If only turtles can fly

ilamaiyil varumaiyum vanmaiyum kodumai!!!

A beautifully directed movie with fantastic perfomance by the Children.

A heart throbbing end, a true longing for a girl's love, a genuine brother-sister love and a splash of innocence filled with bravery to face life and death !

World cup fever in India- men in blue

and more ..

petition to Lord muruga

Dear Lord Muruga,

As I am suffering from sickness caused due to loneliness,nausea due to the never ending winter of this bareland, depression due to the lack of any activity in this town other than going to work from 6am-2pm, fits of rage and head ache caused due to non-stop complaining about lack of communication skills with my "would be", occasional leg pain due to 5 hours wait at DSM airport trying to fly out on stand by sometimes, I kindly request you to make all these problems vanish when I wake up tomorrow. If you fulfill my wish I will make my "would be" to fast for you for 45 days, put holes in his mouth and insert 1 big vel and walk from madras to palani.
Ps: Could you also add to my prayaer the following:
I dont want to see scrubs or foot ball for the rest of my life. I hope you will niravethify my venduthal. "There is only one sitcom, "FRIENDS" which is funny rest are all unfunny", please put this message on your LCD screen tomorrow.

Thanking you in advance.
your abimana bakthai.

Women's day and mammogram prep

I got this as a fwd ! Please, if anyone dares to try any of these, do let me know your experience.

Disclaimer: if you try any of these,it will be solely at your risk! The blogger will not be held responsible for any of your actions. The blogger is not responsible for the below posted content.

Happy women's day to you all!

"Many women are anxious about mammograms, but there is no need to worry. By
taking a few minutes each day for a week preceding the exam and doing the following xercises, you will be totally prepared for the test and best of all, you can do these simple exercises right in and around your home.

EXERCISE ONE:

Open your refrigerator door and insert one breast in door. Shut the door as hard as possible and lean on the door for good measure.Hold that position for five seconds. Repeat again in case the first time wasn't effective enough.

>EXERCISE TWO:

Visit your garage at 3AM when the temperature of the cement floor is just perfect. Take off all your clothes and lie comfortably on the floor with one breast wedged under the rear tire of the car. Ask a friend to slowly back the car up until your breast is sufficiently flattened and chilled. Turn over and repeat with the other breast.

EXERCISE THREE:

Freeze two metal bookends overnight. Strip to the waist. Invite a stranger into the room. Press the bookends against one of your breasts. Smash the bookends together as hard as you can. Set up an appointment with the stranger to meet next year and do it again.

YOU ARE TOTALLY PREPARED!

AND, just a thought for all the women out there........

MENtal illness, MENstrual cramps, MENtal breakdown, MENopause............

Ever notice how all of women's problems start with men?.........And
When we have real trouble it's HISterectomy!!!!

Send this to all women to have a laugh AND, don't forget to have a
mammogram!!!!!!"

visit to the past

Wonderful trip, nostalgia, murungakka poricha kolambu, poli,rasamalai, tons of dust, tons of gossips, share auto,designer sarees, shopping,mottai maadi, ponnu parkum function, my engagement, cousin's wedding,phenoyl smell,kaapi podi aroma, kusalam visarikum act with mamis and mamas, paal cooker whistle, kolams and all.... worth waiting for 5 years!!!!!


This is with reference to my last visit to madras in 2002 vs recent visit in 2007


Things that have remained the same in Madras nalla madras

Saravana Bhavan menu and quality
I tried 2 new dishes 1) a new type of dosa with almonds, kish mish (??) it must have been soaked in 2 litres of ghee. I was given a dosa space mountain which hid the the delicious sambar and 3 chutneys (green, orange and white)inside the triangular dome.
2) Paneer spring rolls! I could have just ordered that for dinner, so good and I was so full after the 4 the roll! 16 hours of shopping, aching legs, growling stomachs, fine cuisine at Saravana Bahvan was just priceless.
hmm hmmm good! My tummy is growling and its lunch hour now!

Tnagar rush
The same road encroachment by stalls and the pori kadalai thallu vandis, the guys selling fake plastic bubbles, peacock feathers, guide books to all school/college courses. Mr.Saravanan Selva Ratnam seems to be the hot buzz in every corner, those mega structures tearing the tnagar sky, holding million dollar worth house hold items, and people just love them! Thank god! I didnt step into any of his stores, I wanted to save myself from being torn apart, people I heard literally rip off your clothes in there.

