#RunnerForLife

On a cold windy morning of the 25^th of Dec, 2013, when I randomly decided to go for a short run, little did I realise that it would change my life, for good. Five years hence, multiple 10kms, few Half Marathons and two Full Marathons later, I can proudly say I’m a “RUNNER FOR LIFE!”

I started running primarily to lose weight that I had put on post the birth of my son. My workout and gym routine became irregular and I ended up piling on the kilos. Once things settled down, I wanted to do something different and decided to give running a try. Though the first few days were torturous where I unsuccessfully tried my hand at running, I’m proud of the fact that I didn’t give up. I have slowly and steadily progressed from doing 5kms to Full Marathons, something that I never even dreamt of when I started.

I finished my first Full Marathon on the 15^th of Jan, 2017, in Mumbai. Post that I didn’t have any running targets, took things easy and just meandered along (didn’t give up running though). That’s when I realised the need for a more focussed and methodical approach to running, one that would help me achieve my targets. That’s when I decided to join PaceMakers with a few running buddies of mine and rest, as they say, is history!

It took me time to get used to Pani sir’s approach to running, his training schedule and was fretting about the targets that he set for me. However gradually the result of all the gruelling training sessions started showing up in the events that I participated in. More than the personal best timings that I constantly clocked, the training has helped me become a strong runner and made me aware of my capabilities, which I didn’t know existed until I joined the group. Running with a group always makes a difference and I realised that when I started training with the other members of the group. Their motivation, zeal, enthusiasm and constant drive to excel rubs off automatically and you end up giving your best all the time. It has been a fabulous 6 months with the PaceMakers group so far and I hope to go long & strong with them!

What started off as an activity to lose weight has become a passion, something that I hope to continue for the rest of my life. It provides a ‘ME’ time, wherein I interact, introspect and put things in perspective. There’s a famous quote that I can think of now – “If you don’t get solutions to your problems during your long run, you never will!” and I absolutely believe that. They say runners are crazy and I’m more than happy to be one!

My First Half Marathon

Dec 25, 2013 - A day I consider a very auspicious one. That's the day I started running! I could barely run 100 metres then but I made a start and haven't looked back since. Lighter by almost 7 kgs and post numerous runs, I am sure my body says 'thank you'. And as Mark Twain said, 'the secret of getting ahead is getting started' and am happy that I made a start and didn't give up!

After doing quite a few 10K runs, I decided it was time to upgrade and signed up for my first half marathon (for those who aren't aware, it's 21.1 kms). It was on the 21st of September, 2014 at the Kaveri Trail Marathon (KTM), Srirangapatna, considered one of the toughest trails in India. It's a beautiful trail along the river Kaveri dotted with vast green fields and amazing countryside. It's considered one of the toughest primarily because of the heat & humidity on the trail and the toll it takes on the runners. 

The following is a brief account of what was going on in my mind during that 2 hours & 26 minutes:

5th km - "This is like a walk in the park!"

10th km - "So far so good, I'm going to rock it!"

15th km - "Getting a bit tough but I think I'll manage"

18th km - "I could have slept couple of hours extra this morning"

20th km - "This is my last run".

21.1 km (just after crossing the finish line) - "I need to train a little better for my next run".

The satisfaction after completion is something that I cannot describe in words! Having completed this wonderful run, I am now looking forward to my next half marathon which is a little less than a month away!

That's the magic of running, you get addicted to it! Bring it on!

First Year of Fatherhood

“May 23, 2012 – The D-day

4.30am – Up early

5.30am – Leave home

6.05am – At Cloudnine Jayanagar

6.15am – Preparations begin; anxious moments for us

7.02:50am – Mushki is here; a boy!!!

2.15pm – Mushki adjusting to our world; fun watching him

5.00pm – No one wants to leave him and go; right from grandparents to aunties to uncles

10.00pm – An unforgettable day comes to an end. I go to bed with Mushki close to me, need to keep an eye on him. A feeling of bliss envelopes me”!

The above is etched not just in my diary but in my mind as well. It has been one year since Mushki (as we call him) came into our lives. Boy, what a year it has been!

