Saturday, September 04, 2010
misfire
Friday, March 12, 2010
My so called names
Saturday, August 01, 2009
Inevitability of Ugly Singleton Invisibility
Wednesday, April 22, 2009
Wednesday, October 22, 2008
Fall is here
We went to the White Mountains in New Hampshire last weekend and it was worth all the trudging in the marsh in the bitter cold, completely working the pink paded snow coat (with matching gloves & hat), all the panting and the puffing because the group got to be together for what could quite possibly be the last time.
Yes readers, we have a couple of weddings coming up...we have moved from single friends to friends and their significant others(who also became our friends) to finally become diseparate units of married couples and those that remain behind(mayor - yours truely).
Having landed in NH a week after peak fall season ended, the single tree in front of our rented cottage with the leaves in tact had maximum photo op. We cooked breakfast and dinner, ate together and drove around.
Now its done and done.
Future is left to look forward to,
Rain
Sunday, July 13, 2008
Get Smart whether you know it or not
Yesterday was Aneesh's birthday and he is the baby of the group so I came from my new place, back to where I used to stay as the boys' neighbour until a forthnight ago, for his birthday celebration. And what a lovely celebration it was, consisting of Music, Dance, Violence, Comedy and some Romance (ever present if you put so many 23-28 yr olds together in a room). Some Comedy/Violence parts were even captured on tape and posted in a popular video site (courtesy Dinesh who seems to have a penchant for shooting people at their most unfortunate time - being beaten, getting ragged .etc.) I had a brilliant time and spent most of the night/early morning in hysterical fits of laughter.
Celebrations were planned to continue in the afternoon with 'Journey to the center of the Earth' [3D] but exactly 15 mins before the actual start of the showtime planned, it was found out that our friendly neighbourhood movie theatre only offered the 2D version thus draining the very reason why anyone would choose to go to the movie in the first place. By a curious twist of fate, we decided to go to the city to watch movie instead. Yuvaraj and the boys thought we were going to the city theatres to catch 'Journey..' in 3D while us girls were of the firm opinion that we were going to 'Jaane Tu Ya Jaane Naa'. Needless to say there was a bloodless coup ensuring that we ended up going for the latter, much to the chargin of a certain someone. Only, we were an hour and a half early for the next show!
This was highly disorienting for all of us since none of us had previously ever committed the faux paus of being over-early to anyplace. So we stood outside wondering how to kill time when someone said we should go to another movie if only to stay cool for the next hour and a half, so after a quick show of hands we voted to go in for 'Get Smart' and that was a serendiptously wonderful happening. Although he may be a part of the 'Frat Pack' (an astronomical no-no) I am a huge fan of Steve Carell. He simply cracks me up and comes across as a very intelligent, sweet and genuine guy in every character he plays (from The Office to Evan Almighty and to a very teeny-tiny extent 40yr old virgin) and Get Smart movie is such a feel good action comedy/ parody that it plays right into his strengths.

Anne Hathway is a nice surprise; otherwise known for her sugary sweet roles in Princess Diaries duology (is that what they call 2 movies in a series?) and Devil Wears Prada, she really makes you believe she is a badass field agent of C.O.N.T.R.O.L and her chemistry with a much older Steve Carell is really worth mentioning and definitely can't be missed. Rest of the cast also fit their roles so well that its a summer delight as the movie scampers at a brisk pace; a special shout out to Alan Arkin, The Rock and James Caan (a very funny President).
I may not have seen the serial that this movie is based on or the 60s original Get Smart movie but this movie is worth watching by itself (although some insider jokes may have been lost on me) and I sincerely hope the sequel (which are sure to follow) don't butcher all the positivity created here.
I was the last to leave the theatre of Get Smart as the rest were already in the one playing 'Jaane...' or in various stages of getting there. So the price I paid for watching Max Smart mini-harpoon himself yet again was the wonderful melody song that plays endlessly in my iPod this past week - 'Kabhi Kabhi, Aditi...'

When I breathlessly made it in, the young group in the movie were already graduating from college luckily that is when the story really picks up. So Aditi (from the eponymous song, aka Meow) and Jai (Singh Rathore or Rats) are really close among the group of 2 other boys and equal number of girls. As is true in most mixed groups there are mutliple love triangles- Rotlu has a one sided undeclared yet widely known feelings for Aditi (who along with jai is oblivous to it) and Bombs (Sandhya) has a crush on Jai (again...oblivious). And as a consequent resolution the two bond over their unrequited feeings. Jignesh (Jiggy) is a happy person who invites everyone to his own surprise birthday party, who's hair is a highlight (pun intended) and Shaleen is the cool guitar wielding punk dresser who sees what is going on all too clearly., i
The parents, in the film, are a bunch of excellent performancers from the best of yesteryear theatre and telly- Nasiruddin Shah keeps you in splits although he never even exceeds the confines of a frame, Ratna Pathak is the activist lawyer brainwashing her son into non-violence, Kitu Gidwani and Rajat Kapoor are the dark antithesis of the endearing couple of Jayanth Kriplani and Anuradha Patel (the beauty from Shilpa Kumkum covers!!!).
