everythintodeclare

All About Weather

2012-02-01T11:24:00.000-08:00

The weather's been pretty good here, although I have been a bit under the weather.
No sooner had I reached the campus yesterday morning when my world started spinning..literally I mean. K took me to the university clinic and after about two hours of tests that involved ECG and drawing of blood by the phlebotomist (yep, a new word I learned yesterday from the guy who was drawing my blood, a.k.a the phlebotomist), there is no clear verdict on the cause as the results will take two days. But I guess the doc did not want to send me home empty handed and so the condition was temporarily diagnosed as mild vertigo with an order to go home and rest which of course I was more than happy to follow. At home, in bed I had the choice between reading or watching /listening and I decided to go with the latter as I figured it involved less effort and therefore less energy expended.

Watched two emotionally draining (so much for attempting to save energy) movies- One Day (Anne Hathaway's) and Mr&Mrs Iyer (probably my 4th/5th viewing). This was followed by a lecture by Dr Ramchandra Guha (one of my favorite Indian intellectual/author) where he presented a fascinating analysis on India (I totally recommend it). A light lunch and some light snoozing thereafter I was felling pretty fine the rest of the day. Back in campus today already missing yesterday, minus the spinning ofcourse.

Going off on a tangent here, a bit on my trip home..I experienced Delhi winter again after a really long time. It was all foggy & cool which was lovely (except for the 5 hrs we spent in the plane waiting for the fog to clear before the ATC gave the green signal) and a bit downcast which according to me is the perfect weather...the kind of weather where you can easily forgive and easily be in love. See what I am talking about..

Cochin was a bit humid and warm but lovely and green as always and good company made up for any shortcomings if at all. I want to show off some more pictures from my local road trips..but another day when I want to talk less and let the image do the talking.

Kallu, Kappa And Meen Curry

2012-01-25T16:45:00.000-08:00

Trip home was short but I did try and make the most of it and it was good to have a partner in crime for the most part.

Tired the local toddy from the local liquor shop referred to locally as "kallu shap", thanks to my friend who was adamant and insistent. I tried to discourage him from drinking too much because I knew what is sold in these local shacks are not the authentic tapped toddy but the locally distilled "killer" (literally speaking) stuff. I could only take a few sips as it not only tasted disgusting but also had a distinct stink. My friend purchased a couple of bottles for later consumption and I am so glad to report that he is still alive! Although I must say I chickened out from going inside the shop and trying it. Blame it on the slightly derelict, shady look it had. So, thanks to my cousin's friend who acted as our delivery guy. Much later I came to know from one of my neighbors of a popular place in Cochin where you get the authentic stuff but by then time was short so that was shelved for later. Anyways, one experience checked off the list ..well partially. The original plan was to get into one of the “shaps” and try it . All said I am sooo glad my mom does not read my blog.

Visited the local market in town after a really, really long time. Maybe the last time I visited I was in 4th grade?! It was great to be in the middle of all the hustle and bustle and was particularly exciting to check out shops that sold indigenous kitchen ware, farm tools and other household goods. If baggage limits was not an issue I would have gladly shelled some INR and carried them over.

After the market expedition, took a trip down memory lane and went to one of the local coffee shops and had chai, South Indian style, served in steel cups with deep saucers. This was my old school/college hangout place. We went to (as I like to call it) the vintage section of the cafe and it was an instant hit with my friend. Adding to the experience, on our way out, we were approached by a stranger asking us if we would like to exchange some dollars. I guess seeing a white guy he automatically presumed. Although it was tempting as he was offering us a pretty good price compared to the exchange value at Delhi airport, better sense took over and we said thank you but no thank you and went our way.

It was elephant tail ring (embedded in silver or gold) next in the agenda and so one early morning (by jewelery shop standards) we landed in front of one of those humongous gold stores scattered across Cochin asking if they carried these rings. Apparently it is out of fashion and the couple of pieces they had did not fit. And so we decided to do the final thing on his to-do-while-in-Kerala-list which was to see the Chinese fishing nets but since he also had a plane to catch in a couple of hours we decided to take the route where he could see them en route. We had not even left the city when we figured traffic was going to be challenging and dropped the idea of taking the fishing net route and instead took the regular route.

Unfortunately/ fortunately (all relative) by the time we were done with our morning adventures, my friend missed his Delhi flight and had to rebook on a later flight. Getting into the next flight was an adventure in itself but not interesting enough to blog about. But then if he hadn't missed the flight we wouldn't have had a chance to try out some amazing boiled tapioca with red fish curry for lunch! All is indeed well that ends well.

(Title translation- Alcohol, Tapioca/Cassava and Fish Curry)

Research and Crushes

2012-01-24T14:32:00.000-08:00

I just got over my jet lag. Yes, this time I was hit pretty hard. Getting up everyday, until two days ago at 2:30 in the morning and then walking around feeling like my head swallowed a rock that was weighing down on my eyes all day. Weird description perhaps but if you can imagine it then that's how I felt. But the diligent, hardworking kid that I am (oh Come On! humor me), most of my waking, reasonably clear headed moments were spent preparing for my research proposal seminar.

I had to give a public seminar on my research proposal. Nerve racking is how I would describe it in a word. A bunch of students, professors and ofcourse my committee was present. It went well I think. Got some good questions and tried to give some good answers. Except, there was this one professor who was in ballistic mode but I managed to dodge all the missiles she was shooting at me. Anyways, as the saying goes "All is well that ends well".
But, alas! good endings don't happen all the time, sometimes not even good beginnings. My point being---
I have a serious, major crush on someone. I am hook, line and sinker in crush. Yes, crush is a good word for now. Desire, love....too intense and dramatic! It is so bad that I am having conversations with him in my head. Yikes! (and I thought I was avoiding drama). The sad part is, many girls feel the same way about him and it is double sad that I don't hold a significant presence in his life either *sigh*. One of those, one way, long distance crushes doomed to fail from the start *sigh again*.

And call this being self-destructive if you must, but I am listening to Norah Jones singing "come away with me" over and over again. What can I say- sometimes despite my age and maturity I go through these teenage emotions. I know many does but not everyone admits it. Right?

I need to blog about my India trip. Ah! happy thoughts!

Happy (Jet-lagged) New Year!

2012-01-12T21:32:00.000-08:00

Back after a short trip "home". The traveling was ridiculously long this time; something that could not be helped since the entire trip was done on a super tight budget and when budget is tight in air travel it translates to longer time in the air and at airport lounges. But, despite the long transits, the lack of sleep and not to mention the multiple time zones crossed, I am grateful to my kind, generous professor for sponsoring the trip. I made this trip with some specific plans in mind, but considering the limited time I had, the unexpectedness of events that is typical of my lovely, sprawling country, or the casualness with which pre-set appointments are treated (a nicer way of saying how they are forgotten) and as if I asked for more, my mother's minor accident that left her rather helpless and needing help with pretty much everything, not all of what I had in mind was accomplished. Nevertheless it was exciting. Someone new to the country had joined me this time and although he was there only for a couple of days, it was great fun showing him around Delhi and Kerala..well, a bit of both. Perhaps a separate post on that later.

But I would say the cherry on the icing for me was getting to see the Himalayan peaks at 36,000 ft, sticking above the clouds!! Majestic, grand all these adjectives fall short, really. We were flying from Tokyo to New Delhi, scheduled to reach Delhi at 6:30 pm and our flight route was over China, Tibet, Nepal and finally New Delhi. This sighting was possible as it was a day flight and when the pilot announced I requested the old Korean lady sitting next to me to open the window. She did not quite understand what the fuss was about, but the two people in her travel group sitting in the front row got all excited and although they did not speak English and me Korean we still managed to communicate our excitement. The guy in front looked at me and said excitedly "The Himalayas!" and I responded excitedly- 'Yes! The Himalayas'!. That was all that was needed to be said and we all sat silently observing the never ending sight in awe until it became a bit monotonous!

The other slightly exciting and unexpected event was the overnight stay in Tokyo. The plan was to spend time at the airport to save on hotel but reaching Tokyo we were told by the airport staff that overnight passengers are not allowed to stay in the airport. With no hotel reservations, no transit visa and no local contact info for Tokyo it was rather unnerving. Luckily the airline ground staff were the understanding and the helpful kind and they made the hotel arrangements and after going through immigration the night was spent on Tokyo soil. I can now claim that I have a transit Japanese visa on my passport, stayed in Tokyo for a night and saw a bit of Tokyo (this is the 15 min bus ride from the aiport to the hotel). Domo Arigato JAL!

Short trip yet I can go on for ever. Lots to share but work awaits so latersss!

Merry Christmas Everyone!

2011-12-23T10:56:00.000-08:00

Predictable title and a long rambling post. Nothing defines BORING better than this to me. But, if you are here, then go on, take a risk :).

Hmmm....so whats the latest at my end? Well....

The school may be closed for winter break, but here I'm, typing this post at work. I had to come in everyday this week, and work double time too! The department that I work for is kind of an important department within the University system and cannot afford to be closed down for the entire winter break. So we are open, running on a "skeleton crew". This means, those like me, at the bottom most rung of the organizational ladder are expected to show up everyday and those higher and above get to take turns. Actually, it is not as pathetic as I am making it out to be . With my upcoming travels next week, I will be off work for almost 3 weeks and I volunteered to work double time to make up for my absent days.

Work has been slow too. It was a bit hectic the first couple of days but since then it's slowed down so much that all I did (well mostly what I did) was read blogs and work on some teeny bit of school related work.

The lab party that I mentioned in my previous post went quite well. Our prof showed up late as he was stuck in a meeting at the other end of town. After a couple of phone calls from us to him we made a unanimous decision to start without him. It was definitely a better plan than passing out from hunger! ANYhows..as expected, the food was spectacular!-

Biryani made by our Pakistani lab mate,
Baba ganoush and Hummus w/ Pita bread by our Iraqi lab mate,
Aloo Gobi by our Nepali lab mate,
Ahi-poke bought by one of our American lab mates and the drinks was on the other and "Tandoori" chicken with green pepper by yours truly.

Delicious would be an insufficient word to describe the dishes..except for the Ahipoke (which is basically raw, fresh tuna marinated in different sauces). Since I do not eat raw meat of any kind I do not know first hand on how good it was but seeing my lab mates going in for seconds it can be fairly concluded that it was delicious as well! I like food but I am not as adventurous as I would like to be with food. I LOVE watching Andrew Zimmerman and Anthony Bourdain and consider them two of the coolest people on this planet, after Ian Wright of Globe Trekker i.e.
(One reason why I love twitter - you can follow people you are interested in without appearing like a crazy stalker and although I would love to follow Mr Right (I mean Wright) in real life, considering how unlikely that is, I am quite happy following him on twitter - for now. I mean- dreams shouldn't have any boundaries Wright? (I mean right?)).
And although I aspire to be cool foodies like Zimmerman and Bourdain, I can never gather the courage they show in trying out different food from different lands and often consume them with relish and gusto!

And speaking of food, my kitchen cabinets got a fresh coat of paint and has a sweet, clean, fresh look. Lots more I want to do to make it look sweeter but time and finances need to happen simultaneously which is a rare occurrence in my case. Then on second thoughts, since this is just a small, temporary, rental accommodation I wonder if I should be dedicating all the time and money to pretty it up only to move out later. Then on 'third thoughts' (if there is such a thing) I tell myself-as long as I live here, its my space and if keeping it a certain way makes me happy and since happiness (most times) come at a cost, then I must! In other words its time and money well spent.

It is almost the weekend and some friends are coming over and we will all eat and be merry and I believe it is also some one's birthday. Merry Christmas everyone!

PS: I wish I had pics to accompany my ramblings but alas! this aspiring photographer ( one among many other aspirations ) often forgets to take her camera along! Something to be kept in mind for the next post perhaps.

