bandwagon...yikes!!!

am just back from my cousins wedding.. beleive me it was a comedy!!!
A comedy of errors but not as well written like shakespeare himself!!!

Thankfully i was not born a few years earlier or i can imagine the ordeal of a three day wedding. In contrast to my mallu friends wedding which she says lasts hardly for 5 minutes our Tam-Bram(tamil brahmins as she fondly calls us)lasts for three whole days.

You get even crazier if this happens in summer.. u can imagine y, if u see a girl wearing a silk saree with three or four garlands and a whole cartload of flowers on her ever-shedding hair!!! to beat that you have the cinematographer basking you in golden light.. whatever happened to technological advancements??

Leave alone these ordeals, what strikes me most is that the satisfaction of people who come for the wedding is unheard of. You can hear comments abt the food, the saris, how they look, what they said, why you came, who are the guests, the last wedding which was more pompous... beleive me there is not a single soul with a noble intention of blessing the couple barring me ofcourse!!!!

So i took a solemn vow, no wasting money, no fools rushin in, just a calm wedding where two people decide to spend the rest of their lives together in wedlock, the families mingling and getting to know each other better. No wasted invitations, only heartfelt blessings and a quiet ceremony is what is to be!!!

Wishing well to the love that is to blossom in the hearts of the groom and the bride(is it hasn't blossomed yet ;-)) AMEN!!!!

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The shawshunk redemption

This is easily one of the best movies i have seen in a long time!!!

Morgan freeman and robbins(Can't remember his first name) are unsung heros of the HOLLYWOOD!!!

The movie starts with a court trial where a man(andy) is convicted with the murder of his wife and her illicit lover(a golf pro).. although he claims that he din't do it, he looks as cold as ice and the judge gives him a life sentence(2 actually to be served back to back)!! he is then sent to the shawshunk prison..

The whole movie is morgan freeman's narration.. and it has a subtle humor which cannot go unappreciated!!! morgan bets on andy ..let me explain the bet..
when a prison has new-commers..synonymous to freshmen in college.. they are termed new fish.. and morgan and his associates each pick a "new fish" and bet who would break down.. and morgan picks on andy!!!
Although, one of them win the bet, morgan is a sore loser as andy doesn't utter a sound!!!also, morgan is known to be the man who can get you things in the prison like cigarettes,gum.. anything you want!!!

A few years later, battered and bruised many a time, some witty incidents with the prison guards, andy becomes a local hero.. he's in charge of a library and does tax-returns for almost all the officials in the prison including the warden(chuckle!!)
these scenes are crafted so well.. kudos to the director!!!

There are some notable incidents along the way.. and then somehow the fact tht andy is clearly innocent becomes evident although he cannot escape.
For a crime he did not commit he spends twenty years of his life in a hell-hole.. and in all this there is one thing he does not lose and that is HOPE!!!
The conversations between morgan and andy are all well-penned .. there is one instance where morgan says.. they send u hear for a life-sentence and that is exactly what they take away... and the way he explains the term 'institutionalised'.. 'rehabilitated'.. brings smug smiles!!!!

The movie has an amazing climax that leaves u gaping.. and finally makes u laugh so hard u have tears streaming down ur cheeks!!!!

Its one movie where there is not one boring moment and it keeps u glued to the plot!!!
In some ways it is what reminds you that life is beautiful and there are some things in life we have taken for granted.. like FREEDOM!!!
The shawshunk redemption...
"Fear is what gets you there..
Hope is what will get you out!!!"

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one lone call.....

waiting for that lone call to reach me..
his soothing voice to flow thro' my ears.. miles apart still close at heart... waiting for his words to caress me and leave me with that quievring sense of love.. i wish he would call and drive away this desperation..
i wish he would pick up the cellular invention and drive this hopeless sense of loneliness...
i wish he would realise that far apart someone still waits for that special ring... to see , to touch , to hug , to feel , to smile into his eyes and get lost in his loving warmth and enveloped with his tenderness and care...

how many times have we waited for someone to call us and felt the satisfaction of speaking for some time.. to shrink the distances and feel the proximity...
how many times have i waited for the presence of someone who's voice would bring loving moments and a rush in the heart... how many times..???

