FM - 'Minnal'

Minnale - May Maadham
One of my all time favourite song/album. I so wanted to watch the movie that I saw it on a 'nasa-nasa' rainy day in Kamadhenu theatre with my father!!

Minnal oru kodi - VIP
Don't remember much about the song/movie except that it is Simran's tamil debut movie. One of my friend who is such a Kamal fan that she wouldn't even look at the other artistes when Kamal is on screen, recently told me that when Simran dances with Kamal, 'naan Simran-e paakiren, di'!

Minnalai pidithu - Shahjahan
Just an entry for the 'Minnal' namesake. Nice melody by Unni Menon.


P.S. - This is my 100th Post! Like the batsman in test match cricket, naanum lottu-lottu thatti-kotti 100-rai thottuten!! Yay!!

Early risers - Endangered Species?

"Early to bed and early to rise
makes Jack healthy, wealthy & wise"

My father's favourite chant during the weekends! My father and their generation are incapable of lying down in the bed after 5-5.30 AM (and cannot tolerate people who can, I used to fume!). Any of you remember the drama, 'Aiyo, Amma, Ammamma'? We often used to advice Appa, 'Kathadi Ramamurthy' style, 'muzhippu varum, aana ezhundhirukka koodadhu. Thalai thalaganiye kaalukkum, kaal thalaganiye thalaikkum maathi thirumbi thongidanam'!!

I do love the ealy morning time, if and when I'm forced to wake up! The chirping of the birds, the clean and fresh air, the slight chilliness (even in hot Chennai).... The morning commute in crowd less buses used to be an added advantage. My mother tells me I was an early riser as a baby. I faintly remember how as a kid, I couldn't keep my eyes open after 8-8.30 PM(there used to be a muppet show called 'Arabian nights' at around 8.30PM in the early 80s which I remember trying to watch straining my droopy eyes!). I don't know, when I drifted away from that good habit! Should be after 'desiya nigazhchigal' started making sense!

In this country, most of my friends and relatives' life styles were kind-of shocking to me in the beginning. Even school/college going kids, work or party till late night/early morning and don't get up till noon or even 2 PM!! For the fear of getting cursed for waking them, I have given up calling them all together! It is recently that I met a family here who all are early risers and the inspiration behind this post(One of my husband's ex-colleague back in MA used to be at work before 6 AM everyday but he suffered from Insomnia!). That when they boasted that they are always on-time, rather first arrivers, everywhere unlike the others('kuttramulla nenjam'!) it really hit me!

I thought, 'better late than never', let me try & follow Appa's advice atleast now and set a good example to my daughter! Instead of being a night owl, let me prowl, I mean, browse in the wee hours, enjoying the same quiet time. But old habits die hard! However early I went to bed, sleep came knocking only at midnight and as a result eyes were refusing to open at dawn! But on Saturday, weary after an outing in the warm weather, sleep did seem to hug me early and I got up all refreshed early on Sunday morning, only to find 'day light savings time kicking in' and the clocks had all sprung ahead!! Ada Che!!

FM - 'Poongatru'

Poongatru - Moodram Pirai

Poongatre - Kunguma Chimizh

Poongatru - Mudhal Mariyadhai

Poongatre - Friends

P.S. - Like getting a clove at the last bite of a laddoo, recently I was listening to some lovely songs in thendral when the last song was this 'Azhage brahmanidham' from 'Devadhaiyai Kanden' which refused to leave in my head ruining my day!

Hate list Tag!!

Neets had tagged me loooooooong time back. Been waiting for a real bad hair day to post a big hate list!! But with news like this, mood-hi nahi aatha!! ;)

But I

1. hate to be a spoil-sport...
2. hate to hate kind hearted souls
3. hate to hate little wonders
4. hate to hate nature's beauty
5. And hate to tag others...

From the News!

Sunita Narain, Bhure Lal commended by Time

People file lawsuits for any to every thing these days. To see human beings like Sunita Narain and Bhure Lal are doing it for a cause, win the case and bring change is truly commendable.

'Adopt a lake' in IT city

Very often we are hearing about urban development destroying the natural habitat of a place. Hats off to Mr. Mishra and the Palm Meadows Residents Association for setting an example to the rest of us.

FM - Vasantha Kaalam

Spring has sprung (officially since Monday!). Back in Chennai, I had never understood why the English poets used to go ga-ga over spring(I didn't even know how a daffodil looked like when learning William Wordsworth's poem)! But now to see the leaves appearing on the 'mottai' trees and little flowers popping up to see the winter gone is such a beautiful sight! Anyway, enjoy some of our 'vasantha kaala' songs.

Vasantha kaala nadhigale - Moondru Mudichu

Vasantha kaalangal - Rayil payanangal

Vasantha kaala kolangal - Thyagam

Careless whispers!

"Time can never mend
the careless whispers of a good friend"

(full lyrics of Careless whispers - A mesmerising number of George Michael)

These lines are going thro' my head a lot lately. I am going thro' a situation where my renewing friendship with an old friend looks bleak. I have gotten all the signals from this friend that there is nothing to be revived of our friendship except may be a 'Hi/Bye' for the sake of acquaintance. I know that I am the one at fault even though it was not done intentionally. And btw, all these are my assumptions that such and such thing should have hurt her and hence this situation.

Talking about it, clearing the matter is a way most would suggest. But in this case(if it is that reason!)I am pretty sure that talking about it would only hurt her more. Have you gone through the feeling "if only it hadn't happened that way", "If only I could've reacted differently"? That one small act, however unintentional it was then, has ruined a good friendship! Ironically, I am the 'not forgiving/forgetting' kind and guess, I'm getting to know how it feels to be on the receiving end.

Maaberum Sandhegam!!

What is this about Bollywood movie scripts making it to Oscar library? Is this 'Oscar' library like 'Oscar' Ravichandran?

FM - AK41!!

Ofcourse, it's Aamir Khan birthday(March 14) special melody!

Ey mere - Qayamat Se Qayamat Tak

Pehla nasha - Jo Jeeta Wahi Sikander

Dil hain ke manta nahin - DHKMN

Hoshwalon - Sarfarosh

Koi kahen - Dil Chahta Hai

'S'aadha 'A'alunga ille!!

"Guess Australia's total in today's match?" asked my Husband on Sunday morning. "Enna 400-a?" I answered disinterestedly. "434/4!" said my husband still shaken! On an otherwise regular Sunday, his following a match on the internet with neither of the teams being India would have irritated me. But the score and the teams tempted me too. And what a match it was!!

This, following a match on the internet, reminded me of those by-gone days when people in India used to bury their ears into a transistor to listen to cricket commentary! It's been a long time since I followed Cricket. I have religiously watched even test matches with my Grandfather(the only thing he would watch on TV, cursing every time an Indian player bungled!) during the DD only days! It slowly came down to watching only 'one dayers'(with critisism from some friends about me wasting a day of my life watching those!) and then only 'highlights'(when tensions become too much to handle!)!

Funny that I used to think the constant 'loda-loda' of the commentators boring! With the undecipherable accented English and my zero knowledge about mid-offs/slip-ons(oh, adhu chappala!), I used to think they were as distracting as the comperes of Sun TV! Like most, I used to like the run chasing games in one dayers. If while (sitting or standing) in one position, our batsman hits a 4/6 or if our bowler gets a wicket, I would continue in that position till the over ends or my luck ends! Even this time, I stood with folded hands the last few overs of the game(Now you know how SA won! ;) )!

FM

In line with my previous post, a few songs from movies with women oriented themes.

