Tuesday 30 June 2009

Finally an AWARD my way...and not an Lifetime achievement award....


Prologue: Before you guys say, "AWWW NO, not another Tag", i must tell you that this is an award and not a tag. So stop nagging and ranting....:)))

Finally, I have made it in life thanks to Sucharita on circa 29/06/2009(i have to mention the date as per the rules). Before I could finish my comment on Global Madrasi’s blog about him wining an award, I was tagged and awarded. The comment I wrote in that blog was-(( :- wow, congrats. i wonder when will i get an award. i think i am like Dharmendra, no awards in his entire career, only LIFE TIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD.just kidding...:))))))

Oh boy, I do have a karinakku .

I have always wanted to go on stage and collect some award. I have watched several Oscar award nights and fascinated by the display of shock, joy and bewilderment by the awarded actors.

I may or may not win another award in my life time, but I want to take this opportunity to make a “Thank you speech”.

“First of all, a big THANK YOU to you, Sucharita, for considering me and being so thoughtful that I deserved this award. All I have is a frail vocabulary and dreadful writing skills which comes in my path in thanking you in the most appropriate way.

I would like to remember my Dad, who took all the possible efforts in making me initiate into the world of letters. The stories and fairy tales he read to us children and the imaginary yet tangible world he took us into, has all resulted in the person I am today, standing at this juncture to collect this prestigious AWARD. I remember the first comic book he bought me, without waiting too long for my stubborn cries. If my memory is correct it was a hindi comic of Chacha Choudhary, and how the bald man from JUPITER captivated my imagination so much that I started my own juvenile research into possibilities of finding another such bald man from Jupiter, who would do anything for me, including flicking a jar of Cadbery’s Dairymilk from the CSD canteen.Those were the days when Larry page was as unpopular and unknown as I am today, and google would have sounded an offensive word.What I want to say is that there was no GoOGLE and I had to search through heavier-than-me Encyclopedias to come to the conclusion that Jupiter is anything but an affable planet.

My Chemistry teacher, the lady, who once had one look at me and proclaimed that I would never make it in my life. I want to thank her for bringing the resolve in me, that one day I would prove her wrong and show her HYPERMYOPIC-EYES that sheer dedication and determination alone can lead anyone from a nasty boy to an award winning blogger that I am today, Ladies and gentlemen.( thanks to Sucharita again).

I also want to thank my wife, who believed in me, and made continuous promises to read my blog( which she has never kept, thanks to my already mischievous daughter). I also want to thank her for being featured as a character in this blog without her consent, in most of my blog posts. without otherwise this award wouldn’t have been possible.

Last but not the least, My fellow bloggers, Google and Microsoft for the WORD, without whose support I wouldn’t be typing this Award speech.

Thank you LADIES and GENTLEMEN for your continuous support.

The tag Rules:
1. Link the person who tagged you.
2. Copy the image above, the rules and the questionnaire in this post.
3. Post this in one or all of your blogs.
4. Answer the four questions following these Rules.
5. Recruit at least seven (7) friends on your Blog Roll by sharing this with them.
6. Come back to BLoGGiSTa iNFo CoRNeR (PLEASE DO NOT CHANGE THIS LINK) at http://bloggistame.blogspot.com and leave the URL of your Post in order for you/your Blog to be added to the Master List.
7. Have Fun!

Questions & Your Answers:
1. The person who tagged you:
2. His/her site's title and url:
3. Date when you were tagged:
4. Persons you tagged:

To quote Sucharita “I BLOG, therefore I HAVE WON!” And the seven people who get the award are( this is based on the frequency and the madness factor of the blogger. One should be extremely compulsive-obsessive blogger to win this award):

1. Anju

2. Zeba

3. Dhanya

4. LEB

5. Panorama

6. Gymnast

7. Gayathri

8. Anamika

9. Abstract Scientist

Looks like Tags are pouring in more than the monsoon. I hope this is my last tag for at least few months. Oh, I think I have one more to go.

P.S: I have been writing self-degrading posts lately, I guess it’s time to prove how erudite am I(AHEM) . My next post is going to be a BOOK REVIEW. So watch out.

Ciao all..

Sunday 28 June 2009

Tagged and second time.....


I have been hit again with a virus and the writer in the making Zeba has tagged me. The tag theme is simpler this time around. So here I go.