Our house in Pallavaram



thenga vazhukai+Elaneer ( tender cocunut + coconut water)
its 15 rs in anna nagar and 10 rs in mambalam, they got to live too you know, IT people down down!


drinking water of Chennai
but this is not what we drink, its called "mineral water"



the mamis in paatu Saree

waah wah! True Tamil culture !



auto rickshaw- the most talented drivers in the universe



Things that have changed


mamis with cell phones hanging around their necks which is covered by a plastic case to protect it from the dust


mufassil bus stand and police in maruti cars



saree with a pocket at kumaran stores!!!


If I can remember some more I will post more!!!


I am so glad to see the gas stations displaying 75 in Des Moines since yesterday, teh spring is finally here. Thank you Mr.Surya Bhagavan, finally you heard my kookural!!

Now I am all in the mood for Poo pookum osai and pretend to be kajol and sing it aloud from my office on 14 Th floor!! Wonder if people will perform " Harrison ford Jump" from Fugitive.
Have a happy spring people!! here I come Macy's, Jc penny, old navy and to all your bros and sisters!

what I would like to see in chennai this time...

I am ashamed to say that I selfishly stayed in the US for the last 4 years. Not that I accomplished a great feat here. I would like to blame it conveniently on my parents for having visted evry other year and the INS. It is going to be exciting apart from visiting all my relatives, cousins who have grown humungously and eating every possible edible vegetarian item, and put on atleast 30 kgs.


so this is my wishlist.... my fav 13's..

1) get myself drencehd in sweat and a 1 inch layer of dust and dirt on face trying to emerge from the ocean of people after a 13 1/2 hours of shopping in T.Nagar

2) Foot boarding the famous electric train, while trying to distinguish singarai chennai's distant koovam fragrance from the indian oceans's moist winds...

3) one plate dosai + speacial masal vadai in local hotel

4) Vazhai ilai full course meal from paysam, pachidi to thair sadam + oorgai to, chakkara pongal/poli, if possible take my morning break fast cereal in fresh plantain leaf..

5) Mottai madi gossiping and analysis of onnu vitta athai's cousin's daughter's sister in law's in appropriate act during a shastiabdapoorthy.

6) saravana bahavan one lunch special.

7) marina beach bajji .

8) besant nagar beach ashta lakshmi koil.

9) bumpy tvs 50 back seat ride from pallavaram to Sanatorium via chrompet.

10) revenge those ba**ds for having fondled me in my long hours in Pallavan from avadi to pallavaram, may be I will carry a pen knife and may be I will teach them how to do it right! The least they will enjoy is imagining those moves! Right Right!

11)catch those precious scenic palalvaram spots in my canon digi cam remembering the streets decorated with human and animal poop.

12) how can i forget the cat fights at the corporation water pipes if at all they still exist..

13) Dance till i pass out for all the gana songs on my cousin's wedding day..
Can somebody ask them to stop !
by the way, what are they doing, seems like the bride is humping and the groom I dont have words to describe his mindblowing steps, I wonder how his post show performance turned out! Somebody forgot a crate of Rexona deo's!



I will continue my next post if I can think of any....until then I wish me a Bon Voyage!!

Best wishes to you!!!!!

Its been on my mind since last year July and I have not being paying attention to it since it is inevitable and also very silly for my age. When I start thinking about the near future, a couple of months ahead and on a long term this small irritation will vanish away in thin air I am sure. It is sad now but that’s how life works for every one. I rewind my time back to 2001, I didn’t like it very much then, I even used to avoid you sometimes but every year it kept growing, something best I hav ever had and now it will be gone and will be irreplaceable.

Happy but envious
Rejoicing but mourning
Contented but dissatisfied
Welcoming but dishonest
Loving but cruelly jealous

And Now I will be short of a hand in my life!!

Chinmayi, a new singing trend

Just found out that Chinmayi had a blog, I have always been fascinated by the other life of gifted muscians, she is a budding one. I have never been upto date with Indian songs. I wish they could play good ones on the FM here in US! I ended up listening to whatever was on local FM radio not because I am into Hip Hop and western, I was simply lazy and dindt have a laptop.Occasionally when I ride with other Indian friends or my my cousin or in the mood, I catch up with the new Indian songs.

8/10 songs are mere noise, filled with loads and loads of crappy lines inspite of good vocal talents, sometimes bad music too.

AR has never failed to introduce us to the younger voices and one among the good ones is Chinmayi, she has a very modulating voice and her song from Kannathil Muthamital is a true example of how good she has been performing.

