Bye bye Ganguly, bye bye Kumble, bye bye Cricket

Well, I felt indebted to cricket for a lot of my growing up (or lack thereof). I thought I owe a tribute to its demise, but I could not have done any better than this. So I gave up !

From my living room....

Hot chai on one hand
Remote on the other
Money and market doomed
On a cold afternoon

Out through the windowpane
Far, I see tinted haze
Muted edifices reaching for the sky
A blue river and boats glide

Some choppers in the air
Young and gallant on a ride
Someone lone on a private yacht
When for many, life is tending to a naught

I watch….

From the humble shack
West and across the brook
A picturesque view
That’s New York City for you

It was one awesome game –NJ Nets vs Detroit Pistons.

Pistons has never been a team that I especially liked, because I don’t think I have the patience to appreciate defense. I need fast breaks, big dunks and brilliant play setting to sustain my attention – and Pistons’ extremely defensive tactics is so boring to the average follower in me.

Here I go to this Nets game almost certain I will end up on the losing side, given the lead up Pistons have had in the season. And the fact that Iverson is playing debut kind of hyped the expectations for Pistons’ fans. By the way, I always hated Iverson- I hated the entire Nuggets team, anyways that’s another story. Billups was only guy that I kind of looked forwarded to in the Pistons team and I am disappointed with the trade.


By the time we reached the stadium, it was almost the end of first quarter – Score read 14-23 Pistons. Well, I did not expect anything better, so I attended to my grumbling tummy first. Pet ka pooja !


First quarter ended at an embarrassing 14-27 at home. My photo pursuits followed suit – the game was simply too one-sided. But I guess we brought some luck with us in the form of Boone. Second quarter was very valuable with Nets scoring 25 against 15 from Pistons. Half ended at a more respectable 5 point deficit to Nets.

In the third period, Devon Harris brought a new level to the game scoring a whooping 19 points against a pretty solid defense. Iverson was quiet with only two field goals. Harris always impressed me from his Mavericks’ days – trading for Kidd wasn’t bad at all for the Nets. Digressing, Kidd was pretty wrong footed in Dallas in the last season. At the end of the third quarter Nets were 72-70.

Even now, I was not too hopeful; I thought the experience of Wallace and the grit of Iverson will see Pistons through. Adding to that Yi Jianlain and VC were going to get fouled out. But Boone’s dunk in the last quarter put Nets in a big lead – 87-79 – from which there was no looking back.

A fine piece of a come-back game, Harris’ career best -38 points, ending a 7-0 losing streak against Pistons – it was a great game for the New Jersey Nets.

Go Nets!!

Ice Hockey !!

Hockey is not one of the games that I have followed with much intensity, however when you are offered free tickets to watch NJ Devils, it is hard to say no :)

Trust me, hockey is a game that absolutely needs to be watched only from the stadium and only from seats like we had – a $250 valued ones just behind the ice. With a brilliant panoramic view, close enough to see the puck and the angled shots that toss and turn it, I watched an entire game of ice hockey for the first time.


Devils had lost some key players for the game including Brian Rolston, Bobby Holik and Martin Brodeur- the goal tender. Brodeur is seven wins short of creating history with most career wins. Anyways, that kind of put the match in an interesting position against the much lower ranked Tampa Bay Lightning. In the first period, the devils were very slow and they really seemed to miss the key players in setting up the plays. Lightning clearly came on top 1-0 at the end of the first period.

The second period was luckier for us- David Clarkson finally gave the important break through, with a shot that was deflected in. Immediately following that, Elias did not miss the power-play opportunity for another goal and the second period ended 2-1 in NJ’s favor. Unfortunately our seats were closer to the NJ’s goal in the first period and there was no action.

