Really??

My pal Nish, took this quiz "I write like..." and though she did not like the results, she asked us to try it. I was very sure that I would get a totally blaah result when I was surprised with this:

I write like
Stephen King

I Write Like by Mémoires, Mac journal software. Analyze your writing!

Yupp - I am still going "Really? Really??" I think this is my shortest post till date.

Dressing Style of Phatphatiya Riders

The Phatphatiya is not just a bike - it is a status symbol - most ppl gawk at you if you own or drive a phatphatiya. Maybe they jes gawk because they can hear the phatphatiya from far and have to move out of the way. :D But, if you look closely at the teenagers, boys especially, - they have this look of worship for the bike combined with a look of pure envy directed at the rider which is almost funny to watch for a pillion rider like me.

Maybe because the Arien now owns a phatphatiya, nowadays, I notice every guy who drives a phatphatiya. I also observe their dressing style. Today, as I was driving to work, I heard rather than saw this guy on a Phatphatiya. As he drove alongside me for a few seconds, I noticed that his hair was curly, unkempt, and he had on a nice cool pair of shades and wore one of those muffler thingies around his neck. His whole look was kinda wild but cool at the same time. Interesting. Most guys wear the tried and tested classic look: white shirt, jeans, cool pair of shades and a nonchalant air as they drive past us common folk (those in bikes tht are not Phatphatiyas) while the rest of us chew dust as we can def not drive faster than them.

Well, what I did learn at the end of the day was that Phatphatiya riders are as eccentrically well-dressed or badly dressed as the next person. Whaaat?? You expected sm punch dialogue?? hahahaha :D

Bangalore Elevated Tollway - a guided tour

On Saturday evening, after a sleepathon that lasted a solid 4 hours, I woke up completely re-charged. The Arien immediately jumped into action. The story so far: He had installed SQL Server and was trying to create some alerts that would notify him if the server instance crashed.. (I think) and so for most of the morning - he had been very busy. Now, he was fed up and really wanted me to get up and so we could go on a drive.

After calling the senior Arien and getting his assurance that it was indeed a good day to check out his tollway. It was a loooooooong loooong drive and I was quite exhausted. The Arien was taking a break from breaking his head on SQL so he was not complaining. I cud not believe that the Taurean and the Senior Arien travelled this distance on a daily basis. We went to the senior Arien's office. After a very loong time, I was visiting the senior Arien at his site. The senior Arien was of course full of enthu. He asked us if we wanted Chai - I did - but I also knew that he was eager to show off his elevated tollway that that question was a mere formaility. The senior Arien then asked us to leave our car at his ofc and asked us to get into his Scorpio. The Arien was now full Khush.

Anyway, the Senior Arien started showing off the hi-fi tollway - first he showed us the 4-lane flyover that could easily accomodate most of the Electronic City traffic and improve their cuurent traffic situation. The lanes were indeed quite wide. I asked him what happens if there is an accident or someone has a breakdown. In a fast lane, that is usually a very frustrating moment. He showed us the laybyes created in case of a breakdown. We actually stopped at one of the laybyes. The driver signalled that others can carry on as most ppl slowed to watch us. There was space enough for at least 3 cars to be parked at the same time, at the laybye.

As we drove on, there was quite a few vehicles using the tollway and I jokingly asked the senior Arien if the project was on profit mode and he said that there were issues resulting in a hit on the profits. First of all, only a minority of the folks at Electronic City were actually using the tollway as opposed to the original plan. Second, folks who used their own transport seemed to consider the toll quite expensive. During the free run, everybody enjoyed escaping from the traffic chaos but when it came to paying up for the service, they were fewer takers. However, he expected this to change in a short span of time. Especially, when they notice the ease at which they can easily traverse the usually messy stretch. I also felt that it was just a question of time. No tollway is free. I recall in Mumbai also, we have these tolls and while it is a realtively new concept in Bangalore, I am sure it would pick up too.

