Life As I Know It

A lady who once came to know fame from a daily running soap that ran for god knows how many years made her appearance on a News channel today to give her views on Reality TV shows like Rakhi ka Insaaf and Bigg Boss. She said, “ Shows that are evocative, provocative should not be aired and that channels should not air such shows just to increase their TRP ratings.” Well once upon a time she played the role of a Damsel in distress who ended up crying her whole life. Married her own husband twice. Remained a righteous creature for whom suffering was equivalent to happiness. This woman managed to tell Indian women that you must accept your husband no matter what. Even if he marries someone else and returns back to you, you take him in. Your daughter gets raped get her married to the rapist. Better still when the media goes “Gosh, the soap is painting the wrong picture.” Get this righteous woman to take a gun in her hand and shoot at her own son in law after having gotten her daughter ...

Experimenting with movies is one of the fun things I like doing. There is so much to choose from. You never know what you might end up liking. I am not going to elaborately discuss the plots of some of the movies I watched this past week but just mention as to why people must watch the movies I watched. If you have liked any of the movies I mention and can recommend some more please do. Starting with Bommarillu which is one of the nicest movies I have seen in a really long time. The thing I liked most about the movie is the fact that there is no break in the flow of the story. Everyone can relate to it on some level and makes for an excellent movie to watch with the family. I also ended up watching Pokiri . I hadn’t heard about Pokiri ever. When the movie started I was pretty sure I wouldn’t like it at all but after the first 15 minutes of the movie I was hooked. Where Bommarillu is a nice family movie, Pokiri is extremely violent. Both are definitely worth a watch and depending...

Judge to the child: Go with your father for an hour. Your mother will be right here when you come back. Child (Looks at the Judge mutinously): I don’t want to go with that man. Judge: Go with him child, your father will buy you lots of chocolates. Child: I don’t eat chocolates. Judge: What do you eat? Child: I only eat my meals. Judge: Okay, your father will take you to a nice restaurant for lunch. Go with him. Child: Why? So that he can tell me how much money he has to spend on me? Judge: (Frustrated + had run out of ideas) Your father is not going to say anything of that sort. At which the father interrupted… Father: The mother has tutored the child to say these things. The Judge realizing that drama would unfold immediately sent the couple and child to the conciliation room to convince the child to spend one hour with his father . 10 minutes later child rushes into the Court Hall… Child: JUDGE UNCLE… you said he wouldn’t yell, come to that room he is ye...

Wisdom is rare. The one who is wise will know who needs to be spoon fed knowledge and who should be allowed to experience and grow at their own pace. I don’t take advice from people. I listen to all the free wisdom being belted out with tremendous patience and later do as I please. The fact is people have this strange idea about me. Many still take me to be a child. I am more adult than they realize. I probably don’t come across as someone mature enough to handle things because I have a tendency to ask too many questions. [ I ask a lot of questions because I am new to Practice and I do not want to make mistakes. ] Clearly people rate one on the basis of the number of questions asked. Hence I stopped asking questions. I only ask my senior for direction and whatever anyone else says gets chucked out of the window. Sometimes I think people get so carried away giving out lame advice they forget the point they are making. This is probably because they did not have a concrete point to...

I hate shrink lingo. I hate it when people use, “you have issues”, “you carry way too much baggage”. Here is what I have understood. Some wounds are physical and others are psychological. Like the physical wounds the psychological wounds heal. In the latter one does not get to see the wound but can only feel the pain and hence it probably takes longer to heal. Scars fade with time sometimes they become so faint they are hardly noticed or they just disappear whereas psychological wounds leave a permanent scar. A slight incident can trigger an onset of emotions which had been quelled by patience and time. I don’t think there is a single person over the age of 20 who hasn’t experienced a bit of emotional assault. So yes we all have our wounds on our heart, mind and body. Life is all about how we deal with everything it throws at us. "The sorrow for the dead is the only sorrow from which we refuse to be divorced. Every other wound we seek to heal - every other...

Fenny Power: Within 15 days of having become our family member Fenny took ill. Her illness went to the extent of her having to live on drips. When we got her back home the vet told us that if we felt that we would require his services he would come over irrespective of the time. When a vet tells you that, you know it is not good news. That night my brother and I took turns to stay up with Fenny. By morning we knew she had taken a turn for better. The number of injections she had to take along with the drips and all this within 45 days of having made her entry into the world. You’d think we had the toughest time trying to get her to allow us to take her to the vet to get her poked with needles. But nah, she came with us, allowed the vet to poke her, held her paw up while she was given the drip. Not once did the child wince in pain or tell us she had had enough. That’s when we knew, that in spite of being the runt of the litter she was the strongest of her siblings. In November 2009 she...