Ten minutes in to the third period, Devils were still up and looked good for the victory. However Tampa Bay was really good on the offense and tied the game. Now the stadium was erupt with fervor, NJ’s game suddenly seemed to shift to the next gear and soon Jay put us 3-2. Now the passion in the stadium was awesome; shouting at the top of the lungs, the atmosphere truly came alive. This is one of the best things of watching a game at the stadium as against the comforts of the home on HDTV :)

Understandably, at 3-2 Devils went on the defensive and yet managed to foul and give a power-play. And this time Tampa made no mistake and the period ended tied at 3-3. No shots were goaled in the overtime by either team and the game proceeded to shootout. What more can you ask for when you spend time and energy (and no money ;-)) to go watch a match in the stadium? Absolutely thrilled at this time.

Lightning went into the shoot out first – and goaled :(
Devils went in and missed :( :(
Lightning’s second shot was brilliantly defended by the replacement goalie Kevin Weeks.
Again the arena exploded in joy
Devils completed the second shot real smart
Score tied 1-1
Lightning took the third shot and missed again – hooorayyyyyyyyyy!
The stadium was all up and waiting for the victory shot from Jamie Langenbrunner and the pressure was enough to keep the Mike Smith, their Goalie fumbling.


So there it goes, a superb game ended in a brilliant shootout !!

Wow what a match it was!!

To top it all, the $250 seats come with free food and free beer !! – ha ha ha

Some pictures of Fall 2008

On a bright sunny Saturday afternoon, I took a stroll in the Central Park- the green expanse of beauty in the bustling city of New York.

Here is my first stint at photography !


Pictures are of very low quality after the upload :(

Happy Diwali !!

Diwali in my childhood was all about new clothes and fire crackers. I would start looking forward to it starting a good one month in advance. Shopping for different types of oothubathi, the latest and fancy fire-cracker of the season, the longest Sara-Vedi and the rockets that I always had to sneak in, long lines at TNSC – my memory is real fresh. As I grew up in to late teens, craze for crackers died down a little (call it becoming socially responsible ;-)), but foodie goodies gained importance. It was still a time when I devoured all the jamuns, coconut burfis, kaju kathlis, naada murukku, chaklis, cornflakes mixture and karaboondhi. Those were the times when health / fitness / figure consciousness were unknown; I also remember showing enthusiasm in trying out less known recipes like Mohandal :) All I remember now is that it was some form of sweet. Cousins, aunts and uncles huddled watching the idiot box all day long; nonstop rain spoiling our fireworks, Solomon Pappaiya patti mandram, Simran and Sarath Kumar interviews is another memory I have of Diwali. I don’t recall attaching any religious significance to Diwali at any time, save the customary stacking of new clothes in the pooja room the previous day, the early morning hair wash and a quick peek at the local temple- new years was more religious to me than Diwali ever was !!

Today new clothes still reign in high spirits, pot-lucks are more like the order of the day, sweets and savories are more delicious to prepare than to eat and gain weight and lighting little lamps seem to dispel the winter gloom of New York City.

One of my teammates at work remarked:

" I see everything, but I don't see everything"

I was intrigued by the profundity!!!!

Saroja - a review

Saroja was a very different foray into cinema making in Kollywood industry. A pretty serious plot made incredibly funny by the lead quadruplet – a slightly more responsible S.P.Charan and Vaibhav playing brothers; Siva and Premji Amaran chipping in with remarkable humor. Venkat Prabhu has turned a fleshless story line into a captivating and amusing 180 minute show.

The seemingly disconnected parts were brought together by the end of a racy first half. Apparently this method of storytelling was worked out successfully by Mexican director Alejandro Gonzales Inarittu in Oscar winning Babel. Some of the escape sequences of the second half seemed unnecessary and repetitive; but even with its flaws the movie in all was quite a entertainer after Tiruvilayadal in 2007. For one liners lifted from many movies including Vijay’s “Evlovo Pannittom, idhu pannamattoma” and Rajini’s “I was helpless; I was kaarnered” the cinema-hall erupted with laughter. There were way too many funny one-liners that the movie probably merits to be viewed many many times.

Even with the hilarity spread all over the movie, for the faint-hearted it did provide a elevated g-factor of six-flag rides. Thrill and suspense is maintained till the end – but I only wished I knew that all ends well, so that I could have relished the witty scenes even better.

Little Murray !

