The Pursuit Of HappYness

It was April 2000. I was bored at home. My sixth semester exams were about to begin and study holidays was generally the time i gained an easy 5 kg weight. That particular study holidays was special because Maniratnam's "Alaipayuthey" was about to be released. I tried my best to gather as many people as possible to go watch the movie on the first week of release. Since not all of my friends were as "casual" as I used to be about preparing for the exams, i had to be content with the number of people i got in the end...and the number was an emphatic zero! Yes, i went to watch the movie all alone at Udhayam, a few days after the release. As it turned out, it was the first time ever that I watched a movie in a theater, accompanied by none. I'd have thought that it'd be the last time too, but alas...
I've started getting used to five and a half days work weeks of late. I goto work on Saturdays as early as is possible and work for about 4-6 hours, thanks to an impending project deadline. So, it was natural that i ran out of things to do over a 3-day weekend! Sunday went off without a problem in cooking pongal, watching football(American) and sleeping. Monday was a bit of a struggle...but again watched more football, slept and cooked during the night. Today was unbearable. Woke up at around 9am and it was a big struggle passing those four hours between 10 am and 2pm. Felt happy to know that a friend of mine was going through the same torture(and learnt a few minutes ago that another friend almost went crazy too).
So, what did i decide to do? Yes...to go watch Will Smith in "The Pursuit of HappYness" at the UltraStar Poway 10 theater, all alone. Took a long walk to the nearest Starbucks before that and got myself a WMFrap, since the show was only at 4:30pm. Then drove to the theater and got myself seated in one of the last row seats. One good thing about matinees is the ticket price. It's usually two or three dollars less than what it is for evening shows. Convincing myself that the decision is not all that bad, i waited for the movie to begin.
I expected the movie to be very good. Sadly, it did not meet my expectations. The screenplay was very weak. The story was straightforward and it did not help matters. Will Smith has done a good job as a man who goes through a lot of hardships in life and still not losing humor and hope, which is very very important. The message is good and that probably makes the movie a "can watch once".
Over six years ago, I went to watch "Alaipayuthey" with atleast twice the amount of expectations with which i went to watch "TPOH" today and the movie gave me double of what i expected. "TPOH" was not even half as good. I was swept off emotionally inside Udhayam, but was left dissatisfied inside UltraStar.
It wouldn't be totally inappropriate to say that I went in Pursuit of Happiness to the theater today and returned with empty hands..and you'll be excused for not believing your best friend tell you that they saw me inside Ultrastar two days from today, sitting all alone inside one of the movie halls.

Dhoom-2

Director: Sanjay Gadhvi
Producer: Yash Chopra & Aditya Chopra
Staring: Abhishek Bachchan, Hrithik Roshan, Aishwarya Rai, Uday Chopra and Bipasha Basu

Show Times:
Thursday the 28th December at 7.30 pm at

Theater Information
Ultrastar Poway Creekside Plaza 10, 13475 Poway Road, Poway , CA 92064

Oct 20-Nov 19

Bored?

I have not been reading quite a few of the blogs listed on the left hand side of this page for quite some time now. It's not that I don't have the time...but am bored. I seem to have lost motivation to read blogs, somehow. But, I'll try to catch up pretty soon...hopefully by year end.

Think Small!

Wonder what the guy who came up with the phrase "Think Big" must be thinking right now. Thinking small seems to be the trend.
Many thanks to my friends who made it possible for me to post about a gadget in my blog. The greatest advantage it offers me is that I don't have to charge batteries for running the traditional mp3 player in my car. Am secretly hoping that it'd motivate me to start running in a treadmill and make me lose all those pounds I put on in the last couple of months ;)
Thanks guys!

Words just can't describe...

Kalai Ulagin Thamizh Chakkaravarthy ku adiyaenin iniya piRandha naaL nalvaazhthugaL. needoozhi vaazhga un nadippaatRal! :)

The King of Bollywood!

What an amazing actor...happy birthday SRK!

Peerless Beauty!

innoruththi poRandhudhaan varaNum!
Happy Birthday Honey!

Be Safe...And Let Be

There's a couple about the same age as my parents in our neighborhood in Chennai. They had two sons and both of them are not in this world any more. Their first son died in a train accident while travelling on footboard about 10 years ago when he was only 17 and their second son died in a car accident two nights ago. He turned 26 two months back. When i learnt about the message this morning, I was very very upset. I did not know about the nature of the accident since it was a text message from my sister. I was left staring at my mobile for a couple of minutes in utter disbelief. I was feeling very sorry for him. When i called my parents later on, I learnt that he was driving a car and that the car had hit a stationary bus. There were 4 people in the car and all four had died, three including himself on the spot. I was a little furious after knowing this. Then I learnt that it was a case of drunk driving. I was really infuriated at this point. Then my dad cried on the phone. He was really upset after hearing the news. My mom did not how to confront the bereaved mother. I knew that my sister was very upset too. Now, I was feeling sorry for him again and more so for his parents.