As I pen down my thoughts on the year gone by, lots of memories, thoughts and sights of Mushki flash across in front of me. Be it the day he was born, the first time we got him home, his naming ceremony, the first time he smiled, the first time he crawled, the first time he stood up, the first few steps that he took and so on. It has been a wonderful roller-coaster ride and I definitely can’t imagine how our world would have been without him in this last one year!

And how has his arrival changed my life? Let’s see…

I can’t express how I feel when he comes crawling towards me with a big smile on his face when am home in the evening after a hectic day at work; I can’t express how I feel when he puts his head on my shoulder & dozes away when he’s sleepy; I can’t express how I feel seeing him splash water all over the place when I give him a bath; I can’t express how I feel when I see him take a few duck-steps as he tries his hand at walking independently. I can probably go on and on and on.

Well, well, I know not everything is perfect though. To continue from where I left off, I can’t express how I feel when he doesn’t listen to me and proceeds to accomplish the mischief that he sets out to do; I can’t express how I feel when he gets really cranky and keeps crying; I can’t express how I feel when he spits out food when I am feeding him; I can't express how I feel when he jumps on the laptop everytime I take it out.

But at the end of the day, there is no better stress-buster than him and I look forward to spending as much time as possible during weekday evenings and the weekend with him. He brings a smile on our face like no one else can.

And finally to all those who are yet to become parents, I would like to quote a cliché, “you’ll know when you become a parent!”

Happy Fifth Birthday!!

OOOOOOOOOOFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF… OOOOOOOFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF….

That’s the CPR my blog badly needs. My first post after a whopping 258 days!!! That shows how busy or rather, how lazy I have been!

Not too sure what has kept me away from my blog for such a long time but then I hope I would be regular going forward.

Anyways, my blog celebrated it’s fifth birthday on the 14th of Sep and I incidentally turned 31 the same day. And like I have been telling everyone, it’s no longer a “happy” birthday; it’s just another birthday!

This time around I got a Nexus One phone (thanks to the wifey & dad) and also got myself inked (see photo).

More posts to follow. Hopefully!!!

Holmes, Reinvented!

One of the very few things, or rather the only thing that can be done for entertainment in this boring little city of Stamford is watching movies (that's what I realized from my stay here so far) and that's precisely what a colleague and me did during the first weekend of mine here.

A home-theater kind of an environment (96-seater auditorium), a screen which was slightly bigger than the one at home, a handful of people and we were all set to watch SHERLOCK HOLMES. We were welcomed into the auditorium with some dirty looks from a teenaged couple, seated right at the back (you know for what!), to ensure that we didn't plonk ourselves right next to them. Thankfully, we were intelligent enough to understand that and made ourselves comfortable right in the middle of the auditorium and also ensured that we didn't turn around to look at them till the end. We got to watch trailers of almost 10 new releases before the movie began; probably they were waiting for a few more people to come in at the last moment but that wasn't to happen.

The movie, directed by Guy Ritchie (more popularly, the ex-husband of Madonna), is basically Sherlock Holmes reinvented which might actually make Sir Arthur Conan Doyle turn in his grave and definitely will not go down well with the purists but what the heck, it is damn entertaining!!! With his reckless attitude, he may not be the refined Holmes of Doyle's conjuring, but this feisty re-imagining or rather, re-imaging is impressive I must say. He is no suave (a la James Bond) but definitely a man of action; does some bone-crunching and gets his hand dirty, literally. He has a rough energy; is clumsy to the core but his intellectual prowess, observation powers, deductive reasoning and forensic skills are very much intact. And he still is Doyle's super-sleuth, a brainy and more importantly, a brawny Sherlock Holmes!!!

Robert Downey Jr. in the title role is a delight to watch. His mannerisms and body language suit the role to the T and re-establishes the fact that he is one of the best in the business. Jude Law, as Dr. Watson, is a perfect match to Downey and the crackling chemistry between them is definitely the highlight of the movie!!!

And with the ending hinting at the arrival of Holmes' arch-rival Prof. Moriarty, the sequel should be worth waiting for.

Elementary, my dear Watson!!!