I wish these talents could be put to use in producing classic songs that can linger in our minds longer.

The recipe needed is an understandable lyrics using only Tamil and not Tanglish literature, a simple tune with no jarring effects!
I havent heard many of her songs but she definitely has a very inviting voice and I hope she will be able to keep up with the other zillion Indian singers.

As for me, I will pretend to be a Chitra in my world and hum "Kulal oodum Kananukku..." and hope to start a productive day.

I know who blogs at 8:57 cst! This is the productiveness I am talking about.

the Shasti days ..... but in the negatives

http://soapbox.msn.com/video.aspx?vid=7cf533e3-3204-4784-b73b-27d8abca01f5

I am just cursing every day here in the mid west, I see the sun , but what the hell is it for! 20's and 30 's are warmer temperatures now, chicago is worse than Des moines, I really wish I could be in madras now, damn this midwest! I wish I could kill some one so that they would deport me and never come back to this filthy cold place ever but I am a good girl, I have to think of other options now.
I am just wishing that this winter will go away when I wake up one of these days. Every Feb day is going to be single digit day ( in Farenhiets).
I was shocked the other day to see a water bottle frozen in the car that was left over night!

My wishes for this winter

1) 3 months of paid sabbaticle (for both of us) in hawaii or even madras is fine!
2) if not 1 then have a personal shopper to do my groceries and work inside my 2 layers of blankie at home
3)drive a car that would warm up to 100 deg as soon as you turn on the engines.
3)no cooking, no showering, no walking, no thinking and no working!


atleast 1/4 of my first wish will come true soon, I hope!


Oh lord muruga this is a sincere appeal from me to you to make this everyday torture of freezing and defreezing routine to stop now! I get it you like to play sick games with me, but enough, dont punish me because valli and theyvanai are on vacation!

mangalyam thanduna nena...a blog because of a blog

Everthing Happens For Its Own Good

- My Vakkku moli

I was going to take the journey through the most travelled road to matrimony along with my parents holding my hands like a kid in a flea market, first stop registering in a website and next stop "ketti melam ketti melam". The website is supposed to be a genie lamp that would reveal my supposed "love of my life" (who created these terminologies) but the deal was you get as many attempts as possible to rub it ,if you pay 40 $/month. It was the most exciting and the most stressful task I have ever done on my own. The M word had cast a spell on me too, this parents seekin a groom process was something that I wanted to avoid. But I had to give it a shot....

It began on Dec 5, 2005, I spoke to few of them but I just couldnt feel that it was going to happen when I talked to some men. Most of them(3/4) were good marriage materials but they were not for me. The most bizarre experience was a phone call I received at 11.30 pm, no offense but I just have one que for him " are you crazy"?
These are few of the commandments/codes/rules from my book of " How to approach a prospective matrimonial female candiate" :

"Thou shall not call in the middle of night to talk about marriage"

"Thou shalt compose an email asking if it would be okay to call and ask for convenient time."

"Thou shall not talk about thoust's (??) bad experiences no matter how bad they were, this is not a charity business so dont beg for a marriage"

"Thou shall never ever ask a girl the first time if she is interested in thee"

The funny thing about this was I didnt even have a clue whom I was talking to.

On Nov 8 , it was supposed to be a casual (phone)talk between myself and a guy from Tamil Matromony.com that my parents had okayed again. I have never had a problem conversing with people, it is very easy to do the loose talking. But this time it was really tough, the first conversation itself made me so uncomfortable, I have never been in a situation when I didnt know what I wanted to talk next, we covered all basic topics such as schools, colleges, what we like to do, I felt like I was interviewing him. It was probably an hour later that I wanted to bid him good night to end my tragic conversation which was going nowhere. I was probably sweating. This became the case, we both wanted to talk but didnt know what!

I had always thought that a companion meant giving "company". I am not here to conduct a monologue, and I cannot imagine myself staring at each celing corner while he watches his favourite football , becasue to me futball is greek and latin. So I started having a grave concern about this guy, whom I liked otherwise for his character, but how much can you know in 10 days. A truth about me is If I am quite I am either sleeping or I am moody. It would be difficult if he is not a " I will try talking" person.

Something was clear, he was interested in me and so was I, he didnt want to avoid me, so I kept talking. I thought may be he needs time to come out of his shell and talk openly. We talked for 10 days and I think some how I found him very interesting.