Poovaaghi kaayaaghi - Annai

Kanaa kaanum - Agni satchi

Kaadu potta kaadu - Karuthamma

International Women's Day

My salutations to all the ordinary women who are doing extra ordinary things, braving odds and obstacles (like Santosh and the many more unsung heroines of this planet) and making a difference.

Women neither be worshipped nor be stamped at the feet. Just treat her as human!

Blank noise - No to the 'Idi rajakkal', 'street/sexual harrassment'.

Friday Melody - '1000'!!

No, this is not my 1000th Friday melody post(regular post-e innum 3 figures yettale!). Inspired after listening to the Niram Maaradha Pookkal song on Thendral.com recently.

Aayiram thirunaal - Pudhu vasantham

Aayiram malargaley - Niram Maaradha Pookkal

Aayiram thamarai - Alaigal oivadhillai

Aayiram Penmai - Vazhkai Padagu

Diet!

Getting to the heart of Asian health caught my attention recently. I appreciate Dr Rubeen Gujral's effort to bring heart health awareness to the Asians but a few thoughts cross my mind. Why is our traditional diet blamed all the time? The article often mentions "traditional fat rich diet", "fat rich ghee, used in much South Asian cooking". Isn't that a little too much? Isn't ghee an expensive/luxurious item(or atleast in those days!) and used sparingly by the average Indian family? There is even a famous dialogue in some old Sivaji movie, "rasamallaa neiyakkam!" Not everyone eats samosas and vadas on a daily basis. Whatever one eats gets burnt even faster with the amount of running (to catch a bus/train!) and walking they do in India, anyway!

My husband's granny often used to say 'nalla saapadanam, nalla velai seiyanam'(placing a plate full of delicious gulab jamuns in front!)! True, in her days, people did hard labour or walked miles and burnt all the extra calories. Every day life was so woven around different physical activities. Delicacies were prepared on special occasion days.

'Alavukku minjinaal, amirdhamum visham' is a known fact. In a way, the money factor helped limit the things we ate, bought etc. But now with changing life conditions, the money power, I think, self-control is getting pushed aside! One of my friend used to have 'Snickers' or other chocolate bars for lunch and when it started showing in the weight scale, blamed the traditional South Indian Rice staple diet!

Friday Melody - Hindi

To end the February special comes these soothing Hindi melodies. Most of you may not have heard (some or all!) of these before but listen to them, I promise you won't be disappointed!

Kehte hain - Grahan
A very pleasing song. Music by Karthik Raja and sung by Kavitha Krishnamurthy and Abijeet. I have enjoyed most of Karthik Raja's music so far. Wonder why he didn't make it big like his younger brother!

Bahon ke darmiyan - Khamoshi
Another mesmeriser, Hariharan with Alka Yagnik here. Great songs, wonderful performances by Nana Patekar, Seema Biswas & Manisha Koirala but the movie did not stand up to the expectation.

Chup tum raho - Is Raat ki Subah Nahin
One of my favourite albums of M M Kreem. I am probably among the very few to own this audio cassette!

Dhadkan zaraa - Prahaar
A Rang de basanti type but hard-hitting movie, Nana Patekar style! I have some fond memories associated with this song. One of it is, me seriously writing down the lyrics with my friends sincerely helping during lectures in junior college!! This lovely song is sung by Suresh Wadkar, who I consider the North's Jayachandran!

Dekh ke tumko - Gawahi
A song I unearthed during the 'Udaan' tele-serial days when all of us friends had a huge crush on Shekhar Kapoor!! This song is sung by Pankaj Udhas and Anuradha Poudwal.

What the...???

New Balance 991Running Shoe Infants

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Card shop!

Recently, a friend reminded me how (greetings)card crazy I used to be! I am not even sure when did my love affair with the card shop start! I think it was my father who sowed the seeds by getting a bunch of greeting cards every festival season to send friends and relatives. Then, when I became old enough to visit stores myself, these card shops became my favourite haunt. As far as I can remember, I don't have memories of buying myself anything to eat or drink but the little money left after buying the monthly bus pass was saved only for buying greeting cards. Also, these card shops were the only place in Chennai where you can spend hours and come out with just 1-2 items or even empty handed.

In a short period, this card shop industry has become a big hit in India, IMO. Many a times I have found myself staring at a card with just the words that I had been looking for or struggling to come out with on my own! The range of occasions, the creativity, the word magic - the people behind it just amaze me!

I have this bad quality of remembering special days(birthdays, anniversaries) of friends and relatives. So, every month I had some reason to visit the card shops. 'Landmark', 'Best wishes', 'Xanadu', 'Fountain Head'.... wow! Those days! Some months were real tight, with too many birthdays(and if they lived abroad, postage will kill me!!). But then to see( or hear) the surprise in their faces(or voices) was all worth it! On the down side, the people whom I wished without fail every year started getting all guilty about not returning the favour(not that I expected it especially when nearing and after hitting the 'big 3', it's become such a fuss!) that they would wish days or even months before/after my spl. days!

After Internet and E-mail started becoming accessible to common Indians, I switched to E-greetings! Definitely, browsing e-cards online cannot come close to browsing in a card shop, but with time constraints and family commitments, I was happy I did not have to give it up altogether. Moving also made me realise the bitter truth that carrying my precious collection of greeting cards, gifts everywhere I went was not always possible. I guessed it would be the same for people on the receiving end too. After all it is the gesture that matters more! So, go on! Surprise someone with a (E)card! Like in the cute caption (by Hallmark?), "They'll remember you remembered"!!

Friday Melody - 'Thottu thoda thoda'

Thottu thottu - Kaadhal
In Kollywood, most of the time, good and commercially successful movies are mutually exclusive. 'Kaadhal' is a rare surprise! I don't have enough words of praise for the director, Balaji Sakthivel(even his Guru can learn a thing or two from him!)! I cannot point to even one area that was average in the movie! Really sad that the music director, Joshua Sridar got into a mess!

Thoda thoda - Indira
A(nother) fantastic number/album of ARR! Lovely picturisation! Wonder why Suhashini did not continue in the movie direction side?

Thottal - Padagotti
Rediscovered the beauty of this original number after the ARR remix became popular!

Dingudinguding........!!

YESSSSS!! I've seen 'Rang de basanti' too!!! And that too in a theatre after almost 4 years!! Without realising that Indian movie screeing cinema theatres donot follow any seat numbering system, we entered the theatre late to find empty seats only in the first row!! Saw Aamir so close but just like my recent dream didnot/could not get his autograph this time too!!!

During my last trip to India, I found gulab jamoon and vanilla ice-cream served together as a new sweet dish in weddings. Similarly, RDB seems a nice new combo of DCH(youthfulness) and Mangal Pandey/Lagaan(Patriotism)! But like the majority of good attempts in recent times like 'Raam', 'Gajini' etc., a better end could have taken the movie to a greater height. Aamir with his 'just-perfect' performance, Atul Kulkarni & Siddarth with their brilliant performances, ARR's songs just blending in, a nice new concept of using the past and the present and highlighting real issues, this movie needs a good pat on the back.

Ofcourse, it is not a flawless movie. Had I not been the crazy fan of Aamir that I am, I guess, I would fully agree with Bala(Karthik)'s views. All said and done, Come on, People! Just give atleast half the appreciation and response that you give to 'Kuch Kuch hota hai', 'Kabhi Kushi Kabhi Gham' and the likes. I also hope that the messages does not get lost in the "dinudings". I have some more things on my mind regarding Kavitha Gadgil whose son Flight Lieutenant Abhijit Gadgil is the real Ajay Rathod and also the controversies that cropped up before the movie release. Will try to post on them soon.

