Friday, August 31, 2007

Serves you right

It used to amaze me how D used to serve me the right quantity always, and i never had to waste anything, unless of course, it happened tobe something i detested, like brinjal or lady's finger (yuck!!)
But i suddenly realised a few days back that it was more of a planning that i did in my head that made it right.. yeah, yeah, sometimes i am duh!! I also realised that it might reflect the way we treat life, and with that said, contrary to the blog policy (for once), here's a forward i got.. Its a bit long, but worth the read, me thinks..
until next time, i'm no: 4, what kind are you?

Monday, August 27, 2007

Ram Gopal Varma ka Onam

(All charcaters in this are a product of the author's imagination and any resemblance to anyone living/dead/missing is a product of the reader's imagination)

You might want to read the original story here or my earlier version .....
Bali ruled his land with a velvet fist, in an iron glove. Though his front was that of a businessman with dairy and bee farms, his money and power came from real estate, and not all of them were totally legal transactions. But he was a fair man, and so the people of the land loved him, inspite of the cruelty of his ancestors. In fact his reign was so good, and the land so prosperous, that they started calling it God's Own Country, where milk and honey flowed on the streets. There were critics who said that Bali was equating himself to God, but then, they were critics.
But a man was watching him closely - a man who ruled the neighbouring area, who went by the name of Devendra Gowda, a stark contrast to Bali, who needed absolutely no front for his devious land scams. Just so that no one interfered too much in his affairs, he was an active politician too. Devendra realised that Bali's lands were pure gold, and started thinking of ways to get it.He didnt want to have a direct confrontation with Bali, his previous experiences had taught him a lesson, so he gave Bali's supari to a common enemy - Vishnu, an encounter specialist.
Vishnu also had an interest in dairy farming, in fact quite a big interest. Legends had it that he had a mansion in the middle of a lake - a lake of milk. Also, Vishnu had had several encounters with Bali's forefathers and was responsible for their deaths, but he knew Bali was a good man and didnt want his reputation to be tarnished. So he disguised himself as a newcomer tapori, and with his trademark umbrella, quickly climbed the ranks.
Bali meanwhile, decided to have a party, complete with item number (Happy Rakhi... of course Rakhi would be happy to do it) to further his grandiose real estate plans. His khaas aadmi, a swamiji, forbade him from calling Vishnu, but Bali would have none of it. He was feeling so good about his plans that he publicly stated that he would give anyone any amount of land they asked for. And Vishnu chose that moment to walk in and demand 3 feet of land. Bali laughed, and agreed. Vishnu's first step was on Bali's chair. Despite counsel from his men, and inspite of penetrating Vishnu's disguise, Bali asked him to take the next two. Vishnu next stepped on the map which had Bali's expansion plans.With a smile, Vishnu told Bali that he had lost all his land, where would he keep his third step? Bali bowed his head, and to add insult to injury, Vishnu stepped on Bali's head.
And that triggered something in Bali. He decided to take a step himself - into the underworld, but with a chilling threat to Vishnu - 'Ek na ek din, main wapas aaunga.' And Bali's men, taking this to heart celebrate this day every year and sing (the remix version of) "Onam ke din dil khil jaate hain......."
Meanwhile, Bali was a hit in the underworld..for the first time, the underworld was organised in to one entity- the B Company.....
until next time, happy onam ;)

Thursday, August 23, 2007

Parental Outsourcing

Since our man has the annoying habit of deleting posts, i havent been able to yet locate his take on it, but i have read her take on it.
The subject in question is that the young parents of today outsource the job of parenting to their parents and treat them worse than housemaids... Now, i think a lot of grandparents love being with their grandchildren, perhaps for the simple reason that their children dont have the time anyway. Its an arrangement that works for everyone concerned. Does that make it right? no, but that doesnt make it wrong either.
We happen to be in a generation that is bearing the brunt of a drastic change in lifestyles and therefore mindsets. Being 30 year old parents is a bit like being between the proverbial devil and the deep blue sea - feeling guilty of not doing much for the parents and knowing that the chances of their kid looking after them are very slim...So perhaps it is a good thing to put the two stakeholders of their time together, and meanwhile working their butt off to ensure that they themselves have a good tomorrow.. now, can they be really blamed for trying to a get a bit of happiness out of today also... maybe not, because they are paying for it in their own way..
Meanwhile, taking a leaf out of the aforementioned annoying man's book ;), this sums it up
until next time, not just kidding

