Sinfully Yours - Greed

Mammon - Greed:

If you expect me to do a year end wrap up post, tenga to u.... Hahahahaha.. oh well :) sorry.. 

Year end is just another day... i am still at work and with no clue what to do next.. I am greedy and want to sleep the rest of the day... yes, i am greedy for some sleep now.. but what ho, i can see myself being teleported to any of the events happening across the city where i ll stand looking bored nursing a tall flute of water (room temperature, plz... sniff sniff) 

anyways... back to the post... This bring us to the end of the seven sins series where with each post i tried to connect some or the other personal event that happened with me... What?? this is a personal blog, what more do u expect? umm we are digressing... 

So where was i? oh yeah the post... So Greed was to go two days after my birthday where i had planned to upload all pics of the gifts i received and saying i was greedy for more (and obviously showing off and making you jealous)... :-D but thanks to various incidents and my health such a thing never happened.. What? oh the clicking part happened, writing the post part didn't happen... Sigh..    

So anyways, the post, THE POST!! Yeah the post... Greed... well i was reading my year end mail that i had sent to my close friends in 2009...i had described each month with three words and accomplishments i had achieved that month... i sat pondering and wondered how was 2010.... sadly i couldn't think of a single thing.... duh!! now i am greedy... So greedy that, 

--> I want to achieve something admirable every month of 2011

--> I want to visit 12 new places.. one for each month in 2011

--> On Dec 31st, 2011, i should be able to describe each month with a single word.. superlative, if possible!!

Yes i am greedy that way :|  for now, i ll go bug some twitter friends... c ya, next year :) 

And yeah Happy 2011 Folks!! 

P.S : January 2011 has a good start already... My paper on analysis of Leadership styles has been selected at the International Management Confluence happening at Indore in Jan, 2011!! :D
P.P.S : And oh yeah, i launched my photography website at www.ratzzz.com .. Pay a visit sometime.. I have a photograhpy blog there too :) 

Sinfully Yours - Sloth

Belphegor: Sloth


This was supposed to be up two weeks back.. i think thats sloth enough!!

Sinfully Yours - Anger

Amon - Anger

Have been putting off this post for a long time now! but something that happened today made  me angry again and I need to get it out of me...

Sometime back, i was returning from a day out with my friends and it was late in the evening.. REPEAT, evening, NOT late night... I was on phone and walking in one of the streets leading to my house... a middle aged guy was coming towards me on a bike and suddenly noticed he was making an obscene hand gesture.. i realized he was trying to touch me inappropriately and i jumped away in time.. all i could do was shout cuss words against him... what irked me more was, it wasn't even dark and people were standing along the streets, who obviously behaved as if they say nothing :|

This is not the first time it happened to me... one idiot had spanked me inappropriately couple of years back while in Indore...

I wanted to write it down and vent out my anger.. but put it off as i was very angry and i would have used a fowl language... what incited this post today was another experience of a friend...

There was a molestation attempt on my friend yday night and i am still jittery about it.. apparently the friend was in Marina last evening and a guy had approached groping, kissing and behaving way too inappropriately with my friend.. The friend escaped luckily, thanks to a pair of Nail clippers. When my friend ran and reported to the nearby police all they did was check my friend's breath for alcohol content... i am like WTF??!!

This is not the first experience for my friend either.. there was another similar incident last year too :|

Do you really think you want me to say anything or write anything?? I am seething with anger!! :|

Sinfully yours - Lust

anyone who proceeds on hoping to read about my many shenanigans in the secret dark shady corners of Chennai - hahahahahahaha, Tenga to you mate :-D :-D :-P

very few of you might now that i have precisely 14 days more to touch my Quarter life crisis... and as the tradition requires, here is my wish list errr lust list :-D So think wisely and get the right gift for me... Empty hands are not allowed at my party... why? Coz i loooooooooooooove gifts and any Birthday demands loads of gifts...

1. Turquoise Jewelry - For heavens sake! this is on my list ever since this blog started... Someone please get it across to me!! Its my birthstone and Mom says i should be gifted not bought.. :)

2. Bling Phone - Sigh! Swarovski elements, pure white and slide... i am panting already :-D

3. Camera Bag - Ok I saw this Camera bag at Landmark yday and was instant love! I was like why the hell didnt i see it three days back when i had bucks with me :( i WANT this!

4. Dark Chocolates - Given my intolerance towards milk recently, my love for dark chocolate has quadrupled... Ferraro-rochers are accepted as well :-D

5. Tantrumzz -  yup, my Big Bro, Sudar got me this domain 2 yrs back around my birthday.. and its standing for renewal... so if u want to continue reading Tantrumzz do gift me :D or i can roll back to sumthing.blogspot.com, anytime :-D

6. Flowers - Carnations, Ger-bras, Roses, Orchids, anything :-D Just make me feel good :)

So go on, think once, think twice but at the end get me something... You can as well get me something of your choice too.. coz at the end, i just need a gift :-D

 P.S: I know, i sound spoilt, snotty and a snob.. but who cares.. i am in the Asmodeus mood today :-D Keep the gifts coming!

Sinfully yours - Gluttony

Beelzebub - Gluttony
 
hahahahahahaha... Now who better than me to define Gluttony...

As my sister says, "where does it all go?? You eat so much yet manage to stay slim".. Ahem now that's a trade secret :-D

or as Biker Dude excalimed over the weekend, "if you eat at regular intervals you eat a lot... you just can't eat a large single meal"... He he he, true that too :-P

just for example lets take a look at today's meals...

Bfast: Sandwich with wood-apple jam
Brunch: Butter Popcorn & coffee
Lunch: Fusilli Pasta with white sauce
Evening Snack: Chick pea cutlets with oodles of butter
Dinner: Some noodles
Midnight Snack: Butter fried eggplants & butter toasts

 :-D

Now i will go soak some lentils for tomm's lunch... btw picked some wonderful green looking spring onions and ladies finger :-D tomm's lunch is gonna rock! The Beelzebub, yay thats what i am :)

P.S: Anyone with comments like "where does all that food go" and stares me up and down will have their IP blocked :|

Sinfully yours - Envy

Leviathan - Envy
That is one name i adore... Its even my nickname at some places... Anyhow, i envy and that too how...