Trring Trring.....

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Travel to mysore

Start Time: 8:00 A.M
Breakfast: Temptations (Vth block koramangala - jyothi nivas college)
Cuisine: South-Indian

The taxi zipped past koramangala, jaynagar and slowed down in mysore road..
One cannot imagine the number of speedbreakers u have on mysore road...amzzzing@@@!!!
it was a wonder that our driver din't get zapped and throw up!!!

Stop 1: Srirangapatna(Ranganathaswamy temple)
it has one of the most amazing architectures in south india.
It was scorching hot when we entered the temple and once u enter its cool and breezy!!!
The temple closes at 1:00 pm so we were just in time for the darshan.

Stop 2: Tipu Sultan Summer Palace.
This is also a wonderful cnstruction, where the sun is shielded using bamboo mats..
the paintings are one of a kind and the arts and artefacts kept on display are worth the visit.

Lunch: Hotel Siddartha
Cuisine: South indian meals

Stop 3: Mysore Maharaja Palace
This is one the must-see spots in mysore.
The stained glass work, the tombs and the paintings are mind-boggling.
They have some very good works of ravi verma and also the exquisite carvings and statues are
awe-inspiring!!

Stop 4: Chamundi Hills
This is a 5-7km drive up the hill to the chamundeshwari temple, not a very steep climb but a pleasant one. on the way to the top is the nandi temple and the cave shiva temple which is good.

Stop 5: Brindavan GArdens
This was a disappointment in one-way. whoever told me brindavan gardens was a treat to the eyes must have forgotten abt the nasty smells which surround the gardens.
The musical fountain was quite something, but the whole place stinks!! next time u lpan to go to the gardens think twice!! Timings are till 7:55pm on wkdays and 8:55pm on weekends!!

It was a great trip with my folks, a long awaited vacation...we played antakshri and dumbC on the taxi and it was quite something!!!!

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[IF]

If you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you,
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you
But make allowance for their doubting too,
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
Or being lied about, don't deal in lies,
Or being hated, don't give way to hating,
And yet don't look too good, nor talk too wise:
If you can dream--and not make dreams your master,
If you can think--and not make thoughts your aim;
If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster
And treat those two impostors just the same;
If you can bear to hear the truth you've spoken
Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken,
And stoop and build 'em up with worn-out tools:

If you can make one heap of all your winnings
And risk it all on one turn of pitch-and-toss,
And lose, and start again at your beginnings
And never breath a word about your loss;
If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
To serve your turn long after they are gone,
And so hold on when there is nothing in you
Except the Will which says to them: "Hold on!"

If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,
Or walk with kings--nor lose the common touch,
If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you;
If all men count with you, but none too much,
If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds' worth of distance run,
Yours is the Earth and everything that's in it,
And--which is more--you'll be a Man, my son!


--Rudyard Kipling

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from cucumber sandwiches to paruppu rasam...

This weekend actually started in a good note.. and the good note is that i got up at 8:00 on saturday morning.. c'mon.. i snore away to glory untill the maid gets so irritated she goes...'trrrr..trrrr' on the door bell..(thts how my doorbell sounds anyway)!!!
i got up and started to wonder what i was to do.. but amidst my musings there i was making tea for me and my apt-mate. Then i read the paper and decided that today i would cook a traditional south indian meal!!!
but there were some things i had to get done first.. like cleansing myself!!had a bubble bath( i would like to think so)..and started my experiments with cooking!!!
i should say i have a nack for it.. for it din't bomb totally as i thought i would.
i started with a modest menu... potato fry, vathal kuzhambu and parupu rasam... the rasam came out exceptionally well.. the last time i tortured my friends in havin something tht tasted like tamarind juice. Thankfully, for me they din't object too much!! when i served the dished to my apt-mate..she was stunned.. she asked me where my culinary skills were hidden so long... i was well embarrased!!! Not every day does somebody praise me for my culinary skills.. not even once!!! :DDD so u see i had my reasons...!!!
then i had a small nap.. and then went foruming.. and saw mayavi.. the movie was good!! i can't beleive how jyothika could have agreed to that role since she was nothing but a dumb heroine!! well that she is!! but the movie was hilarious!!!
then came home and chit chatted with my friend for about 3 hrs and snored away to glory!! sunday was a lil' uneventfull except for the dinner i went with my collegemate!!!
we went to a place called 'Lemon Grass'.. it was really a nice place!!
we discussed everything from politics to religion and family to whether fate was what it was.. so to say, we had similar beleifs but only the nomenclature was different!! it was one of those meals when u think the food took a second stage and the banter took center stage!!!
came home and plop .. hit the pillows only to wake up to realise the fateful monday had already arrived!!!
well the grind has already started but things aren't that bad!!
my parents are coming over the weekend so i have something to look forward to now..
so its 5 more days to go.. for the weekend...!! :DDDD

