Mommy..

The first thing i did this morning, the minute i opened my eyes was to give mommy a missed call. We had a 15 minute conversation which went like so.

Mom : Haan, whats up?
Me (groggy eyed and hippo-yawning) : Not much, just felt like hearing your voice.
Mom : Oh okie
Me : Mummaa, I'm feeling very tired. I don't feel like going to work today
Mom : Obviously, you'll feel tired. You're not eating properly. Just lunch everyday is going to make you loose your health and all your resistance. (and more food related advice)
Me : *coughing and sneezing*
Mom : Just come back home, enough of your Bombay experiment.

I managed to hang up after convincing her that I'll eat some more and that i was getting late for work.

As i was getting ready to leave, the conversation we had kept playing in my mind. And as i stepped out of home to catch the bus to the station, i saw little girls walking hand in hand with their mothers. The sight made a single tear drop trickle down my eye and it made me realize that i was really missing my mother.

I wanted to be 4 years old all over again and live a life of no responsibilities.

Samosas..

There is something very divine about a samosa. Words are too little to express how I feel when the taste of the aloo and the fried covering play around the insides of my mouth. I've had a fascination for this heavenly triangle for a very long time.

Most mornings i skip breakfast, partly because I don't get any at the PG I stay in and partly because I'm in a rush to get to work before the trains and the buses get too crowded. Traveling in Mumbai is something that you get used to only after a very loooooooong time.

I'm used to the grind now of pushing and pulling around with the fat aunties on the train to get that wee bit of space to breathe and jumping into the bus as fast as my legs allow me to.

This morning I left home earlier than usual and reached Dadar station at 9.20am, I had time to kill. So I took a slow walk down the crowded streets of Dadar, watching the shopkeepers dusting out their wares and opening shop for the day. Each morning I pass rows and rows of eat outs and I see food in abundance. The smells wafting out of each make my tummy cringe with hunger. And this morning I decided to answer the call of my tummy. I saw a huge basket of samosas being carried by 2 men, I walked right behind them, watching the samosas with lustful eyes.

They walked into a small street shop and placed the basket inside. The shop had a small counter selling samosas, dhoklas, pav bhaji and many more knick knacks. People were crowded around the shop like bees to a honey comb. I joined the crowd and asked for one samosa.

The man behind the counter, took out a samosa from the counter, wrapped it in a newspaper along with some spicy green chilly chutney and gave it to me. (his actions were at the speed of light, before I knew what was happening the whole bundle was in my hand) I smiled at him, payed him the amount I owed him and settled down on a steel bench with my samosa.

I could taste the freshness of the aloo stuffed inside the samosa, it was still piping hot from all the frying. The spicy chutney dipping added on to my mouth-orgasm. I was in a world of my own now - nothing seemed to matter except me and my samosa.

After I was done eating, I looked at the empty sheet of paper with sadness and made a promise to myself that every alternate morning, I would sin. Calories can just go to hell for all I care.

A new dawn..

A post after a million days - thanks to some violent prodding from a certain special someone.

R: btw i am angry at you
G:?

R : since you have joined work, you seem to have put your own writing at a complete back seat

G: yea, i know

R: you work is profession, and your blog is your hobby, y don't i see your blog being updated, during maybe the most eventful period of your life?

So here i am, trying to making a post - I've gotten rusty, i have forgotten how to just write for the fun of writing. I write now with thoughts of will my editor like it, does this fit the writing style of the magazine, would people give it a second read and so on.

It's funny how life takes you to these absolute dead ends and just when you think things just can't get any worse, your brain begins to see light - the light of acceptance. Shit happens and you just learn to deal with it.

I've grown up in the past 2 months, living away from home. Suddenly there is this burst of responsibility resting on my shoulders - starting with getting my clothes washed to meeting article deadlines to jumping onto the train quickly and hanging on to anything for dear life.

Living out of home is like walking on thin glass. It takes time to get used to it. But once the mental block of "Can i do this? Am i capable enough?" is out of your head, the world is yours to rule.

Mumbai food..

If food is life and eating is your only survival kit, then Mumbai is the place for you. There is a plethora of food starting from Rs 5/- to Rs 5000/-

I've been in this lovely city for the past 1 month and two eateries that really caught my eye during my brief stay here are, Jumbo king Vada Pav stalls and Amore Gelato ice cream parlor.

Vada pav is a Maharasthrian preparation of a deep fried mashed potato (much like our South Indian equivalent of a Bonda) served in a Bun with or without sauces. The first time I ever had a Vada Pav at the Jumbo king stall, I went bonkers. Jumbo king stalls are located at all the major railway stations of Mumbai. So after every tiring train ride I lunged towards a Jumbo king stall and stuffed my face with Schezuan Jumbo king with one large overly sweetened lassi to wash it all down. I could not get over the fact that this meal was hardly burning my wallet of moolah. The foodie in me, was over the moon.

Moving on to our next yummy in my tummy eat out - Amore Gelato parlour. The cousin and I ate one spoon of all the ice creams on display, starting with After Eight and ending with Cookies and Cream. After a lot of thought, I settled on a Belguim chocolate and she on a Mocha. We had them in waffle cones covered with chocolate sauce right where the cone opens out for the scoop to fall in.

As we dug greedily into our cones, three anorexic-food-is-for-losers women, walked in and looked around with disgruntled expressions at the array of ice creams on display and asked the ice cream scooper boy how many calories one scoop would have. By now I had ice cream on my hair, chin, cheeks and shirt, I perked up to look at the face of the ice cream scooper boy and I could see that he and I were harbouring the same thought, namely - "Get out of this sacred ice cream house NOW, or I will stuff a grenade down your throat."

They finally settled for some yucky looking fruit flavored ice creams served in paper cups (which by the way spoils the whole ice cream eating purpose, you either have your scoop in a yummy waffle cone or die)

I'm still exploring the city and eating as much as I can on the way. So, this post shall continue. Until then, keep the foodie in you alive and keep that ponch happy.

Rock On..

Musicians. We've worshiped them, loved them, been jealous of them, dressed and walked like them. And most of us would easily cut off an arm or a leg, to just live a day of their life.

Rock On is a movie about four men, whose lives take a twist from making music to taking up responsibilities that are thrown their way. Slowly, they are forced to give up their dreams and lead stereotypical 'make money, marry wife, have kids' life.

It is an eye opener for most of us who presumed that rock stars are demi gods, who lead perfect lives. Women, talent, free food at all the places where you play a gig, what more can you ask for?

It also strongly underlines the fact that life is uber strange. We never know where we're going, until we've reached. Planning out our entire life is a decent thing to do, i suppose. Our parents did it, our grandparents did it and they all did okie. But, okie is not good enough. Extraordinary is what we should be looking for.

Philosophy aside, the movie is killer. I loved it and I would definitely give it a second watch. The soundtrack is foot tapping and fun to hear. Investing on the audio CD would not be a total waste of moolah.

Sowmia Mohanlal..

Sowmia Mohanlal - Assistant Store Manager, with the Landmark group in the UAE. Sophisticated, hardworking and an out and out professional with only one thought in mind - meet the sales targets at the end of the month. To me though, she is Sowmi chechi. The woman who babied me ever since she was 3 years old.

Growing up with Sowmia Mohanlal was not half bad. I remember being fiercely possessive of her. I hated it when she babied other little girls, chatted up other random people and played with animals (because she was, is and always shall be an animal lover). I wanted her undivided attention at all times. She was my mother hen and i was the awkward duckling that nestled under her belly.

As i entered my teen years, i found that there was an ocean of differences in opinion between me and her. She continued looking out for me whilst i flitted around playing every bit of my rebellious teen years.

In the past 2 weeks though, i found that we have never been more closer to each other in our lives. My brother just got married and the pre marriage drill was taking a toll on the entire family. As things began to crumble, she stood strong and bold holding together all the pieces of our family like a tube of super glue. She passed on her karmic mumbo-jumbo advice to me as usual and for once, it all made sense to me. I realized that she is the BEST sister a girl can ever have. She has set the sister platform so high in my mind, that no other woman in the world can enter that position that she has taken in my life.

No other girl - be it sisters in laws, be it cousins, be it my very own sister (if i had one) can ever take the place of Sowmia Mohanlal - the best cousin and the best sister ever.

