Sentimental fool

I've never been big on goodbyes. Ever since I was little. And there is something about airports that make me weepy. Considering I have been away from my father from when I was very little, this is a surprise. You would think I would be used to it by now. Evidently not. I remember when I was a young and we were in India while my dad was in the Gulf, my brother and I would spend 11 months of the year looking forward to the 1 month my dad would be in India with us. That was our holiday season. We had the whole fun of the year in that one month. Needless to say, when he left the gloom was darker than the ever. Eventually as my dad moved back with us to India almost parallel to my brother going away to the US, I began to look forward to his arrival. Having never been away from him it was a heart-wrenching experience when he first left. And thereafter his arrivals marked my holiday season. Indeed my classmates from college will probably remember that I barely came to college when my bro was on his holiday. That changed too. Because I was the one leaving home next. And then it was all about making those India trips. I know people talk about "brain drain" and all that. But forever since I left home, going back even on the shortest of vacations has dominated any talk that I've had with anyone. Not just mine. Everyone's. It was the biggest news if anyone was going to India. And it formed the absolute core of the months surrounding it. I guess it's the vicious circle. People want their earnings to be in a currency of higher value so that there is more to spend of it back home on vacation. With the current rates of things in India, I am not even sure that's happening. Anyhow, the topic of this post was to do with goodbyes. The airports I think have always signified separation for me. I first flew when I was 3. Though I was going to meet Appa, I was bidding goodbye to Patti and all. That was separation. And when everyone cried, so did I. When we came back to India, it was usually joyous as we came back as a whole family. But eventually we would stay the holidays longer than Appa could and so another separation, for however short. Then we settled in India and needless to say Appa's visits were very very animated but his departure made me just as sad. And the cycle kept continuing. It's only relatively recently that we've been making 'family' trips via airplane. Usually in India it was by train.

With the number of country hops and nomadic adventures that I've had, once again, you would think I would be used to leaving people behind - my roomies n friends in Cincinnati, amazingly a cat in Iowa, dear friends in San Diego and family in India again. Yet, today I left S at the airport with his India trip preceding mine by 20 days. Emptiness once more. And it's so much worse when you are the one left behind to face an empty house and mundane life. And there's something about leaving someone at the airport gate (or being left by someone) - I think it's the finality. It always, always brings a lump to my throat. I hate airport goodbyes. Or maybe I am just a sentimental fool and need to grow up.

Happy Birthday to me

Well, I am obviously not one of those people who shies away from getting whatever wishes possible from whoever. In fact my friends will recollect many years when months before my birthday I start hinting around for things/favours. It's all as a joke of course. And I think it was inculcated in us from a very young age that the birthday was a big deal. Many people I've seen have outgrown "celebrating" it. I mean everyone probably does the dinner outside thing. But very few go the length and do surprises and cakes n candles and all. And this is strictly when you are out of grad school. In fact so many people share the perception that it is just another day in the year. I am of a slightly different opinion. Yes it's only another day. but it's ONE of 365 and in a lifetime, with any luck you'll have like 80 or more. And when it's that countable, it's worth the celebrations.

Traditionally I have been the 12 o clock person. I love to wait for midnight and get hugs and wishes and calls. I also love getting wishes all day, phone calls from friends and family, ecards, emails... everything is an indication that you matter to these people so much so that they've taken the time and effort to do what they can to make your day a little extra special. But things have changed over the years. It's a bell curve of sorts, having reached a peak between 18 and 25. I once remember having had 98 phone calls on a birthday, it having been a holiday. It was a highlight of that year. Traditionally, my family's always been excited about birthdays and for as long as I can remember, we've had a midnight cake cutting. Add to that the gifts. When we were very young, the day dominated the celebrations - wearing "colour" dress to school and standing out, making it obvious that it was your special day, handing out chocolates to your classmates, getting "Happy Birthday" sung to you and all that. And then the early dinner with the family. That was that. As we grew, it included night stays from close friends. All our Kadalai nightstays on all our birthdays formed the crux of our celebrations and still forms a crux of my fondest memories. With all the friends that mattered and the family of course. Grad school - it was different. Everyone who was new in your life tried to etch their way into it. And it worked for the most part. Some of my most cherished friendships were made here and my 4 birthdays away from home was made very very special by roomies and best buds alike.

This year was even more different. Not just was I half-asleep by 11:30pm and S had to hold me up to wish me and for the cake and all, it was just the 2 of us and I was looking forward to just spending it at home. No fancy parties, no major things to do. But I did get a "birthday dress". Having had that in common with every birthday of mine, I didn't want to break the pattern. Things change I guess. But this was as subtle as special, having an adoring husband try to add his touch to your birthday. It was sweet and very special.Thank you S. And thanks to everyone who's called and mailed and scrapped. Each of your wishes makes this day extra special. :)

Movie Review - A Wednesday

Warning - Spoilers ahead.

It's been a very long time since I wrote a movie review. But this movie warranted one. My dad had touted this movie for weeks even as he CD-mailed me the DVD. As is usual in such cases, I was expecting that it wouldn't live up to the hype that it was given. I was wrong. It was everything and more.

It had stellar performances from everyone in the movie. In a short 95 minutes, the movie manages to grip the viewer and make every frame powerful. Of course at the helm are 2 of India's premier performers delivering unfailingly yet again, Naseerudin Shah and Anupam Kher. The director Neeraj Pandey has ventured a bold script with just the right actors. The plot revolves around the wrath of a common man played by NS, who is outraged at the (lack of) action by the police with respect to even the terrorists who had been captured and held in custody. Misleading them to believe that he is a terrorist himself, he manages to force the police into accumulating 4 major terrorists at a single secluded location, with the promise of revealing hidden bombs that are poised to rip the city apart. The climax of course is when he blasts the terrorists instead, rather than the city and turns out to be a hidden samaritan. The plot is crisp and very fast paced and has the viewer glued for a well-invested 95 minutes. The end whilst unexpected is inspiring and it is indeed a bold movie by Bollywood, given the fact there are some undeniable ties between the industry and the real underworld.

To me at least, it was thought provoking and I found myself reflecting what would be the 'right' thing to do, ethically and morally. And it has that 'Indian' (movie) kind of feeling. All in all, definitely worth your time, but not one of those timepass movies that you can watch while doing something else. Give it the time it deserves. The dialogues are definitely worth that much.

****1/2

Bye bye Ganguly

I wanted to say many things about this man I have watched and drooled over in the past. But my brother pretty much surmised everything I could ever say. Here's his post. http://wwwews.blogspot.com/2008/11/ganguly-my-icon.html

All said n done.

Cups of life

This has nothing to do with Ricky Martin or football or a world cup of any sort. This is a different sort of cup that S n I collect at every place we visit, together or not. Its a shot glass collection. I know many people do that. In fact at one of S's relative's homes, we saw 3 large glass cabinets full of shot glasses from many many countries/places. Many others collect refrigerator magnets or some other souveniers of sorts. Still others don't get anything. It's each person's individual taste. But to me, collecting souveniers is like leaving footprints on a remote beach. Just like though the wind and waters will eventually wash it away, you'll know you've been there. Only this is the other way around a bit. The shot glasses we collect brings to mind my memories from the place like snapshots. It reminds me of what I was doing when hunting it down. Of course there are photographs as well but these are stronger somehow. S has taken to my childish indulgence as well. And we enthusiastically scourge places for these readily available souveniers. It makes my trip complete. :). Here's ours so far :)

Le Mont St Michel

This one was planned up in the skies alright... It rained for most part of the day as we got there to the Northwest tip of France. The skies were gloomy and the prospects of seeing the breathtaking Mont St Michel rise up into glorious skies seemed unlikely. But even as we parked our car, the skies parted and the sun peeked out. And this is what we saw -



It's little wonder that this is the second most visited place in France next to the Eiffel Tower. And even as we finished walking the length and breadth of the mountain and the abbey, the rain started once more. It was all timed to perfection. Lucky us.