Roobaroo....

P.S. - Was the smoking ban in movies not in effect when this movie was started?

Friday Melody - 'Kaadhal'

Kaadhal oviyum - Alaigal oivadhillai

Kaadhal kavidhaigal - Gopura Vaasalile

Kaadhal vaaniley - Raasaiya

Kaadhal mattum - Kadhal konden

Kaadhal rojave - Roja

Kaadhal vandhaal - Iyarkai

B/W Gems - I

"Black and White" and/or "English" movies were not my cup of tea during my younger days. But it all changed when I got the chance to watch(left, right and center!) some wonderful old b/w English movies some years back. The movies of this time are simple(no graphics, no jigna work!), touching(but not melodramatic like our Indian counterparts), short and sweet.

Guess, I will start with Romantic Comedies(february aache!)! The Star who pops to everyone's mind associated with this genre is Cary Grant. With his classy looks and casual acting, he captivated everyone. He along with director Howard Hawks made some of the best Screwball Comedies!

I was a Male War Bride with Ann Sheridan

Bringing up Baby, The Philadelphia Story with Katherine Hepburn

The Talk of the Town, Only Angels have Wings with Jean Arthur

His Girl Friday with Rosalind Russell

Charade(Not a b/w movie but a cute romantic thriller) with the ravishing Audrey Hepburn

And for the Hitchcock fans, Grant did North by North West, To catch a Thief, Notorious and Suspicion.

So, the next time you find an old b/w movie with Cary Grant on TV, don't flip the channel!!!

P.S. - On a related note, I found this - Rare photos of India's Past in the BBC website today.

Friday Melody - Roja

Let me add to the Valentine's day craze with these romantic songs!!


Roja roja - Kadhalar Dhinam

Roja poo - Agni Natchathram

Rojavai - Ninaivellam Nithya

Roja malare - Veera Thirumagan

Dreams

Have you had weird dreams that are crazily disconnected memories with a nice flow?

Recently I had this dream:
I am at a small self-serve kind of eatery. I find Aamir Khan(!!) standing in a corner chatting with some people. By the time I decide on what to order, Aamir seems to have dissappeared! I am so upset that I didn't even attempt to get an autograph from him! I see my order(is that an uthappam?) getting ready but suddenly my husband rushes me(meaning asking me to forget about the uthappam!!) to get into the bus! Though I thought it was a bus, I am sitting like a witch on a broom, zooming past!! I see a big vehicle(an army truck?) coming towards us and I am scared it is going to slam into ours. Instead, it becomes an amphibious vehicle and floats in the near-by water-way!! We zoom past a busy town and then it stops near a big wooden gate which has 'Mandir' written on it. Suddenly the gate opens vertically upwards like in Sci-fi movies. Finding no-one inside, the vehicle again starts... And then I woke up!!

In my crazy dream, I can explain some of them like the eatery - The night before I had been chatting with a friend who has recently moved to Canada and we both were telling each other about eating at Saravana Bhavan! Aamir Khan - Been reading a lot about his latest movie 'Rang De Basanti'. Army truck - Probably the images of our Republic Day parade or Iraq. For others I am still digging my subconscious mind!!!

There are some dreams that I want to know if they mean something. Especially, recurring ones! I used to get this dream where I am in an examination hall but absolutely unprepared. Infact, I would have got to know what subject I am appearing for only then and would be frantically trying to learn something! To my relief, I haven't been getting this dream for a while now. These days it has been replaced by dreams about brilliant celestial/aircraft displays on the sky almost always ending in disaster. Probably its due to the 9/11 memory that has got etched in my mind!

Friday Melody - 'Kalyanam'

The start of Tamil month 'Thai' means 'kalyana season'. With poor 'Margazhi' deemed unfit for weddings(or any other function for that matter), the month 'Thai' most of the time is overwhelmed with 'kalyanams'. From Jan 21st - 29th, almost every day a friend or relative of mine celebrates their Wedding Anniversary. So, it is 'kalyana' melody today.

Kalyana then nila - Maunam Sammadham

Kalyana maalai - Pudhu Pudhu Arthangal

Kalyana vaLai oosai - Urimai Kural

Kalyana samayal saadham - Maya Bazaar

Ketti melam kottura kalyanam - Chandrodayam
Though this song does not start with 'kalyanam', I just could not pass it. One Sunday evening my parents had planned to see 'Shaolin Temple' in the theatre leaving me and my brother with our grandparents at home. I was so upset but my mother insisted that the Sunday movie in the TV was even more fun than 'ST' and that movie was Chandrodayam!! I started watching the movie with a frown which changed to a smile and towards the climax, I was jumping up and down with joy!!

Zee.. boom.. baa!!

Happened to watch 'Stepford Wives'(with some high expectations because of the big names) and it barely made it to the time-pass category!! Nicole Kidman, a stressed out career woman, moves with her family to a small town called Stepford where she finds all the men-folk happily enjoying life and their women-folk strangely 'perfect', in all respects! Nicole Kidman gets to find out what is behind the sudden transformation of the women-folk there but for Indian (esp. Bollywood) movie lovers, the transformation of the heroines from howmuchever hippy to absolutely perfect Indian wife will ever be a puzzle!!!!!!

Maggi!!

After a long gap, on my first visit to the Indian grocery after our move, I picked up a few packets(3 to be precise and the owner said, 'why only 3? It's 4 /$1!) of Maggi. While eating it for lunch one day, suddenly it seemed to taste good and made me wonder why I had stopped buying it. It also brought a flood of 'Maggi' memories.

When Maggi was introduced in India, after watching those attractive advertisements on TV, I must have pestered my mother to buy it. The first time she made it, I am not sure if she thought the masala would be too spicy for me that she made it with milk and sugar!!! It so happened that I came down with 'Malaria' the next day and in my young mind it registered that Maggi causes Malaria!! LOL! For a long time after that I never even went near a Maggi packet.

The next encounter with Maggi came at a cousin's place when he said he would cook something for us both! He made Maggi and I was in awe that he could cook!! I am not sure if and when I became a Maggi lover but I realised that all my neighbours thought so from this next incident!

One day, my neighbour's daughter came home and generously gave me a plate of Maggi saying that they didn't like it and that since I liked she brought it for me! I happily put one spoon into my mouth and threw up! I am not sure how many of you remember but a sweet(Chocolate or something) Maggi was introduced in between which didn't quite go well. Anyway, that plate had the sweet Maggi with chilli powder added!! 'Love thy neighbour'!!

Recently, a cousin had come to visit us from Europe and all she ever wanted to do here was shop for Maggi at an Indian grocery store!! Poor thing, because of time constraint, she had to return without her dear Maggi. The next time, she comes to visit, I know what to treat her and gift her!!!

Friday Melody - It's different!

Just thought of some songs where the directors(Music & Movie) have tried to present something different.


Kodi asaindhadhum - Paarthaal pasi theerum
One of MSV-Kannadasan classic combo. "The egg came first or chick came first" kind-of lyrics through out.

Chippi irukkudhu - Varumaiyin niram sivappu
Another of MSV-Kannadasan combo with the addition of KB-Kamal. One of my favourite romantic songs of all time!
'Sindhai irakkudhu sandham irukkudhu kavidhai pada neram illadi rajathi'!!

Manasukkul ukkandhu - Kalyana agadhigal
A very sweet song with most TV programme titles in the lyrics. I still remember the special programme shown on TV about the making of this song. (sorry, no links! Couldn't find the song anywhere on the net!)
"Kanmani poongavinil kaathirundhen, kanne thadangalukku varutham sonnen!"