The young cast members have done neat jobs themselves. Good launch pad for the lead pair, aptly used by Imran, but I for one wasnt too impressed by Genelia, who according to my humble opinion has to work on her acting skills because cutie pie looks are transient.
The movie is refreshing, cute and many may connect with the storyline of friendship, how love seems to creep in somewhere unnoticed until its threatened by jealousy. Anyway, here is the spoiler - It ends on a happy note. [what a shocker!]
On the whole, a lovely entertainer with wholesome appeal to the whole family, another winner for Aamir Khan who already wowed yours truely with 'Taare Zameen Pe...' [which is in a whole different level of wonderful]
Doubly plied with feel-good so feeling good-good,
Rain
Monday, June 23, 2008
Four Days in Beach Paradise
The Bahamas trip started on a whim to act on dreams that some of us had, of traveling to a beautiful Caribbean island and forgetting normal life, even if it was only for a few days.
The time was May 2008 and the place was Nassau, the capital of the Republic of The Bahamas.
The experiences from those 4 days were so complex, myriad and colorful that I have taken it for granted that I will probably never be able to successfully capture them in my words. All I intend to do here is just put in a few markers to stimulate my memory for a later time so as to recapture the stories and happenings engraved in the secret language of my mind.
Admittedly, its not comfortable for me to extol my virtues or the heights of my feelings of achievement or joy. I don’t even like seeing many ‘I’s in any of the content written (which is probably wrong grammar too).
But in order to best capture the fact that it was me who went about doing these incredible things and seeing beautiful sights in this island that still retains its quaint and picturesque British Colonial flavor, I suppress this aspect of me, and narrate the highlights of my trip-
I smiled non-stop for 2 hours at the sheer familiarity of the land (which seemed a dead ringer for some coastal Indian town) when we landed in Nassau,
I lived in a room which let me gaze into the ocean when I opened my eyes in the morning,
I dove down the Caribbean (where the depth was 65,00 feet, just a trench after where we were) and swam with the Reef Sharks,
I kissed a bottle-nosed dolphin called Salvador who proceeded to show off his football skills,
I swam among the rainbows of fishes in the blue-green lagoon,
I lost $60 dollars in 2 magical nights at The Atlantis,
I jigged on the road side when the parade of drummers and dancers passed us by and they called us to join them.
I drank unbelievable amounts of saline water and still held on to my bearings,
I was stung by Jelly fish while I gazed at a sunken Cessna Airplane made famous in Jaws,
I shopped in straw market where bargaining was the way of life and realized how much I had un-learned it in my time at the US,
I took a self portrait snap, underwater, while snorkeling which was universally reviewed as ‘scary’ among orkut friends,
I felt gratified when the local people called me ‘Pretty Girl’ in their oh-so-exotic lilting Caribbean English,
I ate every lunch in a Thai place which was the solitary source of quality vegetarian food, I played the demure damsel protected by the boys, on the night about town, when we were the only non-locals in Arawak Cay,
I splashed around with my friends in the hotel pool and was unsuccessful in teaching a certain person to swim (to his satisfaction),
I had my photograph taken swinging on a street lamp a-la ‘Singin in the Rain’,
I saw in my minds eye how clearly two people in love just seemed to ‘belong’,
I noted to my surprise that I didn’t mind 4 days without cell phone and internet,
I was happy to jump off the boat into the welcoming waters like a small uninhibited child,
I bought rum cake that Bahamas is famous for (Bacardi factory is situated in Nassau)
All this and a thousand more lovely moments- all of which I remember, most of which I have not documented, forms My Vacation to the Bahamas (a lovely addition to my passport entries). I thank the four other co-travelers for making this very special time so much more wonderful than I had ever hoped. The Bahamas is one place I would definitely revisit in a heartbeat; having said that its only fair to also point that some of us made a pact that when we come back for trip#2 we would be able to live in Atlantis resort (Which has to be seen to be believed)
Travel is the best education and I hope to be a world scholar in that way J
To this world, and beyond!
Rain
Sunday, March 23, 2008
A Holi day!