Great Bretagne

We were in Bretagne, one of the regions in the Northwest of France this past weekend. And the food here is typical - crépes and galetes - savoury pancakes, filled for main course and sweetened for dessert. Crépes and galetes are very similar to our Indian dosas. However they are made of wheat rather than rice and dal and they aren't made as crispy.

And to drink, there's cidre (cider). We were in a bunch of places in the region, notably Le Mont St Michel and St. Malo. And every corner has a Créperie and virtually every place we tried was fabulous. It's like one of our dosa diners which can serve a 100 varieties of dosa with just the basic ingredient the same.

And it's not just the food. The region is gorgeous and the people helpful. In fact we met a very helpful couple at one of the Créperies but that warrants a different post altogether. And this post is just about the food. There's more to follow from our little weekend getaway.

Nothing like home

I love travelling, seeing new places and everything and I would do it many many times... but the feeling of coming home is unique. It's peaceful, its welcoming, it's warm and comfortable and mainly, it's yours. No place can feel better. But like many things, the distance makes the heart fonder and you truly appreciate home only when you have been away from it and then of course, no sleep is as good as it is on your own bed. Besides, the feeling is multiplied if you've had a tiring weekend albeit fun-filled, with over 1000km of travel in 2 days, add to that being the only driver. I've had the joyous homecoming twice since last night - once when we actually got home after the trip last night and once today when I went to return the car. You might wonder why the second time. The rental place is just behind my house and naturally to return the car there, I opted out of taking the GPS. As luck would have it, the roads were closed at certain points for maintenance and an innocent hunt for a U-turn turned into a massive diversion from my ville (city) to another. Throw in a couple of highways and it's chaos. After accurately memorizing the path I was taking and needing all of 1 U-turn to just turn back, I found myself on the highway. A couple of exits later, I landed at a familiar sounding locality and in there after a few circles around the town center, finally I caught sight of signs pointing to my city. The gush of relief was unmistakeable. In a few short minutes, I had the car returned to it's owners while I got back to the sanctity of my sweet home.

Parking in Paris

Pure nightmare. And I don't live in hardcore Paris. I live in Ile de France. I just spent the last 60 minutes (it felt like eternity) driving all sorts of circles around my house through the one-ways and what not. To top it, the spot I found finally is about 15 minutes from home and I spent another 10 minutes parallel parking in the space that was exact for the mammoth that I had gotten for rent. The only good thing was that it was not a busy street... or I'd have had cars queing up behind me giving me sour looks. Now I know why many people don't have cars around here. There is no space to park!! Yes, our building has underground parking. But we are not allotted the space unless we actually have a car. So that means we are left to find spaces in the streets. Hmph.

Preferential Passports

My nephew, Boo has an American passport. So does every kid born in the US I guess. Last night we were out for dinner with some of our relatives. Of the 4 of them, 2 had Australian passports one, an American one and one an Indian one. They were describing how there was minimal scrutiny for the 3 'foreign' passports as opposed to the one Indian one. This is not surprising. I must thank my stars for having been pretty fortunate in obtaining whatever visas I've wanted though my 25 years of travelling. However I know of so many people who've not had as much luck, who've had a variety of visas rejected for seemingly no reason at all. First, I find it preposterous that holders of a certain passport require visas for certain countries as opposed to others. Like if you hold an American passport you probably don't need visas for short stays for a hundred countries that I would. The world's immigration rules have got to be the same for people across all countries. Who's to say that the "privileged" ones aren't there to stay for a variety of reasons. (I write this, assuming that most countries fear that they will be immigrated into on a permanent basis by the person entering their country). I could be wrong. There could be a lot more funda behind this than I could possibly know. However, I just don't see how being "born" in a country and thus bestowed that passport exonerates you from possible illegalities/or whatever it is that is of concern. Shouldn't the rules be same for one and all? I am not suggesting that everyone sit and increase the administrative paperwork by ensuring that everyone else gets a visa etc for everything. Like the European union has a pretty cool concept of the Schengen visa which means that with a visa to any one of the countries under the Schengen treaty, you are welcome to enter and leave any other country under the treaty. There has to be some umbrella like this for other countries as well, which makes it easier. But it does irk me that the American junta for instance can override any Schengen requirement and are free to enter anyways. Why preferential treatment? Because these are the so-called "developed nations"? So what if our country is "developing"? In what administrative way does it make us less reliable or less-trustworthy? In fact I suppose their fear is that educated as us lot is from these countries we are likely to "stay" in theirs for the "opportunites" perceived there. I fail to see the whole point, I guess. If there's something that I am entirely missing, someone illuminate me.

Does anyone else have any opinions on this? Let's talk about it.

Obama wins

After what seems like an agonizing year of campaigning, if not more, after Obama vs Hilary and then Obama vs McCain and then the entry of Sarah Palin contrasted to the quietude of Joe Biden, after talk about the Alaskan lady's dress sense to wardrobe to family to prank calls to God-knows-what, the results are in - Obama is to be sworn the 44th American President and the first black one. Here are some news updates -

http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/front/la-na-ledeall5-2008nov05,0,4114011.story
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/us_elections_2008/7709978.stm

And I am not even in the USA. I was rooting for the Democrats in any case. And having spent quite a lot of time following this on World news, I am glad it's over.

Bye bye Kumble

All you cricket fans must be updated on this news. India's spin pillar for the past couple of decades and recent Test captain, Anil Kumble announced his retirement all of a sudden from all forms of the game. Here are some news articles on this matter -

http://content-uk.cricinfo.com/india/content/current/story/376672.html
http://ibnlive.in.com/news/kumble-retires--pics-farewell-jumbo--your-say/77288-5.html

I have been an avid follower of the game in the past. I think I gave up when I lost the means to keep updated while I was in the US. I did see the World Cups but India's dismal performances didn't keep my interests piped up. And I have slowly weaned myself from the game. The 20-20s did suddenly perk my interests and I was amused by the IPL (With a cricket-crazy husband it's impossible to keep completely away from the game. I even saw half the $20 million 20-20 game beteen the STanford Superstars and England). However, I do remember the days back in school when cricket endured as a common religion amongst all of us. As a matter of fact, during all major matches, we count on our class boys to have a pocket radio to get match updates in between classes. Or we had those school-side neighbours just behind the cycle stand who would yell scores for our benefit every now and then or when we yelled out for it. And then, we were a group of girls who had their personal favorites in the game. Mine was Jonty Rhodes (I went as far creating a website for him which if I may add was very popular) for as long as I can remember. I do remember that many many girls had a crush on Anil Kumble back then. This was about 15 years ago, mind you and he seemed quite dashing back then to our roving eyes ;). And then there was the historic test match against Pakistan where Kumble picked up all 10 Pakistani wickets. I saw the match with my brother. I don't think I'll forget that achievement ever nor will I forget the way the other bowlers bowled to the batsmen once Kumble had picked about 7 of the 10 wickets. It would have been immensely spoil-sporty had one of the Pak batsman had lobbed off a ball off another bowler just to kill the chances. They played sport and Kumble created history. And then there was always his pace of bowling, with him never quite as slow as you have come to believe spin should be, nor achieving any major turn of the likes of Shane Warne. He always seemed more of a medium-pacer to me. Enough of my visesh tippani. Here's raising a toast to Kumble - for all his contributions to Indian cricket! Happy Retirement!

