The Great Indian Sport

One thing I forgot to mention that its exclusively played by women! So all you need to do is put all your aunts in the same room and get some popcorn or even better french fries :)

So the match opener is the aunt who has the loudest voice and can be heard across the mohalla. She starts her own saga of how her manni (bhabhi) is. Then the one other aunt tried to come in between with another gossip, which is supposed to be mushier. Then the loud aunt scans it in her mind and decides if she should continue on this topic or dash in another topic of discussion. Here somehow it was her interest so she adds her own masala. Then my sweet own granny (has to be the odd woman out :), as she praised her devrani of how sweet she is. This the loudspeaker could not digest and had to point all the devrani's bad qualities. And so continues the conversation.

I am so surprised on how female psyshe works. Some of these aunts cannot sleep peacefully without badmouthing other women in the family. For some women, its a weekend gossip compilation session. My mom got a call from one distant aunt (with her daughter in background) when we were going through a bad patch. This aunt wanted to know the details of what happened, and how it happened and what was the outcome, and what would be its future effects... phew! I was imagining the daughter compiling a research report and publishing it in the family SharePoint!!!

Now with relatives like these, who needs enemies................

Chick lit experience!

After reading Emily Giffin, I couldn't get enough of chick lit. So browsed through http://chicklitreviews.com and chose to read:

1. Big Girl (which is actually a diet lit) 
2. Keep the change 
3. October breezes 

Big girl was definitely all about guilt calories and dealing with it. What I liked about the book is the author has given a good sketch about what the protagonist goes through due to which she thinks ice-creams are her savior and best friends. So much that she takes help of a psychiatrist to deal with it. But the part, which I found unreal was her final boyfriend who tells her to throw away the weighing scale and he doesn't really care about how she looks. Now, I am still waiting for a guy like that! In all a nice read, I finished it in one day. One thing I share with the character is a yearning for more understanding parents, who don't take you through the guilt trips over and over. Maybe that's where my problems lie.

Keep the Change is an awesome book written by a fellow Tam-bram from her life in SSV and Sons to an MNC in Mumbai, supposedly Citibank. What struck me was the amazing similarities that tam-bram girls deal with, no matter which part of the world they grow up in. I could relate to 32 Amman koil street even though I was raised in Mumbai. The only quality I din't share with her was her talent with number crunching. The narrative was very funny and filled with expressions like jumping into idli batter, termite peeping out of old furniture, and convincing her mom that Goa is as safe as Mount road in a Monday morning :). Definitely a must read!

October Breeze. This was a stupid book I picked because it starts with my favorite month. It was more like a hindi movie, because the protagonist ends up making all the wrong choices which proves that she din't have a brain, and that is the hypothesis Hindi film directors have been trying to prove over the last fifty years. Basically, its about teenage pregnancy. But I suggest to stay away from this book unless you are researching on the social effects of teenage pregnancy.

Spain milegi na dobara

Last week, I watched Zindagi milegi na dobara and yes it was as soggy as the Spanish economy. Though Farhaan tried to crack some jokes and Hrithik and Katrina did their best to keep gals and guys occupied, yet the story was missing somewhere. I did not find anything new because I have already watched the lonely planet episode of Spain in Discovery channel. After watching the movie, I really wanted to ask Farhan/Zoya; was Spain their first choice? Well truth is that there are a lot of Indians in Spain especially Sindhis and they have a very strong presence in the tourism industry. Maybe some Sindhi friend gave the idea to Farhaan to revive the tourism industry.

Speaking about Spain, its a bit heartbreaking to see such a beautiful country amidst huge public debt. As experts around the world are analyzing the cause of the debt, reasoning the housing bubble, trade deficit, and the curse of socialism coupled with the curse of Euro, Spain's tourism has definitely taking a hit. That is because before joining the Euro team, Spain was a cheap tourist destination for the western middle class but post Euro it lost to other destinations in Asia like Malaysia and Mauritius. Apart from investing heavily in infrastructure projects, it also tried to ape its neighbor France in socialist welfare policies. These policies made life difficult for employers, which caused the rise to 20 % unemployment. How France manages its welfare policies and still manages its economy is still a riddle.