I finally told him about my concerns and he said he needed time to open up. I thought "Okay I can wait ...... but then how long?" and then one day he fwded me his blog
http://boomboommadu.blogspot.com/
I am actually very new to the blog world and thought this is going to be one of those " I woke up , I ate, I went to work, I slept" kind of blog but still I was curious to know about his dark secrets.

After I had gone through his entire blog archives for an entire day at work, my entire opinion about him changed. I told him "You didnt have to talk to me at all, you could have saved a lot of time and energy if only you had shown this to me earlier"

I had instantly like his writing, he was creative and witty in his blogs. I enjoyed reading every little tid bits.It is strange but I told him right away that I was very interesting in M...ing him( you know what I mean).

How we met and what happened before, then and after is an experience I will always cherish, may be I will write about it sometime. Things got finalized after Nov 18.

It was a roller coaster ride for 9 months, I started very slowly and went through few exciting and few boring loops and then finally I realized it was not my ride, mine was that small ducky ride in the pond that is going to keep me smiling forever.

My road trip has been very memorable and thanks to my parents, for making my journey not entirely boring.

So my advice, try the roller coasters, they are simply exciting!!!!!

The "M" word

Whatever happened to the age old tradition of "Bride watching" ceremony?

The first thing that comes to my mind when I think about the " Pen Parkum" ritual is Visu's " Samsaram adu minsaram" where he describes the rava kesari gliding through his tongue and his throat and then kamala kamesh singing their family song " janaki devi ramanai thedi". It is simply damn funny.

My mother is no exception to this. Whenever I ask about my parents first date, my father enjoys narrating his sarcastic version of how they met infront of just 30 people and my mom singing,the screech of a mouse caught in a trap version of "Marugela ra" and my grand mother singing along with her. I cannot stop but laugh everytime I hear that. Whenever I ask people Why do people always pick " Marugela ra" ? I have never got an answer. I would pick the same song too if I were to sing one. Thanks to the great Thyagarajar , he has helped in tying so many knots!!!!

Most of the Indians debate during those long potlucks and trips to Vegas, Niagra and Atlantic city about arranged marriage vs love marriage and we just end up nowhere! Not all of us are fortunate to find love at the coffee shop, a subway station or even the Indian potlucks, every eligible person you meet is either engaged or married or boring.

I dont know if there is any other option than arranged marriage for most of the (so called) "shy" Indians. We simply trust the age old selection process because we (until my generation) are not open to the dating ritual. I think arranged marriage is the next to best feasibility for Indians. It is either arranged marriage or none at all.

The only difference I see between the 1960's and now is that the parents let you choose from the eligible candidates that they have shortlisted based on 3 criteria ( family, education and career) minus the rava kesari, bajji, coffee and the pitiful girl singing marugelara tradition. I think some of us are saved from this " pen parkum" disparity by running away from home for job, studies or what ever reasons!

I seriously dreaded every time when I talked about myself like a worn out record player, asking the same questions, same boring jokes, I always asked myself if I will ever feel "it" when it is the right person. It is frustrating to be judged by someone and be either rejected or being pressured to make a decision, it is like a "fake dating" setup by parents/friends/relatives for all the single Indians that unfortunately sucks big time.

The only way I can I think of eradicating this uncomfortable situation is that we should all be encoraged to choose whom you want to be with right from our teen years. There would nt be a single Indian guy who wouldn't have had his eye on a girl by the street corner and waiting for his signal to make a move at the girl he has been watching for atleast a 2 months, the girl in turn would feel like a princess because that guy who is also not so bad looking is flirting around and thinks she is special. But what happens? ultimately, Mr. Eeeti meesai daddy finds this out and arranges a hasty marriage and sends her off the house to a vetti guy who doesnt even know what major she took in her college. The rest of the guy friends learn the lesson and stay bachelor until their dear mommmy and daddy pester them and ships a bride from the city to the US. It just becomes impossible for the young girls and guys to try out dating in such situations, hence the eloping, the sneaking, veechu aruva etc .....

Somehow not all us very talented in attracting the opposite sex, the moment you meet a guy/girl, you cant relate to marriage, its always " Ah No way I would kill myself if I were to be with him/her" or " I will definitely be rejected" attitude but occasionally there are some happy lovey dovey romantic couples who successfuly make it to the top of the marriage ladder.

Since we Indians ( atleast until my generation) are not used to dating concept, it is difficult to go and openly express our interests to a stranger even if you like her/him. Therefore unless you accidently meet Mr or Ms Right, you are bound to fall prey to the arranged marriage. My short journey for a man quest has been an interesting and an intriguing experience and finally fruitful.