My first trip to the US of A

Jan 15, 2010 – 6pm (Bangalore): Left home to take the Jet Airways 10.40pm flight (9W466) to Chennai, with the moist-eyed Sappu seeing me off. The food articles I was carrying were heavier than my clothes and occupied most of the space in my baggage. I had lots of khakras, maggi noodles, biscuits, some snack items like bhujia, moong dal, puris/nippats, pickle and some powders to be mixed with rice. Not too sure if I was going for a picnic or an official trip!!

Jan 15, 2010 – 11pm (Chennai): Reached Chennai in approx half hour. It took me an hour to reach the Bangalore airport from home and another one hour for all the other formalities (boarding card, security check etc). A sandwich and a brownie for dinner in the flight at 11.15pm; I never say no to food be it any time of the day!!!

Jan 15, 2010 – 11.15pm (Chennai): In queue for the Immigration formalities. I had approx 100 people in front of me (guess entire Chennai was headed to the US!!); no proper queue; total mess and chaos reigned supreme.

Jan 16, 2010 – 12.15am (Chennai): Somehow managed to wade through the sea of humanity to finish the immigration stuff and then it was time to fight away sleep and wait for the flight which was scheduled to depart at 1.35am!!

Jan 16, 2010 – 1.35am (Chennai): Departure of Jet Airways flight 9W226 to New York via Brussels. A quick call to Sappu (who was still awake) to confirm that I was on the right flight (she was scared that I might get lost and take a wrong flight to Nigeria!!!).

Jan 16, 2010 – 2am (Chennai): We were welcomed onboard with a towel dipped in cold water (not too sure what it’s called) and a welcome drink - a canned bottle of lemon juice. And then it was time for dinner, or was it breakfast? Whatever, it was food and I had to eat. Rice with some subzi, a bowl of curds and a dessert (a vanilla cake with chocolate topping I think). And forgot to mention, we were offered alcohol as well and I had 2 large vodkas with sprite (Sappu would be proud of me!!!).

Jan 16, 2010 – 2.30am (Chennai): After dinner, the lights were switched off and it was time for a nap. However, the inflight entertainment had so many options that I considered skipping sleep and watching all the movies (there were the English ones like Informant, Inglourious Bastards apart from some classics; hindi included Wanted, Kaminey, Love Aaj Kal, apart from lots of others); approx 50 odd movies that I could choose from!!! But wiseness prevailed and I decided to go to sleep!!

Jan 16, 2010 – 6am (god knows where): The lights were switched on and we were given hot towels this time and a fruit juice to get us ready for breakfast (when will you wake me up like that Sappu?). It was time for breakfast (croissant, fruits, dosa with chutney and tea). I quickly freshened up and came back to ensure that I don’t miss it!! After breakfast, decided to watch Quentin Tarantino’s Inglourious Bastards. 10 minutes into the movie and I decided to switch to a hindi one primarily because it did not have subtitles. I watched Kaminey for the second time. I didn’t need subtitles because it was in hindi!!

Jan 16, 2010 - 8am (Brussels): After completing 10 hours in the air (my longest ever), I reached Brussels. And just when the plane was landing, the guy sitting next to me decided to throw up (not on me, thank god!!). He used up the vomit bags of almost all the other passengers and I was scared that the crew would run out of stock. Thankfully, he was finished with the ordeal before we got off the plane. It was 2 deg C and freezing like hell in Brussels. But the most painful part was the security check that we had to undergo at the Brussels airport.

Jan 16, 2010 – 9.30am (Brussels): After almost an hour and a half in the queue, I felt Chennai was better. We had to remove our jackets, shoes, belts (thankfully not trousers)!! The security officer who was checking me tried to locate the non-existent explosives / bombs and almost got his hand close to my private parts (unfortunately it was a guy). Once he was convinced that I was clean, I was let go to catch my connecting flight to New York!!

Jan 16, 2010 – 10.10am (Brussels): Now it was time for the second leg of my journey, from Brussels to New York. And to my horror, the ‘vomit-man’ was sitting next to me again. I began my prayers!! It was time for welcoming us onboard again with hot towels this time and lemon juice. I was anxiously waiting to see what I would be given for breakfast or was it lunch? Whatever. Unfortunately, no food came and I thought of reading this time around instead of watching a movie. I picked up Chetan Bhagat’s latest and continued from where I left.

