LOTR vs WoT

Wow. I haven't blogged for the longest time!

My last post was over a year ago.

Lots of things have happened since then, but I think the minimal readership of this blog is probably aware of all the exciting happenings of my life..

So here goes..

I'm re-reading the Wheel of time series. (K, Shut Up).

Seriously, i've never read anything like this series before. In my mind, its even better than the LOTR!!I know all you LOTR fans across the readership (5 people, all of them fans :) ) will kill me, but its true.

The WoT is probably the most engaging and entertaining series of books ive ever read. Right now, im reading the Path of Daggers, and I feel awful for Rand. I mean, I can't belive he had to kill Liah! And Nyneave, you poor thing!

Anyway, the point of this post is to seriously wonder whether anyone who wrote anything like this, could ever fail to be consumed by it...I mean, imagine writing 14 books, over a period of 20 odd years, about a people and world that you created oput of your head..

I would love to know what that feels like... then again, maybe not...

to be children in kochi

My cousin sent me a beautiful mail, about our childhoods. Talking it over with some friends, ive just realised what a wonderful childhood I had. We were honestly very privileged.

To be able to run around in a large garden, and eat endlessly, swim in the afternoons, watch TV, eat raw mangoes, play hide-and-seek, make a mess, not clean it up, dig in the mud, eat ice cream, watch movies....

it was amazing!

Summer

This post has been waiting in the wings for a long time....Inspired by memories of our childhood, I will now describe a game we played for the longest time, when we were kids. We even played it when we were old enough to know better.
The game was called 'Job'. You may recognize it from 'Doctor-Doctor' or 'House-House' or even 'Teacher-Teacher'. The difference was that we all had to pick different Jobs. Money was a pack of cards. We spent hourse at this game. For all of you who think it isnt possible to play this game for hours and days on an end, let me first explain that we had planty of props. My grandmoms house is huge, the entire upper storey was devoted to this game. Thats 3 huge rooms. We also had tons and tons of toys.

Our creativeness knew no bounds. From staid and boring jobs like doctor and shopkeeper, we soon graduated to : Witch, Hoopla Boy(we called it 'Hoopla'), "Cooker",Pujari etc etc. Most of the above mentioned careers were thought up by Yam. However, my personal favourite was "Helper", also thought up by Yam. It was the job with minimun exertion. The 'helper' was hired by the 'priest' or 'doctor' or whoever else was playing, to mind their business when they went to call on each other.
The hoopla started off as a series of stals set up by the person while the other payed for the privilege of playing there. As was to be expected, hoopla soon became a game in its own right.
The witch typically sat in a small darkened corner, under a dupatta preferably. We would go to him/her and ask for our future to be told. She would then light an agarbatti(which was banned later), paint our faces with a mixture of powder and water, tie up our hands, and tell our future, for which we would pay the princely sum of the King of Hearts.

So and so our chilhoods passed, without us even realising. I miss it. I wish i could sit under a dupatta and tell someones future with paint on my face.

Evenings in Mumbai and other Randomness

Im living in a hostel of sorts, it isnt really a hostel, its like a bunch of rooms and one tiny room where they serve food. Its called "the mess".
Hostels on Girgaum Chowpatty, which as ppl from bombay would know, is a lovely place to live in. Pretty soon though, im going to have to find some tiny poky hole in the wall and pay an astronomical amount to live in it. Not waiting for that day.
In the meantime, i intend to enjoy myself. Hostels right next to thre beach and most evenings, we go for a wlk. I use the term walk loosely, because the breeze is so amazing, we 'walk' very very slowly. any slower and we'd be going backwards.

Yesterday, i had a gelato. An apparently italian version of icecream. On every 1st of the month, Gelato serves a scoop of the 'flavour of the month'. Yesterday, it was...drumroll......frutollo!

