Women I know. yo.

On a personal note, just a tribute to all those amazing females I know, on Rakshabandhan day. (Altho, more interesting list of femme fatales will be up on Valentines day )

Rohini: My day begins with her call, and ends with her call. The person I always want to talk to, but end up listening to, whatever she says most of the time. Conversations range from KSKBT story to movies to news to neighbors in childhood to current affairs (my personal affairs), to culinary skills to baby sitting and more.

First met: Undoubtedly, Nov. of 1981@Home.
Last met: July 22nd 2006, Los Angeles
Last Talked: 6 min ago

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Sailaja: My weekends begin with my call to her, hundreds of email messages a week with attachments ranging from Abdul Kalam to Spirituality to urban legends. Fierce protector my reputation wherever she goes. Watch what you say about me in front of her.

First met: Undoubtedly, Nov. of 1981@Home.
Last met: August 2003, Los Angeles
Last Talked: 12 hours ago.

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Vaishnavi: One of the closest friends I have ever had in my life. One girl who was the cause of high long distance bills for a few years. Currently, in a convenient time zone to attend all early morning calls dialed while walking from parking place to office suite. She carries some of the best memories of my childhood vacations.

First met: May ‘93@Nadavpalli.
Last met: May 2007, Outside U.S. Capitol Hill, Washington D.C.
Last Talked: 12 hrs ago.

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Divya: So much more mature for her age, my adviser in spirituality, relationships, career plans and one person who really waits to see me in India. Words really fail to describe her. Her dad is my inspiration in life.

First met: May ‘93@Nadavpalli. While I carried her around in my arms ( a little fatso kiddo weighing twice more than me).
Last met: July 2003, Sec-Bad railway station.
Last Talked: 12 hrs ago.

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Deekshi: Silent killer, should have seen her in a bowling alley. Drops the ball so smoothly, a fly sitting on it wouldn’t budge and yet you have a strike! Never seen her worried about a single thing. Married to one of my best friends ever. A holiday is always in Texas because of them.

First met: May ‘93@Kakinada., though she claims she met me much before at my home while I was always running away to the playground.
Last met: March 2007, Austin. April 2007, Birmingham. (almost got killed for the mistake!)
Last Talked: 12 hrs ago.

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Smita: The brat! One you wished were never your neighbor (lucky me), a voice that can be heard among a hundred people, not because of the volume, just sheer intensity and pure dumb luck. Is probably the most famous girl of her batch in school days (had heard of her a million times before I ever saw her). A friend for life and is always there to listen to what you say and read whatever crap you write. :P, hasn’t forgotten to send a Rakhi every year for most of the last 9 years.

First met: Summer of ‘97, sat right next to me while writing an entrance exam, Sainikpuri.
Last met: July 2003, Luncheon@ASRN.
Last Talked: Last week.

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Raga: Have people ever been so chaotically similar. Can talk to her after a gap of one year and still converse with the ease of talking to a friend after 2 days. Is one of the very few memories of college days and one person with who you can discuss anything about.
First met: December 2000@Mahbubnagar.
Last met: Dec 2006, Dallas.
Last Talked: 12 hours ago.

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Sunita: One person who waved to me from her marriage pedestal with a big smile on her face. That’s the best memory I have of her. Otherwise people getting married are so confused with the situation they don’t know what’s going on. Her simplicity just awes me to no extent.
First met: Between 1982 and 1984 (according to the pictures at home) , Yanam.
Last met: June 2003, Yanam.
Last Talked: 12 hours ago.

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Chaitanya: Her voice rings in my ears, so childish and innocent, makes me realize I’m elder to her :). Celebrating the birth of her first child this month. My prayers and wishes are always with you.
First met: Between 1983 and 1985 (according to the pictures at home) , Home.
Last met: July 24 2003, @Home.
Last Talked: 2 Weeks ago.

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Sailaja: An amazing dancer, who didn’t hesitate to pull me in her show onto a stage in front of 800 people. God, that’s not a pleasant memory. But one person who helped me cope up with staying away from home. With both our bro-in-laws being cousins, she was one person who kept me updated about everyone in the family that were relatives at a much later stage in my life.