Coming back to Spain, it is still a destination only for millionaires like Kabir (Abhay Deol). I have to wait for Spain to return to its national currency (pesetas) to be able to afford a peaceful holiday.( btw 1 rupee is equal to 3 pesetas!)

Another Pigeon Post

I have been wanting to share this for a while :) When in Mumbai, as you may all know that I had pigeon abodes at almost all of our house windows. Watching the babies is so much fun because they make funny kind of moments like standing up and sitting down again when  they see humans or maybe when they are scared. A pigeon baby takes around 25 to 30 days to grow up fully and fly away. Once the pigeon learns to fly, the dad doesn't allow it in the abode, I guess maybe he has started preparing for another round of children.

Another interesting thing about pigeons is that they are very individualistic. Like they keep switching their partners after every round of children. And as soon as the pigeon learns to fly, the parents stop feeding it by mouth, hinting that the pigeon should find its own food from now. Sounds very American, doesn't it? Even in the evening when they rest at the terrace area, they don't like a fellow pigeon intruding their area. I don't know how they demarcate their space, but they start dancing (some strange ritual ) as to establish their personal space. Almost all of the babies are very eager to fly. After the 15th day they start taking small jumps to test their wings every now and then. Once they make it out of the window, its pigeon day out!

Then when I shifted to Mylapore in Chennai, the house windows did not have any extensions, so no pigeon abode :(. But just opposite to my window, there was a window sill with some extensions done for a/c box, where to my relief a pigeon couple lived. In Chennai, you will always find pigeons below the a/c boxes. Its like even they need a/c ;).
This window sill was kind of 10 feet away from my window, so couple gave birth to a little one. Around the 20th day pigeon had fully grown and almost ready to fly. So I thought in a few days it would be gone. Then I checked back around the 24th or 25th day and saw that the baby had grown to the extent that it was difficult to differentiate between mom and baby. Then checked at the 30th day, fully grown baby pigeon still happily occupying half of the nest that it was difficult for mom to be there. Then checked again after a couple of days and still it was the same! At one point, I was like grrrr fly man don't you wanna explore!!! And to my disbelief the parents also did not kick it out and even fed it. Then at the 40th day finally it was missing from the nest, so I thought finally pigeon thinks it has grown up. But after a couple of days it was back resting at home, whereas the parents were not to be seen. I thought, great so you are so lazy that you don't wanna find a home for yourself? And by this time the parents had started to prepare for the next round of children because they had started with their dancing rituals. But baby was still happily taking its noon nap. Finally, I guess around the sixtieth day baby was finally not to seen.

I don't know if its one off incident but I couldn't help resist drawing parallels!!!
Mumbai People/Pigeons:
1. Very ambitious
2. Eager to explore
3. Love their space
4. Change partners frequently

Chennai People/Pigeons:
1. Grow up late
2. Love to laze around
3. Can't live without a/cs ;)
4. Love to live with their parents!

Battle of the Cities

Every time I go to Bangalore, I love it all the more. For a person coming from Chennai, its like being moved from a heater to a cooler! Its so cool and awesome. Dunno why Chennaites have a problem with this place, they keep saying: Everything is bad except the weather. Come on, this proves that they haven't been to a city before! And comparing Bangalore and Chennai is just not right, Chennai is a very old so-called metro and Blore has seen all this growth in just 15 years. But anyways this post is not about either of these cities.