The worst thing about death is that more often than not, when you die, you leave atleast a handful of people helpless and in a pitiful state. The rest of my day was mostly spent on thinking about him and his parents. The feelings ranged from extreme pity to uncontrollable anger.

To me, the only villain in this whole episode was alcohol. Why is there such a big urge to consume alcohol? What's the big deal in losing one's senses? Even if that's tolerated, how could one drink and drive, being fully aware of the consequences? I have been easy-going as far as my friends drinking alcoholic beverages is concerned. But today's incident makes me think. What's the point? I am suffering because my friend drove under the influence of alcohol. My father is. My whole family is and many such families are...the biggest sufferers being none other than his very own parents. What he gained by drinking alcohol is nothing compared to what his family has lost. Why don't people understand this simple fact?

Please stop consuming alcohol starting now. It's simply not worth it. Even if you are weak and can't let go, atleast make sure that you don't drive while you are drunk and please don't be your own judge as to how much alochol is "acceptable". Even if you don't care to do this, the least you can do is to make sure you die your death all alone. I am not going to shed a single drop of tear in the future for anyone who invites his own fate and puts the lives of others in danger by driving under the influence of alcohol.

Those of you who don't drink, don't feel uncomfortable to keep reminding your friends about the grave danger that comes with drinking and drunk driving. Be a pest if that's what it takes and be willing to be the driver if you feel the slightest suspicion that your friend will drive under influence if you don't accompany him or her.

Those of you who drink, be safe and feel free to make full use of people like me who can drive so that you can drink to your heart's content. A little discomfort is nothing compared to saving your priceless lives...

Note To Self

Chicken Pizza...never order one(well, half) again!

India will treat you like a Queen, my girl!

I've always wanted to go back to India for good and I still do. There was one astronomical concern though. I was not concerned about the big bucks...not wholly.

How was I to survive in India leaving my American love back here?

My first acquaintance with her happened in Pittsburgh, more than a year after i moved to the United States. Was it love at first sight or smell or touch? I don't think I can solely attribute the reason for my love to one of the above...it was something else- something that I cherish till this date and will for years to come. She was blazing hot but was bitter about something(she still is sometimes, depending on my mood though). I tried my best to cheer her up and within seconds she showed me how sweet she can be. I learnt that she was born in Seattle and that she was nine years old when I was born. Well, to be honest, it did not matter to me.

Then what some people would think is magic and what I think was a matter-of-time happened. I met her in Cincinnati, right inside my university. I started meeting her frequently, but could not open up to her, for i hadn't started earning then. A man needs to have some money before he can love without any inhibitions, doesn't he? "cruel world", i used to think. The coffee shop had become our vantage meeting point.

My love for her reached it's peak after i moved to San Diego. As you must have guessed by now, she was here too, ready to give me company wherever i went. But India? I felt again that it was a matter-of-time, but how long will i be able to wait? "If your love is true", I told myself, "she will come to India". But somehow, there was not much optimism left in me, despite the fact that India is westernizing a lot and that she might not find it hard to feel at home and prosper there.

I was worried that I'd end up missing her badly in India.

Now, there's no concern. She has decided to come to India...she's even planning to go there before I do and wait for me to make my arrival special. i'll perhaps even get a chance to embrace and kiss her right at the Arignar Anna International Airport...

you won't be missed dear, for I'll come to you soon...

A salute to the Mahatma on his 137th birthday

To the humblest soul ever to have graced this planet...


...it so happens that this is the 100th post on this blog. it couldn't have been better. Jai Hind!

World Elders Day

October 1st is(was almost, where i live) World Elders Day. I take this opportunity to remember and thank all the elders who were instrumental in making me what i am today. My parents, my grandparents, my relatives, my "elder" friends, my teachers and countless people from history, some of whom lived ages before i was even born were all in one way or the other responsible for my growth and prosperity. Without them, i'll be nothing today...

All great men and things come to an end...

...but they live in people's memories forever...

Independent?

Is it possible to love and dread a country for the same reason? I do.

I love the United States of America for it gives me the freedom to do what i want to do, without the necessity to bother the people around.

I dread it because it thinks that a 70 year old lady driving her car without anyone in the passenger seat, living alone and managing everything on her own, is an epitome of "independence".

A short story-7

A Dramatical Trauma
---------------------------------

"Wassup Priya?", Raj was surprised to see Priya calling his number. She hadn't called in over a month and hadn't even bothered to answer his text messages. The frequency of calls was getting lesser and lesser ever since she got married.
"Raj. Can we meet at 6pm, my place?", she uttered as fastly as she could.
"Sure. I'll be there", said Raj.