• I envy all you folks with 9-5 job.. believe me, working at odd hours sucks :-|
• I envy all you folks who can indulge on cheese, milk shakes, chocolate ice-creams on daily basis... I have a love-hate relationship with them.. i love them, they hate me... :-| (I won't go into the gory details of the puke fest)
• I envy you folks who can ride a bike, rider or pillion rider... I can't sit on a bike without holding onto my dear life.. (yeah thanks man, thanks for coming on the wrong side and giving me great days at the hospital, NOT) Its eight long years since then, yet I still dread.. sparing Biker dude and my brother, I hate sitting behind any one else including my sister (ok riding with her is the worst nightmare, so lets leaves her)
•  I envy you girls who can walk around in those 4 inch heels without a single twitch of facial nerve... err how do you do it, being the shorty short I am, I need some lessons there... 

So the Leviathan in me, envies all of you for the above and even more!

Sinfully yours - Vanity

Lucifer : Vanity

It was a Monday when i took an hour long bus ride to Cutz and Glitz. I lost my way in between and had to take an auto.. Thankfully the auto driver didn't charge more than ten bucks. Sigh!

Anyhow, i was greeted by a girl with all smiles and handed me a menu asking "what service i need today?" Yes sir, i was there to get pampered... :-D Anyhow, i settled for a wash and haircut... Another lady came over to give me a nice haircut with loads of layers and bangs. Only i won't be satisfied... I wanted a forehead fringe to hide err, my balding forehead... :-P So anyhow, I am the Lucifer with a gorgeous new haircut almost resembling Lion's Mane :-D

The Return of Killer Vadas!

Whenever I move away from a place, more than the place or the people I miss the food there... when I left Chennai few years back, i missed Sambar Sadam/Bisibelabath and Sambar vada more than anything else.. and full meals too.. missed them so much that when I landed back in Chennai a year ago, I promptly hit a Saravana Bhavan and ordered Sambar Sadam, Yummm Slurp!!

So you can see what I would be missing now! Yup the street food of Indore... Indore was the city which made me a glutton... The Chappan Bhog with its 56 shops of different delicacies and the Sarafa market (which is ideally a jewelry mart that transforms into a food bazaar post 9 pm) are dedicated for food and food only...

Dal baati is one heavy food that has to be reserved for Sundays and Holidays...  Made of Dal, I ate this first at a Sai Temple, I had the habit of visiting for my Reiki treatment... it was served with lemon, some chutney, dal, onions and something else..  was so full that I slept in the car by the time i reached home :-|

Ghamandi lassi takes the punjabi lassi to a totally different level... Butte ka kiss is a kiss of a parallel world... This is a part of India which wakes up to Hot Jilebi and soft Poha... Johnny's hot dog at the Chappan dhukan may be just bun and patties but they are so crisp and lovely, you will end up ordering more than enough... trust me i always did...

This was the first place I had "Mitha Samosa" that too by mistake, a sweet mistake nevertheless... Garadu is just yam cut into small pieces, fried and served with lemon and spices... Just pop in a piece and there will be myriad number of tastes popping in your mouth... Mithe Tukade is a fried bread slice served with generous helping of dry fruits and cream, Yumm!!

When I got back from office, I usually took a walk from the main market to my house buying vegetables, stuff and stopping especially for a plate of Paani pathasa (paani poori for you lesser mortals), Aloo kachori and sometimes a bite of Khaman...

If its saturday, my weekly off, I will walk over to Apna sweets for a Lunch Thali...  for 80 bucks you get 5 pooris or rotis, chola, dal tadka, dal makhani, rice, pulao, 2 sabjis, 2 rasgullas, papad, pickle, onions, lassi and dahi.... yumm slurp!!

Sigh... anyhow, this is also the city which showed me Sago/Javvarisi is not just for payasam, payasa or kheer... they make umpteen number of dishes with a handful of Sago... Sabudhana khichdi is to die for and my personal favorite is Sabudhana Vada... So imagine my delight when mom left a pack of Sago during her last visit... :-D

I got into the act of finding the recipe and gathering the ingredients... very simple to make and Ta-DA..

A bowl of soaked Sago, grated potatoes, finely diced onions, rice flour, green chillies and some chaat masala.. mix them all, make them into balls and deep fry them... voila!!

 I can go back to Indore just to eat all day :-D Sigh, how i miss the Dark chocolate pastries of Fantasy and  a nice plate of chat at Khajuri Bazaar!!

A guide to what to gift her and get to her heart...

or something like that...

If you have been even a little bit observant, you would notice that i have added a small icon "Desicritics" to the sidebar among the various badges... yes sire! Yours truly has started writing at DC... It all started with me requesting and eventually Flyinfiddlesticks inviting me to write at DC... Follow the link here and do read my posts, mind you I am just 2 posts old :)

Coming to the title of the post, I shared one of the articles by a fellow writer Mansi, "Gifts Men Should Not Give Women"... Santa promptly commented "then what to gift???" If i remember right, Santa had asked me this question previously in yet another instant too :-D... so here goes the post....

Giving a gift is not a mighty thing... it varies as per the person... as per Mansi's post, flowers and chocolates are a boo-boo... well roses and a box of dark chocolate lifts me up anytime... seriously, anything from "My Man" with love will get me going about it for hours... anyhow, to the list...

Flowers: The secret lies in how you present... make an effort... read about the flowers you are sending... a pointer here, the meaning of the flower always vary as per the country... Dutch believe white rose is for death and Americans believe it denotes innocence and "seeking forgiveness" ahem! anyhow, read about the flower...
and don't send a lack luster bunch... either send her simple bunch of dozen roses or dig out the whole Amazon forest as a floral bouquet... anything else is gonna leave you dangling :-D

White roses waiting to be sold at flower market

 And if you are still in doubt, go for the classic bunch of RED ROSES!!!