The best vs the rest

Once you get used to the best, it's very hard to go back to the rest. I've learned this the practical way. As a student, I experienced the 'rest' firsthand. And after marriage now I get to experience the best. (Actually that started sometime after I started working having graduated from school, but this claim makes it sound even better, what say?) Before my family starts wondering if they haven't succeeded in offering me the 'best' in every way back when I was home in India, let me put those thoughts to rest. I am exclusively talking about the time that I have lived away from home.

These thoughts all occured to me when I was sitting at the coin laundry mindlessly watching my clothes toss and turn in the tumble dryer. As the clothes merrily danced into dryness, I caught sight of a white sock, now sooo pearly white that it was virtually unrecognisable from it's earlier self that can only be described as blackened at best. The difference was unbelievable. Who thought a machine could wash every garment soo well? I then realized that more than the machine itself, it was the detergent that made the difference. The clothes never felt this clean when we were previously using even the powder Ariel. But enter the liquid Ariel I am never going back to any other detergent. Makes me think back to the days at grad school when we used to buy something, the brand name which I can't remember because it wasn't economical to buy 'Tide', the best-selling counterpart out there for 3 people with laundry weekly.

The laundry is just an example and a very feeble one at that, on the topic that I am harping on. Here in Paris, alongwith my brand-conscious husband, I have had the fortune of experiencing really what the brands are about. We shop at Sephora, a very popular perfumerie that stocks the most famous brands in the world. I've found my scent there - Pure Poison by Dior. Once you use something like that, it's impossible to relapse to the happy days of Bath and Body Works sprays (though I love their bath products still). And then when we bought the perfume there, we were given samplers. This is what kills you. They give you free samples of some of the great stuff that they stock. For me, it was a J'adore (by Dior) bodywash and body lotion. I was sold. After using that, who could go back to buying Nivea or Faa? Not me. Yesterday I bought the full-size version. As for my husband, he is a walking n talking 'Jean-Paul Gaultier' brand ambassador (except he doesn't get paid for his conquests). He not only takes his personal care products seriously, religiously refilling every time he is out, he has sold no less than 10 people on the same products, some as unlikely to pick it up as my brother (Now my bro is soo sold on it, that he has located Sephora near his home in California for refills). If JPG agents are looking for representatives, please contact me for the details of my husband :D. That's what I am talking about. There's certainly more than just the names to the brands, if not in something less important as accessories, but in something as important as personal care. Having used Dior makeup also, I find it hard to use much else. What's the end to the story? Empty pockets, in a manner of speaking. Is it worth it? Maybe... after all, life is about living.

The Awakening

Of the simplest kind... of literally waking up. Chill has taken hold of Paris and most days even for a quick riser for me it feels really awful to be getting up away from the cozy warmth of the comforters to the cold, hard wooden floor and the sudden chill that engulfs you before you reach out for that sweatshirt. Every person has a different way of waking up. But for me it has always been the hot hot shower minutes after I rise. Nothing refreshes me better and wakens me faster and happier than that. For all those of you who are wondering - no, not even my morning cup of Felix Felicis aka Chai! For S, I think it's the laptop. Almost everyday, I can catch a glimpse of him bleary-eyed and yawning no sooner than he's tottering out of bed to go and push the laptop screen up to waken it even before turning on the room lights and with that the dull glow of the laptop illuminating his face (in more than one way, if you get my drift!)

On a completely different note, October has clocked the maximum posts for me... and none of them totally frivolous. Cheers to October! And here's welcoming my favorite month November :D

The Time-Thought inequality

Everyone's faced this. When you are deeply involved with something the time seems to melt by whereas when you are not, those 5 minutes you have wait for the train to arrive feels like eternity. I've experienced it first-hand many a time but today just jolted it back on me. I left school a bit early, it being terribly chilly and not being helped by the incessant boring drizzle. And all the way over to the train station, I was pondering a solution to a process problem that I was facing in my research. Absently I checked the schedule monitors and registered that it was 9 minutes to the next train, in other words, eternity. But as my mind was occupied with reaching a solution the next thing I knew was throngs of people rushing out of the shaded area towards the train that had arrived. Musing to myself at this marvel, I climbed in and leaned against my usual bar once more lost in thought. And after what seemed like merely a moment, I stared out the stationary train, glassy-eyed and unfocussed. The train blared it's closing horn 3 seconds after which the doors would shut. Just at that second my eye caught the station name.

Val de Fontenay

My stop. In a flash through the closing doors I darted out to the platform, shocking the many idling passengers I am sure. I couldn't believe that I was so consumed with my thoughts that I hadn't noticed the train make it's customary 3 stops before my own. Of course you know how it is when time never goes by. It just doesn't! There's certainly an inequality when you are occupied and when you're not. And its only glaringly obvious when you are unoccupied.

Dhideer Rasam

This post is dedicated to Priya. Get well soon.

Well I am sure most of us have come home some day feeling all tired and too bored to cook, or sometimes just too late to whip up anything interesting. Times like this though we probably end up binging on some junk there's always the hope that there was some comfort food. This one is mine. It's saved me a lot of trouble many a time and what's more its positively delicious and it's actually on the menu atleast 2-3 times a week among other dishes.

So for all those people who want a 10-minute yummy desi recipe or for those bachelors who wanna cook or just for a lazy evening here's my dhideer (instant) rasam recipe.

Hint - for the impatient, just read the blue-coded words for the order in which to add ingredients to get this done with!

Ingredients

1. A can of tomatoes (if you have fresh ones great... but the can saves time)

2. Butter - 1 dollop

3. One lemon or juice from 1 lemon

4. The usual rasam ingredients - rasam powder (3-4 tbsp), asfoetida ( a pinch), mustard seeds (1 tsp) and salt to taste

5. The extras (if you want) - a few curry leaves and a sprig of coriander for garnish, ginger if you prefer.

How to make it

1. Take a saucepan and melt your dollop of butter (you can use oil but the taste and flavour from the butter are totally worth whatever calories that it may add!)

2. Allow the mustard seeds to crackle and add the curry leaves, ginger and asfoetida and fry for about 30 seconds.

3. Dump the can of tomatoes into this crackling mixture and add salt to the tomatoes for all their water to seep out while cooking.

4. As the tomatoes boil, add water equivalent to the can of tomatoes to them.

5. When you see the whole thing froth from all the boiling (in about 2-3 min), add rasam powder to it. Let it boil for about a minute and turn it off.

6. Now add the lemon juice to it and stir it in and finally garnish with coriander and voila... you are done!

Serve with steamed rice or have it just as a soup. It's quick, light, flavourful and tasty. Try it out and let me know how you feel about it.

Notes:
1. You can always add cooked toor dal just before adding the rasam powder to give it more volume. Take care not to add too much or it'll end up tasting like sambar.
2. You can also add garlic at the stage you add ginger for a different kind of flavour. As it is a strong ingredient, avoid adding too much of it.

