Blimey!

We have an upper room in the house. No, we don't use it for having theological discussions. Our hands are already full with our mundane routine and don't think we can take the time off to nurse some brother's broken rib or something. This upper room of ours is used to dump things that we have never used in life, or things that we have once used in life and never after, or things we have so used we can't use them anymore. Or in technical jargon, junk.

My mom made me clean the room today. There was enough cobweb to weave clothes for a town, really. And there were a few old things there that made me go : "Wow! How hi-fi we've become!". Maybe you'll too.

Food carriers. 1990 B.T. *

Remember those cassette things?? Those tape filled plastic cases that could produce  music?? Yeah, before the  advent of  mp'3.. m4a's.. mp999's..

* B.T. : Before Tupperware.

Did you recently come across anything that sent you 'Blimey!'?

What's in a name?!

Near my town is a place called 'thanneer pandhal' which literally translates to 'water shed'. I always thought it was weird to name a residential area 'Water Shed'. I even thought it was the weirdestly named place to live in... till I saw where Bryan Allain- yeah, the Bryan Allain-  lived.

He lives in Intercourse, Pennsylvania.

Please tell me i am not the only pervert on this planet.

For Grampa

I am the kind of person who wouldn't cry at funerals. Or so I thought till grandpa died. Today is the tenth day without thatha at home. The house seems smaller without him. I miss his jokes, his songs and lots of other things. And I think I will miss them forever.
It's not like the 'man, will miss all this' that you tell yourself  standing in the college bathroom on your last day there. You wouldn't really miss it. Even if you did, you can always take a couple of days off of work, go visit your alma mater and use that toilet. But I suppose, when you miss a dead grandpa, you really miss him.You will miss his jokes, his songs and lots of other things. And I think you will miss them forever.

Guess he is up there in Heaven now... probably reading this blog post along with St. Paul or perhaps Job. Or maybe even Solomon, if he made it to heaven that is.

So, well, there's only one thing I can say sitting here in your room, thatha-
     R.I.P... Miss you.

A beautiful mind... who cares!

I watched the movie, A Beautiful Mind when I was in college and a 100 movies later, it still is easily on my five most favorites. I loved everything about it - The plot, cast, the direction, just everything. I badly wanted to be John Nash. I even pretended to be John Nash. Googled all possible anxiety disorders, and hoped I would show symptoms of atleast one. Almost all geniuses are weirdos, aren't they? And so I badly wanted some autism symptom - Maybe I could be a genius. Maybe I could be in Princeton.

 Actually, I didn't want to be in Princeton so i could write dissertations that would "fly in the face of a 150 years of economic theory". Nah. I just.. wanted to be there. Maybe so I could add 'Princeton University' in my Facebook profile's schools column, i guess.

Where am I going? This is not what I intended to ramble about.
So, I saw the movie again a week back. And it sank in - I am not John Nash. Let's face it. I am not even male! and for the first time, all my thoughts were about Alicia, the wife.
[For all you smartypants who checked wiki for John and Alicia's personal lives - I'm only writing about how the MOVIE affected me, Get it?]
 Okay, now, anyone can bet their, umm, assets that Alicia should have been a real intelligent girl to take up courses at MIT. And she probably had huge dreams, goals and all those terms they use in personality development lectures. I mean, I have dreams. An average, small town, can't solve linear equations for nuts girl... and I have dreams of coming up with some quantum physics theory that will beat Hawking's by a margin of 14 pages. (Interesting trivia:  Fourteen is my favorite number).

That being said, the question is : What happened to all those dreams after marriage? She takes care of her husband, changes her baby's diapers, cooks, cleans and works in someplace that will give her enough time for the other tasks above? You marry, put aside all your fantasies and work for the welfare of the family? And the two shall become one implies that the wife no longer has a self and lives her husband's dream? Is that it?

I don't know why I let a movie get so much into my head. I usually only let cartoon shows go that far.

I don't like Nash's beautiful mind anymore. I don't care about Princeton. I don't know why I didn't just sit back and enjoy the movie. I don't know why I was / am thinking about the fictional life of some lady I will never meet in life. I don't know why I am writing this post.

                           Bottom line, literally : I am getting old.

P.S : I am really sorry you had to read this post.

Thaaru Maaru Daaru Daaru

That's Phineas's catchphrase. Catchphrase? Phineas? That?? Exactly. My latest addiction - Phineas and Ferb in Tamil, and honestly, I love it. The original P&F is awesome, needless to say, and I adore it. But the Tamil version's got me ROFL everyday!! really.