First met: August 2003, Birmingham. AL.
Last met: August 2005, Birmingham. AL.
Last Talked: 12 hours ago.

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Sowmya: My first non-Telugu female acquaintance through my eldest sis :). Was immensely helpful in English speaking skills all my life. One of the most traditional girls I have ever known who knew about all south Indian festivals. One girl who would show up with a Rakhi and a box full of sweets ever year.

First met: Late 80’s@Home.
Last met: 2002, Home.
Last Talked: 2002.

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Anita: A stark reminder of the realities of life. One person who I will always remember as the victim of poor health care in rural India. Something that has to be taken care of at a very personal level.

First met: Between 1982 and 1984 (according to the pictures at home).
Last met: April 2003.
Last Talked: May 2003. One month before we lost her forever.

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Sirisha M: I suddenly have amnesia!, Wait, one of my childood friends in primary school.

First met: 1993 (AECS-III).
Last met: July 2003, Luncheon@Home.
Last Talked: July 2003.
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Pam Clark: Every other minute I run to her and say something new. I have to write this report of 40 pages before tomorrow. you can do it is her reply. If I were to say I have to fly to the moon tomorrow, she would still say I can do it. One person sho trusts my abilities more than I do and the one who always ties the Rakhis I receive and calls it, the “festival of a sister’s thread”.

First met: Nov 2003, Birmigham.
Last met: Today, Birmingham.
Last Talked: 6 hours ago.

Oh lord, have mercy!!

She’s the perfect definition of a beauty queen, this is a MUST watch video.

LMAO!!!!!

The punch is, she came third in the comptetition, how ridiculous, I was thinking she should get first. No?

Tharoor’s dictionary

Shashi Tharoor writes here

whereas the true speaker — and reader — of Indianenglish doesn’t blink at a lathi-charge on a sarvodaya leader emerging from a pandal after a bhajan on his way to consume some ghee-fried double-roti at a paan-shop near the thana (none of which would make any sense under the, er, Queen’s very rules)………

That was about IndianEnglish, the following quote is an extract from his write up of Information age..

a friend recounts being accosted at a European airport by a frantic traveller saying, “hey, you’re Indian — I have a problem with my laptop, I’m sure you can help me!” The stereotyped Indian used to be the sadhu or the snake-charmer; now it’s the software guru.

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Cutest cartoon

I have seen in the recent times.
xkcd rocks!!!!!!!

Birmingham Barons Vs Mobile Bay bears

Barons win !

Chak De…

Chak De India.

While contemporary Hindi movies still revolve around remakes, sequels, prequels and the never out of oblivion love stories, Chak De comes as a special relief for Hindi movie lovers. There’s so much in the movie that is shown about India, in little terms. How by default every south Indian is classified as a Madrasi, how little we know about our own country especially on the eastern corner. The plight of women and sports other than cricket. Satirically, cricketers are almost looked upon as villains, their pride fueled by media, fans and the public. They are blind to notice other’s interest in sports other than cricket. No nonsense songs, and the 2-3 background songs are quite appropriately put in without being a ‘filler’ in normal typical Hindi movies.

There are ridiculous moments too…. Papa, papa, meinu bhi gaddar dekhna hai Daddy dear replies, aa beta, dekh and hoists the kid onto his shoulder, I can frame a real life scenario if the society I lived in was stupid enough to outcast a sports person based on media news and I ran to my dad asking papa papa, Gaddar dekhna hai. I would get a whack and be asked “Homework kiya kya tune?”. More ridiculous one being writing “Gaddar” on the wall and scribbling it off 7 years later. What the heck? Grow up people.

But the general seriousness overcomes the two-three ridiculous scenes and like in all other sports movies (Coach Carter, Glory Road etc), there’s infamy/oppression of minorities, then comeback with novel ideas, perseverance and dedication. There are adrenaline rushing moments too, I liked the scene at McDonalds and the punjabi chokri comedy was GOOD.
Characters Komal(who is a real-life hockey player from Chandigarh) and Preeti have a special role and Preeti Sabarwal (Sagarika Ghatge ) is the hottest of the lot.