Boot-ed

Ever since I've gotten to Paris, I've been taken by a shoe obsession. You'll know what I mean if you've read Happy Feet and it's sequel on this blog. And here I am... yet again with a new pair of boots. These are ankle-high and I had been on the lookout for them. And they're black... so no worries about matching with anything else. They are smart, chic and at the cost of sounding like Monica (in F-R-I-E-N-D-S), I must add that they go with almost every attire. Look for yourself...

(P.S: It's hard trying to get the SLR to focus on both your feet especially with no one to help AND when you are wearing the shoes and are bent at a very acute angle trying to reach the 'CLICK' button on the camera.)

The Planner

No, this is not about the electronic one, not even the book style one. This post refers to those people who as a part of a 'group' are most adept at planning the social events for all those involved. And it's a lot more fun when there are other people as enthusiastic as you are to try and coordinate an entire get-together or event and to be responded to in an even more enthusiastic fashion. Hell, the second lot didn't have to plan or work out the logistics. They simply had to approve or disapprove of the potential plans made by the Planners. Back when I was at UC, we had a huge group and consequently there was always more than one person who was all 'enthu' to plan out other people's birthdays or Diwali bashes or just Saturday night dinners. I guess it was either the age that we were back then or the fact that everyone was single and so all company was welcome or both, but the occurrings have dwindled very noticeably over the past few years. Nowadays I find myself planning exceedingly simple gatherings to match the free evenings of just over 5 subtly interested people each time and always for something as simple as a movie or a bar or dinner. Anything else involves a multitude of planning and has never been as easy as it was before. I guess the group has shrunk from the large numbers of the UC days or even San Diego. More so, everyone has some other form of personal life too, other than one another. In other words, life happens.

Diwali goodies

Well yeah I talked to many of my friends, whose Thalai Diwali also it is. I may not have made a lot of dishes. But I did make one sweet, chakrapongal (Thanks Priya for the recipe) and one savory, vadai for keeping up the tradition.

Here are the pictures... They don't look very great thanks to the yellow lighting at home and the fact that it darkens very quick these days. But they sure did taste awesome.

On a different note, happy birthday VR.

Scorpion Avalanche

Orkut tells me that 27 of my friends have their birthdays over the next 10 days. That's more Scorpions than I bargained for... And that doesn't even include the ones whose birthday has passed in the Scorpio calendar so far or the ones that will come after these 10 days (including my own). And obviously it doesn't include the unique breed of people who are not on mundane networking sites like Orkut. It's insane! Who knew I had so many friends of the same breed? Who knew that so many people with the treacherous Scorpion traits like jealousy n possessiveness amongst many others could be friends and good ones at that? Just goes to show that my Linda Goodman days are long over. And people are to be treated for their merit and not their sun-sign's. And that sun-sign compatibility is to be left behind with the undergrad days of joblessness. For example, my hubby's a Scorpion. I guess that's the end of the story.

Happy Diwali!

Back we are at the festive helm of things as far as being Indian is considered anyways... The biggest festival is here - Diwali. And yet again I am not where I should be - India doing what I love the most - bursting crackers etc. This time is even more special because it is my Thalai Diwali. For the uninitiated, it is the first Diwali after the wedding. Everyone creates a big fuss over us, gets us all these new clothes and feeds us these array of sweets that would put the sweet shops to shame. Of course we are not in India to enjoy any of these spectacles. Hmph. But the husbad and I did go out and get new clothes a small fraction of the whole package at least to keep up some of the spirit. And unbelievably for the third year in a row, my sentiments remain unchanged from here.

So here's wishing you all a very very Happy and safe Diwali and a fantastic New Year ahead.

And specially, for allll my close friends who also got married this past year, wish you all a very special Thalai Diwali. Enjoy!

And finally, a very Happy Birthday to my husband :)

Tina Fey as Sarah Palin

Check out the mindboggling Tina Fey impression before Palin herself makes an entry

What's your mental age?

We've heard many people use this term... sometimes in a derogatory manner. But the other day VR and I were discussing how we pretty much considered ourselves to be the age we were when we set foot on Cincinnati to begin our Masters degree. And it's been 4 years since then. And because of that, all of a sudden when my real age dawns on me, I feel disproportionately old. And it's unsettling. I think the reason behind this is that leaving India (or one's own country) and going to the US for a degree all by oneself was a big deal. And that was the last life-altering change that took place in our lives. Even including marriage. The responsibilities multiplied when we first had to live alone, cook alone and manage bills, accounts, shopping and what not alone all amongst trying to keep the grades high and those all-nighters for assignments, midterms and finals. And we each mastered our individualities, developed our personalities and the metamorphosis from dependent child to independent adult was fast completed. Which is why even after something as huge as a wedding, I still feel the same age as I was when I first went to the US. And all of a sudden, we're reading about these actresses and models, who are 1986 born and even later. And for one fleeting second, the thought crosses the mind - is it legal for them to work, even? And suddenly you realize it's 2008 and they're 22 and yes that's legal. And that time's going faster than you've accounted for. Hell... practically everyone you know is married or on the verge of even including the boys (men is more appropriate) of your age. Many of your classmates are having kids and it's obvious that we're all very very grown up. I guess it helps everyone to be at that comfortable age that they can relate to. For me, it's 23. What's yours?

India Shining

It seems to be a good period for India in a couple of unrelated fields at least. India blasted off her first space mission to the moon. Read all about the ISRO's accomplishments here - http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/7679818.stm . This is a milestone (or moon stone, if you will) on any grand scheme of things and this mission is being monitored all over the world. Go India!

And on an unrelated, yet very Indian topic, the Indian cricket team thrashed the Aussies in the second test at Mohali for their most convincing test victory against the 'unassailables'. Read all about that here - http://content-uk.cricinfo.com/indvaus2008/content/story/374802.html . And add to that Sachin tendulkar now holds the record for having made the most test runs ever and for being the first batsman to cross the 12,000 run mark ever. Want more stats? Read here - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sachin_Tendulkar

India - Rock on!

Eiffel again

Some things, you just can't help taking pictures of.... This is one of those occasions. The day was brilliant and the angle of the light playing on the tower was perfect. The result - a postcard from Paris.

Alarmed..

I don't know if this is true of many people... but it is of me, which is why I am writing about it in the first place. I hate the sound of the alarm in the morning. I bet all of you are thinking - Well, duh... who doesn't? But no, I guess what I mean to say here is that I hate the sound of the alarm sooo much that I rise almost exactly a minute before it's due to ring and turn it off. That happen to anyone? I know there are many people out there with the most famous claim of all, in this aspect that is - "I don't even need an alarm to get up." And then there is something about the biological clock here. Yes of course I've gotten up without an alarm too... but usually it's about 9:30am by then if it's not an afternoon nap. Or it's the time I wake up to switch off the alarm before it's irritating noise fills my head. And I've realized that no matter how soothing the ringtone you set (if it's the cell phone), when it turns out to be the alarm it has the deadly potential to irritate. Talk about morning blues.

Beauty and the geek

Remember that show that used to come on US television? For a while there, I was quite the regular watcher. But that's not what I'm talking about here. It's the fact that it's 15°C outside ... beautiful sunshine... fabulous fall colors (yes, there are a few barren trees... even still), empty park benches barely a few feet outside my office and here I am... cooped in, researching electrodeposition, sputtering and other mundane MEMS processes.
Verdict-
Beauty - Outside. Geek - Me.

But yes, the weekend promises to be exciting... S&I have family visiting!