She was relieved to hear the answer she was so sure of hearing. "Raj is so predictable and yet so complex", she thought. That's what attracts all the girls towards him and makes him an intimate and a trustworthy guy to rely on, for just about anything. She was thankful that her husband was not at home. "He will not understand. He's insensitive to my feelings".
The time in between was so boring, like watching the all-too-familiar advertisements on TV over and over, but the curiosity to know if things will go the way she wanted them to, definitely made it interesting and made her sweat a bit...whatever happens after the clock strikes six will make or break the way she looks at Raj in the future. It was a very important moment and she was glued to the couch, waiting for the doorbell to ring.
After what seemed to be an eternity, it was 6pm finally...


"Come in Raj", Priya greeted him. Raj could tell immediately that she had been crying for hours now.
"What's the matter Priya?"
She burst into tears immediately after hearing him say those words...it was all too dramatic and unbelievable.
"Rahul's a jerk, Raj. My marriage is in danger. He wants to get divorced from me", she hugged Raj.
He tried to console her. He so badly wanted to say, "I warned you", but refrained. He smiled emphatically, feeling proud of his judgement, completely indifferent to the pain Priya was going through. He did not say it, but "I told you so" was written all over his face. Priya could not see his face obviously. She felt she was being genuinely comforted and cried even more, enough water coming out of her eyes to fill a bucket.


Swetha could not take this any more. She did not realise that she had been crying too, watching Priya's anguish. She shouted at the top of her voice, "Get off of him, you idiot. Raj's a bigger jerk than Rahul. Don't you see it? Are you a moron? Get off of him or I'll..."
"Break the remote control one more time?", Swetha's husband, who's entry into the house a minute ago went unnoticed, completed the sentence, as a matter of fact.
"There it is, his insensitivity towards my feelings in full flow...", Swetha thought.

Happy Independence Day

Happy 59th Independence Day India.
Jai Hind!

Miscellaneous...

Finished reading The Fountainhead at last. I had finished reading half the book about 8 months back, and finished the remainder during the last month. The book was good in parts, but it was not to my liking overall. The way Rand has presented the complexities and simplicities in the different relationships is enjoyable for its poetic beauty...it's certainly a fantasy world that she' writing about. She gets carried away a lot of times. She wants a man who earns $40 a week to get more benefits than a man earning $15 a week, completely ignoring the circumstances which lead to him earning whatever he earns. She tries to justify it with her potrayal of Wynand, which is but a one-in-a-million exception. When you dont have bread, you wont have the motivation to do anything, is my belief. There's nothing wrong about Roark. He's adorable. But Rand is not. To make Roark a hero, she makes everyone a villain. Toohey is useless anyways. But the whole world is not full of Tooheys. There are people who live for the world sacrificing everything. They dont bother being Rand's first handers even if they can be one, and they dont need say that. Overall, a confused book by a confused lady. it's byebye Rand anyways.

Watched Kabhi Alvida Na Kehnaa. What a movie. Loved every bit of it. Very very real story. Comedy was good although A-rated occasionally. Amitabh was superb. SRK was amazing as usual. Bollywood seems to be improving. But then, Karan Johar has always been good.

Nothing much happening otherwise. Went to Huntington beach once. went to la jolla shores a couple of times. watched a lot of new-release English movies. Watched 23-aam Pulikesi. was refreshing. Vadivelu was very good. a must-watch. work's good. san diego's getting a bit colder, hovering in the low 80s mostly. playing a lot of tennis. yet to resume playing cricket. might start playing in the near future. Looking forward to Sachin's return in Srilanka(whether or not SA pulls out). Reading Darwin's Origin Of Species. Pretty boring so far. I hope it gets interesting soon enough. One of my friends is visiting San Diego in September. Will be seeing him after three and a half years.

Life's good. Looking forward to the future...

Manju Baby

this should do...

Tears...

For no particular reason and for all the reasons in this world, he felt like crying.
Being at the right place at the right time was impractical, to him atleast.
He wished he would learn to live with it...and without loving.
At last he was helped...by the small drop that wouldn't retreat.

A Human Hug

கட்டிப்பிடி வைத்தியம்

அன்பின் பாதை சேர்ந்தவனுக்கு முடிவே இல்லையடா
மனதின் நீளம் எதுவோ அதுவே வாழ்வின் நீளமடா

Pregnant?

how easy is this?

The AXE Effect

"Voodoo" has always been my second choice, until yesterday. Even this time, i was only forced to buy it cos "Phoenix" was not available in the store and cos I knew I won't get as good a deal on the price in any other store(ok, I was too lazy to goto another store). I felt proud that my first choice deodorant was used by so many that the store ran out of stock! I decided to compromise, not realising the blessing in disguise,...if i may.