Disclaimer Note : She is single, drop dead gorgeous and up for grabs. So single men over 6 feet of height, well established in their respective field of work, please don't hesitate to e-mail me. =D

My Hot Hairdresser Boy - Part 3

This post is a sad anti-climax to my trilogy. Please refer blog archive for Parts 1 and 2.

I walked into the parlor with an air of hope, confidence and a tingle of excitement. I couldn't wait to see my hot hairdresser boy again and drool over him. Sadly, fate had something else in store for me this morning.

Mum and I walked into the parlor dot at 11.30 am. My eyes wasted no time. It immediately scanned the entire parlor for traces of my boy. Disappointed, i plastered on a fake cheery grin and enquired about him to one of the parlor helpers.

Helper : Sanjay is not here
Me : (wishing the earth would split in two and swallow me in) Oh.
Helper : He has gone to Bombay for a training
Me : Aaah! ='(

My whole world crashed before my eyes at that point. I couldn't think straight, I had to sit down, I knew I'd faint if i didn't. Looking at my pale face, the helper rushed inside and got me a glass of water.

Me : When will he come back?
Helper : I'm not sure
Me : Oohhh. Alright.

The rest of the day was a blur. I honestly didn't care about my hair anymore. The cute chubby aunty who owned the parlor chopped my tresses and two helpers blow dried it and gave it a nice bouncy curly look.

I insisted that i wanted the exact same hair-do my hair savior had given me. The wonders he did with my hair in ten minutes flat, could not be re-done with three women combined. They took 45 minutes to chop and set my hair in place.

At the end of it all, I do look exactly like how my boy saw me 4 months ago. But, the experience was sad and hollow without him. There is a definite void in my soul, now that he has left the parlor.

*sniffs loudly into a tissue and bites into a large bar of chocolate*

The Dark Knight..

Lets have a moment of silence now, clear our throats and on the count of three.. 1, 2, 3. SCCCCCCCCCRRRRRRRREEEEEEEEEEEAAAM! WHATTA MOVIE! If you haven't seen it, jump off a cliff ten times and kill yourself!

I'm confused now. Who do i like more, Batman or the Joker. On the one hand, we have an unsung hero, someone who makes sacrifices, kicks some butt, annihilates evil and yet is hated and misunderstood by the people who he stands to protect, come what may. And on the other hand, we have a lunatic, who kills people for no reason, who just lives his life without a goal in particular. He just wants to piss Batman off and bring gloom to the city of Gotham by breaking their spirits, by killing their hopes for a good future.

The Dark Knight, is one of the most smartest, sleekest, nattiest, realistic superhero flicks' made in our times. The movie ends with the villain winning and the hero loosing. The Joker succeeds in driving a good man, out of his mind. He pushes him over the edge and makes him a villain. Whilst, Batman flees the scene like a criminal, although he did no harm.

More than the fight between good and evil, it was a movie that strongly underlined the choices we make. Sometimes the right choices have horrible consequences. But we can't shirk off those choices. We have a responsibility, to ourselves and to the people who believe in us.

Heath Ledger. Sir, i just have one word and one thought in my mind for you : RESPECT! You have changed the face of super villains. We love you! May your soul rest in peace.

Crossroad..

There comes a point in every human being's life, when she has to take a major decision. She must finally decide, what her purpose in life is. And once she realizes that, she must shirk off all the people who are not supportive of her and move on.

Life is not about keeping other people happy, it is about keeping yourself happy. It is about carving a niche for yourself in this world and fighting it out till the very end.

It took me 21 years, 5 months and 16 days to realize that i was born to write. I will make my bread, butter, jam and live off it, only with my writing. Nothing in the world brings me more joy than thinking and writing down those thoughts.

I have two job offers in Chennai, from very reputed organizations but i choose not to take them, i choose the non-easy way. I choose my dream. And I'll be damned if anybody, tries to stop me.

My first love..

Riding back home from gym today, I was thinking about my never-ending job hunt in Mumbai, my journalism dreams, my blog, the Oats oozing with sugar and 5 tablespoons of skimmed milk powder that would be waiting for me once i reach home and so on. Out of the blue, it hit me, I've written about a gallizion things in this space, except for the most important person/thing in my life. My first love, my baby, my purple Scooty Pep!

Our torrid love affair started when i was in my first year of college and I can say without a doubt in my mind that we're still going strong. She has been through it all with me. The good times, the bad times, the moderate times and the wasted times. She has borne the brunt of my sadness, anger, euphoria, excitement and all the other human emotions humanely possible. She has been a brave soldier for three years, battling all my mood swings. Ever-ready to take on any challenges head-on. Be it dodging stupid pedestrians who just can't cross the road for nuts, cyclists who take forever to crawl through traffic, dinosaur sized cars that try and act funny whenever they see a woman-biker on the roads. Yes, woman biker! My scooty is a Bike. She is not a moped, she is not a scooty. She is a Bike. Period!

Whenever she falls ill, i feel her pain. It brings me great sadness and agony to take her to the service station and leave her there with a bunch of men for 2 and 3 days. My life comes to a standstill for that period of time and i pray fervently to all the Gods to heal her quick, so that she can come back home, back to where she belongs.

My purple scooty pep, i have no words to thank you for putting up with me, for being my ever faithful sidekick, for being my friend and confidante during all the times i needed you the most.

I love you babe! Always and forever.

Dynasty - Speciality Chinese Restaurant

Dynasty is probably one of the most underrated eat-outs in the city. Nobody has heard of it. The Wangs and Mainland Chinas of the world are recognized more. And nobody ever eats in Dynasty. Whenever i walk inside, the place is almost empty. So, this post is to boost up the sales of one of my personal favorite eat outs in the city - Dynasty!.

To start off with, note down the address :

Old No 10,
New No. 57
Greenways Road (inside Music College Arch Lane)
RA Puram
Chennai - 28
Home Delivery numbers : 43060000/43060003

Right, now with the nittigrities out of the way, lets get straight down to business - the food! If you are a self respecting foodian, the first thing that you would do when you enter a Chinese eat out, is order their Chicken Lollipop. And if you don't know what that is, then read no further, this post is not for you. I strongly believe that you can judge the quality of a Chinese eat out, by just eating their Chicken Lollipop. Dynasty's Chicken lollipop will take you on a higher plane of bliss. It's definitely the next best thing to sex and chocolates.

If you're a nibbler, a spoilsport, an anti-food person, then order their Chicken Man chow soup. A delicious concoction of shredded chicken, chillies, fried noodles and mixed vegetables. By now, you'd be geared for more food. Your tummy would expand a little with anticipation, however strict you are with your diet. You'd find yourself praying to the Lord; "Forgive me, for this one night of sin. I shall workout tomorrow like a maniac."

Next on the list is Kway Teow or in non Greek, normal human being language - Flat noodles, with mixed meat consisting of pork, chicken, beef, prawn and crab. The perfect side dish to go with Kway Teow is Shredded Beef dipped in soya sauce, ginger and onion.

If your keyboard is not already overflowing with drool, then my friend, you have issues! Stop reading, start gorging. Bonappetit!

The call of the cookie jar..

Last year, and the year before the last.. and the year before that..

No, that doesn't sound right. Let me start again. For the past 19 years of my life, the first thing I did as soon as I walked into a departmental store would be running to the chocolate, ice-cream and cookie section. I'd run haywire in the shop, pick up bars and tubs of poison and stuff my already overstuffed face with it all.. without sharing it with anyone. I shared Joey's philosophy on food. I did not share.

For the past 2 years though, all that has changed. I joined a gym and the harsh reality of being 12 kilos overweight hit me hard. So, i quit food. I started the anti-food movement with a good friend of mine (who was skin and bones already, but she is, a paranoid person and thinks she resembles a walrus) We barely ate and over-excercised. Things were going smoothly and as per our plan until our health's got in the way. We started loosing our resistance. We fell sick more often, had fainting spells now and then (my coolest fainting spell was in the loo.. i felt i was flying, until my head hit the bathroom tile) and threw up certain things we ate.