Possibilities

2011-12-13T08:19:00.000-08:00

Something I want to do- Adopt a baby, preferably a girl. In my heart I am convinced of how wonderful it would be to have a daughter. I am having a hard time convincing the family though- on adoption i.e.

Anyways..

Wasn't it just a couple of days ago I declared I have "free time" in hand.? I guess I jinxed myself as this week and the next promises to be mad, hectic. Of course all depends on how much of my procrastinating urges take over my discipline. If the former happens I might find myself with plenty "free time" but with the nagging thought of all the impending work I am not sure how relaxing it will be, especially since I travel the week after next.

But all is not work and madness. There are a couple of fun things on the card.

An upcoming lab get together this week and I will be bringing my famous & delicious ( eh, I think you are legally (and clinically) permitted to make such self-declarations and/or have delusions of grandeur within the limits of your own blog) "tandoori chicken" ( well my version of it) and with lab mates from Nepal, Iraq, Pakistan and US it should be an interesting buffet.

The weekend promises to be fun too depending on what I end up doing. There are a couple of movies to catch at the theatre--something I have been neglecting (yep, I will use words like neglect and movies in the same line, implying it was grossly irresponsible of me. I guess I am a movie buff!).

There is also a plan to have some friends over as its been ages since we got together at home. Every time we meet at the campus our parting line is always-"hey we need to get together soon sometime" followed by "as soon as things slow down a bit" which never happens of course. Now with winter break approaching and the finals almost done, a weekend party is a possibility. But I also wanted to paint my kitchen shelves white! So what is it going to be-socializing or housekeeping?! I'll wait and see what happens. Wish I could do it all but alas! the weekend is only 2 days long!

So many possibilities, so little time and so says a certified procrastinator .

"Tell The Way You Remember It..

2011-12-09T23:41:00.000-08:00

...not the way it happened"- Finnegan Ball

I have a mad crush on Finn (Pip). I had almost forgotten. Then I refreshed my memory and it all came back. But I love Joe. Such a nice man.
Estella, a pretty snob and nothing much.
Ms.Dinsmoor (Ms. Havisham), heartbroken and eccentric and nothing more.
The fugitive, the benefactor.
The rest, insignificant.

I have free time in hand and I am watching movies, the old forgotten favorites. Just finished Great Expectations and now I am on to The English Patient and it is only about 10pm. Needless to say, I am pretty good at pointless pursuits.

ABD

2011-12-06T11:07:00.000-08:00

Relief is what I feel. It is done- the written exam, the orals and all the crazy stress. Now my status is "ABD", which is a grad school lingo that stands for Anything But Dissertation, which technically means I am not a PhD student anymore but- advanced to candidacy.

Now for the proposal defense, the field work, the data collection, the analysis, the hypothesis testing, the interpretations, the writing, the presenting and defending all that you did. Yikes!
May the force be with me(I would have settled for Capt. Hans Solo but obviously God has other plans for me).

Nothing Much Actually

2011-11-23T12:37:00.000-08:00

Crazy things happen, we pause, we ponder, we sigh and we move on. At least that's what I am doing or did.

Things are getting hectic at school with the semester drawing to an end. I have a couple of paper submissions after which all official semester requirements will be done. But, work will go on, polishing my proposal and reading up more material on it. There was a lot of school related reading this semester and hence motivation to read anything outside of "required" reading was low. Most of my free time was spent watching and re-watching movies or staring at design blogs and books followed by boundless day dreaming or finding new music on youtube.
Speaking of music, I am currently listening and head bobbing (Yes, not head banging) to this.I heard its quite the rage in India, across state borders, from South to North.

And, to part on a happy note, sharing some funnies as in funny/cool t-shirt prints!

(All images src: http://www.noisebot.com)

More can be found/bought at this website. They also have hoodies and they come in different colors too! Ain't that cool?!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Farewell At The Beach

2011-11-20T22:23:00.000-08:00

Today was a rather windy, downcast day.Normally I would have loved this weather but today I was in no mood to enjoy it. In fact the whole weekend was spent in a bit of a daze. To say this past week was eventful would be an understatement.
Anyways, a group of us got together at the beach to bid farewell to our dear friend. We created a makeshift shrine with some gorgeous pictures of her, flowers, incense sticks, candles and a statue of The Lord of Dance-Natraj a.k.a Lord Shiva (which is apt). In a circle, quietly praying, thinking of her, few words of remembrance and then scattering flowers into the ocean we bid our goodbyes.

My Friend The Dancer-Scholar

2011-11-17T13:59:00.001-08:00

Performing at the University- doesn't she look awesome?

Originally from Canada, she is a student at the University here, getting her PhD from the Dept of Dance & Theatre. We were introduced by a common friend a couple of years ago. As her subject was Kuttiyattam, a traditional dance-drama from Kerala, it was important that she learn the language or at least be able to speak or understand it at an elementary level and our friendship grew over many long lunches and discussions conversing in and on Malayalam, on Kerala, the culture, the people and on dance. I remember the fun and excitement of helping her out (in a small way) to organize the Kathakali workshop here at the university. When my mom was here visiting, she would come home almost everyday to learn some Malayalam from her. A few months ago she successfully passed her PhD comprehensive exam and moved to Kerala for her field work. She reached a couple of days before I was to leave Kerala and so we had a day to hang out in Kochi. It was fun and we went to Fab India to pick some Indian outfits for her and ate Dosas from BTH and she was telling me about all her plans while in India. She was so excited and looking forward to her dissertation field work in Kerala.

You just have to meet her and talk to her for a few minutes to realize how much she loves dancing and how passionate she is about it, particularly Bharatnatyam and Kuttiyattam. She has been learning Kuttiyattam at Kalamandalam preparing for her first performance (Arangettum) early next year. Myself and a bunch of her other friends would get regular updates from her on her experiences in Kerala through these long, descriptive emails which are always interesting and often amusing. Here is an excerpt-

......."I have decided that for me doing field research is like walking in a dark, unfamiliar room. You mostly bump into things and receive minor bruises until you stumble upon a light that leads to more and more treasures. It is definitely a great experience most of the time even
if you are scared of the dark. I don’t think I am as afraid of the dark as those HUGE ancient spiders that prevent me from using the toilet or opening a door when they decide to camp out! I actually don’t mind walking around in the dark, my eyes adjust very well. This is really funny too, because my friend and I were having a discussion about how we as a species are adapting to needing so much more light than we used to ever need, and we are losing our ability to, as he said “see in the dark” . . . whether you want to take this literally or as a metaphor is completely up to you. But the discussion started when I was mentioning how I much prefer watching kutiyattam with the natural lighting of just the oil lamp as opposed to all the artificial stage lighting that they are now using. There is much more ambiance,
magic and mystery..............................................
............And with that, I shall leave you to think about coming to Kerala in February or March to support me in my arangetram ;) or at least to
think about those scary spiders".

I spoke to her on the phone a couple of weeks ago when she was home visiting my mom. She had just gotten back from her trip to Combodia . She and I spoke for long and we made plans to travel around Kerala and catch some traditional temple performances across the state during my next visit. She had already established some good dance & theatre contacts in Kerala and which would help us in planning the trip. Last week she turned 30 and celebrated it in Goa with a friend.

After returning from Goa, day before yesterday, she passed away, apparently from complications following an asthma attack. She was a chronic asthma patient and was always in and out of hospitals be it here or in India. But to die at 30, so suddenly!?! I am not sure how to make sense of this. Sometimes I can't stop the tears and sometimes I become all philosophical, questioning everything- the meaning, the purpose and what not.

All I know is I will miss her greatly. R.I.P dear friend.

All This Time..

2011-11-12T15:55:00.000-08:00

..Been reading, thinking, listening, watching, dreaming and musing. Engaged in a lot of activities basically. "Get inspired" is the general disposition and so totally loving this and this.

Also, nurturing my design sensibilities through a couple of design blogs I stumbled upon rather serendipitously(yea, dont I scare you with my complex vocabs)and so in love with my new acquisitions.. This one is by an art student at the university. He had quite an interesting collection of quirky pottery but I had only limited means in my hand and spent it on this little "glass". That's his initials on the bottom which is good I suppose. What if he becomes a celebrated sculptor/potter/artist in future? Now if only I could remember his name!

Well, there is no cool story behind this one. It was on sale at a local grocery store and I bought it because,.......because I liked it. It definitely keeps the tea hot longer, thanks to its deep, small rimmed cylindrical design. Also, doesnt it look nice and sleek?

Watched the movie Invictus yesterday and the President is in town as the APEC maddness descent and protesters fine tune their rhetoric.

The Musical Me -II

2011-11-05T03:13:00.001-07:00

As for Gazals- I was never much of a Gazal enthusiast (Hindi or Malayalam) with all its weepy, sad, self pitying undertones. Nope, not for me. I mean I do sometimes go on self-pitying, self-loathing trips ( that's what Kishore K was for back then ) but Gazals have a way of inducing these emotions even if you are feeling ok with life and everything else.

All said (here I go contradicting myself) there are a few recent (Hindustani/Gazal influenced) Malayalam songs ( with the exception of one) I like and I like them because they were either part of a movie I liked or the context in which it was sung or the lyrics or the music or both. That brings the total number of songs in this offbeatcategory-I-love-list to exactly 4 and in the order of preference, they are:-

1. From the movie Perumazhakalam- Raakilithan. Gosh! I get all overwhelmed every time I hear/see this song. You will too if you think there is something magical about monsoons.

2. From the movie Meghamalahar- Oru naru pushpamay. One of the best adult type movies I have seen. Now don't get me wrong ..adult not in an-all gory violence and/or naked bodies kind of way, but adult in a very emotionally mature kind of way. Too lazy to give you a synopsis and even if I did you would get all judgmental on me. Yes, I am insecure- sometimes. So ?

3. A Gulam Ali gazal( to my knowledge it was not part of a movie).- Tamam umr..- This is sort of the exception to the rule. The only non-malayalam song in the list and I love it for its lyrics, his voice and the music. Ironically, the first time I heard the song, it was sung by a mallu guy, with an awesome voice, in Hindi ( laced with a slight mallu acent and everything) on some tv talent show and still did not spoil it for me. For those who can follow Hindi -

" तमाम उम्र तेरा इंतज़ार हमने किया
I waited for you all my life
इस इंतज़ार मे किस किस-से प्यार हमने किया"
And while I waited I loved many (I don't know who all (sort of implied))

4. From the movie Ore Kadal- Oru Kadal- For various reasons, one of which is- I will watch anything that Shyama Prasad makes and will say how much I love it even if I didn't, which is highly unlikely, because I will always like what he makes (I just drew a circle-didn't I?). His movies are unique and interesting and I guess he expects the same standards for the songs he includes in them.

I just yawned but cannot sleep yet. So may the music begin-!! and who can stay still with this music?!?

kesa sharmana aja nach k dikha de
aa meri hoja aa parda gira de
aa meri akhiyon se akhiyan mila le
aa tu na nakhre dikhaa
wanna be my chamak chalo
ooh ooh ooh ooh
wanna be my chamak chalo
ooh ooh ooh ooh
(OST-Ra-One)

The Musical Me

2011-11-05T03:09:00.001-07:00

Wish I could sing but no....Listening to songs on youtube. My ipod does not have a playlist of ALL my favorite songs; and sometimes you want to listen to something different from your usual set. These are songs that would be categorized as offbeat Malayalam songs. Offbeat as in a cross between Hindustani and Gazal!! Yes, I know- me and Hindustani!! I wouldn't know the difference between Rag Malhar and Rasgolla if I did not know the latter is a sweet dish.

But wait...

Back in my early school years I was big time into classical Hindustani ( no, seriously!), particularly instrumental music. I was probably one among the few loyal customers,of the younger demographic, who religiously purchased the Elements and Landscape series produced by Music Today. When my friends got sentimental over John Denver, Michael Bolton, Jagjit Singh and Kishore Kumar, I would "chill out" listening to the maestros and other world music. Either I was mature beyond my years with refined tastes or I was a total snob. I must clarify though that my interest was only limited to listening; there were no attempts to educate myself beyond who was playing what. I guess that makes me less of a connoisseur and more of a snob! Anyways, that phase has passed to some extent.