Four places you have lived –

I was fortunate enough to have been born as son of an Army officer. I have lived almost all over India but to answer four it would be:
1. Lucknow: Wow, growing up years. Mischievous moments and one of the best in my life. The army barricade, the smell of boot polish and brasso, the memories of my mother (I was the closest to her, so her death affected me very badly) and some bitter memoirs which refuse to fade away. I really don’t know if I should cherish it or detest it, but as with memories of tough times, it continues to be remembered with affection.
2. Chennai: Did my college. First time out of home and complete freedom. I was a total rebel and my father and I were like Congress and BJP.Unsure moments and a complete chaos to have made to live all by myself. Was an absolute studious boy in the first year, out of fear that as much half of the batch fails to move to the next year(98% attendance). First time to booze and I remember how reluctantly I started. Had a sip and I almost puked, but it was so uncool to be a non drinker. Finished my first glass of Vodka and 7-up with difficulty but after that there was no stopping me, until my match referee (read: my wife) walked into life. initiated into my most horrible habit-Smoking and it took another 7 years before I finally quit(again for my wife).The hostel life, “Purani jeans and Guitar” culture, Late night movies and returning back at unheard of all unholy hours, complete forceful Insomnia, etc made me mutate from a harmless, studios, shy boy to a notoriously raucous young lad(Ahem).
3. Calicut: My home town. The land of my Grandparents and my second lady love. I love Calicut and everything to do with the name; be it food, the slang, the honest auto rickshaw drivers, the beach. I have lived for very short time in Calicut but my ultimate aim is to retire and spend my old age there.
4. Bahrain: The place I am currently residing. I love the roads, the people, the food and everything about this place, except for the weather, from May to September.Marinade a chicken and keep it on the terrace. It will roast by itself.


Four T.V shows you love(d) to watch –

I mainly watch news programs on NDTV, Chat shows on BBC WORLD and movies on the MNet. I will skip that question since it’s not meant for someone like me, who is working, blogging and a part time short story writer.Where the hell is the time?

Four places you have been on vacation –

I have been working for 8 years now in total, out of which 5 years has been outside of India. My life is such that I seriously don’t have the luxury of Vacations (as in true vacations where you go to some resort). Since 5 years I go to India (Kerala) for a vacation, that too after almost endless nagging. But I have been to few places on earth, work related, but had a blast nevertheless.
1. UK: I had been to London, Hampshire and Southampton. Absolutely gorgeous place. One must visit London, atleast in once lifetime. It’s a mélange of Old world charm and ultra modernity to a level of erudition.
2. Srilanka: I was in a transit flight and had an opportunity to see Colombo. Srilanka is much more stunning than what most people consider. It could easily give a run for its money to places like Thailand or Malaysia, provided Peace prevails.I hope it does.
3. Goa: there is no place under the sun like Goa and it has something for every class of people. The last I went was with friends before my marriage, so had a blast. We had more booze in 4 days, than we have ever had and I was this drinking, smoking DUDE, No care of the world.SIGH!!, Those good ol days. “Why darling, why?”(to my wife).
4. Pondicherry: We went on bikes from Chennai and absolute unforgettable moments. Again, booze(we went mainly for booze), Food and ogling on Foreign Tourists in Bikini.(Psssshh, its ok, my wife doesn’t read this)….

Four of your favorite foods –

I am a complete foodie and it shows. I am not sure about my present weight but last I checked was at 90 kgs. My philosophy of “you have just one life, why think twice” actually sucks big time, and I realize it now. But food being food, I will never master the right technique to say NO.
1. Kerala rice and fish curry(Sardines)/prawn curry made by my Mother. I have been eating it since I can remember, but it refuses to come down my list of fav food.

2. Pasta: I go bonkers for pasta and fav being ravioli or lasagna. I like cheesy stuff but Pizza is not my fav. It was until I had it for a month nonstop and it came out of my fav list.

3. Gujarathi/rajashtani veg food.: I am not a really non-veg person and I can survive completely on veg. I can drive 35 kms or walk 5 kms for a good Gujarati meal.

4. Dosa: I prefer it over any Mc.Donalds Junkie.Only thing matters is the chutney.

5. Indian Sweets: I can skip a meal for plate of crispy jalebi or carrot halwa. I love Bengalis for their sweets, otherwise they are as useless as malayalees( Hehe, To all Bengalis, just kidding) .


