Wednesday, February 27, 2008

From Chennai Kaapi to Chicago Coffee

This blog was more a provocative inspiration or an inspiring provocation from another blog called "From Chukku Kaapi to Cappuccino", and also partly because I am not totally jobless, and I believe blogs are written by people who have something to say and are articulate enough to give words to their thoughts, and read by people interested in hearing others' experiences.

My Cafe Coffee Days have been few, by far, mostly, to attend PSBB reunions where I would, most often, be somewhat of an odd-man out, feeling not so in the place which is definitely supposed to be a place where "high class kamnaattis" spend money they had, simply because they had to. And despite my change from my school days to college, I haven't changed a wee bit from college to here, in fact, I've probably become more of myself.
I've talked English for most part of my life, well, also English, would be more apt. We talked English in school not for girls, but due to a wonderful school called Padma Seshadri Bala Bhavan and its wonderful teachers who inculcated in us a sense of global belonging while firmly ingraining in us our roots, history and culture. (That my generation is quite screwed up is a different issue altogether.) I've read "The Hindu" all my life, and despite its communist ideology and predominantly anti-Hindu sentiments, I've relished it with my morning cup of soodaana filter coffee made by amma. I knew Sidney Sheldon, but didn't read his romantic crap. I loved Enid Blyton, and devoured Famous Five, Secret Seven and quite a few of her other novels. Then I became addicted to Five Find-outers, then Hardy Boys. I saw a few English movies. I've talked to girls all my life, and I'm somewhere near the lowest part of girl-interaction all my life right here right now.
Born in Visakhapatnam, a famous town in Andhra Pradesh, and having grown up in Chennai, things were quite okay for me. Chennai is hot, and theaters are quite expensive, but ok. Food is great. Chennai rocks as far as good food is concerned. Girls have started wearing T-shirts and Jeans, the churidhar is becoming a relic nowadays. Half-sarees probably in temples if you are lucky. Cool did not mean Pizza. Cool did not mean a branded watch. Cool was Marina. Cool was the evening breeze at the end of a hot summer afternoon.
My first pizza was probably around 7th-8th standard. Pizza Corner, I guess. The fork wasn't exactly difficult.
The only time I had black coffee in a "high-class coffee pub" was in Qwiky's, when I had gone with my college classmates Surendran and Harini to ask for sponsorship for my symposium.
And that was my last attempt at black coffee too. I drink ready-made Bru coffee here. Yeah, it doesn't have the aroma of filter kaapi, but what the hell. Compared to crappy black coffee, it's way better.
And that's probably one of the few things that have changed.
Change is good. Change is part of life. Change is inevitable (sigh). But change for change's sake isn't cool. Resisting change probably is. I'm happy I haven't changed much, thus far, at least. And I hope it's for good.
PS: No offence intended to the author of the original blog, just a straightforward from-the-heart-reaction at how things need not actually change, once in the US. Ultimately, To Each, His Own. :)

Tuesday, February 12, 2008

Tagged!

Well, I guess this is what you call a tag. Niranjani sent this to me.

