Last week was a whirlwind - and perhaps the first birthday ever where I did not have any family or my small friend(s) group.
And it was the second time I was part of an accident. Its curious to me that in the 2 accidents I have had so far, I was not driving on both occasions; while the first one in 2003 was catastrophic in terms of a broken wrist on the eve of sem exams, the second one at Chicago did not leave any damage, at least till this moment. But it is funny to get out of a vehicle when it is upside down. :)
And the best part is yet to come - I'm an addict of the 'Master' and a decision by a friend to surprise me for my b'day resulted in me finding a rough-cut edition of a Jeeves Omnibus (Yeah! I love it - A Jeeves Rough cut is cool) staring at my face from the place where my Bru Coffee jar peers at me did leave me smiling at the end of a week, which except for a couple of fun evenings spent with my friend's family, was B-A-D in terms of work - where I found out that, as is beauty, attitude is skin-deep and as much as Indians are supposed to the fabled crabs, pulling each other down, Caucasian and Afro-Americans are no good either. They suck too. Perhaps, apart from being hard-working, intelligent, resourceful and all the other BLAH, I think being selfish and ruthlessly inconsiderate are necessary tools to have a happy life at work.
Sunday, July 20, 2008
Wednesday, July 16, 2008
Thursday, July 10, 2008
Why I might be chronic single person?
First watch this:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=sm0OryPF1yQ
Okay, onto serious issues - I have had a zillion arguements with my mother as to why arranged marriages are fundamentally flawed, the prime of them being:
1. AMs place more emphasis on looks, position, familial background other than anything else. For one, I know for a certainty that I do not have any trait (apart from looks) that are collinear with my parents {thought/action/words}. And as far as looks go, I do agree that they should be in the mix - but not to the extent that they are given importance. Compatibility is given no space and I hate to think that a josiyar can predict what level of compatibility I'd have with a person based on 12 squares. I'm not getting anarchic here and telling astrology is BS and all that. I can agree, from personal experience, that Astrology is a good tool to plan/support your life. But it cannot be used as a GPS to get from one point to another.
2. My father perhaps knows 10 percent of me and my mother perhaps 15 percent. But thats it! How can I believe in them to make choices for me? I can see some people who are ready with the question - what about the first 20 years of life? Well, I needed some help with decisions then - But I'm almost 24 and I do believe that I've reached the age where I should let my decisions be as un-influenced by others as possible. Again, a kid drives a cycle with the safety wheels on - but you can never drive a car with safety wheels!
3. Lack of natural-ness. The Tambrahm way of life extols certain things as virtues. I do not want a servant/menial help for my life. I can cook and clean my house all by myself. I do not want those pure as snow kind of maami's who will mugam-sulichify if one of my friends asked for a bottle of beer when he was visiting me. I do not drink or smoke - but do not consider them as sins and all that. In a conversation I had with my kankanda deivangal, when I said I was okay with a wife who smoked or drank, as long as she did not hide it from me made the deivangal froth at the mouth. I'm more or less looking for an independent person who has her own likes, dislikes and who will not be another version of the ladies in know/have seen. And in continuum with the flaw in the way this match making happens, I'd like to know the girl who I'd be marrying sometime before my marriage and I feel that its imperative that I get introduced to that girl when both of us do not have any idea that we could end up married. As another blogger whom I read once told in his blog, as much you would like to believe reality TV is that - reality, once you know that you could end up being married to someone, your way of behaviour to that person changes and expecting it to be natural is futile.
So all this effectively rules out me saying okay to an arranged marriage of any kind.
On the other hand, I hate those pink color loving, cho-chweet mouthing , teddy bear hugging section of the population {IMO, physcially 20-odd, mentally 13 minus}, which, together with the characteristics mentioned previously, rules out 99 percent of the female population. As a dialog in minnale goes, "(indha madri) ponnungana ennaku 99 percent allergy" and I recently found out the the other one percent of the female population which falls within my "like" region is 100 percent allergic to anything close to settling down with me. Nice little catch-22, isn't it?
But I'm a firm believer of not settling for compromises - they ultimately screw you up - especially in an issue like marriage. So going forward, you'll see more such rants and raves - after all, I pretty much do not have anything else to do... :)
http://youtube.com/watch?v=sm0OryPF1yQ
Okay, onto serious issues - I have had a zillion arguements with my mother as to why arranged marriages are fundamentally flawed, the prime of them being:
1. AMs place more emphasis on looks, position, familial background other than anything else. For one, I know for a certainty that I do not have any trait (apart from looks) that are collinear with my parents {thought/action/words}. And as far as looks go, I do agree that they should be in the mix - but not to the extent that they are given importance. Compatibility is given no space and I hate to think that a josiyar can predict what level of compatibility I'd have with a person based on 12 squares. I'm not getting anarchic here and telling astrology is BS and all that. I can agree, from personal experience, that Astrology is a good tool to plan/support your life. But it cannot be used as a GPS to get from one point to another.