Even as the point system stripped Roger off his number one spot, he retained his reign over the US Open with fifth consecutive title this year defeating Andy Murray on Sep 8th 2008 for his 13th Grand Slam title. The highest by any given player is 14 when six years back on the same day at Flushing Meadows, Pete Sampras won the last grand slam title. Hopefully Roger has more to go !

I was always of the opinion that his reactions after a grand slam victory was so down to earth and matter of fact. It was like, yes “another victory I am happy” !! However yesterday even against Murray, the victory seemed to taste so sweet. Another example of how sweeter your achievements are after repeated failures.

With that said, Murray’s game for a 21 year old was extremely mature, spirited and professional. Like all good things, when Roger’s era comes to an end, I would like Murray to replace his throne- I really see both potential and want in his game. Unlike Nadal, I like Murray’s game for his serve and volley shots, for his grace and alacrity on the field. He is a true fast-court player and might face big challenges in French Open, just like Fed or Sampras- but he has the age and willingness to learn and adapt. Again unlike Djokovic’s, I like Murray’s spirit when he was still playing with high energy and enthusiasm even with a knee injury against a match-pointed Federer.

At last I will be ready for Roger to ebb away (only after a couple more grand slam titles – French too!) when Murray will wax into a another saga :)

Travelogue !

After weeks of preparation for the long weekend, we decided on Friday evening that we will grace our presence to a certain set of seaside towns. We had our plan all charted out in a few hours- We spent the Friday evening packing clothes, cooking and packing food, last minute laundry and the like. The excitement of the impending weekend was enough to keep me going. These days, I have become very health conscious and hence avoid eating out junk food as much. And hence we packed semiya upma for dinner and beans baaji with some variety rice for lunch.

Next day morning, we stepped out at 7:40 am and beating hours of Boston bound traffic, we made it just on time for whale watching at Plymouth, MA an hour north of Cape Cod. The town had a small town feeling and we really like such European touch to towns. After a hurried lunch of beans baaji and Chinch baath, we went out into the sea for a wonderful whale watching experience. It was awesome to be in the middle of the ocean about one and a half hours away from the land on a small steamship and surrounded by these huge mammal creatures in black and white.
We saw a large number of humpbacks and a few of the different genres. It is one thing to see such animals in a protected and a trained environment like the Sea World and such, where the animals perform really entertaining acrobatics; but it’s an entirely different thing to come to its natural habitat and see it in its own wilderness. These guys perform far less stunts but they are far more compelling as it appears when you least expect it. We also saw some mother-calf couplets – calves are far more energetic and lithe. We spent about an hour doing the watching in Stellwagen Bank. Supposedly, this is the feeding ground for the whales and they put on a few tons of body weight to sustain the next few months in the equatorial Atlantic. And that is the breeding ground – :)

So most of the day’s work for mother whales is to find food for itself and its calves. Calves don’t go in search of food until it is a few years old. Whales make these uncanny noises to communicate and remain within calling distance of the family. These noises are really loud and possibly much louder under water, as sound travels faster under water. The naturalist on board made an interesting comment that the minerals, planktons and other fish essential nutrients in the ocean gives it a characteristic dark greenish color and that it is not a sign of polluted water. Apparently, the super clear waters we find in the Carribean is a sign of lack of nutrients and fish food.


On the way back, it was super cold, with winds zipping past you, it was a phenomenal experience. But we could not sustain it for long and went indoors to doze off the remainder of the ride. Back in the seaside town, after being in the large expanse of America’s countryside, we were able to appreciate the closeness and compactness of street side shops. After about an hour ride to the hotel, we enjoyed the boxed dinner again and retired for the day. The high intensity Djokovic's 4th round match against Cilic was not enough to keep us up.

Next day morning greeted us with a decent breakfast spread that included eggs, bread toasts, cereal, little cartons of milk, bagel and cream cheese, muffins and pastry, fruits, waffles and coffee. After a healthy and filling breakfast, we headed to the island of Martha’s Vineyard. The parking lot for the ferry station was a good 45 minutes away and they had shuttles going back and forth. After about a 45 minute slow ferry ride, we were on the island. There are mopeds that you can rent here and use it to explore the island.


