Month: September 2009

The partner is a force when it comes to lyrics. He can master the most complex of them in minutes. He can correct A.R.Rahman on Raakozhi when he errs. He strides onto stage, and mesmerizes judges with his dazzling power over them. (Well…he strode onto stage once, and had them reaching for their earplugs in a trance)

Yet destiny hasn’t made him a music magnate for a reason. He can’t sing Baa Baa Black Sheep with a tune to save his life. But thanks to his love for lyrics, I try every once in a while to understand the meaning of the songs.

Last week-end, fresh from a concert that he loved, he was so full of enthusiasm to expose me to the nuances of the finer music he had enjoyed, that I gave in. The daughter and I had opted for a quieter evening at the bookstore, and looked relaxed when the concert troupe came in.

After much badgering and my whining politely about preferring to sleep, he held my eyelids open, and made me listen to some of the songs. I don’t get it. I JUST CAN’T fathom WHY people put themselves through it. In 5 minutes, my brains were exerting a definite pressure to overflow from their walls. My ears were ringing with the jarring (you know, I really have to use the word music here, but I can’t bring myself to write it – all right, here goes…)

My ears were ringing with the jarring music (Gulp)

As if that weren’t enough, a bally group of musicians stood at the public transit and belted a horrendous cacophony that is stuck in my already fragile brain.

Peuan-pa-pap-puean-peuan-pa-pap-peauan-pa-pa-paeaun

I mean there are things a soul can take, and things a soul can’t take.

What the world needs is a means for peace and quiet. Yet, what it gets is gems in philosophy such as
“Boy-u-na payyan
Girl-u-na ponnu” (A quirky number that has apparently grabbed the attention of Tamil society in no small measure)

Exactly the kind of sentiment that one sees on Shaadi.com. Incidentally, an advertisement of Shaadi.com is now prominently displayed on the public transit terminals in Desiville, US. Maybe the
“Peuan-pa-pap-puean-peuan-pa-pap-peauan-pa-pa-paeaun” band can perform at the reception, while the

“Boy-u-na payyan
Girl–u-na ponnu” song plays in the background for the wedding.

That would be an interesting wedding – what?!

I have reached an exalted mental state. My mental maturity is shining through my every pore. Pretty soon, I might have people congratulating my way of life, and how they strive to emulate me and so on.

Allow me ….

I walked into the kitchen with a full-ish afternoon lunch stuffed into the intestines and the cuds doing their fair job. I needed a spot of liquid to soothe the upheavals of polishing a liberal lunch. In short, I had fire bells clanging and the firemen were picking up their hoses.

I walked in to the kitchen to see a fairly sad looking apple – it had a note.

I think the apple climbed out of the bowl it was placed in with the note “Free”, struck it out and wrote $10 on it. I mean, there are things a self respecting apple cannot stand. To be given away free at this age, and a note to go with it can’t have been a happy experience. So, I imagine, it climbed out, wrote $10 on the note and slipped back looking innocent and withered.

Now is the entry for the mature self to enter the pic. I picked up another stick-it note and wrote $10 on it, and stuck it there. Satisfied that I spared the apple the ignominy that couldn’t possibly have been shared among fellow apples, I started back.

Now, I just have to find a way to give the apple away for free.
PS: I meant to put the post up yesterday! Now, the apple looks older, and just a little bit more worried at being consumed free or not.

I challenge you to find a single bloke who has visited the parents’ home, and hasn’t seen the photographs of the daughter of the house sitting with the President of India. The show runs for 2 hours and 12 minutes and is accompanied with a full theatrical demonstration of all the words spoken by the President. Usually, excellent coffee is served during the interval.

You see, the sister won 4 medals for various activities from the then President of India, R.Venkatraman. He then called for her after the ceremony, and sat her down to see what kept her ticking, and all that. The sis’ was given a new red-and-black dress for the occasion, and the photographs and medals occupy a somewhat better position than the sons and daughters of the house. It isn’t everyday that the President hobnobs with the children of teachers.

The photographs themselves can be used for toothpaste advertisements, teeth whitening etc, but the President declined from going after fame in that direction, so the opp. was dropped. I remember what a great deal it was to have the President visit our School. There were black cats streaming all over the place, and everybody was checked. I almost had my priya sweets removed from my body. Quite scary I tell you.