It tasted of strawberries, cherries and banana.It sounds awful i know, but it wasnt. The minute it touched my tongue, i was taken back to swimming days. whole summers where all of us would turn up for swimming lessons at Casino Hotel. The reason i thought of this is because it tasted like one of the many many sundaes we had at Abad Coffeeshop afterwards....
Those were the days. And one of my dreams is that all our kids grow up the way we did. Playing cricket, job, swimming, eating....creating memories.

change

WoW!
A lot has happened since i last posted - Got a job, Got a life, Went home...and of course - shifted to mumbai!
Since ive already discoursed at length about how much I love Mumbai...i wont bore anyone further.
Work, is well not so much work right now as non-work, im blogging from office!
still...i might have some work tomorrow, dont know whether to look forward to it , or enjoy the good life.
Me thinks, Enjoythegoodlife.
Myspacebarhastsoppedworking.

IDEA STAR SINGER

I cmae to kochi last month only to find the whole state in the exciting throes of IDEA STAR SINGER. God!people seemed a little insane at times.

Well, i ended up watching a few episodes because the show was damn well slotted. 8 30, in a reality show crazy state, and even more so, a state full of music freaks. classical music freaks.

honesty compels me to admit that the final few contestants are waaay better than most of the indian singers ive heard in my short lifetime.

But, tonight, as i write this, the finals are happening. Out of the corner of my eye i can see some wierd people singing and dancing to some ancient malayalam song on the stage. But the reason for this blog is precisely that.

I just heard Arun Gopan sing. Oh Arun Gopan, if you're listening, you should know, i cried when i heard you sing in the second round. All those who've seen the movie 'His Highness Abdullah' and heard that absolutely fantastic song, not 'Pramadhavanam', the one with the two of them competing - hindustani and classical together, will remember the song. And Arun Gopan sang it to perfection. and i mean perfection.
When he finished, i realised I had tears in my eyes.

I dont think he'll win. He hasnt got enough votes anyhow. But he should know he deserves to win tonight. And so should many others.

Ok..so a friend deserves a special mention.
It goes like this -

PB's pissed off at work and life in general...shes coming down a one way street and asks us to come to her car(to pick us up - us being pootu, mickey and NSD), instead of coming further down the street.
So i know shes pissed and all...and i say ok..

NSD (Being NSD) says - "Is she like, really Dumb or something?" !!
And Pootu (Being Pootu) tells her!

So we get into the car, and NSD says "But i really did think it was dumb", by which time of course PB's losing her cool.

The life of my friends affords me a lot of amusement. Seriously speaking though? I love them all to death :D

LOVE

I've fallen in love..again..with Calcutta this time.
Reached there. Loved it. Period.

The city is incredible..in no other city have i seen such old world charm..
Of course, i was privilaged to have been staying with an amazing friend. And she is privilaged to be a member of Tolly club. Still.

Ok. Ill start at the beginning.
To my mind, calcutta is a city of sights - the tram, howrah bridge, writers building, fog in the evening, early sunsets...
And smells - Kachori, amazing fish curry, rolls, spicy soup...lemony chicken..
And people -PB took me to tolly club for lunch..ive never seen such a relaxed, joyful crowd..or such amazing food. The people on the road..no pushing..no shoving..everyones so polite..and nice to u..everyones warm..and friendly

PB's parents made up a barbeque at home...ive never been to a barbeque before..its was awesome..
Poots Nani made some amazing food...and fed me :D

And friends - we went everywhere..actually we didnt..we went to someplace else..again, and again..


Mickey came down..so we went again..music and beer. Dance. Food.

The best bit was - we went to xaviers. And their football/cricket field? Well...we did cartwheels on the field. Just like that. For the heck of it. Like kids.
The bestest bit was - we hired a small boat..and the boatman took us out under the new bridge. Te bridge to the heavens..

It was fantastic..absolutely fantastic.

five things..