Jan 16, 2010 – 12pm (not too sure where): It was time for lunch and we were served one chapathi, malai kofta, peas subzi, fried rice and curds. I was tempted to tell my neighbour to refrain from having food but couldn’t muster up courage (even he had paid for the tickets, I couldn’t ask him to skip food!!). We were served alcohol as well but I wasn’t too keen because the vodka that I had a few hours back would last me a month. And oh yes, I watched Salman Khan’s “Wanted” (one of the biggest blockbusters of 2009) to keep me company while having food! He still cannot act for nuts even after being in the industry for such a long time!!! And it was time for another movie after I was done with ‘never’ Wanted. I ended up watching a movie called ‘Frantic’ starring Harrison Ford. Now you might think why I watched this English movie without subtitles. The reason is that all Harrison Ford movies have similar plots (his family is kidnapped and he sets out in their search; think Firewall, Air Force One, Patriot Games and so on & so forth). And fyi, in this movie it’s his wife who is kidnapped!!!

Jan 16, 2010 – 11pm (closer to NY): A chocostick ice-cream at the fag end of the flight to ensure a sweet ending to our journey. How I love ice creams!!! I noticed that my neighbour didn’t take the ice cream and wanted to ask him if I could take it on his behalf. But I suddenly remembered what happened just before the flight landed in Brussels and kept my mouth shut!!

Jan 16, 2010 – 12.40pm (New York): Landed at the JFK International Airport in New York, safe and sound. Once again, gave a quick call to Sappu to confirm that I had indeed landed in US!!

2 States - The story of my marriage as well!!

Just happened to read the latest Chetan Bhagat bestseller. This is supposedly his best work till date and that’s what I feel as well. Five Point Someone was a good start and was followed by One Night @ The Call Centre which was quite fine (not in the league of his first one though). I haven’t read Three Mistakes Of My Life as it neither excited me nor did it get good reviews. In line with the tradition of his novels beginning with a numeric, the current one is titled 2 States – The Story Of My Marriage and is a sequel to his first novel.

It is the story about a couple coming from two different states of India, who face hardships in convincing their parents and persuading them to get married. The novel is a fiction, but is said to be inspired from the real story of Chetan and his wife who are from Delhi and Tamil Nadu, respectively.

To begin with, I expected the novel to reflect a bit of my personal life which it obviously did and I wasn’t disappointed. Am sure those who have had intercaste / interstate marriages would definitely be able to relate to most of the events / circumstances depicted in the novel. Most of them seem true and believable and obviously, some part is fictional. It’s definitely not a literary classic and am sure Chetan himself wouldn’t term it that way. It is predictable with a wafer thin story of boy meeting girl, overcoming all obstacles and finally getting married (a la our movies) but the narration is what makes all the difference. And more importantly, you are able to connect with it.

Sapna was the first one to finish the novel and I remember how she laughed her heart out when Chetan describes Tamilians (Tamil Brahmins to be precise); their appearance (not all of them are dark, look at me Sapna!), food habits (probably all of them like curd rice, yours truly included), mannerisms etc etc. She definitely enjoyed reading the novel and had a nice time at the cost of my TamBrahm community! Well, some of the detailing were a bit over-the-top and exaggerated I should say but that’s what you probably call “artistic license”!

I, for my part, thoroughly enjoyed reading the description of “Punjabi families”; their loud talking ways, their food habits (paneer, ghee, butter!!) et al. However, I would definitely say that Marwaris (that’s what Sapna is) are probably a sober lot (their “sweet” eating habits notwithstanding!) compared to the Punjabis. I definitely wouldn’t forget my first trip to Rajasthan post-wedding where I was given a Kingly treatment by all her relatives; they literally fell over each other to make sure that the ‘kunwar-sa’ was taken care of well. Since I wasn’t used to such a kind of treatment, it was a little embarrassing initially. But then, am used to it nowadays and have started enjoying it as well.