Nivedha - Nee paadhi naan paadhi
Vasanth inherited that 'special attention to songs' quality from his guru, KB(though he could work on the art of song picturisation a bit more). The camera, the voice of SPB and the music made even Gowthami look pretty!!

Festivals

I have been wanting to write this post since Deepavali somehow it kept delayed. Anyway, the delay added some more points!

During every festival, I wonder why and for what reason I'm still trying to celebrate it. The purpose of the festival is not met in my situation most of the time, i.e. I'm neither in the geographic location nor the time zone to really celebrate it. Atleast back in my younger days, it meant new clothes, special eatables etc. These days that too are not reasons.

Pongal is a harvest festival. I stock up on my grains whenever I visit the grocery store! If it is to thank Mr. Sun, he hardly used to show up in the cold northeast in January!! The 'kannu pidi' used to be the heights, with every single bird gone South and with every inch of the balcony covered in inches of snow, it used to be a pitiable sight. This year atleast I was so happy to step outside to do it and my daughter kept telling me the whole day that no birds came to eat the special food!!

Infact, it feels disheartening to celebrate these festivals when the people for who these festivals are for, the farmers, have nothing to rejoice about. Do festivals really bring happiness? IMO, for the wealthy, it is one more chance to show off their wealth and for the poor, it is another terrible reminder of what they cannot afford/enjoy!

But for one thing, these occasions help: to re-connect with people. An occasion to mail/call to wish friends and family(who are increasingly getting busier with their routines) and let them know of our existence!

Friday Melody - 'Pudhiya'

It's a new year in a new place and even Bhogi signifies 'Pudhiyana pugudhalum, pazhaiyana kazhidhalum', isn't it? So, it is 'Pudhiya' for this first Friday melody of 2006!!!


Pudhiyadhu pirandhadhu - Thevar Magan

Pudhiya poovidhu - Thendrale Ennai Thodu

Pudhiya vaanam - Anbe Vaa

Ooru vittu ooru vandhu!!

Hey, I'm back! Even though the computer was among the first things to be set-up along with the "can't-live-without" list of things, with many other boxes still lying around un-opened/ half opened, I just couldn't 'think outside the box(es)'!!!

So, we have atlast escaped the cold North and are in the process of settling down in the warm(the temperatures have been hitting 60s and even 70s, a bit too warm for this time of the year even for GA Standards, it seems!) South. The move itself was fairly smooth sailing(touch wood!) and with the U S of A being uniform through-out in almost every aspect, it didn't take too long to get back to routine.

The move had been quite something for my daughter as it was her first experience. The first few days, she thought this was another vacation and kept asking when we were going home! After a while, whenever I had to answer, 'we are going home' to her, 'where are we going now?', she would ask, 'which home?'!!! LOL!!

Moving is not new to me. Since my childhood, I have experienced move to different houses, different states etc. I wonder how I managed to adjust to new schools, new languages, new cultures(within the country itself!!) every few years. More bewildering is how my mother managed packing(without u-haul boxes, tapes!!), shifting, unpacking, arranging things etc. with kids & elders!!

...After the Break!!

The packrats are moving(MA to GA)!! Will get back to regular blogging after we get settled in the new place.

So as not to dissappoint those of you who look forward(!!) to my Friday melody but at the same time me fighting time constraint, I am listing one song.

Vellai pookkal - Kannathil Muthamittal

Wish you all a happy, promising and more peaceful new year 2006!

Friday Melody - Devan!

Did anyone guess 'devan' this week? Anyway, from the listings you could also say it is 'Raga devan' special!!


Devanin kovil - Aruvadai naal
One of the many sweet songs of 'chinna kuyil' Chitra. It just pleases the ears!

Devan thandha veenai - Unnai naan sandhithen
Another lovely melody by IR with Janaki and Jayachandran melting us. Takes you back in time, eh?

Devan Kovil - Naan paadum paadal
Another of 'Mike' Mohan's mike song. The beginning of this song sounds similar to the previous 'Devan thandha veenai' song. Same raaga?

Tis' the time of the year!

Come December and everyone, everything gets into the festive spirit here.

I think, most work places have some fun events organised during this time. At my husband's office, they play 'Secret Santa' and 'Yankee Swap' every year. Somehow adults playing games like kids seemed odd to me in the beginning. But then, the enthusiasm and excitement that these people show to participate in these just amazed me.

For Secret Santa, among the participants, for every person another person is (secretly) chosen as his/her Santa and the week following Christmas, the Santas should surprise their 'kids'. Some artistic Santas would decorate the cubicles with lights, flowers, Christmas trees, wreaths etc. Some would just leave some candies/chocolates every day(like my hubby, gulping some in the process!)! Once, a Santa had gift wrapped every item(even the trash can!) in his "kid's" cubicle!!! During the Christmas party, every person's Santa is revealed and exchanges gifts.

Yankee Swap is even more fun with the gift that we want being grabbed by person after person! The person who picks #1 is the luckiest and #2 the unluckiest! We always used to end up with funny gifts. One year, a person had kept fake lottery (scratch) tickets as gift and the person who got it thought she won, started crying with joy and ended crying minus the joy!!

Friday Melody - Rajni!

Unbelievable?!! 'Chennai-leye mazhai kotto-kottunnu kottudhu, idhellam enna periya, ille'!! I have always been an extremely biased Kamal fan. So biased that I would not even watch a Rajni movie on TV and worse, wouldn't let my family watch it either(another reason for them to be glad about when I left home after marriage!)! The spell was broken by 'Baba'!! Just curious to know what was(or wasn't) in it that even his fans couldn't stand!!

Anyway, 'Bias-less' Balaji was upset about my last week's Friday melody! For quite sometime, I had been wondering (in 'Dhuruvan style') if I should include one Rajni song along with Bharathiar special or surprise everyone with a Rajni spl.! So, here goes to all you Rajni fans, especially my 'F, P& _G' Sadashiv and BB!!

Ramanin mohanam - Netri Kann

Thazham poove - Kai Kodukkum Kai

Iru vizhin vazhiye - Siva

Konji konji - Veera

Vidhiya? Sadhiya?

She was a widow with two children, both of them girls. Her husband had died in an accident and she got her husband's job on compassionate grounds. So, food, shelter, clothing, education and other basic needs were taken care of. The major problem was their health condition. All three often had epileptic seizures. One of them would be hospitalised almost every month. But inspite of all this, they were always positive about the future. They would never complain, blame anyone, even raise their voice. Both the girls had artistic inclination excelling in Kolam(rangoli), sketches, hand work etc. They even did graduation through distant learning programs.

Like all mothers, She too wanted her daughters to be happily married. Everyone in the family were overjoyed when they found a groom from a good family. She did not hide her daughter's medical problems and the groom's family seemed understanding. They did not demand much, not even a grand wedding! She was extremely relieved to have done half her duties now that the eldest daughter was married. Everyone else in the family too felt happy for her. But 'man proposes, God disposes'! She was shattered when her eldest daughter came back home complaining of terrible abuses! More shocking was the news of the groom's mental condition. He was normal most of the times but suffered from violent mood swings at times. Now the groom's family accepted that the groom had mental problems and had been advised that he would be cured after marriage!!!

The Elders in the family talked and decided that the groom would seek medical help and on getting cured would be reunited with his wife. The daughter was adamant about not going back to him but nobody listened. Amidst all these distressing events, She got one of those epileptic attacks which had been on bay for sometime. Again, back to the days of hospitals, medicines etc. Then came the devastating news of her elder daughter's suicide!