I managed to dodge Karthik calling karthik, Houseful, Badmash Company, Kites etc… I thought I’d finally managed to separate the good movies from bad. Then I saw Raajneeti. Enough said. The only reason I sat on the edge of my seat with weary anticipation watching this bizarre political drama unfold on the screen was because my friend was threatening to sneeze on me. In case you have seen Godfather based on Mario Puzo’s book (or read it) and in your childhood have had the Mahabaratha drilled into your head you may read ahead. Otherwise I’ll have to screech spoiler alert . Obviously Godfather and Mahabharatha are the two tales that inspired Prkash Jha .I don’t know what he intended to tell us with his story. All I could gather from the story is – 1. That Indian politicians are the equivalent of the Italian Mafia ( Is this Mr. PJ’s way of telling our country that this in fact has happened considering we know who is our de facto PM?) 2. Behind every successful woman is a man....

Once upon a time people were a primary need. A very basic necessity in my life. I couldn’t do without certain people. They were all too important and an integral part of my life and indispensable. Then I grew up. Realized that nobody is indispensable. Probably the harshest lesson I have learnt. Way back in school people used to mind their own business. Friends were being friends – Honest, frank and very in your face. Friends never resorted to irritate or annoy people for fun. We played pranks but we were never repetitive. Everything done was laced with humor leaving no doubt to the other person to consider any intentions which may prove otherwise. Laughter, smiles, the general teenage angst and being oneself was the mantra. I probably got too used to doing things my way at my pace and the way I thought it would work best. By the time I got to college I was self reliant and did not really feel the need to have to approach anyone for any definite gyan on college, life and people. Withi...

Charlie Dalton a.k.a Nuwanda. Carpe Diem. Among the characters from the Dead Poets Society I like Charlie Dalton the best. The clown, the maverick. “I am exercising my right not to walk.” “ Welton Academy . Hello? Yes, he is. Just a moment. Mr. Nolan, it's for you. It's God. He says we should have girls at Welton.” - CD The scene in which he punches Richards for ratting. I cannot say I like Neil or Todd who are the definite favorites in the movie. Neil [the strongest] committing suicide and Todd [the weakest] taking initiative for the very first time when Keating is fired stands up on the bench and says, “O Captain, My Captain”. But I sigh every time knowing that Dalton has been expelled and the empty seat stands out. My friend with whom I have discussed this movie asked my how I never for a second spare a thought for Neil. Well, that is super simple – Neil is dead, but CD is alive and still has a life ahead...

I have a friend whose favorite line during any conversation is “Nin Kundi”.Our conversations or chats are sprinkled with abundant amount of ‘Kundi’ and Nin Kundi’ thrown at each other. Of-late it has been ‘Kundi Kerko’. If there is a fight and later an apology and if the apology is not accepeted… what do you say? Kundi Kerko. The whole kundi saga began with a coorgi classmate teaching me the word. ALL her sentences would be interjected with the K word. Apparently the word and its meaning are the same even in Malayalam and Tamil. In school a Tamilian friend had taught me the phrase ‘Periya Kundi’ and ‘China Kundi’. In college I upgraded from mere phrases to actual sentences. “Kundi le pullu”, Kundi le pamboo” are just a few examples of the way the word can be used while having a friendly [or otherwise] conversation. “Thura” is yet another disgusting word which is merely an extension of the K word. [Pun Intended] Once during exams a certain chan...

Well here is the thing. I like spooky trees. The ones that look almost lifeless because they are devoid of anything green but are still standing tall. These trees look proud and have a certain 'charisma' to them. So I was just randomly experimenting with the different effects.

R.I.P IPL until the ghosts surface next season. Last night was such tragedy. You would think some major catastrophe hit us earthlings when RCB was defeated by MI. It WAS a catastrophe. It took excess will power not to put up status messages either cheering for RCB or jeering the team they were up against so as not to jinx the match. But, well… it happened and now it is over. Sadness. Seriously for the guy who wrote ‘The Great Indian Novel’, Mr. Tharoor couldn’t you have come up with a better defense than playing the sympathy card? I hate to admit it but I actually respected you even though you belonged to the ‘other’ party. Now I know for a fact that even the smartest most educated politician is not immune to Vitamin M*. [ Not that I am claiming you are the smartest or the most educated politician we have.] Where is the President? What is she doing? Does anyone know she exists? [These 3 questions have no relevance to this post, I am merely wondering. Can I have her...

