Me me me

I got tagged. Since I can't think of any great topic to write about right now, I am happily taking the easiest escape route (with good karma for being a prompt tag-doer thrown in as a fringe benefit :-P) and am doing the tag pronto :-D! Okay, to all people who spotted the error in the previous sentence: I do know the rest of the posts here do not contain great topics either. What I actually meant was that I could not think of *any* idea at all :-P. In any case, be nice and let me have my occassional delusions of grandeur :-D!

Anyways, onto the tag. The rules are as follows (copy & paste from here):

Rules of this tag:

1. Name the person who tagged you.
2. 8 things about you.
3. Tag 6 people.

Here is my entry:

1. Thanu tagged me.

2. Sometime last year I wrote 20 random things about me because of a tag. I am sure you got a whole lot more information about me in that post than you bargained for. However, it's almost a year since that post and it's time to add eight more things to your fact-file (hahahahaha) about me:

1. I love dancing (definitely not to be confused with "I am good at dancing"). However, I can dance with abandon only when with people I am very comfortable with or when I am by myself. Otherwise I can be spotted shaking my hands and legs nervously with a "I-am-trying-to-have-fun-but-I-would-probably-be-happier-sitting-on-a-hot-stove" look on my face.
2. I love being near water. I can sit at the beach for hours together, just listening to the waves. Perhaps it can be attributed to me being a Piscean - I don't know!
3. I think I have a compulsive need to feel liked by *everyone*. Yes, including people who irritate/annoy me. Which is how I can spend hours obsessing over how come person XYZ does not like me even though I do not like XYZ (duh).
4. I listen to music through headphones almost all the time at work, whenever I am at my cubicle. This is one of the reasons why I turned my computer to face the cubicle entrance. Before I did that, I have sometimes almost jumped out of my skin when somebody tapped on my chair or addressed me from behind!
5. I have never believed in ghosts. It is a good thing because I have no issues staying by myself or going to sleep after watching a scary movie (I do have nightmares, but can usually get over them when I wake up).
6. I am a compulsive email checker/writer. I usually reply pretty promptly to all emails I get. Of course, this applies only to personal emails. For work emails, I have a different set of rules :-P!
7. The only way I can sleep properly is when I am lying down horizontally on any surface. This prerequisite rules out sleeping on buses/cars/aeroplanes etc. The good part is that I am always awake to give the car-driver company on overnight journeys. The bad part, the next morning, I look like something the cat dragged in while the others look daisy-fresh :-(. Note: The have-to-be-horizontal-to-sleep condition becomes null and void if I am extraordinarily tired.
8. I know probably no one is particularly interested in knowing all these things about me. Still, I am gathering good karma for being a good tag-doer and hence am thinking about the eight thing. Ah yes, the eight thing about me is hum good karma gather karne ke liye kuch be kar sakthe hain (I can do anything for gathering good karma) :-)). Yaaay - finis :-D!

3. Six people I tag (in no particular order):

• Floridora - I am not sure if you do tags - I don't recall seeing any in your blog. It will be really great if you take this up :-)!
• Archana Bahuguna - I remember that Shilpa tagged you for the 20 random things about yourself tag. But I doubt you did it. So, here's your second chance *evil laughter* >B-D!
• Prasanna - Welcome to the tag world :-D!
• Prabhu - I just want to check that you still remember enough about yourself after your "world-changing" trip to India :-P!
• Rads - Based on the totally random but entertaining posts on your blog, I think eight things about yourself will make an interesting read :-)!
• Ginkgo - Let's see if the tag inspires you to post something on your blog :-)!

And all ye tagged souls, better do the tag. I have heard that not doing it will bring lots of bad luck. For e.g., Steve Medonotag of Wichita, KS did not do this tag and the next time he walked under a tree, a giant bird pooped on his head. Be warned :-P!

As for the untagged souls, you have escaped - this time. *menacing background music*

Accent

On Friday, my friend V and me were talking about an upcoming opera performance. V and his friends were planning to go for it and he had invited me to join them.V was verbally going over the list of people who would be coming. I was simultaneously looking up something on my computer and was paying only half attention. The conversation between us went something like this:

V: And oh, I really hope J is able to make it.

Me (paying minimal attention): Um..

V: He's a great guy.

Me (automatically): Really?