Just to be fair to my friends- I have (sometimes) gotten sentimental over "their songs" although never over M.Bolton ( no, never!). And there were also times when I thought Kishore kumar was god singing tragic poetry to mortals like some twisted joke and I would endure it not for the sake of my friends but as a sadistic, self inflicted, torture. Besides all this, I would say the heights of my musical-preferences- purely -based-on -peer -pressure was when I listened to Boyzone and BoysIIMen *cringe*, *cringe*. I don't mean to insult any of the die hard fans out there nor am I suggesting they sounded bad and corny( mmm...corny -maybe), but that MJ ,Springsteen and Billy Joel sounded way cooler, until of course I discovered Grunge and life has never been the same since then! *dramatic pause*.

To be continued....

Great Weather But

2011-10-31T11:07:00.000-07:00

It's a cold, cloudy, rainy day. Technically its Fall moving to Winter but its called the "rainy season" here. Love it!I could have stayed home all day listening to Pearl Jam, day dreaming. Instead I am at work.!?! An *overwhelming urge to throw a tantrum*.

Cousin's marriage in India and I am missing all the fun and shopping! Yes, everything just sucks!

Ok, on a happy note-ehhhhh-------mmmmm------- welllllll------Obama might just win the re-election!

Peace \/

Wait Up...

2011-10-30T14:04:00.001-07:00

Time! Let me get some things done before you zooooooo------m away like this!

Days seem shorter as I struggle to finish things and
Nights seem shorter as I don't seem to get enough sleep.

Whats up with time?! Where is it rushing off to? Get a life -time. Slow down and enjoy the loveliness around you.

Sincerely,
An exhausted traveler

The Fellowship Of Procrastinators.

2011-10-26T12:42:00.000-07:00

One set of people I can relate to quite well are the procrastinators. Yes, I know its sad. Wish I could say high achievers, but no, not possible. I mean I cannot even pass off as one and to prove my point...

Today morning as I sat in my little cubicle at work, instead of working I busied myself blog hopping and then, blog writing. Each time I stumbled across an interesting post or article,I told myself, in the classic procrastinator way- 'I'll get back to work as soon as I finish reading this particular article/post' and before you know it you are couple of hours down and many blogs and blog posts beyond. Also, by then your brain is so fried from all the intense staring-at-the-computer-screen, while simultaneously processing all the trivial and sometimes not so trivial material you read, that at the end of a blog hopping marathon, the last thing you want to do is get back to work. In my case, to get the momentum started and going would require such large amount of self-determination, that if indeed I ever had that level of self-determination I may have been able to classify myself as a high-achiever and not a procrastinator.

Any hows, since self-determination and all such fabulous qualities elude me and perhaps an almost impossible feat ( although they do say nothing is impossible) to acquire this late in life, I surrender gracefully and join myself to the Fellowship Of Procrastinators where I suppose our moto would probably read- "Not Done..But We Can Always Do it Later".

On to more "informative" details- I stumbled across this cool blog -India Uncut by this (popular) Indian blogger Amit Varma, who also, apparently, happens to be a fellow procrastinator, who published a book (My Friend Sancho) in 2009, (which I am keen to read) and won a prize and everything. I cam across a review on his book and found an excerpt from it that goes:

"I went to office late in the morning. I worked for a couple of hours. That is to say, I tried to work. My mind kept wandering, and the internet gave it places to wander to. Every three minutes I told myself, Just two minutes more, let me just check out this page, then I will work. But I’d check out that page, and click on a link there, or think of something because of what I was reading and go somewhere else, and so on and on until it was almost lunchtime and I was better informed about the world but less so about my own piece".

Ah!I can sooo relate to this..what do you think I am doing right now?

Oh heck! Let me atleast try and get back to work..I mean only for my conscience sake which sometimes has this annoying habit of telling me stuff I don't want to hear.

As an afterthought and on a slightly unrelated subject-
I do realize that I commit many a language related murders in my blog; but since this is not a high traffic blog, I have convinced myself that the probability of me getting caught and charged of the crimes are rather slim. Also, this line from Amit Varma's book has given me renewed faith in my blogging, bad grammar, language and all.

"You read your New Journalism pieces from the books where they are collected, you read the features in The New Yorker and The Atlantic, and you tell yourself you want to write like that, and you paralyze yourself. The trick is just to tell the story simply, the best you can, without thinking of how impressed people will be when they read it. So I wrote and wrote".

I really want to read this book now. I mean I really must get back to work now.

Laters!

The 55 Words Story

2011-10-19T17:32:00.000-07:00

Got some downtime today and decided to play the "55 words" game. Well, actually there was no downtime. It was me deciding- to heck with everything else, I am going to do what I feel like doing even if its not productive in anyway. Yea--you turn into a rebel for those few minutes. How brave (read sad)! ANYhows, here goes...

SO the rule of the game is to write a short story using only 55 words. Long ago, one of the visitors to this blog (Yep, this blog used to have visitors- the ones who read and sign out/in with a comment or two. Sometimes I get a bit nostalgic about those days. Other times I feel relieved) had suggested that I try it and at the time I made a joke of it. Recently I came across some similar attempts made by others and decided to try it out. All in good fun but with less silliness.

I tried out two versions-the sad and the happy version.

She is frantically trying to call. The last time they may be speaking to each other; something profoundly sad about knowing this in advance. They had an incredible connection. Some may call them soul mates. She is frantic. She hears something and she wakes up. It’s the phone. They never spoke for the last time.

PS: Was that me trying to be all artsy, like some European-foreign language-cinema or was it too Bollywood-ish? Hmmm--cannot decide.

Off To The Beach I Went...

2011-10-17T11:08:00.000-07:00

..with my swim suit and sunscreen. Nooo..not really.

Drove down to the beach Saturday afternoon. It was a nice cool, windy, fall afternoon although I would have preferred a downcast, cloudy, windy, fall afternoon. The sun was too bright but not as hot. I am not a beach person and I need a good enough excuse to head out there. A friend decided to celebrate his 30th birthday and invited us and some friends over. Since that was a good enough excuse, we decided to go to wish him and fuss around him a bit. I took my camera and a dish along. An unwritten code of conduct within the student community- when there is a party with food involved it is always potluck unless explicitly stated in the invite (mail) not to bring any food. No student can generally afford to feed so many even if its an important milestone in his/her life. The dish soon got lost among all the other dishes people had brought and as always, you don't remember much of what you ate or did not eat. This time I do remember tasting the chocolate cake though.

As the party progressed, off came the party wear and on came the swim wear (quite natural since we were at the beach) and while all the beach lovers had a good time, frolicking in the ocean I, still in my party wear, (yea just felt the need to clarify that) walked around playing with my camera.

On the way back, with the ocean on one side and the mountains on the other - you forget to breathe for a second. I can't help being dramatic because that's how gorgeous it was/is!

The "mountain man" and his sharp profile.

To get to the beach you drive along this gorgeous coastline. The only problem is you cannot stop as its the highway and so a lot of missed photo ops.
Sadly I do not swim and neither do I enjoy beaches much, although they are lovely, especially these tucked away secluded ones, away from all the tourist hoopla. But misty, majestic, mountains any day for me.

Breakfast in The Afternoon

2011-10-10T20:36:00.000-07:00

"I'm like cat here, a no-name slob. We belong to nobody, and nobody belongs to us. We don't even belong to each other"

I saw a love story-with a happy ending! It was between the delicate, beautiful Audrey Hepburn and the handsome George Peppard. I don't know why I waited so long to watch the movie. I guess because it is an old classic and when you have the newer Roshans and Vikrams flexing their muscles at you or the various Khans, Suryas and Cloony's working their charm on you (through the screen i.e.), you kind of push away the classics for later.

My dad was the one who introduced me to old classics. But they were the kind he liked and as a kid I watched Guns of Navron, Bridge on the River Kwai, Mackenna's Gold and some popular ones like My Fair Lady, The King and I...just to name a few. Throw in a few B&W hindi classics and most of Satyajit Ray's works-you have a good idea of what my childhood was like.

And so, today afternoon, when I was bored and I wanted to KILL time, literally speaking (no, but yes I would if I could) I thought I'll remember dad and the good old classics and watched Breakfast at Tiffany's. It was funny, it was romantic, it was SWEET and it had the lovely, melodious moonriver. Not only got me through a boring afternoon but also put a song in my heart and a smile on my face.

Two drifters off to see the world

There's such a lot of world to see

(Moonriver)

Yep, my kind of lyrics.

Jobs No More

2011-10-06T11:35:00.000-07:00

I know I am being a bit predictable here with my posting (although I may be up to my tricks with my titles. No, this post is not about recession and the falling job market).
Anytime there is an incident that has the whole world either overwhelmed with grief or ecstatically happy, I have to blog about it, especially if it is the former. Yes! you guessed right- this post is dedicated to the not unexpected but rather sudden demise of Steve Jobs.
Pretty inspiring to see what can be achieved by someone in a short span of ~ 30years, especially coming from circumstances that are ordinary and middle class. Well, we will wait for his biography and see what it says.
Anyhows, as expected, Facebook, Twitter are all buzzing with news of his death with epitaphs dedicated to him. There are personal quotes, borrowed quotes, Steve Job quotes all indicating what an important man he was and how greatly he will be missed.
Personally I don't have any catchy epitaph extolling Steve Jobs as I am not a "gadget-gizmo mortal" and my only association with Apple is my ipod (which is probably by now an antique in the Apple world) and those of the fruit/edible kind and hence I am not feeling an overwhelming sense of loss on his passing away. But yes, I would say, like any other person with common sense and a heart -the world has indeed lost a prolific innovator! R.I.P Steve Jobs and may many be inspired by you.

PS: Sounds like I just delivered my personal Steve Job epitaph

Love Me?

2011-09-17T12:09:00.000-07:00

I am in a love-y state of mind and I am listening to Northern Sky ( by Nick Drake) or it could be I am listening to Northern Sky and hence I am in a love-y state of mind.
And the song goes..

"Straighten my new mind's eye...

...............................................
Would you love me for my money
Would you love me for my head
Would you love me through the winter
Would you love me 'til I'm dead
Oh, if you would and you could"

Well, definitely do not love me for my money as I have none ( unless you want to love me for being poor). I also don't know who these lines are meant for, which I guess, makes all this a sad attempt to simply escape from my reality- a pile of papers and books staring at me asking to be read. ANYhows, the song is lovely and I don't mind "crazy magic" happening (like my road trip to Kotagiri) anytime :).

In other news and happenings:

My cousin's love story comes to an end and she is happily getting hitched to the guy mommy and daddy chose.The other guy ( the ex)appears to be heartbroken, if we want to believe his recent facebook statuses and some messages he sent me. Makes me wonder if love has become an emotion of convenience?Or, on a more optimistic note-perhaps it wasn't love at all.

My dear, hippie,bird watching, nature gazing, traveler, biker, educator, activist, God's own child ( being a priest and all) friend is in NY for a month. We spoke on the phone and he is here to "get away from it all". See, even a priest needs a break from it all. So what about a lesser mortal like me?! My last proper vacation- vacation was in summer of 2007. Yes, I am one of those ticking bombs waiting to explode.

SO, would you love me till I die? Ha..I know-tricky!

(PS: I tried to listen to some of other songs by Nick Drake. Too melancholic/depressive/sad- take your pick. Poor chap died at a young age too-I think it was depression).

Oh! and its all rainy and wet and my little garden looks charming.

Go Away!

