzha valam Seidu
accompanied by elephants in a procession

nAraNan nambi naDakkinRAn enRedir
The lord walks towards/in front of me

pUraNa poRkuDam vaittup
They carry brimming porkudam

puRam e~ngum tOraNam nATTak kanAk kaNDEN tOzhi nAn
toranams being put up all around - I dreamt thus, my friend



nALai vaduvai maNam enRu nAL iTTu
What exactly is vaduvai? - marriage? or girl/groom?

pALai kamugu pariSuDaip pandaR kIzh
under a paakku mara panthal
paalai ?
parisudai ?

kOLari mAdhavan gOvindan enbAn Or
majestic as a lion - kolari

kALai pugudak kanAk kaNDEn tOzhi! nAn
kalai ? - young man?


indiran uLLiTTa dEvar kuzhAm ellAm
indira and devars

vandu irundu ennai magaL pESi mandirittu
magal? as in daughter?

mandirak kODi uDutti maNa mAlai
what does mandira kodi mean? newly blessed costume or something?

antari SUTTak kanAk kaNDEn tOzhi! nAn
durga places the garland on me


kadiroLi dIpam kalaSam uDan Endi
bright lamps and kalasam bearing

SaDiriLa ma~ngaiyar tAm vandu edir koLLa
dancing maids welcome me

mathuraiyAr mannan aDi nilai toTTu e~ngum
adi nilai tottu is explained as not removing his sandals?

adirap pugudak kanAk kaNDEn tozhi! nAn
earth quakes as he walks in


ku~nkumam appi kuLir Sandam maTTittu
why kunkumam appi? do they rub kunkumam all over and not just on the forehead?

ma~ngala vIdi valam Seidu maNa nIr

a~ngu avanODum uDan SenRu a~ngu Anai mEl

ma~njanam ATTak kanAk kaNDEn tOzhi! nAn
manjanam aatta? spraying scented water or something?

kodambakkam pakkam

thatstamil.com has an article on Sruti Kamalhassan getting into modeling. She sure looks tall enough for that. Soundarya Rajinikanth is into special effects (Chandramuzhi was her work). Talking about Chandramuzhi's s.e., I think they went a bit far when they did kungfu style wired fight sequences. And Prabhu's wig was almost natural looking. I guess a lot of that movie's budget must have gone to making the main men look young ;-)

Now look at these 2 (super) daughters. Soundarya looks very pretty (lakshanam as we say), Sruti though cute, isn't a beauty.

tamilcinema.com has a review of Sathayaraj's Englishkaran. That man is the undisputed master of lolluvism. Should be a good entertainer.

Daas is apparently a hit in the making. Remake Ravi is going to renamed Raasiyaana Ravi ;-)

Kiran's thoppai seems to have jumped (koodu vittu koodu). Namitha sports it these days.

And looks like Surya is sporting a wig these days, not a bad one. I heard he had to shave his head for a recent movie.

Seems to be mottai season in Kollywood, with Sarath giving company.

oor vambu - vera enna, adds masala to the morning cuppa.

English as she is spoke

I was reading Narayanan sir's blog on Spoken English. And that started me off on this subject.

First of all, I am not an expert. But I am willing to learn. I have always been fascinated by the written word. Provided, they make sense. Majority of the people who speak English (that includes me) make very common mistakes when they do so. My problem is that I think faster than I speak and end up stuttering and tripping up. I can control better when I write. We can always check and re-check what we have written and correct ourselves.

English, we don't realize this, has many dialects. There is Americanese (within which we have Bostonese, hickish, Texan, etc), Hinglish, Thanglish/Tamlish, and countless others. This language has withstood the ravages of time because of its ability to adapt. How many of us know that English evolved from old German! The dictionaries are constantly being updated with new and borrowed words. That by itself makes this language a great one.

When writing, certain gaffes seem to be native to the country it belongs to. How many Tamilians use "can" and "able" in the same sentence? I don't think I have heard this from any other community. Most Hinglish speakers, add that ubiquitous "no" to turn a statement into a question. And they also add a rhyme to words, like chai-wai, etc. I knew a Punjabi girl who visited my house, saw the big stuffed toy lion in the corner, and said, wow, what a big loin, yaar!

To truly globalize what you write, it is important to get rid of such regional errors. The best way to do that, is to read, read and some more. The more widely read we are, the better we are able to write. I look at what I wrote a few years back and can plainly see that if I had to rewrite that now, I probably can do a better job. My problem is, I don't like to rewrite - too lazy :-)

Call me a snob, but I cannot read something if it is poorly formed. I am always picking on technical docs that I have to read. I can't help it, they call out to me ;-) But I have learnt to not be too vocal about them though.

So, if you find a bug in this blog, do let me know ;-)

HP - What to expect now?

Now that we have 3 years for the next and final book, the best thing to do is to chew on what we know so far and lay forth possibilities and assumptions. If you have not read Harry Potter and the Half-Blood prince and plan on doing so, stop right here. If not, continue reading.

The chapter on Spinner's End is of special significance. That is the reason for what happens in the last few chapters. Was Snape caught in the snare by Narcissa (name is a clue?) and Bellatrix? Or did he really know what it was all about? Or was he using legilimency to go along with them? And why was wormtail living with him? Assuming he went along with the flow and promised to help Malfoy, did he then recount the whole deal to Dumby? That makes sense coz Dumby believed in him strongly. And it doesn't make sense that he would trust someone so much only to be let down.

And when Hagrid says he overheard Snape and Dumby, it was probably Dumby wanting Snape to go through with it and Snape not wanting to do it. So chances are Dumby really died, fully knowing what was going on, or he pretended to die.

We don't know what he drank in the cave. When he came back, he wanted to see Snape. May be he knew what was going on. And when Snape used the unforgivable curse on him, did he really mean it. Because, remember in The Order..., Bellatrix tells Harry that the curse can work only if you mean it. So, what if Snape didn't mean it. He still did his share for the Unbreakable Vow, but Dumby somehow acted dead (remember the draught of the living death) and why would he do that weird acrobatics before falling down. And how come Fawkes didn't come to save him?

Fawkes' lament is supposed to heal, so who does it work on? What happened to Fenrir Greyback at the end? When Dumby is laid out, and the body catches fire, Harry thinks he saw a phoenix shape fly away. Significant, may be?

But Dumby's picture is on the wall. Does that mean he is dead? or he is no longer the principal?

RAB is probably Regulus Black, if so then the locket at Grimmault Place is the real one? Remember when they cleaned the place, they found a locket that they could not open.

The DADA post is cursed by Voldemort. What is the significance? Could Hogwarts be the place for the final climax? Harry is heading back to Godric's Hollow? Could there be a horcrux there? Some say Harry might have a horcrux in his scar. Which makes a bit of sense, the connection between the two being a side-effect.

Too many questions. We are going to have hundreds of theories, all worth reading.
So, time for a second reading and then back to square one, just to make sure I haven't missed any clues.

Puthumai Penn

She was always on the forefront of the groups that fought for women's liberation. She was very vocal about wanting women to be frontliners. She helped bring women forward, be it a ration queue or bus queue or even a cinema queue. The day came when she found a life mate. Now she dances to the whims and fancies of her husband and mother-in-law, always a step behind them.