The father was given the unique honour of signing the cards needed to present the guards with, to allow people access to the auditorium. Never has anybody approached the man with such a compelling need to get signatures from him, and he came forward with his most gallant attempt, and signed his full name, all of 23 consonants and 15 syllables (okay…..but it’s a long name!) It wasn’t till he signed the 502nd card that he started questioning his decision to sign the full name.

The President landed on the grounds, and we dutifully sang the national anthem, the guard of honour with the right click, shoes all polished, the works. It is something of a memory. The chance to see and shake hands with the President is one so unique.

I wonder why there is a controversy about President Obama addressing the children of the nation.
http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2009/09/coming_up_president_obamas_add.html
The most common complaint seems to be that he will push forth his propoganda. I ask you – to what end? When these children are old enough to vote, he might not be in the President’s office any longer.

Turns out the President only said what parents hoot everyday, but now the country is just hoping that coming from the President’s mouth, the children would listen.http://www.whitehouse.gov/MediaResources/PreparedSchoolRemarks/

He said children should make the best of life’s opportunities and learn to live responsibly. Where’s the propoganda? All I see is many more proud families who can show pictures of their children with the President.

What a coincidence? I have been meaning to write about Facebook for a while now, when New York times runs this article

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/30/magazine/30FOB-medium-t.html

I quote from the article above:
Things fall apart; the center cannot hold. Facebook, the online social grid, could not command loyalty forever. If you ask around, as I did, you’ll find quitters. One person shut down her account because she disliked how nosy it made her. Another thought the scene had turned desperate. A third feared stalkers. A fourth believed his privacy was compromised. A fifth disappeared without a word.

The exodus is not evident from the site’s overall numbers. According to comScore, Facebook attracted 87.7 million unique visitors in the United States in July. But while people are still joining Facebook and compulsively visiting the site, a small but noticeable group are fleeing — some of them ostentatiously

This piece aligns itself with the sort of news I was recently criticizing. “If you ask around” – this had me dished. How was I supposed to ask around – on Facebook?! Clearly, people are quitting the site. How would they answer me? The stress made me want to update my status.

This statement is of course the crowning glory:
But while people are still joining Facebook and compulsively visiting the site, a small but noticeable group are fleeing — some of them ostentatiously. (Uh….duh….scratch. So, are people joining or are they quitting?)

But, I shall interpret this prolific link to read that many people have been quitting Facebook lately. I have felt like an aging dinosaur, pummeling myself into thinking that by spurning Facebook, I would lose touch with my friends, and like the dinosaurs unable to adapt, roam in a physical world, where the only contact was through Facebook, and water only the virtual kind. Sad, speechless….well….you get the drift.

Don’t get me wrong, but Facebook felt to me like a big “Oops!” waiting to happen. I accepted anyone wanting to reach out to me, and before I knew it, I had a whole lot of friends from all my associations – kindergarten classmates, tea stall mates, college bonda mates, colleagues in the various companies I have worked in. Everytime, I attempted to post a message, I was baffled. What on Earth will I tell all these people that will interest them all at the same time?

Feeling sleepy?
Want to drink Tea?
Wants to step out

The problem with all the messages I did want to put up was that, it felt like a yearning. If I was already drinking tea, I wouldn’t put that up, I’d be busy sipping my tea. If I went out, I would not stop to update my Facebook status, I’d be out the door.

The only time I felt a status was warranted was when I finished running a half-marathon. But, I think the World will agree with me here when I say that, that seems like an awful lot of trouble to go through in order to put up a Facebook status.

So life passes me by, and the stress of not having anything to say gnaws at me ……….

PS: Another link: Recruiters screen facebook too! http://msn.careerbuilder.com/Article/MSN-2035-Job-Info-and-Trends-More-Employers-Screening-Candidates-via-Social-Networking-Sites/?sc_extcmp=JS_2035_home1&SiteId=cbmsnhp42035&ArticleID=2035&gt1=23000&cbRecursionCnt=1&cbsid=d1afeba127564100aae4334a5fe432f0-305904617-w6-6