2011-09-13T16:53:00.000-07:00

I read a blog today and she writes about her plans to go away on vacation just to rest and clear up her head and I thought to myself- my sentiments exactly. I too wish to go away for a few days. Somewhere, anywhere, as long as its away, away from everything and everyone. If you notice a desperation in my words then perhaps its because I am desperate. Too much going on, more than my poor brain can process. It is all muddled up and disorganized, my brain. There is stuff I read that needs to be remembered, stuff I have to remember to read, stuff I need to do, stuff I heard, stuff I saw, stuff I felt, the bad,complicated stuff you battle with and then the rest of the stuff and more. Too much "stuff" I tell ya! TIRING! VERY TIRING!

Seriously considering a change of profession and becoming a hippie. Isn't life all about peace, love and shabby clothes then?! Tempted ,seriously tempted.Or, perhaps its just easier to go away.

*sigh* Goodbye!

It's All Useless- Be Warned!

2011-09-07T02:36:00.000-07:00

(Disclaimer: To anyone who might be reading this, Be Warned!- I have no idea where I am headed with this post . It is useless and highly unlikely to become useful so you may choose to quit reading (or me writing)).

Yes I realize that was a bit of a “long” break since the last post. Reasons range from something as mundane as ‘I was busy’, to lack of ideas in general and lack of ideas on how to articulate what was going on with me on a more introspective,psychological/emotional level.

Anyways, here I am, this in-consequential Tuesday night, having plenty to study and been at it for the last few hours, now giving my poor brain a break after bombarding it with theoretical insights and intellectual Ah-Ha’s and Oic’s on natural resource conservation by some learned scholars out there. To put it in simple words- I am bored and distracted and I am taking a break. I know this when I cannot remember which paragraph I was on after looking away for a few seconds to make a quick note of something; Or, in between readings I get bizarre random thoughts on how cool this particular guy looks or I am madly in love with someone and we are both cuddly- cuddly-coochicooing with/to each other. I know, absolutely pointless and out of context thoughts. Also, I don’t even think I am the cuddly-cuddly-coochicooing types. Well, I don’t know really. Maybe with the right or the wrong kind of guy. *pondering*

At one point my mind drifted off to an old tamil song that I once liked. I saw the movie sometime back. It has Mr Body Builder Sharathkumar and this lovely lass whose name I don’t know and Jyothika. Do not be mislead by the song, which is seriously romantic and sweet and all that mushy stuff (bless the soul who upload songs with subtitles), but the movie is more in the lines of a crime thriller. Yeah! imagine my disappointment! (The original Hollywood version -Derailed)

I guess, one reason I am in this crazy-I-have-no-clue-what-I-am-blabbering-about- mood is because I also had a long, sad and tiring day at the Uni. A short presentation by me (I think the worst kind I have ever given), a sleepy committee and an overall feeling of poor show and UN-accomplishment makes you even more sad and lethargic and full of doubts. Then I get into this I-am-drunk-but-not-really-state of mind, which explains my incoherent ramblings. And, when such realizations strike, one must go silent.

When Inspiration Strikes..

2011-08-21T01:30:00.000-07:00

..I guess nothing can stop me :)

I.The object of inspirationOven roasted mint chicken. Found this in one of the food blogs I follow regularly. She posts some really good, easy to make recipes and ever since I saw this I wanted to make some myself and I did!

I. The product of inspiration:
I marinated the chicken with a paste made from- mint, cilantro, ginger, garlic, and green chilli (1). Added some red chilli powder, turmeric powder, a bit of garam masla, corriander powder, lemon juice (half slice of a big lemon) and 2 table spoon oil to the paste, and marinated the chicken over night (almost 12 hrs). Baked it for 45 mins at 350 C and then raised the temp to 450 Cand baked for 30 mins. Before baking I threw in 1 bay leaf, couple of cloves, couple of cardamom pods, 1 star anise and 1 cinnamon stick into the dish.

II. The object of inspiration

Poached pear with chocolate sauce and vanilla ice cream. Found this on one of my favorite design blogs and have been tempted ever since. So the weekend came and...

II. The product of inspirationI bought organic pears (so that the skin can be eaten as well) , pitted them, and stuffed them with raisins, walnuts and some powdered sugar. I also threw in some powdered sugar and a cinnamon stick to the water bath for poaching the pears. oohlala!

Yes..the weekend's been busy in a creative sort of way :).

(PS: My attempts were well appreciated. There is an option for an alternative profession after all!)

LOVE Restored

2011-08-17T01:40:00.000-07:00

Looks like I am continuing with the "love" theme, although this time more to do with restoring my convictions on how love is supposed to be. Full of passion and madness, kindness and caring , overwhelming and everlasting. OK, I did not fall in love overnight--nothing as dramatic- sadly! But, I saw a staggeringly beautiful love story-a movie I mean. An old American one called The Way We Were, staring the breathtakingly handsome Robert Redford and the quirky, smart and passionate Barbara Streisand. Yes people! the exquisitely handsome man did fall for the quirky, pretty-in-an-odd-way looking girl *gasp*. The end was sweet in a sad sort of way. She was more than he could handle and they decided to go separate ways but the love never really died you see...making it everlasting, in a way.
This song by Barbara Streisand from the movie..hmm!!..loveliness!!!

LOVE Is In The Air or Not?

2011-08-16T14:09:00.001-07:00

Is affairs of the heart an outdated concept these days? Has it indeed reduced to mere affairs of the mind? It appears like people don't use their heart even where/when they are supposed to; where conventionally what the heart says is what matters. I am speaking about the age old concept of love. It completely baffles me what "today's generation" (I just made myself sound terribly old and I apologize for generalizing so broadly)conceive love to be.I speak from the experience of seeing some of my friends and cousins go through it.
There is no crazy love, or deep in love or can't live without you love.Instead I hear phrases like adjust, get along, parents & family, consent/support, wavelength (which is fine), reliable(which is reasonable), convinced, priority, and E&E (that's educated & employed)! Do you see a pattern here or is it just me? Everything sounds so sensible and calculated and planned and practical. If there is indeed some truth in what I am saying then I am deeply disappointed and slightly disturbed. Where the hell is love, romance and all the silliness, sweetness and profoundness that comes with it? The dramatic declarations of "I-can't-breath-without-him" kind? Why is there so much thinking and logic involved when love is supposed to make you lose sense of logic and reality (to some extend).
Am I being the fool here and refusing to catch up with time or have I got it all wrong?

Story behind these out of the blue thoughts- A cousin "loves" a guy (well, in my times I would have simply called it like a guy)and they have been friends forever (as in together from middle school).Both are E&E, similar background as in both are from the same place, speak the same langauge, eat the same food and breathe the same air..you get my drift?(pun intended), well off folks, or in other words no glaring differences except that she is a Hindu and he is a Christian. So, now the girl's parents refuse to even acknowledge that their darling daughter may be interested in this guy and is frantically trying to marry her off to the first perfect-in-every way Nair boy. Now the sad-dest part is, the part which inspired this post-the girl cannot make up her mind!!! The girl's mom( and some members of our family) are still stuck in the middle ages unfortunately, but that is pardonable considering their age, time and circumstances of their birth and how they were raised and blah blah blah. But my question/concern is why is it so hard for young couples (of the current gen) to make up their minds, if they believe they love each other? I don't know much about the guy's version of the story, but he has an elder brother who is getting married soon and he can talk about his "interests" at home in a more I-am-really -serious-about this kind of way only after the brother gets hitched.again a little too planned and calculated I say..but as I said..maybe I have got it all wrong, right from the start, which takes me back to square one- is there love in the air or not?
Meanwhile, our gal is not saying yes or no to the "perfect guy" daddy and mommy chose. *sigh*. So basically everyone and everything is in limbo. Not fun!

ANYhows I don't know how the story is going to end and it is funny to watch our whole family waiting in anticipation on whats going to happen next. I even got a call from another cousin 6 in the morning (which scared the crap out of me.Phone calls at an odd time always does that to me)wondering if my cousin (the girl) had disclosed anything to me.

Yep...welcome to our family soap-special edition!

ROFL

2011-08-15T19:13:00.000-07:00

When you are done blog hopping and you are still bored to bits, when your mind is too restless to function well, when you are haunted by thoughts that are ~~impractical, unrealistic and~~ ridiculous, when you have plenty work to do but you just don't want to, when you took the day off hoping to get all the pending work done but didn't get too far with it, when you feel like a bloated whale from eating too much and too tired to work it off, when your left arm feels weird and heavy and you wonder if you are having a heart attack, when your body is screaming how uncomfortable it feels and you are not able to really focus on anything then..you watch Four Weddings and a Funeral and then blog about it. Oh my god!Let me just sum it up in a few words- it was ROFL funny!I mean check out this scene.
(ROFL- roll on the floor 'n laugh)

PS:August 16th, 2011
On second thoughts it is more LOL funny than ROFL funny...I mean its British humor after all.
(LOL-laugh out loud)

Oh Little Darling!

2011-08-13T17:29:00.001-07:00

We have friends visiting from Florida and this is their little son. Been a while since I held a baby in my arms and at home we are all baby crazy people. Aren't they just little darlings?! Their sweetness and innocence always melts my heart.

Look at this little one--Loves his toy so much that he now attempts to eat it...

Hard not to smile when they are around.

The Pressure is Building

2011-08-11T13:29:00.001-07:00

I am at a specialist's office with some ongoing issues with my body.

Doc: So how are you today?

Me: (In my head-*If I was feeling great I wouldn't be here sitting with you*). I am good thanks.

Doc: So then what brings you here?

Me: ( In my head- *Ah!--good question*) and *Gotcha looks from the doc*.
I've not been feeling well blah blah blah...

Doc: Your blood pressure readings don't look good. It is pretty high for your age.

Me: Oh yea..I noticed (In my head- *Right, as if I needed more pressures in life. Your stupid machine is broken .That's what it is.*)

Doc: I would categorize you as borderline hypertension. You may want to fix up regular appointments with your family physician for more routine check ups and monitor yr BP.

Me: (In my head- *yea as if I have all the time in the world and thanks for the fancy title*). Ok..will do and a smiley face :).

Doc: I would also recommend reducing your sodium intake and exercising more. I am not prescribing any medication for now--but check with your family physician.

Me: (In my head* What! Indian food without salt! Imagine sambar without salt! ugh! And did you say exercise?! and now way I am going to be popping pills!!*).
Yes..ok. I do want to get back to a more regular exercise routine blah blah blah...

(PS: Actually I don't mind the exercise part. I wish I could be more regular with it. I genuinely feel good after a work out. Just need to get off my lazy bum and get moving!)

Much later......

Doc: Ok guys..nice seeing you today and looking forward to seeing you guys soon.

Me : (In my head * How can you say something like that!!*)
Yep--bye..thanks! and see ya...another smiley face :)

So here I am, in my 30s, a borderline hypertension-ist (just made up the word). How boring a profile is that?!!

Is This Silly?

2011-08-10T19:07:00.000-07:00

Nostalgic is what I feel.
Miss people from my past
miss places from my past
miss moments from my past
want to grab people, places, moments from my past and hold on.
I dont know if this is silly.

Paradise

2011-08-09T11:10:00.001-07:00

Read this on someone's blog today and couldn't agree more "Paradise has no fixed address..but usually it is in the middle of nowhere".

This was paradise to me zillions of years(actually 7)ago.It was 15 days away from the "civilized" world, and perfectly fit the expression "in the middle of nowhere". I have never seen so many stars in the night sky, I have never talked to more simpler people, I have never eaten more simpler food, I have never lived more simply, and I have never NOT missed home so much. But eventually you go back to madness. Stupid huh?