This is not fiction. This is a glimpse of the life of a relative of mine. Today is her daughter's 3rd death anniversary. I am a compassionate person but not a strong person. Even when I met her a few years back, all I could do was shed tears. Helplessness is a horrible feeling!

Friday Melody - Bharathiyaar II

December 11th, 2005 is Mahakavi Bharathiar's 123rd birth anniversary. So, I take this opportunity to share another installment of his gems. Today's special features some of his 'Kannamma' songs.

Kaatru velli idai - Kappalotiya Thamizhan

Veenai adi - Ezhavadhu Manidhan

Ninnaiye - Kanne Kaniyamudhe

I have to thank the cinema medium for attractively packaging the works of Bharathi to people like me. Even though I got to learn his poems in School, singing 'Thayin mani kodi paareer...' or 'Om Shakthi om shakthi om' didn't exactly excite me the way the 'kaakai chiraginile' or 'Theertha karaiyinile' in movies did. Anyway, today I enjoy his songs in any style. A few years back, I had asked a friend to record all Bharathiar's songs featured in movies. Since that criteria did not fill the entire cassette, either my friend or the cassette store fellow included some carnatic ones too. Thanks to her or him. Today, it has become an obsession with me to collect Bharathiar songs sung by different singers.

Check out my Earlier special on Bharathi.

Dus, Nau, Aat....(sing in 'Ek, Do, Theen' tune!)!

Like from time to time, Florida sends its weather system to us in the North East, my fellow Floridian blogger friends send me Tag showers! This time it is from TMDB, Raju!!

10 favorites:
Favorite Season: Chennai Winter!
Favorite Sport : Odi pidichu (Tag, is it not in English?)
Favorite Time: Morning
Favorite Month: June
Favorite Actor: Kamalhaasan
Favorite Actress: Revathy
Favorite Icecream: Brownie Earthquake
Favorite Food: Masaal Dosai
Favorite Drink: Flavoured Milk
Favorite Place: Home

9 currents:
Current Feeling: Relief (Prev Post)
Current O/S: Windows XP
Current Windows open: Outlook Express
Current Drink: none
Current Time: 3:20 PM
Current Mobile(s) used: Motorola
Current show on TV: Barney!
Current Thought: What to cook for dinner?
Current Cloth: Fleece

8 Firsts:
First nick: Appu
First kiss: Got or gave?
First crush: Blackie!
First computer: 8088!
First vehicle I drove: BSA SLR!
First job: Trainee
First movie I watched on Pulse Global's Print: ???
First pet: My daughter!
First shave (men)/Hairstyle (women): At age 7

7 lasts:
Last chai (tea): Celestial seasoning's Chai
Last movie: Majaa
Last time I drove: Tuesday
Last time shaved (men) / Beauty parlor visit (women): last year!
Last website visited: bbcnews.com
Last software installed: not my dept. now!
Last pill I had: can't remember!

6 Have you evers:
Have you ever broken the law: Yes
Have you ever been drunk: No
Have you ever climbed a tree: No
Have you ever kissed someone you didnt know: No
Have You Ever Been in the Middle/Close to Gunfire or Bomb Blast: No
Have you ever broken anyone's heart: hopefully!(how many broke mine!)

5 Things:
Things you can hear right now: water dripping(got to shut it!)
Things on your computer table: too many to list!
Things on your bed: pillows, comforters
Things you ate today: Rice, Rasam, Curd
Things in mind: same as above!

4 places you have been today:
Only Home

3 people you can tell anything to:
Amma
Hubby
Sadran

2 choices
Black or white: Black
Hot or cold: Cold

1 thing you want to do before you die:
Already covered in Rainbow Tag

Ajamila

Recently, I read an old issue of 'Anandha Vikatan' where there was an article by Gnani about Lal Bahadur Shastri and the simple life he lived even after he became the Prime Minister of India. Today's polititians might laugh at him saying 'pozhaikka theriyadhavaru pa!'
This reminded me of the story of Ajamila - 'a fallen brahman who was saved from hell by unintentionally chanting the Lord's name at the time of death'. Guess, today's man-kind have learnt that like 'Ajamila', they can engage in wrong-doings all their life and at the end cry out to someone to save them or perform 'parikaram'.

Friday Melody - Sangeetham

It is December and in Chennai, after(hopefully!) all the monsoon mazhai, it is Sangeetha mazhai season. So, this Friday, it is all 'sangeetha' songs.

Sangeetha swarangal - Azhagan
Music by Maragadha Mani. If I remember right, he went by different names in each language. I loved his music. Pity, he did not make it big in any of the language!

Sangeedha megam - Udhaya Geetham
One of 'Mike' Mohan's movies and a good thriller(in those days!) too.

Sangeetha jaathimullai - Kadhal Oviyam
One of the many movies with excellent songs for listening (only! Can neither watch "Kann"an's expressions or Radha's so called dance!).

Short-term Memory Loss!!

Am I getting older or am I a pathetic multi-tasker? This Thanksgiving weekend joins my (huge) list of 'unforgettable day(s)'. Thanksgiving day morning, after tons of planning and rescheduling our trip (to relatives' to spend the holidays) due to weather, traffic etc., with everyone at the doorstep ready to climb into the car, I didn't seem to find my purse! After a quick scan in all the usual places and not finding it, I concluded that I must have left it somewhere during an outing. Thursday being a holiday on account of Thanksgiving, we couldn't do much. Friday morning, in between his precious cricket match, my husband called every credit card company/bank and blocked/froze all the accounts. I called every friend, store that I visited during the previous days only to get a negative! The inventory of my purse discussed a dozen times, my outings reconstructed step-by-step another 'n' times, everyone sharing their stories about how they lost(and sometimes found) their purses, our wonderful long weekend whizzed past! Sunday afternoon, even while driving back home, we were almost set to drive to the Police station to file a complaint. For some reason, we decided to get home first and even before my husband finished unloading things from the trunk, he saw my smiling face and understood that the 'culprit' purse has been waiting in a 'safe place' at home all weekend!!!

(Early) Friday Melody - Kamal IV

An early Friday melody on account of the Thanksgiving long holiday. Today's theme is 'kadhambam'! "Appappe murungai maram yerum tamil cinema vedhalathai 'thann muyarchiyil sattrum manam thalaraadha Vikramadithan' pole thoL kudukkum engal Annathe", wish you all success!!

Anbe Sivam

Kadavul paadhi

Potri paadadi

Annathe aaduraar

Unnaal mudiyum thambi

Thenpaandi cheemaiyile

Engeyum

Drive me crazy!

Got this email forward sometime back.

Driving Styles ...

One hand on steering wheel, one hand out of window. - Sydney

One hand on steering wheel, one hand on horn- Japan

One hand on steering wheel, one hand on newspaper, foot solidly on accelerator... - Boston

Both hands on steering wheel, eyes shut, both feet on brake, quivering in terror- New York

Both hands in air, gesturing, both feet on accelerator, head turned to talk to someone in back seat- Italy

One hand on horn, one hand on holding gear, one ear listening to loud music, one ear on cell phone, one foot on accelerator, one foot on clutch, nothing on break, eyes on females in next car, *** - Welcome to INDIA!

P.S. - If foreigners(and NRIs) are scared of our indisciplined traffic in India, so was I with the disciplined traffic here!! It was such a rude shock to me that I who used to (free style!) ride a 2 wheeler on Chennai roads had to go 'Gajini Mohammad' style to the RMV to get my license!!

Friday Melody - Kamal III

Get up/set up/make up is another specialty of Kamal. So, here are some of the songs from movies where we saw a different looking Kamal.