The senior Arien also showed us the phone booths from where ppl cud call if there was a traffic jam, an accident, or if they needed some help. When we had visited, the phone was not yet connected. It still looked pretty hi-fi. I asked him why tht was required wen almost everyone has a cell phone these days. He explained tht most ppl are concerned 'bout their bills, incoming, outgoing etc. and so rather than assume tht one of the folks with a cell phone wud call, it was always better to have these bhooths. The logic made a lot of sense if you think for a moment that the person who may be at the juncture could be a driver of the Electronic City buses or can be a driver of these indicabs. I mean, we always assume someone will call, but usually, these drivers may have a mobile phone but may not be able to make any outgoing calls. Hmmm.. so that was taken care of as well.. Gr8!!

We neared the actual tolling booth and we watched the ppl drive past the booth, either driving too slowly or driving too fast. The folks standing around the booth, were having those lamp-cum-stick kinda thing which they waved to ask a speeding person to stop or a slowing down driver to keep moving. We stayed and watched for a while.

I think it is a boon who those who travel to Electronic City on a daily basis. For the others, it is more like a tourist spot - quite far away from the city but still who does not want to say - "Yes - I travelled on the 10-lane Elevated tollway. The first of its kind in Bangalore" - I sure do :)

We really wanted a Chai now as it was growing dark and so we did what we usually do - walked into Indiranagar's Shanthi Sagar for a hot cuppa of Chai and spent the next twenty minutes complaining 'bout how the standard of Chai at Shanthi Sagar had fallen. Have you been on the Elevated Tollway? Write to me 'bout your thots on it :)

Proud Owner of a Phatphatiya

Ok Ok.. so the Arien is the actual owner of the Phatphatiya. I am only the pillion rider when the Arien feels like it.. but Proud Pillion Rider of a Phatphatiya does not really sound like the title of a blog post, does it ... does it??

Anyway, last month, the Arien brought home the T-bird or the Phatphatiya. This has been one of his dreams and after having various mini-squabbles with me on the expense, do we really need this now, what 'bout ur CBZ - none of which fazed him - he took me to the showroom so we could drive it home, together. Two ppl cannot really drive it but the idea made me go aww... (Score for the Arien!) and so there I was with him at the showroom. For the folks who are bulbing, Phatphatiya aka T-bird is actually Thunderbird -- not the Ford Thunderbid which is a luxury car -- but the Royal Enfield Thunderbird Twinspark.

The Arien chose the silver coloured T-bird while I totally fell for the red one - shown here. The Arien realized on our first drive that he cannot drive it the way he drives his CBZ. After a month of driving, he tells me that the first month was akin to taming some wild beast. The bike is indeed quite powerful and heavy. You shd chk out his huuuggee smile as ppl openly gawk at the person driving the T-bird. As far me, well, I am the proud pillion rider of the T-bird. I have driven the CBZ but this is a whole new species, and I really don't want to test my skills on this beast.

Raavanan

First came the hype, then the Cannes fiasco - where Deepika outshone Ash and Ash was compared with Mallika Sherawat for speaking with an interesting accent. This was followed by the audio release, and then finally the release of the movie in two languages - Hindi and Tamil. The moment the movie was released, we were bombarded with quite a few bad reviews, surprisingly nasty reviews, and a few good reviews. With soo much going on, we decided not to catch the movie the weekend following the Friday when the movie released. So it was a week later, that we finally caught the movie.

The senior Arien was on a visit to Chennai to attend 1 wedding, 1 shashtiyapthapurthi, and 1 Upanayanam. Both the Taurean and self were not accompanying him because he was on a four-day break starting on a Wednesday. The weekend dawned bright and sunny and for the first time, the Taurean agreed to join us for Raavanan. Ya.. in the last week, we had decided tht Vikram was a safer bet in comparison to Aby baby.

Without further ado - I liked the movie. Vikram was the perfect choice for the role of Raavanan. As you probably know by now, the movie is based on the Ramayan. However, the interpretation of the story by Maniratnam was different and more believable. The cinematography was spectacular. Prithviraj was amazingly good-looking with a cool pair of shades and without his moustache. Priya Mani was good. Almost everyone except Beera (Raavanan) had a small role but their roles though small were meaningful and each actor did their bit well. Ranjita who was in the news for all the wrong reasons (Nityananda scandal) played the role of the wife of Khumbakarnan (Prabhu).