You just need to wait patiently if you are desparate or you can chill out until you are ready to be sucked into the knee deep debts and home mortgages!

As chris Rock says " Married and Boring or Single and lonely", its our choice!!

Think Think and Think atleast once before you talk!

Whats the worst thing that one can say to someone who has lost his/her mother recently

me: " Happy new year" ..
some one:Hey Happy new year ..Were you travelling to the east ?
me:"No I was in Chicago"
some one: oh ! did you enjoy your trip?
me:yes I did, did you have a good new year celebration, did you meet your mother and the rest of the family.......???

tchhhh ouch ..... wrong question dumbo! why could nt I just say " ok c u"

Men and Long drives

1)Men enjoy long drives.
I dont understand whats enjoyable in just staring at the road continuously for hours and the opposing traffic blinding you with their bright lights.

2)Men dont talk when they are driving, because now they have a reason not to.

3)Men dont let girls drive because for some reason they think they are better drivers and also its a " guy" thing.

4) Men dont like to take stops, because god forbid their companion(s) will stretch and take rest for sometime and he cannot.


So here is a piece of advice to all guys, if you enjoy driving so much why dont you just drive by yourself. I would rather jump off a cliff rather than counting the number of signposts during an entire 8 hrs drive.

95 vista express-so near yet so far

It’s a new experience riding the bus and it’s the only exciting routine that I look forward to everyday.

6.45 am
I am practicing for my upcoming marathon on April 30th, right now my timer is set to 4:30:15 to get to my bus stop and I am aiming for 1:45:30 in India since it will not be cold. I think I should be ready at this pace.

6.50 am:
It is our family heritage to make up for the sleep that we loose in the morning else we don’t function effectively during the day. I think there is nothing close to the feeling of catching a small nap without having to worry about getting caught by your next cube office neighbor. So I settle myself in a nice cozy rear corner of the bus and get ready for my happy quarter hour.

7.05 am
I pat myself for being able to doze off with less effort and also being able to reunite with my 6 ft tall, masculine American dream boy with a big grin and saying all things that I like to hear. I usually don’t have any songs or dances 'coz I like to save time and energy.

7.07 am:
Give my attendance via phone to someone and remind "the someone" of the tragic virtual death (murder) of the Udupi owner's daughter after their duet in Ooty golf links.

7.08.45 am:
I eavesdrop the Asian guy's conversations with the rest of the group, he is a funny guy, some times he even teases me and I don’t usually get their jokes, then I gape at the " laugher's" hair style, who is very pretty for her age but laughs like a stuck engine trying to crank up, then I scan through all the usual riders, the lady who never dries her wet hair, the old lady has too much mascara, another oldie from my bus stop who smokes like a chimney and I try to register the good dress styles of the other ladies, most of the old ladies tend to read books, I tried reading but I couldn’t pretend any longer, so I gave up. A small chat with my other Indian female colleagues about sleeping late and having no comments to offer, I end up staring at them with a fake smile.

7.10 am
Get down at my stop

4:10 pm
The funny driver greets us with some remarks about how I stagger to get my bus pass out, as usual I pretend that I understand and I laugh and move inside.

4.12 pm

HE gets on the bus with his colleague, the first time I saw him he was reading " fast food Nation" and was talking about the book, I was eavesdropping again... he always talks the entire time to his colleague and it seems like a monologue, then a cheap thought comes to my mind if I should use the old Tamil movie trick of dropping something and asking him it belonged to him and then say hi.. Now I know why people watch Tamil movies, aahhh our wasted lives... then I put that idea aside and reiterate in my mind like everyday ......
Good looking - check
Well dressed- check
Not too tall - check
American - check
Smart - check
Has a job - check
Not too old - check

4:35 pm
the last 20 mins goes by talking to my roommate and other Indian girls, some boring jokes but all my conversation is just to cover up my "sight" process, I smartly orient my seating arrangement diagonally across him so that it is not too obvious, I know its an age old trick but it works.

4.40 pm
All of us (including him) get off outside my apartment complex and I sigh to myself for not having met him before 4 weeks!!!!!!

I thank the Lord Almighty for giving me yet another fruitful day!!!!

This is hilarious, some creeeeeeeeeeeeepy christmas lights!!!

http://www.uglychristmaslights.com/2006_collection/dazzling_balcony.html