Ah...the richness of tradition

I have rarely (rarely!) acknowledged my rather culturally - rich background - Tamizh brahmin-ness (note to readers: Please note the authentic spelling of my mother tongue).

This Sunday was very similar in composition to the ones enjoyed by my Madras cousins - Oil bath, puli avval for breakfast, a fantastic pre-lunch nap in the thereabouts of 12 to 2..Waking up to mor kozhambu and uralaikizhungu (potato) fry...eaten while watching Kandukondein Kandukondein and singing along to "Yenna solla" at the top of my rather jarring voice..

It was in short perfection! 

And perfection was rounded off by watching Bombay (albeit in Hindi..an Iyer maama with vibhoothi lining his forehead talking in chaste Hindi is rather disconcerting especially in the light of how absolutely challenged my Madras family is in saying anything beyond Namaste!!). I could devote an entire post to Adi and his attempts at communicating in Hindi which generally having me keeling over laughing...

Whole bunch of tamizhness that I have been enjoying (unknowingly!) throughout my life...About time I acknowledged them

1. Mani Ratnam/Gautham Menon (different genres I know!) movies..

2. ARR/Haris JayRaj/Ilayaraja for music...

3. Carnatic music...

4. Pujari-Bakery jokes (for the uninitiated..Pujari - Iyers/ Bakery - Iyengar..about all they are good at doing eh?). It is the birth right of all Iyers to mock their Iyengari brethren..We have made it a sport largely played in the playing fields that weddings offer us given the disproportionately high ratio of Iyer:Iyengar found here!

5. Saapad - I am not much of a foodie..I hardly eat and my oft-used phrase to this day remains "pasi-illai"(I am not hungry) but I just love my thair-saadam and rasam!

So..apparently you can take the maami out of Madras but you cant take Madras out of the maami...muahahaha

Right...so have a nice day and all such..started my day listening to Thenpaandi (again!)

Peekaboo!

A comment by an anonymous person on an ancient post reminded me of my blog...
I am quite sure no one reads this anymore...but I am rather bored of just writing B-School essays (and I am not very good at them it seems...)

It feels nice to not have a question glaring at you and have the word limit as that irritating red light just outside the peripheral field of vision that you just cant ignore! I am free to write as I please and I have not a word in my head!

Listening to "Socha Hai" from Rock On...I am in love with the peppy beat of this song..makes u wanna let down your hair and just rock!
Other songs that I have been tripping over the past month are..
1.Adiyae Kolluthae - From the movie, Vaarnam Ayiram (which has Surya in a double role..droooool!)For those of you who are shocked by my liking for a Kollywood actor, Surya is the ONLY exception I will make...even with a moustache (which is generally a no-no from me). The man is positively gorgeous although someone very nearly put me off him with some rather unflattering albeit vivid descriptions!!
*funda..Kodambakam is the birth place of the Tamil Film industry and hence the K..the more obvious Tollywood is for the Telugu film industry and (snigger)..it is Sandalwood here...hehehehe

About the song, it has a brilliant riff that weaves itself around the verses and a raw edge that I just loved (these days I have switched spectrum from wanting polished, sophisticated to wanting raw, uneven...everywhere!)My whimsical nature is legendary so it is not too much of a surprise I guess. Shruthi Hassan is the female vocalist and although she screeches in some places, for the most part, her 'rock voice' fits the bill vis-a-vis this particular composition..listen to it!

2. Kangal Irundal - Another Tamil song..incidentally, my Tamil speaking is improving it seems..any of you who want to verify, please do! (I could use the practice!). I liked the video of this song instantly..it showcased what is now a historical version of love..shy smiles, coy glances exchanged, the boy showing off riding his cycle with his hands on his head and subsequently falling in the gutter...love today is Saif groaning "I miss you so much it hurts"..what a ridiculous campaign! I can think of much better things to use to showcase a Voice Messaging Service..I digress..The song is also an excellent use and James Vasanth has used his music to reach the crescendo of a climactic middle portion (when watched with the video)..Adi has covered the review of this song here.

3. Cowgirl in the Sand - Thanks to Dhivakar, I got my hands on a whole bunch of Neil Young..While I enjoyed Southern Man, the lyrics of this one just stuck..
"Hello Ruby in the Dust, Has your pen begun to rust, After all the sin we've had, I was hoping that we'd turn back"...
A ruby in the dust...poetic! It was my FaceBook status for a week!
Work beckons so I will have to cut my lyrical detailing for a later post..