The 26 year old student

France is a country with many provisions for students/people of the lower income group, etc. But I was really sad to discover that most student benefits end the day you turn 26. It's almost as if they think you shouldn't study past the age of 25 or that if you wish to study past this hideous age, you are on your own and the government doesn't plan to help you. One of the main places this affects me is the railway/metro pass. It costs a steep 90€ a month with a huge variety of places you can go to. Even then! I discovered that students under 26 can get a 50% discount on that. And students above 26? A measly 2%. I wonder why that's even there! And then for most working people, 50% is compensated by their companies in their allowance. Not for us... because you are supposed to be able to get the transport system offered discount. I am a wee bit disgruntled ever since I found out. Hmph. Also in tourist spots... students under 26 can get tickets also for upto 50% off with their IDs. Not if you're over 26. I think it's a national rule that once you cross 25, you'd better be contributing to the household income... or go jump.

Sadly, this affects the highest educated bracket, like us doctorates, or the latecomers who decide to go back to school. Hell, at least the second category had their fair share of bucks before return to academia... I think this is just one of those days, when you can find fault with almost anything. But something tells me I am a wee bit reasonable here.

The understandable English

I don't know how many of you do this, but I've noticed I do this ever since I realized that it makes it easier for non-English speakers to understand - I alter my English to be grammatically incorrect but structured more easy to understand.

Examples-

1. I tried running this experiment but it didn't work - I run experiment but it no work

2.I'll run you through this process and then you can do it on your own (or you're set) - I do one time, you see and then you do, then you ok.
3. I'm not done yet - I no do.

And so on... I suppose you get the point... At the end of it, I feel silly and like I've taught them the wrong way of saying things. But as they say, whatever works, right?

True love stories

Some love stories just touch you...like this one - http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081012/ap_on_re_us/holocaust_love_story

And when it's like this, you know is meant to be. In a time of such difficulty... reunited worlds apart... Somethings just make you believe in fate. This is one of those.

A fresh look

As you may have noticed, MindBlogging has a fresh new look. I was inspired and helped to a great extent by Priya in achieving this final product. Do drop a line to let me know if you all like it!

Cheers!

Oh look it's fall..

It happens every year. One day there is the chill that goes with an ending summer and another day, you look out and the trees are all changing colour rapidly. It's Fall and it's here. And it's the most beautiful time of the year. the weather's great and the outside is gorgeous. I took these shots from just outside my office. If I don't feel like working, nature's to blame. Take a look...

Pretty, isn't it?

E-cigarette

I'd never heard of such a thing till I saw this video on BBC - http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/video_and_audio/7658334.stm.

And then I read about it in wikipedia - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/E-cigarette

The world is getting insane. That's for sure. This one contains nicotine too... but not as much, it claims and is a 'healthier' option. Why would one want to smoke an electronic device now? Of course the fairer question would be why one would want to smoke at all... With all the 'SMOKING KILLS' and every other sign brandished on the box, it's a big wonder that they still sell more than they used to at any given point in time. This, for a world thats supposedly more health conscious. Whatever!

Toilet seat ideas

Nope, this is not about the ideas you get while on the seat... But this is those ideas that make the seat a perfect place to have those other ideas. Confusing? Well, that sounds about right... Check out how most of the loos are in Japan. (Notice left of the seat, the option buttons)

And a close up of the options now...


Mind-blowing. Here's ushering in the age of toilet technology. They have seat-warmers, sprays, water pressure control n what not. Imagine, if men could spend hours together on the ordinary boring toilet seats, what must the situation be like when you can have warm seats and sprays and what not. The Japanese are way ahead of most countries in technology. And this is just an example of just how diverse their technology is and where all it has been put to use. Maybe most of their ideas sprung from here. What say?

In love with Japan

Some cities are just easier to fall in love with than some others. With Tokyo and more so what I saw of Japan, it was easy. It wasn't like love at first sight. But it was pretty close. At the outset, Japan looks very similar to rural India, maybe because the Narita airport is located far away from the main city. Once you close in, the buildings grow taller, the advertisements sleeker and the area busier. They have many many train operators and at first glance, it seems like a daunting task to find one's way in a place with unfamiliar directions and language. But the moment you ask someone for help, you know that you are in good hands. The Japanese are perhaps the most helpful people in the world. They go completely out of their way to help you, answer your question or direct you. Most of them understand rudimentary english and can with ease point you in the right direction. Some others go out on a limb for you, like a girl who walks more than 15 minutes in a direction unrelated to her just so she can point you to the right place or the station manager who runs down 2 flights of stairs to tell you that the train that he said would go had departed and the next train was in 10 minutes. I was blown away. Tokyo is as busy as any other business epicenter in the world but its not 1% as rude. People in New York, Paris and Bombay have a definite chip in their shoulders as opposed to the ones in Tokyo. Take the restaurants for example. The most popular method of ordering, for a foreigner is to point out the food in a colourful pictorial menu. But sometimes there are no pictures and then it becomes a game of charades between you and the waitress. And once you explain that you are vegetarian, 99% of the time, they make you something special... something not on the menu and at the end charge you a measly amount for all their effort. And all this with the widest of smiles, the lowest of bends and the sweetest of 'Arigato gozaimaaas' singsong greetings.

Even with the Metro ceasing operations as 11pm, the city never sleeps. People cram into the last metro after having had a long dinner with drinks with friends/colleagues. Then there is the light effect at night ofcourse. All those tall buildings emblazoned with lights, creating a Times-Square effect on all of downtown Tokyo, no matter what the area. The food and lodging are all reasonable. But the people are the best and have left a lasting impression on me and helpful as I am, I have vowed to try even harder from now on.

There's sooooo much I can write about Tokyo. And I will. Under subsequent posts... under different titles. But as of now, there's just one thing to say. Compaii to Japan!! (Cheers!)

Receipt Rani

So, I am in Japan... Yoo hoo... And since we all hail from Asia, we don't probably right away see the exotic nature of the country, perhaps, mainly because the airport is located over an hour away from the city center. And I took the Narita Express (Nex for short) to a connecting station called Shinagawa and another train to Ōfuna where my hotel of the day is located. And the whole ordeal from start to finish including negligible connection times took over 2.5 hours. This, for a country that's not even that big.

And so I found the hotel (no biggie considering its facade is visible from the railway station exit) and was told that check-in wasn't for another 5 hours. I must've looked a sight because no sooner had I coaxed for an advancement and I was asked to come back in 90 minutes. Wearing an unnecessarily thick jacket for the humid climate outside, I was in no mood to lunge it around looking for a decent place to lunch, all the while wondering what all went into it's preparation. Just as I dreaded walking out into the heat with the backpack and the jacket, I spotted this cozy coffee shop that belonged to the hotel. Like all hotel-adjoined coffee shops, it was pricier than it should be (or maybe all the yens just seem like a large number). Be that as it may, I pointed out to the coffee of my choice on the menu card, having rapidly exhausted my Japanese vocabulary of 2 words (Konnuchiwa - Good day and Arigato - Thank you). And it was delicious. Instantly, I ordered one more and decided to kill the 90 minutes by reading Harry Potter yet again on my laptop. And that's when it occurred to me that the lady hadn't given me a receipt. I marched back and asked for one and was given it immediately. That's what prompted the title of the post. Having never really cared for any sort of receipt in the past I was amused at my own instantaneous reaction on a business trip. Guess that's what everyone does, huh?