Ther kondu - Enakkul oruvan

Pudhu maapillaikku - Aboorva sagodarargal

Pachai kiligal - Indian

Vela vela - Avvai Shanmughi


P.S. - Sorry, couldn't link up the last song. The file hosting site is giving some problems. Will try to fix it asap.

Varumaiyin niram sivappu!

I am sure for many of you, like me, the defeat of Chandrababu Naidu and NDA government would have come as a big shock. It seemed as if the masses were mocking at/curtailing the government's steps to improving the economy. Later it emerged that the governments were only concentrating on the outer shine, polishing while the main inner core was/is rusting and decaying. Read this post, Green revolution, by Senthil about how globalisation is affecting our agriculture sector and how the poor farmers are caught in the middle. With nature playing truant most of the time and governments playing political games, the farmer who toils and labours on the field not able to feed himself and his family is so pathetic.

Friday Melody - Kamal II

Today's songs, all sung by Kamalhaasan.

Panneer Pushpangale - Aval Appadithaan

Ninaivo oru paravai - Sigappu Rojakkal

Pon Maanai - Oh Maane Maane

Vikram - Vikram

Muththe muthamma - Ullasam

Boom!

Though there are still debates, beliefs and non-beliefs about 'love at first sight', movie industry had strongly held on it for decades. Then there was a time when directors were bitten by 'vidhyasamana kaadhals' for a while.

Anyway, in recent times, there seems to be a new trend: 'love at the last minute'!! It was in 'Azhagiya Theeye' that I first noticed it with the hero expecting the heroine to fall in love with him suddenly one fine day, 'boom'! As it always happens in movies, the heroine does go 'boom' at the climax. Then, the same happened in 'Gilli' though for a change, it is the hero who goes 'boom' at the last minute. Then again in 'Ullam Ketkume', the hero goes 'boom' in the climax with the heroine happily smiling inspite of missing her flight(Wonder what would have been the female's 'nelamai' if after missing her flight, Shyam shows no change of heart!).

Friday Melody KAMA(A)L - I

No surprises this week! Ofcourse, with 'Annathey' celebrating his birthday on 7th, what else could anyone expect!!

Today, it is some of "Kaadhal Ilavarasan's" duet melodies!

Maunamana neram - Salangai oli

Thallattudhey vaanam - Kadal Meengal

Endhan nenjil - Kalaignan

Poonkuyil - Nammavar

Nee paartha - Hey Raam

Onna vida - Virumandi

Instrumental - Punnagai Mannan

BTW, the rest of the month's Friday melodies will also be Kamal specials!!

For your eyes only!

If your eyes follow the movement of the rotating pink dot, you will only see one color, pink.
If you stare at the black + in the center, the moving dot turns to green. Now, concentrate on the black + in the center of the picture.
After a short period of time, all the pink dots will slowly disappear, and you will only see a green dot rotating.
It's amazing how our brain works. There really is no green dot, and the pink ones really don't disappear. This should be proof enough, we don't always see what we think we see.



Happy Deepavali!

Yaar yaar Sivam!

Senthil's post about Temple for Gandhi reminded me of a childhood conversation I had with my mother. It was around the time when my history lessons talked about the different religions, their founders etc. It embarrassed me that all other religions had a founder, a history etc. whereas Hinduism didn't. My mother, to pacify me, told me that probably Rama, Krishna were Kings who lived so long ago that no documentation exists to prove their existence. She went ahead to say that I need not look upto them as Gods, but as human beings from whose life we can learn morals and lessons. She added, "For all you know, after 'n' thousand years, people may not believe that a person called Gandhi existed!".

The above I had started soon after I commented in that post. But even before I could finish mine there have been many comments and more posts on the same topic! As most of you know that I am a 'confused Desi' and an 'aadha'! So, just pouring out all those that are in my head. I never imagined that one day I would be on this side of a 'religion' argument!!

Definitely a library full of books on Gandhi or a theatre screening archival footages and movies made on him would have been a better option than building him a temple. But like I said in my comment, "In our country, worshipping a person is the way to show their respect, devotion etc." A temple will surely attract more people than a library or a theatre(ofcourse if it does not show 'thalaivar' films). If Mr. Vaiyapuri is genuinely interested in spreading Gandhi's messages and teachings, he could arrange for guest lectures, story recitals, paint the walls with his messages etc. That kid who prays to Gandhi for help with Math paper will in due course realise that no Gandhi, no Krishna, no Jesus is waiting by the door ready to grant boons!

IMO, religions, castes must have been created to bring some sort of order, discipline. Though in the years, with little or no documentation, the interpretations(and interpreters) have taken it in different directions. Stories are told to drive some point, to present morals in an interesting way. We are free to read anything and everything now. We may not agree with everything, follow everything. I am sure we are able enough to absorb the good and discard the bad. In the glorious past, Monarchs might have forced their subjects to worship them. They are still happening in this 21st century, in African countries, in dictatorships (in some state governments in our own India)!

Also, religions were built around fear. Probably with a good intention to make people follow righteousness. Especially, with human beings of that time being more aggressive, less thoughtful this might have been a great way to bring them in line(Like with kids, until they start thinking by themselves, we can scare them into not going hay-wire!). From the kids stage, the human community has probably reached the adolescent (thinking) stage now that th(w)ey are questioning the not-understandables, not-followables.

Friday Melody - 'Ding dong'

Just a reminder that on Sunday the 'day light savings' ends. Yay! We get an hour extra(Once a year our house-hold will be on time!) on Sunday!

Ding dong - Ji
A very lovely melody. The first time I heard it, I did not know which movie it was from, who sang or anything. The picturisation is also neat with no 101 people behind or the hero/heroine in the front exercising!

Irandum - Panakkaran
Another 'ding dong' song.

Oru mani - Kaalamellam kaadhal vaazhga
One of the many nice melodies of Hariharan. I cannot seem to remember anything related to this song/movie!

Peigala - Mahanadhi
It is 'halloween' on Monday. Adhukkaga, enga Annathey paattu onnu!!

C-real addiction!

In Chennai, for that matter, through out India, TV (mega) Serials have become a part of daily routine. I am neither a mega serial watcher nor a mega serial basher. Its just that most people seem to be complaining about their parents/relatives/friends' addiction to these mega serials. Some thoughts that I've been having about its whys and hows.

Recently, a friend called me to find out the name of the movie, 'Kannadi Pookkal'. His parents had come to visit from India and he wanted to rent some DVDs to keep them occupied during the day while he was away at work. He also wanted to know if they were any other movies suitable(!!) for their viewing and I just could not come up with any!! I may be stereo-typing them but really there are no Visu/V. Sekar style movies these days, isn't it? Even the few 'good' movies are about undertakers, immature lovers, murder suspects etc. Probably thats one reason why 'ms' is scoring now as most of them are about families, their problems etc.

These days with most house-holds having both spouses working or living abroad, the elders have nothing but the television to help pass time. I remember my grandfather who would push those boring evening hours going for walks or sitting in his 'easy-chair' and chatting with passers-by! I never realised how tough it would've been for him. That way, how different are we here. We too switch on the televisions the minute we enter home. How many of us don't watch reality shows, Friends(repeated for the umpteenth time!) etc.

I do agree that the creators of these 'ms' should stop competing in writing more sob-sob type stories. Guess, like movie industry which when making few films in those days made quality movies. But once every Tom, Dick and Harry started making movies, the quality deteriorated.

BTW, if you are wondering why I am so supportive of these serial addicts, I am also a 'cereal' addict!! The cereal aisle is my favourite in any supermarket and if my favourite type is on sale or if a new exciting type has come to market, I go bonkers!! I got into this cereal eating habit to set a good example to my daughter. Today whether my daughter has got into that habit or not, I have become an addict!!