V: He's very funny, you know! He has an awesome sense of humor!

Me (again, automatically): Um ..cool!

V: He's British right, so...

Me (perking my ears immediately): British?? Did you say BRITISH?

V: Yup!

Me (with shining eyes): Does he speak with a British accent?

V: Oh yeah, he does! In fact...

Me (interrupting excitedly): Oh, I really, really hope J turns up! I simply love listening to guys who speak with a British accent *drool*!

Why do I find men speaking with British accents so attractive? I have no clue! All I can think of is one of the Dilbert comic strips which has a female character going something like "That guy is fat, bald and ugly. But he speaks with a British accent - I find him so attractive"! I can so totally identify with that.

In fact, I remember actually having listened to a fat, bald and old* guy speaking with a British accent and thinking blissfully about how good he sounded! Mercifully, frequent reality checks consisting of looking at him brought me back to my senses. I think I am not alone in this - I know of other females having the same affliction when listening to British-accented guys!

Anyways, V then told me that he had no idea why I was so crazy about men who speak with a British accent. Apparently, it had no effect on him whatsoever. Then he added, "But yeah, women speaking with a British accent sound so incredibly sexy. You know Liz Hurley - she sounds so super sexy *drool*".

I have never consciously observed Liz Hurley speak, so I could not comment upon that. But I thought a bit and added "You know what, guys speaking with a British accent sound good. Women with British accents simply sound snooty"! V, of course, did not concur. After some more argument, we just agreed to disagree and moved on to other topics.

Then, on Saturday, while I was hiking with another friend D, out of the blue, this topic about accents popped into my head and I decided to take a opinion poll. I asked D what he thought about British accents. D said "Ohhh, I just love it when women speak with British accents. They sound so sexy!". Then he added, "But guys with British accents simply sound obnoxious"! LOL :-D! So I guess it is all a matter of perception!

So, how many of you find British accents attractive? And does it matter whether it is a male or a female using it?

Sign off comic - this wasn't the Dilbert comic-strip I had in mind but this one is close enough :-)!

* I have nothing against fat/bald/old/ugly men. Its just that, no matter how good they are otherwise, they usually do not fall into the eye-candy/drool-at-first-sight category.

Lage Raho Munnabhai

I am just back from seeing Lage Raho Munna Bhai. Yup, I am seeing it for the first time after all the dust has almost settled down after its release. And the verdict? I love it, I love it, I love it :-D!

So, anyways, the very weekend the movie released, for whatever good reason, I wasn't very keen about watching it. Then something else came up. I was beginning to think that I would finally watch it on DVD (just like I watched Munnabhai M.B.B.S, which by the way, I loved too). But a friend who had already watched it loved it so much that he decided that he wanted to see it a second time. So he, me and another classmate from undergrad set off this evening from work.

After a quick but satisfying dinner, we quickly found seats in the theatre - we got good seats, it being a weekday evening and all. Everyone who had seen the movie so far had gushed to me about it. Including my parents, who, in a rare display of movie-watching-enterprise had seen it on the very first week of release (really, I think my parents are hipper than me). And they don't even like Sanjay Dutt usually. Hmm, there must be something to this movie!

Anyways, it always happens that when something is so hyped up, the end product finally is pretty disappointing (cases in point: Vettaiyadu Velaiyadu, SoK etc). So tried to not have very high expectations when the movie began.

The movie got off to a good start. It was fun. I laughed at quite a few places and was thoroughly enjoying myself. But even then, I felt that while it was a good movie, no doubt, it was not the great, 'I-am-going-ga-ga-over-it' kind.

And then interval happened. And my friend called up to tell me that a trip I have been very much looking forward to for more than three months now has to be unavoidably cancelled :-(! Boo hoo - I had been chirping about it to everyone even this noon :-(. Oh well, that is life :-(. Anyways, that dampened my spirits quite a bit. At that point I felt that transferring me to Disneyland with Santa Claus handing out free iPod accessories could have not done much to cheer me up.

Then the movie began post interval. Oh wow! It was simply awesome. It made me laugh and think at the same time. Maybe, just maybe, weird as it sounds, each of us can make a difference in this world by just being nice! I was rooting for Munna. Circuit had me in splits. Mahatma Gandhi had become hot and happening again. As the movie ended, I was in a considerably better mood. After all, is not life exactly how we choose to perceive it?