Five Things I’d Love To Do Before I Die
(In no particular order)
1) Sing with AR Rahman
2) See Venice
3) Act in a movie
4) See Egypt
5) Dye my hair pink

Five Things I Will Not Do Even If It Kills Me
1) Do a finance job
2) Sit through a finance workshop
3) Teach Math
4) Pay for a pair of Jimmy Choos
5) Eat dog meat

Five Things I Do When I’m Away From The Public
1) Pretend im a movie star
2) Pretend im a playback singer
3) Kiss pictures of gorge clooney
4) Pretend im a super heroine and rescue people from buildings
5) Sleep

Five Fave Sentences/Quotes

"Ill make a joke" - Vishal Gandhi
"Gandhi, make a joke" - Me
"Life is an ice cream...."
"Value of synergy = value with synergy - value without synergy" *******
"What??? what??? oh Fuck.." - PB

Five Things I’ll Make You Wish You Didnt Do, If You Did

Tell me to say something
Ask me to play on your football team
Tell me to be sensible



Five People To Tag
Parth
Mum
Bhavana
Payel
Anil

DRUGS

At IIFT, we have an NGO attachment thingy..in the last term..
Mine is a drug de-addiction centre. It was an eye-opener to say the least. I mean, this place isnt one of those fancy rehab clinics. Its a depressing, gloomy house. And the patients - with the exception of the girls- live down in a creepy basement.
The first alf an hour were spent in polite small talk with the manager. And it still didnt hit us. Then they took us on a tour of the place.
The two of us followed the manager into a small basement. A motley assortment of people were sitting on the floor, and talking about what they would do if they had Five Crores. The talk seemed normal enough until i realised that there were children there. They couldnt have been more than twelve or thirteen. One could not have been more then eight.
The manager made them all stand up and introduce themselves, tell us what 'nasha' they did..and how they came to be there.
It was horrifying - multiple drug users, people who did IV drugs,Smack, Heroin and Cocaine. Kids from the street, school children, professionals, architects, teachers....
Some of them had had relapses and voluntarily committed themselves again and again. It got me thinking - how desperate their lives must have been to voluntarily return to that place.
Most of all, it made me congratulate their spirit, for living in a place like that would have killed mine.

So definitely, SAY NO TO DRUGS

Golliwogs

When i was six, i read my first book. Our family has an awesome collection of books.

Anyway, it was called "The three little golliwogs" by Enid Blyton. And i fell in love. Wiggie, Waggie and Wollie became the centrestage of my life, and set the scene for so many more books to come.

I lived through those books, i cried, i laughed, i sighed and i loved through those books.

When Beth died, i cried. When Tara left Rhett, i screamed in frustration...and when Dill ran away and came to Scout, i jumped and clapped my hands.

But i have to warn you. I dont read books that make me think. I read books that make me live the character.

I havent been reading in a long time..and maybe that was what was wrong.

But recently, i went to Daryagunj in delhi. It was incredible..i got an armful of books..and then another armful..it was one of my truly happy times in this city.

So then,
Judy Blume told me "God is a nice idea. He belongs to everybody"

I got hold of a copy of Horse Whisperer and Tom Booker is now my new hero.

I explored Dublin with Meave Binchy.

Rincewind makes my soul feel better. He truly does.


And finally, im reading again.

Sex and the City

Ive decided to watch Sex and the City in huge doses..its incredible..how many people out there actually obsess like this?
Is he wierd?
Does he like dogs?
Does he listen to Backstreet boys?

Its funny, how important unimportant things can become. Atleast, ive always felt theyre unimportant...but then..lots of people dont i guess.

TV shows are awesome..u get to watch other people's lives...NOT.
Theyre probably exactly what life is not like.

But what would i know..Im only twenty one....

IM ALMOST DONE HERE

Well, the last exam of the term..and one more submission..that it..
I'm going home this weekend..we have to visit a port..
And thats another reason why I love Kochi, ITS A PORT :D

Recently, a friend told me that i had no reason to love the place ..other than the fact that it was home..
i dont agree..
The whole backwaters thing is really beautiful..if you dont take it for granted..
The best bit of the monsoon - walking across a bridge in the heavy rain..
Mangoes?
My grandmoms house, and a cup of hot tea...
The way you can get anywhere in about twenty minutes :D
Jew Town


So yeah, the roads suck, and u cant really party...
But Kochi is the city of ..well..my heart..

