Mom and me had been to Mumbai to attend a family function.It's been 10 years almost to the day since I last visited Mumbai and incidentally that time too it happened to be just Mum and me.
I had booked tickets on the Air Deccan flight to Mumbai after considerable planning to ensure that both mom and me would land around the same time.Unfortunately Air Deccan chose to play spoil sport and my flight was delayed by 5 hours. I finally landed at Mumbai at the unearthly hour of 2 am after a very cramped journey.
Spent the next hour at one of my uncle's place chatting with my mom's siblings before crashing.Next morning had to get up real early to get to church and by noon the ceremony was over.Mum and dad grew up in Mumbai and so there happen to be lot of relatives and friends, who are almost family.Times like this can be amusing for example when one pretty lady and me traced down the family tree and discovered that we were related; much to my dismay! ;)
Hectic day notwithstanding cousins and me managed to squeeze in a movie too and a cup of coffee at the Cafe Coffee Day by Carter Road which must have the highest density of awesome babes per square feet in India.I think I would have ended up with severe neck damage with all the eye candy on display @ CCD when cousins dragged me for the movie before I could become a further source of embarrassment.Movie was Cheeni Kum and revolved around a 64 year old cook Amitabh Bachan chasing a 34 year old software engineer Tabu.The movie had its 'eye rolling in incredulity' moments but qualifies to be a decent watch.
Had a smashing dinner at uncles place and chatted till late in the night.Next day woke up to a scare that my Indian Airlines flight back to Chennai could possibly be canceled due to a strike by the ground staff but thankfully the my flight was spared.Mom,me and mom's sis went exploring Mumbai visiting their childhood hangouts.We went to the Mount Mary's Church in Bandra and then a quick peep at Sharukh's and Salman's houses with a friendly and amused autowallah acting as our tour guide.Auntie chipped in with the the useful info that Salman was constructing a house near Abishek and Ash's new house :)
Next we made our way to another uncle's place in Vikhroli
for lunch.Uncle spun us around Hiranandani City and for a moment I felt i was in Europe.The place was that awesome!
Finally by evening I was back to the airport and on my flight back to Chennai.Too much stimulation in too little time!! :)
Wednesday, June 20, 2007
Gasp...
There's been so much happening over the past few days that it feels like a year has passed by
Sunday, June 10, 2007
The Pursuit of Happiness
I seldom blog about the activities of community service that I am involved in because they are few and far between and I would hate it if a curious wanderer would ever come across my blog and mis-understand that I am deeply involved in it.
This week I volunteered to distribute clothes for the needy with some of my office mates.The clothes and other items that were collected from the donations made by the company employees were sent to a school nearby where the principal(Lakshmi) there packed it neatly into parcels with each child's name attached to it.They were meant for two orphanages in Chennai.When we assembled at the common pickup point I was surprised to see our mail room boy Mark there.Mark is an ever smiling and hardworking guy and I am sure if he were to receive the education that people like me received he would have been places.
The principal Lakshmi (who is completely immersed in social service) joined us in the visit.She must be around 50 years and as energetic as a 15 year old.We made an odd motley group with a project manager,a mail room boy,a principal and a few software engineers like me.
The orphanages that we visited were in really bad shape especially the second one where there must have been at least 35 children cramped into three small rooms.The single fan in the building was in the reception where we were met by the founder.When it was time for us to leave he and some of the children folded their arms in gratitude...I felt so small:)
At times I really regret not knowing Tamil.I would have loved to converse with these people,especially the founder and the children, but also at times I think it is a blessing in disguise.I can afford to remain ignorant of the existential crises they face in their pursuit of happiness and sleep peacefully.
PS: Names here have been changed.
This week I volunteered to distribute clothes for the needy with some of my office mates.The clothes and other items that were collected from the donations made by the company employees were sent to a school nearby where the principal(Lakshmi) there packed it neatly into parcels with each child's name attached to it.They were meant for two orphanages in Chennai.When we assembled at the common pickup point I was surprised to see our mail room boy Mark there.Mark is an ever smiling and hardworking guy and I am sure if he were to receive the education that people like me received he would have been places.
The principal Lakshmi (who is completely immersed in social service) joined us in the visit.She must be around 50 years and as energetic as a 15 year old.We made an odd motley group with a project manager,a mail room boy,a principal and a few software engineers like me.
The orphanages that we visited were in really bad shape especially the second one where there must have been at least 35 children cramped into three small rooms.The single fan in the building was in the reception where we were met by the founder.When it was time for us to leave he and some of the children folded their arms in gratitude...I felt so small:)
At times I really regret not knowing Tamil.I would have loved to converse with these people,especially the founder and the children, but also at times I think it is a blessing in disguise.I can afford to remain ignorant of the existential crises they face in their pursuit of happiness and sleep peacefully.
PS: Names here have been changed.
Monday, June 4, 2007
Weird/Funny articles
Read three weird/funny articles in the papers recently.
1)A female shark managed to reproduce without mating.Seems it is pretty normal and there is even have a name for it Parthenogenesis.