And then the second wonderful thing of the day happened. The theatre manager walked into the theatre and called out "Excuse me, excuse me" to get our attention. As we quietened down, he said, "We have Mr. Lucky with us." And there stood Boman Irani (who plays Lucky Singh in the movie) in our midst.

Ever since I saw Munnabhai M.B.B.S, this guy's awesome acting and comic timing has bowled me over! And here he was in person. We all gleefully shook hands with him and gave him a standing ovation! It was so unexpected that it felt like a dream - one moment we were watching Boman Irani on screen, and all of a sudden he was actually in the hall, talking to us! Woww :-D! Yeah, my day was made!

I tell ya, in a couple of hours, all this euphoria will be gone. And my feel good factor would have come back to normal and I will start grumbling about my cancelled trip in right earnest. But right now I am a happy ducky and I am going to enjoy it while it lasts. Sayanora folks!

From bud to bloom

About ten days ago, I wrote about my new "garden". Now I am proud to announce the appearance of the first flower under my care :-)! Hoping this is the first of a lot more blossoms to come!

Taking a tentative peek at the world

Still a cute baby

Testing the waters

Spreading wings further

In full glory!

These pictures were taken on five successive days. The flower is still in good health and along with the rest of my plants, provides my morning dose of joy and pride :-D. And yup, all those streaks of water are proof of my diligent daily watering (and you were just wondering why they are there in the picture*).

Go plants :-D!

*actually those streaks of water came in on the days I forgot to take the picture before I started watering - but really, you have to give me credit for coming up with such a valid excuse :-P.

Pentad

With today I complete exactly 5 years of stay in the USA. Five years! FIVE years!?! I can't believe its been that long. I still feel like it was just a little time ago that I landed as a wide-eyed, fresh-off-the-plane master's student. But, when I think back and look at how much I have changed (for better or worse) since that time, I feel like, maybe, just maybe it is possible that so long a time has really elapsed!

As I wrote last year, this whole going abroad to study was something which I never considered seriously till the time my GRE scores came out. Even then, me coming to Davis, California, to study was hanging in the balance for quite sometime as I debated whether to work and then study or study and then work. My parents had made it clear that they would back any decision I made 100% - no questions asked. So my decision was mainly upto me.

I finally chose to go to the USA to study. I still can't believe that my parents agreed to send me off to a country where the only relatives (two in number) I had were at least six hours away by flight from where I was to live!

A series of helpful people made the whole planning process easier. My close friend from undergrad, S, had moved to California and was staying with her sister M and family. M, who herself had been abroad since high school was warmly welcoming and emailed me detailed answers to even my dumbest doubts (I even had questions like whether it was okay to tie a clothes-line in the balcony :-D).

Due to a stroke of luck, I located my future apartment and room-mates in Davis from India itself. I plagued those future roomies (all were senior to me and had been in Davis for a year) too with tons of emails asking tons of questions - to which they replied with great patience (only later did they tell me how they were beginning to worry that they had chosen a pest as a future roommate - LOL :-D).

By the time end of August in 2001 rolled around, almost all my classmates starting their Master's program that year in the USA had already left for their respective destinations. Since University of California, Davis (UCD) has a quarter system, school started only in the last week of September for me. So September 9th, 2001 was set as my departure date.

By the time September 8th rolled around, all my shopping, packing and farewells were done. I was to leave by a very early morning flight on September 9th. So, late evening of September 8th, my immediate family as well as most of the members of my extended family had turned up at the airport. I guess there were about twenty people just to see me off. I would have enjoyed the party if not for the fact that I would be leaving it soon :-(.

As the time approached for me check in, I took one last mental photograph of everyone and waved one last goodbye before stepping into the airport. For company on the plane, I had two more guys, T and C (I had found them with the UCD graduate secretary's help) who were also going to UCD from Chennai. But I barely knew them and did not make much conversation. The long flight to San Francisco from Chennai had a stop-over at Singapore.

I guess I had the most difficult time on the stretch from Chennai to Singapore. Thoughts tumbled around my head as I questioned my decision. Oh, I would be so far from home! I would miss everyone so much. I did not know anyone at all in Davis. How was I going to manage? How would the new place be? Would I be able to make friends? Oh, maybe I should have just joined work instead. And so on. Waves of homesickness swept over me. I sat wide awake and miserable on the plane as passengers all around me snored.