At about 1 pm yesterday, I was in the lunchroom in my office, watching Germany take on Poland in the World Cup Soccer. There was a really pretty blonde girl in the room, which was a surprise in itself, sitting a few feet away from me, also watching the game(i was watching the game too, mind you). We must've stayed together there for less than 10 minutes. The room was crowded and there was no scope of talking to her. "Damn my luck", i thought, as always(good thing to put the blame on for my incapacities).
I went back at 3pm for tea and surprise, she was there too!
PBG: "hey. how you doin'?"
me: "hello"
PBG: "what perfume do u use? u smell great"
me(not blushing surprisingly enough): "oh, thanks. it's just a deo. Axe...Voodoo"
PBG: "oh! cool. see ya around..."
me: "sure!" ;)

Was relaxing browsing the net after a tiring day. It was about 11 pm and it was hot inside the house, thanks to the heater set at 78 degrees. Went outside to get some fresh air. There, sitting all alone, with a can of beer in one hand and a cigarette in the other was this beautiful brunette girl, who has been saying hi's and hello's to me from outside my window for the past 3 days. I decided to put some "kadalai" and asked her whereabouts. She was in San Diego visiting my neighbor and was from Arizona. We "kadalied" for about half an hour.
BBG: "am waiting for my friend. She's in the jacuzzi. hope am not ruining your sleep"
me(thinking, "not yet"): "no no. not at all. I don't sleep before midnight generally"
....
BBG: "what soap do you use?"
me: "eh?"
BBG: "what soap do you use? you smell very good"
me: "Dove"
BBG: "I've been smelling you for a very long time now. It's very good"
me(successfully avoiding blushing again): "well, it's probably my deodorant. Voodoo"
BBG: "oh. very good"
her friend, a cute brunette girl, who was half lost cos of the 6 beers inside her belly and half cos she lost her contact lenses in the jaccuzi arrived. BBG intro-ed me to CBG as A's neighbor(they both were visiting A, who's married unfortunately). CBG offered her hand.
CBG(pointing to the window in my room): "you are the guy who sits in this room, right?"
me: "yes, i am"
CBG: "What's your name?"
me: "Ram"
CBG: "What does it mean?"
me: "It's a God's name"
CBG: "that's cool"
CBG(sniffing the air): "it smells great, doesn't it?"
BBG: "it's his deo"
CBG: "cool. it's very good. must be an expensive one"
BBG: "it's Voodoo"
CBG: "good choice"
It was too much for one day and i did blush a little. They did not seem to notice ;)
BBG(offering her hand): "Thanks for keeping me company, R-A-M. Good night"
CBG: "Good night, R-A-M"
me: "good night girls. Enjoy the remaining days in San Diego"

12:15 am, today.
me(asking myself): "What must be the title for the blog, when i do blog later today from work about the remarkable day that yesterday was?"

Voodoo's here to stay...goodbye Phoenix! ;)

After all, who cares what my first choice is?!

Around Southern California

The last 15 days were full of action for me. Practically know the roads connecting my house to the different hot spots in San Diego byheart now. Also have a good idea about the Pacific highway running near Los Angeles, which is full of beaches and to an extent the streets in the LA downtown. Drove 60 miles a day on average during this period...phew!

A friend, another friend and his parents, and another friend of his visited San Diego on the 27th of May. It was a long weekend. Went to the Pacific beach, went to the San Diego harbor and did go-karting that night...twice. a very expensive sport...wont go near it for another 3 months atleast, or so i hope. The following day we went to the SeaWorld in San Diego. what a place! the animals are simply amazing. although, at times, i felt like an ASPCA agent, i couldnt help but wonder the way these animals are trained. Shamu, the whale was amazing. So were the dolphins, the walruses, the penguins, the sealions, the sea otters, the sharks, the polar bears and the infinite varieties of the fishes. the entire day was not enough to cover every nook and corner of the place. bought a pass for a trivial $11 on top of the actual entry fee, which i can use any number of times through the remainder of 2006. hoping to go there atleast one more time this year. that night we met some common friends over dinner and remembered some good old times in Cincinnati. on the 29th, we started late, exhausted by the previous two days. We planned to go to the Malibu Venkateswara temple, near LA and return by 5pm in the evening, while my friends will drive to the bay area from there. Blame it on the amazing LA traffic, it was 9:30pm when me and B reached home that night. The only solace was the good darshan we had in the temple...

The next four days were really busy. Four day weeks are surely more taxing than the normal five day weeks. had to drive to the airport to drop B off, who was leaving to India for 10 days for his sister's marriage. Have to pick him up from the airport tomorrow, and that should put an end to driving more than 10 miles continuously, atleast for a while.

