but of course

they should pay me to write movie reviews. I watch at least a movie a day. I notice tiny details in the characters, and sometimes even get so engrossed in the movie that I am at one with them.

so I think they should pay me to write this..as I tell you that definitely maybe is a must watch for all those who like the mush with some common sense and sensibility. I could predict most of the story and yet it surprised me and some and most of all made me feel good at the end of the day! and best of all got me to write (even if this post is full of and's)

fiction should be like that..running parallel enough to real life that you can imagine." hey this can happen to anyone" and yet manage to sort out the difficulties in a non-earth shattering way so you come out of the theater (or in this case the living room) feeling content that you spent your last few hrs sorting out some virtual life!

and this is partly addressed to my dear friends (if they ever should read this post since they think that this blogger has vanished for good!), fiction does not have to be inspired by real life. More often than not, its a tiny incident which triggers a train of thought, a wave of emotion, a burst of imagination all expanding to a dozen paragraphs of often rosy prose.
and the game that meghana plays in "jaane tu kya jaane na" namely "whats this?" is all it is.. really. you see a banyan tree she sees a witch with flying on her broom stick !

Get those moles out. Got to dig 'em roads..

Recently I have been complaining to my friends how the muncipality (county management...whats the word people here in US?) is not very different.

My friends argue .."oh its different, look at the powerful machines they have? In India they would have 50 people working on it!"

I argue back, saying "Oh but they have 5 people staring at the machine digging the road!"

Agreed, thats not much of an arguement, cause they do get things done faster here. But you cannot disagree with me when I tell you that they really like to work on the roads, as they do in Bombay!

Take for instance this road I walk by everyday to work. In last 5 years they have dug it up three times for sure. For various reasons. They dig to put new electric cables..
they dig to beautify the road...and my god...the latest..They dig to make the road NARROWER!!!

From Mars to Earth

In high school there used to be this silly joke floating around. The person telling the joke would be shaking hands with the listner and asking them questions about the planet earth. The joker if I may say so was claimed to be from Mars.
Jokers asks " So how do you have babies on Earth?"
The real Joker (who is buying all this) repeats some terminolgy learnt in a recently taught bio lesson about reproduction in mammals (very embarrased at this point!) and then feeling smart about it asks " How about in Mars?"
Joker then says " Oh, we do it by shaking hands..!"
Immediately hand retreats from clasp.. and the amount of laughter embarrasment brings is amazing.
Of course the smart Alec (or is it alex?) response is " Oh I was expecting that..that isn't even funny.."

Anyway, I was thinking if people had babies on Earth by shaking hands..very soon shaking hands in public would be termed obscene.....and all sorts of things can happen..censor board refrains me from writing any further :)

On a different note coming back to our dear Earth, I would like to call friday, September the 15th the All Rude Day. I got up feeling exteremely cranky, and unhappy. For some reason everyone else felt the same way too I think. Any store I entered, I would be met by unfriendly faces...no smiles..not for me anyway! One smile would have made a hell of a difference that moment..but then again I think..is everything around us mostly a reflection of our own self?

Some strange doings of Earthlings like me..
So I try save paper, use recycling..use the wasted papers from the printer for scrap paper (I do math you see..that takes a lot of paper..sometimes anyway!). And then I happily use kitchen tissue to clean my kitchen floor..who will bother to use a cloth and then wash it haan?
Storing organic food..(err..groceries..) in plastic containers only comes second to that...

Phone sshphone..

You and I don't make sense, Its like our friendship was an error in the global settings. A blip on the blank screen..the one that wasn't supposed to be there.
Its a miracle we have been friends for this long.

Hold on..what are you talking about ?

See there...you have no idea what we have been conversing about for the past 10 minutes..yet you refuse to hang up the phone

Hang up on you? When have I hung up the phone on you?

Ah..but you would like to won't you? I mean..we carry out these meaningless conversations everyday..for half hour..when you would rather be watching a movie or something!

Actually I am watching a movie right now. Except neither the movie or what you are saying makes any sense to me.

Which brings me back to my point na? We just dont make sense.. why are we carrying out this charade of friendship? For what 3 years now?

Ah come on..who else can I call and watch a movie at the same time and fail understanding both?

Why dont you just watch your movie? Am sure its much more simple to understand

I was only joking da...

See! I cannot even tell when you are joking and when you are serious.

Hmmm

Hmm what? Why dont you just go back to..oh am sorry continue watching your movie?..

Now that you mention it..its almost nearing the end.. I will call you after its done.


Grrr.. Wrong choice..see you dont know anything about me..you dont know when I mean something and when I don't. Well BYE then...!

Hmm..ok..Bye talk to you later

Overheard

"If their childern are getting so fat that they cannot get into child seats. They should just tie them to the back of the car and make them run behind!!!"

Very Offensive I must add, which is probably why I was amused that anyone should say that!

Say a little prayer

You know you are in trouble when you read the sign on a door saying " dept of so and so...Welding lab " as "Wedding lab!". It almost makes me sound lonely and desperate.. I say almost, cause in reality am not desperate, lonely..yes.. and that is just due to being a strange city.

Anyway, I have my own solution to all this. Like every good human being, I pray every night for all the wars to end..good things happen to good people. And then I have a secret prayer of my own.. which namely seeks a few miracles, like a husband, two children, a doctrate, a job at a univ in India..( I figured asking for a house to add to that list is way too much, some restraint is due even with greed!) appear lo and behold next morning..