I wanted this post to be a little funny.. But the flow of words have taken a different direction. Children.. Ladies especially, reading this post. Do not starve and deprive yourself of food. It is uncool and stupid.

Eat the occasional chocolate chip cookie and glug a whole glass of coffee with tons of cream on it.. You can sin. It's human to sin.

Yesterday my uncle picked up tons of Oatmeal cookies covered in chocolate sause. I tried not to eat them, but the cookie jar looked at me accusingly and seemed to say, "After all these years, can you honestly look me in the eye and tell me that you don't love me anymore" I hugged the jar and whispered back with moist eyes; "I still love you with all my heart" and before I knew what I was doing, I ate 2 whole cookies and ran as fast and far as my legs could carry me.

I repeat.. It's human to sin. Eat that cookie without hesitation. You know you deserve it.

Vacations..

The thing about vacations, especially the one vacation before joining work and right after you're done with college, drags on for an eternity. Nothing seems right. You're a little fuzzy all the time, disoriented and just plain lost like a puppy dog wandering on a dark street.

Deleting seminar notes, exam time tables and going through tearful e-mails of 46 other women who shared a 3 year roller coaster ride along with me makes me gloomier. I am, was and never shall be a fan of change. It is the one thing I hate.

Speaking about the land I'm vacationing at.. There is a food overdose, heat overdose and T-Rex sized malls overdose. I'm sleep deprived and on my toes most of the time, clicking away furiously with my digi-cam and drinking gallons of iced coffee with cream and chocolate sauce topping.

Last week, I was in this mall called the Dragon Mall.. it is shaped like a Dragon and all the shops inside sell Chinese stuff. Walking down one of the alleys in the mall, I bumped into an aunty I met on the plane. We made conversation, oohed and aahed over the freak coincidence. We didn't ask each other too many personal questions, and we left our names unsaid.

Yesterday, I went to a mall called City Center and bumped into my classmate from school. We stared at each other wide eyed, hugged and caught up on each other’s lives of 3 years. "You don't look the same at all, you've become so skinny" she kept saying for the first 5 minutes. I laughed and remembered my pro food days when I'd gorge on everybody's lunch boxes.

Vacations.. I don't like them! Dear blog readers, do pass on all your unfinished assignments and projects to me, I'd love to work on them for you.

My first impressions of Sharjah..

The 4-hour flight to start off with, was annoying. We had to wait in the airport for 4 hours, to finally board the silly plane. Once on board, my heart was in my throat and i had to suppress a few screams (because, i am scared of heights) as we took off the runway. I began to relax a little once the drinks and food were served. We landed at Dubai airport at an ungodly hour. The folks and i wandered around a little aimlessly at first and then we asked a huge Shake-man where to go and he replied back in Hindi "Neeche Jao". Multilingual folks these. We had to collect our original Visas from a counter and then go back up again to get it stamped from the other airport dudes. Shake-men are quite hot. They come in various shapes, sizes and heights much like our Indian men. They have very sharp features though and you can't help but take a second look and flash them a nice flirty smile.

Next, we collected our luggage from the luggage belt (for which we had to wait for another 1 hour) and we walked out of the airport, to be hit with a blast of really skin piercing hot air. We could feel heat bouncing off the roads and on to our faces. We walked around a little to spot my brother; mum made a passing comment about his punctuality and we continued staring into space. I suddenly felt a huge slap on my back and a "Welcome to Dubai Branson family". We stood there right at the entrance of the airport group hugging each other and giggling like a bunch of teenagers. It was a very Brady Bunch sort of a moment.

Next we rolled the luggage trolley to the car park and drove out of the airport. We looked in awe at all the enormous buildings and heavy traffic on the roads at 3am in the morning. I wanted to stick my head out like a dog and take snaps right away, but i was too fagged out from the nightmarish plane ride. I was half asleep by the time we got home. Nice sloppy kisses and huge bear hugs were exchanged with the cousin and the granny who were wide-awake and waiting for us.

I somehow managed to shirk off my clothes and get into my night suit and I crashed into bed like a pile of heavy wood. I was dead to the world for the next 8 hours. I got up the next morning with the sun shining right into my eyes. For a minute, I wondered if I was dead and God had finally come to say Hi. Then I opened my eyelids a little more and scanned the room around me. I walked out on to the balcony and looked down at the 13 floors below us. Cars on the road looked like small toys and people walking around looked like little moving dots. There were huge buildings everywhere and a nice harbor with ships and a good view of the sea. This place truly epitomized the word "Urban Jungle".

I think I'll truly enjoy my 1-month stay here. I could really get used to being pampered by the family and exploring this land some more.

Six Years..

Gather around boys and girls. It's fairy tale with a twist of horrible reality, time of the month again! Once upon a time which dates back to six years ago, there lived a loony 15 year old school kid and a very wise 18 year old college kid. They were cities apart. She resided in Chennai, whilst he in Dubai. They were very different from one another. But as the old norm goes - Opposites Attract. They met online, were hi-bye friends for a while. Then he decided to come to Chennai, for his break and so they swapped numbers. They spent a lot of time with each other conversing about everything and nothing. One night, whilst talking to him on the phone, he said he had already dreamt about her and the house she lived in. She did not believe him and so to prove a point, he drove his car right upto her house and she looked down at him from her balcony for the very first time.

They were probably in love with each other, but then again they were just children. They finally decided to meet in person. On the first date, the boy came a little late. The girl stood waiting for him impatiently, but the minute she saw him and the bunch of roses he held in his hand, her anger melted away. The date was absolutely fantastic. They met every single day that he was in town. Tearful goodbyes were said, when it was time for him to go back to Dubai. Somehow they lost touch with each other and the girl decided to dump him. (Yes, i know, what a bitch! If only she had a little bit of patience)

The reason why she dumped him, is still a mystery to her. She wishes till today that if she could have a second chance for that one moment in life, a rewind button or an erase button for life, she would hit that and undo her stupidity.

Moving forward, because life has to move on and so does our story - They kept in touch with each other, they were seeing other people of course, but they constantly were on and off in touch with each other. They continued meeting each other as well, each time the boy was in town.

Moving forward further to present day, both individuals still continued staying friends. The boy now shifted to Chennai. They kept meeting each other and finally the magic and the history of 6 whole years could be held back no longer. They decided to give each other a second chance, another shot, starting anew, from scratch.

Sadly, this time around, they squabbled over nothing. The boy had no time for the girl. He was committed fully to his work and frills of a relationship did not seem to be his priority. The girl tried to reach out to him, but he shut her away and turned a deaf ear. She was defeated. The one man who was always on her mind for 6 years, the one man for whom, her chest hurt like it had been rolled over with a huge bulldozer had finally said goodbye to her.

She cried, wails of agony escaping her mouth. She felt lost for the very first time in her life. She had a bright future to look forward to, but what was all that in comparison to the loss of the only man she fell completely head over heels in love with.

THE END

Tashan..

First up, cut the movie some slack. It's not all that hideous. It's a good entertainer and worth almost every penny, of the 100 odd bucks spent for the tickets.

The story revolves around 4 characters. Saif Ali Khan - A call center employee who is obsessed with women, this character is thrown in, to the portray the yuppie Indian youth of today. Kareena Kapoor - a slut essentially, but a slut with morals. (She's Indian after all remember) She is out to avenge her father's death and hence will trample things which cause roadblocks, men and material included. Akshay Kumar - a country bumpkin, who idol worships Anil Kapoor. I loved this character, partly because he really kicked some mean ass and pulled off stunt after stunt effortlessly and partly because he did full justice to the country bumpkin role. No one could've done it better. Anil Kapoor - a crazy Don, who wants to learn angreez, kill people, make a ton of money - you know, the usual Don stuff.

Kareena dupes Saif into believing that she is in love with him and swindles him of a ton of money, which belongs to Anil Kapoor. Anil Kapoor in turn, gets pissed off and sends Akshay Kumar to beat the shit out of Saif, find the girl and bring the two and the money back to him.

It's a typical Bollywood masala flick with the usual dose of song, dance, melodrama, childhood sweethearts and a mad villain of course. All in all, a fun 3 hours and something minutes!

Letting Go..

One of the most hardest things in the world, is letting go. However close you are to someone or something, at some point you just have to let things be and not obsess over it.