On the morning of the 3rd of June, i drove to LAX international airport, to pick up my cousin, whom i was meeting after about five years, his wife and kid, whom i had never met before. We checked into the Marriott in the LA downtown and set to Santa Monica beach after having lunch at an Indian restaurant. It was really hot and we couldnt stay there for long, cos of the infant. We then went to the Malibu temple(twice for me, in 6 days). kept driving on the Pacific highway for a long time, enjoying the scenic beauty and then set about to Beverly hills. We were all exhausted by then and missed our way somewhere and decided to skip it and went back to the hotel after having dinner at Denny's. The next day was spent in Universal studios, a miniature version of the one i had been to in Orlando in July 2004. Relived some of the old rides and enjoyed some of the new ones(ones that werent in Orlando). Mummy Returns and Jurassic Park were good in particular, and Back To the Future chose to remain my favorite. We spent a good time outside the Universal Studios, at the Universal City Walk and had good mexican food. I then dropped them at the hotel and returned to San Diego at 1 am. They chose to stay back for a couple more days in LA.
Work resumed on monday and only monday was relatively peaceful. Had to pick them up from the Amtrak railway station in San Diego downtown on Tuesday. They went to the World Famous(as they claim) San Diego Zoo on wednesday. took a break and dropped them off at the zoo and picked them up after work in the evening. We went to the San Diego harbour(twice in 10 days) that evening and spent some time taking pictures. On thursday, i dropped them off at the SeaWorld and then picked them up in the evening. They supposedly had a very good time at both the zoo and the SeaWorld. On Friday, i went really early to work(woke up at 5:30 am!) and returned early too. They just walked to a nearby mall and did some shopping and had lunch. We then set out to Old Town San Diego, where the oldest settlements were supposed to have been. There were a lot of shops and restaurants, all in mexican style. We had a good time there. Then we went to the Coronado beach in Coronado island, south of San Diego. The beach there was lovely. We spent over an hour there, taking videos and pictures and then set back to the Old Town San Diego for dinner. It was midnight by the time we reached home. Yesterday, all of us and my roommates went to an Indian restaurant and had some good food. My cousin's flight was at 2:40 pm and i dropped them off at the airport at 1:40pm sharply :D.

It was about 4pm when i thought of taking a short nap, cos i was feeling really exhausted. By the time i woke up, it was well past 11 pm! I went back to bed at 3 am and woke up again at 8 am and i feel rejuvenated as i write this. The last 15 days were sapping the juice out of me. But, i will have the memories and the photographs to bring to life the various places i visited taking away my tiredness with them...

God's biggest game...

It was 4am in India when my mobile rang. The number displayed in it was "+0". I knew it was my dad and I knew what he was going to say.
My maternal grandfather passed away at 2:30 am IST tuesday. He was 85. The magnitude of the news is yet to fully sink in me. He was so dear to me...rather, i was so dear to him. Staying miles away from home sucks. It sucks even more at times like these. I couldn't be there when my dearest paternal grandmother passed away in 2004 and now for him.
He was a lot of things to me. A source of inspiration. He educated all of his five kids single-handedly bearing all the financial responsibilities and made sure that all of them settled down well in life. My mom amazes me with stories on how he always made sure that all of his kids went on every single excursion in school and college despite a not-so-great financial situation at home. Borrowing money at the last moment from his mill owner was a routine act for thaathaa. Nobody in the family had any clue on how he managed to return all the money back...
He stopped wearing slippers during the freedom struggle and never wore them again until he was 75 when his kids and grandkids forced him to start wearing it, after seeing him struggle walking in the scorching sun. He worked until he was 70 plus- man, it wasnt a surprise at all then. when i think of it now, i feel so humbled.
He was a tall man, close to 6 feet and had a heart of gold. He was so restless after he stopped working. He was not meant to retire...but, like all great men, he had to...He wanted him to.
He was suffering from stage III cancer, the doctors amazed by the fact that he did not complain of pain until he actually did. They suggested that he bore all the pain and that there was no other possibility.
I always thought of him to be a strong man. I think I am thankful to God that I dont have to carry any sad memories of him, although the fact that i couldnt be at his side when he drew his last breath pains me a lot.
I spoke to my mom and she was struggling to talk. She was his clear favorite. I was always intrigued by the bond between my thaathaa and his first son, my uncle. There was not much external affection evident. I always assumed that he liked my grandpa the least of the five children. When my mom told me that he had been crying non-stop ever since thaathaa died, i couldnt quite believe it. But when my mom passed the phone to him and i heard him cry, that's when the fact that my grandpa is gone for good sunk a little in me. He said, "unna paththi kadasi varaikkum kaettuNdae irundhaar Jagan. Thanks for calling". I did not know what to say.
I know that my thaathaa is safe now from all earthly pains at His feet. I havent spoken to my paatti yet. That's going to be really tough.
I'll miss my thaathaa and his kadhar aadai...

Yet Another Tag

Tagged by Raz

Name 10 of life's simple pleasures that you like the most and then pick 10 people to do the same (optional). Try to be original and creative and no to use the things someone else has already used.

1. Singing out loud
2. Enjoying simple lyrics that convey big meanings with a teardrop trying to pop out of my eyes
3. Returning a powerful smash back to the opponent much to his surprise, in Table Tennis
4. Getting a batsman bowled with my slower ball in Cricket
5. Eye contact with cute-looking girls
6. Teasing my dad
7. Sleeping in broad daylight with comforter and heater on(sorry Raz- had to say this)
8. Utilizing the snooze button in my watch alarm to the maximum
9. Getting teased by my sister
10. Saying "Yes" to anything and everything my friends plan to do

I tag-
Shy, MJ, Nostalgia, Sri and Siva - do it if and when you guys find time...