More on Japan in subsequent posts. I want to lace them with iconic photos... but I happen to have left the USB transfer cable back home. So I guess that'll have to wait. Guess what's impressed me the most in Japan yet? Their technology. Even in toilets. Toilet technology. Yup, a post on that is due very soon. Sayonara! (I guess tht's my third word then!!)

Boxing Kangaroo

For the number of laughs that this video has offered me, it warranted a post. This is about the 'boxing kangaroo'... watch it here - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g_FVD0BR2Mc . And this shows 2 things -

1. They are almost like people... trying to hold you down with the hands and kick you... (and I love the head vs the rest of it ratio - it's sooo funny)
2. Let the animals be.. why string a rope on them, throw the boxing gloves on them and then suffer the consequences??

And of course I thank my husband for introducing me to this video.
In conclusion, HA HA HA.

The comparison of the Eiffels...

France is the head of the EU council for the ongoing 6 months. To commemorate the occasion, the Eiffel Tower glows blue instead of it's usual gold. That apart, there's a circular arrangement of stars around the centre. Here's what they look like -


I was blown away when I saw the blue one recently. Its soo pleasant on the eye and stands totally apart from the other lights of the street, the other buildings etc., almost all of which are yellow/gold. And the stars on the centre that look drab by day look spectacular at night. Even better is the show of blinking lights every hour at the hour. It goes great with the blue. More of a contrast, than with the gold. Maybe its just that it's different and I am sure other people have other opinions. But personally, I hope they vouch for keeping the blue throughout. After all, it doesn't hurt to add one more reason to the Le Bleu tag on France's collar.

Tea for all

I opened up BBC News as usual and much to my delight I discovered that my habit of 3-4 cups of tea a day might actually pay off in the long run. Here's the entire news article - http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/5281046.stm. Go TEA!

French Food - The Gaulion way

So my bro was visiting us this past weekend and we wanted to make the trip as special and wholesome as possible. And so to the normal sightseeing that one does, we added an authentic expensive French dinner on the list. A French friend of ours who'd been there recommended the place and so the reservations were made and after a long exhausting day of sight-seeing we landed at the place. The first look was a cozy barn-type place. And a closer look revealed that the short tight spaces was intentional for the restaurant was very large in itself, being multistoreyed and furnished entirely in carved wood, from the walls to the furniture. And it wasn't very brightly lit, giving it a cavern-like atmosphere... So we settled in to our reserved table downstairs amidst loud crowds who were celebrating a Friday, perhaps. And first things first we're told all the food is unlimited as is the wine. The latter lights up the guys' faces... And the next thing we know, a very large basket of fresh raw vegetables was placed in front of us with a bowl of mayonnaise. This was the starters with large loaves of freshly baked bread...

And no, I wasn't kidding. See? And so we crunched like cows on the raw vegetables which went interestingly well with the red wine. We were given huge knives too, to cut through the larger vegetables and from what I saw, the collection included carrots, radishes, turnips, spring onions, onions, cabbages, capsicum, cauliflower, lettuce, cucumber, tomatoes and lemon. ALong with this, one had the option of going to the upstairs buffet and loading up on unlimited meat chunks and some veggie salad combos as well.

While we were crunching away, the waiter dude informed us that we could choose main course between duck, lamb and steak. While my eyebrows vanished into my hair, he quickly mentioned that they also served ratatouille for their vegetarian patrons. Relieved as I was, I could also finally try that authentic French dish. And that's what sold me on the place finally. The ratatouille was phenomenal. Essentially just a stew of vegetables made in a tomato sauce, it was very nice indeed. And for dessert, we could choose between chocolate chip and a lemon sorbée. No prizes for guessing which one I chose, the chocoholic that I was. Tipsy as everyone else was, some chose the sorbée to clear their heads but the chocochip was a no-brainer.

A loud, long and interesting meal later, we all owed 41€ each, the menu price, more than a tad expensive but surely worthwhile for a once-a-time Gaulion experience. Oh and I didn't mention which restaurant, did I? Here it is...

Love-o-logy

Finally I feel content to say that we live in the age of love... where true love prevails... where so many of my friends have fallen in love and made unions of their choice and not through matrimonial services. I have been fortunate enough to witness inter-caste marriages, inter-lingual marriages and even inter-religious marriages and all of this within India... that is a huge deal. What's bigger is the consent of the older generation. Almost everything I've witnessed has been lovingly arranged by the families themselves... In the stories where there are 2 different traditions to choose from, both have been duly upheld causing no grief to anyone involved. It's all very feel-good. And importantly, I applaud the older generation for taking it in their stride and consenting to what their children think is best for them. Instead of the old-fashioned dramas that our Indian soaps never fail to portray... threats ranging from 'cutting off the will' to suicide. Futile and stupid. Finally the generation that is getting married are treated as adults and allowed to choose their partners, trust their judgements and plan their lives together. This face of India is almost unrecognizable from the days barely 20 years ago when the bride and groom 'met' at the mandap. At least the urban face of India. But even the rural part has come a long way in this regard. In comparison to the past of course. I know now, for instance that in my grandma's village the girl can turn down the proposal... that she is asked for consent before proceeding with the arranged alliance. At least that saves a lot of unnecessary bride burning and other mental trauma that goes with the territory. Lets hope India has more n more development to offer in many diverse areas in the years to come.

The Avalanche Effect

For 6 weeks, I sat as jobless as the yawning bench-hopper you saw in a park. And last week college reopened and all of a sudden there are a million things to be done... deadlines, presentations, papers, submissions, fabrication, cranking up the idea machine, planning conferences and trips and what not. The thing I am looking forward to the most is unsurprisingly my upcoming trip to Tokyo for a conference-workshop. It promises to be exciting and a fabulous opportunity to establish international contacts and importantly learn the MEMS game from the pioneers themselves.

Even as I fade away into the la-di-da world that is not yet to be, my huge checklist of things to do knocks me back into reality. High time I address those issues, most of which need closure before I board the plane. Wish me luck!

Bizarre News

A poor dog had eaten 13 golf balls over the course of over 7 months. Read that here - http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/scotland/edinburgh_and_east/7599899.stm

P'urge

For starters, read the title as written... Next, try to understand what I'm talking about. When it comes to falling asleep, I have many many pet peeves. Everything's got to be just right for the miracle of sleep to occur. And anything can be a disturbance. Ask my roommates at UC... whom I used to torture with my supersonic detection of the drip of the tap in the shower. Sometimes they swore that I heard it only because I strained to. And yes, sometimes that was true. I listened hard to see if I really wasn't hearing it and discovered that trying that hard, I could hear it faintly. And once I heard it, it sort of reverberated into this unbearably loud sound that didn't work wonders towards my sleeping. And it isn't like if everything is silent, I can sleep well. Nope. I need the sound of the fan. I've told myself that its not weird and many people have that in common with me. And in San Diego, it was the sound of the garbage truck. Loud and clear... only on Saturdays n Sundays because on other days we'd have left by then. But recently, thanks to my downing bottles n bottles of water, its the urge to pee. The worst part is that I would've peed just before bed and invariably an hour later or less, I would be overcome by this huge feeling that I needed to pee. It wasn't that I had to. but the chilly nights don't help. It was just that the thought that the urge would get stronger in a few hours when I would've managed to sleep well, that I would rather do it right then. I think I have more difficulty than others falling back to sleep once something's woken me up. Crazy, huh? Even crazier, I got the idea for this post from one of my short dreams - title, and all.