Parents, have to learn to let go of their children. Treating them like 5 year olds when they're 21 and can legally drink is uncool. Although, i suppose I'll know the feeling only when I'm a parent i guess. But as of right now, I'm on the other side of the fence and this is pure undiluted injustice!

Friends, are the best things ever. There is no question of letting go or giving them 'space'. You can be around them all the time and still not feel suffocated by them.

Lovers, are weird beings. It's a huge complicated mess when one wants a lot of space and the other would just like to spend some quality time. I hate love. I always have. It's never been kind to me. I have become a full blown out and out cynic. In fact, I've always had a very strong hunch that i was an evil queen in my last birth, who separated lovers and got between the way of true love.

Anyway, at the end of the day, you cant force things to happen. If you get hurt, deal with it. Don't mope for too long, don't mope for too little time. Mope for just the exact amount of hours.

If, on the other hand, you get lucky and end up with the man of your dreams, good for you! Just don't come around gloating about it to the rest of us single folks and make us look like wimps. Thankyou very much.

The Holiday..

The Holiday is for people who are going through a mid life, relationship crisis. This movie covers every nook and cranny about the highs and lows, of being in love. Clingy ex-boyfriends who take you for a ride and you get carried away because you're still in love with the idiot. Girlfriends who claim to be head over heels in love with you, but the minute you turn your back on her, she finds comfort in the arms of another man.

The movie centers around the lives of two women. Kate Winslet - the smart, pretty, kind, generous girl who is blindly in love with her stupid ex, who takes full advantage of her vulnerability and uses her as a nice and proper doormat. Cameron Diaz - a successful career woman, who owns a movie trailor making company. She is at the top of her game - sophisticated, rich, sassy. Her life couldn't get more perfect, except for the fact that her live in boyfriend slept with another woman.

The two women decide to take a break, from their messed up lives and decide to swap houses for 2 weeks. Diaz goes to Winslet's quaint little cottage and finds love in Winslet's brother, Jude Law. Winslet goes to Diaz's mini mansion of a house and makes friends quickly (she is portrayed as the English version of Munnabhai - she spreads cheer wherever she goes) and she finds love in Diaz's ex boyfriends' business partner.

Obviously, all ends well. I will say no more, because this movie deserves at least one watch. It's the perfect end to a perfect Saturday of binging at a buffet lunch and spending some quality time with the folks. *Burp* excuse me. =D

My prolonged vacation..

Vacations suck, especially when you know that after it's over, you will not go back into the routine that you were so used to for 3 whole years.. (I'm still heartbroken over passing out, so please bear with some emotional sop)

I just got back home after a 11 day fiasco, in coconut oil and overly hairy men land. The experience was moderately pleasant. I didn't miss coming online this holiday. Trivandrum for me has always been torture. I'm house arrested with no bike, no friends, no gym and no internet connection at home. But this time around, i embraced all that with an overdose of Zoom TV, MTV, 9XM, HBO and Star Movies. Crappy bollywood songs and ridiculously idiotic chick flicks and vague, stupid boy humour flicks are all on the back of my hand now.

I considered writing a book with all the free time in hand, but NO.. the idiot box screamed out my name the minute my eyes opened in the morning.

As for gymming, my next best friend after the internet, i compensated that with running up and down the hillside. My grandma has a house right on top of the hill. You get a splendid view of the whole city if you stand on the terrace. Anyways, back to my primitive workout sessions.. I couldn't feel my back for 5 hours straight after running all over the hill. And when i could finally feel some sensation on my back, it felt like a T-Rex had marched all over my back and jumped on it a few hundred times.

And finally, the sole reason for this unholy trip this year - Weddings! I tried my very best to slip out of my socially awkward self and make conversation and pretend to know my extended large deranged family with horny uncles and matchmaking aunts all in toe. As for cute boys, there were NONE! *sniffs*

Coming back to the point of this post - Vacations SUCK! Vacations are for losers! I want work, i want work!

Passing Out.. Finally!

Today was the VERY LAST DAY B.sc Electronic Media, Batch of 2008 walked into college. We were called to collect our Transfer Certificates, sharp at 10.30am. Most of us walked in dot on time, knowing fully well that we'd have to wait for at least 2 hours to get our TCs in hand. But today was different, we walked in on time because this was the last time we'd ever see each other again as a class. The noise, the chatter, the sound of the old rusty fan, the faces of our profs - we would drink in the details for years to come.

I clung on to my best friend and made promises of being in touch with her, come what may. Life as we had known it to be, was coming to a sad end. We all wanted to burst into tears, but held them back for fear that we'd kill the festive mood. We smiled a smile that reached only our lips, our eyes spoke of the gloom that lurked inside.

It was finally my turn, to collect my TC. My faculty adviser smiled and wished me luck. I smiled back and walked away, too chocked to let the words come out. I walked out of the Department and looked on with envy at a few 2nd year kids talking animatedly amongst themselves.

I went back to my best friend and clung on to her. We walked into our classroom, looked at the wall that had all our names scribbled on it, looked at our desks, the window we used to spy on the watchman, glanced at the house we thought had caught fire and called the cops (whilst in reality a havan was on and the smoke was from the sacred fire), the blackboard we never used (well, not NEVER, we did doodle on it occasionally) .

We went back to the Department and waited for her turn, to collect her TC. I spotted my gang in the cluster of people inside the Department, hugged all of them and said goodbye.

TC in hand, we decided to walk down the stairs, promising one another to keep in touch through Face book and G talk.

All good things must come to an end; she said. I nodded silently, gave her one last hug and we walked in opposite directions with the hope of seeing each other again, someday!

My hot hairdresser boy - Part 2

This is one of those posts that require a little brushing up. It all began like so :- http://bonappetite.blogspot.com/2007/11/cute-hairdresser-boy.html

NOW resume reading here! Yesterday was a very sacred day for me. I was waiting for what felt like an eternity to have my tresses chopped, by my Edward Scissor hands version 2.0

I walked into the parlour to find my chappie in a hassled mood, the parlour was busier than usual yesterday and he was running hither tither between customers chopping, dying, straightening and advising.

He looked at me briefly, pointed out to a chair which faced a big mirror and continued running around the parlour. Once seated, he took off my hair clip and surveyed the war zone. He suggested that 4 inches need to be chopped off. I LOVE my long hair and in normal circumstances i would've said; up yours and bolted, but because it was HE who had suggested it, i smiled demurely and nodded.

He snapped his fingers and asked one of his helpers, to wash my hair. Hair wash done, a towel was thrown on my head like a turban. He was the last person on the face of this planet who should've seen me like that, but thanks to the nice blue stoned semi danglers i had thrown on, i didn't look too hideous. He towel dried my hair for me, made a parting and picked up his tools.

The next 10 minutes were absolutely out of this world. I felt sparks when he ran his fingers through my scalp. And each time he got his face close to mine to check what he was doing, i had to literally control the urge to smooch him. Remember Leo Di Cap painting Kate Winslets' nude picture in Titanic? I felt like Kate Winslet. I was letting an artist do his thing and trying to look unperturbed about the whole thing, while in reality i could feel an incredible amount of heat from head to toe.

Haircut done, he blow dried my hair and styled it. The person who looked back at me from the mirror was a diva! He had given my straw straight hair fun bouncy curls. I wanted to kiss his hands and ask him, whether he was free for dinner later that night.

But as always, i didn't do anything. I just smiled, blew the hair bang away from my eyes and thanked him.

Message to the Divine Superpower : Please God, give me the strength and courage to ask him out at least the next time.

Chocolate Easter Eggs..

I luurrrrrveee the Easter season. I have to flaunt my ignorance a little now, to make a point. I have no idea, what the season/festival is all about. Mum keeps explaining it to to me every year and so does my maid at home, but it just bounces off my head.

The only thing that keeps me on my toes, on Easter day, is the Easter egg. Not the horrible sugar glazed white hardened thing, which you crack and out pops some yucky candies, not that kind. I'm talking about the chocolate easter egg. A blob of pure undiluted chocolate shaped as an egg. *drools* Heaven never looked or tasted better folks. Trust me blindly!

