An almost completely immobile life where one is greatly dependent on infinitely patient parents for simple things including visits to the loo and transport to the next street, has left me feeling quite fidgety.
This coupled with depressing thoughts such as "Will this bandage come off before Agni Nakshatram sets in?" has left me reminiscing about happier, mobile times.
This incident happened when I was 12 during my summer vacation. It was decided that we would go to a popular hill-station for a holiday. However, due to several reasons including my exams, our family had to travel separately, with one set of family and relatives going first and me and my mother coming later, accompanied by a portly family friend who was going to a place a couple of stops after ours.
Now I had never traveled by train before and this was going to be my first time and I was understandably a very excited child. This excitement manifested itself in several forms during the journey with my asking the ticket conductor a smorgasbord of annoying questions, checking the berths for dead people (pun intended) and a number of other things.
Having exhausted these venues, my attention now turned to the portly family friend, whose girth greatly fascinated me. When my mother took her nap, I took the opportunity to focus my energy on this friend. I spilled hot bournvita near his crotch (accidentally) to which he said "its alright ....just a child." I also woke him up from his nap so that I could "check" his berth for safety reasons. Then I excitedly touched his crisp shirt with oily train-food stained hands to show him some cows outside. I also gently poked his stomach and immediately apologized.
At any rate, when we reached our station, the portly gentleman politely helped my mother off the train and after I had gotten off, threw my bugs-bunny suitcase out of the compartment with what I thought was rather unnecessary violence.
A violent man indeed.
Monday, April 27, 2009
Sunday, April 26, 2009
Truth or Dare
Lets play a game, shall we?
In this game, I will dispel some myths and corroborate some facts.
In this game, I will dispel some myths and corroborate some facts.
- Iyers and Iyengars are always at loggerheads with each other.
-Myth. - We still live in a ridiculous society where women are made to feel insecure about their skin-color(or lack of it rather) and ergo their appearance.
-Fact. - There has been an increase in rowdyism in Tamilnadu in the past 2-3 years.
-Fact. - Indian men in general are more patient than American men.
-Fact. - Brits are all smarter than Americans.
-Myth. This may have something to do with the fact that Brits are more harsh and cynical, leading to the mistaken belief that they are smart. This is rubbish. eg: Simon Cowell. His remarks may sound harsh and 'clever' but under careful analysis are actually silly and irritating. - Aham Brahmasmi.
-Fact. - Jealousy and insecurity is present to a slightly greater extent in women than it is in men.
-Fact. I would like to very clearly state at this point that i do indeed believe in women's rights. - Iyengars ALWAYS make better puliyodarai than Iyers.
-Myth. - It is impossible for brains and looks to go together.
-Myth. - The Brits have given us some of the best music over the decades.
-Fact. - The Law of Karma, though inscrutable, works.
-Fact.
Friday, April 24, 2009
Humor what, ho!
While a student in the US, I suffered for a period of time from a lack of good programs to watch on telly, considering I dont enjoy most American shows (read Lost, Idol, Sex and the City, F.R.I.E.N.D.S, Letterman etc etc). The fact that cable had only 2 channels that showed the sports i liked (european football and tennis, and that too at odd hours : 3.24am-what the heck!? pretty inconvenient when you have a test the next day, id say!)
There was also a lack of good comedy to unwind with during weekends, what with my finding American humor alarmingly boring, and no SunTV and Vadivelu and Vivek (popular Tamil comedians).
It was during this time of desperation that I prayed and hoped for some comedic succor.
Enter Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant.
Considering the fact that I grew up on British humor with classics like 'Allo 'Allo, Are you being served?, Fawlty Towers, Monty Python and Yes Minister, it was perhaps only natural that I progressed to them.
Their comedy was a new type of modern British humor- downright ridiculous, sometimes even risque, and refreshingly unpretentious; thereby standing a class apart from the other types of current comedic satire that was getting so irritatingly ubiquitous.
To me, they always looked like the modern day version of Laurel and Hardy.
