To the friend I knew..

It was a cold, dark winter evening,
Another day spent as a drop in the ocean,
Silence hit me and retrospection engulfed me,
When news reached me of your passing.

The brief two years we spent together,
You made me laugh and listened to my blabber,
You were more at home at my house than yours,
People thought that my place was yours.

The years went by and time played its part,
And once again we had become strangers in the journey of life,
Sometimes I wondered where you were,
If you were still as cheerful and without a care.

A decade has gone, since we met and parted,
When I heard that you had left for good.
For a moment my world stood still,
Memories flooded my mind, as I wondered about Gods will.

No matter what people say about the person you were,
I will remember you as the one that smiled without a care.
You may have gone, but the memories you created stay behind,
For those who knew and loved you to hold on to.

May your soul rest in peace

The Canterville Ghost

Title - The Canterville Ghost
Author – Oscar Wilde
Genre - Mystery, Humor, Classics

Summary: Though I have heard the name of Oscar Wilde, I have never read any of his works before. I happened to come across ‘The Canterville Ghost’ while browsing for books at the local ‘Borders’ and couldn’t give it a pass. The story was amazingly humorous – just the way I like my books! The main protagonist of this endearing tale is the ghost of Sir Simon who haunts an old English country house called Canterville Chase. An American family, the Otis’s move into the house without paying much heed to the warnings of the owner who insists that the house has been haunted for many years and the residents have died due to fear after paranormal encounters. But the ghost is no match for the Otis’s whose twins chase the ghost at every encounter, play dirty tricks on the unsuspecting ghost and even manage to scare it while the lady and man of the house go to the extent of offering the ghost some oil for its rusted chains and medicine for its cough! The ghost feels insulted on not being able to scare the family away and enters a state of depression. This is when the daughter of the house, Virginia steps in to help poor Sir Simon to actually move over to the other world.

The book tickles your funny bones and towards the end of the tale, it also manages to tug your heart strings. It makes you roll with laughter trying to imagine a ghost that’s been played upon by humans and actually avoiding them because it is scared. I am pretty sure that this book has found its way into the reading list of many school and college curriculum's. Well, as for me I am definitely going to read more books from Mr. Wilde.

Verdict – Must Read and Enjoy!

Finished: 29'th Jan 2009
Rating: *****

Today I weep for my India...

The latest happenings about the Rama Senas attack on girls hitting the pubs at Mangalore makes me seethe with anger and I have half a mind to hurl a bunch of curses and abuses at the people involved! Just that I have a fear that I would end up dead in the process. What makes this issue even worse are the statements of the founder of this backward organisation, Pramod Muthalik, who repeats at every possible opportunity that this is a small issue that has been blow out of proportion!

Yeah rite! Definitely blown out of proportion - an attack by 40 men on girls partying at the pubs is a very small issue. The fact that these jerks have probably scarred these young women for life is a very small issue. The fact that Muthalik states that this was not something that he approved and that things just go wrong in situations like this is a very small issue! I wonder what take the man would have if his daughters, or sisters or any other women that he knew had been attacked this way.

Another ugly side to this whole issue are the statements issued by these sanctimonious jerks about how they are trying hard to preserve the culture of our dear India. Protect and preserve the culture by assaulting women? Is that our culture? Adding more fuel to the fire is the fact that all their righteous crap has been directed only towards women - about women drinking, smoking, partying, dressing up etc? What about men?? Don't we see men drinking and behaving obnoxiously at these very same pubs? Not to mentions other bars and local legalised wine shops in the country, men beating up women, abusing their wives, men trying to take advantage of women and children, ministers practising polygamy, child abuse and the list can go on. Where are these groups when all this is was and still continues to happen? Didn't they feel the urge to preserve our culture? They talk about skimpy outfits but it seems they can't control the Bipashas, Priyankas, the king fisher calendars and others from the fashion and film world who need no excuse to drop their clothes!

To the organisations like the Rama Sena: Why do you drag the country down? Thanks to folks like yourselves our nation can never really move forward. For every 5 steps we take forward, you pull us back by 1000. Please note that the parents and relatives of these women have more to do with the behaviour of these women than people like you who have no connection to them!They have more rights to correct the behaviours of their wards than you and if they don't it is still none of your business. You are not preserving our culture but rather making our country, its people and many other normal decent human beings look bad. Someone rightly mentioned that you are trying to Talibanise Karnataka. That is the biggest insult that can be hurled at anyone and if nothing shames you about what has happened this should.