Today dawned like any other saturday [and here I stop about my rising habits] and my wonderful friends decided at 2 that we are leaving at 3 to go to the New York International Auto Show [how typical really...Men!]. Then at 3.20, I was still at my house looking for something to hold up my recently loose pants [by way of my circumference reducing....Thanks to hectic project!] and made a frantic call to my girl pal who was also coming to ask if I can borrow hers when she informed me that there are people in the corridor waiting to ambush any desi that crosses the vicinity and that she was lulled into opening up the door by one of the guys in our gang [or "The Family" as its being called now on account of the supposed pairings that are rumored to exist]. Next thing she knew, she was colored bright pink by 10 strangers and one grinning turncoat, who she assumed was there to get her since we are going out.
Having listened to this moving story of triumph of human spirit ['Yaam petra sugam, peruga iv vaiyagam' - Let the joy I got be propagated to the rest of the universe], I still reiterated the importance of holding up of my pants for the rest of the day and she agreed to come over.
As I opened the door for her, she told me that "the people" were "attacking" the apt of the guys.
Naturally, I had to look in that direction! [As if anyone could have ever not looked]
Unsurprisingly, I was immediately spotted by the Holi Gang for the crime of still sporting my skin color and they made a turn to my house.
I pulled my friend in with my lightening quick, superhero reflexes and turned the lock of the door with almost suave yet rapid moves before the fastest of the predatory gang could even bring a toe into my threshold. Then I proceeded to calmly announce to the guests of my roommate about the dangers lurking outside, jerking them off from the comfortable states of relaxation that they were indulging in, in our living room. Meanwhile, outside there was a curious silence after some rapid shuffling of footsteps and I posed the question of whether anyone was outside [to no one in particular]...pat came a reply of my other friend from the other side of the firmly locked door [one of the guys who was 'attacked']
"They are here", he said [Poltergeist theme music plays].
Immediately there were thundering knocks that broke the spell of uneasy silence which had settled by then. Indistinct cries were heard which I assumed were encouraging me to open the door and introduce some color into my house and my rather terrified guests. I yelled to my unseen door knockers and asked them to not proceed with their plans as I had guests; an attempt which even I knew was nothing more than a grand gesture [Like when Moses marched up to a mighty Pharaoh and said - Let my people GO!...except, not as great as that]
Then, at that very nick between consecutive subdivisions of time, I knew what needed to be done. I marched out and firmly locked the door behind me. My state of readiness to go out be damned!
"Happy Holi" I said to the lively enthusiastic group of my countrymen [and I include women here] and they greeted me with a non-uniform and out of sync version of the same celebratory wish and proceed to turn me green and yellow. They were also kind enough to have me partake the Holi sweets and made my day even more wonderful!

Happy Holi, all...Spring is Welcome regardless of the name of the actual festival.
Go out and hug your neighbour, develop that feeling of community and make someone's day!
cannot take an Indian out of India ;)
Rain
Thursday, October 11, 2007
A mutlitude of topics
Me? I cook to eat and not vice versa (or was the question originally live to eat vs. eat to live??)The fact that I am alive and rotound should clearly be a shining tribute to the smackiness of my preparations and I have nothing to say/prove to those yukking smartypants who like to pretend that I cant cook. [mentally include a swear word for them...thanks]But lets proceed to that all important activity for life sustenance - Eating.
Of late my feelings for this once "strictly mandatory hence I am doing it" act has changed to that of "ooh i would like to eat that and that and that......" :) and love springs eternal!
I have become a foodie, my people!
Does that spell furthering of my width-wise expansion? profound yet logical train of thought says YES.
Is it going to make any difference? probability of me ever finding out that I am the Fattest person ever is zilch, so what is the big difference in being fatter than a million and 24567 people as opposed to be fatter than a million?Zilch again! Hence the munching continues.
Forces of evil (Read-the fashion industry) are trying to stop this run of food enjoyment by subliminal messaging in a not so subtle way. of all the places in a trouser, they have printed a string of keywords in a loop around the waistband that says "Feel Feminine Discover Be Confident Beautiful...." etc in pretty italics only so that the wearer while casting her eyes on them will feel the obligation to stay away from anything that affects the waist. But the dark side is not getting to me one bit as the following have a stronger hold on yours truely - Potato dishes, Burrito Bols, Soy burgers, Subs, Pop Corn, icecream, waffles, Spicy Veggies....Ummmmmmmmm [author drools and the keyboard short-circuits]
Speaking of pants, I have inadvertantly stolen the innocence of two of my male friends while venting the unfair practices of the sadistic fashion industry by depriving women the essence of trousers - the pockets. I also rectified the situation by asking them to feign surprise/ignorance when their significant lady discusses this with them. That may seem not so positive but it will prevent the following scenario:
Her: So my keys/lipstick/card is in the handbag somewhere [rummages a trendy bag that once used to be a part of some reptile]
Him: [typical lack of patience] I wonder why you have to mess with putting everything in that bag. It'd be a lot better if you had pockets in your pants like I do.
