How NOT to How TO

Bored/frustrated cat seen watching the world passing by. The world took a pic and uploaded it. Looks like the world is bored and frustrated aswell. hmm.. does that count as a metaphor?

The earlier post
How not to ask her phone number, if I am honest is supposed to be followed up with other lessons like:
How not to call her up
How not to email her and
How to avoid lame jokes in emails.

But NO, the posts wont be coming anytime soon. Because after each goof up I am still trying. And I am hell bent on writing something positive ONLY.
Something appreciable as iam known to give up pretty quick in certain areas ;) This is a social experiment afterall :))

Have had a rather interesting past few weeks, one being the disco dandiya 2008. music sure is the purest form of the drug. enjoyable evening. Sightings include Guys who seem to have spent their life savings on Hair Gel, Hair colors, Hair clips and piercings. Girls.. well, pretty girls ;). Families, children, a fine day where iam sure all ages enjoyed.
Was the show a bit disorganised. Yes.
Was there booze at the venue. No.

Other recent developments is that my long held belief that bollywood produces only trash has changed a bit. Saw Mumbai meri jaan and Rock On. Very good movies. About TZP going to Oscars , sad. we can do better than that! I mean TZP was good, but not so good.

Trying to take a week off to visit India soon. Hope it happens.

Hero Honda - Harley tie up Mock Posters

more lame posters!...

Posters for a Health Club Equipments Co

These are kind of lame!! i know...

Posters created for propsed rally at Bangalore

How NOT to ask her number

conversation

her : hi, whats your telephone number, we need it for the...xyz
me : its ***-*******.
her : ok, whats the name of your.... we are making a list.
me : well, we havent confirmed it yet, why don't you give me your number, I will let you know when we have decided.
her : er.. no its ok, I will call you and then you can tell me.

what the hell! why are Indian femmes so paranoid ?! :)

Holy Month, Learning Samskritam!

a quick word blog,
sorry for neglecting you for so long. Was busy for quite sometime.. finished 5 projects this year.. yea.. work... sh*t! Had clicked Aug 15 celebrations pics at IHS, but didnt upload. Had clicked Onam celebrations, didnt upload...
k, enough of the useless ranting.

Since Mom is not here, Onam wasn't exciting enough. Still, got to eat the best ada pradhaman in dubai, thanks to a cousin's exceptional skills!(not as good as Amma's ofcourse) but thats not whats 'Happening' now! the happening is mentioned below!!

Its Ramadan, the holy month, I have been skipping lunch everyday! more important: Have been attending Sanskrit classes.. right here in Dubai! (Samskritam :) for almost a week now, well it can also be described as a beginner's workshop. Thanks to the Samskrita Bharati people, the volunteers etc. Its fantastic.
Mama Achaarasya Naama Vasuvaj! and he is a fantastic guy! Till now he has spoken only in Sanskrit and we understand everything. One thing is how well he expresses, other i believe is as he mentioned, Sanskrit is in our blood. I agree completely. The classes are interesting, with students being asked to write scripts, act it out etc. and did I mention the pretty girls? yup.. Swami Saranam ;)
The occult has always fascinated me, maybe this would be a stepping stone, plus now all the shlokas would mean something more!! One thing i learnt today that Maarjaara means cat, that explains "meesha maarjaaran" in that comic! wow hehehe!!!

cannot finish this post without a reference to Oppenheimer, that one quote from the Gita,

If the radiance of a thousand suns were
to burst at once into the sky,
that would be like the splendor of the mighty one.
Now I am become Death,
the destroyer of worlds.

Not a perfect translation, a good one though. If you want to read more about this particular part of his life, whether he did say it etc.. here's a good link. for more about him, wiki is good enough.
Its interesting that this man was proficient in Sanskrit, but then.. arent they all? its just the Indians who dont get it!!!.. and yes i have an obsession with both WWs esp the Germans in WW2.

meanwhile, ba$tards struck in Delhi yesterday, many many people died, I will not give space to that in the blog. prayers.

meanwhile, Aham Samskritam Padaami ... :)

_________________________________________________________________
useful link : http://www.samskritabharati.org/sb/

santosh madhavan - amritachaitanya

This guy is rocking Kerala right now.

