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.
Monday, October 31, 2005
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.
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.
Monday, October 03, 2005
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!
Friday, September 23, 2005
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.
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.
Wednesday, September 21, 2005
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.
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!!
1. oor sothu en sothu
2. oozhal samrajyam
3. gab-tonne
4. peraa maathu, cinema hitler.
5. Other - Specify
Hope keeps the world going!!
Monday, September 19, 2005
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!
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 ;-)
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 ;-)
Friday, September 16, 2005
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.
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 ;-)
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 ;-)
Monday, September 12, 2005
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.
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.
Friday, September 02, 2005
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?
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?
Tuesday, August 30, 2005
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.
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.
Monday, August 29, 2005
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!
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
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
Thursday, August 25, 2005
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.
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.
Tuesday, August 23, 2005
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!
Monday, August 22, 2005
Porutham
pennai parthaargal
perazhagai potrinaargal
paada sonnaargal
naaL kurikka sonnaargal
thirumanam
orumanam aakkavillai
mugathil theriyumo
agathin azhagu?
An older one here
perazhagai potrinaargal
paada sonnaargal
naaL kurikka sonnaargal
thirumanam
orumanam aakkavillai
mugathil theriyumo
agathin azhagu?
An older one here
Thursday, August 18, 2005
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!
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?
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?
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