I wonder if cricket crazy fans ever look beyond cricket and sponsors encourage other sports in India beginning with local level, even school level is fine. So there’s enough encouragement and opportunity for players to develop their skills from a young age. Politics is one thing that is not going to go away anytime soon, in selections at any level in India. But hopefully at least one deserving player making it to the next level can create some difference to how we play at national and international levels. The awe that comes to some of us with white skinned foreigners is shown for a very brief moment.

It is an SRK movie with or without him being on the frame, probably one my favorite SRK movies ever. Critic reviews were good, but box office records didn’t seem to be too motivating. Of course, we have fed so much of nonsense to the public that sudden intellectual ideas even in the tiniest quantities won’t get registered into their minds easily. A good, entertaining movie without the least profanity and moderately patriotic by pointing out our own differences than bashing another country for our problems.

A MUST watch.

Ok, while I go and cheer for Birmingham Barons  playing against Mobile bay bears (pah!), relax and enjaai.

Next post will be a baseball pictorial if I get seats close enough (or if the audience turn out is too low) . Just for info - Birmingham Baron’s shot into limelight a few years ago, when THE Michael Jordan quit basketball and joined baseball, but couldn’t come anywhere close to being called an average player. Of course, he quit soon. But there’s still some aura around Birmingham Barons that his basketball legacy left behind (say a modern transport bus for the team that he bought).

Irony

Amy was an employee for many years, an independent worker who worked on things only when she wanted to. Very independent, sometimes selfish. Slight reminders about her duties would make her guilty and she would work over time for a short period till her conscience (tiny little conscience) told her, it was balanced. I couldn’t fire Amy for many reasons I can’t explain, then I told her “GUILT, is not a motivational factor, either you work or you don’t because this is not what you enjoy doing. So stop it.” She nodded, twice,  I told her, the third time I think she took it quite seriously. So when we missed an important deadline and had to seek an extension, Amy knew of it yet this time surprisingly, she didn’t really bother much about working harder, just completed her work at her own pace. I kinda confronted her, “so, what now?”

She said “I stopped feeling guilty”.

Good Cop, Bad Cop

Till date there have been 8-10 short-term turned long-term guests in place, new students straight from India, new employees from other cities, friends, friends of friends and others. Birmingham is a lovely city (if not the loveliest, and I’m gonna drop a 200 lb weight on the head of the person who asks me next, if people live here).

I live in the south (and have lived in the south in the past), so southern hospitality is a genetic quality I have, (south-Indian born and bred, south of US lived, officially 4 years and 8 days). Mostly new students find an apartment and leave in less than a week, it’s surprising, they usually do so with little or no help, others who come to work in B’ham….hmmmm

Everyone who drops in doesn’t want to leave this house. A comfortable 2 bath-2 bed villa that I love, a kitchen which actually IS a kitchen. I wonder if it is a compliment to my hospitality, but after some time you wish your temporary guest lives up to his name, that of being temporary and not make his residence permanent. So after a comfortable 2 week stay, we start our “mind games” as SKA calls it, the first being Good cop, Bad Cop.

One of us (me or my roomie, MOMR as I’ll call it) walks up to the guest and ask him what the other MOMR has asked him about the guest’s accommodation plans, and then a small warning, if I were you I would start looking RIGHT NOW. If he (MOMR) talks to you, he will be very straight forward and honest, no one before you has stayed here for more than 1 hr after that conversation, more so, he will find the earliest ruse to drop you off in a new apartment whether you like it or not.

50% of the times it works, if not Phase 2.

A simple straight conversation with two options, find one of your own apt. or let me find one for you, a 2 year lease, breaking it is next to visiting hell, a roomie who doesn’t cook, no car for anyone in the room, apt doesn’t have good maintenance, far far away from where ever you have to work. And the final blow, he is not from Andhra Pradesh (funny, but sometimes this is the most devastating reason, people just freak out, I don’t understand why but still I’m glad it works).