2)A german man fell off the second storey balcony while trying to outspit his 12 year old son in a spitting contest
3)There is a hen turning into a cock in some part of Eastern India
1)A female shark managed to reproduce without mating.Seems it is pretty normal and there is even have a name for it Parthenogenesis.
2)A german man fell off the second storey balcony while trying to outspit his 12 year old son in a spitting contest
3)There is a hen turning into a cock in some part of Eastern India
Thursday, May 31, 2007
Life in a metro
Back from watching Life in a Metro.Wouldn't call it a disaster.Disaster is something I would reserve for a movie called Namestay London, after which i suffered uncontrollable diarrhea for a week.LIAM would come pretty close to achieving that dubious distinction.
After hearing unreserved praises for LIAM and with my inability to find tickets during the weekends I decided to make a dash for it today.Booked the tickets for the 10 pm show and today also being the last day before the mandatory helmet rule being enforced in Chennai I had to stuff my head into one of those contraptions before leaving.
On reaching Satyam I saw a red carpet rolled out and flashes popping and I was thinking this movie must really rock.It was only when I produced my ticket was I to know that the red carpet was rolled out for Pirates of the Caribbean,rest of the moviegoers were supposed to slink into their respective halls in ignomity.
Characters in LIAM do everything what people in a metro should not be doing like married women chasing divorced men,married bosses having dalliances with unmarried subordinates,nonagenarians having sex etc etc.First half was bearable with some pretty good music,attempted suicides,gays getting busted and by the time its the interval you come to terms with the fact that there is no real story but more of attempts to shock and awe with instances of moral corruption but you still hold hopes that there might be better in store.
Second half was torture with a failed love scene between Shilpa Shetty and her paramour which invited catcalls from the delinquents seated in front of me.There was also a successful love making scene between 120 years old Dharmendra and 102 years old Nafisa Ali which will surely haunt me for the rest of my life.(where are these censor boards when you need them).Dharmpaaji also decides to announce,for a whole minute,that he made a mistake in leaving hot and happening Nafisa Ali, a century back,to pursue his dreams.More madness follows and I am clawing at my seat begging for redemption.
Finally the cast of characters flashes, and I leave for home at the highest speed I could attain.
After hearing unreserved praises for LIAM and with my inability to find tickets during the weekends I decided to make a dash for it today.Booked the tickets for the 10 pm show and today also being the last day before the mandatory helmet rule being enforced in Chennai I had to stuff my head into one of those contraptions before leaving.
On reaching Satyam I saw a red carpet rolled out and flashes popping and I was thinking this movie must really rock.It was only when I produced my ticket was I to know that the red carpet was rolled out for Pirates of the Caribbean,rest of the moviegoers were supposed to slink into their respective halls in ignomity.
Characters in LIAM do everything what people in a metro should not be doing like married women chasing divorced men,married bosses having dalliances with unmarried subordinates,nonagenarians having sex etc etc.First half was bearable with some pretty good music,attempted suicides,gays getting busted and by the time its the interval you come to terms with the fact that there is no real story but more of attempts to shock and awe with instances of moral corruption but you still hold hopes that there might be better in store.
Second half was torture with a failed love scene between Shilpa Shetty and her paramour which invited catcalls from the delinquents seated in front of me.There was also a successful love making scene between 120 years old Dharmendra and 102 years old Nafisa Ali which will surely haunt me for the rest of my life.(where are these censor boards when you need them).Dharmpaaji also decides to announce,for a whole minute,that he made a mistake in leaving hot and happening Nafisa Ali, a century back,to pursue his dreams.More madness follows and I am clawing at my seat begging for redemption.
Finally the cast of characters flashes, and I leave for home at the highest speed I could attain.
Friday, May 25, 2007
A Psalm of Life
Tell me not, in mournful numbers,
Life is but an empty dream! —
For the soul is dead that slumbers,
And things are not what they seem.
Life is real! Life is earnest!
And the grave is not its goal;
Dust thou art, to dust returnest,
Was not spoken of the soul.
Not enjoyment, and not sorrow,
Is our destined end or way;
But to act, that each to-morrow
Find us farther than to-day.
Art is long, and Time is fleeting,
And our hearts, though stout and brave,
Still, like muffled drums, are beating
Funeral marches to the grave.
In the world's broad field of battle,
In the bivouac of Life,
Be not like dumb, driven cattle!
Be a hero in the strife!
Trust no Future, howe'er pleasant!
Let the dead Past bury its dead!
Act, — act in the living Present!
Heart within, and God o'erhead!
Lives of great men all remind us
We can make our lives sublime,
And, departing, leave behind us
Footprints on the sands of time;
Footprints, that perhaps another,
Sailing o'er life's solemn main,
A forlorn and shipwrecked brother,
Seeing, shall take heart again.
Let us, then, be up and doing,
With a heart for any fate;
Still achieving, still pursuing,
Learn to labor and to wait.
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
Tell me not, in mournful numbers,
Life is but an empty dream! —
For the soul is dead that slumbers,
And things are not what they seem.
Life is real! Life is earnest!
And the grave is not its goal;
Dust thou art, to dust returnest,
Was not spoken of the soul.