Another ritual that literally gives me nightmares even now is ‘touching the feet’ of the elders. Not that I don’t want to do it but then it’s quite difficult to figure out whose feet I should be touching and whose not. I remember an instance in Rajasthan wherein there was an elderly lady (Sapna’s relative) who came up to me and I touched her feet. She moved away and I thought probably she doesn’t quite like me and so, didn’t want to bless me. But then to my shock I got to know that she was Sapna’s niece (and so theoretically I shouldn’t have touched her feet though she was older). Phew!!

One thing that Sapna keeps complaining about is that even after 3 years of marriage, I still find it difficult to figure out the names of her relatives and how exactly they are related to her. I just have a handful of relatives and Sapna has done a pretty good job of knowing who is who but the same is not the case with me. I just hope I figure this out by our 25th wedding anniversary!!!

We didn’t have to struggle as much as the couple in the novel to convince our parents for our marriage (touch wood). That was because not just Sapna but my in-laws were also floored by my charm and agreed instantly to me becoming their son-in-law (Sapna wouldn’t agree though!!).

But what I really liked about the novel were certain simple yet subtle points which the author makes; like when he says that South Indians can be great no. 2 people in an organization but are found wanting when it comes to taking up the no. 1 job; that he hopes that such intercaste / interstate marriages would help in uniting India (now you know the reason for me marrying Sapna!!!).

A nice breezy read is what I would say. Pick it up when you don’t feel like reading some heavy duty stuff!!!

Lagaan

My blog resembles a movie review site nowadays!!!

Anyways, now on to another one of my favorite movies - LAGAAN. Ended up watching this sometime last week (have lost count of the number of times I have seen this). “Nothing is Impossible” should have been the tagline of the movie instead of “Once Upon A Time In India”. A wonderful movie which celebrates the “triumph of the underdog” like no other movie does.

One of the best kept secrets about the movie till the time of its release was that it was about cricket. Though it was common knowledge that it was a period film, set in the pre-Independence era, everyone assumed that the movie would be about the Indian freedom struggle. And with a title like Lagaan (tax), you would be excused for assuming that. Though the poster of the movie showed 11 guys standing next to each other, who would have guessed that cricket was its backdrop? Not me for sure!!

Once the movie released, it took this cricket-crazy nation by surprise & awe and went on to become one of the biggest grossers of all time and received an Oscar nomination as well. With a running time of 224 mins, many might not have the patience to sit through this. But definitely not me. I still enjoy everytime I get to watch this! I wouldn’t call this a “sports” movie but a typical bollywood fare with the right mixture of drama, music, emotions, thrills etc etc.

Wonderful performances from Aamir Khan & team (including the Brit actors), neat screenplay, amazing music by AR Rehman, nice choreography and above all, excellent direction by Ashutosh Gowariker puts Lagaan on the “bollywood-movies-not-to-be-missed” list.

It was called the “perfect” hindi movie when it was released. Not too sure about that but then I just love watching it everytime it’s on TV!!


PS – You can look up imdb.com or wikipedia for more info on the movie.

Shawshank Redemption

I watched this movie for the fourth time probably last Sunday and how much I loved it yet again!!! Another movie I would never ever get bored of and definitely, one of my all time favorites. A simple yet wonderful story about HOPE!!!

HOPE – One word that drives all of us and gives us reason to live. We push ourselves through our mundane lives in the hope of achieving / finding something that we dream of. In the words of this movie’s protagonist – “hope is a good thing, maybe the best of things, and no good thing ever dies”!!!

Superlative performances by Tim Robbins and Morgan Freeman.

A must watch if you haven’t!!!

The God of Cricket

The Little Master
The Master Blaster
The Run-machine
Bradman of modern era
Grandpa of Indian cricket

And the list goes on!!!

There is nothing new that I can write about this man. The man who has been a constant & consistent reason for joy for millions of Indians over the last 20 years, the man who probably has all the batting records under his belt, the man who is a treat to watch when on song, the man who silences his critics whenever they point fingers at him, the man known as the GOD of CRICKET!!!

20 years and still going strong!!! Lara (test average proves) may have been better and Ponting may break his records (test cricket atleast), but either way, without a shadow of doubt, the greatest icon to have ever played the game and a demigod indeed in an absolutely cricket crazy nation!!!

SACHIN TENDULKAR!!!