I ♥ AVIAL \m/

2011-08-07T16:24:00.001-07:00

Want to know how I spent the weekend so far? Well, I am in one of my obsessive compulsive phases and the object of my obsessions this time is AVIAL, as in the Kerala based, malayali rock band and not the veggie dish from the same state. Who are they?..They are Kerala's answer to Iron Maiden/Led Zep/Metalica...no kidding. And, not only do they sound amazing, their lyrics are awesome too, mostly commenting on social issues of importance.Oh..and they sing in "shudha"(=pure)malayalam!! I tell you-Malayalam has never sounded so cool and sexy to me. I am so in love with them...cannot quite articulate how much. And when you are blinded by (inarticulatable) love, you do crazy things like listening to all their live performances and music videos on youtube late into the pre-dawn hours ( a matter not to be taken lightly considering I also lead an (alternate life) as a graduate student, supposedly preparing hard for a big exam coming up in a couple of months..*sigh*). Handicaps of a mind suffering from bouts of OCD and inarticulatable and unrequitable love (with the band i.e.) I guess. The band's original singer, Anandraj Benjamin who is not with the band anymore is, simply put-INCREDIBLE! I mean this man rocks! His rendition brings in so much edge and character to the music...its just WOW!. The band's current lead singer is Tony John. Has his own unique style of singing and quite a dishy looking guy too! Fits the expression ~~Bold~~ Bald and Beautiful. And I am not the only one who thinks so. How else do you explain a more than 4000 long friends list on facebook?!?Bottomline--this man can sing and has the looks too? OR....is that whom you call a ROCKSTAR?!?
And ofcourse the band wouldnt be a 'band' without-Rex Vijayan an absolute wizard on the guittar, Mithun Puthenveettil an absolute powerhouse on the drums, and last but not the least the amazing Bass guittarist Binny Issac.
As a dedicated fan, I did what any decent, self-respecting fan should do. Purchased their AVIAL album from i-tunes and now I have them close to me, stored in my i-pod. The point being- I did not steal or search for free downloads. Boy ain't I a loyal fan? AVIAL people--you reading?
ANYways..before I leave I must mention the band's female (guest) singer-Neha Nair. Lovely--lovely--lovely voice. Stumbled across her blog and vidoes she had uploaded. An amazingly talented singer who should go places with that voice of hers.

Enough of my crazy rantings and now go listen to some KICK-ASS music. This one is one of my favorities called Aadu Pambe, not only for the music but also because the issue is close to my heart and what I have spent years studying and continue to study.

If you want to check out their other songs w/ lyrics go here. Rock on \m/

My Design Fantasies

2011-08-05T15:21:00.000-07:00

Beautiful designs have always been a bit of passion for me. Be it outside, inside, furniture, photographs, pottery,linen, pots & pans---Oh well!.. the list is LOng. I may be broke, yet I manage to save enough money to buy monthly issues of design magazines. Inside outside or society interiors when I am in India and here in the US, I replace them with Elle decor ( my favorite) UK and US edition, the UK edition being a particular favorite. I guess I love the European minimalistic sensibilities when it comes to design, especially home decor. Not exactly the scandinavian black & white with a touch of wood and steel. My preference would be more of that with some splashes of color ,a.k.a anything Indian, ethnic and exotic.

ANYhows..do not be under the false impression that my house looks anything like what I described. Living on a student stipend does not allow me the luxury of living out all my design fantasies. So I do the next best thing. Buy magazines, drool at other people's homes and lead a sad, voyeuristic existence. Alright it is not as pathetic a life as I am making it out to be. I try and make my little space in the world as pretty and aesthetically appealing to me as possible. After all its about what best you can do with what you have. Right?

Timepass: @ my backyard, tea in my favorite coffee mug ( yea I know), my favorite magazine, with Ganpati inherited from the previous tenants.

Back From Homeland

2011-07-21T12:30:00.000-07:00

Been a while since my last scribble. I am back from homeland, after what I would describe as an arduous journey. No I did not sail back, crossing rough seas like old-en times and neither did I smuggle in via some nondescript cargo ship. I got back, traveling half way around the world, economy class (a.k.a canned -sardine class, or the middle-class-drudgery class..or any other name you may wish to confer) and my bones and muscles are certified useless! I was in pain and it took forever to recover both from the pain and the jet lag. Don't want to claim old age responsible. I am not really that old :). Its sort of like the old Amul Chocolate ad- I am too old for long economy plane rides but too young for old age...but I think I am right for...

Sillines aside, I think it was the viral flu attack I was subjected to before I left home which left me too weak and tired to take up a loooong plane ride not to mention the emotional state of mind you are in (always) before leaving home and mother behind.

Anyways, here I am back in school, at work, with so much stuff to accomplish that just the thought of it is making me tired all over again. Yikes! Another month before school officially opens for Fall and until then I can work at a not-so-crazy pace, provided Prof willing and God willing.

Last weekend caught the final part of Harry Potter. Fell asleep a bit in between (shame on me!) but otherwise enjoyed it. Thought the magic was spectacular in this one.

More later...

Crazy Magic!

2011-06-23T05:44:00.000-07:00

"I never felt magic crazy as this
I never saw moons knew the meaning of the sea
I never held emotion in the palm of my hand..." (OST:Serendipity)

A couple of days ago, as Nick Drake sung these in my ears I was passing through Bandipur National Park. Talk about perfect timing! And, this was middle of the night or rather early morning around 1-2 when the moon was still shining and the dawn had not set in. Hard to believe right? But, it is true! Thanks to my friend's good advice to catch the KSRTC Airavat from Bangalore to Ooty. (May I take a moment to say three cheers to KSRTC and three or more cheers to Airavat, volvo bus service. It has to be the most amazing road trips of my life till date).

One of those moments when you wish to be a poet or a brilliant writer just so you can articulate all the excitement, beauty and wonder you experience. But since such talents elude me, may I express in my simple, ordinary ways on what a fantastic journey it was. Please, please take the "trouble" to go to Bangalore,book an Airavat-AC volvo by KSRTC and go to Ooty.
I mean there is something surreal about passing a jungle in the middle of the night, where you don't see much, except for the dark silhouette of the trees and shrubs and the only wild life my untrained eyes could spot were the fire flies winking in the velvety darkness ( that last bit could have been stolen from some romance novel). I had taken Jr along and he was fast asleep. But I had to wake him up and tell him that we were in the middle of a forest and his sleep induced response was "oh cool". Well, it was cool--super cool in fact.

In case you are wondering what tempted me to take this journey?-Well, it wasn't a random act of romantic madness in me but rather a planned trip to visit a friend who lives in Kotagiri and works at an NGO there. She is also a fellow grad student back at the Uni. On reaching Ooty, early morning, my friend had sent a car to pick us up for the onward 45 mins road trip to gorgeous Kotagiri.
Early morning- Ooty to Kotagiri by road Tea gardens- Kotagiri
I wouldn't mind living and/or working here!

Front yard-- the yellow blooms, the stone bench and pear tree (not in pic) Absolutely gorgeous!
A small part of the house- charming is the word Our new best friend-The Wizard of Shalom- a.k.a Wiz Wiz! Such a sweet, friendly soul!
Breakfast time- Treasures from the Forest Freshly plucked pears from the backyard

My two days at Kotagiri had many highlights-. Cannot thank enough for my friend's gracious hospitality at her charming bungalow, where, besides spoiling us with lovely home cooked food, cozy rooms and warm blankets, there was plucking pears off the trees from the backyard,to forest treks, spotting wild life exclusive to WG/NBR,"green" shopping ( as in an outlet selling certified forest products from NBR and other forest ranges of India, by the NGO) and making new friends. NTFPs- Basket used for harvesting pepper Traditional stone lamp made by tribal folks from soft stones found in NBR Forest trek highlights- Spotted the giant Malabar Squirrel Found these bear claw marks on a treeAnd!- Leopard pug marks! Not sure how fresh these were but every inch forward since then was pretty scary (chicken!) and exciting to me.

Frankly I did not want to leave but all good things come to an end ( rather quickly in my case) and we left. The return journey was to Mettupalayam-Coimbatore by road and then from Coimbatore to EKM by train. Long since I traveled ordinary sleeper class and that was fun too except for the fact that it stopped at platform number 2 at Ekm and I had to lug my bags up the bridge to get to the other side. Painfully reminds you of your growing age and deteriorating physical condition. ugh!

Anyways--lots to dream about so more later. (Would love to share more pictures but w/ a lousy internet connection at the moment, not going to. Perhaps later).

Meghamalhar

2011-06-13T23:04:00.000-07:00

No, this post has nothing to do with the classical raga or the movie but just another one of my rambling post with a "fancy" yet suitable-in-a-small-way-title.

At home enjoying the rains. The pictures really don't do justice to the real deal. It's as if the rain gods are having a rave party and don't want to stop.

The garage is flooded, mom's garden plants are droopy and heavy with water, nobody is in the mood to do much, except drink endless cups of tea and munch on jackfruit chips and hot "chakka ada".

Except, I made plans for today morning to visit some friends. But mom ,aunt and others (collectively) said NO! "as the roads will be flooded and too dangerous not to mention the traffic congestion and road blocks and delays". Well , luckily I am feeling a bit lazy else nobody could have stopped me. Not because I am the disobedient type but because it is hard to wait for the clouds to clear before venturing out when we are smack in the middle of the monsoons here. I am always a bit surprised when mallu folks use rains as an excuse for postponing plans. Shouldn't we have evolved with water and lightening resistant skin by now?!Hmmm....oh well, please don't pay attention to my unintelligent banter folks. It does get dangerous to be out especially if there is lightening and thunder which was the case yesterday evening.

Rains or no rains, I managed to squeeze in some traveling, a bit locally but mostly out of state. Was in Chennai for a day, where the weather gods appeared to be seriously pissed off. How else can one explain the ridiculous heat and humidity! Clearly I survived, a million thanks to whoever invented air conditioning. Global warming took a back seat and my carbon footprint may have spiked to unpardonable levels but I did not care. However , sitting in a cool, cozy room at home with the rains lashing at us, I do feel a touch a guilt now.
After Chennai, it was off to Mumbai to meet a friend. She and I hung around Mumbai for a day and then from there off to Delhi. Delhi was another torture site. No humidity but so dry and hot, you feel tired within seconds. We were driven around in a comfortable car with air conditioning which struggled to keep us cool. It was only the endless amount of water we drank and all the shopping potential and excitement that Delhi Hut offered that kept us alive.
I don't normally jet set across the country every time I am here unless there is some work that needs to be done. So all this trip was mostly work and partly fun.

Anyhows, after Chennai and Delhi I am so glad Kerala is where home is. It is almost inappropriate how much I love this season. It does strange things to me-body, mind and soul. Boy do I sound mysterious or what?! :)

More monsoon updates later. Better still, come over folks and enjoy the monsoon magic in person!

This and That

2011-05-12T10:39:00.000-07:00

It is tough when you want to post something profound or insightful or interesting or exciting on your blog every time you set out to post. It is tough because most of the time none of the above happens to me.

Anyhow, since this blog takes various forms, from dear diary to posting random links from youtube, today's post is more like a combination of both or something that falls in between.

As my trip home is drawing closer things are getting a bit hectic. There is some work-work to finish, meetings with professors before I leave, shopping for self (there is the new pair of jeans and a pullover that has been on my list for a while now) and shopping for friends & family. I love doing this even though everyone says not to bring anything since "everything is available in India", but I do it anyways for the pleasure of it - really. I enjoy giving presents (and receiving is not too bad either). But what I don't enjoy is that as my travel day gets closer, I get calls and emails that goes- "listen I don't mean to bother you but could you get me a laptop or a cell phone or an ipod and if it is inconvenient or too costly then please don't bother. Ok? Ok. " Hmmm...My only problem with this is why wait till last minute. Tell me at least a month in advance. Closer to my travel date I am precariously balancing my credit card and other available funds. So it can get a bit tricky.