Thenpandi Cheemayiley is playing now...that break in Kamal's voice as he sings "Azhudha manasu thangadhe" (if you cry my heart will break) is brilliant...the movie makes me misty-eyed to this date..
The scene when he breaks down as they bring his son's body back in the courtyard...disturbingly real..that father's pain just reaches out to engulf you...and that last scene where his grandson asks him "Ninga nallavara kettavara?"...indelible memories...
Kamal remains my favourite actor of his generation..he looks regal,an emperor of his realm who wears his crown lightly at times! I prefer his dramatics to Rajni's exaggerations..

On that scandalous note (a tam who hasn't watched a Rajni move in the theatre yet..and who is yet to watch Baba, Chandramukhi and Sivaji..) I end this post...I managed to write something after all...

So...here I am

After Amrita (the better half) gave me the Brilliante Weblog award for what I think is a rather non-existent blog, I figured I needed to do something to deserve it.

First up on the menu is passing on the award to 5 blogs that I enjoy reading!

1. Namita - A fellow traveler with a rather sharp sense of humour that is refreshing and delightful. Unless of course that wit is being exercised on you! She cant seem to find time to write too much anymore but here's hoping she does!

2. Adi - The kid bro. Started reading at a belated age and has easily overtaken in me in both reading and writing style. For the most part, his blog is about daily observations (not always pertinent, mind you :-)). His love for "saapad", music and Sachin (in that order!) comes through in his blog.

3. Karthik aka Wimpy - This guy does not know of my existence and I only know of his blog. He is held in high esteem for his precise definition and treatise on the state of NED - a common state of affairs for a software engineer in Bangalore. His posts have a rather matter-of-fact-ness about them that I like.

4. Amrita - the person who started me on this of course! Fabulous writing style and all such. She is the better half truly and is poised for success as she completes her doctoral thesis soon.

I cant think of a 5th at the moment...the 4 I have spoken about..continue the good work! and pass on the awards..


Last on this post (phew! this is a long one..)
2 movies I watched over the weekend - with their places at the opposite ends of the "viewing-pleasure" spectrum.

The fabulous one was Wong-Kar Wai's "In the Mood for love" (yes I know! I cant believe it took me this long to watch it either!). I enjoyed the subtlety and the nuanced texture employed in portraying emotions. The judiciousness exercised in introducing new characters was interesting - they were introduced only if they had a purpose. Impactful presences yet seemingly shadowed. This interesting juxtaposition captures the viewer's attention far better than actually establishing them as solid characters. I enjoyed the moments of serendipity portrayed in the beginning of the movie - as the 2 lead characters are seen walking next to each other as complete strangers and yet you know that something is waiting to happen. The magic, at times tangible, at times mercurial makes itself omnipresent throughout the movie. Yumeji's theme has a haunting yet lyrical quality that ensures that it is etched in memory well after the movie. Watch it if you havent already.

The ghastly one was "Kabhi Kabhi"( yes I know I shouldn't have expected much). My love for Gulzar's lyrics was a significant factor in ensuring I watched this.Mom being a big AB fan also ensured that it was the thing to do on Sunday evening. Aaaaargh! the oblique references that Gulzar uses in his poetry was jarringly opposed by in your face hysterics. When the character portrayed by Waheeda Rahman tells her husband that she has a love child, the shock on AB's face is marred by the visual image of a bomb exploding (so that the user is able to see the shock that is absent from the actor's due to his ineptitude or some over-editing). I think AB has an expressive face (which looks awful when seen with a moustache and sideburns borrowed by force from a rater reluctant Kamal Hassan Im sure!) and the bomb imagery was an unfortunate instrument to convey his shock. The movie is peppered with such irrelevant visuals and I shall not relive my horror by duplicating them here.

The other recurring ghastly visual in the movie (yes there was one more) was Neetu Singh. Aaaaaaargh..even as a non-fashionista (yours truly!), I was positively groaning..wide bottomed bell-bottoms on an already unflattering figure. Red shirt with white trimming (I think I had something like that when I was 3!). Mom, a seasoned veteran with this generation of movies tells me that this is the norm rather than the exception with Neetu Singh movies. So be warned!

I end this long post here and shall endeavour to keep you posted on my return to cultural wakening as I have actively started reading and movie watching (like there is no tomorrow!)