This post is about Delhi and Mumbai. Delhi unlike the other metros was left untouched by the British. Hence, apart from being a political capital it had to rebuild itself from scratch. Till the 80s Mumbai was the best bet for both entrepreneurs and workers because Kolkata had destroyed itself with communism, and Chennai had language issues, due to which no one outside TN invested in the city. But Delhi has seen an amazing growth in the last 20 years, some changes owed to political will and the rest because the economy had opened up to the delight of entrepreneurs. Today, its been debated whether Delhi will take over Mumbai as the financial capital because both investors and financial institutions have a marked presence here.

This also connects to the other debate of whether NSE will take over BSE. An apt debate here puts across the comparison of both the exchanges. Till the 90s BSE was almighty and ruled over by the select few Mumbai based companies, which was also one reason of its rigidness. And then saying no to derivatives also hit it badly. Though recently Madhu Kannan is planning for a comeback, the message we get is that the battle is on!

As for infrastructure Delhi gone way ahead than most of the cities. With the Delhi metro and the mushrooming of the nearby satellite cities of Gurgaon and Noida, it has the most reigning factor that Mumbai does not have: SPACE. And Bangalore and Hyderabad have even come up with their second airports, Mumbai realized the need for second airport in 2007 which leaves many things to be said about the infrastructure status.

And the other aspects like food, culture, and shopping Delhi is at par with Mumbai if not better.

Another interesting aspect is about Bollywood tilting towards Delhi. Just count how many movies have you seen recently with a Delhi-centric plot. Delhii Heights, Khosla Ka Ghosla, Oye Lucky Lucky Oye, Dev.D, Love Aaj Kal, Do Dooni Chaar, Aisha, Break ke baad, Band Baaja Baraat, Pyaar ka Punchnaama and of course, Delhi Belly! Well Bollywood has definitely studied its audience unlike BSE. And for MTV, Roadies and Splitsvilla are so loaded with contestants from Delhi and Chandigarh, I am starting to wonder if MTV still conducts its auditions in Mumbai. I won't be surprised if it shifts base to Delhi. Same for Channel V.

The problem is, since 80s Delhi has striked the right chords and Mumbai the wrong ones. The Shiv Sena backlash on the immigrants (Its worst mistake was to target immigrant entrepreneurs); the 92 riots (again the temple was 1000 kms away, no other city reacted and the ripples were felt in a big way here. Leaves a lot to be read between lines); the underworld nexus (somehow the worst criminals are created here! no idea why); the crouching CM and the hidden Deputy CM have not done anything good for the city yet (the slums still exist and keep growing). Just two days gone after the blast and we are still waiting for the government to act, but this too shall pass. Another one will come soon.

With the regional hatred breeding in and growing each day, Mumbai is going nowhere. Actually, its a strange thing about being a city. If you don't welcome people you stop growing.Take any city from ancient Florence to today's New York. These places have become cities only because they were melting pots of different cultures and thrived on settlers. It doesn't happen when you are ethnocentric and biased to people from different culture. This is the same reason why Chennai and Kolkata still have trouble claiming the status of a metro.

One emotionally distressing weekend that was

In short, this was a weekend where you are pushed in with a group of irritating people and in the end they ask you, why are you not enjoying yourself? And you can't tell them on their face its because of them. First of all, you have to meet your abominable wannabe cousin who will be irritating to the core just to gain attention. Then there are relatives who keep asking your age and asking indirectly as to what is your future plan? And I am tempted to say: to keep away from you.

 Evening function almost passed easily, courtesy to cell phone games and 9 year old sweetie Janu, who kept me company. Night time was when I was given an option to move in to any of the 6 rooms booked for relatives. I tried to calculate the least risky room to enter. Oldies are a no no .. their lectures are the worst. I have been through the routine lectures with both my uncles and an aunt. So joining them would be just lecture part 2. So the least risky option was to move in with Janu's family because her dad only kept asking "What's wrong?" and "Why are you so quiet?". I almost moved in, when mom changed my plan telling me that we have booked a extra room and you can go there.