Once we touched Singapore, we had a long break. In those days, airlines were still rich - so the Singapore Airlines had offered us free accommodation at a posh hotel for the duration of the stop-over. We took a prepaid taxi to the hotel. I was exhausted by that time and just nibbled at the food in hotel buffet (I couldn't identify most of the food stuff anyway). Then I had a nice shower and sank into the bed for some much needed sleep. Unfortunately T and C wanted to go around Singapore and so I was soon woken up by their knocks on my door.

We did not see much in Singapore though and soon it was time to head back to the airport. And then we were on the flight to San Francisco. On that flight, I was just beginning to convince myself that I might be able to cope well with all the changes when the captain announced that the flight would be landing in San Francisco in an hour. All at once, irrationally, I began to hope that the plane would make a u-turn and go back to Chennai! Landing would mean that the fact that I had left home for a new country would be established irrevocably.

Oh well, of course, the plane landed in SFO. T, C and me all cleared immigration and went through customs without any difficulty. And then I officially stepped into San Francisco, USA. Before I could orient myself to my new surroundings, I could see a figure waving excitedly at me. And my undergrad friend S ran under the rope cordon and enveloped me in a big bear hug, "Archu! Welcome to the USA!". S had said she would be at the airport to receive me - so I knew she would be there. Still, her exuberant reception and her genuine happiness at seeing me perked me up immediately and made me feel so good!

And then she got hold of my luggage cart and started maneuvering it towards the exit. As we walked, S added, "M and P are waiting for you". Sure enough, there stood S's sister M and M's husband P with huge welcoming smiles on their faces.

I was so touched, I could have cried. You see, M was about eight and a half months pregnant with her first baby at that time (she had a baby boy exactly 10 days after I landed). In spite of P and S urging her to stay at home, M had insisted that I would feel better if I saw a whole family waiting to receive me. And so they had all traveled the 30 mile distance from their house to the airport to meet my late night flight. It had not occurred to them that I was actually only S's friend and that I had never met P before and M had met me exactly twice before.

At that moment, I knew I would survive. No matter what was in store for me, as long as there were such kind people in the world, I would do fine. And, with a little more courage, I took a deep breath and got ready to start a new chapter in my life.

Sillunu Oru Kadhal

After Vettaiyadu Vellaiyadu, this movie was very eagerly anticipated by me. Why? Because Surya was acting in it, and as I mentioned earlier, most of the songs in the movie are good to listen to. So, even though the trailers did not seem very promising, I still wanted to go see it as soon as it got released. The D-day was yesterday. We went for the 11.15p late night show. That we decided to go a bit early to get tickets was a good decision. Even for a show that late, families with young kids in prams too had showed up and it was sold out by the time the movie started.

At the end of 3.5 hours, I wondered, why?

(Warning: Spoilers galore in review ahead.)

This movie takes the definition of boring to new heights. The first half of the movie solely, entirely, completely and definitely revolves around the fact that Surya and Jyothika make a lovey-dovey couple. And mind you, its not even one of those cutesy romances (like the kind in Alaipayuthey). Rather, its one of those annoying, "please grow up" kinds which makes you desperately long for a remote to press the "fast forward" button.

Anyways, S and J have a kid too. This kid will most probably have the distinction of mouthing the most irritating, grown-up dialogues of the year. And here I was, naively thinking that the days of precocious "Baby Shalini" like kids were long gone. And then, there is actress Sukanya in the movie - you wonder why though. I think she wanted to show off her new clothes with matching accessories to a wider audience. She was overdressed in most of the scenes (I have seen brides more simply made up at weddings). And then, there is Vadivelu who is supposed to inject some comedy into the movie. I just slightly showed my teeth for about two of the "jokes" I guess!

Net net, quite a few of the scenes in the first half are unnecessary and could have been easily trimmed off. But, wait a minute, then the first half would have then been ten minutes long! Anyways, by interval time, we were like, is there a story?