And hence we promptly rented one and set on a bon voyage. Some of my best experiences of my life ensue here. After about twenty minutes, we stopped briefly in a beach to get our first soak. Then we headed further south to the Edgartown lighthouse, which is on a man-made island some quarter mile from the coast and is accessible by a foot bridge.

After another brief stop at a little town-like ice-cream shop, we headed west. It was miles and miles of nothingness and forests on either side; actually to the south should be the coast and some wonderful beaches that we could see through the forest at certain points, but they were private beaches and some public farms in between. One of these public farms looked interesting and the board said “pony rides” and we took the left. After about a mile on dirt road, we came face to face with a small stable and two horses. It was a beautiful sight in the backdrop of a ever-extending blue ocean. There were no people around and the last car that passed by us was a good 10 minutes back when we were on the highway. In this secluded and scenic spot, we wanted take in for posterity with a good canon shot; and just as we pulled the camera out, the horse started speeding towards the gated end of the stable. Before we could think about anything, we ran for our lives calling the Gods to save us! I still do not know why it suddenly stopped at the end of the gate- the gate was a mere 2 feet high and the horse could have trampled us if wanted to.
In a jiffy, back on the moped and back on the highway, we were sweating and puffing with the increased adrenalin rush and we knew that was the most insane thing we have done in a long long time. Riding further west, with sun exactly ahead of us, we reached another light house in Aquinnah called the Gay Head Cliff light house. And there was also a public access beach nearby. It was a nice view from the cliff and some pictures bear proof to the adventurous exploration of the territory. On the way back, we stopped at a very nice little coffee place and I could not help but notice that I ordered a small latte but said “Tall” latte! Starbucks Rules ! We went to yet another lighthouse in OakBluffs called the East Chop light house for more pictures and more beaches. Rest of the evening was uneventful and we bade good bye to the moped after we made every penny spent worthy of it.

With the better part of the long weekend behind us, we went to check out the Cliff Side walk and the adjoining mansions in Newport, RI. This place houses some of the biggest family residential structures displaying grandeur on the majestic coasts of a blue ocean. There is a little 3.5 mile walk way all along backsides of these mansions bordering the ocean. Apparently the waves in this part of the ocean makes it a good spot for water skiing and we saw some skiiers in action. There are about 15 mansions taken over by the Presevation society of Newport and we saw the insides of one of them- The Breakers - the Vanderbilt mansion.


The architecture was true to the inspiration; rich with influences from the East, and yet consistent; with great emphasis on finer details of ceiling design, wall decor, fittings and fixtures.


The view of the ocean from a certain balcony like looking area on the second floor of the house was magnificent. It was whooping 17-bedroom house with living room of 50 feet cube design.

After a long and tired ride, we still had the energy for the US open on Tuesday ! Again Djokovic's and Fed's five setters made it all worth the while. Though our seats on the center court was closer to the sky than to the court, we could sneak in to better parts of the stand for great views of the game. Fed's game was definitely sub-par, but that is what took it to five sets and the emergence of the champion. Looking forward to Djokovic vs Fed today to see if the epic finals of French and Wimbledon could be repeated for a different finish!



Go Federer !!

Indians as a race....

Olympics 2008 is well underway.... Opening ceremony was simply an awesome visual and intellectual treat; it was a massive human effort and a display of perfection and timing; India has gotten itself her first Gold; Phelps has created history with 8 on 8 wins; Bolt’s record sprint - this Olympics has proved to be the best ever sports array already.

In the opening ceremony, when the different participating countries walked down with the field carrying the flags, the commentary covered details like the population of the country versus the number of people representing the country. As we already know, this ratio is staggeringly low for India.

Since then, I have always heard my folks talking about how embarrassing it is to have such a low representation from a country that houses one fourth of the world’s population. But I have been thinking about this for a while now and I differ.

I am ashamed about a lot of things that could have been better in India, but this is not one of them.