A Sober Birthday

30 years ago, on the 14th of Sep 1979, a tiny one weighing 3kgs was born in a government hospital in a small town called Lalgudi in Trichy district of Tamil Nadu. This kid spent the next eight years of his life in Delhi and eventually settled down in Bangalore in the year 1987.........

What next? You can catch the rest of the story when I release my autobiography!

Well, the birthday celebration this year was a very simple and sober affair. I had taken a day off to spend time at home. Sappu cooked some of my favourite dishes including onion sambhar, aloo curry and a special dal payasam to celebrate the occasion. And after the sumptuous feast, it was time for a nice afternoon nap. Evening time was spent shopping and then eating dosas at parents place. And just when I thought it was all over, there landed Mamta & Mithun with a yummy cake (at 11pm). It was time for some wine & cake to round off what was a simple yet special day!

Thanks a lot to all the people who messaged & called in to wish me and thanks to Sappu for keeping it simple.

PS – My blog also celebrated its fourth birthday and I hope there are many more to follow!!!

Why God?!! Why me???

That's what Joey says on his 30th birthday!!!

And no prizes for guessing why I came up with that now. Well... am spending the last few hours in my twenties as I pen this down :-(

And does it feel different to be 30? I shall answer that tomorrow!!!

Why God?!! Why?!! We had a deal!! Let the others grow old! Not me!!

OUR First Car :-)

And there it is. Our first car!!! The one I bought last sat (Aug 8th). An electric-red Hyundai Getz. Do we love the colour or what??? A BRIGHT contrast in comparison to the earlier one. Sappu always wanted Getz to be her first car and here it is.

Just for you!!!

My First Car!!

There it is. My first car!!! The one I bought in 2005. A forest green Hyundai Santro Xing. It was a pre-owned one but still my first and I absolutely loved it!!! A lot of wonderful memories are attached with it.

Anyways, it was time to part with it and I sold it last Saturday (Aug 8th) with a heavy heart... a very very heavy heart :-)

Miss you!!!

Boyz Meet!!!

Aug 2nd (Sun) - It was THE night, the big night, the night of reckoning, the night that all of us were waiting for with bated breath. That was the hot topic of discussion and our conversations revolved around that. It was the night when Rakhi Sawant was going to choose her life partner!!!

Oops!!! Just got carried away...

I was to blog about the BOYZ get-together that happened on the 2nd. It was one of those ‘once in a blue-moon’ kind of occasions when all the six of us (of course with our spouses) made it to PJ’s house for a wine + dinner get-together. GP & Nanz were the first ones to make it followed by yours truly and Sappu. Then it was our ‘Gym’ Corbett man, Chiins, followed by Shaatz & Dia. Barry & Ranji were the chief guests for the evening (they were the last ones to arrive!!!). Of course, the centre of attraction and the cynosure of all eyes was obviously our little Changu who posed tirelessly with all of us while Chiins was busy clicking away with his new camera!!!

Our discussions involved the usual stuff - Chiins and his wedding / car buying plans, Changu’s activities, current job scenario, our next trip, the latest kannada movies, reality shows, our favourite topic of real estate and of course, Rakhi Sawant and her antics!!! While Sappu and me were found wanting when it came to Rakhi Sawant's reality show discussion, GP seemed to be in full form and totally updated much to our astonishment!!! All this while Changu kept Rachu busy most of the time with his on & off naps & cries.

And last but not the least, thanks to PJ for the wonderful wine that we had and thanks to Rachu (or should I say Shanti Sagar!!!) for the tasty pav bhajis & the ‘rockstar’ biriyani!!!

And finally hoping we have such get-togethers more often.

Ciao for now.


PS – More on our Singapore / Malaysia trip in my next post.

RIP MJ

I know it has been a little late in coming but here it is nevertheless. A tribute to one of the greatest showmen of our times, the King of Pop (and controversies as well), Michael Jackson!!!

Lots has been said and written about this legend that I might not have anything new but then am sure all of us carry those wonderful sweet memories of him. I can vividly recall the moment wherein I would try a ‘moonwalk’ a la MJ or his signature 'Aaaooohh' after watching one of his videos on TV. Pretty nostalgic stuff!!