Family Matters

Well, yeah, I did lift off the title from Rohinton Mistry. But the story is my own. I was just chatting with a cousin over GTalk and he was lamenting his separation from his family with him being posted in Hyderabad, his brother studying in Chennai and his dad working in Delhi, with mom left home-alone most of the day. That forced me to recount my own story. We're a close-knit family but I have had more than my share of separation...

The timeline -

1983 - Dad left India for the Gulf when I was 1.
1985 - We joined him. The next 5 years was the only time that my immediate family, mom-dad-bro n I spent together.
1990 - The Gulf War. That meant dad went to our family home in Bombay to find temporary work while the Gulf War raged on. My mom-bro-I went to Madras where we set up a new educational base.
1991 - Dad returns to the Gulf. It is decided that we stay in India for the benefit of our education. My grannys close shop in Bombay and join us at Madras. This is our permanent base since.
1998 - After 7 years of my mom alternating 6 months with my dad and 6 months with us, my dad decides to return for good to Madras. Another few months of togetherness..
1999 - I start college. My brother finishes college and goes to the US to pursue his higher studies.
2004 - I leave to pursue my own higher studies.
2008- After nomading around the US with multiple bases, I get married and settle down with my husband in France.

Now, the family is spread across 3 continents. The saving grace in all of this has been that ours was a joint family with my grandmothers living with us and caring for us. And it is only now that I can appreciate the sacrifices that my parents made by enduring these prolonged separations - all for the greater good, for the betterment of our family and our lives. Thank you all.

Ramblings of a disgruntled writer

Anyone who reads a lot and blogs a lot or one of the above has surely entertained secret fantasies of 'being discovered' and writing a book. Of course the difference between you and me is that mine's not secret and hasn't been for a long time now. I read an article today about a young Indian babe who was indeed discovered and through her blogs. How come none of the blogs of people I know (including me of course) end up being 'discovered'?! And how come Penguin, Bantam and the million other publishers we know of don't seem to care about what we ramble on about? Hmph... Ok ok... I know... today is just one of those days. In a glassy-eyed vision of the future in a moment of weakness, I saw the headline 'Nanoscientist publishes first non-scientific work'. Of course, it's safe to say, some people live in dreams. And I'm not one of them. College opens tomorrow. Time to accomplish the first word of that distant headline.

Tamilgrounded

Well, I am sure many of you are aware of the 'popular' online Tamil movie site, Tamilgrounds. But what you're probably not familiar with is the pathetic customer service that they (donot) give. For starters, their customer service is restricted to 'creating tickets' to which the admin people supposedly respond. And get this... at the end of the monthly membership, instead of offering you the option of renewing it, they 'automatically' do it. And when you send disgruntled tickets asking them to discontinue the account and inform you about it, they delete your ticket to make it look like there is no record of it. I am appalled at the service and after repeated tickets, I think I am going to have to shut the bank account or block them out to have them NOT renew the membership automatically. For what it's worth, the movie qualities are pretty bad and most movies do not open at all! It's crazy how they rip you off and take absolutely no action to try and pacify their disgruntled customers! For anyone considering memberships with Tamilgrounds or Bollygrounds or any of their 'family', think again and please avoid it.

Update: I am happy to say that all my cursing has led them to discontinue my account. However, they have to 'discuss the refund' it seems. I plan to link this post to them so that they know what I am thinking. Hmph

Sleepless in Paris

I wish it were really as romantic as it sounds... apparently not, though. The vacations have screwed with my sleeping cycle. And more often than not I toss and turn for close to 2 hours every night before falling asleep and then get up with the alarm that wakes the husband, get him to rise n shine through the snoozes and then sleep away for another hour after he leaves. That leaves me all groggy till the first tea in the morning and contentedly sleepy in the afternoons, a temptation I've staved off... till today. I'd just had a hot shower, hadn't had that extra hour of sleep in the morning, had a late-nighter last night and a hell of a lot of walking in the morning trying to locate one of the dubiously located consulates in Paris. And I just couldn't resist the nap. What was supposed to be 30 minutes extended to the hour and here I am at 00:35. It's a vicious cycle I tell you. There's a bright note in all of this though - College resumes Monday. And so will my sleep cycle, I hope.

Hari Puttar

In this comedy of errors, Warner Bros is suing India's Mirchi movies because their latest movie titled, 'Hari Puttar - a comedy of terrors', sounds very close to Harry Potter. Of course, we all heard this analogy first on 'Kal Ho Na Ho'. But it seems Warner regards this as copyright infringement. It's pretty unfortunate for them that not only is Hari a common Indian name, 'Puttar' means son in Punjabi and has been in use for ages. I don't think they can win this case. Here's the full news item - http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/7580941.stm. What's your take?

Personally, I think Warner is being a bit unreasonable. There are many things that could end up sounding like Harry Potter unintentionally. They aren't going to be able to restrict everything. For instance, I wonder if they would have a problem with a tentative movie called 'Scary Water' which for all practical purposes rhymes with Harry Potter!

Second Attempts

I wrote this post quite a while ago. And once more I was reminded that some things require that second stab at it to make it work. Maybe its a true test of how badly we want something...enough to attempt it twice? Maybe it's something simpler like the second attempt takes the pressure off of you and you have a better chance for success. Whatever it is, once bitten twice is lucky. Let's hope that holds good.

More crispy vadais

They were a hit... and here's a follow-up effort..

The Varalakshmi Nombu

Before I get to the post, Happy Independence Day everyone. :)

Today was the first of many things... It was the first Varalakshmi Nombu for me post-wedding. For those unfamiliar with the rituals, here's a synopsis - http://www.hindu-blog.com/2008/07/varalakshmi-nombu.html. But this meant I had to shoulder the responsibility of being the 'woman-of-the-house', and cook the yummy treats that I took for granted all the years till now, wake up at 6:00 am to cook everything post a head-shower (I was allowed the luxury of sleeping-in in those premarital days), prepare everything for the pooja, etc etc etc.

Amongst this is what I consider supremely challenging - making the vadais and the kozhakattais (a.k.a modak). And I took down the recipe from Patti and followed it to the P. Who said victory isn't sweet? It certainly is when it's a sweet rice dumpling like the kozhakattai.

Or the crispy vadais (though I didn't shape them too well... hehehehe. There's always room for improvement!)

Memory-card

Not the storage device. It's about my memory with respect to my credit card (or debit card if you will...) Having gone to the nearby store, picked all the things I wanted after a lot of scrutiny, verifying my list to make sure I had everything, I went to the checkout counter and handed my card for the billing. She asked me to punch my code. I do it by reflex as is customary and usually it says 'Code Bon', meaning 'Good code' or all's well. But today it said 'Code Faux' over and over again and for the third time too. That mean my card was locked. I would have to reason it out with the bank to have them unfreeze it. And worse, I couldn't buy any of the things I'd chosen. And I couldn't use this card on an ATM which would swallow it. Instead, swallowing my pride, I called my husband to ask him for my code. When he told me, it instantly registered. I had been punching in my US credit card's pin instead.

India's own shooting star :D

Finally, for the first time ever, someone has managed to win an individual Olympic Gold for India. And that someone is Abhinav Bindra. Here's his wiki page. And news of his victory. Indeed a proud moment for billion plus people in India. With the National Anthem as the ideal background music, Abhinav Bindra was crowned champion of the Mens 10m Rifle event. At least I hope this paves the way for more sportspersons in India to embrace other sports than traditionally cricket which doesn't say much either, having won the only World Cup in 1983, agood 25 years ago. Let us hope n pray that the younger generation comes up with more diversity in their sport choice and do our proud by winning honours at the International Level.