P.S. - My mother tells me that nobody gossips these days! First of all, nobody has the time to chat with anyone or they will miss their dear 'ms'. Even if they do find time, it is mostly about the characters of those 'ms'!!!

Friday Melody - 'Thangam'

Thanga thamarai magale - Minsara Kanavu
A feast to the eyes and ears(for both men and women!), huh? Recently, quite a few blogs carried a recent picture of Aravindsamy. It was shocking! But wow! I realised from the comments how much of a competition he had been to the men-folk in his prime!!!

Thanga changili - Thooral Ninnu Pocchu
One of the earlier movies of Bagyaraj. Trademark Ilayaraja melody.

Thangathile oru - Baaga Pirivinai
An old classic with Sivaji Ganesan and Saroja Devi.

Thanga Magan - Batsha
A nice song. One of the few surprises from music director Deva! (Only listenable, for me!)

Thanks to Raju for his interest & support every Friday for this post!

Bias?

Has anyone else felt that BBC is biased when it comes to India-Pakistan? In quite a few of their earlier news reports on Kashmir I have felt that they mostly show the Pakistan side of the story, their point of view etc. But after these recent earthquake in Kashmir, IMO, they seem hell-bent picking on the Indian administration's relief efforts. Check out cruel joke, cold and hungry and do Indians care?

Outsourcing!

Blog-hopping, I come across a lot of book recommendations. Most of them are fictions which I am hoping to read in the (near) future. Deepak had posted this while reading "The World is Flat" by Thomas L. Friedman, a non-fiction which seemed quite interesting. Recently my husband suggested that I read this. "The World is Flat" seems to be its inspiration and I was thrilled that I was aware of that book!!

Friday Melody - 'Mazhai'

Its been a rainy week for us here in the Northeast and its been raining in Chennai too. So, what better theme than some 'Mazhai' songs.

Mazhai mazhai - Ullam Ketkume

Mazhaiyum neeye - Azhagan

Mazhai varudhu - Raja Kaiye vecha

21st Century Women

While blog-hopping, I came across this post(is in Tamil fonts) by Ramya Nageswaran. Brings tears to my eyes everytime I think about the post. So much for those of us who think we are in the technologically advanced / developed 21st century!

Check out Goonj

Oru Paatu Paadri!!

Navarathri brings everyone sweet(or salty depending on whether you like sundals or payasam!) memories from the past. In my case, this Navarathri time is next only to my Bank experiences.

Ladies function!! So, have to wear traditional dress, plait the hair, put on some 'muzhams' of jasmine flower and wear a smiley! In short, have to behave like a girl!! If this is not enough, folks would be reminding that neighbourhood 'mami(s)' and 'vaandu(s)' have invited for 'Golu' 2-3 times already and they have already collected their 'vethalai paakku' and that I haven't!! If it is a 1-2 days affair, there is a slim chance of escape. But this goes on for 9 days!!!

So, to get-it-over-with, when I step into one of the houses, an elder of the house will start with 'vaadimma, ippavavadhu vazhi therinjudha?' and end with 'oru paatu paadri'!! This uncomfortable situation is like an examination hall, where even if you know you cannot answer any of the questions, you have to sit an hour before handing over the paper! Here, having come all the way, one cannot go home empty-handed(without the sundal). So, just have to dodge till they give up and in the mean time listen to 'Paatte theriyaadha? Cinema paataavadhu paadu'!! Atlast when I step out of the house triumphantly with the sundal packet, it is time to visit next house and the loop starts again!!

Friday Melody - Mohd. Rafi Spl

Once again, it is celebration time at home. My father celebrates his birthday today. Mohd. Rafi is his favourite singer and so, today's melody is a collection of hindi songs by the mesmerising voice of Rafi Saab.

Madhuban mein Radhika - Kohinoor

Chaudavin Ka Chand Ho - Chaudavin ka chand

Taareef karoon kya - Kashmir ki kali

Tere mere sapne - Guide

Raahi manwa - Dosti

Dear Dad!

Moms somehow get enough or more attention from all quarters. Even while blog-hopping, I found quite a few posts on Moms but not on Dads(Let me know if there are any). I was pleasantly surprised when my brother told me that the day after Father's day(since Father's day falls on a Sunday) his office gave a 10 mins. break to all their employees to call & talk to their Fathers!!!

Another thing which prompted me to make this post is the movie, '5 Star'. One of the character's Father(played by Vijayan) is shown as a strict, hard-hearted Villager who though loves his son does not show it. The Father, in his own stern way, imposes all this thoughts and plans on his son that the son eventually leaves him and the country alltogether. Towards the end of the movie, the Father regrets his actions even though he did everything thinking he is doing it for his son's good. But the damage done is done and he dies never seeing his son again.

This kind of Fathers did(probably still do too) exist in our soceity(though not common in our generation, I guess). I myself know of friends who have such strict Fathers and I have many times felt mad at them. Though we all think we know and understand our parents and their situations well, it is only when we become one that it really sinks in. These days, I am glad that men (and women) seem more mature, more prepared and more expressive of their love and affection to their loved ones.

Friday Melody - 'Chinnanchiru'

Chinnanchiriya vanna paravai - Kungumam
I somehow used to hate this song whenever it came on radio or in 'Oliyum oliyum' in those good, old DD days. Sounds good to me now! Enjoy this Sivaji classic.

Chinnanchiru vayadhil - Meendum Kokila
Sweet song, simple picturisation and featuring one of my favourite pairs!

Chinnanchiru kiliye - Kannukkul nilavu
Just added this song for those who would find the earlier songs too old. Fits my keyword and sounds melodious!

Chinnanchiru kiliye - Manamagal
"Enga veettu chinnanchiru kili" is celebrating her birthday next week and this is one of her favourite songs. Though there are so many versions of this classic in movies, I love this one from the old movie, Manamagal featuring the beautiful young Padmini.

Keerthi & I discussed in my previous Bharathi song post about how this song could very well come under Kannamma, the lover/wife more than Kannamma, the daughter. Any thoughts, clarifications welcome.

Baaa...nks!

Banks have always been a scary place to me, with so many counters(cages, actually), so many coloured slips and perennially irritated people, both inside and outside the counters! Added to it, are all those technical terms which most of the times won't make sense to me. One of the many embarrassing incidents was when my ears failed me to rightly hear the often said 'panam draw pannanam' and I once told a friend that my parents have gone to the bank to 'drop money' and she laughed till her belly ached!

When I turned a 'major', my father announced that I had begun to reap the benefits of the seeds(or units!) sowed in Unit trust of India. I had got a cheque for some 150 Rs. in my name. He said it was my money and I could do anything with it. "Hooray!", I cried and thanked my Dad hoping he was going to hand me the cash. Instead he said that I could cash it (only) in a bank(oh, not again!). Since I did not have a regular bank account, he said that this was a great opportunity to open one. On enquiry we found that most banks needed a minimum balance of Rs. 500!! Anyway, after finding a bank which considered poor people like me, I went along with 'kodi veetu' mama (who had influence there!) one early morning. After a few hours(b'cos of influence, mind you!) of uncomfortable wait with many 'sidu sidu' looks and producing numerous documents, I atlast got to open an account.

