What’s going on in my life

This is one of those “I feel extremely guilty for not updating my blog, AND I have tons of stuff I would like to talk about, but strangely, I want to pass it off with an extremely frivolous post” posts. However, don’t you dare exercise your choice to move on to someone else’s more interesting blog. I’m trying very hard to make this worth your while .

Ok, so let me get around to answering the question that the title poses: what’s up with me? (how much ever vain that sounds).

• For starters, I have just 6 more months of MBA to go. (*Does a hop, a skip and a triple somersault*). Yay! I’m almost close to the finishing line, and that means that 6 months down the lane, I shall
  • have Saturdays and Sundays when I can *actually* sleep in and not be dragged to the insti at 7.30 a.m.
  • stop feeling guilty of watching movies even though I still watch them by the bucketloads
  • have months and months of not having to worry about project submissions, upcoming deadlines, primary & secondary research, quiz scores, and reading up 30 page cases before class.

[If you aren't yet saying tch tch, and shaking your head, and sympathizing with me right now, I'm sending some really cold vibes your way.. *glares*]

• I’m off of Facebook for a while. Yeah, I do log in, but I’m not so keen on updating status messages and having lots of people *like* it, then having to explain myself, send messages to long lost friends, find long lost friends (heck, if I haven’t found them already after 4 yrs of orkut + FB, then they are not probably worth finding out), or find how many lost cows someone’s got on their farm, or how many cakes they’ve baked, or the result to “what kind of shoe are you” that they’ve posted on their profile. Yes, people are sending me mails saying “what happened to you? I no longer see your status messages. Are you ok?”, which I’m not responding to either. I don’t know; this is probably a phase of some kind, and I may get over it soon, and come back and post the rest of my life on FB for all and sundry out there to read. For now, I’ve freezed off though and I’m enjoying the sabbatical. Even if my school and college(s) and work and kindergarten and … whatever kind of friends, aunties, cousins, colleagues,  and other strange relationships think that I’m in a bad phase in my relationship and that’s why I’m not on FB .

• I’m on twitter much more regularly though. Infact, ooomz officially declared that I was afflicted with Tweet-diarrhoea! Which, if you don’t know about ooomz (who’s my mentor into twitter and one of the first from my circle to adopt twitter, fondle it and kiss it each day), is saying something. Also, given the fact that I’ve been on twitter since December 2006, and yet have just 1883 tweets as of today, to show for it. Which in twitterville means I’m still a baby (enfant terrible?). However, to show you just *what* the change in my twitter user persona has really meant, I’ll put in here a picture. My tweet stats (from tweetstats.com):

My Tweet Stats

As you can see, August, September have been months of frenzied updates and don’t you dare compare my one month’s graph to the past 4 *years*. Of course, you may ask why I’m suddenly so inspired to be on twitter? Well, for one, on my iPhone (*cough, cough*), I uploaded the Twitter app, and its just amazing. I love it. Better than Twitterific, and better than Tweetdeck. Infact, miles better.

The other reason why I’ve gone from verbal diarrhoea to blog diarrhoea to tweet diarrhoea – well, I think I’m in that slope towards maturity, in the lifecycle of growth of a twitter user. I’ve finally figured out what I must tweet about, how frequently I can tweet and who I should follow, and all those really technical, psychological stuff that entails being on twitter (don’t ask me to explain it – reams have been written on twitter behavioural analysis already). This particular enlightenment on my twitter persona deserves another bullet point, so here goes:

• If there was a quiz on FB that asked “what kind of twitter user are you”, and I would have taken it, then the answers would have been “The kind that
  • Talks about TV shows on Star World (Castle, Criminal Minds, Boston Legal, Desperate Housewives, Masterchef Australia… and you’re wondering why I do?)
  • Speculates about potential-blog-post-topics (but never ends up writing them)
  • Drools at men (sample this, this and this )
  • Drools ALSO at women and writes really complicated confusing hashtags in the process
  • Exposes her MBA-shortcomings, and yet posts supposedly-management-wisdom
  • Shows she’s a true-blue-mallu at heart with #MalayalamFilmDialogues, festival-updates, regularly drooling at God’s own country and doing what propelled her blog into stardom – Onam pookkalams.
  • Shows off her wierdities at night – staying up till 2 a.m. and drinking betel leaf wine for e.g.
  • Brings to the world her deeply philosophical inner wisdom
  • Uses her philosophical weaponry on her unsuspecting parents
  • Displays an incredible capability for self-deprecating humour
  • and finally, creates quotable quotes” . [dontcha love me by now ]