Chocolates: Whatever women say, they dig chocolates... they can have a high rigor diet going on, but a simple box of chocolates artfully presented raises their heartbeat.. :-P

Make her drunk on chocolates and your love

Be Creative: Pick up those scissors and glue stick... remember those craft lessons you had to undergo in your middle school (no don't remind me.. mine was a horror)... pick up a clue or two from there...

• cut up hearts of various sizes and stick them on a chart paper... corny, i know.. but hey, if it wins her heart, you are good to go right??
• make something, which she had seen and mentioned to you... at college, a friend once came to me beaming and showing off a red kite... she had mentioned about kids flying kite on the beach when the couple had gone out on a date... the boy promptly prepared all by himself a red kite and gifted it to her... all he needed was some tissue paper, sticks, glue and loads of love! 
• go the Chetan Bhagat way, make her a lipstick case... ok engineering mechanics is not my trough.. so what try something similar..
• instead of buying a greeting card which says "101 reasons why I love you", sit down and write down reasons why you like to be with her.. Even 1 would be great, you don't need 101 reasons to floor her... one Valid reason is enough...

Ok, not this one... bats are no good in love!

  Encourage Her Hobbies:  Sure shot way to reach her heart... she is dabbling in cooking, get her a cooking book or some kitchenware... she is into painting, get her new supplies or a couple of camel hair brushes... she reads a lot, get her a subscription to the local library... Oh come on you got enough options there...

Ok not so old.. But if she is into classics like me, YAY 

Go the classic way: If you don't know what to give, go the classic way... take her out  for a dinner or cook her a meal... even noodles or mac and cheese would be great... book her a day at the spa or give her a lovely massage... or if she is really angry, stay away from her... ok, i am joking :-D

 If none of the above works, just hand over your credit card to her and see her jump up and down in joy... hey it really works :-P

The Mega Hit list!

Long long ago, so long ago, only my blog knows how long ago, i used to do a feature on the search phrases that people used to find my blog... or rather the keywords that lead them to my blog... it usually is funny but it seems it has changed a lot over months... so ta-da!! presenting you the whole new list of phrases...

But before we start, i really want to know who the hell searched for my college roomie's name??? duh, lemme warn you she has a fricking double Ph.D now; one from NUS, Singapore and one from MIT, USA and not a plain Masters in Art as you have searched for.. get your coordinates right next time :-|

Madras nalla Madras: 

 or Chennai as i would prefer it...  when i wrote this post i seriously didn't believe that it would go on to become the most popular post ever on my page... but errr... it did and in what way? take a look below (totally 40 hits on this keyword alone)

"things to do in chennai"  - 23 instances                     

"fun things to do in Chennai" - 5 instances

and some of the variations of the same two keywords, 

best things to do in chennai - let me just say all the 30 deeds i listed are the best
where can i find tom and jerry doll in chennai - seriously i don't have a clue. But you should try Pondy Bazaar or the Parrys Corner
things to buy in chennai - Where should i start??
fun things to do in chennai for couples - Ahem ahem, i hope you got what you searched for
things to do in chennai this weekend - This weekend you can attend the Vinayakar Chahurthi Visarjan
things to do on saturday in chennai - If you mail me, I ll mail you back a whole list :D
streets of parrys,Chennai - Let me assure you i don't have the full list myself :(
pondy - 2 instances
earring paradise,tnagar,Chennai - ummm the whole street of Pondy Bazaar?
pondyb - hmmm
pondy bazaar call girls - now, wait a min!! who let you enter my Blog! eh?

Epic Retold:   

 This is one keyword i am proud of. Not just because i wrote it but also i love this epic and it is linked in Wikipedia itself! yay!

Post: 1, 2,  & the quiz in PS

mahabharata analysis  

mahabharat series

maha                

mahab 

mahabhara 

quiz on mahabharata   

bheeshmar a character in Mahabharata - This 

ethics of bheeshma -  If you ask him, he had zilch ethics... he was "all preach no practice pope"

turok vs arjun in mahabharat - Ummm Turok is a fictional American comic book character, which is set in the future.. and Arjun is a character of past... umm how??

video of karna in mahabharata - You seriously out of your mind... Videography was invented very recently, sweetheart!

danveer karna Mahabharata - that is one thing i ll accept..

who is akaasur - Sadly my friend, since yday nite, this is a question i am asking myself too. 

The Peter Pan effect:

               I am hoping this post here triggered these  

peter pan   -   2 instances      

peter pan - dad photos - err, i don't want to be insensitive but ain't peter pan an orphan.. and a mythical character at it??

a girl called gulliver - SIGH! 

who played the female peter pan? - Duh!!! who are u ppl?? why have you got it all wrong? first a female gulliver and now a female peter pan *facepalms*

Foodie Me:               

motichoor laddu –  2 instances
sambar sadam - oh oh oh. my love for chennai is mainly 'cause of this 

pupil elliots beach - well done my friend!! you can never find a better sandwich joint.. 

                 

Book worm:                                           

book and coffee picture                

mister god,%2                 

mister god t

I am guessing the last two phrases are actually "Mr. God, This is Anna", one of my all time fav pocket books.

Love and me: 

if u wanna be with me   - 2 instances ( breaks into the song "you really gotta be my friend. For me there is no other, for love can never end" ) 

heart                      

pink heart%
unrequited love mahesh sindbandge - Sigh!! Mahesh sindbandge blogs here and not in my blog!!