Think about this – every year, I mean EVERY year the record for fastest sprint or the heaviest weight has always been re-set for the better. How is it possible? How is it that the mankind is becoming faster and smarter by the day? When I do acknowledge that the part of the reason for this is advancements in science and technology in terms of better tracks, shoes and swim suits, I cannot be blind to the nutrition that comes in capsules. Is this healthy competition? And are Indians’ genetic, physical and cultural make up allow this?

While the excessive importance given to academic education as against sports or arts is a big reason for the lack of competitive sportsmen from India, for a nation that is in its age, size, needs and challenges, it is a natural choice. One of the two has to be true for somebody to take up competitive sports. Either his family is so financially stable, that he does not have to worry about winning the bread for his children, or his learning capabilities in traditional academics is so bad, that he will not get a stable career to make his ends meet. While the second point might be true for a large section of Indian populace, by the time people acknowledge that they will not have a stable livelihood, they are past the prime and their dream of a stable career is passed on to their children.

Also, competitive sports calls for a very well balanced diet and good nutrition, which can be very hard to come by for a country that feeds only half a stomach for a big section of the population. Also as vegetarians, the balanced diet we get is meant for Saatvik lifestyle. As history shows, Indians have produced great astronomers, computer scientists, doctors, economists and scientists; we have not invaded outside of the subcontinent; though we have pursued sports for recreation, it has never been a profession of respect.

Our mental faculty is world class to compete in the International arena; and I am proud of that fact; but our physical faculty is not our forte and I willingly accept it. And hence, I believe spending vital resources in building sports infrastructure allowing all the corruption amongst the middle men (now this is something that I am essentially ashamed of) is not in the best interests right now; I would gladly allow the same to build various other things like education and empowering women.

I am not saying its never going to be possible for India to compete in Olympics, am just saying we are not there yet. We have been the ones that sit back and enjoy and not the ones that sweat it out in the middle.

Amidst all this, kudos to Abhinav Bindra!!

I hate moving boxes !

We are scared of death, of marriage, of being parents, of growing old….
We are scared to move jobs, to move homes, sometimes even to change the wallet. When you are old, you would not even want to change your bed. Resistance to change is human and yet we grow old, have babies, get married and die!! – Hopefully not in that order!!

For some it is built into their sentimental belief system; sometimes, it is moving out of the comfort zone, change comes in all shapes and forms; sometimes it is physical, sometimes psychological, and sometimes just virtual and yet we all do.

Much of the history asserts we like changes in our youth, as we grow old; it becomes more and more difficult.

I in general look forward to change, but when it actually happens, sob sob ! :)

Aug 18th, 2004 - Been four good short years !

Seasons went by
Chapters across the rainbow
Many things I liked
A few things turned dear
Only thing I miss
As hell as I do.

Cuisines across the orb
For palates of extreme kinds
Just like mine, to savor the love of food
Relishing from Mediterranean in the middle
To Caribbean in the west ; to Vietnamese in the east
Vegetarian I remain

Intimidating winters; No – not anymore
Love the white snow
Allow the pleasing jacket
To mask the flaws in form
Rove around sub-zero
Without fussing about sweat and smell

Football, the finest feast
Mannish Manning and the mob
Braving the cold and blizzard
To bring home the Cup
That we affectionately call
The Super Bowl

Those were the three things
That I came to love
As I remember my fourth anniversary
In this land of dreams
Differences and opportunities
For the mind that’s fresh and fearless

Indra Nooyi's speech

@ a graduation ceremony, Columbia University, NY
Click here

And She is....

Love all

I have always enjoyed sports.. for one the fervor and enthusiasm of cricket in India was so compulsive to be part of and secondly, for the spirit that brings us bonding together. This has been my primary reason for following ten years of cricket before I gave up around college time, for lack of that support and enthusiasm in my then friends. Then more than half-a-decade later, thanks to my dear hubby, I was introduced to American sports like baseball, football and basketball all of which are quite interesting. Of course topping the list would be THE football, followed closely by basket ball. So however silly it may seem, I think I have been driven more so by popularity than any individual preference.