• Ok, so now that you know I’m this really great big phenomenon on Twitter, I switch tracks onto yet other happenings in my ultra-cool life. Do you know I write for S*P*A*M? Yeah, I do. I’m one of those really secretive characters masquerading behind an avatar and all, just so that no one can throw rotten tomatoes at me because they can’t FIND me in there (*evil laughter*). Ok, I’m kidding. Sorry. Actually, I am writing under an avatar but only because I found that a pretty cool concept (don’t ask me who I am though ). There are also other VERY smart and funny men and women behind SPAM, and I’m proud to be a part of such a fun group . Pls. grace us with your presence. We have two issues (August and September) under our belt, and the next one will be out in October. Read the articles, and comment away.

Alright. I think that I’ve now posted enough and more mundane details about my life and therefore, I can rest in peace. Sleep satisfied in the knowledge that my blog no longer looks deserted, and that I am STILL, despite the tweeting, and the non-fb-ing, and the mba-ing, and the spamming, a blogger.

Amen.

Beautiful Blogger!

An award comes with a lot of responsibility, doesn’t it?

Well several ages ago, Lazy Pineapple demonstrated her kindness of heart by giving me …*gasps*, …the

and weighed by her kindness, I thought I’d wait till I was able to do justice to the award – and finally, I’m able to do this NOW.

LP, I’m touched. Thank you very much!

Now, the best thing about this award is that it comes with a tag. And as you know, tags are just my favorite things , so here goes. Rules:

1) Thank the person who gave you the award.

2) Paste the award on your blog.

3) Link to the person who nominated you for the award.

4) Share 7 things you find to be beautiful around you.

5) Nominate 7 bloggers or more

Okay, so I’ve done 1, 2, 3. Now, for 4:

• Rain. Fresh, brilliant, pure drops of ecstasy. The rain experience is particularly exquisite in the balmy monsoons of Kerala (*sigh*..let me try not to remind myself that I’m missing that just now!).  Standing in the rain, absorbing the sensation on every pore of your body, letting it consume you…

• Nostalgia. For the last one month, I’ve added scores of 80s and 90s songs in my iPod. Searched high and low, and thought back to all those days when I studied with the radio or the walkman on and listened to songs playing in my dad’s car. Gone back to every composer I could think of, and searched wikipedia extensively for the songs that I couldn’t remember anymore. And then, once I had them all on the pod, every day, as I travel to and from office, I listen to them. Can anything beat nostalgia?

• Paris. What’s more beautiful than rain? Champs Elysees in the rain, that’s what! Paris, is the one city that I would want to go to again and again and again. There’s just something about the place… romantic, sensuous and mysterious. Three years ago, I had my experience of Paris in the rain and it is something I cannot forget. It drizzled lightly as I walked on Champs Elysees in the evening, and the breathtaking beauty was something I wish I could have captured in my camera, as well as the picture below. I remember, as I stood admiring the Notre Dame Cathedral from the outside, heavy sheets of rain came down abruptly, and I ran and took refuge next to a shop, only to realize I was standing next to a guy making french crepes. A little conversation in broken English later, I had him happily hand over warm, flaky, deliciously sweet crepes to me – and eat them, even as the warmth from his stove gave me comfort in the cold — talk about paradise!