   
And other sundry:               

i hate my laptop - 4 instances (This one)
tantrumzz of the rat - now seriously... (flattered)   

garfield sleepy                  

wat a fish          

mast/jobless one liners - who are u calling jobless O_o what was the reason saravana bhavan owner to murder his employee?    - if you get to know, let me know too :-D        

paisawala.com  / duspaisa.com - what is the bledy co-relation?
pazhaya poi     - Its a tamil phrase for "Old Lie"

cement rat statue - Err not in chennai i guess

proud of bunking exams - tch tch tch.. Shame on you!

making drawing god ganpati sketches video for orkut - errr

how to get family together - errr.. and u came to my blog to find that?? seriously? O_o
route to nagala hills - You should contact Peter of CTC
antique jewelry typepad - No idea buddy!

advantages of namma metro           

                               
Some p0rn, as we have nothing else to do: 

nudeland -2  instances
Sexy pics of razia sultana pictures   - She was a Moghul princess for heavens sake                               
  
And some phrases where i can't make out the head or tail:
deep% 

hmar ma dre

addres for                          

th                                                           

information o   

this        

kar         

The above phrases were in the top Hundred... the below phrases were in top 150...

how to catch the rats in Chennai - Duh!!! you planning against my relatives no eh??

And thanks to folks who searched for stray factory hitchcock chennai and review of chennai play... Needless to say, i am touched!

So go on... what is your hit list??

Bake some happiness...

Take me to a new house that you are in the process of buying or renting and i will promptly walk into the kitchen and check it out... what the hey, this pigeon hole i am living was rented by me solely because it has ample kitchen space... my home may lack any interior decoration or furniture, but my kitchen will always remain well stocked... right from basic salt, sugar, pepper to flours of at least 4 kinds and south Indian masalas of all kinds...

Its well established that i love cooking for others... drop in home and give me an hours notice and i will whip you a four course meal...  but ask me to cook a simple dish and eat myself, i ll hunt for a curd tub and eat it up with rice... well thats me... oh yeah, i eat like a pig when i eating out, just can't eat my own cooking sigh...

ugh ugh, i am digressing... anyhow, i love to cook... and i LOVE to bake... yes!! cakes, muffins and etc etc... it started way back during my school days... my dad's friend who owned a Swiss bakery came by our house.. i was intrigued when he baked cookies in under 15 mins... really, sigh!! moist and chewy... yummy cookies.. i miss those days.... ugh i am digressing again... so anyhow, he taught me to bake cakes, cookies and of all things a pizza base... yeah you read it right.. a pizza base... i am one of those species who can whip out a pizza right from the scratch at home... no need to go in search of pizza buns at midnight when you crave for this delicacy from Italy, umm or was that from Naples... oh never mind, the point is i can bake a pizza.. tra la la la :-D

When parents where at native and sister was alone with me on her birthday in 2001, i baked her a cake, not one but 4...  but there was a minor technical glitch though... we being at our parents home, i didn't know which floor was where... so i baked cakes out of chakki fresh wheat flour... only the trash can knew of my efforts... and now you through this blog :-D

When i returned back to Chennai last year,  rented this place and secured myself a gas connection (cooking gas i.e., ahem) my baking passion returned to me... :-D Voila... i started with a simple Chocolate cake with chocolate chips...

Chocolate Cake with choco-chips

Then one day i got this brilliant recipe to bake a cup cake in flat 5 mins... I altered it a bit and made it into Strawberry Mug cake (10 mins)...

Strawberry Mug cake in my fav. Mug

and after that baking a cake became a norm... baking a chocolate-marshmellow cake for sister's colleague (which was a disaster), chocolate cakes and strawberry cake and so on... the recent one is Banana cake with banana cream filling...

Banana Cake in the making

It started with half a jar of Banana cream left out from my morning breakfast spread.. and i was desperate to make something useful out of it... after torturing Bikerdude for a day and dragging my bro to the local Nilgiris, i got all the ingredients ready for the perfect crime, errm cake.. :-D

And voila... the best cake i ever baked!!

Banana Cake with Banana Cream fill 

Well you will have to take my word, because not a single crumb is left now... Burrrp!! oopsie, excuse moi!! :-D

Note: All these are baked in a cooker :) hence the texture won't be the same as baked in an oven

Little Red Riding Hood...

My fascination for anything Red is a long known story... Usually it is my sister who gets the burn of it...


well picture this.. we were shopping at Ampa Mall, some shoe store and suddenly sister hears a squeal...  "oooooooooh Red Ballerina Shooooes..." Source, ummm errr Me.. :-D

 So thats how the scene is... unlucky me Red doesn't shoot my complexion or else i ll stack up my wardrobe with just Red dresses.. :-D and i know which color will dominate when i have a house of my own...

To list some of the Red things hoarded by me, i am a proud owner of

1. Red coffee Mug
2. Pair of Red Ballerina Shoes, ahem
3. Pair of red Flip Flops
4. Red Stoles
5. Loads and Loads of red bangles
6. Red Vanity Bag and
7. Red Pillow. 

 It was not always red... and i dunno how long i ll be fascinated with this color either... It was Yellow during High School.. Partly because it was imposed on me and partly because i was vibrant and jumpy... the fascination eroded when i entered the college.. Black took over.. mainly because i never wanted to be noticed... and never because someone said black makes me look sleek and sexy, never.. i repeat never :-D

I started loving red sometime in April 2010 and its always my sister who steers me away from anything red just because she doesn't want to see me gushing over it for the rest of the week.. he he he... i still have a red umbrella on my wish list...

Some wisecrack just quipped Red is a color of love, oh well... smirks 

An evening with Mr.Hitchcock...

When i got a call from an unknown number, i least expected it to be from Reni, of Indiblogger.. duh, i have at least three mobile numbers against his name already :| So What Reni did was entice me with tickets for a play at the Museum Theater.. Play: Hitchcock by the Stray Factory... Catch: i had to find a company all by myself.. bwahahahahaha... that was a tough one... so anyways i let the issue sleep and went about my regular work...

10 pm: Texted Feline to be my scape.. ermm company... well the cat accepted and was well trapped :-P buhahahahahaha..

we reached the venue a bit earlier (lets not go into the details :( ) so anyways we reached early and got bored by various activities which went something like below, not necessarily in that order.