A trip to Pondicherry over the weekend promises a travel post next week...All of you have a fab weekend...

Sororal musings!

And they lived happily ever after....
I have grown up on a healthy diet of fairy tales and spent the better part of my life imagining a Prince Charming and the happily ever after ending...

And then, life happened.
However, as much I would like to believe I am the cynic who does not believe in love, truth is I am still that little girl inside.
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Watched Sex and City last evening. First things first..Sarah Jessica Parker has legs that are the stuff of legend and goddesses!! Sinewy and yet feminine, encased in the Blahnik's and Choos...they could actually have an ode written to them..

The movie was a regular romcom with the happy ending and all that. But what I really loved was the sororal bonding that the leads shared. It just struck a chord...there is nothing quite like having a bunch of girlfriends...doesn't matter when in life you meet them..just that when you meet a girl you can gossip with, laugh loudly with, be your worst self with...don't let go..don't let geographical distances or men (bah!) come in the way of the friendship. Make that effort to stay in touch..to laugh..even if it is over the phone..to drool over some hot actor...to cry..to hold hands..

Dedicated to the special ones in my life...
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My favourite line in the movie..
"The good men are out to screw you..the bad men are out to screw you..and the rest dont know how to screw...."

So...

A new title for my blog courtesy FreeRice...
I have resolved to post something at least once a week.Lets see..the musical tag was my entry of last week. In the spirit of airing my views of which I seem to have an awful lot recently, I shall put up something else this week...

Keep watching this space for more....

My Musical

So, this is in response to Amrita's tag..

If mylife was being made into a musical, the OST would probably comprise of these songs...

Comment away..and any of you want the songs in this list..mail or leave a message..

Opening credits: Adhbhuta - Ganesh Kumaresh/Joy of Life - Corrs

Waking up: Walk of Life

Average day: No Rain - Blind Melon/

First date: I'd love you to want me - Lobo/Tiny Dancer - Elton John/Yeh Shaam Mastani - Kati Patang

Falling in love: Can’t help falling in love - Elvis Presley / Have I told you lately- Rod Stewart/ In Dino - Life in a metro

Love Scene: Light my Fire - The Doors/Chaudhvin ka Chaand

Fight Scene: Battle without Humanity - Kill Bill 1

Breaking up: Kadhal Rojave - Roja/Romeo and Juliet - Mark Knopfler/Coming Back to Life - PF

Getting back together: WonderWall - Oasis

Secret love: Hai Apna Dil to Awaara - Solva Saal

Life’s ok: Raindrops keep falling on my head - BJ Thomas

Mental Breakdown: Baba O' Riley - The Who

Driving: RoadHouse Blues - The Doors/Black Dog - Led Zep

Learning a lesson: I dunno..i just cant think of something here..help away..

Flashback: Rembrandts..OST of any sitcom that I have watched from 3's company to Wonder Years....Time of your life - Green Day is another one

Partying: Anything quick paced...mind is presently a blank given how slow paced it is right now..bleah!

Happy Dance: Kabhi Kabhi Aditi - Im just in love with this song!!

Regretting: Din Dhal Jaaye - Guide/ Hum bekhudi mein tum ko - Kaala Paani

Long night alone: Uyire - Bombay

Death Scene: Grave Digger - DMB

Closing Credits: Nila Kaigurathu - Indira (Dont appreciate the moon when it is there..how terribly poignant in my opinion..)

Its been a while...

Yello,

I am not even sure if people check my blog to see if it is (and by extension I am) alive!!! I was not going for morbidity when  I said that before I get cans of whoop ass (thanks for this word Sandy) opened on me...

It is a Wednesday evening. Tomorrow is a holiday on account of Labour Day and I am hoping to taking off on Friday to enjoy a nice, long Labour Day weekend. Hoping on going for a trek or some such. If any of you do have ideas/ want to do similar things mail!!!

For the moment though, lovely weather outside is tempting me to play truant with work and bunk. Nice long drive/ride interspersed appropriately enough by hot tea and chaat/pakoda types is far too pleasant an alternative. Sigh!! Everyone should have summer holidays...

So, tis was just an "I am alive kind of post!"..But I think I do have some post-worthy thoughts (or so I would have myself believe!!). Lets see..I really must get back to blogging!!

So long and enjoy the weekend.