Last evening, i heard loud drunken singing next door, from a bachelor pad. "Its a long weekend, people are all at home" said daddykins. For me at this point in time, all days are weekends, i have lost track of time and space. Sitting at home during study holidays can be a bore. "What long weekend?" I asked. "It's Easter weekend child" said mum.

Me : Reaallly?! I want an Easter egg then! Remember ammumma (mallu word for grandmother) used to get me one every year
Mum : Yes, when you were 7 years old. *smiles*
Me : Biiig deal. I love easter eggs even more now. Pleaasseee muuummmaaaa. Get it for me noooooo.
Mum : Alright, alright! =|

So this morning, as soon as i got up from bed, i tiptoed outside to survey the house and spot my easter egg. After 2 minutes of searching i gave up, looked at mum with a pout and then decided to hit the gym.

During my 1.5 hour workout, i kept dreaming about my chocolate easter egg and wondered when we'd be united again, together, like a real family. Me and my chocolate easter egg.

Workout done, i raced back home, to find mum standing coyly at the table. There was a small white box on the table.

Mum : Oh, I wonder what that is.
Me : (lunging for the box) Its MY easter egg!! Thankyou mumma!

Halfway through eating my heavenly blob i pecked mum on the cheek, chocolate easter egg style!

I luurrrrrveee the Easter season. =D

Once Upon a Time in the World of Net-dom..

Here I am, back to square one, discussing my favorite topic of all times. Onliners! This time I've decided to tell you the facts in a bollywood masala types tale of love/hate.

Once upon a time in the world of net-dom, there lived a girl. She loved blogs and blogging, more than anything else in the world. So, one day she stumbled on the blog of a very interesting man. She read one of his posts, left a comment and went her way.

Life was mundane, with the routines of gymming, sleeping, reading, eating, watching four movies a day etc. College could have been tossed to the list, but she had passed out and was on her study break. She was just swallowing in the fact that this is IT, the decisions she makes henceforth will define the person she is. She is going through a 'i hate growing up', 'i don't want to leave college' phase.

So, the timing could not have been better, when the random interesting man, commented back on roughly around 20 posts of hers. She was floored, to say the very least.

The random interesting man added her on Orkut, and soon an easy friendship was formed. His scraps made her day and she couldn't wait for the next day and the next and the next , just for scrapping back and forth with him.

Now, remember the old adage, familiarity breeds contempt. This story epitomizes THAT adage to the T.

As the hours flew by, she still looked forward to hearing from him, but he didn't quite feel the same. Her girly alarms rang violently in her head and hence she decided to cut him off.

It was one of the hardest decisions that the girl had to make in the recent past, considering she is a very blah blah, i love people person. But she realized, from the wounds of her past and from all the knowledge she gathered through similar situations, that she is bound to get hurt anyway. Therefore, instead of giving the man a chance at it, she decided to take a painful step back and give Serendipity a chance to do its thing.

Thus children, at this moment we have an incomplete, sad love/hate story in our hands. But that is the game of life, we have to play it. And play it well!

THE END!

Big Girls Don't Cry..

First up, i cant believe my ears, I'm actually listening to songs like these! College and a certain Ms Todi has ruined my life. *coughs*

I really paid attention to the lyrics and to the video today. Milo Anthony Ventimiglia is the kind of guy, I'd personally flip for. Throw in some tatooes as well, and hes one smoking piece of grilled chicken, fresh off the barbecue oven.

My interpretation of this whole song and video is - - Theres this girl. She is in love with a very hot man. But there's a catch of course (all hot men come with a catch, name one who doesn't right NOW and I'll bake you a chocolate chip cookie AND ask for his number) He is involved with the wrong kind of people. So, she decides to move out and live her life, pursue her dreams etc.

It's the melancholic mood of the song, that really grabbed my attention. Why do all us womenfolk flip for the bad guys? Why don't we see, that they're just NOT right for us.

While we'd probably think hours about them and maybe write an entire blog entry on them, they're probably out there getting laid!

So yes, Big Girls Don't Cry! Instead we sit back and ponder for long long hours about pointless things.

PS : I need a nice cup of filter kaapi right now, NOT the fraud cafe coffee day lattes! Thank you very much.

Foot in Mouth Situations..

Foot in mouth situations and me are BEST FRIENDS! There are certain things i blurt out or type out, which i don't really mean. Unless the person I'm talking to is someone who knows me damn well, he/she would probably misunderstand and come to very warped conclusions about me.

I don't know why i do it or how i do it. It's a mystery AND it's a disease. Groovy eh? *takes a hammer and bangs it on my head*

I just had a foot in mouth situation 5 minutes ago and I feel absolutely foolish. The thing about foot in mouth situations are that you can't undo it. Once an impression is made, its made. You can just kiss everything else goodbye.

*more banging with hammer*

Shakespeare in Love..

I was 11 years old when i first saw this movie. The dialouges just went over my head, I didn't fancy Joseph Fiennes (the man who played Shakespeare) and as for Gwyneth Paltrow, i just kept thinking : W-O-W! thats one huge head for a wiry little frame.

The womenfolk in the family made a huge fuss over the movie, they spoke about it for days on end but I just didn't get it! A horny man and an equally lust driven woman, who throw themselves on each other every 3rd scene. Ugh and double ugh!

Fast forwarding to 2 hours ago, i was flicking through the movie channels and caught sight of Colin Firth (LOVE the man, thanks to Bridget Jones). But here he was dressed up in a funny puffy outfit, donning a pearl dangly earring on one ear.

I guffawed and turned to Ma; "Your favorite flick". No sooner had the words left my mouth, i caught a dialouge being said, between Colin Firth and another funnily dressed man.

Lord Wessex (Colin Firth): [about Viola] Is she obedient?
Sir Robert de Lesseps (Viola's Father): As any mule in Christendom - but if you are the man to ride her, there are rubies in the saddlebag.
Lord Wessex: I like her!

Now any movie that describes sex like THAT, is definitely worth watching. I sat up a little straighter on my couch now and fluffed up the cushion.

Shakespeare in Love is the story behind Romeo and Juliet. I could absolutely relate to this mad mad writer. He wrote a sonnet each time he kissed his lady love, Viola and he'd spurn out mindblowing dialouges for the play whilst making love to her.

Each time the camera zoomed in on him writing away furiously, dipping his pen in his bottle of ink, his finger nails covered in ink et al, i pictured myself in his shoes.

The rehearsals of the play, Romeo and Juliet come to an abrupt halt, the minute Colin Firth gets wind that his bride to be is sleeping around, with the poverty stricken writer AND rehearsing along with the rest of the cast in the play.

Luckily for Will and co, their rival drama company generously offers them, their stage to rehearse on. So, the show is back on the road.

On the day Romeo and Juliet is staged for the audiences, Viola gets married to Lord Wessex (Colin Firth and Gwyneth Paltrow). As they walk down the church steps, a flyer of the play Romeo and Juliet falls on Paltrow. (Yes, i know very cliched, but nice anyway!)

So she runs to the theatre, does the role of Juliet, and when the play ends, the Queen comes out of the fray (she was amidst the audience, hiding in peasants' clothes) and tells Paltrow to pass on the message to Shakespeare, that she wants a funnier play on the 12th.

And now that my friends, was Shakespeare's next play, titled 'The 12th Night'. It's the story of a woman named Viola, who gets shipwrecked, but manages to fight the currents of the sea and walk on to unknown shores. In Shakespeare's real life, HIS Viola was also leaving him, she was sailing away to a foreign land, with her newly wed spouse.

So basically, Shakespeare implemented bits and pieces of his life into all his plays.

Brilliant brilliant movie! Watch it if you're a whimsical writer who also happens to be a hopeless romantic. *sigh*

Virgin - Tata tie-up..

Hear ye, hear ye

*blows trumpet*

Virgin will be entering India in collaboration with Tata Teleservices. Virgin will be using its brand name. And Tata will be providing the infrastructure.

Nope, im not Richard Branson's little muse. I'm not here to spread the word and make him profits or make him any richer than he already is. I'm here to salute the brains that went into conceptualizing the Virgin-Tata mobile advertisement, which i saw half an hour ago.

