An Award

Raji.U, my fellow blogger friend has honored me with a blogger award. Thanks Raji!

On 'love'...

I was talking to few of my friends here and I was asked to define this :) Here is what I said:
It's a bliss to possess...
And a curse to lose...

What do u say? ;)

World of surprises...:)

I love surprises, in a positive sense though. Be it giving a surprise or getting surprised, it's always a delight :) Few sample surprises are here:
1. It is your B'day...And as usual, you would be thinking what your friends are going to do to make the day special and they will be normal like any other day making you wonder what's wrong. And you leave the place not knowing what will happen and when you reach your hostel, someone calls you from behind and take you to beach where all your other friends are there with a blackforest cake that you love waiting for you to cut it and they can dress you up with cake...not with the eggs and tomatoes but with the buttery, creamy cake which you loved to eat but ended up all over your face and you look like a clown in the beach :)
2. Your friend emails you saying that one of his friends is coming to your place and he can get something for you and give it through him. And you don't know when his friend is coming and one fine day, you are there in the canteen sipping coffee with friends and there comes the devil...your friend himself handing over gifts and chocolates :) And you have your mouth wide open with your eyes showing an unbelievable sense...
3. You are there practising for a cultural show and busy in getting the costumes...And when you enter your work place, people come running to you and hug you and few others wishing you on a well deserved promotion. And you are like 'What? Me?' and you rush to look at the email and call your family to tell the good news :)
4. You are with your friends on some award function at workplace. You did not know that you would be called to come on stage for more than 3 times to get the awards and the chief guest who gives the awards
whispers in your ears 'You need not go from here. I am sure that the next one will also go to you. Don't waste your energy by going back and forth..you can stand here till the awards get over' and you give a great smile with pride :)
5. You come off stage after dancing and about to grab some dinner at the buffet. And there comes few unknown faces towards you shooking hands with you saying that they loved seeing you dance on stage and asks you where you get all this energy from :) You never knew you were such a delight to watch in dancing...
6. There's this big event where few celebrities have been invited. Not knowing that one of your most favorites is going to come and perform on stage, you were for a surprise when you hear that name and you run close to the stage to show how crazy you are :)
7. You come home and check the mail box where in you received a package and you think it was the one that you ordered. But, when you open it, you see something else and come to know that it was a gift for you in advance for your birthday and you feel so happy for getting a gift in surprise :)
8. You go home without intimating parents for their 25th wedding anniversary. In addition to that, you hand over a small gift where in there is a gold ring for your mother and a watch for your dad. Your mom never worn a ring before other than on special occasions and you dad has been wearing that old watch for more than a decade...And you look at their eyes which is filled with tears out of joy....
9. You have a group of friends whom you are meeting after an year. You casually chit chat with them and after few minutes, you give a big round box and you friends are like 'What's this?' and when they open and see a big collage with you grouped with everyone. And they come and hug you...:)
10. You prepare a CD with the unforgettable moments, you get a saree, you decorate your friend's house for his/her b'day or wedding day...all that as a surprise...Who will not cherish these moments?

I started writing and did not want to edit after completion. So leaving it as it is...I know there are lots of past/present tense mixes...if there's a grammatical mistake, it came out in a flow...so, excuse :)

When taking a gift is a cherishable moment, giving and seeing the 'happiness' in one's eyes/face is more than anything in the world...Although all these moments happened years ago, it's still fresh in the mind. I had been in 'cloud nine' moments but never had been in a moment where I can say 'Now, I feel that I am on top of this world'... :):)

The 'four'some :)

It's been quite sometime since I wrote anything. I have been thinking what to write...devoid of ideas :) But now that I have been tagged, I am happy. The credit of 'tagging' me goes to my blogger friend Raji.
Now on the tag...

