Big B for President

The Samajwadi Party wants Amitabh Bachan to be President of India and in view of our Parliament's obsession with all things filmy it does look a distinct possibility.

The swearing in ceremony would be so much fun if Amitabh were to come dressed in in his Shahenshah outfit (black boots,black suit,black gloves,silver chains).I bet President Musharraf would be left squirming in his seat if Big B were to pepper his oath with dialogues like
Rishtey mein hum tumhare baap lagtein hain,Naam hai Shahenshah.To wind up proceedings we could have a rendition of Kajra re by the first family.

What bothers me is the type of signal our leaders are trying to send to the populace.If Abdul Kalam inspired a generation of young Indians to expand the frontiers of science ,Amitabh Bachan with his latest release Gia Nishabdwould inspire a generation of grandpas to bust their pensions on harleys and leather jackets.

While we are on the subject of bollywood and politics why leave out Shilpa Shetty.Her dignity in the face of racial abuse to win the Big Brother show (for a paltry sum of 3.5 crores)will be rememberd by the future generation of Indians as an act of defiance comparable with Gandhiji's refusal to vacate his seat on a train in South Africa.

As she has already proved her mettle in the foreign relations department, with even Tony Blair swooning over her, we could have her as the Minister of Exernal Affairs.Mebbe the well endowed Ms Shetty could bamboozle the tough talking Prez Musharraf to chill over the Kashmir issue.

Hmm...I wish I had taken up acting instead of engineering:(

Trivandrum

Its been such a long time since I have been to Trivandrum that I cant help noticing the changes.
Sumod,Priya and me went to a shopping mall Lifestyle.Not too sure but I think this is the first high end mall in Trivandrum.It would pale in comparision with Spencer Plaza or Forum but a start for Trivandrum nonetheless.

The first Cafe Coffee Day has opened in Trivandrum, which a few years ago ,would have been as unthinkable as a disco in Afghanistan. The crowd is much more cosmo now and I could see a lot of North Indian junta around.There are even some foreigners employed in the bigger hotels in Tvm.

Mallu babes are buring their Kanjeevarams and are experimenting with low rise jeans, though they are still a far cry away from the eyball popping heights of glory achieved by their Chennai and Bangalore cousins

Trivandrum is typical pensioners paradise.Life here still is pretty simple, reminiscent of what Bangalore was around ten years back.With the advent of IT companies I think change is bound to happen, but I do hope that it wont be a no holds barred expansion as we have been witnessing in other cities.After all in how many metros do you get to see a tusker being transported by truck through the main road:)

Country roads take me home..

Not country roads, but it was the Indian Railways which finally took me home after a loooooong time. Whenever I return home after a long time i am always welcomed by gasps and wails of 'how thin I have become' , which is fine with me as long as Mom spreads out the most amazing dishes, over my stay, to fatten me up:-).
Ever since my sis moved out after her marriage I have had a room of my own to flop around in. As I had been away for quite some time the room had taken a civilized look and I busied myself making it inhabitable by strewing my luggage and clothes around.

I discovered that I had forgotten my shampoo back in Chennai, so I took the liberty of borrowing mom's 'juicy green apples' shampoo:D .For he next few days I will be smelling like a juicy green apple:)


It’s been less than 2 days at home now. Mom has prepared Shepherds pie, prawn pulao, chicken roll, vindaloo already and there are many more to go.

Television programs in Kerala continue to remain nutty. For breakfast I watched an educational program on a modern swine slaughter house somewhere in Kerala.The presenter spoke with such unbridled glee u would think that the assembly line was churning out surface to air missiles and not pig corpses.

Sumod, Priya and me went out for a chocolate buffet, an advertising gimmick by the hotel to encourage the habit of eating out in Trivandrum.Needless to say we over indulged ourselves and I cant bear to see chocolate for the rest of my life.

Banana Leaf

I have been in South India for quite a long time and have encountered a meal served on the banana leaf pretty often.If you happen to be in Kerala during onam there is no way you could miss Onam Sandhya which comprises a gadzillion curries and another gadzillion payasams served on the Banana Leaf.

Eating off a banana leaf is not that simple.It has complex rules of etiquette to be observed and there is always something new to be discovered.