• walking around the Museum Campus
• me recognizing a Cement sculpture as a stone carving *facepalms*
• chased by and chasing mosquitoes 
• listening to Bournville ad nauseam ( you have to y-earn a Bournville, sigh i want chocolate.. *lookz longingly at the almost empty Nutella jar)
• watching the promo ad ad nauseam ( sigh i even noticed the price of Joint family prices, which was cleverly disguised, thanks to typography... Tenga to anyone who thought they were free badges.. and to any one who is interested, they were priced at Rs. 40 each)
• analyzing the design and build of the auditorium (Class 8, Physics - I love you)
• and so on... (ok i zoned out a bit.. :D)

and finally, a gregarious figure walked over to the stage and started talking... if he had recited the whole lecture of Computational Mathematics with that voice, i would have listened to every word and would have said "How sweet.. awww..." So as i did later learn, this was Freddie, our emcee of the evening...Sigh...  ahem well as i was saying, he captured the crowd with his well rehearsed act, some spontaneous wit and clever weave of humor into his words... we love you,Freddie...

Act I: 

First play  was "The Right kind of House" directed by Mathivannan Rajendran... the crew had a minimal of 4 artists and it was brilliant.. Loved the girl Sally(Lakshmi Priyaa) who played the Assistant.. perfect... Mr. Hacker(Aditya Gopalan) came across as bit to harsh or enthusiastic for my taste... i felt he was over reacting at places :| Mr.White(Sharavana Raghavan) was well... Mr.White(Mr.Waterbury in the original)... his adorable looks wouldn't have let him qualify for a murderer he is in the play, in real life... Evelyn Mulwray(Sadie Grimes in the original) played by Aiswarya added just the crunch needed for the play...

what i loved was the slow mix of past and present by using the two sides of the stage... brilliant use of space available..

Act II:

Next was Triggers in Leash directed by Vivek Hariharan... As Feline quoted Maggie(Nisha Krithivasan Subbarayan) is cute ;-) i would like to say she is an actress extraordinaire... They couldn't have chosen any more perfect actors for Dan and Red... played by Sandeep John and Rajiv Rajaram respectively it was fun to watch them duel, well almost :-)

ummm Maggie did u really serve them eggs/ham/breakfast or was it fake food?? Red ate it with gusto :-P


Act III:

The final play  was "The motive" directed by Gitanjali, Vivek and Mathi... previously i was always stunned by Mathi be his adaptation of "The Coffin’s Too Big for the Hole" or any other... but this time Vivek stole away the limelight brilliantly... and what expressions.. the scene where he plans to commit his motiveless murder, wow impeccable expressions... no words can match the act he put up...

Mathi was his goofy self today :) loved the play of shadows!


On the whole it was a brilliant evening.. and a brilliant ending... Sigh, yes Freddie winded it up...

Dear StrayFactory Entd, your plays were brilliant, but if you really care plz to start your plays on time... Don't follow IST (Indian Stretchable Time).. i guess we all do it at times.. 5 - 10 mins, any one can wait.. but a mind numbing 40 mins wait was dumb.. and the play was 90 long minutes without  a break.. what were u thinking?? be merciful to us poor souls who reach early... (no there were no early bird prizes! :| )

and i do hope i got the right names for all  the actors.. if i didn't, kindly point it out... either in comments section, or u know where to reach me...

Mysteries of a Human Brain...

or something to that effect :D

i think it was 3rd standard when we were taught evolution of man... Right from how he used stones to hunt animals, eat them raw, used the hides and skins as clothes and so on... i later learnt that there was this huge fire which burnt birds and animals... the incident which mad man develop a taste for cooked food, yes ancient Barbecue chicken.. only the chicken was not a chicken :D This solves the mystery of cooked food, well at least the barbecue part...

next comes the eternal question of "who the hell thought i-will-drink-the-next-thingy-that-comes-out-of-that-udders?" This is justified too.. Given we are breast fed as kid ourselves and we also see the calves drink up the milk... so i dont have any qualms there either.. Milk, though i hate, i love it as Icecream ( yay three scoops of Chocolate Lovers from Cream and Fudge, plz... no? ok pretty plz with cream and cherry on top!!)

Necessity or rather hunger made man chomp on various fruits and vegetables and sometimes die in process consuming the wild poisonous ones... All well, all well..

What beats the hell out of me is the process of extraction of rice from Paddy.. my poor brain vaguely remembers the month long process of extracting rice from paddy from my village days... first the harvested paddy is beat by hand or by machinery (One very old friend claims he used to use elephants in his glorious days i.e. when he had acres and acres of lands).. then it is sent to the "vat" (colloquial name) to be parboiled... now this dried at covered yet dry places for at least a month or so... the final step is to beat the paddy again to loosen the outer husk.... voila you have rice... if you beat it very fiercely, you may get "pacharisi" aka the broken rice.. otherwise you get the proper "puzhunga arisi" aka the parboiled rice...

Wiki gives a different yet similar story... (saved my shin:D)..

but what beats me black and blue is the fact that how the heck did our ancestors figure this out?? yeah i accept that the life was simpler and there was no need to out perform your colleagues or be the first one to own the latest gadget or err whatever... but still, they had all the time in the world huh?? sigh...

now i worship and admire every single grain of rice i eat.. i simply worship the land they marched upon... so much hard work for such simple rice... sigh..

Food Glorious food, MARVELOUS food..

Travel Diversions or so they call it...

What do you think of someone who takes a break from his office and takes his family of a wife and three kids for a trip across the country... all this when the kids where aged 9, 6 and 3 respectively and the country being India... and yes that man is my father and i was the middle one, the 6 year old.... Now you know when and where the travel bug bit me...well lets just say, it bit me mighty well...

so Blogadda comes up with a contest again..It is Travel Photography this time and so here is my entry.. Thanks to Biker dude for tipping me on this contest...