Will these men get the punishment they deserve for ruining the lives of these women? Or will the loose laws and practices of the land just set them free so that they can prey on more people to satisfy their own agenda? Gandhiji once said "the day that a woman could walk the roads at night without any fear for her being was the day when India would truly become independent". Seems he had the clairvoyance which clearly indicated that chauvinists from groups like the Rama Sena may roam the Indian soil. I pray that the folks involved in this charade get nothing lesser than a life imprisonment. I am still allowed to dream aren't I or do men like these think its against our culture?

Note: I have never been this angry while publishing a post. For someone who is always trying to look at the lighter side of life this was too much for me. I still dream of an India that would be a world leader one day, a India where women are truly free, a India where children are happy, safe and healthy, a India that is no longer a developing nation but a truly developed one. Jai Hind!

The Humble Upma

My mom used to prepare Upma often for breakfast or quick dinners and on most such occasions, me being myself, used to strike. I would make smart alec comments about why we shouldn't be eating upma. These used to toggle between 'Ohhhhhh...', Uggghhhhhh.....',' Oh no! Not again!', funny facial expressions and more. Exasperated at times, my mom used to unleash upon me her own thoughts about why I would be better off minding my own business and eat if I wanted to or else forego the meal. It has been three years since I moved away from home and I had forgotten all about upma until about 1.5 years ago, I chanced to watch a movie where the hero chided his lady love for not sharing her upma with him. The heroine kept having upma for lunch in that movie! Oh dear! The upma had made it to the movies; it seemed to be screaming "In your face yo!!!" to me.

After the movie, I had this sudden urge to make upma, which I did and attacked with gusto wondering why my preparation did not look as inviting as my mom’s. Since that day the humble upma came to my rescue often when I was lost for menu choices. It could be concocted in about 15 minutes and ready to go. Today as I cooked this for lunch-cum-dinner wondering like always as to why it did not reach the bar set by my mom, fond memories of me bugging her and intimate family dinners came to my mind - those were fun days. As funny as it seems this simple dish helped create some good memories. To those who take upma for granted (am sure many of you do) you can run, but you can't hide! This one will get you!

20000 Leagues Under the Sea

Title - 20000 Leagues Under the Sea

Author - Jules Verne

Genre - Classic Literature, Science Fiction

A truly classical novel! Set in the mid 19th century this compilation by Jules Verne introduces the readers to an amazing new way of life below the sea. The word 'leagues' in the title denotes the distance that that the protagonists of this novel travel under the sea. The novel is a celebration of courage, loyalty, friendship and sheer brilliance of the mind. Following a chase of a mysterious sea monster Professor Pierre Aronnoax, a French doctor and scientist, his Flemish assistant, brilliant and loyal Conseil and master harpooner and Canadian national Ned Land, accidentally find themselves on board the Nautilus an amazing submarine, a mobile home in the oceans, a window to Gods creations beneath the surface of the land and created with the sole purpose of roaming the oceans.

Manned by the mysterious and brilliant scientist and engineer, Captain Nemo, they travel the seas starting at the Pacific Ocean stopping at the South Pole - a place where no man had gone before at that time and continue their journey to the North again. Their underwater adventures take them through the Red seas where Captain Nemo takes the professor on a tour of the lost city of Atlantis. A legendary city, once the toast of many a poet, philosopher and author, the professor is awed to discover that the city really did exist and is currently buried under the sea thanks to the volcano eruptions that destroyed the city in a day. I particularly found the conversation between Captain Nemo and the professor about the antiques and proof that one could find lodged in the sand if an excavation was carried out at the estuary at the end of the Red sea. Per Captain Nemo's opinion, one would probably find proof regarding the Pharaoh and his way of life as that was the same spot where on the beckoning of Moses the sea closed upon the Pharaoh and his army, as they chased the Israelis who sought to escape his tyranny.

Another interesting tit bit was the fact about the "remora" or sucker fish that attach themselves to the base of traveling ships and sometimes cause the entire vessel to come to a standstill. Found abundantly in the Mediterranean sea, the fish have said to have found their own place in history when an entire school of them brought to a halt the ships of Marc Anthony causing victory to the troops of Augustus CaesarThere are also accounts of the Nautilus floating through the Ganges river during which our protagonists have a vision of floating corpses, hunting on the water jungles of Crespo, fighting nasty killer sharks , exploring the forests of New Guinea and coming face to face with the papuan savages, oyster hunting in the Sri Lankan waters complete with glimpsing at an Oyster with a pear the size of a coconut.

The book also has some humor content every now and then as seen in the dialogues when Conseil captures a beautiful and magnificent drunk cockatoo drunk on the nectar from the fruits of a cashew nut tree. These are often coupled with comments from Ned Land about missing land, normal people and food and his enthusiastic search for normal food at every occasion to satisfy his gourmet cravings and never giving up plotting an escape from the Nautilus.