I searched through You Tube in and out for the ad, but i couldn't find it. And therefore, it gives me great honour to describe to you, in detail, about this brilliant ad. *big toothy grin*

We see a young pretty lass drawing back her shirt sleeves (a very masculine gesture) and she announces "Mom dad, I'm not interested in boys"

Our TV frames now fill up, with the dumb struck faces of the mum and dad. The father immediately turns to the mother and whispers angrily "THIS is your fault" The mother whispers something back, equally angry.

They turn to their young daughter with blank expressions, trying not to show the shock and horror of their daughter's revelation and they ask her to elaborate. She replies back cooly again, that she is not into men. PERIOD.

Our TV frames fill up with the parents expressions again. The father's look is ABSOLUTELY priceless. I almost fell off my chair laughing.

Right then, the girl's mobile phone rings. She picks it up and says into the phone "Not now Tansen (or was that Tang Singh?). I'm talking to my parents. Bye" She cuts the phone and throws on a disgruntled look on her face and shakes her head.

Her parents look on with interest and quickly ask. "Who was that beta?"
Girl's Response : Some boy in my MBA class, called Tansen. Wants to go on a trip to Goa. I said i'm not coming.
Dad's Response : So go beta, go. You must take part actively in extra-curricular activities
Mother (whispering frantically into the father's ears) : But Tansen? (disgrunted look)
Father (whispering back) : Whatever, its a BOY. So its all good!

The scene changes to the close up shot of the girl. She is in her bedroom. She picks up her phone and says "Tansen, trip to goa confirmed" And we see her grinning from ear to ear.

Moral of this brilliant ad : Ladies, the next time you want to stay out late with your hot guy friends, pull a Tansen on your parents.

And yes, i will put the ad up here, the minute You tube uploads it! Until then, keep your eyes peeled on your TV screens.

The Ad : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ROFaEycLs_0 Thank you Sangeeta!

Amethyst..

Amethyst is a nice quaint (now forgotten, thanks to Mocha, Coffee Day, Barista and all the other jazzy coffee pubs which have sprung up in Chennai over the past 5 years) eat out.

This is yet another post on food, so non-foodians look away.

The eternally hungry 8 of us found ourselves in a dilemma, about where to go and stuff our faces today. We kept name swapping restaurants, bunked college after the 1st hour, played a game of our very own YOU KNOW (UNO name modified - it's a group thing, the rest of you can continue calling it UNO), gluged down watermelon juice and finally it hit us - Amethyst. Close in distance (1 minute walk from friends' house) and open at 11.30 am to feed the hungry and famished.

We joined 3 small round tables, plonked ourselves on the nice steel/jute chairs and looked in awe at the amount of greenery around us and the nice shade it provided us, from the intense heat outside. Heaven was right there, i tell you.

The next 1 hour was an insane hogathon. We started with dessert and drinks. I was sharing my dessert (a chocolate brownie with chocolate sause) with Ms Ritu Chaudhary -- the barbarian chocoholic. She grabbed the fork from me and dug it into my hand, each time i tried to eat a bite.

Next, three starters were served to us. Potato wedges with a nice pink dip (too sexy, i could'nt stop licking the little steel bowl, long after the dip was over) , a cheesy strange shaped golden yellow blob with tomato sauce (heaven again) and lastly toasted square slices of bread with mushroom and cheese topping.

Starters done, we clutched our tummies and looked at each other with sheepish grins. No sooner had we done that, our main course was served - 3 varieties of pasta - one with white sauce, one with a green sauce and one with tomato sauce. Yummy in our tummies!

We were now officially stuffed, to the brink. If tribal folk caught us right there and decided to make us their meal, they would've had a ball.

But of course, we did not give up. Overeating is the name of the game children -- read and learn. We ordered dessert again - two pieces of chocolate cake and one plate of brownie with chocolate sauce.

Food has a magical power - It bonds people. You suddenly get all gooey inside and mentally thank the Good Lord for giving you such excellent friends.

Burp and double burp. I dedicate this post to my lovely gang of foodians anonymous (alcoholics anonymous re-named because we are shameless eaters, alcohol is not an addiction for us -- yet!)

Nerdville..

After 21 years, 25 days and a few minutes here and there (i suck at math, so kindly adjust) later, I'm guilty as charged. I'm a nerd!

I just wrote a paper which I presumed, I hadn't crammed much for. But the minute the question paper was handed to me, my hand shot out like a missile and I finished dot on time. I underlined all the key words, scratched out the wrong words neatly with a pencil, erased all the unnecessary lines out etc. I walked out of the exam hall, with a very elated feeling.

Now, that doesn't make me a nerd. Yes? No? Maybe the next few lines, would change your mind.

I have a Lion King pencil box, (rectangular shaped and light blue) with a small scale, eraser, sharper and 1 small dark green pencil the size of my little finger. My college gear, I'd like to call them. While most people sleep during a lecture, or pretend to listen and space out, I actually listen to every word that comes out of the lecturer's mouth, I take down notes in my school note book (yes, thats right, I still have 25 of my school note books left) and I underline everything with my pencil and my little scale.

"Gayatri, you're such a nerd man. " quoted my friends with sad, disgusted shakes of their heads. I agree. Guilty as charged ladies, guilty as charged.

On the plus side though, I'd make a hot nerd eh? (Yes, I'm fishing for compliments, I'm from fish land after all, if I don't fish, who will?)

Jodhaa Akbar..

I've been hearing Jashn-e-Baharaa for too long now and after watching the flick yesterday (which was a harebrained last minute plan set to motion, which paid off, so cheers to harebrained schemes, screw advance booking of tickets!) i cant stop singing it, or rather it refuses to leave my mouth. I'm singing it in the shower, while brushing my teeth, riding my bike, mid-way through conversations and through mouthfuls of food.. somebody STOP ME!

Jodhaa Akbar, has SUPER cinematography and excellent camera work. The war sequences were mind-blowing. Hrithik Roshan stole the show as usual, with his larger than life performance and his Greek God looks. Aishwarya (can't stand the woman) surprisingly, did a darn good job playing the role of Jodhaa. There was absolutely zilch over-acting (remember Dhoom 2, Bride and Prejudice *barf and double barf*)

The costumes, the jewellery and the sets were magnificent, i felt i was actually stepping back into the Mughal era. It was absolutely amazing, would be an understatement.

The story though, is okie-okie types. If you're the 'i cant get enough of Mills and Boons' kind of person, Jodhaa Akbar is YOUR flick. For the rest of us semi-sops, drooling at Hrithik and praying that we'd someday marry a dude, who looks just like him will make the flick watchable.

Message to Mayajaal a/c controlling people : 19 Degrees Celsius, are you out of your FREAKIN' MINDS?! Grrr!

Arjun Bhadran

I haven’t mentioned anything about this man anywhere in this blog, partly because I’m a little scared of him and partly because if I write something not up to his taste, I fear that "Donate your music and movies to adorable younger sister" will stop.

Arjun Bhadran is my brother. I’m alive and kicking today, all thanks to this man. When he was about 7 years old, he asked his mom and dad why their household had only one child, while all the other households had two and three. And lo and behold a handful of months later, a fat kid rolled out of mommy dearest's tum tum.

Growing up with Arjun Bhadran was fun, I have vague memories of going to a pool with him, I’d float around with that ridiculous tube thing around me whilst he splashed around in the deep end with his friends. He was, like all boys his age, restless and eternally playing outside with all the other small boys. One evening, I heard loud bawling and screaming in our living room, I ran as fast as my podgy, fat legs could carry me. I saw the most horrific sight – my brother bleeding profusely and crying his guts out, he was surrounded by all his friends, mom and dad.

For 4 years after that, i’m drawing a complete blank, because I grew up with my grandparents, while he grew up with mom and dad. By the end of the 4th year, he finally came home. Home for me back then was, land of grandparents. I had no clue who my parents were, I just saw a few pictures of them around the house.

His room was a treasure chest for me, whenever he was not around, I’d run up and explore it. His room always smelt nice and even to date, all the rooms that he has inhabited always smell nice, all thanks to the most expensive perfumes he uses. That’s another thing, the man is very classy. He uses only the most expensive products.