The only album of his that I ever possessed was ‘BAD’. Remember dad just randomly picking up the cassette when it was released. And I literally went bonkers listening to the songs. And I should admit that it was BAD that got me listening to pop music. Not that am a big fan of English music now but then whatever interest I have currently is thanks to him and his music.

Watching some of his earlier concerts being aired on History channel today made me realize that the world has definitely lost a great performer and a showman. And I haven’t really seen people shouting, crying and even fainting during a performance (probably am ignorant but am happy that way)..

And well, about the controversies, let’s keep it aside.

Adieu MJ. Peace of mind was probably one thing which you didn’t quite get during the last few years of your life and now I pray for your soul to rest in peace…

Your music will always live forever!!!


PS - Sappu was surprised after reading this and asked me to moonwalk. Well, I almost got my feet entangled and fell off!!!


Image Courtesy - Google Images

Birthday Fortnight!!!

The birthday fortnight is finally over (phew - sigh of relief!!!)...

It all starts with mom's birthday (May 27), then dad's (Jun 1), then Sappu's (Jun 8), Gai's (Jun 11) and finally ends with mom-in-law's (Jun 12)...

All your sympathies accepted... Thanks!!!

Fedex it is... Finally...

“Kitni shiddat se tumhe paane ki koshish ki hai… Ki har zarre ne mujhe tumse milane ki saazish ki hai…
Kehte hain agar kisi cheez ko dil se chaho, to saari kayanath tumhe usse milane ki koshish me lag jaati hai...
Aaj aap sabne milke mujhe meri chahat se milaya… Thank you very much... and I feel like I am the King of the World!!!”

These probably would have been the words used by Federer when he held aloft the French Open cup today!!! And yeah, those who didn’t quite understand the dialogues (from the movie Om Shanti Om), the following is the gist:

“If you have the willpower within you, if you have a really strong desire to achieve something, then the entire universe comes together to help you in obtaining that desire.”

And how does this fit into our today’s discussion??? Well… am sure we are aware of Federer’s “will power” and his “strong desire” to win the French Open… And when we talk about the “entire universe” coming together, it basically refers to Kohlschreibaer, Gonzalez and the losing finalist Soderling who defeated Djokovic, Murray and King Nadal respectively to ensure that it was a smooth sail for Fedex...

Fedex produced a near flawless display today to defeat Soderling (10th time in a row!!!) in straight sets and in the process picked up his first French Open title!!! And hats off to Soderling who took the defeat in his stride and accepted that Federer thoroughly deserved the cup…

14 Grand Slam Titles (equaling Sampras’ record) and only the 6th man ever to win all the four grand slams, Fedex is definitely right up there as one of the best ever…

And the tears rolling down his cheeks when the Swiss National Anthem was being played was a sight to behold!!!

Bon Jour!!!


Image courtesy - IBNLIVE.COM (REUTERS)

PM's Team (Cont'd)...

The PM seems to have read my earlier blog (PM’s team – May 22) and seems to have inducted the people whom I had mentioned – Shashi Tharoor, Jyotiraditya Scindia, Sachin Pilot, Dayanidhi Maran to name a few.

There are 33 Cabinet Ministers and 45 Ministers of State (MOS), decided after 4 days of intense negotiations / bargaining. The 78-strong (very very strong!!!) Council of Ministers includes 59 from Congress and 19 from five allies: 7 each from DMK and Trinamool Congress, 3 from Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) and 1 each from Muslim League and National Conference (NC).

Former Maharashtra CM Vilasrao Deshmukh (of “Terror Tourism” fame post Mumbai blasts) also finds a place in the cabinet as also does the old war-horse, Farooq Abdullah (NC Leader, J&K).

4 ministers from Karnataka find a place in the council (Cabinet - SM Krishna, Mallikarjun Kharge, Veerappa Moily and MOS – Muniyappa). This is touted as Congress’ attempt to strengthen the party in Karnataka (after the trouncing it received in Assembly and LS polls). I think this is more of Caste Politics since all these 4 guys represent different castes and is an obvious attempt to woo the respective voters!!!

The grand old man has managed to get 7 DMK ministers in the council (3 cabinet berths - Dayanidhi Maran, A Raja, MK Azhagiri) and 4 MOS. Talk about Regionalism in politics!!! Sadly his daughter missed out on a ministerial berth (she apparently decided “to opt out” from the cabinet and made way for her brother and cousin). Sacrifice at its best!!!