The first half was a chase - that seemed to go on forever. After the chase, the story was slower but not uninteresting. The falling off the cliff scene was well-done and for an Indian film, it was superb. However, considering tht most of us catch a lot of hollywood movies, you feel we still have a loong way to go. Case in point being the jumps performed by Karthik as Hanuman. Aishwarya is beautiful and manages to mouth some meaningful dialogues and honestly this is one of her better efforts. In some places, she lets out a few high-pitched shrieks or yells which is slightly painful on the ears :) All in all - worth a watch once - if only to blog 'bout it - but hey its really not tht baad as most of the reviewers are saying but its not an amazing piece of Art either as the director believes it is. Paisa-vasool.

PS: A R Rahman has done a fantastic job, again. As usual, it takes a while to like his songs but I liked Kedakkari and Usure Pogudhey a lot. Khalvare was awful and totally unnecessary. And instead of being beautiful - everything 'bout Khalvare or Kilire seemed forced.

And Thereby Hangs a Tale

.. is Jeffery Archer's latest offering of short stories. It is also the title of the second book that I purchased at the Odyssey Store at RMZ Infinity. I would like to blame my sudden book-buying impulses on Sir Jeffery Archer but thats not really true. It would be more appropriate to say that when I am in the book-buying mood, he has a new offering sitting on those shelves :) I remember buying Prisoner of Birth, almost a year ago. You can read my review of the book, here.

And Thereby Hangs a Tale consists of 15 short stories - of which 10 of them are based on true incidents according to the Author. While I completely enjoyed some of the stories, this truly did not meet the level, he had set for himself after A Twist in the Tale. For the folks who have read his earlier books, I am sure you agree with me. For the others, if any, I probably sound unfair.

Usually, the difficult part is picking a few of the stories but that was not as difficult as I thought. I liked the way the Author has handled "Why we never ask a woman her age?" in The Queen's Birthday Telegram. It seemed but natural that the story was based on a true incident. :) I also enjoyed the Double Cross, which had a nice twist at the end. Blind Date was a little too literal for my taste but I still liked it. The insurance hoax that was foiled by the wife of the investigator in the High Heels, was quite interesting. I felt very sorry for the Undiplomatic Diplomat and did not like Caste-Off all that much. Read up and share your view... Happy Reading :)

Theodre Boone

It was the Taurean's turn to treat and Sunday saw us at Indijoes on RMZ Infinity. Both the Arien and I have been to the place many times and enjoy the buffet there. I, however, prefer the one on Airport Road. However, after the Carlton fire incident, that is no longer an option anymore. We had never visited Indijoes on a Sunday and were surprised at the crowd. When we were told that it would be 20 mts before we wud get a table, we decided to visit the Odyssey store at RMZ. The Arien walked into Gold's Gym while the senior Arien, the Taurean, and myself gawked at the books at the store. I usually refrain from buying books because I have a membership with Eloor library. This time, however, I found myself buying not one but 2 books. One of them is Theodre Boone.

As soon as I got my books billed, the Arien and I walked up to Indijoes and spent about 10 mts wrangling with the lady who was sending folks in. Everyone was angry and she had no idea who had been sent in, when we could go in and ob. everybody was angry. The manager came in and attempted to settle things by which time the Taurean lost his temper. We decided to have lunch at the food court which was hardly crowded and walked to it in a huff. Suddenly, the manager called and asked us to come immediately - he had a table ready. We went, inspite of the Taurean's irritation. After gulping chaat and some of the starters, the Taurean was fine and started talking to the rest of us. He can be surprisingly cranky when you least expect it :) It was a lazy lunch and we were totally stuffed. All of us yearned for the minute we wud be bk at our homes so we cud crash till 6 pm. The Taurean took off to meet his frend, the senior Arien, the Arien, and myself returned home and crashed till 6 pm.

John Grisham's Theodre Boone is ok. Theodre, known to all as Theo, is a thirteen year old middle schooler who loves everything about the law. His parents are lawyers and so is his uncle, Ike. This book traces a week in the life of Theo which is also a very interesting week because of the murder trial taking place. Theo wants to miss school so he can spend all his time at the courthouse but his parents disagree. Everything changes, however, when Theo gets his hands on evidence that is very crucial to the case and enlists help from his uncle, Ike. However, the book is not gripping enough like The Client nor is it fast-paced like The Pelican Brief. The book falls short of expectations.