Movies and music, are like the back of his hand. He knows who is hot and who is not at the moment. I grew out of my awkward Backstreet Boys phase (yes, I’m not ashamed to admit that I was a HUGE Nick Carter fan and even had an e-mail ID on hotmail - gayatrilovesnicky@hotmail.com, I was a child, and it was the age making me do random appalling things!) and into a metal diva (hehe, or so I want to believe) all thanks to this man.

Growing up, we didn’t squabble much or have fist fights, like most siblings do. Our relationship was built on authority and respect. Or in other words, I had to drop everything and tend to his 'get me a bottle of water from the fridge’, ‘change the channel’, ‘bring me the last piece of the cake’, ‘don’t go through my stuff’ and finally ‘go fetch that cricket ball from the bushes’

Arjun Bhadran is now 28 years old and having the time of his life in Dubai. He came home 2 weeks back and time just flew, literally. Every single day that he was around was filled with some activity or the other. And by activity I mean, not physical (unless of course you consider picking up forks and chewing food with your mouth as physical activity).

I have run out of words now. I have nothing more to say, besides, I don’t want my Dubai goodie distribution to come to an abrupt halt. So, I’ll end this post with three words -- YOU ROCK BRO! \m/

Lunch at Vasavis'..

Lunch at Vasavis' is no novelty. I'm welcomed into her humble abode, once a month at least, to gorge on her cook Ramu's amazing stuffed parathas, dum aloo, muttar-paneer et al. But this afternoon was a little different.

The gang and i, bunked the last hour of college and rode upto Vasavi's place with salivating mouths and food deprived bellies. (5 hours of no food, IS food deprivation) We climbed up the stairs, rang the door bell and was welcomed by her adorable dog, Simba. He led us to his mistresses' bedroom. On reaching it, we plonked ourselves on bed and chatted up each other over some raw vegetables sprinkled with chilli powder and few squirts of lemon ( I felt like a cow chewing on grass, but as they say, when in Rome be Roman, so when in Cowland be a Cow -- no offence to vegans!).

Salad done, we sat ourselves down, around the table and looked on with anticipation and hungry eyes over the lovely spread before us and within the blink of an eye, the dishes were polished clean. Dessert was served next -- Cookie crumble icecream, with Hide and Seek sprinkles on it.

Few burps and praising our perfect hostess for the lovely spread later, we played a few games of UNO, a fun card game, which I learnt to play today.

Being the slow learner that i am, i goofed up whenever my turn came around to throw a card. A lot of giggling, sweetened popcorn, a pack of Hide and Seek cookies and Ritu's YOU KNOW (instead of UNO) later, the show had finally come to an end.

Oh, how could i forget, we danced along with Bipasha Basu on MTV for her Beedi Jaleile number (we managed to entertain the maid, and piss off the neighbours with all the screaming and jumping) and THEN the show came to an end.

Lunch at Vasavis' shall be cherished for a long long time to come. Ramu bhaiyya, you rock! Keep that stove nice and hot for many more parathas! =)

Transformers..

Stupid boys and their stupid toys, was the first thing that came into my mind, when my brother picked up the VCD from Odyssey.

Transformers is a crazy 143 minute ratatatatatata, bang bang bang movie which has its share of funny moments. But for the most part, you'd be increasing or decreasing the volume on your DVD player and biting your nails off, hoping that the good guys -- Bumbleebee, Optimus Prime (heroic leader of the Autobots), Jazz, Ironhide, and Ratchet win over the bad guys -- Megatron (the evil Decepticon leader) ,Blackout, Scorponok, Frenzy, Barricade, Starscream, Devastator and Bonecrusher.

I'm not sure, what genre to categorize this flick into -- sci-fi? stupid boys and their stupid toys walking around and squashing things? (THIS should be a genre you know).

The machine thingies were quite nicely done though, i liked them. Very cute indeed! Transformers -- watch it just before a very tough exam, your brain goes into ALERT mode and sleep of course is not an option because you'd be wide awake with all the robotic voices still lingering in your head. *arrr arrrr ARRRR*

Within Temptation..

"Evanescence who?!" was the first phrase that popped into my brain when i heard The Heart of Everything, the latest album by Within Temptation.

Within Temptation is a symphonic rock band from the Netherlands. The band was founded in 1996 by, dig THIS - vocalist Sharon Del Adel, who by the way, has THE most amazing voice on this planet!! She made me kick myself mentally a few times and reminded me of my glory singing days when mom kept telling me to go for my music classes, but i paid no heed to her, stayed at home instead and ate like a pig all day long.

Respect woman, R-E-S-P-E-C-T. I bow to thee and your lovely throat. Lage raho Sharon babe, lage raho! I am undoubtedly your newest humble fan.

You've Got Mail..

You've got mail is a movie which was made during the "Internet is amaaaaazing" era, when people had no idea what an E-mail was, what chatting was all about, it was also the time when connecting to the Internet took a little while and a very cute "bzzz uuuuu krrr krrr krrr" noise was produced by our modems. This 10 second noise found people holding their breaths in anticipation and thanking the good lord of technology,when they finally got through.

Finding love online was a novelty then. Now my 10 year old cousin is orkutting so voraciously and chatting up every random girl he meets online, that he puts my 15,000 odd scraps to shame. (Yes, he is a chip of the old block, that little dog!)

Anyway, back to the movie. It is a classic Meg Ryan - Tom Hanks starrer. They send each other uber cheesy e-mails, whilst in real life they cant see eye to eye. Eventually Tom Hanks, discovers that Shopgirl (Meg Ryan's online id) is infact the woman he loathes through and through. He then, takes matters into his hands, befriends her and slowly breaks into her facade and learns that they have a lot in common.

My favorite line in the movie goes something like this -- "The strange thing about communicating like this,is that we eventually end up speaking about nothing. But, all this nothing has meant more to me than so many somethings in my life." I could picture myself saying that one liner to someone special.

I hope i find my NY152 (Tom Hanks' online id) as well. The internet is the only medium where I'm completely myself, uninhibited, fearless and bold.

In real life, I'm almost invisible! I have to scream and jump around to get my point across.

The Making Of I'm Alright Ma..

I'm a director once again, for the 3rd time in a row, all thanks to my wonderful course, Bsc Electronic Media. 3 weeks of anticipation, sweat, blood and writing away furiously has all boiled down to almost a whole day of shooting.

I could'nt sleep last night, exactly like all my previous shooting eves. I tossed and turned and thought about each shot, the costumes and re-checked all the dialouges. I woke up dot at 6.40 am, rushed around nervously, had a huge tongue lashing with mom, managed to drag dad out of the shower and drive me to college. On reaching college, i rushed to my video studio, looked around for my sir -- who was'nt around. I begin to sweat profusely now and imagined the worst case scenario - he has forgotten about my shoot, he met with an accident, he's pissed off with me because i'm 9 minutes and 35 seconds late. I paced up and down the studio like a woman possessed and then, lo and behold, in comes sir, with a huge grin on his face.

Me : Siiirrr, i'm soooooooo sorry, how long have you been waiting?
Sir : Wokay wokay ma, no tension, it ees wokay.
Me : Sorry sorry sorry
Sir : Wokay wokay

We (sir and i) begin to load all the equipment in the car's boot. 10 minutes later my hero Mr. Varun Sharma aka Barani and heroine Mrs Rita Sharma aka Sandhya Iyer stride in confidently. Without further ado, we sardined ourselves into the car.

The rest of the day was a blurry haze of dialouge and scene rehearsals, checking and re-checking each frame, screaming at people when needed et al.

Mrs Rita Sharma is a character who is 9 months pregnant, so stuffing a cushion underneath her outfit and tying it with a belt was absolutely hilarious. We giggled for 10 whole minutes, and finally managaed to pull of the "swollen bellied anxious mother" look.

Direction is out and out fun, every moment is an absolute treat for the senses. All the hardwork of weeks and weeks pays off really well at the end of the day.

A day to remember..

Today has been a mixed day, not good, not bad. Just mixed. Last night i did the unthinkable and i got the result for the act this morning. It was exactly what i expected, a red signal. But i accepted the rejection, with a smile on my face.

I was not happy, but i wasn't sad either. I felt relieved to finally close a chapter in my life and move on. No more questions, no more what ifs and buts. There was a surety to the situation now, I had all the answers i needed.