Some of Ricky's quotes:
As David Brent, On Pol Pot:
"Pol Pot - he rounded up anybody he thought was intellectual and had them executed. And how he told someone was intellectual or not was whether they wore glasses. If they're that clever, take them off when they see him coming!"
On Prince:
“Steve Merchant says Prince is a genius. This is Xfm, 104.9!”
And my personal favorite, in concordance with the current economic situation-
As Brent:
“What is the single most important thing for a company? ......It’s the people, investment in people. My proudest moment here wasn’t when I increased profits by 17%, or cut expenditure without losing a single member of staff. No. It was a young Greek guy, first job in the country, hardly spoke a word of English, but he came to me and he went ‘Mr. Brent, will you be the Godfather to my child?’. Didn’t happen in the end. We had to let him go, he was rubbish. He was rubbish!”
P.S-added as an afterthought-i guess you have to have a certain different type of attitude and approach towards life and comedy to get this sort of humor to work for you.
There was also a lack of good comedy to unwind with during weekends, what with my finding American humor alarmingly boring, and no SunTV and Vadivelu and Vivek (popular Tamil comedians).
It was during this time of desperation that I prayed and hoped for some comedic succor.
Enter Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant.
Considering the fact that I grew up on British humor with classics like 'Allo 'Allo, Are you being served?, Fawlty Towers, Monty Python and Yes Minister, it was perhaps only natural that I progressed to them.
Their comedy was a new type of modern British humor- downright ridiculous, sometimes even risque, and refreshingly unpretentious; thereby standing a class apart from the other types of current comedic satire that was getting so irritatingly ubiquitous.
To me, they always looked like the modern day version of Laurel and Hardy.
Some of Ricky's quotes:
As David Brent, On Pol Pot:
"Pol Pot - he rounded up anybody he thought was intellectual and had them executed. And how he told someone was intellectual or not was whether they wore glasses. If they're that clever, take them off when they see him coming!"
On Prince:
“Steve Merchant says Prince is a genius. This is Xfm, 104.9!”
And my personal favorite, in concordance with the current economic situation-
As Brent:
“What is the single most important thing for a company? ......It’s the people, investment in people. My proudest moment here wasn’t when I increased profits by 17%, or cut expenditure without losing a single member of staff. No. It was a young Greek guy, first job in the country, hardly spoke a word of English, but he came to me and he went ‘Mr. Brent, will you be the Godfather to my child?’. Didn’t happen in the end. We had to let him go, he was rubbish. He was rubbish!”
P.S-added as an afterthought-i guess you have to have a certain different type of attitude and approach towards life and comedy to get this sort of humor to work for you.
Wednesday, April 22, 2009
Seriyana Ashadu
In most tam-brahm households, including mine, the word ashadu is used to refer to a silly person, because of something silly they did. It is used usually in a gently chiding way. For example in the following context:
Mami : ketelo 'na? kalyaanathula ponnoda vaira mookuthi kanaama pogumbodu paiyyan yenna pannardu nu teriyaama thalaya sorinjindu adhirsam saaptundirundaan!
Mama : appidiya? seriyana ashada irupaan pola irruke!
At any rate, why this sudden reference to ashadu one may wonder. Well, the above mentioned two-word phrase is what an elderly relative said to my 12 year old cousin when he tried to leap-frog over the vadyaar who was teaching him how to do something of religious significance yesterday.
And while we're on this topic an important cautionary note to all future tam grooms:
if your bride loses her diamond nose stud, dont continue stuffing yourself with bakshanam like an ashadu; drop that mullu murukku and rush to her side.
Mami : ketelo 'na? kalyaanathula ponnoda vaira mookuthi kanaama pogumbodu paiyyan yenna pannardu nu teriyaama thalaya sorinjindu adhirsam saaptundirundaan!
Mama : appidiya? seriyana ashada irupaan pola irruke!
At any rate, why this sudden reference to ashadu one may wonder. Well, the above mentioned two-word phrase is what an elderly relative said to my 12 year old cousin when he tried to leap-frog over the vadyaar who was teaching him how to do something of religious significance yesterday.
And while we're on this topic an important cautionary note to all future tam grooms:
if your bride loses her diamond nose stud, dont continue stuffing yourself with bakshanam like an ashadu; drop that mullu murukku and rush to her side.