 Water, Water, Everywhere:

This was during a road trip to Pondichery and beyond.... Pitchavaram Lake is a famous salt water lake and more famous among the photographers for the sights it hides among its mangrove roots... i was with a bunch of photographer friends.... the best part was the sight of rain approaching us... no words can help me to describe that feeling.. sigh..

In Photo: A Bunch of tourists from North India, who got excited when we started clicking them... Shot at Pitchavaram lake, Tamilnadu

Jewels, little Jewels of Nature:

 We were taking a break en-route to Nagalapuram, a quaint village at the base of Nagala Hills, Andrapradesh... it was early morning at the dew drops had just started to settle down... this beautiful jeweled spider web is one of the bests i have caught till date...

In Photo: A spider web laced with early morning dew drops... Shot at on the way to base camp of Nagala Hills - Nagalapuram, Andrapradesh

Floating away in time:

We were on a bike trip to Mahabalipuram when the Rain god thought otherwise and was lashing at us like it was his only chance... With no chance to click anything, we stopped at Salt lake backwaters at Thiruvidandhai on the way back... the rain had slowed down a bit but the wind was still on our face... so you know why this umbrella is floating somewhere instead of being over our heads :)

In Photo: A red umbrella floating away to oblivion (we rescued it, obviously)... Shot at Salt lake Back waters, Thiruvidandhai, Tamil nadu

The Point is life is Endless:

Lepakshi temple is a trip i won't be forgetting in this life time... not knowing the local language, getting lost, fun and total awesomeness... this is a click of the forgotten corridor which surely needs some support... the magic is the corridor looks unending much like our life..

In Photo: Corridor behind the Lepakshi Temple, Andrapradesh

Play with Colors:

after our brunch at Mysore we came out to resume our bike trip when i spotted this "then unoccupied" home... though the home lacked activity, the wall and the things placed in the window spoke volumes...

In Photo: A plain yellow wall with a orange window.. shot at Old Mysore, Karnataka


There i am done.... oh yeah i forgot something else, the link back rule...

Me and Road to Freedom!!

If someone had told me two years back that i ll transform into an adventure loving chic who takes off and hits the road every weekend, i would have probably given them my worst stare and called up a psychiatrist to fix an appointment for them... Now, my friend's complain "Be in the city for atleast one weekend" :-D

My trekking interest started in the year 2007 when my class guys bet about reaching the top of a random hillock at Yelagiri.. yours truly happily reached there first even before any of the guys could make it...i still trek, atleast once a month...  but the interest in road trips was sparked by a impromptu trip with friends in December 2009...

One fine evening M just called and said "You are joining us on the road trip to Pondicherry, this Thursday".. was cut off before i could argue about office schedule... the trip was fun.. it was just us friends, the car and the road... and yeah pit stops, loads of pit stops... right from finishing of all Parotas of a local road side eatery that the cook had prepared for the whole day to getting lost along the lanes of Pondicherry, the trip was total fun... had the most beautiful experience of watching the rain approach and cross us, as we were seated in a boat floating on the Pitchavaram Lake... its another story that i started shivering and P had to hold me for a long time to keep me warm... i had my first treatise with cigarette and alcohol, and mind you no regrets... that bridge is crossed now :)

2010 had a great start with me starting off with a single backpack to Bangalore, Karnataka and to Lepakshi, Andhra Pradesh from there.. Re and me were the partners in companion...  Re knew a bit of the local language compared to me who acted dumb all through the weekend... the Lepakshi temple and the nearby rock hillock which we scaled bare foot were all fun.. but the real fun part was our return trip... we got lost.. yup, you read it rite :) we got into the wrong bus and realized it a good half an hour after the bus was on its way to some other place.. the conductor let us down in the middle of nowhere... did we panic??

 The Naga-devis at Lepakshi temple, found at the base of Nagalingam

Well as Re said, Lets have some tender coconut from that street vendor before we figure out something... so Tender coconut it was... a local came to help and put us on a "van" towards a major bus junction... middle of nowhere, around midnight, two females, dark roads, beaten down vehicle, and i expected him to demand skyrocketing fare from us, if not do something else... we didn't believe our ears when he quoted the fare... "3rs. each madam" bless his soul.. we gave him a ten rupee note and walked away... Reached back Bangalore around 2 in the morning and rest of the weekend was uneventful..

February sent me on a trip to Anaikatti for a Photography + Trek trip (bus trip) and March saw me marching away to Nagercoil (train trip)...

April saw me on the road again... Me and the kiddo S planned a one day bicycling trip from Tambaram to Chengalpet.. a total of 120 kms.. the ride towards Chengalpet was total fun.. first pitstop was at Thailavaram.. we had to click a Hanuman Mandir there... it turned out to be a hole in the wall temple and took us atleast three to and fros on the same road to figure out the temple... but the Curd rice they gave us as Prasadham was total yumm... with breakfast done, we moved on till SRM Lake... took out the camera for the first time...we took several pit stops for water, sugar cane juice, mosambi, tender coconut etc, thanks to the scorching Chennai sun... the next stop was at Singaperumal Temple.. fun again... had a great time by discussing Hindu Mythology (my favourite topic: Captain Obvious) with the kiddo... took a detour through Mahindra City and had the most fun lunch at Wangs, The Cake shop of Taj...