Four places I have lived (not in any particular order):
Madurai
Chennai
Cleveland
Colorado Springs

Four T.V shows that I love(d) to watch (not in any particular order):
Each for a person in particular although I love these series :)
F.R.I.E.N.D.S - For Ross and Phoebe
C.S.I Miami - For Adam Rodriguez
Are you smarter than a 5th grader? - For Alana Ethridge
Airtel Super Singer - For the passion on music :)

Four places that I have been on vacation:
Alapuzha
Bangalore
Philadelphia
Madurai (of course ;))

Four of my favourite food items:
I spent more time in thinking what to write here than the other columns :) That does not mean I do not eat well...I do!
Rava Dosa
Pizza
Rumali Roti
Aapam

Four websites that I visit daily:
Huh...I visit more websites than these, a day but confining to the # 4:)
greatday.com
weather.com
entrepreneur.com
sify.com

Four places I would rather be (not in any particular order of preference):
Italy (After watching Robert Langdon and Sophie Nevue's cryptographic attempts in 'Angels and Demons' ;))
Singapore (To see the standard of living in a clean city like this)
Bahamas (of course, for the beaches)
London (To watch a live cricket match @ Lords)

Four things I hope to do before I die..... (not in any particular order):
Like Morgan freeman and Jack Nicholson does in 'The Bucket list', I have my own :)
Paragliding
Form a musical band
World tour
Write a book

Four novels/books I wish I was reading for the first time:
In the order of my favorites although its been ages since I read it :)
It's your ship - by Michael Abrashoff
Catch me if you can - by Frank Abnagale Jr.
The Greatness Guide - by Robin Sharma
Five point someone - by Chetan Bhagat

Four movies that I can watch over and over again:
One for showing the meaning of love, one for giving the meaning of life, one for showing what persistence is, one for making me emotional throughout (in this particular order)
Alaipayuthey
Anbae Sivam
Cast away
Taare Zameen Par

Four people I believe will respond to this tag:
Raji, Saranya, Anusha and myself (responding to their comments :))

Connexions - Part I

After a break, I feel rejuvenated and relaxed :) Three weeks before when I was boarding flights to reach India, I felt so weird that I did not have the amount of excitement that I anticipated. I felt like I was jus going to a trip to Seattle or LA nearby ;) Usually when I travel anywhere, I just dream about how the trip is going to be and how I wanted it to be (the reason I call myself a powerful dreamer ;)) but this time, I was just browsing through movies and ended up watching 4 movies amidst the food served and a small siesta in between. The crew members were very handsome and that took some time too...jus kidding! While I was sitting on the lounge before boarding flights, there was a cute kid who came to me and was playing for a while. Then got introduced to a very proficient english speaking tamil paati who belongs to Chennai but was here in CA for her son's graduation. She was telling me about her world tour and what makes her like the place I live now - Colorado Springs. She indeed specified few places here which I had no clue about...Wat a shame :( I was telling her that one of my dreams is to go for a world tour and visit as many places as I can. Although it may not be possible for a world tour, I told her that I would love to visit Europe and Singapore which looks like a feasible case. Her english was too good that I myself thought that I should keep in touch with books else I would end up lacking a good vocabulary...Grabbed the Norman Lewis's 'Word power made easy' book from home after :) After landing in Chennai, I totally forgot her and was busy with the immigration formalities but she did come to me and wished me good luck. Such good personalities do exist in this world...After she left, I thought I should have got her email id to keep in touch with her but failed to do so...

That was about the to journey :) In return, got introduced to a man who works in Louisiana in IT and we were talking about Mainframes and Databases...I did not want to have a technical conversation and slowly it
turned to a personal formal conversation for few mins after which I slept. He did wish me good luck too...

In between these to and fro journeys, there were few other trips to Chennai and Bangalore by air. Most of my friends were making fun of me that I have become so sophisticated that I don't even come by bus or train and just choose to fly even if it's Chennai or Bangalore. It was not a show off...I don't know if it I can do that in the coming years, so my point is when I have the luxury and if it's time saving, I will definitely choose that option and that's the reason here too. But I took pride in telling my dad that I have used almost all the flight services in India and abroad - Kingfisher, Jet Airways, Paramount and Emirates, British Airways, Lufthansa :) Next time if I have the same luxury, I would try some other service...Being an avid reader of Seth godin's principles of marketing and other funda, I remembered reading a column of his about the customer feedback and did provide the same to all those services I used in India. I did receive some of the 'Thank you' notes from those services.