The mystery of the origins of Captain Nemo and his purpose for living under the sea is kept indiscreet throughout the book. One understands that his companions and himself are victims of the various political oppressions of the time. Having lost their homes and hearths, they choose to avoid the rest of the world and literally go “down under” to fight their battles against the oppressors and their nations. This includes destroying trade ships that travel across the seas and funding national wars by using the treasures collected from the oceans. The brilliant, dynamic and commanding demeanor that makes the captain is elucidated throughout the novel. Though portrayed as cold and emotionless, the man that he was before he became Captain Nemo peeks every now and then.

The novel ends with a very dramatic and edge of the seat battle with a giant squid, loosing another man from the Nautilus to the sea which sends the captain into a mode of depression. Our 3 prisoners finally plot their escape which coincides with a whirlpool entwining the Nautilus. The professor, Conseil and Ned land on the shores of Norway but the fate of the Nautilus, its inmates and its captain is left as a mystery. Did they survive? Did the Nautilus get caught in the whirlpool by accident or was it steered there on purpose by the captain? We will never know the answers to these questions but the memories of the ocean and its wonders from the imaginative mind of Jules Verne will definitely be etched in the minds of the readers for a long time,

The novel would be a delight to ichthyologists, marine biologists and physicists. For someone like me it was a journey through a new and an amazing world – a world where I walked on the sea floors, a world that was lighted by thousands of jelly fish during my strolls, a world where sharks and whales swam past me, and a world that I can visit anytime I choose to.

Verdict – Buy, add to your collection, read and pass on the wonders to the next generation!

Finished - 15-Jan-09

Rating - *****

Raju Ka Dhaba

Satyam, Shivam,Scandalam? Another one from a forward - Couldn't help myself - I found this cartoon to be a pretty funny way of looking at what had happened!

It Happens Only In India!

These funny images were forwarded to me by mail by a good friend and I wanted to share them with the rest of the world with some of my own captions. Enjoy!


Cribbers keep out!
Phir bhi dil hai hindustani!

Hum Saath Saath Hai...... Watch your wallets!

We are innovators! No doubts about that :)

Look! We are even more advanced than the nations that are the super powers of this world. Our beggars accept visa - the looks on your faces - priceless!

The simple life!

Finally! A solution to our water problems :) Thanda Mathlab???

Hair raising stories

Women and hair - the saga continues. This story of ‘never ending love’ never ceases to amaze me. The quest for beautiful, healthy hair is something that I embarked upon several years ago but yet remains an unfulfilled dream. If the range of different hair oils, shampoos and conditioners that line my shelves could talk they would narrate the tale of my quest. This morning I found myself staring at the mirror that stood over the bathroom sink surrounded by the goo of yet another hair pack. Owing to the watery nature of the pack it seemed to be all over the beautiful white titles and for a while it seemed like that more of the pack was on the tiles than on my hair! I was cursing myself and my sensitive stresses, swore to cut off my hair on the third day after a no moon day and made a mental note to block a good half hour of my time during the day to clean the bathroom sink and the mirror.

That’s right! Who needs long hair when short and chic is always in! Especially when I have been blessed with sensitive stresses with a even more sensitive scalp to boot. I share horror stories with my friends who in turn share the same woes. Eat healthy we have been told, no stress, protect your head from the extreme weather, blah, blah! I am a woman I protest, and in this age I can't live in a glass box free from all environmental stress factors!!! Still as someone who has religiously followed some of these instructions while travelling in the fast lanes of life I'd say that my stresses deserve nothing more than a good slap. The strands all over the house stand as a tribute to all my hard work in life. Every strand has a share in some victorious achievement; if I don’t keep telling myself lines like that, I find myself trying to fight off bouts of tears, anxiety and depression which in the words of all the wise people of this world, will lead to more my strands decorating the bathroom floor! Sniff!!!

As I type this post, I find more strands wandering about on my carpets. They snuggle close to my feet and as I pick them up making another mental note to clean the carpets, I wonder if I could a find way to stick these back into my head - that would be genius wouldn't it? I wonder how the protein shafts of the hair follicles can be made healthier. Oops I shouldn't think too hard - apparently using your brains a lot heats up your head and leads to more hair fall. I just remembered, I need to prepare a conditioning pack to go with the pack that’s on the floor, I mean on my head. And the saga continues...