Not enjoyment, and not sorrow,
Is our destined end or way;
But to act, that each to-morrow
Find us farther than to-day.
Art is long, and Time is fleeting,
And our hearts, though stout and brave,
Still, like muffled drums, are beating
Funeral marches to the grave.
In the world's broad field of battle,
In the bivouac of Life,
Be not like dumb, driven cattle!
Be a hero in the strife!
Trust no Future, howe'er pleasant!
Let the dead Past bury its dead!
Act, — act in the living Present!
Heart within, and God o'erhead!
Lives of great men all remind us
We can make our lives sublime,
And, departing, leave behind us
Footprints on the sands of time;
Footprints, that perhaps another,
Sailing o'er life's solemn main,
A forlorn and shipwrecked brother,
Seeing, shall take heart again.
Let us, then, be up and doing,
With a heart for any fate;
Still achieving, still pursuing,
Learn to labor and to wait.
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
Thursday, May 10, 2007
Faces of the leader
The chief minister of Tamil Nadu fathered Stalin. Nope. I am not talking about the Russian who sent millions of his countrymen to the gulags but not quite unlike his namesake Stalin knows how to make his presence felt. There must be around a million cutouts, hoardings, posters of him in Chennai. We have Stalin grinning, smiling, and frowning in his spotless white shirt and dhothi at every major and non major junction. He vies for advertising space with the likes of Abhishek, Sharukh, Asin, Trisha and Rajnikant and beats them hands down. Education must be very dear to him as there are many hoardings of Stalin receiving a degree. And from the looks of it a multiple degree holder as he is receiving a degree from different people.
Now that his dad is about to complete 50 years as a legislator there are now another million cutouts of Karunanithi.Both father and son are now getting more eyeball hits per hour than any other filmy/political figure in Tamil Nadu.
What I have observed is that whatever be the posture these two have the same
expression on their face. Let me name it the leadership expression, LE for short.
LE's are of two types, one is in which the protagonist appears to be looking far away into the future with a troubled expression on his face as if he just peeped into the crystal ball and saw an onslaught of mighty troubles on his people. The other is one in which he is much more relaxed appearing, to enjoy a quiet chuckle with himself as if the crystal ball just told him that happier times are in store for his people.
These LE's make themselves available at any point of time in their daily lives so even if we have a hoarding of Stalin adjusting his dhothi we get to see an LE on his face. These LE's start appearing very early in the career of a politician as is evident with the cutouts of a young, cherubic Karunanithi lit up with a 1000 watt LE.
So it makes me wonder what if I join politics at some point of time and I become a great leader. What if my followers ask me to give them LE snaps of my youth?
The types of snaps I have around with me are of me staring hungrily at a muffin, me washing dishes, me playing gully cricket. Not quite LE material.
The only times that I have LE's are in office where I can’t carry a camera. For example when my manager comes to have a word with me and I am thinking 'You know I am not listening to you so let me entertain myself by examining my reflection in your bald pate' or when I am in the break out area having coffee by myself where I carry a serene expression suggesting that I am thinking about world peace whereas I am thinking about much more earthly issues like ‘Will she slap me if I propose to her’ ‘Should I ask boss for a raise’ ‘What would happen if I added some tea to my cofee’.So many LE’s gone down the drain.
I just noticed that I have an LE right now while composing this post. Lemme call someone to take a snap before the moment passes away:-)
Now that his dad is about to complete 50 years as a legislator there are now another million cutouts of Karunanithi.Both father and son are now getting more eyeball hits per hour than any other filmy/political figure in Tamil Nadu.
What I have observed is that whatever be the posture these two have the same
expression on their face. Let me name it the leadership expression, LE for short.
LE's are of two types, one is in which the protagonist appears to be looking far away into the future with a troubled expression on his face as if he just peeped into the crystal ball and saw an onslaught of mighty troubles on his people. The other is one in which he is much more relaxed appearing, to enjoy a quiet chuckle with himself as if the crystal ball just told him that happier times are in store for his people.
These LE's make themselves available at any point of time in their daily lives so even if we have a hoarding of Stalin adjusting his dhothi we get to see an LE on his face. These LE's start appearing very early in the career of a politician as is evident with the cutouts of a young, cherubic Karunanithi lit up with a 1000 watt LE.
So it makes me wonder what if I join politics at some point of time and I become a great leader. What if my followers ask me to give them LE snaps of my youth?
The types of snaps I have around with me are of me staring hungrily at a muffin, me washing dishes, me playing gully cricket. Not quite LE material.
The only times that I have LE's are in office where I can’t carry a camera. For example when my manager comes to have a word with me and I am thinking 'You know I am not listening to you so let me entertain myself by examining my reflection in your bald pate' or when I am in the break out area having coffee by myself where I carry a serene expression suggesting that I am thinking about world peace whereas I am thinking about much more earthly issues like ‘Will she slap me if I propose to her’ ‘Should I ask boss for a raise’ ‘What would happen if I added some tea to my cofee’.So many LE’s gone down the drain.
I just noticed that I have an LE right now while composing this post. Lemme call someone to take a snap before the moment passes away:-)
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