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it happened again???

i was furiously typing away.. it was the first note i created.. for all those ignorant ones.. notes in the terminology mentioned is the kind of assistance u give a customer only its not over the phone but as a mail or smth.. its gettin too techy!!
it was nearing 7:10p.m..i usually be out by this time.. 'cos the rocket speed in which my bus leaves ..but today i missed looking at the clock... and then when i realised it was abt time.. i hurried fast... put all my stuff together and then scurried away to that side of my campus to where the buses are parked...
like every other day, when i start late the bus is jus abt to leave.. and like a bollywood heroine rush waving my hand.. hopin to lure my driver to stop.. and he does stop :))
so as always he stops and lets me get in.. and nobody can miss i-knew-u-were-hardly-working-but-chatting look and tht y-can't-u-girls-come-on-time stare... well as long as am inside rather than outside i don't mind his stares or the muttering under his breath!!! i pick a seat which is either in the front right beside the driver or the one farther behind where u can be assured some high-fies ..obviously i choose to sit at the farther end!!!
now he zips thro' the traffic and heads in jet-set-speed... and lands me home in somthing close to 30mins.. and is happy to let me go.. he still has a long way home..so i can't glare at him, if he starts the bus even when my foot is in the last step!!!
and then comes my wait in the pedestrian cross for abt 10 mins(someone told me if u get hit when ur at the pedestrian cross..then ur insured :D..funny!!) and then head home in break neck speed...
finally home-sweet-home.. i stretch my legs... and wonder how am still in one piece...???
and BHAM..enters my roommate.. i wonder..i din't see her in my bus.. was she invisble or did she float over right frm office??? so i ask her.. "How did u make it??"
she says.."Oh.. i missed all the shuttles.. and my mgr offered me a lift!!!"
ARGGHHHH... even if i did sport a sorry face..am sure with all the luck i have not a single soul would have offered a lift.. why me.. why me all the time????

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time files.... :(

the weekend came and went... on friday i saw myself rushing out of office to comfort seat myself in the bus and during the journey my frnd calls to tell me that they have booked tickets for the movie 'SHABD'..for all those who don't knw what shabd is all abt...its this movie where the husband forces his wife into an extramarital affair and at the end of it goes insane.. and the wife is stupid enuf to play along..
there were some things in the movie that was good.. one was the heroines sense of dressing and the way in which the house was furnished.. tht does deserve a mention!!! Kudos to the team!!!
also the movie costed me Rs.130/- while i shd have paid only 65/- since every dialogue between the wife and lover gets repeated by the husband..so u see its not really a 3 hr movie ...SIGH!!!
we came home and chitchatted abt nothing till 1:00 in the mornign..what else do u expect a bunch of girls to do..device a mechanism to reach the sun???
the next day started with a surprise note..instead of racing against the mad traffic we decided to settle at home.. sweet home and cook for ourselves..don't u dare think we are gettin old!!!
and it turned out to be pretty good.. the menu was decided and each person gets a dish to make.. and it was a yummy meal!!!
after which came the brains at work.. masterminding ourselves.. :D
the rest of the weekend was uneventfull... jus a bit of sleepin,eating..following the elections and then chattnig with folks at home!!!
back again in office ... working hard.. hardly workin??? :D
oh before i 4get... highlights of the day...my ex-mgr(is it right to say tht) sent me a long long mail..saying i am a wonderfull person..(OW c'mon) and i got a 3% hike and some bonus.. now isn't today my day... oh yes it is my day!!!!

