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Partly Yours, Partly Lost

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Some places stay with you long after life has moved elsewhere. There is something strange about destiny. You just cannot overcome it, but at the same time, you cannot simply do nothing because something is destined to happen. In India, it is not uncommon to have your horoscope charted about a year after birth. Grandparents wait with bated breath to hear how well the stars were aligned, and what remedies might be needed to appease the Gods. So when I was a year old, my grandmother took my birth date and time to Dharmaraja Ghanapadigal, one of the most revered astrologers in Pudukkottai. He apparently told her that I would do reasonably well in studies, travel to multiple countries, and eventually live abroad. Here was an old lady asking about her grandson from a small town. My parents were then living in Gobichettipalayam. This was the eighties, long before economic reforms had changed the country. My grandmother thanked him politely, but quietly wondere...
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Playing with the Raagas

It is no secret to my friends, when I tell them that one of the things in life that I am really vocal about is the fact that I cannot go vocal. My mother, like every other, had a wish in mind, "Oh, my son should be well versed in the world of Carnatic" . But, I think she did not have to wait too long for the realization that her son was way beyond music. I assume she must have understood when I let out my first cry. Now, unlike every other mother, she made it a point to remind me "Please don't sing!" , and slowly and steadily, the request turned to treacherous rebukes, "Just don't open your mouth" . Looking back in time, I wonder I could have done a lot of service to the family. If ever there was an unwanted visitor, I could have let out my Raagas , which in turn would have caused havoc to the visitor. But, the problem with that was, even the people at home would have run helter skelter. Now, I have to make something absolutely clear. Just ...
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Blah, blah, blah...

As I made up my mind to write a blog post today, I was wondering about the writable topics that I have on hand. I have nothing to write about movies, since I have always thought that movie reviews are cliched. Just to share something with you, I saw Koncham Ishtam Koncham Kashtam starring Tamanna (the cute girl from Happy Days) and Siddharth. I was happy that I was not all that bad in understanding the unofficial No. 2 language of the States - Telugu. I did not drool over Tamanna too much, since she was not as captivating as she was in the previous mentioned movie. But, I lived with that!!! Did I read any books? I have been holding Stephen Hawking's A briefer history of time for a couple of weeks. I finished reading about his explanation of Einstein 's theory of relativity, and I wanted to go back to that chapter to get a better understanding. But, unfortunately, I forgot to place the bookmark back in position. So, I feel lethargic to go ruffle the pages, and find out...
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Congress kadalekai

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For my friends who know what kind of a passionate Bangalorean I am, it will come as no surprise that Congress kadalekai figures in my list of posts. Kadalekai (groundnuts/ peanuts) is more or less a staple chaat (snack) in Bangalore (don't want to get carried away just by mentioning Bangalore, since it is popular throughout India) with various alterations to the preparation style lending a lip smacking effect. Groundnuts can be roasted, boiled, peeled and boiled (note the difference between the two), added to sambar (south Indian lentil soup, to give a loose translation, though soup in no way adds justification to the translation), to curries (a sort of a side-dish when having your meal with sambar or rasam (a bracket within a bracket is required just to say that rasam is a toned down version of sambar with less lentils) or curd rice). I feel happy to know that I have closed the brackets properly, thanks to the numerous compiler errors I have faced because of incomplete bracket...
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Lit..er..al..aaa?

In any language, you take certain words for granted, and the perfect pronunciation of the word is limited to the complete word minus, maybe, the last letter or the last couple of letters. So, actually, it's not perfect, but the utterance is close to perfection. I am one of those guys who can make simple things complicated, but never vice versa. I often wonder how difficult it is to translate something verbatim from one language to another. The beauty of every Indian language lies in its enthralling ability to appease you with the perfect choice of word(s) for the perfect occasion. It is almost close to impossible to maintain the same diction and poise, as you work your way to the global medium. The same analogy applies when you want to say something in your local tongue from English. You get the feeling of being trapped, as you try to explain the phrase, and end up pleasing none. Many a time, as I stand outside on the balcony at home, and as the first few drops of rain touch ...
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The same old rants

There was a time in the past when mothers of little children had to warn their children, " You better not get on to the streets. Better play inside the apartment building. There are a lot of bad people out there who will not think twice to kidnap little children. " The children would listen attentively and stick on to the comfort limits of well-being. Today, I am not sure whether it is only the children who have to be told by the elders. There is a vast section of the society who run the risk of getting kidnapped, thanks to some of the most obnoxious and atrocious elements of our society. At any instant of time, if you want to visualize what's happening in India, you will have your plate full. There are so many things happening out there, some of which can leave you baying for blood. It tends to become creepy, and suddenly, you are at such a boiling point that you kind of get an insight to how a murderer really feels before he is going to commit a crime. I really h...
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Dash or dog?

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As for the customary weekend discussions, I was having the usual one with Chaitanya Emani and Pravin Dhake at one of our homes. This is the time when everything wavers from junk to something sensible and back to the junk world. So, we were talking about this new movie that was released in India. It is critically acclaimed in the west, east, north and south, except of course at the center, rather at the mainland, where the movie is filmed. Your guess is as good as mine, it is slum dog..errr..dash millionaire. Confusing, eh? Hindu Jan Jagriti Samiti , a name never heard of before, is fighting for the fundamental rights of the slum dwellers. Why? Because, dog is a bad word. Let us quote this guy verbatim, “We request that please change the name of the film to Slum dash Millionaire or Slum dash Crorepati . Dog is a bad word,” says a Corporator from Mumbai, Nicholas Almeida. So, Emani quipped, "What the hell is wrong with these guys man? Dog is a bad word. Coming from a cri...
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Where is the OST?

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I generally do not keep track of the music world, except, of course, when it involves ARR . It goes by default that his songs would have made their presence felt on my laptop, and gradually found their way on to my first generation ZUNE (Yes, I know, I am the only guy using this. Honestly, it is not bad even though it is, maybe, as bulky as a 1970 transistor) I am not a person to make New Year resolutions, but, since I am very contemplative, I thought about a few things. I was just thinking of all those people whom I idolize, and one of the names to hit me, even without thinking too much, had to be ARR. I just admire him for what he is. He has made it a point to talk only through his work, and his modesty, and humility are absolutely unquestionable. What, with that amount of talent, anybody else would have taken an ego ride around the world in 80 seconds! As I went back to his work from the early nineties, I decided that I should be building a collection of ARR's music from a...
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