Memory is a way of holding onto the things you love, the things you are, the things you never want to lose.~From the television show The Wonder Years

It was in those early 80’s when TV was unheard of, children loved to fly kites , climb guava trees and drop stones into the well. My grandpa’s house had a couple of huge coconut trees at the entrance, planted by my grandma, a wooden gate built by my grandpa, a small garden with tomatoes, ladies finger and a small rose garden but the main attraction for me was the 2 guava trees (one bore white fruits and the other red fruits) and the drinking well. My Grandpa, Narayan married Lakshmi when India was young and photos were in black and white and 75 paisa was all that was needed to feed a family of 5, for a month. He was a carpenter and was in charge of a wood mill in Badravathi , working for the Wodeyars.He used to tell us about his experiences in the forest, where he had to lead the villagers to cut sandal wood and rosewood. Once he found a week old bison which he later donated to the Mysore Zoo. Fortunately as I type, I chance upon something that my grandpa handed over to my father, the rosewood Mantap and the 60 year old Swiss Wall Clock. Somehow I know that I will inherit them both :) We used to visit our grandparents every Saturday, after school and we always looked forward to eating my grandma’s dosa and mint chutney and listen to grandpa’s stories and some Ustad singing the bheem taal ( oh!! Carnatic music at its best,) from a radio kept next to the window and the Crompton Greaves fan keeping the room cool. I still vividly remember that Saturday afternoon, after eating glucose biscuits and ladoo’s, I sat on my grandpa’s lap and pestered him to tell me a story. My elder brother ran off to his friend’s house. He was in a skit and I was not allowed to watch them rehearse .grrr. My sister was still learning to ride a bicycle and I was not allowed to run beside the cycle.grr.It seems I distracted her,especially when I called out "look look a monkey riding a cycle , monkey riding a cycle."grrr. That’s how I found myself munching bikis on my grandpa’s lap. It was a dull afternoon made more duller by my full stomach and the carnatic music.He ruffled my hair and said"Do you know why grandma made ladoo’s ,today?". What would a 7 year old kid say , but " because she knew I was coming" :) , he chuckled in a way that only grandfather’s could, and looked out of the window, saw my grandma, pulling out weeds and toiling over her garden,and said " On this day some 40 year’s ago, I married your grandmother". And after a lot of coaxing , he agreed to tell me all about it. " It was a year when the whole of India was chanting the slogan QUIT INDIA and trying to get rid of the "British" from our sacred homeland.Gandhi was arrested for the nth time and I longed to make a trip to the Andaman to have a glimpse of the great man. I still remember clearly, as if it was yesterday, the day I met Lakshmi.It was a hot and stifling day and I was carrying out an errand for my father.I was supposed to deliver a rose-wood jewel box to Mr Murthy. It was late afternoon and I was lost and I was looking for someone who could direct me to my destination. I saw this young girl drawing water from a well and approached her. She had the most gorgeous braided black hair, which moved around like an elephant’s tail.I couldn’t see her face, I stood a few paces away and said," Namaste, I’ve come from a far off village and I’m thirsty , can you please give me some water". I was playing with my rubber dog "devil", well to tell the truth , I was bitting its tail .I looked up and found my grandpa smiling to himself.I raised my eyebrows and said"but grandpa why didn’t you ask the address ?" "Because my child , i was spellbound when she looked at me .I didn’t know what I was doing standing before the well and so I said the first thing that came into my mind. She appeared to have not heard my plea and was busy pulling the mud pot out of the well. I waited patiently still staring at her pleated long hair and smiling to myself. She turned around and it was at that time that I vowed to marry her. She was the most beautiful girl I had ever seen. She poured