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me and u??

my roommate told me yesterday tht if i din't have other things in my mind she wud have told me to get married asap.. 'cos acc to her..'everthing else falls in place'!!
i was so bugged with the fact that she was sure of what she wanted from life and i wasn't.. well there are some things am sure off at the moment ..like makin my hair to stop 'shedding' :P !!!

But yes..am at the cross roads of my priorities..there are a lot of things crowding my mind.. well definetly yes..and there are some things i want to make peace with..i will eventually trust me!!!

she was tellin me that she had a lot of mishaps and then she made a lot of corrections to it too..
but yes time is the best teacher..well its the best healer too... but all along i used to settle in my comfrt zone too lazy to think of change.. but now its not so much of a wonder or a pain..change is a very inviting prospect in my life... u meet new people and some of them make a mark on you.. and some dont!!!

there are some things i learn from each person.. like with her she's a no-nonsense of a person.. u can't expect her to be mindlessly freaky abt certain things.. well am not like that but yes in some cases i would like to be like that!!

well as long as what i learn makes me a better person who is to complain????

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Home Sweet Home!!!!

Wow.. isn't it great being at home.. even though it was fr only a cpl of days it felt like heaven.. so much of love and affection!!!! my dad got me loadsa eatables to last for my next visit!!! then mom made some tomato paste and this and that.. so i cud eat w/o experimenting!!! i helped with some cooking this time around and miraculously it came out well.. thx to me!!!
i also met up with some of my ex-colleagues and got updated with the latest gossip... man this trip has been wholly satisfying and the most pleasurable trip ever!!!! till the next trip home...

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argh

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GGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH
HHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH
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AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRG
GGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH
OGHEUIWGBFFFASDKFAGDFJQWGHRUIWQEGYFJKSBF,ASDBNZXC ASJGFRWEUIRYHFGBSNFCBNFGYWUQFSDBVHAE

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Toast to a healthy me!!!

off late my life seems to have gotten disciplined.. well so to speak.. it really has!!
i have nothing but healthy foods, milk,dry fruits and druits.. well it def has been a great time ..so far so good!!! and i even tried my hand in cooking.. i can make bindi masala and aloo matar w/o worrying if am trying my experiments with my roommate as a guinea pig.. !!
and i have this penchant for cleanliness.. can u beleive i ran out of a house jus cos it was not :clean: :-).. but its becomes more pronounced these days .. well to a healthy life!!!

have been reading the woman of substance for a while now and cant wait to finish it.. and i can't beleive the week is almost over.. as in monday jus came and day after is friday.. and am goin home..yipee.. home sweet home!!!

there's nothing like travelling home.. waiting to see ur mom and dad.. and eat and sleep heartily.. there's nothing quite like that i know off.. and i don't want to know it either!!! home is my heaven!!!

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so i turned a new leaf..???

well well ..if u knew me as a girl who abhors mornings and exercise in any form.. u would be surprised to see me go for a brisk walk early in the morning after a glass of lemon and honey..
after the walk comes the newspaper browsing and then the milk... and then bath... and rushing to catch the shuttle...
so i have turned into a new leaf.. but this does seem good!!! after a while i wud get used to getting up early and it def is not so bad u knw.. to watch the birds chirp and see the sun shyly making its way thro the crowds... its jus u and nature and love these early mornings!!!
it had rained yesterday i guess.. not a heavy downpour but intermitent rainning.. and i cud see the trees have had their bath.. they were smiling down with their new dresses on...isn't this a great feelin early in the morning!!! oh well it is!!!!
change is always good.. and if its for the better..what else can u ask for???