In fact, it gave me the feel-good moment that I have come to expect from an Enid Blyton detective series such as Famous Five, Secret Seven, and Five Find-Outers. I think that the role of the security guard or former Federal agent, Omar Cheepe, was not fleshed out. In fact, he was made out to be a bumbling agent somewhat identical to Mr. Goon, the policeman, in Five Find-Outers. I think the book can be the start of a brand-new lawyer series for young adults. It can be hugely successful as there are quite a few options to explore, such as: What did Ike do so many years ago tht he was de-barred? Omar Cheepe vs Theo? April Vs Hallie as a girlfriend? Illegal immigrants? Well, because of all that, I rate the book 2 stars. Do not buy, borrow from your nearest library :D

Robin Hood

On a boring Friday evening, the Arien and I decided that we needed to break the monotony of work-home-cookdinner routine by catching a movie. Though I wanted to watch another movie, I let him choose Robin Hood. So, there we were on a Friday, munching a burger at McDs and chatting as if there was no tomorrow. Amidst the bhaag-daud of the day-to-day routine, I always felt we are moving from Task 9 to Task 10. So, it was nice to have some time to ourselves before we lost ourselves in a movie. The Arien was also relaxed, became nostalgic, and soon we were both agreeing that this was one of the best ideas for an otherwise boring Friday. Naturally, I was all smiles - it was my idea :)

So, we walked into the Cinema Hall, well in advance, and made our way to the seats. I was telling the Arien 'bout the Robin Hood movie starring Kevin Costner and how we were all crazy 'bout him then. Also, Bryan Adams had scored the music for the movie or at least, scored the music for 1 song in the movie: Everything I do, I do it for you. The Arien wanted to know when it was released and I was shocked to realize that it was almost 16+ years ago!! Kevin Costner was so handsome. He was totally perfect for the role. I cud not remember much of the story except tht he was cmpltly drool-worthy :D

The Arien, of course, remembered the ridiculously funny spoof movie on Robin Hood which we had seen often on TV. I think it was titled "Men in Tights" or something like that. It was not funny in a subtle manner or clean enuf for family viewing but it was totally over-the-top, slightly crude, absolutely hilarious movie. Some scenes were totally scandalous but you still found it funny, which is the way most spoof movies are. Zee English used to telecast the movie earlier with all the objectionable scenes removed so that it was suitable for an Indian Audience. Hahaha!!

Well, now to the latest offering of Robin Hood. First thing that you must know, the plan is to probably have a sequel - maybe 2. So, this offering, introduces Robin Loxley or Longstride or whtever, to us. The actual thievery and taking-from-rich-and-giving-to-the-poor is yet to happen. Russel Crowe is not handsome in the regular way but his rugged look was totally worth-a-watch. The scenes between Russel Crowe and Cate Blanchett are amusing. The touch of humour does lighten things a bit. However, if, like us, you were waiting for the rob-rich-give-poor scenes, you will be in for quite a shock.

The movie is a tad slow. A touch of Mel Gibson's Brave Heart, Brad Pitt's Troy is quite evident in the fight scenes but they are the only portions which have any action. While, I would term it as an ole romantic tale with a bit of action thrown in. However, throw Russel Crowe and Cate into the story and you will be watching a piece of Art, maybe not a masterpiece but def worth a watch on the Silver Screen. Well, I give it 3 stars. Go watch!!

Rajneeti

The whole team was thirsting for a day out and after a lot of discussion we decided to do a lunch and a movie. The first discussion on the team outing started sometime in March and we finally came up with a date in June. Considering that the team was pretty small - we did not have to do the mail with voting buttons nor did we have to break our heads too much on which movie to catch. We all met for lunch and identified a Hindi movie that was being released on that day. Yup - Rajneeti.