Four websites you visit daily –

1. Blogger
2. Gmail
3. Dashboard of my blog
4. Manoramaonline.com- for all the mallu news.To be ahead of my wife and not sound dumb.

Four places you would rather be –

1. India
2. Bahrain-I love this place
3. England: Its charming beyond words
4. New Zealand: I always wanted to go there. Probably for the isolation.Actually I don’t mind living like Tom hanks in castaway, for few days.

Four things you hope to do before you die-

1. Want to see my grandchild before I die( I have just had a child so it’s pretty farfetched)
2. Want to write a book(Novel) and get it published.
3. Visit Antarctica and live there and experience the extremes of living condition. (I have been watching too much of Discovery channel lately)
4. Travel around the world, especially places like Alaska, Siberia, Mongolia, Japan, Chile Argentina and See Machu Picchu(Inca heritage site)

Four novels you wish you were reading for the first time –

1. Animal farm-George Orwell
2. To kill a mocking bird-Harper lee
3. Midnights children-Rushdie
4. catch 22-Joseph heller

Four Movies You Can See Over and Over-

1. Gone with the wind
2. DDLJ
3. Sholey
4. Manichitratazhu(Malayalam) and many mallu movies of Pathmarajan, Bharathan and Priyadarshan


Tag Four People You Believe Will Respond-

To people who weren’t tagged the previous time
1. le embrouille blogueur: someone i admire for his writing style
2. Numerounity- The beauty with the brain.
3. Nona: The eternal reviewer.
4. Swatantra: The dotting mother

Let the Virus spread the blogosphere, AMEN!!!!

BTW Please checkout this tale of love here, Its astonishing at the rate at which a realm is coming closer to another revolution. Its scares and pains me to read about Iran.


P.S: This Tag is supposed to be in "Fours" and i cannot tag more than four. I have tagged friends who weren't tagged last time.There are more tags coming. I am in the process of creating one by myself. Watch out Buddies!!!!!!

Thursday 25 June 2009

Guest post from Ms.Ananya !!








Hello Friends.My name is Anu and its me that you see in the picture above. My papa says that he is too busy to write anything. So I told him I will write in his blog today and here I go.
I am four months old and I recently turned on my stomach. Now I can see the world as it is and not upside-down, as I was seeing it previously. I can also make sounds. My mama cannot understand what I talk, but my papa can. My mama says I talk in Chinese.
My papa calls my mama everyday and they talk for very long time. I don’t know what on earth they talk, but I see my mama laugh a lot. In between papa tells mama that he wants to hear me talk. So my mama keeps the phone near my mouth.
Most of the time I don’t talk when my mama wants me to, so she makes funny sounds. My mama keeps the phone on loudspeaker and I hear my papa meowing , “Meow, Meow.” That’s when I respond and make my own speech. I mostly say, “Guee, Enghee, Ingee,”, and I hear loud chuckles from Papa, as if I cracked some funny Joke.My papa loves hearing me talk, but he hates to hear me cry. So I try to cry as little as possible, to be a good girl. But when I am hungry, I have no other way of letting my mama know, so I cry.
When my papa was here, I was mostly in his arms. Mama used to complain that papa is going to spoil me. I like to see the funny expression on papa when I pee on his cloths, but he laughs and doesn’t mind. But my mama frowns every time I pee on her. But I still pee and sometimes even poop.
My mama calls me a nudist, as I always pull my cloths out .You can see a sample in the above photo. In the above photo you can see me fresh after a granny bath. My mama beautifies me with liberal doses of Johnsons Baby powder as she is scared that I may develop nappy rash. Then my granny takes over and applies the rest of the makeup. My granny says that the black spot on my forehead will protect me from evil eyes. I don’t know what is evil eyes, Of course i know about cat eyes, brown eyes etc, but evil eyes?but I am sure I will learn once I am old enough.

I hope when I grow a bit more to play, I have a younger brother or sister. I heard my mama tell papa, that if he wants to have more babies, he himself get pregnant.She says she doesn’t want to go through the pain again.I hope they sort out the issue between them, just on time.
My mama was saying that i have got myself a new habit of licking people who come close to me. Whenever my mama's face come closer to me, i lick her. Actually i am kissing her, but she thinks i am licking her and stuffs the milk bottle into my mouth. She needs more lessons on Bringing up kids.
Of late my Mama puts nappy on me even during the day time. She is lazy to change me every time I pee and since it’s raining I pee often. Last time my papa called, I complained to him and now my mama doesn’t put the nappy. I don’t like nappies.
Once my papa told mama that his eyes ache for a sight of me. He also said that every time he closes his eyes, he can see me etched on his gilded eyelids. My papa gets poetic when describing me.
I still have only milk as my food, but my mama was saying the other day that she will ask the Doctor if some solid food could be started. I hope the “Solid food” mentioned by mama is tasty. I am sick of having milk. My papa loves biriyani made by my granny, and I can’t wait to taste it myself.
My papa says I am the best thing that has happened to him. My mama also agrees to it. once I am big enough I would thank them both for bringing me to this world.
It feels great to see my Papa go ga-ga over me.