30% of the remaining dudes are filtered here.

Phase 3.

Running and all hyper and tense……..He’s coming, He’s coming.

Who?

Landlord, if he sees you all hell will break loose..

Err…why?

WHY?? He will kick us out of this house, we will loose our deposit, we might be sued, we will never get another apartment in Birmingham…..

What do I do?

Find a place within 2 days and leave.

2 days? Maybe next weekend…

Omigosh, omigosh, my phone is ringing, it’s him it’s him.

Ok, ok, what do I do?

Find a place within 1 day…

Ok..Ok…I’ll start packing,

We haven’t touched phase 4 ever, and have learnt to say No, even if it’s a tad rude. Saves a lot of trouble.

I sometimes wonder, but never regret helping them. We ought to look out for each other, but not break our backs with the weight we bear.

Ain’t ya’ll pleased with my southern hospitality.

Update:

Shashi Tharoor defines hospitality here

Hospitality: Is the great Indian virtue, practised indiscriminately and unhesitatingly irrespective of such unworthy considerations as whether one can afford it. Indians throw open their doors to strangers, offering their time, their food and the use of their homes at the drop of a mat. After dowry, hospitality is probably the greatest single cause of Indian indebtedness. There is one catch, though: we are usually hospitable only to those we consider our social equals or betters. Oddly enough, foreigners inevitably seem to qualify.
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No, I cannot consider social equality, anyone coming in is the same but about phoreners it’s a whole different issue with me, they DO NOT qualify for temporary accomodation, you see I’m the guest then.

What would You put on youtube?

The Assoc. Presss reports here : A 9-year old boy was recruited by Manchester United after he became a you tube phenomenon for his footballing skills (Soccer, I mean).

What would you upload on youtube that you are confident enough will land you a job?

Me thinks, me would upload a guide to hospitality that would give me a hotel management job. Why? The next post, “playing good cop, bad cop” will tell you why.

Wat lag gayi mamu

In a sense provoking article by TVR Shenoy, “Nobody is above the law, Mr Sanjay Dutt“, he points out why he is not so sorry about Munna bhai being jailed. I’m a big fan of some of Sanjay Dutt’s movies starting from Vaastav to Munna bhai series and the little known Anthony Kaun Hai? But how moral or immoral are we in sympathizing with him? And not appreciating the law taking its own course for once. True there’s a lot of political vendetta beginning from the time he was arrested in 1993. After a special meeting between Bal Thackeray and the late Mr. Sunil Dutt, Sanjay was surprisingly left off and after a long tryst with the law and courts, the verdict was devastating to most people. Six years is too much especially after such a long struggle they say, what about the punishment if he hadn’t acted in the now so popular peace-loving and emotionally moving movies. Is it to cold to think about him and keep his movie charisma separate? Why are we so hippocratic in our choices? Always blaming the justice system for not being strong enough against celebrities and political families (Jessica lal case, Nitish Katara case, Bala Krishna aka shooting star), and for once an appropriate action is taken against a popular actor and the whole film industry comes out in support. The camaraderie point is well taken, and I’m happy about it, but why blame the judge and the justice system.

Coming to the harshness, Sanjay Dutt was a self confessed drug addict and should have been jailed long long ago for 10 years, according to the Narcotic drugs and psychotropics substances act of the Indian Penal Code. Other crimes include carrying firearms and having links with mafia.

I’m no lawyer and not even remotely connected to the details, but I would have been saddened if Sanjay was convicted as a terrorist and burdened with 14 years imprisonment. Six years is probably harsh or harsher, but no way does it mean justice wasn’t done. I have a new found respect for the judge and his profession. While the media goes into a frenzy about 50 crores riding on Dutt and his mosquito coils and shared toilets, there are probably hundreds of people suffering for crimes they did not commit or cutting through their punishment they don’t really deserve. Everyone deserves sympathy, not just actors, and the blatant media partiality is somewhat saddening.