Adios two-thousand-eight

Yes, the standard post. I know its cheesy, but I just can't help expressing gratitude. Its been a good year, life has treated me well. I am the bright yellow smiley with that big smile stretched from ear to ear while posting this.

Thankful for
1. the new job- They are treating me well and work is good. Compared to where I was, I am really really grateful.
2. the new house- Can you believe how difficult it is to find a house for rent in chennai? This house Sujit and me have moved into is the best of the three we have been in. I like the layout and the size of the kitchen. No pesky neighbours too.
3. am blessed to have great friends- new friends at office- Archana, Karthik(s), Vinod, Smitha, Dhawal and met a lot of wonderful running buddies thanks to chennairunners. An amazing trip with my college buddies, had the time of our lives. And the best part is we are planning to meet every year irrespective of the marital status. I suggested we bring along the spouse but we paused, looked at each other and said "naaaaah" together!
4. Isha and yoga practices continue to be the highlight in my life. Now, running is also bringing out this new me that I really like better than all the old me's (or mess?).
5. Although, this is the last point, it is not the least. Two new nieces. Although technically, they are not blood relatives, they are as good coz they are my best friends daughters. Say hello to Sarayu Gokulakrishnan(Jyothi's) and Varshini Vijay(Lavanya's).


Happy New Year 2009.

Where movies are life...

If an alien who does not know about anything about humans and our world were to conclude about us just from the newsgroups/media and blogs/tweets, it would conclude that our lives revolve around entertainment. Ok, thats an overstatement, but will you just look at the amount of blogs and blogposts dedicated to movies and show business!! The popular people are the ones who write good movie reviews. Not that anything is wrong with that, but soo many? I read movie reviews from other bloggers and what masand has to say about a movie before even considering to watch it. But I think that they occupy too much of our thoughts and lives.

TOI wouldn't be TOI if it doesn't have a celebrity's photo or a good looking politician on the front page. Will you believe it? Jennifer Aniston's photo along with her comment about her ex husband Brad Pitt. on the front page! Hogging my eyeballs and my time. TOI's supplement Chennai Times sucks big time with its stupid 5-pages crappy celebrity news, party photos n all. I reach out for it only to look at the cartoons. I miss The Hindu's excellent supplement. I think I should start buying this paper again just to read the supplements. It's way better, than the main paper.

Invariably, every news website have this section's news highlighted. Why is entertainment so popular? Sometimes, i think our lives are so drab (ok ok! my life) that we/I have to fill it with hollywood/bollywood/whatever. This reel life is more fascinating, everyone wants drama in their lives. The more I think about it, I feel that is true. I don't mention movies unless there's really something different in it.
I speak to people about movies etc when I have nothing else to talk about. Agreed, some of the jokes and action sequences are really worth talking about. And this is the easiest topic or ice breaker with anyone under the sun. And a person's choice of faavirit movies tells us a bit about his/her personality and likes/dislikes.
But I think we have given more this whole movie stuff more than its fair share in our lives.

Even for small instances, a non movie-crazy person like me can think of a many movie connections, so I decided that's it. I am going to live a non-movie referencing life and no movie reviews in my blog. I am not going to shun it completely, will continue to read masand's verdict every saturday and watch some good stuff on TV but will not fill my life with this.. this.. news from show business.

Am writing this because it seemed that the entire world was obsessed with ghajini and vaaranam aayiram for the past few months or decades. Sheesh!

On a related note, I watched Friends Season 4 the whole of yesterday and now I feel like I have to make witty comments and hear that laughter track. Gosh! (me bleary eyed) the hangover of watching too many sitcoms. Switching to Law&Order, CSI and Rush Hour.

Valparai - A photologue

Spare the rod...and the child

I saw this scene from Little Miss Sunshine (didn't think much of the movie except for the dance at the end) where the 15-year old boy shouts at his parents in frustration and even calls them losers. And his parents just stand there.

People I know here would think the best way to deal with him would be to give him a sound thrashing. They live by spare the rod, spoil the child rule. The only way to convey the message of his mistake is to thrash him. Yep. They don't think it is important to understand the psyche of the kid or his/her frustration.

They think that is the only way to deal with "koyippu"(stubborness). And... they justify their act! Really? What sad human beings!

And you know what happened at the end of the above mentioned scene? The kid apologises to them. Yea. Parents must have the common sense to judge how the kid is feeling. I can hear my neighbours screaming at their children asking them not to make noise!

Alright. Why so serious?
Watch this wonderful video(if you can call it that) by comedian Anita Renfroe

Lyrics | Anita Renfroe lyrics - The Mom Song lyrics

I liked the Would you jump off the cliff too? best. Gosh! I didn't know that was an universal mother quote. Haha!