 Our Bicycles at one of the pit stops

After two hours we reached the final destination, The Chengalpet  Lake.. we managed to cross through and get into the lake.. i seriously didn't know that the lake was off limits till we reached back to the city... though i dint have much to click, kiddo had great fun clicking me as a machi-waali and what not :-P

the trip back was okayish, till i got the sun stroke and we took the train back to the City... it was total riot, right from the Tea uncle near Tambaram, giving us a boisterous smile when he heard us taking a bicycle trip early in the morning... on the return journey, when i couldnt take it anymore and went off to sleep it was heartening to see a guy saying his kid "come this side and sleep , don't disturb akka, she is tired"... and it was total awesome to have S kiddo as your partner in crime... psst: he is gonna call me aunty for ages for calling him kiddo in this post :P

May was the icing of all the trips i took... Yuppo, a bike trip... if you are a regular reader and following me for a long time, you might know about my bike accident 8 years back and my fear of bikes... i just took the risk as i was not the one who is going to ride it, i was just a pillion passenger or luggage.. :P i was still wary of the long ride and the speed... i reached Bangalore at around 5 in the morn and we geared up at the railway station itself.. i was really a sight, jacket, yellow helmet, wrist band and all... :D

First stop was at Chennapatna for breakfast.. i lost count of the pit stops after that as we took way too many... not that we were tired but both of us were shutterbugs and we were like "hey that looks nice..stop stop stop we will click" :P our first proper destination was Somnathpura... a temple for Vishnu, with him in three various forms... Several clicks and "Eshtu" later we were off to Mysore... reached pretty late.. i saw the lighted up Mysore Palace.. man wat a sight!!

 The Nagamandala at Somnatpura Temple

Next day we took a tour of Mysore Palace, roamed around the old Mysore part of the city and did things that a regular tourist won't do.. :-D the ride back was awesome and in break neck speed given i had to take an early bus and we were pretty late while starting from Mysore... i wouldn't forget this ride for various reasons...

and my fear of bikes, errmm gone.. or atleast hiding for the time sake...lets hope i just don't get too brave and take on to ride a bike myself...

What next: More of these trips and something new... that parasailing at Pune which Satti suggested sometime back is really tempting me now!!

Employer Etiquette Sheet...

aka what not to do when one employee has put in the papers..

if you are connected to me through any of the other web 2.0 websites then you would know that i resigned recently and am working from home... i had a verbal resignation followed by formal email which at that moment was graciously accepted... what really ensued was a month of pandemonium and total amusement.. amusement, 'cause i was totally amused by the antics of the management, often that left me "like WTH??"

Don't give a we-should-part-happily talk on the first day of the notice period..
--> Who are you lying to? Employee will be spaced out all through the talk and i bet you don't believe in your lie yourself.

Don't increase the targets and deadlines out of blue..
--> The person is in notice period...if you over burden chances are that even your initial targets won't be met..

In my case, i was asked to give 40 articles in an hour.. yeah rite, i am a super girl and have a secret pen which writes at its own will with little instruction from me... #%#^&*

Do your research if you are going to find faults with the employee..
--> After so many months of employment, obviously the employee would have closed down all the project especially when she is planning to leave.. do your research properly...

with me, the Bugger first blurted that i outperform others constantly.. then he bit his tongue and said i should justify my work... well now, seriously what are trying to say dude??

Don't torture the employee, if you are planning to ask the employee to stay back..
 --> Seriously, if you are asking her, she should have a good experience to consider your offer..

i turned off the offer within seconds..

Don't ever play with the payments by stopping them or reducing them without reason..

or you will get to see the BadraKaali in me doing the Rudhrathandavam, which they did..

P.S # This post was in the offing for quite sometime now.. was waiting for the payments to be cleared, just in case :D  

Random Rat...

The mighty mighty CB tagged me... ahem... :( shylu forgive me but your tag was bit too much revealing to take up.. sorry... will do ur next tag, that is if it aint that complicated. :P

so back to CB.. you should visit her blog, folks.. she is one gem of a writer.. mom of my pal Vinnie, the pooh :P her "The L&M and the brats" posts are a laugh riot... try, you 'll adore her blog..

and yes the tag... apparently i have to reveal some 7 random things about me... err as if i hadn't flashed enough on this blog over the last 2 years, or is it more than that.. god knows... yeah the mighty 7... here we go..

 Monday : While crossing the road, I actually notice the tire of the approaching vehicle than the driver... my brain goes into a frenzied calculation of t = v/a ,  v = u + at and such formulas and calculate the speed of approach to cross the road accordingly... believe me i have faired well so far...

Tuesday :  I order only my regulars at CCD and Fruit shop @ Greams road... i experiment at all places but rarely at these two... eight months of regularity earns me special place at both these places :P *the waiter reminded me of the price fall on my regulars today at CCD.. man i was thrilled when the boy remembered to tell me*


Wednesday :  Dunno why but my life and tastes are closely related to Rat or being a Rat.. i love all things that a Rat would love... Cheese, Vadai, Dingy spaces, small hole in the name of house, sleeping on well padded surface i.e. on freshly washed unfolded clothes etc etc.. you name it, i got it..

Thursday :  i love cooking for others.. but i rarely eat what i cook though i may be hungry like an elephant or ermm a Rat.. may be the smells that rise while cooking kills my appetite.. mind you i cook well, my sister is still alive as a testimony to my cooking skills... :D

Friday : Yippee!! Weekend is here :P I have visited a beauty salon for a total of three times only in my life so far.. 2008, 2009 and 2010... first was a laugh riot.. i was standing at the door contemplating the visit, when the lady in charge of the place invited me in for a lemonade.. i blew my money off over a hair cut, hair straighten, manicure, pedicure and a massage.. heavenly!! Second was on my 23rd birthday and third for a hair cut..

Saturday : I collect Paper Tissues... no not the artsy one's... whenever i go out to a restaurant, i make it a point to take a tissue, write the date, names of people who are present and such details... i have a whole box of such papers...

Sunday :  I love Indian and Greek Mythology... its another story that i don't believe them but it is fun reading them and correlating them.. i can blabber on some obscure story, you probably would have no clue about.. i ll even so you the story source and stuff..

Phew thats it... done.... i am tagging no one.. but if you feel like flashing, go on take UP :P

P.S 1 # To all those who feel that my language is obscene, buzz off, i am not paid to please you...
P.S 2 # Seeta Darling so wanted to take your tag but your profile is unfindable and i don't how to reach your blog... pliss to tell your website name...

