FM - "நெனப்பு (தான்!)"

நினைவோ ஒரு பறவை - சிகப்பு ரோஜாக்கள்

நினைத்தாலே இனிக்கும் - நினைத்தாலே இனிக்கும்

நினைத்து நினைத்து பார்த்தால் - 7G ரெயின்போ காலனி

நினைக்க தெரிந்த மனமே - ஆனந்த ஜோதி

நினைத்ததை நடத்தியே முடிப்பவன் - நம் நாடு

நினைப்பதெல்லாம் - நெஞ்சில் ஓர் ஆலயம்

Do you....

(also) pace up and down while chatting on the phone?

Anyway,
the one and only habitable planet (until Corot proves otherwise!) that we know of is nearing its yet another 'venduthal' around Su(rya)n! Time again for new resolutions, hopes, plans, subscription renewals, account recharges...
Wishing everyone a good New Year!

FM - 'பனி'

'பனித்துளி' - கண்ட நாள் முதல்

'பனி விழும் மலர்வனம்' - நினைவெல்லாம் நித்யா

'பனி விழும் இரவு' - மௌன ராகம்

'பனி விழும் பருவநிலா' - பன்னீர் நதிகள்

'பனியில்லாத' - ஆனந்த ஜோதி

Gifts

Birthday parties, making cards, opening presents are some of my 4 year old's latest craze. With every nook and corner in this country decked and decorated for Christmas now, wherever there are boxes gift wrapped, she wants to open them!! Anyway, my first Christmas outside of India, I went all emotional about the giving season! Somehow I didn't think gifts were associated with our festivals. Even the bakshish/betta was associated with irritation and not joy of giving. It even made me think we were too self-centric. But the returning /exchange of gifts done on the day after Christmas came as quite a shock! Returning gifts??? It seemed like the most outrageous thing to do. To me, it was an insult to the gift giver who spent time and energy to get it. Ofcourse, as always I have a few flashback incidents which is why I think too much into this gifting thing.

A friend of mine was getting married. I asked her what she wanted as a wedding gift and she said she wanted a handbag. The day of the wedding, I was at a store, overwhelmed by the different colours, varieties of handbags that hung all around. Ultimately I got one, presented it to her, chatted with friends, enjoyed the grand meal and forgot about it. A few weeks later I went to see her at her(mother's) house when she had come to visit. Her mother asked me to wait saying that she would be back soon from handbag shopping with her husband! I was totally shocked and hurt, excused myself and spent a few weeks brooding about it!

Another time, there was this neighbour whose sister was getting married and she only invited a select few from the neighbourhood. My grandfather who was this proud அந்தகாலத்து person took offense to his omission. Since I was the only one with a vehicle(bicycle, hee.. hee..) at that time, the lady needed my help to move some things for the function. In the process, she kept saying things like how costly weddings are, how she hates to burden people with gift buying by inviting them etc.

Now if you think cash is the best gift, how much is not too much(or too little)! Years back, I attended a birthday party of one of my (phoren!) cousin. After candle blowing, cake cutting/eating, games etc., they announced the 'gift opening ceremony'. All of us had 'what?' look on our faces as gift opening was never done public! Like in movies, she ripped open the lovely gift wraps(what a waste!), opening the gifts one by one and announcing who got her what! Among the gifts was an envelope with a 10 rupee note inside. Even though this was probably more useful than the umpteen gifts she got and even adequate for a girl her age, the display of his humble 10 Re. note made the giver's face go pale!

Gift giving and receiving are joy only among close friends/relatives. I cannot seem to agree with the honour tag associated with invitation/மொய் etc. Even though I want to and try to be a selfless giver, when things go wrong in a relationship, I cannot but help thinking about all that I'd done for them! But I'm slowly trying to accept the idea that once you gift someone, the item belongs to them. Whether they use it, return it, exchange it or give it away to someone is their choice!

FM - "கேள்"

கேளடா - பாரதி

கேளடி கண்மணி - புது புது அர்த்தங்கள்

கேள்வியின் நாயகனே - அபூர்வ ராகங்கள்

Goodness Gracious Me!!!

Wicked Innit!!

FM - "சொல்லு(or not!)"

சொல்லாயோ - மோகமுள்

சொல்லாமல் தொட்டு செல்லும் - தீனா

சொல்லத்தான் - சொல்லத்தான் நினைக்கிறேன்

சொல்லாமலே - பூவே உனக்காக

சொல்லாதே - சொல்லாமலே

Sa(a)le!!

Like weekly TV Serial episodes, one thing I wait excitedly with undiminished enthu' week after week is the weekly flier of stores. Though I don't run out the door immediately to buy those attractive items that are advertised, it astonishes me every time to see the effort and work that goes to make these fliers!! Every time I look at the beautiful pictures on super "வழ வழ" paper, I am reminded of my grandfather who would've admired and raved about the high quality paper!! My experience ranges from joy on seeing the humidifier (that the doctor just suggested) on sale to 'வயதெரிச்சல்' on knowing that the butter I bought for $3 a week earlier is on sale for 1/2 price the next week to ecstasy on having a coupon applied for the already on sale item!! The sale items even has helped me many times to come up with a menu on mind-racking Sunday evenings!!

One labour day weekend we landed at the mall having missed the train to Boston! I stumbled on a handbag with a $30 price tag, 50% off for labour day! From then on, every long weekend, I began insisting on going to the mall to going on trips!! It felt sinful to buy anything on regular price! My 'only on sale' policy was getting so (in)famous back home with my mother telling everyone "என் பொண்ணு கீரை கூட sale தான் வாங்குவா(My daughter even buys Spinach when they are on sale)!"!

On our first thanksgiving here, I was overwhelmed by all the 'black friday' sale ads. With each store in one-one corner, we dropped the idea of running from store to store and decided on going to the nearest store, Walmart. Since the flier said, 6AM-11AM, we went 'சாவகாசமா' at 9 AM(proudly thinking we so made it in the time frame!) and was shocked to see the ransacked state of the store! Only in the evening news, did we see the mad rush that happens on these BFs!!! Subsequent year my husband wanted to go to Nashua in New Hampshire(no sales tax state!) for BF purchase and our friends in Nashua discouraged him saying they themselves were going to the next city, Manchester, NH as Nashua desi crowds were getting unbeatable!!

And then came Christmas sale, then Valentine Sale, then Easter Sale, then Memorial day Sale... Almost every month there was a sale! Every year the same items went on sale during the appropriate times! The most eye-opening was my purchase of a clock radio(I wanted one ever since I watched "Ground Hog Day") for $9.99 on sale at a high-end store and finding the same brand clock at Walmart for $9.97!!!!

"Where else do you find counselling for shopping stress?" comments Varun(Nagesh Kukunoor) about US shoppers in the movie, "Hyderabad Blues". Now with online shopping and price comparisons and product review websites, things are getting even worse! I am so skeptical to buy anything without reading about it that even to buy a tooth brush, I'm on the web searching for reviews(and wondering if the reviewers are genuine!)!!!!!

FM - "பாடு(தல்)"

"பாடவந்ததோ ராகம்" - இளமை காலங்கள்

"பாடு நிலாவே" - உதய கீதம்

"பாடும் வானம்பாடி" - நான் பாடும் பாடல்

"பாடறியேன்" - சிந்து பைரவி

"பாடி பறந்த கிளி" - கிழக்கு வாசல்