1. Were you named after anyone?
Nope.
2. Do you wish on stars?
No.
3. When did you last cry?
Have cried quite often here, well probably a few months back.
4. Do you like your handwriting?
Yes.
5. What is your favourite meat?
Hullo! I detest this question too.
6. What is your most embarrassing CD on your shelf?
No CD's at all, on my shelf. :P
7. If you were another person, would YOU be friends with you?
Sure, assuming I knew me, as the other person.
8.Are you a daredevil?
You could say so.
9. How do you release anger?
Feel it.
10. Where is your second home?
Here, right here.
11. Do you trust others easily?
Very.
12. What was your favourite toy as a child?
A Brown Teddy Bear.
13. What class in school/college do you think is totally useless?
I dont think any class was/is/has been useless.
14. Do you use sarcasm a lot?
Sadly, have been using, and I think, to an extent, I still continue to.
15. Have you ever been in a mosh pit?
Nope. (What was that?)
16.What do you look for in a gal(/guy)?
What they wear, what they see, their eyes, of course, how they look.
17. Would you bungee jump?
Badly waiting to do that ever since Skydiving.
18. Do you untie your shoes when you take them off?
Always, without fail, ever since I was a child.
19.what's your favourite ice cream?
Butterscotch with caramel.
20. What are your favourite colours?
Blue, Black.
21. What are your least favourite things?
Non-vegetarian food, animal-products.
22. How many people do you have a crush on right now?
Zilch.
23. Who do you miss most right now?
Parents, Chennai, MSEC, Kesh-Tej...In no specific order.
24. What are you listening to right now?
Thottu Thottu from Hey! Nee Romba Azhaga Irukke.
25. If you were a crayon, what colour would you be?
Purple!
26. What is the weather like right now?
Freezing like hell, heavy snowfall.
27. Last person you talked to on the phone?
Murali.
28. The "first" thing you notice about the opposite sex?
Well, I think this was already answered.
29. Do you "really" like the person who sent you this?
I guess so. :P
30. How are you today?
Quite Fine, but badly being screwed by Prog. Lang. & Translators assignment due in 3 hrs not yet started. :(
31. Favourite non alcoholic drink?
Motts' Apple Juice now. All-time: Karumbu Juice from Ranganathan Street (The AIADMK Shop), Paneer Soda.
32. Favourite alcoholic drink?
No Alcohol.
33. Natural hair colour?
Black.
34. Eye colour?
Black.
35. Wear contacts?
No.
36. Siblings?
No.
37. Favourite month?
November. :P
38.Favourite food?
Sigh................
39. Favourite day of the year?
Deepavali.
40. Have you ever been too shy to ask someone out?
Not at all.
41. Scary movies or happy endings?
Scary movies with Happy Endings.
42. Summer or winter?
Before: Winter.
Now: Any weather in Chennai.
43. Holi or Diwali?
Obviously, Deepavali. (I hate it when people say Diwali, incidentally.)
44. Do you like your name?
Yes. :)
45. What book/magazine are you reading?
None that I'm really into, just started The Bourne Ultimatum, but not getting anwhere.
46. Whom are you reminded of frequently?
Chithi and a couple of estranged close friends from college.
47. What did you watch on TV last night?
No TV at home.
48. Favourite Smell?
Petrol, Amma's Arachu vitta sambar and Aaloo, Dhesi's vatha kuzhambu, and well, hmm, my rasam. [:D]
49. Have you ever regretted breaking up with someone?
There's only one thing that's close to being called this, and that too, was, actually not a break-up, though technically, it is. And I haven't regretted the break-up, actually. Regret's the fact that I was unable to accept her.
50. Most tiresome thing you've ever experienced/done?
Well, probably the night-shifts at 7-Eleven ;)

Tuesday, January 22, 2008

Smitten!

Statutory Warning: It’s been a hell of a long time since I blogged, and now that I’m blogging this now, people would generally expect something earth-shattering, well, at least, close to it. Let me honestly assure you that the reason I’m blogging now after all this while is, (rather sheepishly), rather are, two women. And yes, it’s nothing extraordinary, another ordinary guy expressing another ordinary emotion, and that’s how I’d like it to be viewed (another of my misconstrued attempts at ordinariness :P). And all those of you who had thought they could no longer spit at me, you will be shocked at how you could have thought wrong.
PS: Now, I’m attempting smart-assness, now you can’t blame me for reading this one.