Post interval, Bhoomika makes an appearance in a flashback. She was apparently Surya's lover in college. There are a bunch "romantic" scenes here too. Again, it adds neither color nor excitement to the proceedings. Oh, I forgot to tell you, Jyothika reads about this broken romance in Surya's old diary (by the way, is not reading other people's diary without their permission a bad habit?But I digress)

When she finishes reading the diary, Jyothika then comes up with the brilliant idea that Surya should meet up with the ex-lover and spend a day alone with her. For what good joy is anyone's guess. Anyways, the other pair (Surya and Bhoomika) meet up by themselves and then Jyothika finally realizes (because Bhoomika says so in a letter) that Surya loves her (i.e. Jyothika) and her (again, Jyothika) alone. Yaaaaawn! The end.

Towards the end of the movie, all of us were fidgeting a lot, waiting for it to get over. But the mood was considerably lightened by the number of sarcastic audience comments which flew back and forth across the theatre. At some point I had almost stopped watching the movie and was instead closely following the comments and laughing! At the end of the movie, as the audience walked out, disappointment hung heavy in the air. Most people though, sighed with relief at having successfully finished enduring the neverending ordeal. Some people were even comparing it unfavorably with Kabhi Alvida Na Kehna (I think the director can contemplate suicide about now)!!! Anyways, that was that.

Oh, what about the songs, which attracted me in the first place? Most songs had okay picturization. The New York song, as expected, had lots of lovely shots of New York. Surya looked good in it. But why they had to insert a garishly made up Jyothika in clothes which looked like curtains/bedspreads also into the picturization is beyond me. Oh, and some of Bhoomika's salwar kameezes were really pretty (makes me want to buy tons of them). About the actors - Surya acted good. Bhoomika was okay other than the bits where she suddenly starts twittering like a mentally retarded child of three. Jyothika acted okay but she looked quite fat in a lot of scenes (its funny how her looks kept oscillating between good and terrible in turns). And as for the child artist - ugh, ugh, ugh!

Give this one a miss unless you are interested in learning how to get big actors, good music, good locations and yet churn out a pointless, boring movie.

Here a pot, there a pot

The main reason why I signed the lease for my current apartment almost as soon as I saw it was because of the long patio. Of course, the building being located in a pretty neighborhood at a convenient location helped - but the double patio, with the sunshine streaming in was what majorly completed the good impression.

In my mind, I immediately visualized the patio filled with lots of plants with pretty flowers. That there were two big obstacles to actually fulfilling this vision viz. - 1) My lease agreement specifically had a clause saying that the patio should have nothing on it including brooms, deck chairs and plants (Right! I paid rent for it too I thought) 2) My gardening experience is limited to watering the potted plants my mom has at home - did not deter me even for an instant. The first obstacle did not bother me - I could see my neighbors patios filled with all kinds of stuff. The second obstacle only served to challenge me.

Anyways, I moved in and the very next weekend went hunting for plants. I had chosen some pretty flowering shrubs (yeah, the kind they have in those small tubs in the store) and was all set to buy them. Which was when I read the instructions that those flowers had to be replanted in pots. Oh! I had thought that I just had to transport them to my house, keep them on the patio and start watering them. I never knew that transplanting was an in-between step. So I took a deep breath and decided to first buy the pots (yeah, I decided to stick with the transplanting idea because I thought that would be real gardening).

Ten months later, I was yet to buy those pots. While I enjoyed the abundant sunshine from the patio, it had nothing more than two blue-colored beach chairs on it. No plant, no flowers, nothing. Hmm, I thought that I really should buy those pots soon.

Finally, my procrastination got defeated from an unexpected quarters. My colleague at work, S, had some mud pots which she wanted to give away. I immediately perked up and volunteered to take them. Here, at along last, were my pots. Now I would feel compelled to use them. Yaay :-)!

Three weeks ago, those pots rattled away to glory in the boot of my car as I drove home (really, I need to be given an award for not forseeing the rattling. I swear, after I pulled out and drove away, at the very first signal, I almost got a heart attack when the pots banged against the sides of the boot as I slowed down!). Once home, I unloaded them onto the patio. I just had to get the plants and I would be all set.

This weekend, the grand event finally happened. I went to Orchard Supply Hardware (OSH) to get plants and soil. I have never been to OSH before and I looked like a villager in a candy store as I gaped at all the gardening related paraphernalia. I tried to not look too newbie-like and managed to pick out potting soil, gardening gloves as well as two "annual" plants. The only reason I picked out the annuals was because a) they were cheap b) if I was going to kill plants, I might as well start off with inexpensive ones.