God Bless You, My God...

Iniya Thamizh PuththaaNdu NalvaazhthugaL!

Am so getting used to making last minute posts. April 14, 2006 is history throughout the world except in the Pacific Time Zone of USA and in parts of the East Pacific Ocean(which is actually the west end of the world...interesting). Still, somehow i manage to make it in time.

Here's wishing u all a very happy tamil new year!

anaivarukkum yen iniya puththaaNdu nalvaazhthugaL!

I decided to give myself a small gift on this day. So, i gave birth to this tamil blog of mine. I hope to get the support(read comments in the new blog) of all the Tamil readers out there and those who are even remotely interested in this beautiful language.

keep visiting...

Courage...

Will I ever be able to do something like this?

Mizaz said when the fire broke out, Javed managed to come out safe from a burning tented enclosure but went back to help those trapped inside.

Anida, his mother, said, "Javed saw six kids were stuck in one corner of a tent and so he went back inside the burning enclosure to save them. He tore a part of the synthetic cloth that was used to make the outer cover of the tent to make way for the children."

No one knew then that Javed's presence of mind and exemplary act of bravery would save so many lives but claim his own.

May his soul rest in peace...

thanakkena vaazhbavan irukkayil iRakkiRaan
piRarkkena vaazhndhavan iRandhumae irukkiRaan

Vaira vari...

maNNoadu saeraamal nadakkindRaen unnaalae...

An evening away from my bedroom

Isn't it ironical that "bedroom" and "boredom" are anagrams? hmmm...

S called me at around 2pm on Sunday and said he'd drive down from Irvine along with his GF "R" at around 6pm. I was more than happy to say "sure". After all, we had met only once in the last 4 and a half years and got to spend only about 12 hours together then. He wanted to go out for dinner and spend some time here. It was a pleasant surprise cos one wudn't have associated S of the yore to pay friendly visits by driving 140 odd miles to and fro. He wanted my roommates to join us too. I thought "right!" and told him, "I'll ask them". As expected, one of my roommates had to iron his clothes and the other one was not feeling well cos he had slept at 3 am the previous night!

S and R arrived just past six. I was introduced to R by S and then I introduced them to my roommates. One of my roommates was going to the temple and we thought we'll join him too(hattrick for me- that too friday, saturday and sunday!). We then dropped him at home so that he could iron his clothes peacefully and then headed to the San Diego downtown. It's been four weeks since i moved to this place and this is the first time i got a chance to go there, thanks to S for that. Seeing the downtown from the ground was certainly worth the hype i had gotten twice before, when I had seen it from a few thousand feet above the ground, although the fact that it was all dark by the time we got there is a pity.

We went to "Sea Port Village", which was a cool place. We had dinner at a restaurant there(forgot its name- "Sea" something). To my surprise, there were "three" vegetarian dishes and i chose Thai noodles. They ordered shrimp, fish and Margarita. So, i had to be content with my food and pepsi!

We soon got into discussions about our college days. It was great to remember those golden days. S was telling about the problems they were facing. R's iyer dad wants an iyer maaplai for her. She was telling me that they are kind of "ok" now, after seeing his photos(er- how?) and all. They are going to India in July to face the music. Goodluck to them!

S was also telling me about J- about how J had fallen in love with a chat friend of his, who was equally mad about him apparently, about how he went to Canada to see her parents and about how she never spoke to him ever since he returned! It was a depressing story. I feel that online relationships are becoming banal these days. hmmm...anyways, J's moving on and is thinking of getting married in December. He's another nice chap. Deserves a lot better in life. Hope it works out well for him.

So, S and R saw my depressing life...yeah, my roommates. They wanted me to come to Irvine(LA) every weekend on Friday night after work and leave sunday night. It was so nice of them and was hard to say no to. Let's see. If not every weekend, am thinking of going there atleast once a month until i find some "friends" here.

They left SD at 11pm. Before leaving, he gave me a card. It made me feel nice. He has changed quite a bit and i am sure R must have made a significant contribution to this cause. Left me feeling a bit jealous. What on earth am i doing being single at 26? where are you, my girl? ;)

Vanity Shattered- Continued...

This is an interview with Sarath's mom, interviewed by Meera Srinivasan.