It was destined to happen sooner or later. Like the stock market boom. Like its crash. Like Australia’s defeat at Perth (Damn, this should have come first!). Like Chicago weather. Like very brilliant’s fickle-mindedness. And yet, I would not admit it has happened, wouldn’t want to, don’t want to.
Trish (my chellam, I wonder if I should use ‘erstwhile’) has been not-so-pleasing these past few months. The last few months have been pretty rocky. I reached an all-time swoon-level after watching her in Kireedam. The flowing half-sari’s, the elegant churidhars, that reticent smile, that enchanting mannerism, she was as good as she could be, and as good as I could expect from her, possibly. It was not physical attraction, I knew. It has not been, I believe. Knowing me, she’s well, I hate to admit it, not exactly the kind of girl I would, well, hmm, prefer. I admit she takes a few drinks, I think she has smoked, and well, I really adore her for most part of her movies, except when she tries to appear skimpy, or have Vikram or Simbhu grope all over her (sad). And her fav. food is chicken curry. And she doesn’t exactly appear religious, by any far stretch of imagination. That’s all.
And despite these few characteristics, I have adored her all this while. Well of course, I didn’t mention her supposed arrogant attitude. Nor the likelihood that she barely knows of my existence. But it started with this crappy hairstyle of hers for “Abhiyum Naanum”. Just when I was expecting her to thirundhify and tone down, she does not. Oh yes, and that infamous skirt at the launch of VLCC :( . But this hairstyle of hers sucks. Seriously. I cant believe she likes it, I mean, it was bad enough that she could like herself when she looks at herself in all those crappy modern outfits, sometimes exposing, when she can look so ultimate and gorgeous in movies like Kireedam, Something Something, Mounam Pesiyadhe, Saamy (well, her covered part of the movie, in sarees). It seriously appears to me to be a no-brainer as to why she would want to look like how she does when she can and has appeared how she has. And now this pathetic hairstyle! But somehow, seriously, I’ve run out of defences. Like, I’m not sure I’m hundred percent convinced when I defend her. She’s been my chellam alright, but still you know, you need to have conviction. And well, though she looks great in Bheema, it isn’t exactly a conservative role, especially the songs. Nevertheless, I would’ve lived on with my chellam.

If I hadn’t seen Kalloori.

Before leaving for here, I got this email forward about an absolutely stunning beauty in a gorgeous red-and-blue ghaghra choli, saying she was a bar-girl in Mumbai, who acted as something like an intermediary between bookies and Indian Cricketers!

Now, I’d normally ponder on such an accusation. But one look at her, and absolutely any questions about anything were totally erased. And to me, then, she was the most beautiful woman I had seen. Well, obviously not considering that clichéd stuff about mothers, paatti-ma, and similar opinions. What a face! And to compliment that absolute stunner of a face, was the brilliant red-and-blue ghaghra choli.

And then, she was lost for no specific reason. And once here, I noticed her in a crappy movie called “Kedi” with that bugger of a guy Ravi Krishna, and though she was cute, she wasn’t particularly striking to me, possibly because of her clothes (something I was to realize later).
And then, one of my friends suggested “Kalloori” as a really good watch, and I don’t think I knew her to be part of the star-cast. But, at the end of the movie, I was well and truly floored. She grew on me scene by scene. Ever since the first few scenes when she was rather morose, but pleading to the eyes with her innocence in those chudidhars, I just couldn’t ignore her. And as the movie rolled on, and in all those downright simple churidhars, and with a plethora of different emotions, she was shocking me. And the fact that she played a Tamil Iyengar girl in the movie too, had its share of usupethification. Such innocence on such a cute face is just unacceptable! I understood. It was not a simply good looking face. It was not (and never has been, rather unboyishly) a ‘sexy figure’. It was a face communicating with me. It was a face that swore innocence all the way. A smile, a chuckle, a laugh, a tear, a thought, replete with different expressions of innocence.

Why, oh why am I so flattered by innocence? Well, I don’t know exactly, and have no specific answer. But among the many different answers, I am sure, lies the fact that innocence is a virtue totally absent, and it isn’t related to gender. And me being a boy, after all, would have to retain some of those characteristics that hold relevance to boys. And this combination of looks with innocence beat me. And as I type these words, those mellifluous beats of “En anbe en anbe” from Mounam Pesiyadhe play on my Media Player, ringing ever so gently in my headset, in the silence of the night. And I remember now, one of the predominant causes for that 7-year relationship with a stranger. That innocence that Trisha had in Mounam Pesiyadhe. That not-so-good-looking-face with a beautiful smile in simple, elegant churidhars, topped with innocence. And that is what has tempted me, now, to compare Trisha with Tamanna.

