Blogathon post 10: The written word

While cleaning the cup-board in the morning, I found this: a letter that I had written to A in 2008.

After spending few joyous minutes wondering about the contents, my favorite pen (Waterman!) and the mood while writing the letter, it was a bittersweet realisation that the letter writing habits have diminished over time. Scrap the fancy word, they are practically non-existent now. 

Whose letters have made your memory? Mine have been made by Suba, my BFF who meticulously wrote letters detailing out most of the school incidents and Aarthi, who would end all of hers with cartoons and jokes.

Good 'ol times!!

Blogathon Post 7: You know you are a south-Indian when you:

1. Can survive on home-brewed coffee dicoction for days on end.
2. Skip a heartbeat or two on hearing "Kurai Ondrum Illai".
3. Had a crush on Aravind Swamy.
4. Are possessive about SPB, AR Rahman, Asin and Siddharth. 
5. Get used to:
1. explaining our different name spellings - "Yes, there is an 'h' in there. No, we don't have an 'h' in everything".
2. retorting on - "You don't look like a South Indian".
3. busting the myth of "I thought South Indians had curd rice everyday."
6. End up having Pongal, Idli and Dosa for breakfast every other day, whether you like it or not.
7. Enjoy educating, and giving the recipe of dosai molagai podi.
8. Have at least 10 relatives in IT and/or settled abroad.
9. Believe that South Indian Marriage food/Kalyana Sapadu is beyond comparison to that of any other region/community. 
10. Think that if it is a saree, it should be kancheepuram silk.

Blogathon Post 6: Top 15 Book-ish Moments

The simplest of  books can pack a very impactful moment or two. While the book as a whole may have been forgotten (or moth eaten), a single line, para or scene remains etched in our memories forever. 

My personal top 15 such scenes include:
1. Gone with the wind: 
Scarlett O'Hara tearing the curtain to make her dress.
In the very first scene, Scarlett sitting with the twins in the sunlight.

2. Rebecca:
Maxim patting his wife's head absent-mindedly (like one would pat a puppy).

3. A Thousand Splendid Suns: 
The ceasarean birth of the protaganist's son without an Anaesthetic

4. Kite Runner:
The protaganist finally finding the boy in ghonngroo n dancing.

5. And The Mountains echoed: 
The separation of the brother and the sister.
The final scene - Alzheimer's is my worst fear, second only to paralysis.

6. The Lord Of The Rings: 
Legolas seeing the Balrog for the first time ("Ui! Ui! A Balrog!").
The Ent's song.

7. Game of Thrones:
Jaime's multiple utterances of "Things I do for love", each having a different context and meaning.
The death of Tywin Lannister.
Cersei's walk of shame, and the final scene between Petyr, Sansa and Lysa in Ice & Fire

8. Tell me your dreams:
The realisation by the investigators that that all the three are actually... the same. 

9. The Satanic verses:
Eating the fish - bones and all.
The "Taka Tun Taka Tun" Song by Gabriel as he falls.

10.A Fine Balance:
The worm in the stomach, it's extradition and the final weight gain. (For a long time, I believed I had the same issue)

11. The Picture of Dorian Grey:
The disposal of the body so that no trace of it remained - I thought it was a creative leap by the author, until "Breaking Bad" happened.

12. Twilight:
The first time Bella saw Edward - Nowhere close to my love story, but in a parallel world, I can imagine being that smitten by Ashwin since he is like the epitome of my dream man.

13. One hundred years of solitude:
The trail of blood - Such a fantastical (and creepy) notion.

14. The Six Cousins:
Rodderick's shoe cleaning obsession - I have a similar obsession, so can imagine why Roddy enjoyed it so much!

15. The world according to Garp:
The car accident - I just couldn't get over it, close second to the Thousand Splendid Suns scene which gave me a lot of sleepless nights.

Are there any that stand out in your memory?

Blogathon Post 4: The Train Retorts

We get to hear the weirdest things in train, and better yet, say the most shocking things before we can stop ourselves. Here are some common phrases said and heard:

• Bachon ke saath chadte kyun ho? (Why do you board train with kids?)

• Bewakoof ho kya? (Are you dumb?)

• Itna chipakne mei kya mazaa aata hai? (What pleasure do you get out of gluing yourself to me?)

• Sab jaanwar banein to jarrori nahi na ki hum bhi ban jaayein.(If others are behaving like animals, doesn't mean that we behave like one.)