When I went to India last time, I could not notice the differences that people asked about but this time, I was apt with answers. Some of those looked sheepish when I thought about it later. Few of those here:
1. Reached B'lore and was looking at my watch to see what time zone should I set it to...(Rombave too much dhaan but I dont know why I thought so :))
2. Got into a Volvo AC bus in B'lore and when the conductor asked for 'four fifty', I grabbed a note from my wallet and gave Rs. 10 thinking that it's dead cheap for a Volvo AC bus like this for 4 rupees and 50 paise until
I noticed the conductor laughing for a while and said 'Madam, four hundred and fifty rupees for 3 of u'. My friends and I couldn't control laughter and so as the conductor :)
3. I was saying 'Hi' to everyone I see on the street, shops. People would have thought that I am some nut case :)
4. While riding on bike with friends at Chennai, was constantly telling them that they are not following the traffic rules and signals and they are speeding :) For which friends said, 'Vaaya mooditu variya illa erakki
vitruven...Idhu US illa...' I realised the essence later and could only laugh about it :)

There are so much more to come in this way....But the greatest thing on this trip is I met almost all my friends ranging from School friends, College friends and Work friends from India. And I did talk to my blogger
friend too. As always, people showed so much of hospitality which I am proud that India can only be the sole owner of that property and it just amazes me...

Will connect more in the coming blogs...

Mon & Co...

Legend:
Mon - Monica
Chan - Chandler
Rich - Richard

Mon: Wow, it's the PROM night video
Chan: Let's watch it!
The video starts...
Mon: Here I come...
Chan: (Giggles...becomes laughs...)
Mon: The camera adds 10 pounds, you know?
Chan: Oh right! So, how many cameras are around you? :))

Mon: Honey, did you set up the bed?
Rich: Yeah
Mon: How sweet you are...
Rich: Ok..I am going to take a shower
Mon tries to re-arrange the bed and Rich comes
Rich: Do you say if X is the baddest or fattest?
Mon: (Halfway in arranging and lies on the bed to cover-up) Sure, X is the fattest...
Rich: What are you doing?
Mon: Jus lying on bed
Rich: You were trying to rearrange the bed, weren't you?
Mon: Honey, I am so obsessed with these stuff...The flap has to go on the bottom left hand corner but you had it on the top right corner
Rich: I will learn it from you
Mon: So nice...then I'll show you how to wrap the toilet napkin tomorrow...
Rich: #$%^&* (head swirls)....

Ha ha ha...Hilarious :)

Above is an excerpt from FRIENDS serial...not the actual sentences uttered but the glimpse of the scenes in my own words :) I've got my own collection and so, I can go on watching it any number of times...A complete stress buster!

Here's P.O.

Paadum Office - After a break, it's back! It brought me those pleasant memories that I had 3 years back. It was not called Paadum Office earlier. It was called as a corporate music show and I dont think it was shown on TV.

It was the first time I saw it in the newspaper and heard it from the HR folks at my office inviting people to join. Being a music lover and having a close friend who is good at singing, I insisted him to try although he was reluctant. There was no doubt about his great singing capability but he was hesitating because he had stage fear. But I dont want to see someone's potential being wasted and hence somehow forced him to take part.

From the day he enrolled in the competition, we used to discuss about the songs to choose and what would be the advantages/disadvantages of rendering such songs. Finally, he chose 'Unakena Mela Nindral' from Simla Special. I was there with him on the preliminary round encouraging him. Fortunately or Unfortunately, that song was sung by someone who went before him and he was tensed. He gave me this magical wand and said 'Whatever comes, it's your choice now; Tell me one song that I should sing'. I was happy that he trusted my choices and at the same time, did not want to choose a song that may throw him out of the competition.