What else now? So many things going on in the world ( which is nothing new)- from killing of international wanted men to leaking of risqué telephone conversations between MPs and other "VIPs". I am really not a news junkie and some days I even miss reading the daily newspaper, although I do manage to stay reasonably informed on current events. Thanks to face book I suppose, which seems to have become this one-stop-for-all-info place. Atleast that's how my facebook page looks. Maybe it is the trend or maybe all my friends are certified nerds. Major events or an interesting article is posted from some mainstream news site or the other, with a personal analysis, more often something provocative and then its open to comments. Depending on the topic and how provocative the analysis is, there is a frenzy of comments being posted and "likes" being clicked.

You know my mind has gone blank all of a sudden. As this is my silly old blog and not a syndicated column, I can stop abruptly-right? right.

Adios!

Overcoming Sleepiness

2011-05-04T16:40:00.000-07:00

Writing this post as an attempt to stay awake. You may wonder why cant I just take a nap?! Well, I can't because I am at work although I don't have any work to do which perhaps explains my sleepiness.But no, it is due to a combination of- surprisingly heavy lunch, no work to do and a general lack of motivation to do any studying. Just to ease the guilt factor a bit, I did some reading, and a bit of researching. I could carry on with it but don't want to do it anymore today. Gotten a bit lazy since my presentations last week.
The next best thing to do was read some blogs. I am up to date on the blogs I follow, so read a bit from their past postings. I did the same with my own blog and lets just say there were multiple instances of cringing and disbelief followed by a mad desire to delete the post. I am horrified at the language (not that it has improved much since then), as well as the contents of the post. I mean what was I thinking when I wrote some of those crappy posts?!
Moving on to happy/funny thoughts---lets see..hmmm...well,I came across this funny tweet by Robbin Williams on twitter and it goes: "They- you are weird. Me: No I am not. I am just limited edition!" :)
Thus ends the post with no message and I am still feeling sleepy *YAWN*.

My Weekend (Photo) Diary

2011-05-02T13:54:00.001-07:00

Sounds a bit trivial when the whole world is caught up on the "big news" of the weekend. As I read somewhere there is nothing to celebrate over someone's death but if it brings closure to a lot of people across the world whose families were innocent victims of terror then so be it. But otherwise the only thing that should be celebrated is peace and love.
I posted a tiny msg on facebook which apparently implied some kind of victory for America when really that is not what was intended and some of my Indian friends went ballistic. Conspiracy theories to international political deal making was shared and everyone seemed indignant that America dares to "celebrate" this mission they have accomplished.
My response was basically treat this as news and the President felt the need to share it with his people for whom it symbolizes more than just slaying of a wanted man. And really enough with these conspiracy theories. We have enough and more as it is, floating around. It has made us all so paranoid and suspicious of everything. If we don't trust anyone then what will become of us? How can we ever be at peace? Atleast this President seems like a conscientious leader and is doing his best to improve things both within his country and the country's role within the global community.
Anyhows....so other than international breaking news and all the buzz around it, my weekend wasn't too bad. On Saturday, a friend came over and we set out on what we would like to call a 'shopping marathon'. 5 hrs later and blowing up enough money that cannot be disclosed as it would be inappropriate, we headed home. Made some lip smacking nachos for dinner (pics next time) and then hit the sack and slept like a log.
Sunday was mostly spent at home and evening after all the hullabaloo over "Breaking News" on CNN, grilled some Asparagus and ordered pizza for dinner, played some games (dumb charades actually) with the family and off to sleep by 10:30.
Two more weeks to go and school closes for summer break. Will post some pics later as an attempt to stay consistent with the idea of "weekend photo diary posts".

Resurfaced!

2011-04-27T12:35:00.001-07:00

Resurfaced after a brief hiatus. The last few weeks have been quite hectic with deadlines, presentations and discussions on my proposal. Things appear to be moving forward but, being slightly superstitious, slightly insecure and slightly unsure about everything in general I am not getting too excited.

But what about the other exciting things happening? I am referring to our own talented Mr Prithviraj, pride of most mallus,(some people hate him with a passion and I don't know why?!) finally hitching up! I have always wondered whom he will marry and his choice came as a pleasant surprise. Not the drop dead gorgeous, "fair", rich girl one may have expected but a "fairly" simple, matter of fact, smart, educated girl! Good choice Mister! You have set a fine example of "looks alone don't matter much". As an ardent admirer of Prithviraj the actor, here is wishing him a great married life.I also like his brother Indrajith whom I consider a fantastic actor as well.

The finals are around the corner and school will close for summer in about two weeks! I don't have any final exams this semester but the last couple of weeks have been as busy and nerve wracking as any finals week can be. So I am glad I am done with the crazy period for this semester and can get back to a calmer routine.

Just to update on one of my last fun weekends before things got out-of-hand-crazy- there was the yearly East-West Fest at the Uni and tried out some Chinese dishes at the house. Here is the proof! :)

E2Ds Spicy Chilli Chicken with Vegetable Noodles!

A Close up of my (as-told-by-others-its delicious!) Chilli Chicken
East West Fest @University

Someone Singing Far Away.....

2011-04-13T02:33:00.001-07:00

Weeknight...almost midnight...listening to this beeeaaauuutiful song for I-don't-know-how-many-times. Nothing but Ilayaraja magic.

OST: Satyan Anthikad's- Katha Thudarunu
Sung by: Hariharan & Chitra

Escape to Victory

2011-03-30T10:38:00.000-07:00

Seen the classic kickass movie? Well, then must see it and see it again if you already have.
Watched the movie long time ago with my dad and watched it again yesterday and there was the same excitement and fun of watching it the first time. In fact got soo excited that as the Allied POWs kicked-some-serious-ass (I mean goals) and beat the Germans, I blurted out, to everyone's amusement -"isn't tomorrow the India-Pak war"!. YIKES! Yes! I said war. I felt terrible even though it was a slip of the tongue.

Anyways, it was definitely unintentional and may the best team (India) win. Oh! wait a minute...we won! But, a round of applause to the Pak team for a good game.

My Escapes

2011-03-29T12:22:00.000-07:00

I wish I could write well. I admire those who write well and there are obviously many out there who do. But, there are authors and there are authors par excellence. Remember in one of the previous posts I mentioned feeling nostalgic and hence re-reading books I read earlier (or please scroll down and check if this is your first time here or need help remembering). These are books you read again to relive certain moments, moments that left an impression on you, or moments that bring back old memories. And you are able to do this because someone brilliant knew how to imagine and knew how to write!
The book I am re-reading currently is God of Small Things. As much as I enjoy reading A.Roy's non-fiction works ( I mean, learn from her the power of rhetoric!) I wish she wrote more fiction. To make my point, how can you not feel nostalgic reading this....

" by early June the southwest monsoon breaks and there are three months of wind and water and short spells of sharp, glittering sunshine that thrilled children snatch to play with.The countryside turns an immodest green.Boundries blur as tapioca fences take root and bloom, Brick walls turn mossgreeen. Pepper vines snake up electric poles.Wild creepers burst through laterite banks and spill across flooded roads..."
"Happy earthwors frolicked purple in the slush, Green nettles nodded. Trees bent. Further away, in the wind and rain, on the banks of the river, in the sudden thunderdarkness of the day, Estha was walking...." ( GOST- Chapter 1-Paradise Pickles & Preserves, page 3 &11)

You read and be amazed at how beautifully an emotion or thought or an experience was articulated and how it instigates perhaps similar emotions or remind you of an old secret thought or relive a similar experience you may have had. They write without fuss, without complications, without any over-analysis. They may write about themselves or sometimes every character is fictitious and yet you relate to them mainly because they seem normal, regular and simple in some ways.
From the same book, a moment between Estha, Rahel and their mother Ammu...

" ..their small hands laid flat against the bare skin of her midriff. Between her petticoat and her blouse. They loved the fact that the brown of the backs of their hands was the exact brown of their mother's stomach skin...." " Between them they apportioned their mother's seven silver stretch marks. Then Rahel put her mouth on Ammu's stomach and sucked at it, pulling the soft flesh into her mouth and drawing her head back to admire the shining oval of spit and the faint red imprint of her teeth on her mother's skin." (Chapter 11- The God of Small things, page 210-211)

I relived a moment here and the emotions you feel....hmmm. Wish childhood never ended.

Thank God for these brilliant writers or how else could I fly back in time or escape momentarily from my now & present?! Now I must get back to Ayemenem where Estha, Rahel, Ammu, Chako and Baby Kochamma are on their way to Cochin, to the airport, to pick up Margaret Kochamma and Sophi Mol.

The Weekend Photo Diary

2011-03-28T10:57:00.000-07:00

I thought I'll try and stick to the weekend photo updates for a while. "For a while" meaning I am doing it again this weekend and/or there is no guarantee that I'll do it again next weekend or the following weekends.

The highlight this weekend was a trip to the theater to watch Rango- an animation movie, referencing the wild west and has Johnny Depp in the lead (voice) playing a lizard named Rango. And, while everyone watched I slept. Perhaps Johnny Depp, on screen, in his true, God-made avatar and not simply his voice playing a lizard, would have kept me awake ( please watch Chocolat for better reference) or perhaps I had a long and tiring week and a nice nap inside the cool interiors of a cozy theater is just what I needed. Anyways, I was told it is a good movie so please go watch people.

These days, on weekends, I spend a little more time than normal in the kitchen, developing my amateur chef skills and so the specials for this weekend was an all grill menu. Grilled asparagus simply marinated with olive oil, salt and pepper; grilled Italian sandwich made with the juiciest vine red tomatoes, mozzarella cheese, pesto sauce , olive oil and jalapeno & cheese focaccia bread. There was also some "tandoori" chicken for the omnivores in attendance and of course some delicious red wine. The fun aspect about grilling is you can do it outdoors if you have a fairly decent grill set and since the weather cooperated, infact it was a rather pleasant and cool night, dinner was cooked and served outdoors.

Well, the weather did not remain cool and pleasant all through the weekend. We have been having quite a rainy-windy weather over the week and the weekend was not fully spared either. But with a good board game or a good book or movie or music or food & wine or good company, or all of the above, staying indoors while everything outside gets drenched and soaked by the rains, is not a bad prospect at all. I also thought my little backyard looked rather charming, with the orange and pink blooms, all wet, heavy and droopy from the rains.

(apologies for the blurred image)

PS: As a "serious", "responsible" grad student I also dedicated some time studying this weekend and the weight of guilt feels comparatively less heavy.

Nostalgia

2011-03-24T11:37:00.000-07:00

I suppose nostalgia is my current disposition and so...

Re-reading a book I read long time ago
Re-watching a movie I watched long time ago
Re-listening songs I listened long time ago
Re-thinking thoughts I had long time ago
Re-experiencing emotions I felt long time ago
Re-wishing what I wished long time ago
Re-wanting what I wanted long time ago

Fulfilling in some instances and frustrating in some. But, this phase shall pass too.

A Mood Change

2011-03-22T12:19:00.000-07:00

Not as bad as a mood swing but still a fairly quick change. Until a few days ago I was in the mood to listen to a folk song in Hindi from an old 80s movie, by a singer named Reshma?. Since yesterday, I am in the mood to listen to Eddie Vedder (Pearl Jam) and I have been listening to Black over and over again. So much passion in his singing, that it ignites the passion in you and as he sings the last lines from Black which goes...

"I know someday you'll have a beautiful life,
I know you'll be a sun in somebody else's sky, but why
Why, why can't it be, can't it be mine"

..you too want to fall on your knees, throw up your hands, make a fist and scream from your heart-Yes! why, why, why!?!..

Phew! that was emotionally exhausting. Yes, you said it -drama queen indeed!

Its been rainy and windy since yesterday. Perhaps that explains the mood change.

The Weekend Photo Diary

2011-03-21T12:25:00.000-07:00

Decided to try something new. Well, the idea is hardly original but really liked it when I saw something similar in another blog. So, instead of my usual ramblings, a short photo diary of my weekend that was...

Got up later than usual, at 6:30. My usual time is 5:15am.Made my first cuppa tea. Without it I am useless.Made some breakfast- deliciously greasy with some green tea. I rather have idli sambar but this was a quick fix and yet elaborate compared to what is generally consumed on weekdays.