Monotony

Life has been REALLY monotonous ever since i moved to San Diego. The first week was the most interesting- staying at a friend's place, driving a brand new PT Cruiser, eating out, getting used to the job environment and such cool things...so u can imagine the plight since then.
Moved into a 2-bedroom apartment with two others. Both of them goto bed at 8:30pm on week days and at 9:30pm on weekends, making me feel guilty about sleeping "late" at 11pm. During grad days, 1 am was the earliest i went to bed, barring very very rare exceptions. Wonder how one moment people are young and the nano-second they start working, they become old. For all those worrying about not getting jobs and not being able to work...take my word- "working sucks"...not exactly because of working but because of all the revised schedule. Take ur own sweet time before facing the inevitable.
Contrary to popular belief, eating out has reduced a lot. I even carry lunch to office, which surprises even myself! Going to gym and temple are the two great pastimes here.
At last, i got something to talk about today. Went to the temple last night(it's just past 12 now) cos they had Ramanavami celebrations. That i would have been there otherwise too is a different issue. There I saw two beautiful girls(girls with sweet voices are known as "beautiful" in my dictionary!) singing Carnatic songs. The temple was full of people and i was forced to take a seat. I'd have stayed anyways, for the only other choices were going to the gym or cooking. So i took my seat at about 7:30pm and finally got to stand up at 10:30 pm to join the crowd in giving the artists a big and richly deserved standing ovation. Ranjani and Gayatri- the sisters, sang very very well. I found out only a minute ago that they are not as amateur as i initially thought they were. More info on them can be found at http://www.ranjanigayatri.com/ - kudos to them. Not for a single second did i feel like even stretching my legs during the 3 hour performance. It was absolutely engrossing to say the least. They are on a US tour now, singing in Cleveland this Sunday(tomorrow) and travelling to other places after that. As usual, i was lost in the crowd of Carnatic zealots talking about all the ragas n stuff.
I used to be part of SABHA(http://www.uc.edu/groups/sabha/index.html) during my grad days. Like most others who were there, i went to the orientation only cos they provided free pizza. As luck would have it, i ended up being the treasurer for that year and got the friendship of a few amazing student artists and got to meet a lot of renowned performers. We had a big SABHA family then. It was fun. The concerts were great and instilled in me an interest for Indian Classical Music. I was and am not comfortable with the theories, but listening to Carnatic music is a delight, more so if the song is in tamil. Learning it for 7 years, albeit against my will and with zero interest, did not hurt at all.
Cooked Maggi at 11pm and had it for dinner along with two bananas. Things are back to normalcy now. Winamp's singing "Maerkae Maerkae", roomies are into their 2nd quarter of tonight's sleep and i am feeling guilty about staying awake...

Veezhvaen yendRu ninaithaayoa?

THE Bond...

Nagesh, a 70 year old in the movie "Rhythm", says this to his wife...
"idhu oru sowriyam di enakku. enna thittinaalum nooRu roobaa kudutha maadhiri sirichukittae vaangikkaRa"
("this is a convenient thing for me. how much ever i scold you, you take it all with a smile, as if i gave you a hundred rupees")

Vanity Shattered

Just when you feel you are the best, take a look at this picture and feel humble...

indRu oru thagaval

listening to a winamp radio now...a tamil one. A few minutes back, a lady was saying some thathuvams, one of which went like this,

"selvaththai saemiththu vaikka siRandha idam yezhayin vayiRu"
got goosebumps immediately.

"thani oru manidhanukku uNavillayenil indha jagaththinai azhiththiduvom"
-mahakavi Bharathi

Tag- International Women's Day...belated

sorry for the delay, Raz! here it is...

Women whom I admire most in my life...my mother, my sister and a lot more...

"viNNavarkkum maNNavarkkum vilayattRa selvam peN...vilayattRa selvam peN"

Mother...
Reasons for liking :
1. Very honest and straightforward
2. Very hardworking
3. Very spiritual
4. Compassionate
5. She's my mom!

Reasons i dint like her sometimes as an adolescent(now i know why she did what she did):
1. Her straightforward behavior hurt at times
2. Demanding and Dictatorlike sometimes
3. Not very encouraging

Sister...
Reasons for liking :
1. Straightforward
2. Compassionate
3. Source of motivation
4. Very witty(never seen a girl with a better sense of humor)

Reasons for dislike:
1. Gets angry easily
2. Shouts a lot!

Foods I like:
Bhel Puri
Chipotle Burrito
PooNdu Rasam(cooked by mom only!)
ThakkaaLi Saadham
veNpongal
sakkara pongal

And then...

...i met my destiny!

procrastination

i procrastinate a lot. 9 out of 10 times, i feel bad about it, and rightly so. But there's no better feeling than that one time, when i feel so glad for having procrastinated.

I feel glad i procrastinate my anger. More often than not, my anger dies fastly with time. The longer i procrastinate, the calmer i feel. It avoids me "suttufying" someone with my "naa" and thereby causing "vadu".

I feel glad i procrastinate vengeance for it'd otherwise crumble all the faith i have in, "innaa seydhaarai oruththal avar naaNa nannayam seidhu vidal".

I get a lot of time to think when i procrastinate and i feel that my way of thinking gets better, the longer i take to make up my mind about something(eventhough i do not keep thinking about it all the time).

Procrastination educates me. Procrastination ruins me.

I am nothing and I am everything if i do not procrastinate.

Here I am, still thinking whether i should click on the "publish post" button or not. I think I will...