If the ladle handing out your scoop of rice freezes in mid air don't panic.The waiter is not going to smash it in your face.He is waiting for you to clean your babana leaf.Although if you still dont get the hint he probably would.

You need to be very careful while cleaning you leaf lest you end up rotating the leaf such that the broader end is toward the left.This is a strict no and your leaf may be snatched away from you in disgust.

If you are done with your meal you need to indicate so by folding your leaf, else you would find another scoop of rice bang in the middle of your leaf.

If you fold the leaf away from body it means that you are dissatisfied with your meal and if you fold it inwards it means that you consider it a smashing meal.I would advise always folding the leaf inwards unless you want a cavity on your face resembling the ladle.

Thats all for now,will keep adding new rules as i find them.

Blood Diamonds

I have read so many Wilbur Smith books that to miss watching Blood Diamonds would be criminal.Blood Diamonds has oscar written all over it.It is an undistorted portrayal of the senseless violence which grips most African countries.The story is about the trade in conflict zone diamonds mined in Sierra Leone. Leonardo Caprio is a diamond smuggler, DannyArcher who comes across this fisher man Solomon Vandy, who in turn is in search of his lost family.Solomon Vandy knows the location of a monstrous diamond buried deep in jungle and hence begins a hunt of epic propotions.The luscious Jenifer Connelly is an American journalist out to cover the war but unfortunately she does not have much of a role.

Leonardo stands out from the rest and plays his role with conviction.I think he made a perfect fit for the role.It needed someone who could be devilish but still endearing and he played that role with aplomb,whether it was in flirting with JC or scaring the living daylights out of Solomon Vandy

The violent scenes were shot very well and managed to capture the fear and chaos created by militiamen realistically. And unlike most war movies the protagonist didnt have any have any wife or girlfriend waiting for him back home and so it spares us the misery of slow motion dollops of mush.

Hmm.. sad that such a wonderful land still is torn apart by conflict.An alien watching from out there in the galaxy, would be puzzled over our struggles for a piece of rock that looks like glass..

License to swim

The alarming rate at which my tummy has been expanding over the last few months, has convinced me to start swimming on a regular basis.The swimming pool nearest to my house belongs to the Tamil Nadu Sports Development Authority.To become a member one is required to get a fitness certificate,certifying that the applicant is free from skin disease and epilepsy.

So I had to make yet another trip to civilization(read Adayar) to get my fitness certificate.Thankfully getting the certificate was not that difficult,though the doc looked a bit amused with the request and did take his time trying to scribble something intelligent on the certificate.

Since i was already in Adayar I thought of picking up a swimming cap from the sports shop.While i was parking at the complex a young girl, around 10 years old,approached me to donate to the Helpage organization.As i obliged her, the parking attendant,who was really old, came around and started shooing the girl away.Not wanting to create a scene I quickly signed and handed over the money and rushed into the complex.

When I was done with my shopping the parking attendant was back and he kept muttering something to me in Tamil, which to me sounded like "ninety years old".."retired in 1974" "32 years no pension" "Karunanithi govt sucks".When I pieced together the jigsaw puzzle my jaw nearly dropped to the floor.This guy is 90 years old!!No wonder he was pissed with the helpage girl.Most helpage inmates would be like kids to him!!While leaving I gave him a generous tip and he gave me a toothless grin and blew his whistle for me :D

At last armed with my fitness certificate and my stamp sized photos,I made my way back to the Sports Center.The stadium officer was pleasant, an endangered species in government service.He briskly filled up my application and made me sign at the relevant places.Finally he handed over to me, my membership card-my license to swim:D

Pain in the neck

I have discovered that living austerely can be a pain in the neck-literally.When I cleared out from my previous room I decided against carrying my old cot as it was beyond repair and literally in tatters.I did not buy any new cot/matress as I assumed that sleeping on a chatai couldn't be that tough.
I have been waking up each day to realize how wrong I was but this thursday matters really came to a head,when i woke up with a more than normal painful back and neck.
I tried some back and neck exercises in the office which went on to further aggravate it, so that by evening I was walking with my head tilted permanently, at an awkward angle and letting out an occassional whimper much to the surprise of my colleagues.
I am sure that the boy at the coffee counter thought I was making a pass at him when I asked him for coffee with my DevAnandesque pose..shucks!

Gotta buy a mattress this weekend now..wince