Come Friday and all of us troop in with goofy smiles and lots of laughter. We are off for lunch before we know it, to Bamboo Shoots. We arrive there well ahead of time to find out that the restaurant is now known as Red Bamboo Shoots and it no longer has a buffet. Because we had split up in two groups, 4 of us arrived early and spent some time chatting till the others came. All the waiting and the chatting made us late for the movie - we lost 15 mts. In fact, we missed Naseeruddin Shah. It was only the next day wen I saw a poster of the movie which included him, tht I went - Oops!! We sneaked into the theatre during the Arjun Rampal scene and found our way to the Gold Class of Fame Shankarnag without making too much noise.

What I liked 'bout the movie:

• Amazing casting coup and each actor was chosen for the appropriate role who underplayed it perfectly - well, almost.
• Arjun Rampal was good. He was not his usual wooden self but played the role of an angry young man who has no control on the aggressive nature of his reactions - Score!!
• Only 2 songs - Score!!

What I did not like 'bout the movie:

• Katrina - a totally wrong choice for the role; all the hype involving her Hindi - she has a total of 3 scenes in the movie and none of them are note-worthy - with or without her spouting Hindi
• Because it was based on the Mahabharata, there was nothing unpredictable in the movie - no twists and turns - nothing unexpected which makes the movie a bit boring considering it is a loooong one.
• It had all the ingredients to make the movie fantastic but falls short. Is not hard-hitting enuf and you can watch the movie as a disconnected Audience which is where the movie fails.

A Nose is a Nose is a Nose

It all started with the conversation 'bout a nose. Me and a frend who is pretty conscious 'bout her lean, pointy nose, were walking along the corridor that has all the cabins of the top management folks when she made some remark 'bout her nose, yet again. That was it. I came up with a bizzare comment as a follow-up and soon we went on and on and on and on till we were both giggling hysterically and trying hard to supress the giggles when all of a sudden, we both froze. The Head of the Engineering team had jes turned the corner and was curious to know what was so funny. Naturally, we were at our stutterring, stammering best. He let us struggle for a bit longer before smiling and walking away.

How many times have you had these absolutely crazy conversations with frends where you make up stuff tht is absolutely ridiculous, in fact, bordering-on-insanity kinda stuff that has you both in splits? No?? Not since 4th standard? Do you folks consider that kind of behavior rather Immature, Inappropriate, and a lot of other init cap words?

I, however, cannot remember a single friendship that did not have the goofy aspect. The potent combination of a goofy frend, a conversation that becomes a contest2win on who can say the bizarrest of things, a location where talking is a sin and laughing aloud is pure evil, has resulted in so many amusing incidents that they honestly deserve to be shared. But, the one thing I noticed 'bout these incidents, is that when you try to recall what was so funny or say some of the actual lines or even share the incident with someone else - the incident completely ceases to be funny for everybody including you.

When we tried to actually share the entire dialogue 'bout the nose, the team attempted a very fake convincing laughter, somewhat like the background laughter in sitcoms, which honestly, was a beeg pain for us to watch. And thus ended the story of a nose is a nose is a nose :)

Vathal Khozhambu and Paruppu Usli

It was a lazy, relaxed saturday and the Arien was in a mood to cook. Now, for a really looong time, I have been wanting to prepare two of my favorite dishes but because I have no idea how to prepare them - it has been forever in my wishlist. And now suddenly, it looked like I might actually get my wish fulfilled. I immediately took this opportunity of coaxing the Arien to help me prepare those dishes.

The first action item on my list was to find the proper recipe. Naturally, I searched for the recipe online. After rejecting quite a few recipes b'cos they did not seem like the recipe that my mum used, I finally found a recipe that according to me was pretty good, at: http://iyercooks.blogspot.com/

The second action item involved hunting for the necessary ingredients. I coaxed the Arien to accompany me on my grocery shopping b'cos he can rapidly lose interest in a plan if he is not involved in every aspect. We opted to include either sundakkavathal or manathakkali for the Kozhambu. I remembered that periamma used to include black channa in the Khozhambu which made it very tasty. So, that was def going to be part of my Khozhambu. For the paruppu usli curry, it was usually prepared with Kothavaranga (cluster beans) but the Arien wanted to opt for beans instead. That was fine with me.

As soon as I walked into the store, I picked out Vadam, Rose milk essence, and started looking around for some other interesting stuff forgetting tht I was here for my vathal(s). Thats how I shop and most folks get very upset with my shopping behavior.. the Arien is used to it, by now.

