Thursday, December 24, 2009

Merry Christmas!!!

Christmas has always been a favourite time of mine. Though we don't celebrate christmas, it represents the start of the half yearly holidays in school, new dresses, friends to hang out with and basically whole days of fun. And more recently it still represents holidays , games at office (Here I have to expand a bit more and say that my mercenary heart was overflowing when we played chrisma chrischild at office (something I had always deplored as childish until this year) and I got gifts from my chris pa, chris child and my neighbour .. hehehe) and an excuse to shop (not that I need one) and a New Year to look forward to.

Its also the Tamil month of Marghazhi, which means getting up early to see the mist over everything and listening/ singing to thiruppavai and thiruvempavai songs (30 songs, one for each day of the month, praising Perumal and Sivan respectively) every morning. Every lady in the neighbourhood vying to create the most beautiful kolam and rangoli (and to draw them as early as possible so as to take up as much space in front of the gate, which would result in constraining the speace for the next house kolam) .

Its a time of beauty, with colourful lights and decorations all lit up in the evening sky, making even the most dreary place cheerful and something to look forward to and little oil lamps around the houses in the morning to welcome the day in. Winter being my favourite season, adds all the more cheer to a great time.

Today being the christmas eve, is also the Annual Kids day in office and there are screams, laughter and pattering feet in the otherwise very quiet atmosphere. Parents bursting with pride as they show off their children. Santa with his entourage of elves and children dancing down the aisle giving away candy and wishing everyone. And a gala function at the end with loads of prizes and fun galore to cap an otherwise eventful day.

And even more miraculous, my Scrooge McDuck of a Lead, actually smiled at me and said he understood my problem when I told him I would not be able to deliver my work on time.

And so while I goggle some more at the miracles happening around me.. Here is Wishing you all a very Merry Christmas and a Wonderful New year!!!! :-)

PS: That top foto was taken by me in Singapore coupla years back. Whole roads were decorated beautifully by lights. such as this one wishing 'Merry Christmas'. (Well! I just had to get that one out.. hehehe)

Wednesday, December 23, 2009

Bovine Angst

When I used to go to college, the OMR used to be THE Bovine Hangout. Middle of the road, pavement, sitting, standing, calves, bulls, cows, buffalos, you name it and we will have a variety there. Travelling down that road used to be a crazy experience. We could never be sure when a playful calf would end his life under the college bus tires.

Then at last an injunction was passed and all four legged creatures other than pets were banned within the city. Which means most of the bovines were moved out of the city.

Having given you the history, it annoyed me when I saw the strip in Tintin in Tibet, about the huge traffic jam in an Indian road, caused coz no one wanted to shoo the sacred cow which was blocking the traffic. But it really pissed me off when I saw something quite similar in Delhi – 6 movie. (Not that the movie was anything to write home about, but still it was taken by an Indian, for God’s sake!)

With that out! Every morning on the way to office, on this really busy road, I see a cow standing right at the center of the road. Everyday for about an hour, it calmly stands amidst the heavy traffic flowing around it, and no one bothers to shoo it.
I have often wondered why that is so.

Then I came to conclusion that most of these people are like me… Not blindly superstitious, just Lazy! :-)

Hey! We Indians are a superstitious lot, and we love our superstitions (Good, bad or ugly). But I do wish, people would not stick their explanations to our way of life.

Thursday, December 17, 2009

Zoozoo

From its inception, the Zoozoo ads of Vodofone has captured everyone's notice and held on to their interest.
Personally, I adore them
For more folks like me .. this video, I found in youtube, might be of interest
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=efRNKkmWdc0

Enjoy! :-)

Wednesday, December 16, 2009

Bond.. James Bond!!!

Almost over 3 years after its release I saw Daniel Craig as James Bond in Casino Royale yesterday and was very glad that I had not wasted 10 dollars to watch it in the theatres when it released.

Dear God! Have you seen the movie Pokkiri in Tamil or Telugu or Wanted in Hindi. Unwanted killing and violence and "goonda gardhi" through out the movie with no respite. That is how I felt when I saw Casino Royale and to an even greater extent "Quantum of Solace".