Mamma Told me "Don't you talk to a Stranger"

it is not a secret that i love working from a CCD near my house... whenever i get bored of sitting alone at home, i move over to this little shop... i have been frequenting ever since i came back to Chennai and these folks are so used to me... they play music of my choice and change whenever i ask them to.. these folks know my orders and never make the mistake of giving me a menu card... i adore this place..

and no, marketing for CCD is not what this post is meant to do...  a couple of days back, i was at CCD again... as i walked in i noticed an uneasy looking couple... i gave them a benefit of doubt and set up my Ideapad at my usual table (see i even have my fixed table :P)... not a min late, the female walked over (for id sake lets call her Sally) and said "umm can you please find if there is a train to Mumbai tonite".. me being the me Googled for it and said that there was a daily CST Mail to Mumbai... suddenly the female started blabbering.. following is the conversation that ensued, from my raw memory...

Sally: I so don't like the guy sitting with me.. we hardly know each other but he wants to get married to me and forcing me.. i want to goto Mumbai ASAP..
Me: Duh??
Sally: you tell me, can you decide whom to marry in a matter of 24 hours... you cant rite.. he is asking me to decide now..
Me: duh, duh??
Sally: *turning around* Kamlesh, i want to leave, there is a train today..Can we?

Saying that she walked back to her table... when she said all these, i hadn't uttered a word and had this incredulous expression on my face...  i went back to my work briefly, when she walked back and said "hey do you mind if i sit here a bit?".. i was still stunned to reply.. never in my life had a stranger barged into my personal space like this.. even the CCD folks maintain distance if i sit alone.. So the female sat and started again.. God, did she give her whole history??  i know more about her than my Closest friend knows about me...

well after giving details about her jobs, her education, her family, where she lives and et al, she started advising not to decide about marriage in a haste and think about my life... yeah rite!!! you reveal all this to a complete stranger?? i don't get it.. in btw the guy and another friend of his came and took her forcefully, while she wanted to talk to me a bit more.. *brain was screaming no no no by now*

a few minutes passed by when ultimately my brain started digesting the whole incident...  this female has come down from Maharashtra to TamilNadu just for this guy and now she is not sure about him... but the guy was hell bent on him... umm what if??? NO!!! i instantly texted Pigsty and said him the whole situation... talking more about it made me harried... we searched for her co-ordinates and found her mobile number.. yup yup thanks to Face-book and Orkut... *Females PLEASE to hide your personal details at these sites*

we couldn't reach through and by now my brain was on an over ride imagining stuff.. In btw Pigsty had pinged a friend of his and we somehow found some friends of Sally over a matter of few hours.. more phone calls and email threads ensued.. but still we were not able to reach her.. call to her family was futile but lets not go there, it is a different story, #sighs...

finally we got thru her after some 18 hrs of the CCD incident.. Now comes the sweet part.. the Female denied the whole story.. she has it that she was at Chennai to attend a marriage.. then she gave another story of being in Chennai to meet this psycho who was troubling her... and what more, She called me a "Strange Lady" who is spreading stories about her... Yes Sirre, i dish out stories about random strangers and give them to National TV... My FOOT, LEFT FOOT!!! @#$%^&! i feel like a bloody prank was played on me...

Seriously, man.... Kick me if i care for a stranger ever again, let alone talk to them in future.. .

P.S # Special Thanks to Pigsty, AG and AS, who were real sweet hearts and did a great James Bond investigation... *ahem hope Pigsty will not kick me for nicknaming him this*

Disclaimer: All names are changed owing to privacy, mine ofcourse :D

Gagged and thrown askew...

Had to be at Bangalore for the past 7 days with Pop being suddenly ill... i shud have realized this is gonna be an one helluva week when i saw the following hoarding somewr along the NH-7 near Hosur...

XYZ - Logistics and Whorehousing 

i was sipping some water and spluttered instantly... this hoarding on the National Highway and no one noticed so far??? WTF!!  the one moment i regretted for not carrying the camera.. #sighs... was staring out at every hoarding after that.. pretty me...

Pop was in ICU that means i had to burn my ass on the Hospital corridor and run around like a headless chicken everytime Pop's name came over the hospital speaker... needless to say, most of the time i took out my ideapad and sat processing some click or doing stuff.. No connectivity inside the hospital :(  This made me a curio item with every security fella passing me every 5 mins just to take a peek into the screen... one fella said "Computer?" everytime he crossed me... mind you i hate the word "computer" now.. You will too have u been subjected to the word like 300 times every day for 7 continuous days :-|

actually the Laptop brought me closer to the security guards, who started allowing me to visit Pop even though no one was allowed into ICU... he he he he.. me and my charm!! #EKSI

and i was rechristened "Sandwich Madam"... there wr these CCD counters at each floor and i would go ask for a sandwich around dinner time daily... dunno abt my luck but they ran out of sandwiches every single day... the final day when i was leaving hospital the counter fella came running "sandwich madam, sandwich madam, we have Chicken Mayo today"... umm *facepalms* this in front of hundreds on patients and visitors :-\

Language barrier was another thing.. u shud have seen me dancing like a "boom-boom maadu" every time someone started off in Kannada.. Pop's Doctor was the best, even after clarifying several times that i understand no Kannada, he insisted speaking in Kannada to me and in English to my Mom... errrmm shud i say Mom understands no English.. #grammargandu :D

One nurse went further, she insisted my mom that i can understand Kannada.. mom was stunned and asked "since when??" *facepalms*

Perhaps the highlight of the whole saga was this interesting Male nurse with an even more interesting name...
Actually me being me was reading through Pop's treatment chart and taking notes to consult Google baba to understand stuff... This nurse came over and started asking stuff about me... ahem the fella was tall, cute and ahem ahem sweet... so i was flirting along.. that was till he took out his name tag from his pocket... i balked and moved away within seconds... You would too had you seen the tag.. who in the world will name his kid as "Dildo Raj"... Duh!! oh wait, will u?? seriously?? :D like how did he survive college?? oh wait he was a Malayali... :D

sighs... i am going back once i am free, the roadside trees and flowers are beautiful, i say...