Story unfolds like an old superhit movie. infact the swami here too has taken enough pictures of himself ala Dr.Narendra Prasad. Taking things few steps further, our guy sits on tigerskin at puja time. bravo!

Unlike the movie though there is no super hero police officer. Last heard the swami has managed to escape.

3 cheers for amritachaitanya !!

the lady who speaks from dubai against the swami sounds equally fraud! enough spice for the malayali to discuss over tea. someday if the truth unfurls, its going to be very very interesting.

meanwhile

innathe chintha vishayam -

a saint can be a rascal but a rascal can never be a saint !!!

save tibet- making a T shirt

trying to do my part. It wasnt very difficult. If it would make atleast one person think about the issue, thats good enough.
peace.

Seen in Satwa- bed space available

seen in satwa. roadside poster for a "bed space" available. this picture effectively removes having to write "keralite" preferred.
usual ads seen are specific about which nationality, region, language, religion and occasionally caste of people preferred.

cats

seen outside workplace!!

truth does not triumph

"Democracy and liberalism are not a sufficient defence and this is a fact that the ideologues of ‘freedom’ need, equally, to comprehend. There is a fatal flaw in the liberal mind. Having established, in structure and form [though seldom in substance], a system of governance that corresponds to its conception of democracy, it feels that nothing more needs to be done. The ‘Truths’ of the liberal ideology are, as the American Declaration on the Rights of Man expresses it, ‘Self Evident’. They require no proof, no reiteration, and no defence - certainly no defence by force of arms. Once democracy [or even the ritual of quinquinneal elections] is established, according to liberal mythology, the mystical ‘invisible hand’ keeps everything in place; the ‘superior wisdom of the masses’ ensures order and justice...

This is just so much rubbish. As we should know after living with falsehoods for fifty years now. Truth does not triumph; unless it has champions to propound it, unless it has armies to defend it."

K P S Gill

Punjab: The Knights of Falsehood

god is dead

God is dead. God remains dead. And we have killed him. How shall we comfort ourselves, the murderers of all murderers? What was holiest and mightiest of all that the world has yet owned has bled to death under our knives: who will wipe this blood off us? What water is there for us to clean ourselves? What festivals of atonement, what sacred games shall we have to invent? Is not the greatness of this deed too great for us? Must we ourselves not become gods simply to appear worthy of it?
– Nietzsche, The Gay Science, Section 125,

WIKI - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/God_is_dead

images of far far away

Just a few more of the pictures i had taken when in India, will update even more whenever possible. the pictures were taken with all liberties that my nokia would allow. Someday I will buy an SLR.. ahh!!






This is the backside wall of the sanctum sanctorum, of Sri Lakshmanaswamy Temple.












This picture was taken from the backyard of Kizhumury Kaavu.









This is again a snap from the inside of the 'Kaavu'.

Idea Star Singer Asianet.. riggings, arrogance,.. Swami Saranam

A friend sent me a much forwarded mail about the supposed 'Thatippu' in the idea cellucom sponsored "reality show". I googled to findout that I am among the last few to know about the riggings.