The average age of the PM’s team is pegged at 57 years with the oldest member being SM Krishna (77 years) and the youngest one being Agatha Sangma, daughter of PA Sangma (27 years).

All that matters finally is the performance and let’s hope with a stable govt and a decent team by his side, the PM is able to give us all something that we have been hoping for a long time – GOOD GOVERNANCE!!!


FYI (Sappu wanted to know!) - Difference between Cabinet Minister, MOS and MOS (Independent Charge):
Union Cabinet Minister – Senior minister in-charge of a ministry. A Cabinet minister may also hold additional charges of other Ministries, where no other Cabinet minister is appointed.
Minister of State (MOS) - Junior minister with an overseeing Cabinet Minister, usually tasked with a specific responsibility in that ministry. For instance, an MOS in the Finance Ministry may only handle Taxation.
Minister of State (Independent Charge) - With no overseeing Union Cabinet Minister for that portfolio.

Simply put, while a MOS has the opportunity to make money in lakhs in INR only, a cabinet minister can do the same in crores in different international currencies!!!


Courtesy – CNN IBN, Indian Express, Yahoo


PS - Looks like our new minister for External Affairs his hands full with the Gurudwara Shootout in Vienna, Racial attack on Indians in Australia and the bomb blasts in Pak keeping him occupied!!!

I'm Loving It!!!

Well... Am not endorsing Big Mac nor did I visit them recently... The words just reflect what I feel every time I listen to the songs from the tamil movie "Vaaranam Aayiram"... The movie directed by Gowtham Menon (Minnale, Kaakha Kaakha, Vettaiyadu Vilaiyadu etc) stars Surya and has music by Harris Jayaraj... And in my opinion this is one of the best albums to have come out in the last 2-3 years...

6 months & 50-60 listenings (for want of better word) later, why do I feel that way... just read on:

This album is an eclectic mix of 7 songs and touches different genres and is the kinds which you would love to listen to on a rainy evening with a hot cuppa tea & some bajjis!!! It has a couple of amazing melodies, a typical "kuthu" song, a nice fusion number...

Two songs which stand out in this album as far as am concerned are "Nenjukkul Peiydhidum Maamazhai" and "Mundhinam Paarthene"...

"Nenjukkul", in Hari Haran’s honey-coated voices, oozes melody right from the word go... The guitar strings in the beginning are just amazing (am trying to learn that) and then Hari Haran takes over... "Nillendru nee sonnal, en kaalum nagaradhe; nee soodum poovellam oru podhum udhiradhe; Kaadhal ennai ketkavillai; kaettal adhu kaadhal illai"... just love these lines... What a song!!!

"Mundhinam", set in the 70s in the movie, has a retro feel to it... It starts off with Surya's voice with a sort of love-message… Naresh Iyer and Prashanthini are just fabulous in this number... The sax interludes are amazing... Sheer magic I should say!!!

"Oh Shanti Shanti" (Sappu's favourite) is a spin-off from "Nenjukkul" and is a foot-tapping number... SPB Charan certainly shows that he is a chip of the old block (a big fat old block in that!!!)...

"Adiye Kolluthe", sung by Benny Dayal and Krish, consists of heavy bursts of synthesized music... Shruti Hassan lends her voice as well to this song... Decent voice, nothing out of the world though… Reminds you of Vasundara Das actually!!!

"Yethi Yethi" and "Ava Enna" are nice "timepass" songs, if I may call that... Ava enna is the kuthu song I was referring to earlier... Both make for pleasant hearing...

Special mention needs to be made about "Annal Mele" sung by Sudha Raghunathan. This is a listener's delight (quite like Vaseegara from Minnale sung by Bombay Jayashree)... I didn't quite like it initially but the song slowly starts growing on you... There is a gentle sorrow and a haunting-kind of a feeling when you listen to this... Sudha Raghunathan sings in a way only she can... Out of the world!!!

Harris Jayaraj has often been accused of being repetitive in his albums... This one’s no different though... But still hats off to him for this amazing collection!!!