water into my cupped palms and I drank till I was full. "Thank you oh! Lady for quenching this traveler’s thirst." I stammered on, hoping to hear her voice" I have to deliver this box to Mr Murthy, do you know where he stays?" She lifted the pot on to her waist and walked away. I think I stood rooted on to the spot for more than 10 minutes, not sure of what to do next. The sound of a rumbling cart broke my reverie and I asked the farmer if he knew Mr. Murthy. The farmer replied that he infact worked for him and asked me to jump into his cart .After a mile or two, I saw a huge bungalow with a beautiful rose garden and a big tamarind tree. I was met by Mr. Murthy and we sat on the verandah and I gave him the handcrafted box. He was delighted and explained that this was a gift for his daughter. As I was about to take my leave, he asked me to wait and said "Can someone bring a cup of tea?" We chatted about the weather and the crops when a cup of tea was thrust in front of me. I was astonished. It was the girl that I had met at the well. I drank the sweet tea and causally asked Mr. Murthy "Was the box made for this young lady? ". He was busy fingering the intricate carvings and said " Oh no, my daughter Revathi,studies in school, she’s just 10 years old." That was Lakshmi, the daughter of the maali. She takes care of the rose garden and as you can see, she does a good job of it.She has magic in her hands" I smiled and placed the cup near the door and took my leave.I kept looking at the window hoping against hope that I could have a glimpse of her. Unfortunately for me, she never came to the window. I got home late in the night, still thinking of Lakshmi. I just couldn’t wipe her image out of my mind. Days passed and I was gifted another excuse to go to Mr. Murthy’s house and this time it was to deliver a beautiful Mantap for their family God, Lord Venkateshwara. Ramu our servant and I set off on a bullock cart and when we went past the well, my heart missed a beat. When we reached our destination, I met Mrs. Murthy, a pious and god fearing lady, who asked us to place the mantap inside the "pooja" room.Mr Murthy, had to travel to the neighboring village on some urgent land deal. After this was done, she invited us to lunch and we obliged her by accepting her offer. I was yet to catch a glimpse of Lakshmi and was a tad disappointed when Mrs. Murthy served us lunch. I was hoping that it would be Lakshmi. I made casual conversation and asked her about the rose garden and thanked the almighty for making this woman talkative. I learnt that Lakshmi was the only daughter of the gardener and her mother had passed away when she was 10 years old. She had completed her seventh standard with flying colors and her father was looking for a suitable groom to marry her off. It was at this point that I said "I would like to marry her". Mrs. Murthy was taken aback; she looked at me and smiled "Why don’t you ask her father? I’m sure he will agree". My heart lept with joy, and Ramu looked like he ate a green chilly. After a tense week, of convincing both my parents and Lakshmi’s father, the day of the marriage was decided and I was to wed Lakshmi at the Krishna temple. On the designated day we got up early and made our way to the temple. This was one of the most beautiful temples in the whole district. Situated on top of a hill with a Ashoka tree and a view of the surrounding villages, this was aptly named the Kailasagiri. The temple had a black idol of Krishna and the poojari was the only one who was allowed inside the sanctum. The little pond next to the tree, looked beautiful and the bunch of reddish pink lotus flowers just made it more stunning. Lakshmi was draped in a brown silk saree, with beautiful intricate designs, which I later found belonged to her mother and it carried with it a sentimental value. She looked up at me and smiled and I thought I was marrying goddess Lakshmi. To the sound of a nightingale singing and chants of the holy Vedas we got married. It was at this point of the story that I wanted to drink water, I jumped off grandpa's lap and ran into the kitchen to see my grandma looking out of the window, smiling, with tears running down her cheek.