Damn I did not know the hidden agenda! Room was good, so switched on the TV and relaxed for a while. Until two aunts moved in the last moment (I thot mom wud join me :(.. ) and the minute I was dozing off, they started their 3rd degree torture. Started their lecture on the only goal of a woman's life is to get a guy and have children. And I ask why; guys are always a pain and they hurt you in the end and children are (like if you haven't had enuf of heartache then have a headache too) ya blessings in disguise... Thats why women who remain unmarried look younger than their age. And the Q and A session was very much PITA! Then at a point when it was out of limits, I had be harsh and tell them I am done. And then they continued among themselves and I felt a sigh of relief, and then out of nowhere this abominable cousin's mom compared me to her daughter!

Yuck I am still trying to forget it. I may be the worst daughter around but why compare me with her!! She is like those insensitive and detestable Buas or Jethanis you see in Hindi serials. They will always ask you painful questions, just to make you feel bad. Once during my elder cousin's engagement, she asked her, "If her ex-fiancee, with whom she had a painful breakup is attending the engagement?" That time this girl was 15, not some thumb-sucking 5 year old asking around stupid questions!!! My cousin kept her cool and advised her that you should not ask such questions. She did the same to me a couple of times and then I decided not to speak with her rather than losing my cool. And, if you advise her, then comes her mom and bullies us " Why do you keep scolding and advising her? She has lost her dad and she is coping with it. Please don't bother her."...!!!

Finally, the sun rose and came the remaining part of function and somehow survived that too. Then came lunch finally. As I was enjoying my sambar round, came the abominable cousin trying to make her best entry and hi-ing all the aunts and uncles around. Ya aunt and uncles and thathas and paatis. It sounded very irritating. Finally packed bags after lunch and congratulated myself for surviving the ordeal. Thankfully weekend got over and returned home. Net-net food was good but everything else badddddddddd.

Something Borrowed

A really good chick flick on best friends after Bride Wars. And its so easy to compare Kate Hudson's character because it is almost identical in both the movies. The difference in this movie is how the characters are fleshed out.

The storyline is simple:-Rachel the best friend donates Dex to Darcy, then later both Dex and Rachel realize the mistake, but are guilty. And they keep deciding whether to disclose this to Darcy or not. There is a twist in the ending and I did not expect it!

I found it difficult to side with Rachel and hate Darcy, because Darcy does not act the mean and the aggressive way that she is portrayed by Rachel's and Ethan's conversation. And Darcy is actually shown as a caring friend throughout the movie. I could not like Dex because he keeps hiding from the situation. The only character who is likable is Ethan! But then the good thing is all the characters have their gray shades so its interesting to watch them react to situations. So finally its a good watch.

This is a actually a novel by Emily Griffin, converted to a movie. I think I need to catch up on the book to see which one is better. And there is a sequel to this one called 'Something Blue'. And this one is on Darcy! I definitely have to read this too. :)

Lost in Progress

I went to this store in Spencers to get all the seasons of desperate housewives last month but somehow was induced to buy the seasons DVDs of Lost. Started watching on a Sunday afternoon and finished it by the next Saturday (excluding office hours and sleep hours). Phew! How did I miss this show all the time! All these years. In a way its good that I watched them back to back because the suspense was too good to hold on to. :)

So what is it about this whole show that it was so interesting? For me it was Sawyer all the way!!!! :) But then seriously if I think from a viewer's perspective:

1. The idea of being on a place cut off from the rest of the world
2. The idea of being on a long term camping trip
3. More or less starting your life all over again in Stone Age
4. The idea i most loved was the hatch life to push a button every two hours. I think that is the best job in the world.
5. And Sawyer's one liners :)

Added to this were the usual love triangles, and drama of each character's life which was finely executed.

Of course the part of confusing Dharma initiative, and the others was where the show lost its charm. And the polar bear (season 1), Charles widmore and the temple of doom (season 5) were stupid themes. And the worst was Jacob and the man in black (Season 6)!!! I mean cmon … What the hell! Too much of imagination… Hands down Season 6 was the worst season of all and of course Season 1 was the best of all. The writers should have known when to stop their overflowing imagination.