Nextly, i chatted up with an established Indian writer, who is, at present compiling Chicken Soup for the Teenage Soul for Indian readers. She appreciated my writing skills, called me a teenage rebel and asked me to send her more articles, for her yet to be published book.

Call me an arrogant pig or an overconfident buffoon, but i decided not to send her anything more than what i already had, because i fear that she'll flick my ideas and elaborate on the same. She wanted me to add on 2-3 lines more to everything i had sent her. And that i realized is NOT me. I don't want to write for HER, however established she may be. I want to write for MYSELF. I refuse to give a solid conclusion to any of my articles, I want them all to be open ended, left to the readers imagination, vague, unpredictable et al.

I learnt two things today. Firstly, when it comes to matters of the heart, don't hold back, just spit it out and face the music head on. Rejection is a very over hyped thing, it's sad yes, but not 'i cant live anymore' sad. The circle of life shall continue to revolve and rotate.

Secondly, be yourself. Don't change your identity for anyone and someday the world just might appreciate you, just the way you are, irrespective of how deranged and mad you might be. Period.

Heartbreak..

Disclaimer Note : This is a cheesy post, so non die hard romantics look away!

A boy becomes a man and a girl becomes a woman, the day he/she flips for a person who he/she can't have. I became a woman, when i was 10 years old. I saw Titanic and fell hopelessly head over heals in love with Leo Di Cap. I cried through the nights, chewing my sister's head off, asking her a million times why the ugly red headed broad hadn't died instead of my very first love.

She laughed!! Hearing her squeals of laughter, I cried harder and my heart, i could actually feel it breaking. The pain in my chest was so acute, i couldn't breathe.

Food lost it's taste, sleep was a forgotten best friend. And then, a nerdy looking 11 year old moved in next door. He was my "get back on the horse of love" boy. We spent time pulling off silly pranks and eating. I moved on with life and the pain of loosing Leo wasn't so bad anymore.

Meeting this 11 year old, was a turning point in my life. I realised right then, that i will someday flip for and marry an intellectual nerd.

Sadly, the flipside of intellectual nerds are, they're eternally busy. They have no time for women, in fact i suspect they don't give women a priority at all. So even if a woman hints subtly or screams on his face "I like you" he'll just walk away.

Online Fraainships and Louships..

Before i begin, let me clarify that the title of this post has been mis-spelt on purpose. The world of Internet socialising is not new to me. I've been a voracious YAHOOer, MSNer, GTALKer, ORKUTter and now add to that list FACEBOOK! I'm still figuring out how to use that last one by the way.

It all began when i was in class 8 and daddykins took fancy to a huge white box that looked a little bit like our old Television set. According to one of the girly fashion magazines i was hooked on to back then, this huge white contraption was what people called a "Computer" and you could "chat" with it. I didn't hesitate for a nanosecond. I spun out a yahoo chat id and a yahoo e-mail id, logged on to the yahoo chat rooms and voila, the metamorphosis from book-lover to useless Internet junkie was complete.

I just could NOT get offline! My fingers were glued to the keyboard and i was talking non-stop with my mouth tightly shut. Sometimes I'd forget to pee, eat, sleep etc whilst chatting. Finally, i had to go to Internet rehab to cure the disease. And Internet rehab for me was class 12. The books called out to me, rather screamed out to me and chatting was forgotten temporarily.

Right now, almost 3 years of college done and 8 years of chatting later, i would call myself a semi Internet socializer. I still love meeting people and talking for long hours (because some habits are hard to kill), but now i know, nothing beats offline socialising. The flesh and blood people we meet in our day to day life are pretty much the only folks we can sort of trust. (Read again : SORT OF trust)

Onliners are scary with a capital S-C-A-R-Y, trust me blindly on that folks!

My Family..

Family gives us an identity - both personally and in social circles. This was one of the characteristics of the term 'Family' i learnt in class 7 or was it class 3 now? School was not my happy place, so i don't remember the nitigrities too well.

My family, like all other Indian families i suppose takes this above mentioned trait to a whole new level. I could call myself, Gayatri Bhadran - almost graduate, fraud mallu, potential field journalist, wannabe Bipasha Basu et al.

But in THIS family, I am the great granddaughter of C. Keshavan - writer, freedom fighter, philosopher, the very first Chief Minister of Kerala state. Or i could call myself Gayatri Bhadran, youngest granddaughter of Captain P Thyagarajan - Deputy Port conservator, a very charming, dashing merchant navy officer who had a tale or two to tell - which would either leave people completely shocked and at a loss for words or it would leave them amused and in splits of laughter.

When i was younger, I LOVED family get togethers, back then Family Gatherings = Loads of good food, mischief and 25-30 equally crazy, mad cousins who'd help me with my pranks.

But the older i got, I began to loathe these family gatherings. There were too many nameless faces who walked up to me and enquired with glee, "Gaayaaatri, do you remember meee?" and right there I'd find myself in a tight spot.

Aunts of all shapes and sizes draped in expensive sarees, looking everyone up and down and commenting on how much weight has been gained or lost, where they got their earrings from, who is the prospective groom X for bride Y - that lucky girl, she has quite a catch, the servant lady ran away with the driver man - and so and on and so forth. Juicy tidbits of gossip always float around these women.

The uncles on the other hand are loud, huge, boisterous and crack dirty jokes like nobody's business. They claim to know all about computers, IT professions, fitness regimes and who Bollywood's sweetheart is at the moment.

Yesterday, after a grueling zillion hour train ride, I stepped foot on God's Own Country - my native town - Trivandrum or Thiruvananthapuram (Phew!) No sooner had i reached home and bear hugged my grandmother, she announced that I must get ready A.S.A.P and rush to a close relatives' house as it was the 16th day function of his late wife and as a passing comment she mentioned that i looked emaciated and food deprived.

15 minutes later, we ( mom, gran and me) squeezed ourselves into a Maruti Wagon R and headed off to the relative's house. All eyes were on us latecomers (a few disapproving glances and head shakes) as we got out of the car.

The widower, one of my grandfathers (i have roughly around 10 grandmothers and grandfathers - its all part of being a malayalee) looked up from his food and teared. We rushed to his side, hugged and kissed him and then seated ourselves for an elaborate, sumptuous Sadhya (a typical south Indian vegetarian meal served on a banana leaf)

Sadhya done, I chatted up one of my favourite uncles ( yes, again i have a million uncles and aunts) said polite hellos to the aunts and then settled down with all my uncles.

The next 2 hours were a blurry haze of nonsensical chatter, huge bellies wobbling with laughter, crude comments and of course dirty jokes (this goes without saying you know)

MY FAMILY - You'll either fall completely hopeless head over heals in love with them OR you'd loathe them at sight. But i assure you, if you stick around a while, they'll grow on you and before you know it, you'll be one of them.

Junk Jewellery..

Junk jewellery is not a style statement. It is a way of life for me. I live for junk jewellery. I have 5 boxes of it and I have been collecting it from road sides, from fancy overpriced malls and from vendors (after bargaining my ass off). My collection is not just confined to the streets of Chennai, I would like to think of it as a global/national collection. Ever since i was 10 years old, I've had an eye for junk trinkets.

So naturally, it goes without saying, wherever i go my junk jewellery follows suit. While packing my bags for a quick 5 day vacation, i don't pack the essentials like toothbrush, kaajal, shoes, underwear etc, i pack my junk. I take them all out of their boxes, re-arrange them, put them back inside their boxes, tie the boxes with 2 strings and then put these boxes overflowing with my neatly arranged jewellery into plastic bags, which i fold and refold and tie with strings again.

Every year, my mother and i have a 2 minute tongue lashing which goes like so :

Mum : Don't take everything, just take a few earrings, chains, bangles and bracelets. You're going for a very short trip, how much are you going to wear anyway? Listen to me, you're coming back alone, you'll have to lug it all back.
Me : Okie mum

Mum : So you wont take them all?
Me : Okie mum, whatever you say.

Mum : So you wont?
Me : Yes, i wont take a few earrings, chains and blah like you said. I'll take them all.

Mum : How foolish can you be?
Me : Okie mum

The joys of being a woman lies in those 5 boxes, i would'nt trade them for anything in the world!