Thank you all for reading me.

Monday 22 June 2009

Of being tagged and spreading the Tag Virus.


I was tagged by le embrouille blogueur few days back. The task is simple, you just need to write about 10 things that makes you crazy( Not schizophrenia type crazy, something which annoys you). I am a bit odd and weird. I know every other blogger says the same about him/her, but I too am no different. Probably that’s why we connect. Probably that’s why we blog.

Whats wrong with me? I have been pondering over things which annoy me for some time now, but there aren’t many. Am I close to sainthood? Why don’t I get annoyed? Have I become super ICECOOL? I don’t know, I think there aren’t many things in this world that annoys me.

1. Judgments people pass about a person, not really knowing or understanding him. Comments like:Ohh, “he is such an ass, or OHHH, he is a total recluse”. “He is such a serious character, He is very studious, He is arrogant”, etc Annoy me (used to annoy me). The very fact is that such people haven’t really known the person they are commenting. They have just met him/her for about 10 minutes and they are branded.

2. The negativity surrounding me. I know a lot of people, mostly elderly who shoot their trap the moment you tell them about your plans or ideas. Unsolicited advises aren’t welcome, I wish I had a comment moderator in real life.

3. Forceful parents. I pity those kids in high schools who are worse than Donkeys of EGYPT by their sheer level of exploitation and torture. I was lucky that I had parents who never forced me to study, except on very few occasions. I believe parents should be guides and not Managers ( by my company standards).

4. Forceful Husbands. I don’t believe in gender domination. I love women, for their role they play so efficiently, be it mothers, sisters, wife, Girlfriends. I cannot stand men who feel macho about themselves when they ill-treat or abuse women. I admire and respect men who take up roles of a woman (in marital relationships) when the need arise (probably having seen my father do that after my mother’s death).

5. People, especially teenagers or adolescent, showing off fake attitudes. YO-YO, we are HIP and CHICK. WE ARE WILD AND HAPPENING. I hate it more when such people, from middle class upbringing abruptly adopt such attitudes, just for the heck of it, To sound cool and contemporary, and it’s apparent that it isn’t. I hate such DUDES and DUDETTES.

le embrouille blogueur, buddy, That’s about all that I have at short notice, that annoys me so much that I write it.With your permission, let me twist or modify the tag. Let me respond by writing about moments in the past which had made me go CRAZY.

6. I was caught in the act of forgery. No, I wasn’t forging a bank cheque or something of that order.I was in 10 th standard and we had an extremely strict and Hitler-like Chemistry Teacher, and being naturally lazy, I never completed my Chemistry Practical record books, until few days before the final submission. Having half of my records un checked and unsigned by her, we (myself and 3 more partners of crime) decided that it would be pretty nasty if we submit it now, since she had proclaimed that previously unsigned Record books wouldn’t be signed again, which meant we would never get any marks for them.Ta-Da, we signed for her. Almost half of the book was signed by me and the signature so close to the original that it went unnoticed by the very teacher, until she noticed the date I had mentioned below the signature. Here I go, I had signed a date for which she was away holidaying in Goa with her family and probably the beaches and the memories of Port wine she had in Goa(or the good time she had with her hubby in bed) that went against us, she immediately became aware that on such date, she can never sign this record. The entire class record books were re-scrutinized and culprits were caught. We were almost expelled from the school, but for the kindheartedness of the Principal, who felt we deserved one more chance, provided we apologize before the entire school on the podium, during the morning assembly. My apology Speech was written by my DAD, and poor man was asked to be present during my notoriously dubious speech. Being the leader of the gang, I was the first to make the speech, and I had all the hairs on my body stand up, forming billions of well formed Goosebumps. I felt my skin would peel off any moment, but thinking about it now, I feel I was lucky that I was caught. It made me learn a lesson so early in life that there is nothing in this world more worthy, than being honest and truthful. It also made me love my Father, having seen a different face altogether from his Benito Mussoloni type persona. I thought he would instantly take his Army rifle and shoot me point blank, but instead he looked into my eyes and kept his silence. That silence was much more than a thousand whacks, with a long cane on my fleshy butt. I have never repeated another such act and never will.

