Sunday, November 29, 2009
test
Friday, November 27, 2009
Limits of patience
I am a very patient human being when it comes to watching Tamil cinema. I can watch, and watch again, stupid movies without batting an eyelid. I would grit my teeth when I see clichés or when the hero advises the heroine on how to dress and how women cannot become angry or some crap like that. Yet I would watch the movie with an assumed patience. (disc: This is certainly not to say that are tamil movies are crap as I have watched many really good movies and may God increase the tribes of the makers of such movies).
So far, I have jumped out of the theatre half way (or even before) through a movie only in 3 instances. The first was kannukul nilavu, the second was Aegan and the third movie that joined this special list of mine recently is Modhi Vilayadu. All I can say about these flicks is ‘Yappa….Mudiladaaa Saami’!
Mindless consumerism
Is killing our people. Why do people need every possible gizmo and gadget and that too at the cheapest possible price? This Black Friday and the mad rush associated with it drives me nuts. Couple of years back I witnessed many people (esp. desis) camping(!) all night in front of Best Buy to buy a laptop at a deal price and I felt disgusted.
Well, I guess I must be an archaic woman !
Monday, November 23, 2009
Saddened …
My day today started with an email that informed me that one of my most respected seniors from school days has quit her job to become a full time home maker. One of the most brilliant girls that I have ever come across, she had always been an inspiration to me. Knowing her, I am sure that it was her own choice to leave her job. But excuse me, mere homemaking is not for such great minds, but for us lesser mortals (who, by the way, happily pack bags and leave to work leaving behind our unclean homes and understanding husbands).
At the risk of sounding politically incorrect, I want to quote from the book / movie Shawshank Redemption - “Some birds are not meant to be caged”. Well, certainly not this one!
Saturday, November 14, 2009
To my readers (if any)
Monday, November 2, 2009
Bliss
This is what I felt in my heart when I heard this song of Annamacharya sung by Priya sisters.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f_q4-_yJv5M
P.S. : Can someone who knows Telugu help me understand what ‘hari pundari kaaksha’ means? My telugu knowledge is so good that I have even translated such literary masterpieces as ‘Johnny Johnny Yes Papa’ into telugu (‘Swami Swami, Emi naana? :)). Still such simple poems like annamacharya kritis are always tricky for me :)
Friday, October 30, 2009
Nostalgia
Accidentally hit upon singer Chinmayi’s blog (http://chinmayisripada.blogspot.com). To the extent I have read this blog, Chinmayi comes across a no-nonsense,opinionated person (I have not watched any of her shows though). One of her posts on how her grandmother used to feed her made me slightly nostalgic.
Though I have not been blessed with a nice and warm extended family (well, don’t get me started on this topic!) or a huge number of friends, my core family bondages are very strong, touchwood. I have been extremely lucky to share the same warmth with my in-laws as well. Though everyone in my family (i.e Mom, sis,BIL) is very close with me, I want to specifically mention about my sister who has been a guardian angel for me through all my life. I recently read an article about a 10-year kid helping her mom in the kitchen which seemed like a big deal to the magazine that covered this feature. I recollect my sister watching me over and making dosas for me when she was merely in class 4, when my mom was away at work. My sister is still strict with me as she has been right from childhood days. But never, not once, has she failed to support me when I needed.
My most vivid childhood memory is a picture of her feeding me, making little balls of rice and smearing some beans or okra curry on that and handing over the rice balls to me. She would wait patiently till I finish lunch and only after that would she have hers. All these right from school days. Even now after so many years, she feeds me like that (we call it ‘Sadham kaila podarathu’) whenever we are home for lunch. This is one scene in my mind that makes me nostalgic and teary-eyed. To her, I am always her little sister no matter how old I am. To me, she is my alter-ego.
In my family (and more generally, in tamil culture), people are shy about eulogizing their own kinsmen and never even hug each other. I think we as a culture should learn to be more vociferous about our love and affection.