Tennis always remained a second degree in my sports following, living through Steffi Graf, Agassi, Sampras, Henman (I actually used to follow him quite a bit once upon a time), and then unconquerable Federer (or atleast I liked to think so). But then as always, sports is such a leveler. Who would have thought the world number one Federer will fall in a period of one year from paramount Kingliness?! There was a time a couple of years back that the second ranked player was so back in line that Federer could lose like a million games in a row and still retain the first place for the next few months or so.

After an illness that cost the Australian Grand slam, he lost to Nadal in French (which is forgivable) and Wimbledon (which I still cannot believe). I started watching the Wimbledon final hoping to see a clean sweep after what happened in Rolland Garros to set the records straight, but Nadal was too good. What separates a genius from the greats is often a hairline space and it seemed so true. I remembered his words after the last Wimbledon finals (the five setter) that he wanted to gobble down (win) all he could before Nadal started winning. And it was the last time Federer could really reign over Nadal !

Even then, I was hoping to pay back Nadal at the US open which has never been his favorite. But the games leading up themselves proved too much heat that Fed-Express derailed. What has been his for five years in a row is not his anymore!?

No one in my time (not Agassi or Becker or Sampras) had held on to the spot for as long as Fed did… that we thought he would truly defy gravity and keep it eternally! But we were rocked to remind that nothing lasts forever.

Silence !

I have always enjoyed a certain amount of solitude. Silence in isolation provides me the ambient atmosphere for some of my best and refined logical thought processes, be it writing a poem, cooking a new recipe or working at office. I am able to appreciate and understand my thoughts better and hence able to align them in order to arrive at meaningful conclusions.

Have you felt in total comfort in silence in a group? I routinely felt that through my childhood. I would just be sitting there studying truly oblivious to my surroundings. Television would be intentionally off, I don’t recall having a phone; and everyone at home will do their own stuff at peace in absolute silence. I would only hear my pen scratch against the paper, sometimes the lone tea shop on the street will blare some music that will faint out across so many walls and doors. I can always count the ticks of the wall clock, hear the water dripping from the improperly closed wash basin tap, cannot ignore the slight hum from opening the fridge, until the cooker would whistle and announce the dinner time.

Even at college hostel though rarely, around exam times, we would all be sitting on the corridor with a bunch of books spread all around us, dimming light and scratching heads. It is a time when you hate the fact that we haven’t touched those books in months, love the fact that you would not have to touch it ever again and be in an unsatisfied yet acknowledged and time-honored frame of mind about the inevitable impending exams- Silence it is.

Today, when I sit downstairs on the riverfront, the calming timbre of the dashing water and it alone would be so soothing that no length or variety of ipod music on Bose speakers can truly provide.

I consistently listen to music on mp3s in the gym at dangerous decibel levels, definitely ignorant to the person next to me even if he was screaming at the top of his lungs. I know I am at the risk of NIHL (noise induced hearing loss) and yet…..

If I left the ipods at home, may be I will blog years later about the wonderful times I had in the gym - how the churning of the myriad treadmills made intonations in harmony with the rolling arm pulleys and ellipticals to produce some unvoiced melody !!

There is music in silence and I haven’t quite listened to it in a while.

Recently one of my friends had written a blog on a 'common' name.
Is this common enough when I compare it with the flabbergasting originality of the Americans !

Think about MLK drives in the USA. Atleast one street connecting a interstate to a US Highway in every big town that I have stepped my foot in is a MLK drive. What about Vine St. ? I know in Cincinnati, there are two streets immediately parallel to each other atleast for a good 1 mile - and both are Vine ! Apparently one of them is short Vine ! Did I see Georgia in Eurasia, Was nt it the state south of South Carolina ?