I would say that they could have ended it gracefully on Season 4 itself...But then its ok. I enjoyed 2 more seasons of Sawyer :)

P for Publicity or Propoganada

Long back when I was in my second year, my prof was once discussing how cheap Shobhaa De's novels were. Back then, I only knew her through Sunday times. One of the glorious days of Sunday Times, when I would be eager to read Swaminomics and Gurucharan Das. Then I know Shobhaa De as one of those writers who loved to laugh on other people at hard knocks. Her favorite victims were celebrities. My question at that time was, if her work was such a junk, then who had the time to read it over even take the trouble of publishing it. TOI publishing her stuff was a no-brainer, but publishing books with such a wastage of paper and people buying and reading it was a bit surprising. Here is the answer on page 15: http://www.hanmermsl.com/pdf/hanmermsl_digital_credentials.pdf

Googling her was interesting because everywhere you will get to read only good stuff about her thanks to her PR agency. You have to creatively Google out on her to find out the big picture. Seems like she started her career in modelling but was not successful but got some success by marrying some rich guy called Kilachand. Then she ventured into "Free lance Journalism" which is more of paying the newspaper to get the article published. And then finally she struck gold by marrying an industrialist named Dilip De who funded all her junk and the PR agencies to help sell the junk.

Another example of hard core PR was IIPM. Everyone who has done their research on MBA schools know that there is a dabba college called IIPM. But like many other similar colleges, this one too manages to get some bunch of naive and desperate students. My boss once explained the business model of this school, which was very typical, as in you would find only ex-IIPM students who have turned faculties over there. Apart from that you have Planman and ICMR, which are again founded by Arindam Chaudhari himself where you will find the rest of ex-iipms. As Planman is their own company, they do all their IIPM publicity through them and again you wont find any negative stuff about them when googling them out. But today there are websites and blogs opened by people who got swindled by this college. And also some investigative journalism done by JAM and Career360 is found in the wikipedia page. Unfortunately, Planman guys couldn't do much to the wikipedia page :)

Why beauty salons are still a loss making business in Chennai?

Phew! This is a controversial topic but I always wanted to write on this. As a woman who has lived in the northern metros or even small towns, one would come and wonder why beauty salons in Chennai are so costly?

In my last three adventurous years in Chennai, I have found some peculiar facts about the concept of beauty, fashion, and similar terms in Chennai:

1. It seems that my mom's generation of Chennai women haven't been to beauty parlors mostly apart from getting bridal make-up, not even regular visits for eye-brows.
2. On one of my first days in Chennai, at Tidel Park. I was waiting near the entrance for my friend, where I saw women who seemed like office goers, wearing the most unpleasant and dull shades like worn out mustard color, electric shocker blue and fluorescent green, stitched by tailors who would have been doing some side- business apart from stitching shirts and trousers.
3. Couple of years ago, I saw an episode of Neeya Naaana (a debate show), where some girls who looked like they have been busy studying for medical entrances, talking about how college girls in Chennai should be ashamed of adopting western culture and wearing jeans and dressing up to college. They were almost reinstating our great Rajnikanth's dialogs on how women should only dress in a sari and be virtuous and kind.... (What the  #*$*)
4. In my old office and the present one too, If I have to make a guess, 1/5th of the women population frequent parlors and believe in the concept of dressing up.
5. Many new parlors are positioning themselves as uni-sex salons, that it is hard to find  all-women salons in Chennai.

Apart from all this (from my experience), if you are a women who loves to dress up and make sure your accessories perfectly sync, then be prepared to get weird stares from  men and angry stares from women.
Here is a political angle to it. But this aspect is being quite boldly commercialized by the recent soap TVCs, especially the Vivel soap ads of Sumar Susi and Dull Divya. I really dont know how the tamil public, especially women are taking to these ads. but then it is worth the wait and watch!