The feeling is fleeting and yet for the mere seconds that the thought lasts you realize that you are watching the evolution of a generation that claims to be less corrupt and one that is equipped to take on the world. At the same time you notice that this so called generation has a thick pseudo american accent, ideas are plenty but do they apply to us [Indians] and whether this flash of insight was just a piece read in the news paper? Seriously after having moved to Bangalore I have started noticing things that weren’t so evident in Mysore . Things like a person’s attitude towards people – In case you are dressed up like a westerner you evidently have brains. [because you need to have brains to have a very well coordinated psychedelic wardrobe.] Any one clad in salwar kameez or anything remotely Indian is “ Oh! so still living in the dark ages!” . Anyone who speaks English is smart. Anyone who speaks Hindi is a gawar. Anyone who paints her nails black, bottle ...

The most random purchase I made was yesterday when I picked up Linda Goodman’s Sun signs for just INR 80 at a second hand book store. While I walked back to my habitat I kept wondering why I purchased this book. Too late, I had the book in my hands. FACT: I had borrowed this book earlier from a friend and read it too.[6 years ago.] At one point of time in college I was obsessed with sun signs etc… but eventually I realized that we are who we want to be. KT and I also discussed this book at length and concluded that everybody on the planet cannot be divided into 12 categories and have traits similar to the ones mentioned in the book. I like to believe we are all unique and we have our own distinct qualities which separates us from the rest. Let me take myself for example. I am a Leo. But if one goes by what L.G has to say I might be mistaken for a Libran because I have a dimple. Apparently the venus dimple is a very distinctive feature of all Librans. Apparently ALL...

Chethan Bhagath is not an inspiring author. His writing doesn’t affect me in anyway and even if I miss a few pages in his book I will not have missed anything important. But in spite of his un-influencing presence in my life I must admit that he is right. 3 idiots is a rip off from his book. [Whether the book is good or bad is not the question. The question here is whether the story has been lifted off his book. Yes, it most definitely has. I am sure being an author he is probably hurting very badly now given that 5 Point someone was his first book and gave him instant fame.] What surprises me is that the movie makers are claiming that the story is not at all taken from 5 PS, “ just the basic theme of 3 friends in college”. That is most certainly bull crap. Why? For the following reasons: Sharman Joshi’s character has been completely lifted off from the book. From the weeping mother, to the sister to the dowry and yes the attempt at suicide as well. Oh ...

I want to do to someone what Bruno Tattaglia did to Luca Brasi in The Godfather. I haven’t felt this way in a long time and I can’t really say why I am feeling low enough to feel this way. What I do know is that – as a human being I am never satisfied with what I have. I always want something more. That is why I cannot commit to relationships either. Relationships apart, even in my general day to day interactions sometimes people just get on my nerves enough for me to want to pull their eyes out or just generally mentally stab them. If this post in any way makes the reader feel like there is a potential lunatic capable of committing any of the above mentioned offences I suggest you discard that opinion because you don’t know me.[Snarl...] Imagine a boulder tied to your ankles and then throwing the boulder into a river. A very primitive yet effective way of killing oneself – right? Well I think I have successfully managed to do that with my life figuratively. But see I don’t want to dro...

One dog met with an accident. Its “owner” got it operated. How did the dog meet with an accident? The owner was treating the dog shabbily and one day it ran. It met with an accident the day it ran. The dog was rescued by a teenager who got it hospitalized and paid for its operation. He managed to track down the owner who did not seem pleased to see the dog alive. A few days later when the boy went to visit the dog, he found it whimpering and unable to walk. On closer inspection he saw that the dog had been hit right across the stitches it recently had. This was enough for him to realize that the dog needed to be somewhere safe. He decided to give it a home. This dog now lives diagonally opposite to the house I live in. It is a white Labrador retriever. I have a Labrador at home and she is the friendliest of dogs. Even kids like her. But this big guy that I met thinks a thousand times before responding to human touch. Makes one wonder how much torture it must have been through. ...