On that note, good luck, Saina.

Sneezy Jane

That's me. It's embarrassing... but just as well...its involuntary too. Every morning as soon as I come out the bedroom, roll open the hall windows, 'Aaachoooooooooo', I greet the bright morning sunshine. I have had this issue for as long as I can remember. And earlier when I got these allergy tests done, I was informed that it was because of the sudden temperature change that I was exposed to - from the A/C bedroom to the room-temperature hall. That made sense in Chennai where we always had the A/C on for the night. But how did that make sense in France or the US? We didn't have airconditioners on at night. And the morning saw no temperature change either. Yet, on an average I sneeze at least 10 times before I stabilize. And it's not one of your hardly noticeable tchs which I have seen people do in buses and public places and mumble an 'Excuse Me' thats far louder. At these times, I am like, 'Excuse me? You call that a sneeze?' Mine's more the variety that jolts the dead into the living. Loud, embarassingly repetitive (sometimes even before I can warp out an 'Excuse Me'). And it's the grossest if I am caught without a tissue of course. Recently, I read wiki and a bunch of other websites and now I have attributed the sneezing to 'sudden exposure to light'. That makes sense at any rate. You can read about the whole deal here. And thankfully I have stopped trying not to sneeze, which results in a minor implosion of sorts. Apparently that can be damaging in the long run. S tolerates my sneezes but has no idea why its recurring and why it happens every morning. He suggested I see a doctor. But I did!! My temporary solution though is to ease in the light into the hall... one shutter at a time. I'll report back to tell you if it worked!

Fancy Date

Yes... it repeated every year for the past 8 and will continue for the next year as well. It's displaced by a day and a month every year. Of course, you know what I'm talking about.. It's 08-08-08 today. Happy Olypics Opening to y'all.. And Happy Friday as well. The weekend's here.

Holy Cramp!

The thing about gymming is that you need to be in touch.... or you need to ease yourself into it. The best part is that I knew all the gyaan. In spite of that, I think the sheer excitement (:S) or the enthusiasm of joining a gym with world-class facility overcame my senses. And so on my second day overall... and first day at the centre close to home, in the process of 'discovering' all the equipment, I ended up working out close to 2 hours. And I ended in exhilaration (because of the high heart rate), took a quick shower and then came home in sweltering heat (where I thought I was going to die of a sun stroke) and while everything seemed on a high, I cramped!! Muscles which I didn't know existed announced their existence in the form of pain... :( And so, today was a rest day. Going by the pain I am (did I tear a ligament or something?), I think I am going to skip it tomorrow as well! Here's to working out and the mini-breaks it provides us in not-so-happening ways.

Thepla Central..

The theplas I made :D

Pappi Bhelwali

That's what my dad called me when he learned I'd made bhel puri for the husband... Here.. take a look.

The ingredients (including the teekha /meeta chutnies) -

The end product (phenomenally yummy - ask S if you want)

And... I made theplas for dinner today. Pictures later!

Gymmu-Gimmu

Its a Tamil habit, I think, to rhyme one word with another that makes no sense most of the time. The exceptions are aadu-maadu (goat-cow), veedu-kaadu (house-forest), etc. But usually its really senseless things like paalu-geelu (milk-senseless_word), kaapi-geepi (coffee-senseless_word), or dressu-gissu (Dress-senseless_word)... Ok you get my point. Actually I don't know why the senseless word usually is a rhyme of the original but with a 'g'.

Anyhoo, coming to the point of the post, I joined the gym finally today. And they have a lot of interesting things going on... There are dance aerobics, even salsa lessons and all over at the gym. This seems to be a great way to melt away time (and weight, I hope) over the vacations. And on other days. I've taken an annual membership. And my Patti asked me over the phone, "Gymmu-gimmu poitu vandhiya?" (Did you go the gym-gim?)

Hence the title of the post. :)

Citysnoozers awakens...

And finally, here is the long-awaited post on Bruges on Citystalkers. Lets hope that the Kumbakarna phase for that blog is finally over.. Fingers crossed.

Happy Friendships Day

For what it's worth, Happy Friendships Day to you all... Well yeah, I believe in Friendships but not Friendship Days... Not now at any rate. Yes, I was one of the naïve ones that jumped the bandwagon and bought dozens of colourful bands to adorn the wrists of my closest friends, pledging my friendship to them and in turn flaunted a wristfull of my own. The irony of everything is that this phase was most popular when we were back in our undergraduate days or school. When you actually tied bands on your friends that you spent the entire day with... and went home and made calls and spoke to for hours on the end. People who you had with you all the time, yet felt the need to 'make you own' by brandishing a band on them. How things have changed over the past 10 years. Now we are all miles apart, talk once in a few months at most and yet, we are secure in our bond of friendship. A few years after college, the gestures dwindled to emails at most and nowadays - nothing. Even still, the friendship burns strong, a warm glow that ignites you from the inside when you think of those people and the times spent with them. And now I see these 'days' and the rest of them (V-Day, Mother's Day, Father's Day, blah blah) for what they are... business tactics to lure the insecure into buying tonnes of junk that gets discarded anyways. Isn't it more special when you do something out of the expected? Like buy someone something for no reason other than that you thought they might like it... make a call to those friends on random days, not because of birthdays or anniversaries or emergencies... It feels so much better that way and definitely means a lot more.

However, K, M, S, G, NK, SO, VR, PT - I miss you all. Happy Friendships Day.

Cinema Cinema

Disclaimer: There is no doubt about Kamal Hassan's genius... Fewer movies have made as much an impact on me as Michael Madana Kamarajan. But did he have to do these 10 roles?

So out of sheer boredom and fueled by the summer vacations, I ended up buying an account with one of the Tamil movie online sites. I chose Tamil thinking S and I could see a lot of dinner time favorites. I don't know about that but the first choice of the movie was also the most obvious, Dasavatharam. This Kamal Hassan movie has made headlines all over the world for a variety of reasons from budget to plot and obviously the most important being the fact the Kamal, the lead in the movie has played 10 different roles. Having heard terrifically rave reviews about the movie from tabloids to reliable friends, we were very excited to watch the movie.... for about 15 minutes. At the end of the movie, I was left gawking... and not in the good sense. It became very obvious that the script was tailored to somehow accomodate the 10 different roles that the lead man wanted to play and create history. And in that sense, he did. I don't think anyone is going to attempt anything like this for a long long time. But the worst part was that none of those getups were really required. He could've been content with just playing 2-3 of the main roles and hiring accomplished actors for the rest. Instead they spent a whole lot of cash, time and effort in creating 10 distinct personalities, 7 of whom were totally uncritical to the plot and a couple ended up resembling one another! Some of the get-ups actually looked like the human version of Shrek in Shrek II. And chaos theory as the central theme turned out to be too chaotic and the tsunami scene that people raved about was total disappointment. It was crazy. And Kamal Hassan taking up the screenplay as a 11th role was probably the big damper in the whole fiasco..

On a totally unrelated note, I acquired a DVD of Dhoom II and decided it was well worth a wasted afternoon to gawk at Hrithik. So subconsciously as I watched it, I counted him wear 8 different disguises - all of which looked convincing and looked great on him. While I reached no.8, my heart beat a little faster. What a humungous disappointment it would've been to Kamal Hassan had Hrithik equalled 10 in a totally unintended and unassuming manner. Lol!