Went out and spent some money. Bought some groceries for the house and these for myself. I bought the book, because I thought it looked rather grand with its leather binding & gold edged pages. It was also on sale (50% off!) and I wanted to read great expectations. This one however is not the abridged version so I am not sure if and when I'll accomplish my reading mission. The ELLE design mag, UK edition is a splurge as I love to stare at interestingly done houses.Made some fish curry, mallu style, with coconut milk. Everyone who ate said 'spicy but yummy' :)
It was also Holi and my friend from Chhattisgarh, who also is my neighbor came over with mittai (cookies!) and gulal (turmeric powder!). It was sweet and fun and she stayed home for a while, demanded tea and I offered breakfast as well.Went for a much needed walk in the evening.
And watched two movies, back to back, late into the night. It was Speed I and Demolition Man. Made some pop corns to munch on.
Not a bad weekend but Sunday night guilt set in and the little voice in your head became louder and it said- 'did not do any studying'. Luckily sleep took over

PS: Officially its Spring break and the Uni is closed for a week!

Bichhde Abhi To Hum Bus Kal Parson...

2011-03-18T01:54:00.000-07:00

And if you were to ask what I did today, I would say-

Finished up some work, did some reading and went to the library to pick up some books. Then, went to a friend’s place for some delicious lunch, and a long chat, returned home and promptly fell asleep (yep on a full stomach..I know- ugh!). Later in the evening, did some chores around the house, and after dinner, settled in with my laptop to watch a movie- a Hindi movie, from the 80s. I suppose I was still a bit disoriented from all the food I had consumed and the afternoon siesta.

The movie had all the usual formulaic elements of an 80s movie- the crazy histrionics, dream sequences, singing & dancing and the girl and the guy hopelessly in love, despite the impossible circumstances. Here goes a short synopsis-

SO, the girl, who is the IG’s daughter gets kidnapped by the goon’s main sidekick and his buddies. The girl is lead to believe that these men are policemen assigned by her IG dad to protect her from the goon who has threatened to kidnap her. Stupid girl thinks they are all having a picnic in the jungle and sings and dances around and then one day…boom! she falls in love with the main sidekick and he is flattered and professes his love too. One night, after a song and dance dream sequence, out of guilt, sidekick rushes to the nearby temple and confesses his not so admirable circumstances to God, all fuming and angry. The girl hears all this and surprise, surprise! she does not dump him but is even more hopelessly in love. You don’t believe me the check this out. From here on, it is a long struggle of winning the girls family over by the sidekick (now hero). If you have read so far and is willing to tolerate more then please watch “Hero” (starring Jackie Shroff and Meenakshi Seshadri). (Available on youtube)

I know the synopsis is written with a touch of sarcasm but frankly, Hero is one of the Hindi movies of the 80s I can tolerate. I like it for a couple of reasons. First of all it does not have Jeetendra doing Bharatnatyam dressed in white trousers, shirt and shoes on giant cardboard “tablas” with Sridevi, also in some traditional white outfit. Second, Jackie Shroff looked THE DUDE in this movie, and third, I like one of the songs in the movie. It makes you pine for a long lost love even if you dont have a long lost love.

Despite the afternoon siesta I am feeling sleepy already. G’night!

The title roughly translated from Hindi to English - We just separated yesterday only

Folly vs. Prudence

2011-03-16T10:41:00.000-07:00

I wish some discoveries were left undiscovered. Like the nuclear energy for example. Doesn't it feel like one of our biggest follies? More like a pain in the butt than anything else?

I understand the need for renewable energy but aren't there less dangerous sources like the-
sun
wind
ocean
bio-fuel (well this one has its controversies too)

I am not an energy specialist so maybe my thoughts are stupid and naive but as a fellow member of the human race heart goes out to the Japanese for what they are struggling with and terrified of what maybe in store for rest of humanity.

PS: Bless all the super intelligent folks in this world with some prudence as well.

Something Personal

2011-03-13T15:19:00.000-07:00

Do you read old e-mails? I do and yes I save them..at least the ones that brings back happy memories :). I used to love writing letters to friends. The ones you actually write on real paper, put in an envelope with licked stamps stuck on it and takes 2-10 days to reach its destination, depending on the location. One of my dearest friends went away to Russia for studies after high school and I used to write long letters with all the news from home. She used to love getting them and would demand that I write at least once a week. Her replies were mostly describing her life in Russia, which I thoroughly enjoyed although she would insist that my letters were better. At the time it was still USSR and she once wrote me about her 15 days road & rail trip across the country with her school friends. I still remember how excited I was reading it. I am pretty sure I still have her letters back home, somewhere with my old books and papers. Now she works for the UN and is based in Rome and we are connected through facebook and we write on each others "walls" which has a word limit! :D. Technology makes things easy but the charm and excitement of a letter delivered by post somehow is not there.

Anyways, I was going though some old mails this weekend and came across one which I thought might be fun to share. It was in reply to one of my friends who apparently had written to me two months ago and I failed to reply immediately. I got another email reminding me of my impropriety and I responded immediately.

Dear J,

I had written to you some two months back. No response?

Dear JP,

I am so embarrassed for not replying immediately to your email.

Things got extremely hectic and stressful the last couple of months with school, work and home. In between all the assignments and "homework" we had to deal with mundane paper works for passport renewals to house lease and what not. All this took up a lot of time, money and thought. Perhaps not a very good excuse as I could have typed a line or two just to let you know I received your mail. Well, I am very sorry.

Good to read all the news from back home. I am glad all of you enjoyed the chocolates and you liked the book I sent. I am reading Part II of the book (Ghost Train to the Eastern star) I sent you and still at it. I try and catch a couple of pages in bed at night but some days I am off before I finish a paragraph. Too tired. About donating the book to the Dept. library..sure. We don't mind at all. I'll also bring the "Ghost Train...." when I come home. You can read and use it for the library as well.

It was fascinating to read about your travels to Sevagram and Bhimavara. I agree with you and the Zen saying- "it is the journey that matters and not the destination". And, your idea of a "second revolution for a corruption free, violence free society sounds fantastic". I want it to happen. However, so glad you did not make any obvious commitment for an alcohol free society. In moderation I guess it isn't so bad...in fact K & I have developed a taste for good wines ( well not the vintage kind obviously. cannot afford it yet).

Learning wise it has been a good semester so far. I am working on my proposal and it has been challenging. Just out of interest I am also taking a film class from Dept of South Asian Studies with a wonderful Prof.We have been watching old to contemporary Indian movies, dissecting them and analyzing them in an effort to understand Indian culture & society. Since I am the only Indian I always get a lot of questions but it is fun. We also read a lot of film theories and analysis by scholars on the movies we watch. So far we have watched and discussed movies by Satyajith Ray to Maniratnam. The way I watch and enjoy an Indian movie will never be the same again! I am scared for life! haha....

Yesterday we watched and discussed Anand Patwardhan (- Ram Ke Nam) and some papers on Indian cinema after Ayodhya ( includes the Ramayana narrative and post Babri Masjid). Interesting and disturbing. I really want a "second revolution" to happen. Next week we are watching Shaji Karun's Vanaprastham.

Recently the department organized a symposium titled Anticipation/Memory/Place: Environmentalism, Sustainability, and Eco-Citicism in South Asian Contexts. The topics and discourses were fascinating and new. The highlight for me was the screening of "Stolen Waters" - by Prasant and Daya (2003) which is about the Coca-Cola controversy at Plachimada. It brought back memories of our involvement on the issue with N. Namboodiri and his group. There is a movement in America, in fact Internationally, against Corporations and their profit driven unsustainable ways. Activists and academicians are raising their voices against corporate abuses on man and nature. Heard about a new book coming out on this called "Cultural Critique and Global Corporation".

Well I can go on and on about things happening here. I am planning to come home in summer. Will you be in campus or will you be off on one of your destination unknown road trips? Perhaps I can make a surprise visit like last time. I'll come with books and chocolates. Let me know.

PS: In a world were everything is communicated in text message format and where no one has time to spare I am perhaps pushing my limits by indulging in long, descriptive emails. But you know how good friends are -they generally put up with your eccentricities--at least mine does.

Women's Day

2011-03-09T09:52:00.001-08:00

I know it was yesterday bu no harm in celebrating a day later..is there? Besides I don't understand the point of having a specific day to celebrate women. Same goes with father's day, mother's day, teacher's day....
Some wise folks must have seen some purpose and significance to it..I don't know. And so let me move with the crowd in celebrating women's day.

Pic: A Tribal Lady-Orissa

To my mother and all the women out there..much,much stronger than they appear to be.

We Are The World?

2011-03-07T00:56:00.000-08:00

Keywords: Country,Citizens,Dictator,Torture,FEAR,Oppression,Public prosecution,Murder,Oil,War

All the above coexisting with the rest of the world, all this time. Incredible!
When is peace going to make an appearance?

Travel Tips: India III

2011-03-05T13:17:00.000-08:00

Continued from the previous post and the previous question...

Basically be prepared as boundaries of normal social conduct you are accustomed to in your native Texas will be crossed. You will have little kids following you, addressing you ‘uncle’, grandmas fussing over you, urging you to eat more even though they know you are as full as a stuffed turkey, the patriarchs of the family wanting to know your occupation and how much you make. You may also get a random request for sponsorship to US.

Question: Any additional advice since you have come this far?

Gosh! I am sure there is plenty more advice I can give…but this should be enough for you to survive. Oh and one last thing—you are more likely to be stared at but that is most likely if you are white and it is only in utter fascination/admiration. You see, as a nation of largely brown skinned people we are slightly obsessed with white/fair skin.

Namaste and Welcome to India!

PS 1: DO not attempt to check India on youtube. You will find many “India Shining” videos and patriotic clips. These are just hobby videos by a handful of rich Indians. They are usually established actors, musicians, politicians, entrepreneurs who both fund and feature in the videos. You will rarely see a common man in the street singing with pride and in general it is a pretty dirty and dusty place with splashes of brilliant colors.

PS 2: And before I forget we also boast having the biggest slum in Asia. I believe the place is called Dharavi, in Mumbai. So yes, please kindly visit for a real life slumdog millionaire experience.

Disclaimer: All material in this post is written in good humor, with some realities, and some clichés thrown in and not to hurt anybody’s sensibilities. If it it does then let me prescribe you a chill pill.

In retrospect, India is an exciting place to vist. There is adventure around ever corner, ever bend. Just pack in some adventure spirit and an open attitude and you will have fun. As Rauf said in the previous comment you can stick to the five star circuit and be away from all the dust, dirt and filth. Or you can hit the road and experience everything-the diverse and rich culture, the contemporary and the historical, the modern and the traditional,the liberal and the conservative. Yes, it is a fascinating eclectic mix!

Travel Tips: India II

2011-03-04T09:47:00.000-08:00

Continued from previous post...

Question: I heard India is a great place to shop. Could you give me some suggestions?

If shopping is your main agenda, then metros like Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai are good choices. Make sure you befriend someone local. Any contact would work—as in somebody’s, somebody’s, somebody’s cousin’s friend and you will be practically treated as family. While shopping at the street markets, offer ¼ of the price that was demanded and then bring it up slowly to 1/2 and then start walking away. You will most likely be called back, forced to add in an extra 10 cents and the item is yours along with a couple of curses in the local dialect which shouldn’t bother you since it is in the local dialect. (PS: Do not attempt to curse back in English thinking nobody would understand. Remember we were ruled by the British at one point. When they finally got tired of fighting non-violence, they left and we inherited the English language along with a Railway system that used to be the lifeline of the country. Now if you choose to travel by train your lifeline may be at risk).

Question: Any local customs or cultural aspects I need to be aware of?