Logical Feelings...

just past midnight and she was lost in thoughts. she knew that opposite poles attract. but...

does the analogy hold good for people with contradicting views about most things in life?
****if yes, what is the binding force?
********physical appearance?
************if yes, is it not transient?
********if not, what is it?
****if not, what is this feeling inside her?

she was smiling at the way she structured her questions as if she were coding a program, something logical...

she knew one thing for sure. people with similar views get attracted to each other. but, for now, she only cared to know if the logical corollary was true. she knew she wished it to be false. but, is it? she was caught in a whirlpool of logic and feeling. the only problem was that her opposite was a logical thing and she was a feeling person...

"wish life had a simpler logic", she felt...

Happy Valentine's Day

to the millions of lovers and mere livers all around the world...celebrate love!

EDIT::::::Feb 17, 2006- 10 am:
changed the pic cos some of my readers thought the previous one was offensive and yucky!

EDIT::::::Mar 26, 2006- 5pm:
just realised that this pic is a beauty. It's tough to say whether the couple is walking towards the waves or away from it! My initial reaction when i posted this pic was that they were walking towards us and away from the waves, but now am not sure! Help me out on this, if you can...

Happy Republic Day!

Dictionary.com

Jealous

1. Fearful or wary of being supplanted; apprehensive of losing affection or position.
2. 1. Resentful or bitter in rivalry; envious: jealous of the success of others.
   2. Inclined to suspect rivalry.
3. Having to do with or arising from feelings of envy, apprehension, or bitterness: jealous thoughts.
4. Vigilant in guarding something: We are jealous of our good name.
5. Intolerant of disloyalty or infidelity; autocratic: a jealous God.

Possessive

1. Of or relating to ownership or possession.
2. Having or manifesting a desire to control or dominate another, especially in order to limit that person's relationships with others: a possessive parent.
3. Grammar. Of, relating to, or being a noun or pronoun case that indicates possession.

Anniversary...

It's been a year since i started this blog. Interesting to see that it's still alive. What started off with(as) a beautiful dream is still going on reasonably strongly and has managed to be more than just a dream...

My intention behind this post though is not to look back and relive old memories or to celebrate a year of successful blogging or to thank my readers for their support. It is to apprise my readers about another blog, one that was founded by MJ recently and one which aims to bring all patriotic Indian bloggers to write under one roof, as a first step towards creating a social organization which works for the development of India. As the description of the blog says, it is a dream vision of a clean,orderly and progressive India.

You need not be a person who fits in perfectly into the idealistic expectations the blog prescribes. I know I do not. It is enough if you want to be one and would give your best. Anybody without a cynical view towards India is welcome to join the blog and voice their opinions.

The central idea, in my opinion, is to get rid of the tentativeness most of us have in doing good things for our country. I believe that if it is acheived, half the work can be considered done. Working for the country without expecting anything in return, shunning the sense of embarassment one might encounter while failing, in an attempt to be radical and yet maintaining an optimistic view throughout the ups and downs are considered to be essential.

If you think you are someone who would love to spend some time and thinking for the welfare of India, please do send an email to MJ at LM20_iyengar@yahoo.com or to me at rammgopalt@yahoo.com or leave a comment to this post. We'll send you an invite that will let you post in our blog.

Every journey begins with a single step and I hope that this small endeavor of ours turns out to be helpful in some little way to our country...

Jai Hind!

New Blog URL:
http://myindiaasabeacon.blogspot.com/

Happy New Year 2006...

"30%", said I. "0% chance", claimed 3 out of 8 people. "20%", claimed a couple. "15%", said one and "50%", said another.

The 8 of us were returning by BART(Bay Area Rapid Transit) train from San Francisco downtown after watching the fireworks there at the stroke of midnight on New Year's Day. PK started this idle discussion by asking, "What % chance do u guys give yourself for love marriage?".

It can be safely assumed that all 8 of us are single as of now and in all probabilities have never had a gf. Our ages span between 24 and 26 years.

My reasoning for saying 30% is the strong belief i have in love marriage. I said that marriage comes first, love marriage next and arranged marriage third :P. Two of the three people who said 0% were convinced and convincing that if nothing happened for 25 odd years, nothing was going to happen in the future! The third, PK, was against getting love married for whatever reasons. J, who gave himself a 20% chance did so because he was planning to get back to school for MBA in the future, and SSB gave the same reasoning for his 15%. SMS, who gave himself a 20% chance did so considering all possible outside chances he might be having in the future.

The 0%-ers were convincing in saying that it was near impossible for me to meet a "single" girl, who'd be to my liking, with whom i'd be able to spend considerable time to fall in love, once i start working. Thus, they concluded that if i were to get love married, then i'll have to meet the girl through orkut or blogspot- in essence, it'd be a long distance relationship.

Tonnes of pessimistic thoughts were floating in the air and i was beginning to feel let down when BG said that he had a 50% chance. We were surprised to hear that from him. He said, "When i am not sure whether it'd be a love or arranged marriage, the % chance has to be 50"...and the 7 of us couldnt stop laughing for quite some time...