Daniel Craig (much against popular opinion amongst my friends) totally turns me off. The man has absolutely no panache, charm, verve or style to carry the character. He walks around stone faced, fighting, shooting, stabing, and blowing up people and property. He looks and acts more a thug than a double O agent.

And to boot, James Bond, the casanova extrodinaire, has a love interest and even attempts to quits his job to be with her... whoever has heard of a love-lorn, sleep deprived, drunk and sentimental James Bond?
As Scrooge would say "Bah! Humbug!"

Sean Connery! Now thats a Bond we can relate to and Pierce Brosnan too to an extent, but please not this guy.

PS: Though this post is about Craig, I would rather have Connery's foto in it than Craig :-)

The Female Of The Species

When the Himalayan peasant meets the he-bear in his pride,
He shouts to scare the monster who will often turn aside.
But the she-bear thus accosted rends the peasant tooth and nail,
For the female of the species is more deadly than the male.

When Nag, the wayside cobra, hears the careless foot of man,
He will sometimes wriggle sideways and avoid it if he can,
But his mate makes no such motion where she camps beside the trail -
For the female of the species is more deadly than the male.

When the early Jesuit fathers preached to Hurons and Choctaws,
They prayed to be delivered from the vengeance of the squaws -
‘Twas the women, not the warriors, turned those stark enthusiasts pale -
For the female of the species is more deadly than the male.

Man’s timid heart is bursting with the things he must not say,
For the Woman that God gave him isn’t his to give away;
But when hunter meets with husband, each confirms the others tale -
The female of the species is more deadly than the male.

Man, a bear in most relations, worm and savage otherwise,
Man propounds negotiations, Man accepts the compromise;
Very rarely will he squarely push the logic of a fact
To its ultimate conclusion in unmitigated act.

Fear, or foolishness, impels him, ere he lay the wicked low,
To concede some form of trial even to his fiercest foe.
Mirth obscene diverts his anger; Doubt and Pity oft perplex
Him in dealing with an issue – to the scandal of the Sex!

But the Woman that God gave him, every fibre of her frame
Proves her launched for one sole issue, armed and engined for the same,
And to serve that single issue, lest the generations fail,
The female of the species must be deadlier than the male.

She who faces Death by torture for each life beneath her breast
May not deal in doubt or pity – must not swerve for fact or jest.
These be purely male diversions – not in these her honor dwells -
She, the Other Law we live by, is that Law and nothing else!

She can bring no more to living than the powers that make her great
As the Mother of the Infant and the Mistress of the Mate;
And when Babe and Man are lacking and she strides unclaimed to claim
Her right as femme (and baron), her equipment is the same.

She is wedded to convictions – in default of grosser ties;
Her contentions are her children, Heaven help him, who denies!
He will meet no cool discussion, but the instant, white-hot wild
Wakened female of the species warring as for spouse and child.

Unprovoked and awful charges – even so the she-bear fights;
Speech that drips, corrodes and poisons – even so the cobra bites;
Scientific vivisection of one nerve till it is raw,
And the victim writhes with anguish – like the Jesuit with the squaw!

So it comes that Man, the coward, when he gathers to confer
With his fellow-braves in council, dare not leave a place for her
Where, at war with Life and Conscience, he uplifts his erring hands
To some God of abstract justice – which no woman understands.

And Man knows it! Knows, moreover, that the Woman that God gave him
Must command but may not govern; shall enthrall but not enslave him.
And She knows, because She warns him and Her instincts never fail,
That the female of Her species is more deadly than the male!

-Rudyard Kipling

Friday, December 11, 2009

Tid bits

=> Obama gets his nobel peace price errr... Prize. Why? I don't know. What did he do to help world peace or even US peace? I mean, other than a temperory seizure to bombing other countries? I Don't know.Now! what I would like to know is, what is the qualification to get a nobel prize? Money? power? Popularity or the lack of it? Coz I dont see the deserving getting it anyways.
(In case you people are interested this is what Nobel committee has to say about it http://nobelpeaceprize.org/en_GB/laureates/laureates-2009/announce-2009/ )

=> TN's grand old man to retire from Politics in June 2010... hehehe
Hmm! guess he wants his children to have a chance at looting the state too (what a nice father!). What ever his future plans I sure wish he would stop travelling around the city during the peak hours. Got caught in traffic for more than 45 minutes today morning coz he was going somewhere... Grrrr!