Sorry Guy's Writer's Block...something is stewing :)

The cloud forms something we cannot comprehend..

A typical playground ;)

Pleasure is the flower that passes; remembrance, the lasting perfume. ~Jean de Boufflers

I saw a couple of films this weekend and here's what I thought... Dhol : Just one word for this overwhelming movie starring * I don’t remember who and no not even Rajpal Yadav could do anything about the script or his colleagues. Bottom line : Yappppppppppppppppppppppppppa but none the less Sajjan is going to get a copy :) Jhonny Gaddar : The first thing that struck my mind was, Jaaaaaaaaaackassssss( Anil Kapoor style) it had this old filmy eastman color look and man this was one cool film.I loved the plot and sometimes even got lost in it, in a good way. Just watch it. Anand : A telugu flick, which I watched because that song " Nuvenna" just kept buzzing in my head and i ended up buying it.It's a rrrrrrrrrr flick and just TOOOOOOOO mushy mushy for me :) h i liked this scene in a oldage home, the herione ( gorgeous babe) is on a "mouna vratha" and the hero is asking her, well it sort of looked like he was pleading," Can i help you with anything,anything at all, no formalities" she smiles ( haiiiiiiiiiii) and points to a door and shows her pinky finger ( meaning off to the restroom) i was howling and my mom thought i was having nightmares. COMEON it was funny!! 2 things about the heroine, she had long hair and amazing eyebrows….. ;)Damn they didn’t use the dogs properly and well they did kill a full FAMILY and as always, I am right, a good flick has a couple of deaths ;) I just love this line and someday hope to write like this…( Robert Jordan) Abruptly, a chill ran through him, one cold, clean tingle as if he had jumped into the Winespring Water in midwinter. It rippled through him and seemed to take away some of his fatigue, a little of the ache in his legs and the burning of his lungs. It left behind... something. He could not say what, only he felt different. - Perrin And someone made me smile when I was in a meeting and it was so Haiiiiiiiiiii main mar java!! Thank you :)

Laaaaaaalalaa alaaaa BING

In the previous post I had mentioned that I had turned Vegan: Short for Vegetarian, I forgot to mention that it was for a limited period of 9 days ( yep lost 3 kilos and a part of my brain). Today unfortunately I had to devour like a demon so there goes my gaaaaas pussssss diet.It’s great to be back as a Vampire, wipes the blood. Now that our lil fire breathing , blogger eating Kk has turned 16, and is in some unknown part of Cincinnati, here’s wishing her lots of smiles and blushes. Now that its Dee’s 39th birthday , oh don’t worry she still looks 33 and is capable of eating 9 kilos of sweet meat in 29 minutes , here’s wishing that her house is filled with cats of all type of shapes,sizes and names ( aaargh). I wish I could send them something nice like a white unicorn or an apple iphone, but I know they just want my good wishes ( wink wink). Has anyone seen the film “ To Kill a Mocking bird “ based on the novel by Harper Lee ? Noone ? thu thu… It is by far the most amazingly directed and acted film that I have seen,forget Sholay, this is a cut above it. It has Gregory Peck, who knows when to pause and when to move his eyebrows and a host of little kids who just act like umm kids !! .The background score is just out of the world. You tend to watch it a couple of times and even then you are not satisified.It’s more like the Huckleberry Finn and Tom Sawyer Stories but ummmmm something more. I would highly recommend it to anyone who wants to watch a good movie with a great story and camera work.

“I'm always making a comeback but nobody ever tells me where I've been.”

Now, I found, that the world is round and of course it rains everyday. Living tomorrow, where in the world will I be tomorrow? How far am I able to see? Or am I needed here? This is a such a loos song that I like , titled “ World “ sung by the band Bee Gees. I always like to hum this song because it has a meaning that I’m yet to comprehend. For the past couple of months or rather this whole year, I have not been myself. I have not been sarcastic, I have not made fun of people, nor have I written a good story which has huge vampire rats and black chilies grown in the Sahara, which give a lavender tang when mixed with turmeric. Maybe it’s that well educated Engineer cum part time Pundit, who looked into my eyes and acted as if he read my future and foretold “suffering and death” and went on to smear me with sandal paste. He had to stop him when he started advising me to light a diya everyday. Or maybe it’s because of this http://www.lunarplanner.com/HCpages/Synodic-Saturn.html Or the real reason is because of me becoming a vegan : According to wiki the most popular reasons for becoming a vegan is ethical commitment or moral convictions concerning animal rights, the environment, or human health, and spiritual or religious concerns. Pah!! Well my reason was to lose some weight and Voila Mission Accomplished. It’s always funny , when Anand a pure Veggie, talks about chicken legs and liver, I never talk about non-vegetarian dishes when among my brahmin friends and even if they do, I change the topic and talk about the sun,the moon and throw in a few stars. Maybe I was ashamed of being a non-veggie. Yeah rite !! On the other hand it might just be because I read this quote. People believe I am what they see Me as, rather than what they do not see. But I am the Great Unseen, not what I cause Myself to be in any particular moment. In a sense, I am what I am not. It is from the Am-notness that I come, and to it I always return.” Neale Donald Walsch

meow......