2. My father perhaps knows 10 percent of me and my mother perhaps 15 percent. But thats it! How can I believe in them to make choices for me? I can see some people who are ready with the question - what about the first 20 years of life? Well, I needed some help with decisions then - But I'm almost 24 and I do believe that I've reached the age where I should let my decisions be as un-influenced by others as possible. Again, a kid drives a cycle with the safety wheels on - but you can never drive a car with safety wheels!
3. Lack of natural-ness. The Tambrahm way of life extols certain things as virtues. I do not want a servant/menial help for my life. I can cook and clean my house all by myself. I do not want those pure as snow kind of maami's who will mugam-sulichify if one of my friends asked for a bottle of beer when he was visiting me. I do not drink or smoke - but do not consider them as sins and all that. In a conversation I had with my kankanda deivangal, when I said I was okay with a wife who smoked or drank, as long as she did not hide it from me made the deivangal froth at the mouth. I'm more or less looking for an independent person who has her own likes, dislikes and who will not be another version of the ladies in know/have seen. And in continuum with the flaw in the way this match making happens, I'd like to know the girl who I'd be marrying sometime before my marriage and I feel that its imperative that I get introduced to that girl when both of us do not have any idea that we could end up married. As another blogger whom I read once told in his blog, as much you would like to believe reality TV is that - reality, once you know that you could end up being married to someone, your way of behaviour to that person changes and expecting it to be natural is futile.
So all this effectively rules out me saying okay to an arranged marriage of any kind.
On the other hand, I hate those pink color loving, cho-chweet mouthing , teddy bear hugging section of the population {IMO, physcially 20-odd, mentally 13 minus}, which, together with the characteristics mentioned previously, rules out 99 percent of the female population. As a dialog in minnale goes, "(indha madri) ponnungana ennaku 99 percent allergy" and I recently found out the the other one percent of the female population which falls within my "like" region is 100 percent allergic to anything close to settling down with me. Nice little catch-22, isn't it?
But I'm a firm believer of not settling for compromises - they ultimately screw you up - especially in an issue like marriage. So going forward, you'll see more such rants and raves - after all, I pretty much do not have anything else to do... :)
Aascar Awards
Got this from the Tamizh Cinema Community:
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Update: The source seems to be here: http://www.bosey.co.in/
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AASCAR AWARDS COMING SOON
In a quick and stunningly pro-active response to Kamal Hassan's comments about the Oscars, the tamil film industry has instituted a new award that will honour accomplishments in areas that are important to local sensibilities and context.
The awards will be known as the AASKAR (Academy that Agrees Stupidly to Kamal's Arbid Requests) awards, and will be handed out at a glittering ceremony at German Hall next March.
Renowned actor Prakash Raj proudly displays the Aaskar that he is going to win for 'Best Performance as a Bad Guy Who Talks Like a Good Guy'.
Speaking on behalf of the newly formed academy, film fanatic Tony Chacko said “We will honour all those things about Tamil cinema that snobbish institutions like the Oscar Awards continue to ignore. For instance, we will have an award for 'Best Class Film', and 'Best Mass Film'.”, he said, to thunderous applause from Perarasu. Apparently, the Aaskars will also honour films with 'Best Youth Subject', 'Best Pathos', and 'Best Sincere Lou'.
There will also be a range of unique awards for actors, in categories such as 'Best Performance as a Hero's Friend', 'Best Sister Role', and 'Best Performance by Charlie as a College Student'(which, of course, will go to Charlie every year). Awards have also been announced for outstanding performances in categories like 'Rich Girls', 'Marwari Aunties', and 'Panchayat Heads'.
“This is great news!”, gushed an ecstasic Priya Krishnan, known all over the world for her love for cinema. “Now we can all play chess!”, she said, strangely.
“I hope this is not some sort of a joke or spoof. ”, said Wildlife Photographer S.U.Saravanakumar, breaking the fourth wall with consummate ease.
Apparently, writers and technicians will also be given their due. Among the awards for their contributions are 'Best Griffness in a Screenplay', 'Best Punch Dialogue', 'Best Needless Special Effects' and 'Best Interval Bang'. There is also rumoured to be a special award for 'Best Performance by Vijayakumar as Sarath Kumar'.