=> Saw a hoarding outside a shop today, reading "Buy 1 shoe and get 1 free" . Not sure if it is good marketing strategy or bad english, but I definitely plan to investigate.

=> I had quiche (remember my fascination with exotic food). It was very unhealthy and obviously very tasty :-) .. I am still not able to pronounce it right.

=> Andhra all set to break up into pieces! Setting a precedence, as next Karaikal starts demanding. Reminds you of the pre-british time when all the kings were busy in-fighting paving way for the british to sneak in? Wonder who is going to sneak in now or maybe we can outright sell India to someone... say italy???

Thursday, December 10, 2009

Indian Adventure

"That looks fun!"
This was the phrase I kept hearing again and again last week. Why? My clients from abroad had come down for a week long visit.Lucky gal that I am :-P ! I got to take them shopping and site seeing (which consisted of the kapaleeswarar temple and a sweet shop next door)
Everything looked fun for them.

One person had come down to Mumbai some 10 years back and had got some silk pajamas and kurtha then. He wanted me to get him just the same thing now... wellll!!! When browsing around the shops he asked me why the men here wear these big clunky shoes, that they generally wear back home during peak winter when temperature was down to -40, when this was a sandal wearing weather. (I couldn't really answer, except its the price we pay for fashion...:-D)

The two things that quitefascinated them was the tuk tuk (auto rickshaw) and the traffic.
They really really wanted to go on a drive in the tuk tuk but weren't ready for such a big
adventure. So what they did do was take photos of themselves sitting in the auto.They just could not understand how so many vehicles could drive around, following absolutely no
rules whatsoever and still not have an accident at every road corner.

Took them to spencer plaza for shopping and all chennaites know that it is a place to go only
for window shopping or if money is no limit. But hey! thats the one place where they could get
all they were looking for, at one shot.

( I didn't even know there was something called a pashmina shawl until I went along with them..
But I believe its something very famous and exotically indian.)

When I took one of the gentleman gold shopping he was quite awed to see a little todler
dripping gold from her hands, ears and neck and even wearing anklets. They all got churidhar
kurtha for their wives and daughters and these big danglers and stuff we would generally not buy ourselves as they are very traditional :-)

Since we were running short of time, I gave them a short overview of the hindu trinities and
stuff on the way to the temple (and the driver of our cab said I was better than a guide *preen* ..hehehe).

They hated having to leave their footwear outside the temple, they were even willing to bring it in their handbags rather than leave it out :-) . The jasmine strands , the holy ash, the aarthi, and more importantly the beautiful statues and buildings quite impressed them.

Thankfully the time was up and I could end my speel before the end of my repertoire .

I got a whole new perspective of India through the eyes of these foreigners. Not all good, definitely not all bad, but very dear! :-)

Tuesday, December 01, 2009

Its Party Time!!!

Had planned for a surprise birthday party for my brother and I guess we were more surprised when he refused to come home in time for us to surprise him.

Had a full day of meetings at office, which is a tiring piece of work by itself. Then went home ... rushed my brother out with his friends and then fell to decorating the room.


The guy who was supposed to collect my bro's friends and bring the cake was not coming in.. other guests had started trickling in. When suddenly my brother turned up home.. aargh!Had to do quite a bit of juggling act to get him out again

Then once everyone was in and we were all set to surprise him.. well! he surprised us. He was having too much fun somewhere else and he did not want to come home .. We were left scratching our heads wondering how to make him come home. hehehe

But Alls well that ends well. We did convince him to come home and he was thankfully surprised (or atleast acted surprised). But the one take-home I got from this - I am never going to plan a party .. ever...

Groan!!! Next day morning and I am still shambling around with an aching body.. Vive la Moms! I sure dont know how they manage to do everything and still end up looking so spritely.

But Hey! I am happy.. My bro did have a great time. :-)