And boy, I cant believe Tamanna is so stunning! And yes, recently, I was very overcome by Deepika Padukone’s beauty, yes, sheer beauty, but none that really moved me. By no means was beautiful Deepika Padukone heart-wrenching. Not in the least. Analysing a very specific detail of human appearance, Tamanna does not have as dazzling a smile as Trish. Trish’s smile is easily swoon-worthy, with a touch of impishness, a beautiful array of teeth, revealed to a perfect extent. Tamanna’s smile, on the other hand, is far from dazzling. In “Kalloori”, especially, her smile was, at times, too simple, downright poor, in the sense, I was reminded of the phrase “ஏழையின சிரிப்பில்”, and the smile itself, was reminiscent of someone rather pitiable, yet, putting a brave effort and smiling, a weak smile, may be. And yet, that weak smile on such a dazzling face sprinkled with unbelievable innocence wrenched my heart, in complete totality.
And I would do grave injustice to her and the Indian woman, if I failed to mention the really elaborate value-addition rendered by that small round “பொட்டு” on her face. My oh my. I don’t think I‘ve drooled so much in such a short time for such a long duration over someone, from what living memory I can remember. My drools over Trish were, mostly, limited to short bursts, except when watching her movies, and even during those, she would undoubtedly give me reasons to retch in disgust – either a perverted little conspicuous-yet-unprovocative lip-kiss, or the hero swarming a combination of his hands and mouth over every exterior part of her body, or a definitely provocative mini, to name a few.
Not Tamanna, not in Kalloori. Well obviously, I have no claims to make, of her decency or purity. But the chastity of her face - simple, elegant, striking, radiant, heart-wrenching, and innocence of her looks, cannot, for now, make me drool over or emote so much, for anybody else, I know. And I know this too, that I'm probably not going to be in awe of her for even 1/10th of the time I was, of Trish. And I also know, almost surely, that I definitely dont like her looks when she appears glamorous. But, nobody can take away her purity of appearance in Kalloori. And nobody can give it to me except her.
Tamannaaahhhh….

Friday, January 11, 2008

Captain-Speak

What a Captain!
Hats off to him. He minces no words, but he is as polite as can be. To-the-point, no-nonsense, dignified, elegant.
Kumble's Article
Jumbo, we are as proud of you as we are of the Indian team, probably more.

Monday, December 24, 2007

Man of the Moment



Too much has been said about the man already. Wouldn't want to add another long list of love-hate analogies, just an opinion that India, today, given the current scheme of things, needs a man like him. More than India, BJP. National level, well, hmmm, possible, but it'll take time. But hey, we're celebrating, and did I hear the pseudo-secularists crying?
:P
Modi Rocks! Jeet Gaya Gujarat! Chak De Gujarat, he he.

Friday, December 21, 2007

Enna Koduma saar

Was just reading the news today about Dr. Haneef winning the court battle to practise in Australia. Beats me why this fellow is so particular in returning to a place he was kicked out of. Where's self-respect in today's world? Well, I do know the essence of money, probably, Australia is financially a better place, but still, after such a bitter experience, I'm surprised this guy is interested in going back. Well, it wouldn't be a bad idea if he got the Visa and refused to go.

Thursday, December 20, 2007

Hello

Well, vanakkam, suswaagatham, etcetera.
It's taken me quite a while for me to start my blog, but dont want to use the cliche here. The jobless writer that I am, I was actually pretty confident I'd end up wasting most of my time entering stuff into my blog, now that the hols have begun, I thought it'd be a good time to start off with one.
So, here I am again folks.
Chao and will keep updating, well at least for another month :)
cow