After quite a while, I went to withdraw the money. First of all, bad timing, cos' it was the beginning of the month and there was a huge crowd. With difficulty, I found the withdrawal slip and shaking and shivering, filled it up, stood in the queue to deposit the slip and waited for the "token no. xxx" call. Having done so much successfully, I was quite proud and patting myself when suddenly I heard someone screaming 'Aparna, Aparna'. For a minute I thought it must be somebody else but Nooooooooo!!! I ran to that person who was yelling 'yarunga adhu withdrawal slip pinnale sign panname, Che!' The whole crowd was looking at me! Boo-hooo!!!

Then there was this time when I went to the bank to send a Demand draft to my friend. This was my first time dealing with a DD and I, once again, shaking and shivering, entered the bank, found the form, filled, stood in line and handed over the form. After this, I was not sure if my task was over or not. I was debating if I should sit down for a while or just walk away. I was walking towards the exit wondering how my DD was going to reach my friend when asusual I heard the bank employee yelling from behind "your DD, your DD"!

Friday Melody - 'Kaalam'

Fall(autumn) season has started 'officially' since Wednesday. The above picture was taken during the pre-digital camera days at Flume Gorge in New Hampshire. Fall is beautiful(some consolation to endure the long winter) in the Northeast. So, come visit us!

Kaala kaala - Punnagai Mannan
It was those days when only Kamal did any dancing (and so gracefully!) on the screen. I remember how my Anti-Kamal friends used to say things like 'pombala maadiri dance-llam aadararu!'(though the same friends boast about their heroes now as 'ennama dance aadaraaru!!!'). Anyway, wonderful music, great choreography, superbly supported by the talented Revathy. How I wished at that time that I could learn dance from 'Sethu master'!!

Kaalangalil - Paava Manippu
One of the evergreen songs of yesteryear Tamil movies. Superb lyrics of 'Kavingar' Kannadaasan, velvet voice of PBS and enacted by the great pair, 'Gemini' Ganesan and Savithri.

Kaalamidhu - Chithi
A beautiful, moving lullaby song sung by Padmini(in the movie) to her daughter. My mother was always lenient with us when it came to sleep. She will always quote this song when others chided her for pampering us! I dedicate this song to my mother who celebrated her birthday a few days back.

Toronto (contd)

Just one more left from my travel diary, the African Lion Safari in Hamilton, about an hour's drive from Toronto. Since there were a lot of pictures, I thought I'd make it a separate post.

What a great idea to cage humans in their vehicles to see the freely roaming animals [There is one such safari near Bangalore too, isn't it?]! The sight of 'singa raja' Lion or Cheetah did not excite my daughter. But the minute we entered the baboon land, it was electrifying! And then, there were zebras, ostriches, deer, rhinos, giraffes etc all roaming around, occasionally coming and peeping at the vehicles. There are a lot of things to see and do here like train/boat rides, water parks, shows featuring Birds of prey / Elephants. One day is not enough to cover all.

Elephant show

King of the Jungle Rhino

Zebra and a beautiful strange bird giving a fine pose!

Baboon Land!!

Giraffe giving a close-up

Bulls

P.S. - Forgot to mention about the various crazy records that people have created climbing the CN Tower.

Trip to Toronto

The trip, for the most part was to meet friends. So, I list down the few interesting spots we visited!

Hotel Saravana Bhavan - HSB is a 2 min. walk from our friend's house. Needless to say, it was our first outing. We enjoyed a wonderful brunch buffet with Kesari, Pongal, Kichadi, Masala dosai, mini idlis, vadai etc.

Richmond Hill Temple - The temple is the 'largest of its kind in North America' and has the 'tallest Muruga idol in the world'. A big 'ther'(Chariot) welcomes the visitors at the entrance.

Lakefront Promenade Park - One of the lakeside parks in Mississauga. When I say 'lakeside', it is the gigantic Lake Ontario that borders this side of Canada. These Lakes are aptly called the 'great lakes' for they look like an Ocean! A little jealous that this North Americans are blessed with so much fresh water! A great place for water sports lovers . Saw a faint skyline of Toronto from here.

Hippo Bus tour - Went Toronto sight-seeing in this funny looking bus. It is an amphibious vehicle which goes on land and water. The bus went through the narrow Toronto downtown streets packed with people, with the tour guide rushing with the details of the various landmarks. The last 20 minutes was a cruise on the Lake. A considerable portion of Toronto stands on man-made land(the construction waste pushed onto the lake seems to have made a good base for the new developments that includes the CN Tower!)

CN Tower - Every city with a tower like this boasts of having the tallest tower in the world. IMO, it was similar to the Sears tower in Chicago with views of the city, lake etc. One unique feature(I don't know if other towers in other countries has this) here is the glass floor through which you can see the ground below directly(dizzying!! I did not have the courage to set my foot on it even though the glass floor is said to be stronger than the surrounding concrete!). A small airport along the lakeside made a beautiful sight from the tower.

Friday Melody - "Kanmani"

Kanmani anbodu - Guna

Kanmani nee vara - Thendrale Ennai Thodu

Kanmaniye - 6-il irundhu 60 varai

Rainbow Taggu...(bgm: Anniyan 'Remo, remo')

'Me too' tagged by Deepak Giant. Initially, I struggled to find seven things to fill in but now I have seventy things to write down!

Seven things I plan to do before I die:

1. follow 'take it easy' policy
2. find the person who started/created this Tag(empa yosikka vekkareenga!)
3. be a "Naadha/Vasuki(Mrs. Thiruvalluvar) style wife" to my hubby
4. decide on either theism or athiesm
5. learn knitting and make atleast one sweater
6. straighten my teeth
7. make a difference/be a positive influence to atleast one person
on this earth

Seven things that I can do:

1. eat sweets anytime
2. be a reliable, life-long friend
3. appreciate/enjoy art
4. write in a neat hand
5. draw/sketch
6. get emotional easily
7. window shop


Seven things that I can't do:

1. not make plans/schedules/routines(even for others!) in my head
2. forget Family/Friends' special(b'day, anniversary) days
3. make quick decisions
4. write poems
5. pretend(even for fun)
6. forgive/forget
7. stand hypocrisy

Seven things that attracts me to the opposite sex:
1. Simplicity
2. Knowledge
3. Patience
4. Non-temperamental
5. fun-loving
6. Affectionate
7. Understanding

Seven things I say the most:

1. Chellam!
2. Oh, God! or 'Kadavule'
3. Amma... Raamaa...
4. Not bad
5. Semma!
6. ille?
7. I don't know!!


Seven celebrities I want to meet:

1. Ayn Rand /Audrey Hepburn
2. Gorbachev
3. P Chidambaram
4. Thenkachi Swaminathan
5. 'Annathe' Kamal / Tom Hanks / Aamir Khan
6. Nagesh Kukunoor
7. Marie of 'Everybody loves Raymond'(the rest of the cast too!)

Seven people who have to take this quiz:

Anybody not tagged yet, please free to carry on the chain.
mmm... tag Rajni?!! Heard he is doing 7 roles in his next movie!!

Friday Music - Bharathiyaar Paadalgal I

September 11th is Mahakavi Subramania Bharathi's 84th death anniversary. His works greatly influenced my love for tamil language & poetry. He remains immortal through his works.

Ethanai kodi inbam Mahanadhi Shobana

Ninnai charanadaindhen Bombay Jayashree

Kaani nilam vendum Unni Krishnan

Nirpadhuvey Harish Raghavendra

I will post more of his songs (categorised) in the coming days/months.

Back to routine!

I am back from Vacation. The title actually means still trying to get back to routine! I have so many posts ready in my head but have some minor challenges ahead of me in the next couple of days. Will try to resume from Friday.

Happy Ganesh Chathurthi!



Jai dev arathi

'Mangal bappa mourya'!