Pop goes the whistle...

It's that time of the year, when i usually get up and look at the stars....and ofcourse wipe my running nose ( sniff) . It's been a hectic couple of months and i think I have lost my mind (the last piece).My life is one dull toothache, so i have decided to pull it out.

• I will learn how to play a stringed instrument( rubberband tied to a pencil box)
• I will make 2 furry and 2 human friends( Lokesh,Keshava and Tommy,Benhur, respectively)
• I will read 2 auto biographies ( Ravishankar and another of Chuck Norris, I hope i get an auto soon)
• I will not eat chokis while workingI will not eat ice cream ( * for breakfast)
• I will update my blog once a week....

zzzzzzzzzz

He came like the wind, like the wind touched everything, and like the wind was gone. ...

I just read that Robert Jordan passed away. He is/was the author of one of my favourite epic series " The Wheel of Time". I remember buying the book “ The Eye of the World”,a couple of years ago, forked out Rs 350 and was patient ( I trusted Sp ;) and his recommendations)for the first 6 chapters ,the pace was slower than a snail’s marathon. It was a hot day and I was reading the 7th chapter , when my small world exploded , I think I must have gasped, for my fellow passengers were roused from their slumber . Yes, I was in the office bus and yep, the driver had to evict me from my seat :(. Since then I have been a staunch follower of the series and I loved every book, some were so exasperating that my head hurt and I couldn’t sleep for days. (Sleep in the day, that is..) After reading book 2 and 3, back to back , I was hooked like a cookie on a webpage.I needed an excuse to buy book 4 . It was a lazy Sunday eveing and it was Anand’s birthday and Voila !! , I had my excuse. I literally flew to the nearest Gangaram’s ( unfortunately, that is that only book stall open on Sunday’s) and grabbed the book, before that lady in pink, could pick it up.I was really on the verge of sanity( nope no spelling mistook). I wished Anand, a happy birthday, presented the book, counted till 10, smiled and grabbed it back ,promising to give it back at the earliest. Before the clock struck 9.( No I am not a vampire), I was back home . I have had ample opportunity to save all the books in pdf format, but I believe that a work of fiction should be read from a book and so now I have the complete series …maybe I’ll pass it on to someone who shares the same passion as me…” Still looking…are you the one ? “ . It has been difficult to get my hands on all the books, since not all the bookstalls sell “Fantasty fiction”. Oh I almost forgot, the last and final book, Book 12 , has not be published, but we the reader’s are looking forward to reading it. PS : If you think Rowling Aunty has/had a huge fan following, think again. May Robert Jordan rest in peace…… If you find someone with this engraved on a t-shirt , you will have found me ….;) The rose petal floats on water. The kingfisher flashes above the pond. Life and beauty swirl in the midst of death. ….but who can know the heart of a man? Not even he himself, I suspect. A man is the easiest animal to put on a leash, and the hardest to keep leashed. Even when he chooses it himself.

I'm back...

I've been in hiding...and i'm back.....;)

Every tub must stand upon its own bottom.

Lets see how good your GKvale is , these are the questions that were asked in a recently held quiz…

Raja Ram Mohan Roy’s mausoleum is in which city?

Sardar Vallabhai Patel Airport is situated in which city?

Syed Kirmani hailed from which State?

Which was the richest princely state in India before Independence?

In the Oscars ,Lagaan was nominated under which category ?

India won its first Olympic Hockey Gold in the year?

The first Indian Satellite was launched in the year?

The first president of the Indian National Assembly?

Which spiritual leader and Freedom fighter was born on August 15th ?

His original name is Ajay Singh Deol, who am I talking about ?