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who are u??

yesterday was republic day...i was listening to radio city and there was this question abt whats the difference between independance and republic day..c'mon people can't be that ignorant or can they? interestingly, i read the hindy editorial only to find that the grandson of the queen of england dressed as a Nazi officer on the 'holocaust' day.. man are we gettin anywhere at all....???
we are supposed to be in the technology era and we cudn't predict the tsunami.. and the indian meteorological dept says they dint have the technology..well u gotta blame it on something right?? if u ask me i have a feeling we are stepping backwards than moving forward!!!
the talk of the day is linux, Q3 results.. padmashri awardees.. man din't anyone think of the common man at all?
When i saw swades i was amazed with the directors line of thinkin'.. and the movie cudn't have released at a more approppriate time!! with so many indians flying back and forth like its nobody's business.. here is a man who's making an honest attempt to make u think for a moment.. y are u rattling back and forth? y are u living oceans apare? y make more money when u can't be beside ur loved ones? is this freedom? quick money? isn't there a subtle message in this movie that is worth a thought?
well yes... i guess most people now claim an onsite assignment as a status symbol or a money spinner or an edge in the matrimonial column... well isn't there a life beyond all this?
when u look back over the years that rolled past u..don't u think u shd have done something more than jus typing furiously on the keyboard.. its TRUE.. everybody has to make a living.. and everybody needs a money.. gone are the days when u don't get a job that suits ur profile.. honestly i consider that gibberish.. ur just not lookin at things the right way.. after all..
"Winners don't do different things... they do things differently"
thats precisely the reason i liked 'ayutha ezuthu' also.. and there was this talk abt having all MBA graduates go thro' two year of politics.. personally i think that's the brightest idea i've ever heard.. imagine an all educated governance.. can u ask for anything more????
was it yet another day yesterday?? it was REPUBLIC day... and am not saying don't leave india and start flying elsewhere..am sure u can be an Indian living in australia... but are u really that??
or u a mixed breed?
Religion and culture should discipline u..after all, if religion wasn't there, there wouldn't be a way of living.. but one is not superior to another!!! and if there isn't culture then there is no discipline..but there isn't a best culture .. u can take the best of both and still live life..
but deep down.. who are u??
I beleive in Waters running deep.. rather than shallow ... so to speak.. everybody out there.. think abt it.. are u really what u thing u are? or are u fooling urself???

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The Perfect Evening!!!

Every time i rush to my bus from office i yearn for this perfect evening......

Prepare a nice dinner.. not very elaborate but just enough to suffice the appetite...
have a long refreshing shower.. bubble bath if the luxury permits.. with all the aroma effects.. Wear something light and comfortable...
settle in the couch with a nice book and some hot beverage... read the book till night falls.. with some soft music in the background... have a nice dinner..
go for a stroll... where u can feel the breeze in ur hair... ur whole body getting bathed with the moonlight... lie down on ur back.. gazing at the stars and trying to make patterns..
get back and settle in the bed with soft music and the windows open letting the moonlight and the breeze filter in... fluffy pillows and let sleep take over u... no silly thoughts, no strict deadlines, no relationships to worry abt.. jus the connection between u and urself.... dats my night.. GOODNIGHT!!! SWEET DREAMS!!!

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Breaking Point!!!!

There are times when u reach the limits...all u want to do is to shut down this stupid monitor and rest for a while.. get some good sleep, read a good book.. have a casual stroll, feel the breeze in ur face and run ur fingers thro' ur not-so long strands!!!! well i did some of these but there was still this unsettling feeling in me.. something was troubling me.. for a few days now.. there's this restlessness abt mt.. call it mid-life crisis or mixed emotions.. whatever the reasons be ..i can't seem to make peace with myself...!!!
As far as my memory goes i have always made decisions i have been proud off... never had a second thought abt them.. its only now i realise there are some shortcomings.. i actually don't care abt the decision itself.. i care more abt the people who get affected by the decision..something like if i decide this way wud that person be happy and if i decide this way would this person be happy.. i've actually not thought abt myself.. and i guess that's the greatest shortcomings of it all.. u have to think abt urself before u even give others a thought!!! otherwise u'll end up like me wondering why u made this decision and why ur not happy abt it anymore...
atleast with great resolve if can remove the bearings of the decisions that din't go quite right.. then i'll have a happy and delightful life!!!!

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whenever i blog

should a blog be a refleciton of a thought process? or should it be those strange thoughts u think u have? should it be the wildest dreams? should it be those erratic nonsense? should it be what u saw some day somewhere and it keeps lingering in ur mind? those fond memories, lazy times, happy moments? what the hell is a blog?
whenever i blog its goin to be some of this and something else too.....

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