I gave reasons for choosing this song - 'Nenjankootil' from Dishyum. 1. I was damn sure that noone there will attempt that song 2. It did not have lot of aalaps or hard sangadhis or the fast breathtaking notes 3. I have heard him singing that before and I liked it. He agreed and sang that on stage when his turn came. He was nervous at the first few lines of Pallavi but rendered it very beautifully till the end.

When he came back from the stage, he asked me if he did it well and if he will get selected for which I said 'I dont know, but I liked it except the first few lines'. He was confident that he will get into the top 10 out of 93 contestants. And before they announce the results, I had to leave to meet another set of friends. After an hour, he called me and said he got into the top 10 to face the finals. Got this details from him that the judges said 'Choosing an easy song and rendering it great is much better than choosing a difficult song and trying to prove yourself but failing badly'. His first try was worth it and happy, we were!!!

And here is one of the rendition from this friend of mine (Sriram). I am dedicating this post to him and his wife Sowmya...Un song Unakke Sriram :))



Kanava... | Music Codes

Festival of lights!

Every year it's getting different in a way that I celebrate Diwali. This year, I invited few friends to do a kutti pooja on Diwali (when family is not around, friends assist, u know? ;)) And the result is what the picture says. Few things happened differently without any plan. As I lighted the new cute diyas, I started rendering a devotional song to my surprise, well to everyone's surprise. Although I did not give those friends a sumptuous feast, I could feel the sense of enlightment in me when I offered the sweets to them. As usual, I prepared Rava ladoo (that's not different though :)) and the traditional Idli/Sambar combo. And greeted family and friends. When I did this, I remembered a college friend of mine who wrote in my autograph 'Virundhombalna adhu Raji dhaan' :) Better late than never - Wish you all a 'Happy Diwali'!

Satiety...

She came and asked. I said OK! I was looking forward for it. I was very excited and happy thinking 'Will it happen this time?' I missed last time but I hope it will be fulfilled this time. In a row of 5 years, it's the only time I missed it and I know how I felt bad about missing it last year. I was so close in getting it but I missed it. Let me not think about this past, I told myself. I had dreams about me enjoying it and I remembered how some unknown faces came and praised me after I did it couple of years back. Also, I did get reminded of how I got bad comments from my friends when they saw me doing it first time 5 years ago. Giggles, Guffaws, Smiles, Excitement - I saw my friends in my dreamz reminding me all of those. It used to be like this - My friends calling me within few mins after I complete it and talk about the nuances and I loved hearing it from them. And now, I am excited to do it again after 2 years. And bad luck strikes...Next day an email comes and I came to a conclusion that I cannot do it and dropped myself from it. I thought to myself - Ok...No problem..now it's two years in a row you are going to miss it! My dreams became jus dreamz...I forgot about it for a week and was surprised that I was called again. Next day I went there to do it and as usual I felt so shy after seeing the whole crowd and stood at the corner until a voice called me. They showed me this...They showed me that...I was just watching. Then they said it was my turn to do it and I did it. Break...People there told me that I have grasped the nuances so quickly. And finally I thought 'Hmm...even years pass by, I have not lost the passion in it'; With my hand fists clinching I said to myself, I did it and now am doing it again and went for a merry-go round. Hmmm...I am dancing for two songs in this year's Diwali function :))

Friends...

It's not about Pheebs or Joey or Chandler or Monica or Rachel from the FRIENDS serial although I am watching it daily. It's been a while I was out of touch with my friends and I was thinking when and how am I going to get back to it. There bloomed a situation - My B'day and there I go. Almost all my friends called and wished me. I was so glad and felt good that day. And all of them are back in the same track and emails started floruishing - Tats a good sign when you feel aloof :)

F.R.I.E.N.D.S

Got the first season CD and I could not control my inclination towards watching it. I watch it during breakfast, lunch, after work, before work :) I love Lisa Kudrow's role and the way she has acted it...It's THE ULTIMATE :) F.R.I.E.N.D.S = F.U.N :))