• Reunions. A few days ago, I met friends from college. After 10 years! It was a spot reunion, blessed by the hand of the Facebook God, which has ensured that people like me who’re generally terrible at keeping in touch, can still get to see picture, hear and connect with the people who mattered in life. My friends and I – we’d last met as 20 year olds, confused about our future career choices, carping about exams, and remembering 3 years of graduation that zipped past us even as we, a gang of 6, had stayed by each other’s sides throughout. Over the years, most of us have married, a few have had kids, and we’re in the thick of our (high profile ) careers, careening past 30. But you know what? When we met, we just zoomed back in time to being the same 20 year olds. Nothing had changed. Not even the jokes, or the bitching about teachers . It was an hour of catching up and watching the way our faces had grown older but our hearts had stayed the same – and we all remembered how we’d fantasized 10 years ago about such a meeting. Hopefully, we don’t wait for 10 more years to meet . And meanwhile, this is something I’ll highly recommend to everyone!

• Companionship. Having someone in life, to share your silences with. To march alongside you, holding your hands, and just letting you feel one with the world. To sit beside you, watching a movie, and munching on biscuits late in the night. To wake up beside you and give you a cuddle. To offer a shoulder where you can wipe your face and the tears running on it. Companionship is one of the wonderful gifts of life and needn’t come with having that special person in your life. If you know that you can spend hours being yourself with someone (or something ) – then, well, let out a whoop of joy! You’ve got yourself a companion .

(P.S. The credit and copyright for the work of art above goes to the brilliantly talented Abhilash Menon. Find him and his work on India’s first portal that brings together Indian artists and showcases their incredible potential to the world – Dhonuk)

• Dance. The way two feet can break into a rhythm, and the hands then follow, moving about the body, getting it to sway in tune with the music. Waves created in the air, sparkling about the dancer’s body. Re-telling stories, transcending languages and cultures, dance has the power to bring time to a standstill and transport viewers into sheer bliss. And to tell you how, here’s a picture of one of my favorite dancers and one of the most beautiful women in India – Shobhana:

• Mothers. Today is my Mother’s birthday  - and she’s the first most beautiful thing I ever set my sights on. I love you mummy and Happy Birthday .

Alright, now for the last bit. It should have been 7 but I decided on 5  - tagging 5 beaaaautiful women – Judy, Andy, Dhanya, Sawani, and Anjali – I bestow this award to you!

Yay! I’m done!

Glimpses of a Delicious Life

The mobile phone camera is proving to be the best way to capture those fleeting moments of your life and store them away for posterity. This post is dedicated to bits from my life as seen through my iPhone’s eyes – and you probably need to just glance through them to realize how lip-smacking delicious a life I lead!!

My happy 30th! Celebrations courtesy my amazing sweetie-pie of a husband

The photo calendar (done at Printo,Blore) I gifted my parents this year - memories from the best years of our lives. The cover features the two wonderful human beings that made me.

The tastiest things in the world are stuff our mother makes, right? This particular item is a mallu dish called 'sughiyan'.

Philadelphia Cream Cheese Cake, and Baklava @ Sunnys, Bangalore. Absolute nirvana.

IIMB in the afternoons; Something about this place makes me all sentimental.

The verdant glory that is Kerala. Captured on a train journey. Prakruthi ramaneeyam aaya Keralam.

Some of the prettiest ladies appear in my friends notebook, all of which she sketches within 10 min, while in class!! :O

Recognize this place? *Jahanpanah, tussi great ho, tohfa kabool karo* . Took it at 8 p.m. whilst running back home after a study session

The outcome of the study session mentioned above - My brilliant (*smug* ) theories of innovation sketched out. I love white boards.

Apple Crumble and Vanilla Icecream at Toscanos. Nothing short of sensory paradise. *Floats in mid-air*

The splendour of autumn. A loner that captured my eye and my heart.

Iced Tea. Dont you just love the colors on this one?

A wonderful cosy corner at The Only Place, Bangalore

Warm, fluffy pancakes from yours truly. Yeah, I know you are dying to have a bite

The elixir of my life - tea. And this is the way I like it done - rich, hot and magnificently comforting

Haven’t you heard the saying “A picture is worth a thousand words”? For me, the above are probably worth a thousand lives on this earth! And so, I raise a toast to unbridled life, beautiful people and finding happiness in the smallest of things .

Pictures from my Onam Holiday

To compensate for my prolonged absence on my blog, I thought I’d share the pretty pictures from my recently concluded Onam vacation at home

In the first part of the trip, I went to the Thirumanthamkunnu Temple, about 3 km beyond Perinthalmanna, Malappuram Dist, Kerala, India.