I scored 3 out of 10 ( hides his nose) and then I had a tie breaker and I answered it correctly and we were in the finals.The question was : This place is called the Roof ….( ahem ahem)

Teri *** ki …

Yep that’s how I will remember this film, it starts off with SRK mouthing a “ghali”. I watched this film on the second day, night show and wow the theatre was packed with all types of loos people. It’s not a sports film duh!! its something more, its what I would call value for money.By the way if you think this is a review of Chak de India, I’m sorry to disappoint you ;) .This is my reflection on a cold night, packed with 250 other people and ofcourse popcorn. I liked the way in which the players from all around India are introduced to the audience, it was natural and the dialogues were too good. The crowd cheered and went up in mineral bottles when they heard the word “Jharkhand” ( a couple of the girls are from Jharkhand) and Whoooooooooop the crowd went into a frenzy. That’s when I realized that 3% of Jharkhand was in Bangalore and all of them were in that tiny theatre. The plot was in a typical Bollywood estyle but the settings were interesting and Holy Cow do these guys know how to dress up SRK or what. I wonder which brand of shirts he wears… it’s the same shirts he wears in Swades. Oh there are no “heroines” or dov songs in this film, but keep an eye out for Sagarika Ghatge. Oh and you can laugh when SRK makes fun of Cricket ;) its all in the game. One of the songs “ Maula mere Maula “ which fades in and out is just too good especially the timing of the words “Maula mere le le meri jaan” when the Indian flag is hoisted, gave me goose bumps ;) . I wonder if Helen Mary and Mamta Kharab ( they are real players) are still playing for the Indian team and that dame Prachee ? The second half is full of hockey games, and I think they should have used the long shots like in the real game and FOR THE LOVE OF HOCKEY can’t they get a real commentator ? I bet Narottam Puri, Ravi Chaturvedi and Sushil Doshi are still available…but no they used that dude from Swades areh that Vinod who allegedly worked in Nasa with SRK..yep that dude. They should have introduced a few more penalty corners, the set pieces are a visual treat but no..they showed SRK biting his nails…ufff… And for the love of all things HOLY, when you are explaining dialogues to your GF, please try to keep your voice DOWN ……..uski @#$@# ….. Do watch it for a few goose bumps…

Just another day in paradise..lallalaaa

Homer: Bart, with $10,000, we'd be millionaires! We could buy all kinds of useful things like...love!

I can do it ...can't i ?

hahhhaa grrr

Homer: Marge? Since I'm not talking to Lisa, would you please ask her to pass me the syrup?

Marge: Dear, please pass your father the syrup, Lisa.

Lisa: Bart, tell Dad I will only pass the syrup if it won't be used on any meat product.

Bart: You dunkin' your sausages in that syrup homeboy?

Homer: Marge, tell Bart I just want to drink a nice glass of syrup like I do every morning.

Marge: Tell him yourself, you're ignoring Lisa, not Bart.

Homer: Bart, thank your mother for pointing that out.

Marge: Homer, you're not not-talking to me and secondly I heard what you said.

Homer: Lisa, tell your mother to get off my case.

Bart: Uhhh, dad, Lisa's the one you're not talking to.

Homer: Bart, go to your room.

Aaah i want the gold one..you can have the blue one...

Indian ??

I have this local Ferrari Windcheater yeah just like this one..but black

And i had this " flash" ,,why foreign ? why not Indian Brands ?? What companies would you like to wear on your wind cheater ?

Mine would be :

Nataraj Pencils

Glucose Biscuits

Iodex

Kiwi Shoe Polish

Cibaca

Modi Xerox

Amar Chitra Katha

Goobe :)

New New New socks

I loved Die Hard 4.0 Now that's an action movie...Will try to sneak off and watch it again at the local Multiplex :) .

Jhoom Bharabar Jhoom is okitoki ,you'll fall in dove with the songs and Lara Dutta swears superbly wah wah !!

I read Hp7 on Saturday and it was the first time i read an ebook on a laptop.I tried all the "asanas"with my laptop to my mom's growing apprehension :)

All you Katrina Kaif fan's go watch "Partner". Govinda is hilarious and it would have been even more funnier if Anil Kapoor was in the main role :) che..oh and CAN SOMEONE PLEASE ASK Salman to stop HAMMING!! the songs are pretty good and by the way ..in one of the songs the steps were wow..fast and in synch..not sure what Govinda and Sallu were doing in that song..but Katriiiiiiiiiiiiii haiiiiiii

Did I tell you guys about Transformers the movie ?? AWESOME !!

Read The magician’s guild. ..aaaaaaaaaaargh ..sigh*