Friday, April 17, 2009
Aruvaal Tales
Incidents in boys hostels always make for a good read.
This was narrated to me by my chithappa (father's brother), when he was in a boys hostel himself during his college days.
There entered the portals of the college as a freshman, a young man.
Now what was different about this young man that warranted sitting up and taking notice you may ask.
Well, this young man was not only apparently a knowledgeable nerd, he was also (unfortunately or fortunately, depending on how you look at it) what one would call very easy on the eyes. Added to that he had a good sense of humor.
The former reason making him the favorite of some of the professors in the college and the latter reasons making him the favorite of the members of the opposite sex in the college.
This quickly (albeit understandably) brought about jealousy from various quarters.
Soon, his ordeal began.
Now those of you have lived in a boys hostel know that the ragging can sometimes be cruel.
And it was not an understatement to say that what this boy was subjected to was borderline sadistic.
Perhaps due to his ignorance or perhaps due to his newbie-ness, he did what any self-respecting individual would do: He told his dad.
The next morning, most of the hostelites were lounging in the common room.
In marched this boy's father, with an aruvaal in his hand, and screamed:
"Yevan da avan yen paiyana imsa pannardu!!?"
The ragging stopped.
For the non-Tams:
*Yevan da avan....:"Who dares to trouble my son!!?"
*Aruvaal: a type of sword used by Tamilians to sever the tops of tender coconuts during extreme thirst and the heads of humans during extreme anger.
This was narrated to me by my chithappa (father's brother), when he was in a boys hostel himself during his college days.
There entered the portals of the college as a freshman, a young man.
Now what was different about this young man that warranted sitting up and taking notice you may ask.
Well, this young man was not only apparently a knowledgeable nerd, he was also (unfortunately or fortunately, depending on how you look at it) what one would call very easy on the eyes. Added to that he had a good sense of humor.
The former reason making him the favorite of some of the professors in the college and the latter reasons making him the favorite of the members of the opposite sex in the college.
This quickly (albeit understandably) brought about jealousy from various quarters.
Soon, his ordeal began.
Now those of you have lived in a boys hostel know that the ragging can sometimes be cruel.
And it was not an understatement to say that what this boy was subjected to was borderline sadistic.
Perhaps due to his ignorance or perhaps due to his newbie-ness, he did what any self-respecting individual would do: He told his dad.
The next morning, most of the hostelites were lounging in the common room.
In marched this boy's father, with an aruvaal in his hand, and screamed:
"Yevan da avan yen paiyana imsa pannardu!!?"
The ragging stopped.
For the non-Tams:
*Yevan da avan....:"Who dares to trouble my son!!?"
*Aruvaal: a type of sword used by Tamilians to sever the tops of tender coconuts during extreme thirst and the heads of humans during extreme anger.
Monday, April 13, 2009
As some of you might know, Ohno second is that split second where you realize youve made a big mistake, after you make it. usually after pressing a wrong key.
Thank God for Undo Send, which capitalizes on this miniscule fraction of time.
Thank God for Undo Send, which capitalizes on this miniscule fraction of time.
Friday, April 10, 2009
This blog has been started as an experiment to chronicle my life in order to relieve boredom caused by a severely swollen ankle (due to torn ligaments and a tendon) which makes mobility almost impossible.
I had to use a wheelchair today. the doctor asked me to. it was humiliating, to say the least but at least it relieved the strain on my father's arm and my mother's shoulders.
This was started as an experiment. Over the next few days, I will be changing and trying out new layouts and features, so bear with me.
April 10th '09. Lets see how this works out.
oh and btw, the blog title is a reference to the incident involving the ankle. :)
I had to use a wheelchair today. the doctor asked me to. it was humiliating, to say the least but at least it relieved the strain on my father's arm and my mother's shoulders.
This was started as an experiment. Over the next few days, I will be changing and trying out new layouts and features, so bear with me.
April 10th '09. Lets see how this works out.
oh and btw, the blog title is a reference to the incident involving the ankle. :)