Choking Up

Sometimes, you see something,hear something, and tears come to your eyes...and these things never fail to bring tears to my eyes -

The song Vande Mataram
The song Bharat Humko Jaan Se Pyaara Hain
The song Ae Mere Watan Ke Logon
The rain after a long time
Watching my parents wedding video
Hearing the voice of someone you love on the phone after a long time
The Holi ad..
Little Kids running..
The smell of my room - fresh laundry and clean sheets

Retail and Distribution Management

We have this amazing Prof....who teaches us a subject called Retail and Distribution Management..

Yesterday, he started talking about goals and direction and plans..and how the most successful people in life always wrote them down..
Thats when i realised..I used to be the kind of person who always, always had a plan..and i also had plan B, Plan C and so on.

Now I have none. Literally, none.

That kind of sucks. I was just thinking this in my head when a new terror dawned on me. what if he picked me to be the one? The one who had to announce to the whole class what their plan was?
Thank god he didn't. He picked Akshay who was sitting next to me.

Anyway, maybe it isn't so great that i don't really know what direction to go in..maybe its not ok that ill appear for any interview with any company thats even likely to hire me..

But u know what? Maybe its ok that may life will take a direction i didn't foresee this one time..coz the stuff i had foreseen didn't turn out to be so great did it? Maybe its ok to take a chance, just this once. Maybe its even ok to enjoy the leap.

Clumsy

I never actually explained why clumsy is my middle name..did i?
Of course, for the three people who do read this blog, there needs be no explanantion, but on the off chance that others will come and see it, ill explain anyway.

I have a record of falling down atleast once in a month.
Before i came along, it wasnt possible to trip on thin air.
I have sprained both my ankles atleast five times..each. Im not lying, ask my mom.
I hate the way people tell me to walk like a girl (I obviously dont, people have compared me to ducks, and the ducks always win), coz when i do - I FALL.

THIS IS WHY I DONT LAUGH AT CLUMSY PEOPLE.
I, WHO LAUGHS SO EASILY.

He who laughs last, is a moron and gets stared at. He who falls get stared at more.

Coffee

I love coffee..
I was at Barista yesterday..let me tell you now..barista serves yucky coffee, noone knows how to make coffee like vimala aunty :)
I went to Barista to meet a friend and hence to convince myself that i do have a social life.
Even though the coffee was bad, the smell of it transported me mentally to vimala aunty's house.
To a time where i would go for tuition..and me and chillu would happily gabble for forty minutes before taking a break. We'd go to the terrace, and watch the water..look for exciting ships...
feel the breeze on our faces..
And then come back down and gabble for another hour before i was picked up by my mom.
All the while we'd be sipping coffee..and munching Peanuts..or what mallus call 'mixture'.

I loved tose times. Wish we could be back in school..pretending to study math.

Question

Can you be a Dog Person and a Cat Person at the same time?

I HATE IIFT

So..im back this theme..
I really do hate this place..
consider this - im in class.listening to disconnected words like "pool" "talent" "feedback" and "systems" resounding in my head..
ok, ok..in the class room , not in my head.
There is no place near IIFT where I can get Coffee.
People dont talk about anything but placements.
The only things u can do in Delhi is - Eat out, watch movie out, Watch movie in room.
The mess food sucks. Im still in denial of North Indian Food.
Noone sings or dances.
It doesnt rain, theres no monsoon..and PEOPLE HATE WHAT LITTLE RAIN THEY HAVE.

Whatever happened to dancing in the rain?
what hapened to singing??
For that matter, what happened to supper?
And why dont people think beyond their jobs?

IVE BEEN TAGGED..YAY!!

Here goes -

1. I love AR Rahman

2. My head spins if i dont eat often

3. I'm selfish

4. I have to read fiction - EVERYDAY

5. I love family get-togethers

6. I always get out of the right side of the bed - i mean the right of right/left

7. I admit to the world here and now that ive read Lord of the rings eight times

8. I used to do Karate



And now to spread goodwill and cheer - i tag ...
Amma
Kichu
Anil
Partha (The only non - family member who reads my blog)
Vidz