The Tamil dubbing is simply superb. Phineas' language is like our very own school kids' - the slang, the accent, the delicate jargon. You got to watch it! Thaaru maaru, daaru daaru... Hei Ferb, naama inniku enna panna poromnu mudivu pannittaen..Hey, Perry engae?? Those are just a few picks. Ferb's pearls of wisdom have the panache that only superstars like Rajnikaanth and Vijaykaanth share - Nalla vaayam mudipaan, naara vaayan keduppan.. Kadham kadham.


Probably Ashley Tisdale from Aminjikarai gives Candace her voice. and it is absolutely hilarious. Candace uses posh terms like Gujilipa, bujji-kutti... Man, Jeremy, are you in a stroke of luck or what!

The highlight of the entire show is Heinz Doof. He has this heavy, interior-south accent and you cannot stop laughing once he starts talking. The dubbing is so cool he even says 'Feeter thee panda' for 'Peter, the panda'. yes, Feeter, with an 'f'. and yes, thee with two e's. The way he calls Perry - Perrrrrry, the plaaaatiipus. God, this is side-splitting material.

I can never tire of P&F - the Tamil version. It is fabulous. You gotta watch it. YOU GOT TO! Disney XD, 1930 hours, everyday.

Mera Bharat Mahan

Sigh. A deep breath after the arduous elections. Do I sound too much like I was out there organizing all the proceedings? Sorry for over-reacting. But Hey, I was religiously following them. All the pre-poll analyses, the talk shows, surveys and stats. I don’t know why but I felt very much like the nation was about to make a crucial decision that would change my entire life! It was kind of addictive, following the election assay. And I should admit, I felt sweet relief wash over after the results were out. Mera Bharat Mahan!

I know it is too late to be writing about all this now, but watching the first round of swearing-in stirred up many thoughts that once hammered my head and gradually rested in peace. Some kind of pride swelled up inside my chest, watching the ceremony. The members who will make up the cabinet, the band, the anthem, the feel of administration and governance – I wanted to be there, watch it straight as it happens.

Drifting away in the solemnity of the Rashtrapathi bhavan, I remembered a couple of incidents that made me feel kinda resentful on the inside. Some incidents that happened sometime back..Gestures made by some “icons”, upto who we are influenced to look for things like choosing a soft drink brand, eating eggs, trying hair gel, getting cellular connections, what not ?
But do these “stars” fail to realize that the influence carries even outside the television screen?

When the Padma Shri awards were given away this year, Pity Bajra-Boy, Captain couldn’t make it to the ceremony ‘coz they had other commitments. A ceremony that perhaps they thought the President, the Prime Minister and other governors were too jobless to attend? Isn’t it an honor that most citizens would kill for? Adorable!

And yeah, even during the elections. Here is the government, trying to make it dawn on the people that voting is the right and responsibility of every citizen and there are our role-models sitting in the dug outs busily engrossed in cheering their teammates in South Africa..and Kayaking and Fishing. Wow!!

I really did not know what to think. It is kind of hard but I was just hoping people we look up to spend some time using their brains for better purposes like thinking and act a bit more responsible. Sigh. A deep breath again.

It all mattered.

Hiya! It's been some real long. Hey, No.. Elections / IPL didn't send me into oblivion. Had some stuff happening in my own world - Vacating the hostel, last minute adieus, a hundred hugs (seriously), blah.blah.blah.

Bidding goodbye to the place that I was taught to call my "Second Home" for the last four years wasn't all that dramatic for me. I know I am going to miss some people who taught me so much in life. Some things that made life so exciting. Some incidents that shaped me into what I am now, for better or for worse. But there's really no drama in there.

Alright, I just wanted to thank God first of everything for making it all happen. And thanks to all you guys who really changed a lot about my ownself, my perspectives, my stupidity. I owe you all big time. The blogosphere would not contain if I start off with who's done what. So, Here goes just naming names and pouring out all my gratitude!!

The morning assemblies, The choir, The PC's, The uncensored Hostel fun, The beautiful mountains, weather and the rainbows - For making me rediscover myself.

Paapa, Devaraagam, Calligraphy, AppleRum, Paniyaaram, Bajji, Stepmom, Remix, TutiGirl, Jakkamma, Flowerbed, Avril Wannabe, BabuBoy, SolaiMalar, Mottai, Junior Operator, Carrot Blender, BusBaas, Bin*Bin - For making every bit of my college span total fun.

Mostafa, SRA, The Lamp, PuppyDog, Affleck, VeetuSoru, Gundu, Altitude, Sottai, RSR, No23, Quilon, Bigatha, Hope-Giver, Mani Enna?, Ms.Jackie Chan, Blouse-Stealer, Wings, Piglet, DaVinci, Post-Jan. - For all that you've done, been.