Then it was back home. The very next morning was "gardening" day. I put the plants into different pots filled with potting soil. Then I realized that I did not have enough pots to plant all the saplings I had. I need to go and buy more pots now (and this time, I really hope I do it soon). Anyhow, this is what my plants look like at the end of it:
My plants are two days old now. And they are still alive. Yippeeee :-D! My patio has a lovely splash of color to it. The plants are already noticed and appreciated by visitors to my apartment :-). I am a happy person now!

I am just hoping that this happy status of affairs will continue and my dear plants won't die on me. I am hoping further that, maybe, they will at least shoot out a couple of flowers under my tender care. Amen to that!

To do or not to do!

Almost at the brink of the long weekend. Eeeeehaw :-D! For a change, I refused to succumb to any kind of peer pressure ("Oh, you are not doing anything for the long weekend" followed by a weird look) and have decided to sit at home for all three days. And I am actually looking forward to it :-D. A lot :-D!

However, I doubt there are other similar-thinking souls around. If you are one of them, here are some things you can do whenever you can spare time from eating and sleeping! I know all the reviews here are old news - if you missed on any of it, do it :-)!

Omkara: I watched the movie. I was not bowled over by it (I can never be bowled by movies which are depressing and this movie sure is depressing with almost all lead characters kicking their various buckets at the end). It is a very well made movie though. Watching the movie is upto you. However, do, do, do listen to the music! Every song in that movie is worthy of repeat listening. I become more obsessed with the music the more I listen to it. Now I am onto the "decipher the lyrics" stage for the non-item songs. I like the saccharine "jag ja re gudiya" song A LOT - you can almost hear the love in the song. The two jataaak songs have me tapping my foot involuntarily. All the slow songs have wonderful lyrics. Yes, I am in a state of musical bliss!

Sillunu oru kadhal: I think of late its been the duty of every self-respecting Tamil-music listening blogger to rave about the music of this movie :-). Like with all A R Rehman music, it took me a while to get used to and start liking the songs. However, the New York song is a winner from the word go! ARR has sung it awesomely well and every listening prompts me to listen to it once more. Most of the other songs are good too - but the New York song has warranted special repeat listenings all by itself.

Golmaal: This was a movie I went to with absolutely no expectations. Basically my friend K and I went for it since all the tickets for Omkara were sold out. And for a change, we got lucky (you should know that past "lets watch the movie just like that" movies included massive I-will-never-recover-from-it headaches like I Heart Huckabees and Joggers Park). This movie was good fun! It was absolutely logicless but the lead actors were having so much fun that it was impossible to not join in and laugh. Sometimes, even the not-so-funny jokes were elevated to higher levels by the spirited performances. Worth one watch for sure. Perfect for a rainy afternoon when you need some cheering up.

Pride and Prejudice: Nothing I say can ever express my appreciation for this book enough. I have read it many, many, many, many times now. I finished reading it yet another time just day before yesterday and it felt good. I read all the dialogues with greater concentration than before. Were Victorian people really able to come up with such gems on the spur of the moment? It is such a treat to read! I guess though that this book will appeal to female readers more.

Sloppy Firsts: Yup this is the book by Megan McCafferty which Kavya Vishwanthan famously "internalized" and which caused such a huge brouhaha in the literature world. This book is a "diary" by high school attending American teenager, Jessica. I must tell you, I cannot identify with most of the situations Jess faces. I might have gone to high school on an entirely different planet for the number of similarities I can see. Are high schools in India and the USA really so different? Nevertheless, it's interesting to take a peek into American high school life (the reviews tell me that the experiences American high schoolers face are more or less similar). Again, due to its very subject, this book will appeal to female readers a lot more.


Fried Green Tomatoes at Whistle-stop Cafe: I chanced upon this book by Fannie Flagg in the library. The library had a display of books made into movies and this was one of them. I picked it up on an impulse - I guess the whimsical title made me curious. And wow! Really, this is one of those awesome books which pull you right into the world it is set in. Everytime I closed the book I had to reorient myself as to my actual location. Again, wow! I simply loved reading the book.

I can write about many, many, many more things to do on a "sitting at home" day. But reading other people's lengthy blogs isn't one of them. So I shall stop now :-).

Again, eeeeehaw, its Friday :-D!