Here are links to articles and forums on the same, thanks to people who have taken the effort to scream out the truth... the posts are dipped in typical malayali sarcasm and 'wit'.
One very valid point that the guys have thrown up.. if it is a reality show.. votes matter.. the judges had no business asking Sanni NOT to ask for votes.Like most I too am hooked to the Sannidhanam charm, I like the guy's simplicity and humility. I liked a couple of others too,
about the others.. giggling ranjini.. arrogant sarath.. well who cares.

http://www.ideastarsingerforum.com/
its appreciable the way "apache" has been tracking the whole show. Nope he isnt offering unbiased judgement, he is spitting venom at whhom he doesnt like and cheering his favs, makes it worth running through..
Who wants an unbiased..blah blah review about a reality show anyway. Let the riots begin.

http://www.simplymalayalees.com/forum_posts.asp?TID=35&PN=1
another nice place discussing the next big thing after they came up with democracy.. SMS votes.. sweet..
To my credit, i have been cheap enough not to waste precious paise on ISS space XYZ... (pls pls plsssss vote cheyyuuuu....)

What is really impressive is the Huge Marketing Machine that makes this thing tick. As I am typing this the idea guys n gals are peppering the Ujala Asianet Film Awards with their songs n dance. I am happy for a different reason, Lalettan has won again, (as if we need Asianet or Ujala to say that..the hearts were won long back...lol!)

back in kerala - loving it

I reached kerala 3 days back. So far its been pretty busy.

Met my Grandmas.. both are quite alrite except for the old age part.

My cousin got married yesterday and I feel so happy for him. He is too great a guy and unfortunately God put quite a lot of troubles all around him. anyways hope the future holds great days ahead!

the wedding wasnt the usual super extravagant stuff that i see, it was simpler and in certain areas there was that element of sincerity which was heartwarming. Booze flowed all around and everyone had sheepish smiles and big grins on. well, whatever makes you happy ;).

Sad part for kids who have studied away from hometown or 'native place' is meeting relatives, 'close relatives'...and not knowing exactly who they are.

You put on your sincerest smile and speak to them, and then look around desperately for someone to come and help you out.

Nice, A has seen your misery and is coming towards you, A walks straight to you, smiles at 'unknown' and asks you "Da ninakku manasilaayille ?" Didnt you recognize (this person). You think deep inside.. well if i did, would i have made such a lost dog face that brought you here in the first place. but you continue the game "Manasilaaayi, pakshe krithyamaayi parayaan patunilla... kandu nalla parijayam umm..err...mmm" Ofcourse i know, but i cant place exactly (the person), have seen so many times.. umm..err..mmm

After the stage has passed when unknown makes sure how bad it feels that I didnt know him/her. This is usually the same stage when your face resembles a nice red tomato.. Unknown is now Known... greetings are exchanged.. and you move on..

Ahh great your ma is introducing you to unknown 2... Ma is doing A's part herself.. how sweet!

This game goes on till you are back home...

I hate it and feel real bad that i dont know so many wonderful people. I wish i knew them better. thats one side of the weddings part, you get to meet people you should be knowing!

wonder if this post makes much sense..

another silly post - the pursuit of happyness

What makes you happy?

• Watching your lil 9 month old nephew on the yahoo video window, hoping that he recognizes your voice.
• Cosying up in bed watching rain fall lightly outside, a nice book in hand, maybe a cup of warm coffee aswell.
• Knowing from your uncle back home, your grandma is waiting to see you.
• Doing something that you are sure would make your mom proud, and wait for her to hear about it from someone else, and then act like its no big deal (forget the amount of hardwork and planning).
• Watching Dad grinning after his 'n'th beer. :)
  
• Watching the guy you dislike goof up on something.... if its happening in public, all the more better.
• Checking your mail religiously to find that yes, that cute one has replied!!

Many things come to mind, many many things. I could think of a million things that make me happy, or atleast keep me not-sad. Its interesting that most of it revolves around 'other people'. Near and dear ones, or the opposite.
Isn't there any way that God expects people to be happy without another person coming into the picture?

weed? hmm...

the play begins

its been a long long time, observing from the sidelines.
watching the world pass, busy, scary, sweet.... a million thoughts darted through, here and there..
trying to channel them. trying to focus.
learning to face the world.

all that s gold, does not glitter..
all who wander, are not lost..
-- JRR Tolkein


happy new year