The award itself is a statuette that depicts Kamal Hassan screaming with rage (at the Oscars, probably). “It's a truly grand trophy”, said well-known architect Chiraag Kapoor, cheek firmly in tongue (er . . tongue firmly in cheek . . er . . both are same). The trophy has been designed by someone named Thyagu.
Kamal Haasan, rejecting preliminary designs for the Aaskar Award Statuette, expresses his displeasure to the designer (not in picture).
In order to avoid the embarrassing situation of Grand (Kamal Hassan) not winning any award, the organisers have decided to give him a 'Lifetime Achievement' award for his entire lifetime. “His entire lifetime is an achievement!”, said R.S.Prasanna, a lifetime fan of Grand's lifetime.
In fact, the academy is not only celebrating Tamil Cinema, but will have certain awards for excellence in other language films as well. 'Best Pointless Rahul Bose Film', 'Best Original Bollywood Song that Eerily Resembles A European Hit', and 'Least Hopeless Kannada Film', are some of the categories that will cater to the rest of the country.
The announcement has sent producer Oscar Aaskar Ravichandran into fits of desperation, as he now has to change his name once more. According to sources, he has shortlised 'Aughscar', 'Wahskhar', and 'Gavaskar' as possibilities.
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Update: The source seems to be here: http://www.bosey.co.in/
Wednesday, July 09, 2008
Adiyenin Mokkai-gal!
I don't know about how I suddenly started, but my PJ-ing skills are seemingly going from strength to strength. Recent Samples:
On Orkut:
Friend1: What's happening at your end?
ME: Ennoda end-ku innum konjam time irukku nu ninaikiren
{If you are thinking of kicking me for this, read on - you might want to be the reason for my end ;-)}
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I was at a raffles draw and the ticket number called out was 26.
Colleague 1: Are you 26?
ME: No, I'm 23!!
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A SVCE friend and me were discussing about H1B Visa stamping options
SVCE Frnd: Dei, Ottawa fly thaane? (he pronounces Ottawa in a funny way)
ME: Dei, edhavadhu onnu sollu - do u want to drive or fly?
SVCE Frnd: Every bad word he knew in Tamizh, English, Hindi and other languages hitherto unknown
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Am planning to get an Iphone - so a chat friend of mine asks:
Chat Frnd: hey, i-phone-ah?
ME: Illa, I is an alphabet.
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This happened when AT&T Wireless used to be called Cingular. As junta in US might know, Cingular to Cingular was always free minutes. I had T-Mobile. A friend of mine in Pennsylvania had Cingular and while we were talking about everthing under the sun, he suddenly asks:
Pennsylvania Frnd: Dei nee cinuglar daane?
ME: Aamaan da... Nee eppovume singular daan. Neenga daan plural.
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A friend of mine was explaing some arbit philosophy and life and all that.. And he concluded some crap philosophy by saying:
F: .... engayavadhu July ku minnadi August varuma?
ME: Varum da.. dictionary la.
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I don't think any of you can take more than this - Adios! :D
On Orkut:
Friend1: What's happening at your end?
ME: Ennoda end-ku innum konjam time irukku nu ninaikiren
{If you are thinking of kicking me for this, read on - you might want to be the reason for my end ;-)}
-------------------------------------------------------------------
I was at a raffles draw and the ticket number called out was 26.
Colleague 1: Are you 26?
ME: No, I'm 23!!
-------------------------------------------------------------------
A SVCE friend and me were discussing about H1B Visa stamping options
SVCE Frnd: Dei, Ottawa fly thaane? (he pronounces Ottawa in a funny way)
ME: Dei, edhavadhu onnu sollu - do u want to drive or fly?
SVCE Frnd: Every bad word he knew in Tamizh, English, Hindi and other languages hitherto unknown
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Am planning to get an Iphone - so a chat friend of mine asks:
Chat Frnd: hey, i-phone-ah?
ME: Illa, I is an alphabet.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
This happened when AT&T Wireless used to be called Cingular. As junta in US might know, Cingular to Cingular was always free minutes. I had T-Mobile. A friend of mine in Pennsylvania had Cingular and while we were talking about everthing under the sun, he suddenly asks:
Pennsylvania Frnd: Dei nee cinuglar daane?
ME: Aamaan da... Nee eppovume singular daan. Neenga daan plural.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
A friend of mine was explaing some arbit philosophy and life and all that.. And he concluded some crap philosophy by saying:
F: .... engayavadhu July ku minnadi August varuma?
ME: Varum da.. dictionary la.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
I don't think any of you can take more than this - Adios! :D
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