Her: [bag forgotten, focussing lasers on the target] How did you ever find out that womens pants dont have pockets...[Quick flashback of dialogues from several Romance novels/movies - "You are the only girl/lady/woman in my life"]
Him: Um...Ahh....Uhhh [a dull alarm ringing sound in the back of the head indicating fatal danger prevents any coherent thought]
[Everything goes black and there is a shrill scream of a dying animal]
So with the weather turning wet and chilly and me not having enough exercise to justify the eating, I am going to have to rethink my new love, but not right away [Eternal Procastinator]. Yes, Fall has arrived late this year but it has and several batches of my friends have made the pilgrimage to New Hampshire with due religious fervor. I was planning to go last weekend but there was no accomodation available [I mean the Columbus weekend had 60K people going into that tiny little state] and whatever was bookable seemed to have the following words (occuring one or more times) to describe itself - Romantic, Couple, Firelight, Jacuzzi, Getaway, Rekindle, Honeymoon, Wedding...which by itself was a big turn off for me, but the honest version of the rooms description should've used the following words - Old, overpriced, wishful thinking, no free breakfast, is he kidding me, expensive as hell, what-would-I-do-with-a-jacuzzi-in-the-living-room.etc.
Thats ok, I have better, more rocking travelling plans that makes these Fall Drive tours to pale in comparison!:)
Eat, Drink and Be Merry,
Rain
Saturday, June 09, 2007
My Rocking Life
I got into rock at around age 13 and have stayed firm to that despite being comfortable with my other aspect of enjoying carnatic vocal and instrumental with all my iyer proclivity for it. Soon as my sister grew up, I had a partner in crime and she took to the genre of music like fish to water. Then we had a in-sync period where we would shut ourself in the room, block out all sources of light – natural or otherwise and headbang without inhibition to the raw and elevating sounds of Metallica and U2. Our parents knew about it, yet they were too scared to see us showing symptoms of possession, so generally let us do out thing uninterrupted.
Then the disciple took over from the Guru and went leaps ahead; she turned traitor to the cause of legitimate rock and became a boy-band fanatic like all the air-headed pre-teens. She decided that she didn’t think techno was too synthetic, embraced mainstream western music in all its commercial crassness and we started to go our separate ways since.
Here, I met Gowtham in September of 2006 and learned that he is one of ‘us’ [Us being the lost tribe of Rock worshippers who all died out when natural selection favored pop worshippers]. He told me that I had missed going to the Aerosmith open-air concert, right here at the steel city [AEROSMITH – I am not worthy!!!…*groveling actions*]. We then proceed to, as a group (having been joined by the ultra cool Avanthika) haunt the nearby concerts, thus providing me to strike off the following Gods of Rock from my list of “Perfomances to see before the artists die…” [I mean, C’mon they live lives of – Heavy Fuel a.k.a Sex, Drugs and Violence]
Guns and Roses
The debate of Slash vs. Axl Rose aside, this was a totally awesome experience and I was so thrilled to be right there when the strains of ‘November Rain’ filled the stadium. Me and fellow rock head Gow went all out and fell for ‘There was a time’ from the forthcoming Chinese Democracy and I will be happy to endorse that there is a whole lot of ROCK in GnR left to unleash into the mundane universe!
Nickelback
What is not to love about Nickelback? They are a quintessential basic rock band – heady guitar and drums sounds, Meaningful lyrics and a very good frontman. We had a totally wonderful time at the concert, despite us reaching there a full 3 hours after the concert began [thanks to Friday evening office traffic at downtown
That was the day I taught Aafiya to make the universal symbol of rock, which she is yet to master, and say “Rooooocckkkk!” with attitude, which she has down to pat :D
G3 – Joe Satriani
This one was not my idea. Admittedly I listened to ‘Rubina’s Blue Sky’ on some lazy Saturday afternoon in fm and introduced Joe Sat to my sister. I don’t accept any responsibility to the consequences which finally have now led to her becoming the High Priestess of G3 worship. Any how, Gow and Sow by their independent efforts sold me into going for this concert. My hesitation was incremented by the fact that the concert happened 2 weeks after my having imitated Jill [who came tumbling after] in my staircase. Nevertheless, I went, it was a different parallel universe where were almost no vocals and Guitar was all and I was glad for the learning.
- Sting
- Bryan Adams
- U2
- Metallica
These are just in my “MANDATORY” tag. I would love to catch other performances of significant bands and Individuals who I admire, during my stay here, given of course the requirements of - company to go with, travel to and from venue, reasonable ticket prices are met.
Congratulations Buddy!
God Bless and hope you guys, ROCK!