Well, I know there are MG roads all over India - but thats just one example. I know atleast 10 Pine streets just between Oregon, Pennsylvania, New Jersey and New York. Does Lincoln / Broadway has to exist in every downtown?! What about Morristowns? what about Westchesters ? We lack any imagination and originality in naming our towns. And half the names are borrowed from Europe with the migration. There was once a friend at school and he said on the phone that he was in London..... I just saw him yesterday and he did not mention of any trans-atlantic plans and then I figure he is just 90 miles away in London, OH ! What are the chances you also find a Paris in a drivable radius from Cincinnati ! pretty good. There is one ! Now what about Berlin..... ! wow Berlin is 50 miles SW of Paris only in USA !

London, Paris, Berlin and Amsterdam should be found in half the states of USA !

and we dont stop here.... when I was TAing in my grad school, there were 3 Bills and 3 James - and all the three James had different names from their parents !

If you are talking about Karthik, Sriram and Murali, where do we put the Tom, Dick and Harrys !

Traveller IQ - Application on Orkut !

Wow wii !

Wii is a gaming console that has redefined the concept of video game in recent times. In fact it is not meant for the traditional game enthusiasts, but for people who disliked the aloofness and phoniness of the video games that are often played with a Jockey. Wii revolutionizes the idea of sports in front of a TV with a group of friends laughing excitedly, as against the typical video game of those days that make the player a moron. The most popular game is Tennis which is played by a remote which u use as a racket. No buttons to play with. The sensor senses the torque and acceleration to detect the direction and speed of your racket and accordingly hits the tennis ball.

After a year of playing awesome wii tennis, which to be honest used to cause quite some soreness on my upper arm (well, I am that fit !!), the hubby got me a Wii-Fit yesterday. This is true gym material. You can run like a maniac on the floor (holding the remote) and the wii system will keep track of your vital statistics. It is a great addition to the gaming console. I fancy losing all my extra pounds in front of the TV! There are some fun components like heading the soccer ball, skiing and ski jump. There are good aerobic exercises in basic run and wielding the waist twisting disc. The board that comes with the wii-fit is the brain behind the system in that it calculates the change in center of gravity as your move on it and this information is used to calculate your balance and posture. It is not to be run on like the tread mill. My favoirite is the Yoga and because it calculates the CG and shows it on the screen along with a target area where your CG should ideally lie, it is very useful in doing Yoga the right way. I am sure if used regularly, it can be a great addendum to your fitness routine.

It could be that the hubby is impressed with my workout routine that he decided to add a extra little nice something to it, or it could just be his last effort to keep me off the couch !

A Sunday

In an effort to host (and please myself) a few guests we had yesterday, I tried Bisi Bela baath and it did turn out very well. Following a heavy brunch when we started off from home after fighting the lethargy really hard and only after the DVD player truly let us down, a little rain peeped out trying to dampen the spirits of us which was just waiting for the smallest of reasons to couch back into cozy pillows and hot chai. However the anticipation was shortlived when the rains made its way for a not-so-hot and cloudy-yet-dry day. Walking with a couple of elderly people and young kids on strollers suited the lazy and laid back youth in us very well. We got off at WTC and walked to the Staten Island Ferry at a leisurly pace that it took more than a full hour. The thoght of downtown on a Sunday was pretty depressing, but as it turned out, it was pretty interesting to walk and take pictures like a tourist ! It was funny to wait in line for the typical picture with the Meryll Lynch bull. I did fancy climbing on top of the bull as the childhood memories of riding behind the elephant statues at the Parthasarathy Temple, Triplicane saw me smile. However in the interest of maintaining decorum with my folks, I restrained. The best part of the evening was when I found clothes in C21 that actually fit me. I spent the previous day in Newport Mall to find nothing actually fit me in this country, especially in summer ! Then we finished the nice cool day with a sumptuous three course dinner at Rasoi, Journal Square. whoo.... Casatta Ice cream spoiled all the workout in the last three months !

Top it all, Lakers stay in the game.

Sometimes it pays off to stay out of the sofa on Sundays too !

Dasavatharam

It seemed like a movie put together on an impulse. Kamal has tried to connect very disparate incidents in history into a thread that is so fragile. In the process, he has also allegedly twisted the history. While most of history cannot be proved, I believe it is best left alone especially if the twist endangers the harmony of the contemporary peaceful community.