The Thirumanthamkunnu temple’s main deity is Parvathi Devi (the wife of the Hindu Lord Shiva). Apart from Parvathi, the temple also has the idols of Lord Shiva, Ganesha, Nagaraja (Snake-God) and other deities. The first picture is what you see as you enter the temple premises (of course, please minus the lady in the pic ). The second picture is that of the sanctum sanctorum. As you enter inside you see the mandap of the Goddess Parvathi, and on her right, that of Lord Shiva (which has the Shiva lingam). The devi’s mandap has a lot of beautiful mural paintings on the wall and ceiling, which depict the story of the temple.

This was taken at the side of the temple – in the centre of the first picture, is the flag staff (a common sight in Kerala temples) coated with real gold.

The first picture is the wonderful view on the side of the temple… The temple is nestled, nestled at the feet of mountains, amidst lots of greenery. The second one is a view of the steps (created out of blocks of stone) leading to the temple – imposing eh?

After the visit to the temple, I went to my mum’s native place to celebrate Onam with my wonderful large family, replete with talkative uncles, homely ‘n loving aunts, impish, cute cousins, and of course, my wonderful granny. My mum’s native place is on the border of the Palakkad Dist, and it is a b-e-a-u-t-i-f-u-l place - I’ve often felt that it is a testimony to Kerala’s reputation as ”God’s own country”. I clicked some pictures enroute and here they are:

And now for the Onam sights…

The pictures above are of a common sight (known as Thrikkakarappan) during Onam – Keralite Hindus make these pyramids out of clay and line it with rice flour (mixed with water to make a liquid). Then these clay pyramids are adorned with flowers, placed in a strategic position at the front of the house. This is part of the welcome extended by the family to the Lord Mahabali (Maveli), who is commemorated during the Onam festival (Keralites believe that he visits each and every home during the festival) in Kerala, India.

Some more Onam sights to wrap this entry up… The picture on the top left is of the traditional Onam lunch -when the members of the family come together, wear new clothes and have the traditional Onam lunch on banana leaves. There are 10+ curries or so, along with atleast 2 varieties of sweet dishes, fried chips and other assortments prepared in the average Hindu malayalee household (the traditional number for the curries I’m told is 15 to 26), and the food is served on the leaf of the banana tree (plantain). Before the advent of the steel/plastic plates, everyone in Kerala ate on these leaves – now of course, the leaf is used mostly on festival days such as Onam/Vishu, and during traditional marriages.

The second picture (on the top right) is not a still from the film Rang De Basanti’s title song . I spotted this procession on the road on my way back home - there were these huge colorful flower-umbrella like creations which were being twirled to create a dancing effect. And in the midst of all the creations, was a Maaveli!! (i.e. a guy impersonating Lord Mahabali, who is commemorated by the Keralites during their festival Onam) – he was waving at me (sitting in the car trying to take his pic) and the rest of the public on the road, watching the procession. I could barely catch a glimpse of him in the picture as we were moving pretty fast and so unfortunately this is not clear… but I think the haze gives Maaveli a surreal effect, which is okay since he is anyway an imaginary character

The two pictures on the bottom are that of the pookkalam (flower design) – another Onam special. The pookkalam is generally done at the entrance of the house, to welcome the Lord Mahabali – in fact, Onam is celebrated over a period of 10 days, and the pookkalam is a regular on all the ten days – in the olden days, I’m told that children would go around the neighbourhood collecting flowers for the pookkalam, for the day. Now, many people buy the flowers required for the pookkalam. The picture on the bottom left is the tiny little (crude) pookkalam I’d made at my home – from some of the flowers pilfered from my mum’s garden. The one next to it is the elaborate version – but not one made by me. One enterprising department in my office had a pookkalam competition (where yours truly was a judge ). This was the pookkalam that won the first prize – as you can see, the design is just not any arbitrary one, but showcases a couple of other Kerala sights – a snake-boat with people rowing it, and the coconut tree. Beautiful, right?

Phew… that completes my photo post from my holiday, and the wonderful festival of Onam.