7. There was a girl in my school, Simi, who had hijacked my heart ever since I laid my eyes on her. And I was ridiculously shy with girls. My crush was so strong that I decided to unfasten my heart before her, but my thin and malnutritioned courage rebelled against me. It took 6 months for me to form enough courage to go and propose her; after numerous prayers and rehearsals, I zeroed on a date. It was during that time that I remember becoming awfully devotional to Sri Krishna, having read about his Long list of Girlfriends, (coming to an astronomical 16 thousand and odd. ). My prayers went something like this, “ Ohh, Krishna, The lord of Romance. We all know that you had officially recognized sixteen thousand girlfriends. Please, all I ask is for one. Please fill Simi with enough LOVE for me. Pleaseee, make her accept me, without laughing at me or creating a scene. I will be indebted to you for rest of my life. I will never ask for any more favors. Pleaseeee”…..And the outcome was………….I blabbered about 80% of my planned speech, but she chuckled so loudly that I almost felt it echo across the whole school building. My crush was crushed prematurely. When I think about it, I feel it’s one of the craziest moments in my life and will be for a long time, unless I do something crazier than that in the future. And also, I feel she laughed at me because I was in 8th standard and she was in 11th. See the age difference? Like every other guy I was drawn to more mature women. (Not anymore though).

8. I had a long series of text message chat with my Immediate boss a few years back and it so happened that he refused my leave application( in between the SMS chat over the cell phone). I was so furious and upset that I wanted to vent my anger and decided to Text my wife, and it went something like. “The bastard has refused my leave appli. Asshole, God knows what he thinks of himself. Fucker wants to go on leave and wants me to stay and manage the office”. The tragedy and comedy was, instead of sending to my wife, I sent to the boss himself in a fit of absentmindedness. OHHHH, I was out of breath for few minutes and almost choked and fainted. I got an instant reply, “Thank you. This is a nice way of showing your gratitude to me. I shall remember this for a very long time.” But I was lucky that before the time came for my annual appraisal, he had quit his job and moved to Canada.

9. I was about 10 years old and was on a summer vacation to Kerala. We decided to have a dip in the Temple pond and after hours of fooling around, were finally out of water. Having not carried any extra towel, changing the wet underwear turned out to be an extremely tricky task and the struggle to cover my modesty met with a tragic end when out of despair, I decided to go stark naked to dry clean myself before pulling on a fresh undie. As soon as I pulled my wet cover over my modesty, a bunch of aunties showed themselves, as if out of nowhere and I stood frozen in time, wonderstruck. My 10 year old body and my wiener stood on display for the giggly and girly aunties to relish and the moments carved permanently as an embarrassment memoir in my memory album.

10. Writing this blog post, remembering all those crazy moments was crazy in itself. And having written so much, let me wind up, before you guys get bugged.

Sorry for a loooong post and before I conclude, lemme tag few of my friends.

1. Anju-My first friend on the blogger. Way to go lady.

2. Jyothi: I am sure she has so much to say. Bubbling with energy, yet an aspiring superwoman.

3. Aparna: Your witty writing style would be apt for writing such a crazy post.

4. Rahul: Dude, try something off your niche. Let us know when you aren’t reviewing books.

5. Zeba: I know you are waiting to be tagged. Lets hear you talk

6. P:Hey woman, Lets hear you talk.

7. Priya: Ok, hope you won’t cover yourself under an oversized Sunglass.

8.The panorama:OK, Woman.

9.Dhanya:OK, Young Lady

10. Abstract: Dude, you are tagged, No escape now.

11. Sucharita

12: Sujata

13. Santanu Dada

14. gayathri

15. Everyone on my blog list or follow list(Pleaseeee)



And check out this blog, here. Good one, isnt it?

And anyone who wants to join….( I know that’s a ridiculous way of inviting people)..hail the Tag Virus, Amen!!!

Ciao All

P.S: Request you all to please check this site. Please take the message and lets contribute for a cause.............

Lets paint the world GREEN, Literally!!!!!!!!