Also his advertisement of atheism leaves the audience in a very bitter taste. I don't understand why he has to thrust his personal ideology in such a influential media movie after movie. The characterization of "Brahmins" is very flawed - purely taking advantage of a very tolerant community to create some unpleasant comedy in the screenplay. It is very silly of him to show himself as a perfectionist hero and the rest of the people as lesser mortals. The 10-role-play seemed very thrust upon and unnatural to the plot; adding a lot of unnecessary floss to an already non-existing story line. The "Telugu" Kamal (he can speak Telugu in 5 languages!!) creates some lighter moments, but the rest of the Kamal's facial make up adds to the let down.

The Japanese style fight scenes are a novel effort, but the alacrity was definitely missing when two sixty-year old Kamals dash on the screen. Not any like the martial arts shot that he has tried to emulate. Even the camera work of creating a Tsunami is below par and the artificiality is evident. However it did bring back the depressing memory of 26th Dec 2004. In all a over hyped movie is let down by every department of the movie.

We always see men in top positions. Of course there are more women now than earlier holding powerful seats in the corporate world. What is disheartening is, a man thats successful in his career is probably successful in his personal life too. He has a family, many times more than one kid and a posh home in the a scenic locality and a wife thats takes care of the big family.

However more often than not, a woman who is successful career is often left with a couple of divorces or a stalemate single life or single parenting a couple of kids. Is it because men can balance work-life better than women can or is it because partners are more supportive of a husband's career than a wife's career? :)

So the empirical fact is that women have to work twice as hard (or harder) to get to the same position that she would be if she were a man or end up in a broken personal life. The intertwined and complex unwritten rules around the role of a wife, mother and more so of a daughter-in-law does not leave any room for spending time and energy shaping up a professional life – but at this point, I should also mention that women are simply, point black - more capable people.

From what I see, she is endowed with a special sense of balance that can be observed in all her actions. When she feels empowered her man is scared that she would not need him anymore. When the traditional roles played by a man of being a provider and protector are challenged, he is worried if he was becoming dispensable in the household. More often than not, it is not lack of time on her part that lends herself to broken relationships and ineffectiveness at work, but it is a self-conscious choice of trying of boost her man’s ego that makes her a contended (I mean truly satisfied) home maker or a simple supportive wage earner.

Haven’t we seen her cook elaborately for the family and yet eat the left-overs truly happily? She finds the best pleasure possible in feeding a hungry tummy in her husband and kids. It is delight to be a great cook and bliss to be appreciated for her efforts. She seemingly effortlessly observes fasts for the wellbeing or simply a promotion at work. Doesn't she encourage you to raise from rock bottom to cloud nine, even if it had to include many smooth lies?!

What about the selfless love and the sleepless nights? What about the hurried and tired she sweating in the kitchen to make your favorite bajji when you got back from work? What about the tired reproach when she picks up your dirty socks and used clothes from the restroom, verandah and half-eaten lunch boxes from inside your bag? What about she effortlessly handing over the exact same receipt that you were searching for two hours? What about creating a place that you would love to call home? She created the balance in you by balancing everything from her wishes to his, from her reasons to his and from her intellect to his lack of pluck.


I celebrate womanhood whether she is in the backyard or the boardroom for everything was a choice.

You know where to send the Thank You note if you have / had a lovely place called your home !

Pretty Woman

Vivian: You're late.

Edward: You're stunning.

Vivian: [grinning] You're forgiven.

Vivian: The stores are not nice to people — I don't like it.

Edward: Stores are never nice to people. They're nice to credit cards.

"Pretty Woman" was a surprise hit with us. It is a simple Cinderella story of a hooker and the man in the white horse that sweeps off her feat. Some of the conversations truly portray the power and shallowness of wealth in a very sarcastic way. I could appreciate Edward's need for company more than anything.

As expected, Edward falls for the infectiously enthusiastic Vivian.

Petals around the rose

This stuff is amazing.....


and the best part is I cracked it after a few days of trying complex arithmetic on some random numbers :) Trust me, none of that helps ! Truly think outside the box !