Every night, oh god I say a little prayer for me :)

Ramblings

* I think Spider man is extremely realistic. Why else would it take a guy superhuman strength to profess his love?

* Is infatuation the first step towards falling in love? If so, why do people try to nip teenage love in the bud?

* I saw the graduate recently. My friend had told me that I wouldn't like it :) I can tell him proudly that inspite of the story, I loved the movie direction and great execution of good dialogues.. So as a matter of fact, I liked it !

* There are some songs which I like without really getting what the person is trying to say in the song. And then someday something happens, the song flashes back and I am totally feeling the song !!!
An example, take this song written by Joni Mitchell, i have only heard hte version sung by Paul young and Clannad.

Rows and floes of angel hair
And ice cream castles in the air
And feather canyons ev’rywhere
I’ve looked at clouds that way

But now they only block the sun
They rain and snow on ev’ryone
So many things I would have done
But clouds got in my way
I’ve looked at clouds from both sides now
From up and down, and still somehow
It’s cloud illusions I recall
I really don’t know clouds at all

Moons and junes and ferris wheels
The dizzy dancing way you feel
As ev’ry fairy tale comes real
I’ve looked at love that way

But now it’s just another show
You leave ’em laughing when you go
And if you care, don’t let them know
Don’t give yourself away

I’ve looked at love from both sides now
From give and take, and still somehow
It’s love’s illusions I recall
I really don’t know love at all

Tears and fears and feeling proud
To say I love you right out loud
Dreams and schemes and circus crowds
I’ve looked at life that way

But now old friends are acting strange
They shake their heads, they say I’ve changed
Well something’s lost, but something’s gained
In living ev’ry day

I’ve looked at life from both sides now
From win and lose and still somehow
It’s life’s illusions I recall
I really don’t know life at all
I’ve looked at life from both sides now
From up and down, and still somehow
It’s life’s illusions I recall
I really don’t know life at all

Fantasy

This huge craving I have for sweets results in me going to the halwai dukkan every day. Day in day out visiting leads to love of course. Before you know I am married to my dear motu halwai. I can imagine what happens ten years hence. He has a huge belly, he has a definitely a huge mustache. I sit at the counter looking after the finances (after all the math has to be used somewhere!).

In the mornings before the shop opens I stare at him lovingly, my motu halwai, stirring the huge kadhai filled with ghee. I will pour the besan while he stirs the liquid mixture.
Then there they will be, perfect mysore paks like mom makes.

In the afternoon, the shop closes for an hour. I make fresh chappatis for him. We will have a good meal, shared in silence. And then he presents me with a new sweet he has made. He puts the first piece ever tasted into my mouth. I critically assess it, and as always its perfect.

Around 4 the schools will end. In among other children who will pour in to buy sweetmeats, come in our children, chunnu, munni, gulu, nilu, vinu and sonu.
I will take them into the kitchen, serve them lunch. Then of course, they will also be included in partaking of the new sweet.

Evenings, the shop would be run completely by my dear motu halwai, while I look after the children.

Finally its night. After cleaning up, as we lay down to sleep, I remember the taste of the mithai I had in the afternoon. Tired and happy I sleep like a log waiting for another day to come :)

Rumor has it!!

Ignore the Italics if you want to see this movie. If not read on!

So what's worse
A man sleeping with three women in the family? to be specific, woman, her mother and her daughter!
or
that none of them loved him?

That is what came to mind after watching this new Jennifer Aniston Flick, a sequel to the Graduate.

Sinner

Oh my lord, forgive me for I have sinned. I have succumbed to gluttony.
Everytime I crave for that little bit of cheese, the smells throw me into the hollows of Pizza hut.
Everytime I crave for sugar, I am standing in front of that counter at the coffee shop; contemplating whether to buy the apple turnover, the muffin, the fruit danish or the brownie.
Everytime I smell coffee, there I am back again at the counter of my favourite coffee shop.
Forgive me my lord, cause I cannot bring this soul to stop from sinning.

Girly vs Manly!

Here are thoughts of a girl, or perhaps there are guys who feel the same way. Is there really a world of diference between thoughts and needs or a girl and a guy. I don't know, maybe you do!!


What really defines a girl or a guy apart from the obvious physical differences? What do people really mean when they say certain things are girly (is that how it is spelt?) or manly? First thing I can think of (thanks to all the FRIENDS episodes I have seen lately) is watching x-rated films is certainly a guy thing. Or is it? Does it mean that girls dont watch such movies? I don't know any girls who do but does that mean there aren't any who do? My sample set of friends could hardly represent a random sample? (that's the mathematician in me talking!)
Or does it mean that its unmanly (or unguyly?) not to watch such stuff?
How about shopping for a girly thing? For starters I hate to shop and I know several guys (well.. at least two!) who love to shop for clothes. Whatever does that mean? There are several things which are traditionally characterised to be a particular genderlike(?) but doesn't that make everyone an exception. Surely each and everyone of us will not be doing all of those things!
Its really hard to define these differences. One of my best friends is a guy. And we talk a lot and share our views on several topics (didn't try to count these! ). I think (and I really speak for myself cause he is not going read this being a guy and everything!) that we understand each other very well. But clearly if there is a world of difference between guys and girls how can that be true? I wonder if we came up with a questionaire for instance
Do you like to shop?
Do you watch x-rated films?
How often do you visit a parlour?
When was the last time you took a bath?.... you get the idea and wrote up a computer program with it ; how many times out of 100 would the program guess the gender right? 100 out of 100? 90 out of 100? Your guess is as good as mine ;)