After slogging away in the kitchen for almost 2 hours, Vathal Khozhambu and Paruppu Usli curry was finally ready for our consumption. By then, we were terribly hungry. Well, it did not taste like any other khozhambu I had had - it had its very own unique taste. The best part was that we both liked it inspite of the fact that it was not our best attempt. The Arien said that after a few more attempts, we will actually get it just right and I can actually invite my junta for a critical eval. That is high praise coming from the Arien and so I stopped and did my bing dance :D

Quick Start Ya Kick Start

It was one of those days when nothing went as per plan.... I overslept and was running late, breakfast of Rava Idli(s) fell flat - I mean literally flat, the Arien is trying not to throw a fit b'cos his breakfast has been killed by me, the maid saunters in late and I am all ready to pull out my hair in frustration. Its also an important day at work for me, I really must complete a lot of work before EOD and naturally, tht thot is running inside my head as a parallel track while I try hard to focus on what is currently going on. By the time I wave a bye to the Arien, and send off the maid, I am wondering if I have to go to work?? Within 25 mts, I am all set to leave - when the door misbehaves.

I spend 15 minutes, trying to get the key to turn left and it is stuck. My fingers are red with the effort, perspiration is oozing down my face, and I wonder if I should work from home instead of trying to close the door. Some one comes down the stairs and stares. His face is bright pink in colour - he has been playing with colours for Holi. He rings the doorbell of the flat opposite mine and I really wish I could jes ask him to help me but my ego is acting up today and so "UNNNGGHHHHHeeeeee ... Bloddy Hell!" continues.

I hear a soft "Do you want some help?" and I turn arnd to see the pink guy standing in the doorway of my neighbour's house, staring at me with a smile. "Ego-shmego" I smile and say "Yess". The pink guy now goes back into the house and asks for paper so that the pink colour does not stick on my door knob, door, etc. He needn't have bothered - all I needed was a lil help. Anyway, he came back and together we managed to lock the door. The moment I saw the key turn, I am already half-way down the stairs - yelling "Thanks a lot" over my shoulder.

I rush to my bike, put on my helmet (no more fines, ppl) and the bike totally refuses to start. Makes a whole lot of weird noises which slowly get lower and have soon reached the range of Kaatruthaan Kavaradhoo. I am not really sure what I must do. In all this confusion, the security guard at our apartment shouts out "Madamaa - scooter start illa??" followed by a smile. Irritated at his comment, I furiously attempt to kick-start the Honda Activa, only to find my "Illa" drowning in the sound of the engine vrr..vRRR.. VRRRng away. I jump on and ride happily out of the basement to the security guard's absolute astonishment.

When I got to work, I found out that the release had moved. Yeah Yeah - Yippe Yippe - Yeah Yeah! I can actually take it easy. Hoo! Hoo! Huoovahoo!! A colleague walks into my cube and comments on my celebrating Holi and while I am staring at her in a quizzical manner, I notice that my hands are bright pink, and I have smudges on my face, neck, duppata of a brilliant mittai pink colour. I rush to the rest room to check on the extent of damage - thankfully, that was all. When the pink guy returned the key, the colour probably stuck to my key resulting in my mess. Grrr..

I won an Award

A few days ago, my pal, Nishita, added a comment that

she had an award for my blog. I did my funny dance in my cube. One of the best things about an award is that you instantly feel good. On a blaaah day, it is especially nice to receive an award. For a while now, I have been on a break from my blog... ya ya, I have this whole gamut of excuses on why I have not been blogging. Honestly, they sound lame to my ears. Receiving this award made me realize how much I miss blogging on a regular basis. My blog has been like a confidant, a close friend, who knows what goes on in my life and lends silent support. I have been missing this frend for a loong time not knowing what I was missing.

The award has made me change my mind and make a go at updating my blog at frequent or not-so-frequent intervals, from now on. Another good thing about awards is that you can pass it on and thats like the bestest part. I would like to share the blogger buddy award with the following 5 frends:

• My Adorable Pancreas
• My Squiggle
• Kickstart
• In Singapore
• Work and Life

..... I am back :D