Monday, August 20, 2007

Freedom from Freedom

Inspite and perhaps because of the response to the last post.. Yes, maybe the easiest thing is to not take up the offers that are displayed with banality year after year, but perhaps i let an example become the theme.. The intended theme was not the offers but our callous attitude to the concept of freedom. Like i said, maybe the root of all this is that we were born free, and didnt have to experience second and third class citizenship in the land where we were born...
In an era in which even ads have to be contextual for them to garner any response, what hoped oes a concept like freedom have, especially when it has lost its relevance and definitely has no context. The only context is the one created by the offers. Yes, it is a function oftime, but only because the child that munched the sweets happily and celebrated the holiday on Freedom Day has a bit more understanding now. And precisely because most things are a function of time, maybe we should revisit the day and figure out whether we need a holiday on Aug 15th. Is it any different from a Sunday except for the kind of movies shown?
Perhaps the respect for freedom belongs elsewhere - in our day to day lives - by being more tolerant and compassionate and respecting each others' freedom a bit more, and most importantly, by becoming more mature in the use of personal freedom and stopping its abuse daily.Perhaps that will bring joy to those who fought, and died for the holiday.

until next time, freedom for a state... of mind...

Thursday, August 16, 2007

Oh, the irony of it all...

Once upon a time, the biggest significance of Aug 15th was that it was a holiday. And Gandhi and Roja have given way to Lage Raho Munnabhai and Rang De Basanti..
Makes me wonder, the relevance of this day has become worse than it being just a holiday. And the irony? To make a free country, they burned foreign cloth. In a free country, we burn money to buy international brands that give special discounts on I-Day... No, this is not tirade against MNCs (hey, i use them too) but maybe, we should make this a normal day and stop mocking the efforts of a generation long gone?

until next time, born free, perhaps thats the root..

Monday, August 13, 2007

The more things change...

the more they remain the same....

Gandhi was the man they followed then, we still do..



until next time, happy birthday India.

Thursday, August 09, 2007

To each his own...

The way to a man's heart is through his stomach. Just tell him its flat :D

Speaking of ways into men's hearts, saw an interesting comment here. When the interviewer asked SRK about the cold war between him and the bachchans, SRK said shabby (or should it be shaB? abhishek with that awful beard and dressing style should be called that) was with him till 4 am.. Now, is it that abhi finds ash cold or SRK hot or both? hmmm...

until next time, was that flat? ;)

Monday, August 06, 2007

Rooms with a view

The vacuum left behind by Heroes has been partally filled by the series that occupies the same time slot- Boston Legal. Also, it helps that i can bug D when they show the city shots with 'Do you know this place?', since she spent some time there recently..
And i love the night shots of the city, to be precise, the ones which show the high-rise apartments, not just in this particular show, but any city.. No, come to think of it, its only the American cities, not say, the London ones or even the local mumbai ones... strange, but thats okay...I've wondered about this fascination for high rise apartment night shots, and i am yet to get a complete answer from myself... but i have been able to get some insights...
in the shots, each of those tiny lights is a window into the life of a person/ family... each of those has a story to tell - some exciting, some mundane, some funny,some tragic.. but each a story nevertheless... and more importantly, it perfectly symbolifies a lot of lives - in a crowd, yet alone...

until next time, story of our lives.....

Thursday, August 02, 2007

Make it hot!!

She gripped it hard at first, rubbed it all over, then rolled it. Then she started shaking it vigorously.This was when his irritation just burst out. "If you’re doing it, do it properly, otherwise, I’ll do it and let you know when its ready.You're making it look as though you're doing it for my sake.”, he said sarcastically.
She didnt know what she was doing wrong, for already the effects of her work was showing. It was getting moist, a sureshot sign that it was responding to her touch. "ok, see if something is coming out", she said.
"No, nothing is coming out. This is becoming an everyday thing now. Next time, we'll buy that jar pack. Coconut oil bottles in winter are a pain!!

until next time, get a grip!!