If it is friends you are visiting then make sure you carry some gifts. Don’t get me wrong. We are very hospitable people but we do love fooreign goods. Usually candy does the job. If you are visiting Kerala, then umbrellas and torches are preferred. Made in China tag may win you a half hearted smile and thank you (you won’t hear this but they are probably saying, ‘what a cheapo!..Chinese umbrella!’). A made in Amayricca tag may get you an invitation to ‘please visit our faamili again and next time you must stay longer and bring your faamili too’. Yes I understand your dilemma-most things in US are Made in China. No worries- Made in Taiwan, Made in Singapore or Made in Japan are also acceptable choices to win their hearts.

Travel tips: India I

2011-03-03T16:47:00.000-08:00

Have you come across travel sites that give a list of FAQs that is supposed to help you plan your trip better. I don’t know about you but very often I find their answers short and insufficient. For example the question is- How can I get to India from where I live and I live in Texas? (yep, sometimes the questions sound pretty dumb too but as they say no question is a bad question). The most likely answer you would find is – Most metros/ cities in India are well connected by air with national and international flight services. Please contact our travel agent for help with reservations. You see what I mean. That is not really good information. And then it got me thinking on how I would respond if someone approached me with these questions on travel tips to India.

Question: I am visiting India for the first time how should I prepare myself? – Thanks, Peter

Wonderful Peter! I am glad you are visiting India. The preparations you need would depend on the purpose of your visit. If it is historical sites you are interested in then you might be able to cover them in ….Oh WTH..just move to India and become a resident. There are so many of them it is hard to provide an exact time frame. At the various monuments and palaces you visit you may come across graffiti ranging from simple declarations of love to downright obscenity. Do not confuse them with ancient wall writings but they are done by our jobless youth- we have many. Please disregard them. You must understand that India is a vast country (in the last count we were a population of 1.2 billion). We have barely enough to feed our masses as most of it goes to keep our ministers and their families and their extended families fat and comfortable. Yes, very generous nation we are that way. So if our ancient monuments appear in a state of disrepair it is basically due to limited resources. Kindly adjust.

Question: Any additional preps to overcome unforeseen circumstances?

Oh! Good question Peter. Well, did you know we are the world’s biggest democracy?! As a big democracy we also tend to practice some freedoms that democracy allows. We declare random strikes popularly known as ‘bandhs’ ranging from the broad scale ‘Bharat Bandh’ (= all India Strike) to the small scale district bandhs (SSHHH!…bandhs have actually been banned by the government but we still have them under various disguises;)). It is a form of public protest something in the lines of civil disobedience popularized by Gandhiji- the Father of our Nation. Reasons range from opposition party pissed off at the ruling part over some new policy, or “trivial” issues such as a student leader slapping the bus driver of a local public transport. During such instances all you can do is -pray you do not get stuck somewhere or schedule an important trip around these days or fall sick. But don’t worry, we also have many gods at our disposal to overcome these minor obstacles. As a Hindu I can recommend offerings to the elephant god or the monkey god. If nothing works just stay put. It normally does not go beyond a day or two.

Question: How to find a place to stay while in India?

Ok, as soon as you land anywhere in India (airports/railway station/bus stand) you will be engulfed by people from all sides like you are some visiting celebrity. Do not panic. They are only guides, tour operators and hotel reps, middlemen of the guides, tour operators, and hotel reps, middlemen of the middlemen of the guides, tour operators and hotel reps all soliciting you with promises of great deals and amazing experiences. Don’t falter, stay confident and best to turn them down unless you have enough money to lose. Before leaving for India look up the names of a couple of good hotels in the area you are visiting. I recommend referring the internet. Please do not consult with the local desi crowd who are desperately nostalgic about India but still rather live in US. They probably left a while ago and think India has not budged since then. Just be warned that any hotel they recommend may have either been demolished for a new engineering college or an IT firm or a shopping mall depending on the place you are visiting. For example if you are travelling to AP then more likely any building more than 2 floors is a professional college of some sort. If it is Karnataka, it is probably an IT firm ( named Sri Vinayaka International Technology Solutions and in small letters – Offices in Chennai, Mumbai, Dubai, Scotland and Pittsburg or any place on the planet where they may have a distant relative residing). Or, if it is Delhi then probably it is a new upscale bar or a shopping mall. As I hail from South India a little ignorant of the trends happening up North.

11Death Sentence and 20 Life Terms!

2011-03-02T13:24:00.000-08:00

That’s the Godhra verdict and this post is not exactly a commentary on the verdict per se but rather a facebook exchange between a couple of friends after one of them posted this link on the verdict. And since this is Facebook, Friend 2 and someone else clicked “Like” to the link.

Now the comments following the posting of the link:

Friend 1: Woooooo this is huge..Hmm

Friend 2: Nanawati commission vs U.C.Banerjee ----------- Pre-planned vs accident.........another question mark on Indian judiciary and legal system (Friend 1 clicked “Like” to the comment)

Friend 3: Astounding verdict! 11 death sentence and 20 life terms! Wonder which is a worst sentence-death penalty or life imprisonment? And what about the Gujarat riots that followed where even more people were killed...more Muslims than Hindus I believe. Who is going to be convicted for that?
I agree all these questions can be raised about the system Friend 2..but when we see what is happening in some other parts of the world I feel good that there is at least a system in place, in a democracy of more than a billion people, where we can complain to our hearts fill on how inefficient the system is. (Friend 1 clicked “Like” to the comment)

Friend 2: Agreed that we have a system in place but the same judiciary and system failed to punish people involved in 1984 sikh riots, 1992 riots,1993 Mumbai riots, after Godhra mascara and many more. This gives a feeling that our legal system works depending who the victims are. Inefficient and prejudice are two different thing.

Nevertheless those who are involved in such a crime must be punished. But we all know how things are manipulated with power.

Friend 1: That’s true guys but these days I have completely stopped thinking that what is done to get justice.. I see how justice is manipulated to get votes. I think things will get cleared up over the time...

And I completely agree with Friend 3 that in our corrupted so called system we can have our own judgment. Proud of democracy and thankful that we are not dealing with dictatorship :))

Friend 3: As I said before Friend 2..I agree with the questions you have raised and I also wonder who was or will be held responsible for the Gujarat riots that happened following the Godhra incident...and all the other riots you mentioned.

People are prejudiced and they run the system or constitute the system. If we think the system is run by people who are prejudiced we can protest. If we think they are not prejudiced but there is a flaw in the system we can protest. We can use many adjectives to describe the system--prejudiced, inefficient and what not..all I am trying to say is atleast we have the freedom to say out loud that it is not acceptable. I don't think we will be shot dead, point blank if we dared to protest. As they say democracy is messy but it is still a democracy.

Friend 2: We are all privileged and proud of our democratic system and freedom, no argument on that.
May be that's the reason why we get disappointed when the system can not live up to our expectations. (Friend 1 and 3 clicked “Like” to the comment)

In summary:

Friend 2 kept repeating the same point when clearly Friend 3 was not saying anything different except seeing something positive in the light of what is happening in other parts of the world. Friend 2 failed to see that and then the wiser one conceded…I suppose. Lol!

My Night at the Oscars

2011-03-01T12:20:00.000-08:00

No I did not get invited but watched it on the telly and since Rauf expected my views on the Oscars here goes..

So I was one among the billion viewers (or so they claim) that tuned in to Oscars Sunday evening. I started quite early- with the red carpet fashion commentary by E! and then by abc , followed by the actual award ceremony. Now don’t get me wrong—I don’t watch the red carpet aspiring to walk on it one day or look as beautifully made up as some of the women you see gliding down the carpet, but rather to see the extent of possibilities on how one can do oneself up and how much attention one can get on the 500ft long carpet. For me the height of fashion is when I get a lovely cotton ‘Kurta’, that might come in gorgeous shades of green ,red, orange, purple, blue , brown.. ( No, do not picture me like a rainbow) with some ethnic jewelry to match and a fleeting compliment of “how lovely the kurta looks” is as much attention I need or can handle. So when these women turn up in elaborate gowns and hair do, looking tall, confident, “gorgeous” and striking poses for the zillion cameras, all I can do is stare in wonder. I don't remember how the men looked as I had eyes only for the elegant "Mr Darcy".

The ceremony was ok -no surprises except for the appearance of Billy Crystal and Melissa Leo using the F word in her acceptance speech, no inspiring/emotional speeches (usually I cry with the winners as if my favorite cousin just won and he/she was thanking me), no super funny moments by the hosts and did it just feel long or was it indeed a long ceremony?! It is unfortunate that I have not seen any of the Oscar nominated movies, but just from the trailers and clippings I wanted Colin Firth, Natalie Portman, Christian Bale and Melissa Leo to win and they did. I wanted Inception and 127 hours (as an ardent fan of ARR) to win some awards in the music category but that sadly didn’t happen.

Clearly an extravagant show in terms of glamor, power, talent... and everything seemed so far, far away from my life and struggles. And while the winners and almost winners partied away all night, I tried to catch some sleep with Monday and the rest of the week looming over me with nothing particularly exciting in store. Oh well, my life is not as depressing as I am making it sound.

PS: I prefer the Oscars to Filmfare awards which is like watching an Indian soap opera- all "natak" (= drama), no substance. OOPS! was that too harsh and unpatriotic?!

Mazha (Rain)

2011-02-24T15:45:00.000-08:00

These days it rains in the evenings. Not the mild showers that is generally common here, but the ones with lightning and thunder. Reminds me of "thulavarsham" back home (the north-east monsoons that reaches Kerala around November). It makes me miss home. Then my mother calls and I miss home even more. We talk and we end up arguing over something and I tell myself I am not going home. For whom? for what?
Then it rains again and I miss home again. Then mother calls again and I miss home even more , again.

Yes I know-pretty silly!

Listening to song from Perumazhakalam, dedicated to the rain gods!

Romantic Encounters at Malda

2011-02-23T11:19:00.000-08:00

I suppose when there is nothing personal to share you share what someone else shared with you, provided it is not confidential! Read a witty and insightful book on India by Pankaj Mishra. It is an exploration of small towns across India and its inhabitants and the nature of "progress" and "transformation" happening in these places. Sharing excerpts from the book that had me in splits!

Location: Malda- a small town in West Bengal. The author is at a small local restaurant; one of those dimly lit ones, with Boney M playing in the background (I suppose Kenny G had not yet arrived) and witness es a “romantic encounter” involving two local love birds.

“The furtive couple in love was now a familiar sight in my travels. Saw them mostly in restaurants whose darkened interiors were undoubtedly the best possible setting for a secret rendezvous. Sex hadn’t happened here yet. Indeed, there was a touching pre-sexual innocence about these couples, a fumbling naïveté that came from the absence of fixed notions of romantic demeanor. Many of them could seem to be going nowhere, to be playing an elaborate and pointless game of hide-and -seek with each other. And the conversation goes…

The woman: (plainly dressed, with no eyes for anyone except her lover): ‘That Sudesh is so bad. Why are you not saying something to him?’

The man: (flashily dressed, and shooting nervous-cum-proud glances at everyone except his lover): ‘What should I say? You tell me’

Silence

The man: ‘Are you hurt?’

Silence

The woman: ‘You are always hurting me’.

The man: ‘What did I say?’

Silence

The woman: ‘You know’.

Silence

The man: ‘One more Pepsi?’

The woman: ‘No’.

Silence. Both stare at the plate of ‘Vegitable Choumin’ ( note the spelling) before them.

The woman: ‘Are you feeling bad?’

The man: ‘No’.

The woman: ‘Why are you not saying anything?’

The man: ‘Because you are always saying these things’.

The woman: ‘What things?’

The man: ‘You know’.

The woman: ‘What do I know? I know nothing.’

And so on…

Then they left.”

Wonder how a similar scene between a boy and girl or man and woman in a high flying metro like Bangalore or Mumbai or Chennai would go? I wonder about Cochin too. Eves dropping is going to be up in my agenda time I visit :)