The Restaurant at the End of the Universe

Title - The Restaurant at the End of the Universe
Series - The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy
Author - Douglas Adams
Genre - Science Fiction, Humor

Summary - The second book in the series of Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy starts off where the first book ends. Based on a request to grab a quick bite, Zaphod, Ford, Arthur, Trillian and Marvin are whisked off to the nearest restaurant at the end of the universe called 'Milliways' by their ever friendly and polite computer 'The Heart of Gold'. The motley crew witness the destruction of the earth by the duty conscious Vogons and split up along the way completely by accident! The story revolves around Zaphod unlocking the mysteries in one of his brains, paying a visit to the ruler of universe (a senile old man who talks to a table and waits for it to respond), and Ford along with Arthur completing their own time travel that ends with them meeting the early human ancestors, a bunch of crazy and stupid folks who have been sent away from their own planets by other superior beings under the pretext of an impending invasion. The story goes all around the galaxy but comes together in the end and Adams has ensured that the book is as funny as its predecessor. At the end of it, we are left wondering what would come next. Will the crew get back together? What about Marvin the depressed and super intelligent robot? What is he up to? Will they find the meaning of the Universe, Life and everything??I can't wait to read the next book in this totally non serious series.

To those who may be interested in reading these books - please read them in order so that you can avoid feeling like our friends would after a pan galactic gargle blaster :)

Verdict - Read and read again and again and again.................


Finished: 8'th Jan 2009
Rating: ****

'Horror'scopes?

It’s the first day of the year and I seemed to stumble upon plenty of links with horoscope predictions for the year 2009. Curiosity took over and I read some link where some guy told me that Ganesha foresees this and that during the course of the 09. Well, if this guy was in constant touch with Lord Ganesha, I wonder why he has not been able to predict all other bad things that happen in this world, we could have probably averted the financial crisis, terrorist attacks, earth quakes, tsunamis and more.

Being brought up in a semi traditional household I am quite familiar with the process of reading ‘horror’scopes errrr…… horoscopes. Only two reactions can ensue after this amazing and sometimes expensive process. A sense of calmness combined with smugness as all is well with you even if the rest of world is rotting. The other reaction would be panic! It’s time to pull up your socks and start planning visits to various temples and appease the Gods referred to by the friendly astrologer. And expensive the process definitely is depending on what you choose. You can choose from palm reading, horoscope readings or a very future oriented process, where your fate is written on some palm leaves; if you are even familiar with the words ‘naadi josiyam’ the charade of reading you past and your future from palm leaves written several centuries ago you would nod your head in agreement. It seems that the rishis who lived 1000 of years ago knew you would make your appearance in the world far in the future and they have predicted your fate on palm leaves. An ignorant reader cannot read these leaves; reading and translating them requires a lot of special skills and the narrators at the ashram where these leaves are stored have been specially trained just to do this. Locating your leaves and translating them for you would definitely cost you a few thousands. Come on that a pretty small price when you get to know from where your daughter’s future husband is going to come from! The narrator has told you that’s it is definitely from the western direction and the guy probably lives in a house near the sea so that’s where you need to look – just take a stroll along the coastline to meet to future son in law!!! Oh! Wait it doesn’t stop there – you also get tips on how you can avert all the bad aspects that have been predicted by performing a lot of rituals around temples in India, not to forget that you have to give the ‘guru’ of the ashram some dothis and sarees along with cash and fruits as a form of ‘dakshina’. Seems ‘guruji’ wouldn’t need to shop all year for himself and his family. And those who got a peek into their futures would probably see no difference in their way of life in spite of following everything that was suggested very religiously. Seems these men with super powers can replace the need for a God and even the most educated and wise people fall for this. In the mean time I wonder if the archaeology department of India even validated these leaves and shouldn’t these be in some museum as they are priced treasures from the past?

I see astrology as a form of guidance – it can never be perfect and should never be commercialized. Most of these ‘astrologers’ out there are more interested in draining our wallets rather than really analyzing our stars. I am always ready to listen to wise mind but not one that tells me that he can give me a detailed reading if I am ready to part with a few cool thousands and of course he might just make me do that considering that he just hinted of something very terrible in the years to come. If mere mortals could avert all crises, there would be no need for the Supreme Being. However mere mortals cannot replace the man above – the one that I’d like to call ‘the boss’. ‘The boss’ rocks and rules and occasionally allows a few chosen ones to guide the helpless creatures he has put down on this earth. But he definitely did not ask them to create a business out of it. That’s my case and I am sticking to it! Hopefully people get wiser and sensible to guidance and spirituality rather than spending like crazy to know if they would travel abroad!

In the mean time please amuse yourself with these funny horoscopes – they are bound to make you laugh. I found it extremely hilarious.

http://www.laughsend.net/horoscopes.php