Pink Panther - For shoving some sense into my head everytime I become cranky. For all the fun. For all the secrets.

The Tribe - For the music. For the pranks. For being the sweetest and the stupidest brother ever. You sure can make make me laugh.

Mother Goose - For being the Father-Figure, the Mother-Figure, My Warden, My Boss. I would've lost myself somewhere if you hadn't been there. Honest.

Beyond Madness - For being my Jonathan. Or Perhaps, I am Jonathan, King David. Simply, For a million reasons.

What-Do-I-Name-You? - For the hours, the minutes, the seconds. For Everything. You chaged my life forever.

Grandmoms and Shoes.

I was of the idea that politics was not this much a kindergarten show. Interesting, Confusing, Disturbing, Dirty, Trying, Hopeless have been some of the adjectives that I've known to precede the word 'Politics', but definitely not 'stupidly annoying'. Atleast not until recently.

Let's talk about some shoes. From when on did 'Soling' become famous? Yeah, Soling as in the sole of a shoe. As far as I know (and I haven't done researches on it yet), The first Political public display of Disaffection, you might say, that became so popular was when that Iraqi Journalist, Muntadar al-Zaidi, flung his shoe at the then US President, George W. Bush during some conference.

Here's news for Indians. Do you seriously think that when parties try to implement Cyber Election Campaigning strategies like they did in the US, there wouldn't be some individual who would try to implement 'Soling'?
Couple of weeks back, a journalist hurled a shoe at Home minister P. Chidambaram, when he was justifying the Tytler issue. And the newest member of the Shoe-Hit community is BJP's Presidential Candidate L.K. Advani. And this time, it was slightly embarassing because it was a party member who soled the Ex-Deputy Prime Minister.
So, what is all this? Some sort of fun game, like 'Who hurls the shoe farthest?' or worse still, 'Which official gets hit the maximum number of times?'. Man, This is just so disgusting.
And just because shoe-throwing was not elegant enough, there's teasing and mockery to go alongwith. Modi calling the Congress an Old Lady, BSP's Akhilesh Das calling Nafisa Ali a grandma, Will this ever stop? Or will these supposed rulers of the country shrink to degenerate forms and start calling each other 'Fatso', 'Shorty', 'Baldy'?

Don't things mature with age? Or has some kind of unknown biological phenomenon erupted inside the heads of homo sapiens without anybody knowing it? Or is it just a syndrome that affects people in politics and to an extent, journalists? And why am I even bothered!!

Somebody, answer me. Or teach those bunch of people some sense.

Between Power and Bliss.

How I wish I never outgrew innocence! How I wish I were ignorant of many things I now know of!
Ignorance is bliss.

Okay, Let's get self-centered, meaning 'Shar-centered' for sometime in this entry. This Knowledge and Ignorance thing is a bit confusing and I'm trying hard to balance them both.
Everyone wants power. To see things, to do things, to change things. Knowledge is Power, Alright. But do I really care? Okay, I agree that the apathy does not apply to the peripheral areas of my life like Math and Physics or Computer science (for the record). Like, when I pour Date syrup in my mug of milk and some of it forms brown patterns on the milk, I 'know' it's because of Surface Tension. And I'm glad that classrooms taught me to 'know' that skyscrapers are tensile, Thanks to Elasticity co-efficient. I understand it would be stupid - tirelessly wondering 'Man! How on Earth does syrup dance on top of the milk instead of happily plunging deep inside'.

Yes, but.. It is even more primitively stupid- eternally answering wringers like 'Why on Earth does Lord Fleeting enjoy every bit of making BBQ with BlackForest? And the meat gets so burnt each time, almost everyday, as they lose track of the grilling time. Lord Fleeting used to love Esmeralda's company. Not any more? Lord Fleeting says he feels so repelled by Esmeralda, why? How far removed Lord Fleeting had become from what he used to be! *Sigh!*

I really wish I never heard the lot of things I get to hear that send me to disappointment mode. Wish I never saw the very many things I get to see that hurt me just too bad. Wish I never had the light of Knowledge shine this bright and intense on the central area of my life.

So, what if knowledge is power? I am maimed, and this power does nothing about it. This power does not change what is happening. This power does not help me from feeling bad. So, then, what use is this power to me?

The only thing this power managed to do was disrupt the bliss! The bliss of not knowing things that make people feel miserable. The bliss of not knowing to see through masks and disguises. The bliss of not having to doubt people. The bliss of trusting everyone completely. The bliss of Ignorance.

Written on some wall : Ignorance is bliss. and right underneath it : I don't know what it means, but I'm happy.