• Baal aage le loh, meri naak mei jaa raha hai. (Keep your hair in front - it's getting in my nose.)

• Arre, upar to pakad lo - mei armrest thodi na hun? (I am not your armrest - hold the links above.)

• Itne aaram se baithe ho, chai laaon kya?? (Sitting so comfortably, shall I bring tea for you??)

• Haath Neeche! (Hands down!)

• Joote utar ke paav seat pe rakho Aunty! (Keep your leg on the seat after removing slippers Aunty.)

• Hato ek minute, khidki se kachara phek deti hun. (Move - I have to throw the garbage out of the window.)

• Thoda sarak ke baithon na. (Sit tight no?)

• Mera teen saal ka beta hai - aap to usse bhi jyada ziddi ho. (You are more stubborn than my three year old son)

• A: Meherbani karo - hame jane do. B: Hum kya picchar (movie) dekhne aaye hai?? (A: I request you to let me go. B: Do you think we are here to see movies??)

In case you were wondering, the ones in green were uttered by yours truly. 

PS: The lack of posts over the weekend shall be compensated. Somehow. I hope! :D

Blogathon Post 2 - The real story

Once upon a time, in a small village in Tamil Nadu, a boy named Rama Chandra Hari Shiva got friendly with an ape and named him Rachahashi. Rachahashi was  very sweet and friendly, and Rama quickly formed a strong bond with him.

Source: Telegraph

He was also very lithe and agile, and like all the members of his species, enjoyed climbing and jumping from one tree to another. Rama tried to warn him about the dangers of his monkeying around, but to no avail. 
The inevitable happened when the cap-seller came to the town, and decided to sleep under the tree where Rachahashi was playing with other monkeys. After the cap-seller executed his master plan, all the monkeys threw their caps. Unlike them however, the ape, in his excitement, immediately jumped to catch his cap, and fell face down with a huge Thud. 

Rama, crying uncontrollably, took him to the nearest vet. The nurse was patient until she saw that the pet was an ape and Rama was holding a tooth larger than an average human’s. 
“Ok, What’s that?” She asked, angrily. 
“That’s the tooth he broke.” Rama spluttered. 
“GET OUT OF HERE. Don’t you realise what you have done?” 
“But this is my turn…” 

Rama was then aware of a commotion inside the doctor’s room. The door banged open. The nurse looked nervous and told the gaunt figure standing there, “But Doctor, he didn’t know...” She stopped as she caught a sight of him. 
The doctor was pale as a ghost as he stared at the nurse, Rama, Rachahashi and the tooth. He then gave a thin screech and ran out of his clinic, into his car and drove off at breakneck speed. 
“What the hell was that?” Rama asked. 
The Nurses tut-tuted, opened a tube of fevicol, and generously applied inside the ape's mouth. 
“Don’t you know the famous adage?” She asked. 
“Which one?” 
“That an Ape-Pallu* a day keeps the doctor away?" She asked, as she stuck the tooth back in. 
Rachahashi gave a gummy smile, while Rama pondered at his life of fruity misconceptions.


*Pallu means tooth in Tamil.

Blogathon Post 1 - New Year's Eve

2013 had been, in general, good for me. Granted, I can’t think of a single significant event in the year that would change the course of my life in the foreseeable future (The Child was already born, The Husband was as loving as ever, no job changes and no filing for bankruptcy). But more importantly, I can’t think of a single untoward event that made us unhappy. That’s something that few people can boast about and we had to celebrate that. 

Source: Rediff

So, Ahaan and I got one of those Pillsbury ReadyMade Cakes (Yes, we are THAT lazy!) . We came home, had our milk and coffee, and got to work. He sat on the Kitchen Counter, opened the packet and poured it in the container. He broke the eggs while I mixed the batter. He licked it periodically to ensure that the taste was up to the mark, buttered the baking pan, and we kept it in the oven. 30 minutes later, the fruit of our labour was enthusiastically admired, while we excitedly waited for the Man of the House to come back from office and cut the cake with us.  The cake was universally declared to be "Yummy Yummy" and we went off to sleep. 

About 70% of my essence is restlessness. I have to always.do.something.super-exciting, and keep making plans and counter-plans. I am so glad that the restless me took a backseat this year-end. A simple baking time on new year’s eve, pancakes on new year and some quality time catching up with friends made me realise that I couldn't have celebrated this in a better way. 
That sounds incredibly boring, but I have a feeling that of all my new year celebrations, I am going to remember 2014's for a very long time.