Intuition

The best intuitive gift I would like to receive is the ability to tell if a person is telling the truth or not. And no, it is not to win at poker (james bond ishtyle) or make true friends. In the global woe scale, they are small problems.
If I want to help somebody in some manner, there is no way of knowing if they are speaking the truth about their condition or just garnering pity points to get some money and receive favors.
There was this couple with two children I met outside a vegetable shop who spoke Hindi, said they lost their luggage in the train and were looking to go back home but wanted to eat some food now. They couldn't go to the police as they were asking for ID proof and baksheesh. Now, I want to help but was not sure of what he said. In those moments of hesitation, the watchman shooed them away shouting bad words and I was feeling quite down for the rest of the journey home. Maybe, I could've helped. Were they really in need? Am I a bad Samaritan? Its just 5-10 bucks anyway. But if they were cheating, they would be encouraged and continue this lifestyle.

For everyone sitting in the position of a judge...
When people are registering complaints or grievances, is it true or just exaggerations to collect more relief money? Did the policeman ill treat the drunk or is the drunk making a false complaint just to take revenge?
The worst part is when innocent people are judged as criminals as evident in the book "The Innocent Man" by John Grisham.
Yea... one of those confusing things.

Test phase for resolutions

When do you make new year resolutions? The List - the day before new years?
I thought we should start them now. Give it a 15-day trial period and declare them to the world on new years. Or maybe, the holiday time will throw you off track. Aah, better still to test them coz we have to stick to them even during choppy times.

Chak de Running

Well, what are you looking at? I hope my look asks/conveys that message when I am running down the road. Somehow, people even in the cities here are so unused to seeing women running, yeah walking maybe that they think they have to do her a favor by staring their eye balls out. Men and women. Aw come on! No lusty or admiring looks puhleez... I'm sweating my arse off here. They are just.. i don't know surprised? curious? Hey, I'm not a show monkey. Some two-wheeler riders and cyclists even slow down to have a better look. Some idiots swerve close. Sheesh!
Initially, it was so embarrassing that I didn't even want to run (because of my love for anonymity) But ever since I saw this movie "Chak De India" about those girls playing hockey. I thought ah! what the hell, I have to do this. I like running.
Now, I just stare back with my eyebrows creased into a frown or I look dead straight ahead. Dang! I am too paranoid to run alone in a lonely location and hit the roads where there are some people before the traffic.
I hope there are more women runners on the road. Or lets have an Olympic long distance winner from India. That should inspire more girls to take up running.

Che! Men can do anything they want without getting stared at. I want to tonsure my head. Just want to experience that freedom. If I were a male, this would be in the past tense. Just did it. But I am this conscious person who doesn't want to be noticed at all... So I just cant do it. But I will. How long can they stare? Show monkey for 1 week, 1 month? Hmmm.

A ROTFL video

I laughed so hard for this one on saturday and my belly still remembers the nice feeling. Worth watching and as Conan O'Brien says at the end... watch it.

Total recall

Even before I saw this strip of C&H, I have had this feeling of how little I remember my childhood and school days. I can't recall most of the classmates and their friends before 10th standard.
Its like every time I finish one revolution around the sun, I forget half of my life!

Somehow reading about it or mom recalling it for me does not have the same effect of me remembering the sequence of events.
My mind does not have this recall capacity I suppose. I don't think it has got anything to do with growing senile or memory loss. Ok, I am a maverick. The truth is I quite hated my childhood, school and college life. Didn't abhor it, but don't like it either. I wouldn't take a million bucks to go through my school/college life again - in the same unawareness. (ok, maybe two million)
Hah! Not a recall problem then, its more like don't want to recall coz this mind stores certain undesirable things in more clarity and resolution.
I want to chronicle a few good things now AND the bad, nay undesirable, but the problem is as much I like to proudly announce the former, the latter are just plain embarrassing.

I remember very few things from early childhood (5-10 years). After 14-15 years, I can recall but somehow its like a separate thing projected on a wall.

These are all neutral- good nor bad. Like mom forcing milk down my throat on school days at 5 in the morning while I was half asleep. I can remember the "chinna light"(bulb) above the wash basin.
In first standard, I walked into the tamil class for second language and the master after checking the rolls sent me to the hindi class because mom had chosen Hindi for me. I still remember the expression on his face.
Some (very very few, maybe 4) incidents in the classroom and the arrangement of the room. Cleaning the board etc.
The (ugh) toilets and the toilet breaks.
One teacher asking me to sleep during LKG nap time when I was looking at her with one eye open. As I said, her face is clear.

Vicious Cycles

This happens more times in my life than I bother to count. Sigh!