Midnight movie...

Dint like Calvin Klein, sorry Kevin Kline, at first sight… but fell in love with him, gradually… like Meg Ryan… 

It’s just another love story, the typical rom-coms… boy-meets-girl, they don’t get along well, fall in love eventually, without even realising it… 

So, what’s so special about the movie? Was it Meg Ryan’s unpretentiousness and liveliness? Or Calvin Klein, aww, not again, Kevin Kline’s French-tinged English? Or the French setting and the countryscape? May be the simple dialogues and the hint of smile tbrings to your lips? 

Wait, I think I know - the chemistry… “and can’t have you… I want you…. ” and all I could think of was, oh god, just kiss him, kiss him, why don’t u kiss him, you dumb woman!@#

Or may be am just sixteen at heart and haven’t quite gotten cured of my romanticism :D 

Who cares… I loved it! A French Kiss at midnight :)

The Whole Six Yards… II

‘My tryst with the ethereal Sari’

Forget the Gandhis and the Rekhas… lets focus on ‘normal people’ who are transformed into women of substance on adorning this six yard enigma… like me!

My experiment with the sari dates back to Std XII (farewell)... and I have felt beautiful in one, everytime...

Yes, even when the first time I wore it outside the safety of Ram Daya and it gave away, most embarassingly, in my school compound! Even when Freida Miss, my 7th grade teacher, draped it up again, in the sidelines of the Middle School block... Even when I had to ride a bike (triples, mind you), climb the stairs, catch a train, walk the 0.5 km distance to MCW, run up three flight of stairs to the auditoriums or even break into an extempore dance to Dola re... Even on the eve of my wedding, perspiring despite the AC room and stripped in front of ten 'helpers'… Even at a swank DB Party at a posh Hyatt and went breathless at the voice of the performer…

Even when I have always been 5 feet and never the 50 kg taj mahal :), I have felt beautiful in the Sari.

And not without good reason, for the mystical sari tactically camouflages the wearer’s flaws while brilliantly flaunting her assets!!! ;)

Agreed, they are not the most convenient for today’s superwoman who has to juggle between her home and office… its quicker to zip up trousers and button up shirts, than pleat saris and pin up pallus but IMHO it is still the most elegant of clothes in the history of mankind (should I say, womankind???) …

I do admit to fantasies of me decked up in that flowing white ball gown with a train or an exquisite kimono with its flying sleeves... but the Sari rules the roost, true to my roots  And I guess most women would agree with me!

My wardrobe comprises of various textures - crisp cottons, chic chiffons, heavenly rubber silks, classy Kanjeevarams, dashing Benares and sleek synthetics; however, the eye-catching Ikkats, aesthetic Pochampallis and bright Bandhinis beckon me to take them home… guess my love affair with the sari shall continue… after all, doesn’t a Sari represent the Indian feminity, like no other attire 

Boy, am glad I am a woman!

Cookers and Packers!

Fact: 'Healthy eating encourages five or six small sized meals as against three king-sized meals'

Yeah, any health conscious dud would tell you that! And I religiously follow it! The only hitch - who will make and pack those 5 (ok only 3 to be packed) meals?

Well, dieticians and nutritionists across the globe might swear by this method... in fact, it is a recommended food chart for every aspiring loser - i mean, weight loser :)

Everyday I carry 4 dabbas to office, in addition to the breakfast I eat at home and the snack/juice I have in the office! One bowl of dal and rice, one bowl of veggies, one bowl of curd (which is already in the process of becoming buttermilk) and a small dabba of nuts/fruits!
And there have been days, when I have been tempted to not carry a bag - just my wallet and cellphone, but my oh my, where will I accomodate that big apple or a pack of multi-grain biscuits? (Boy, am I glad about the big bag trend! )

But I just need more clarity on how this 5 meal system works in a weight loss regimen... does it help by
A. spacing out meals, increasing metabolism and cutting down on hunger pangs and binges OR
B. by increasing the effort of making and packing the meals and thereby burning calories?
(p.s. there are no calorie charts available for packing food - skipping, bathing, even writing finds a mention in the chart!)

Time taken for cooking food - 10 minutes
Time taken for packing food - 15 minutes

Sorry, what was your question? What? Have I lost? Yeah, i have...
I have lost count of my weight :D

Yours heavily,
Meenakshi! :D

Nalam nalam ariya aaval...

One of the most noteworthy incidents in my life was (wait, am not gonna touch upon poignant, life altering, touching, or even shocking incidents such as my wedding or the glow of pride on my parents' faces at the Delhi Awards Ceremony or my first sight of my niece or the death of a young class teacher or the emotionally packed night repartees wid Deeps) when I, well, snubbed a lady of my neighborhood!!! :) wow... what a cheap thrill... wat a sense of victory adn accomplishment - trust me, even the Gold Medal or the All India First dint feel so good :)...

Thank the intruding and annoying habits of the previous generation (not the madisaar clad madi maamis, but sari draped, cell phone wielding aunties)...
Their dogma in life is that the first wedding anniversary should always be celebrated by the couple with a two-month old kid(my math is impeccable!) - preferably a son... ! Their antenna (read as math) gets worked up all the more if they live in an agrahaaram like mine and get to see such a 'chamathu (maatu)ponnu' like me...
(yuck, i hate the label, but i guess i have earned it unwittingly and now, unwillingly :( )

My fault? I defied traditional 'wisdom' and convention - celebrated my second wedding anniversary alone (not even wid my better half, let alone an infant ;))
Now this lady - we will call her Madam Nalam virumbi - a self appointed moral policewoman, whom i have hardly spoken to once before (well, she has spoken to me on a number of occasions - "emma skirt podara??? decent a chudithar poda koodathu?"... "en ma ipdi kovilla fast a suthare? ponnu madiri medhuva nada" !@#$%!@#...) runs into me at the temple... (with her, i rein in my ready-to-burst-at-its-seams smile)
Namma Nalam virumbi asks me, indignantly - "enna, pullai killai pethukara ennam illaya"!!!

Horror of horrors - something my own mother wouldnt dare ask me - my own athais and maamis wouldnt reproach me... this woman has the GUTS, the self-importance and noseyness to confront me!

Meenu, mustering all her wit (limited stock), rudeness, indifference, arrogance adn local tamil, retorted - "oh, pombalai thaniya pulla pethuka mudiyuma...purushan oor la illama"! கப்பு சிப்பு... அந்த பக்கம் sound e காணோம்...
On second thoughts, i guess I did sound crude ,vulgar and may be even promiscous, but the expression on Nalam virumbi's face - price less :) !!!

And the answer is...

http://www.iqtest.com/prep.html?test=final

Because I have a constant fear of becoming mentally inactive (chaar saal se tho bus Ctrl C Ctrl V karthi aa rahi hoon ;)) and of letting my hare-brain rust away to glory, one fine day I took this IQ Test (Google threw this up first – Tickle seems to have closed down).

What followed was thirteen minutes of suspense and mental anguish (what if my IQ had drastically lowered, after more than 50 golden months of idleness???)

Phew… 121…read as (http://iq-test.learninginfo.org/iq04.htm) Superior to 90% of the population (he he, let me please bask in my moment under the sun; we are merely discussing statistics you see… not actual accomplishments :))

And yeah, pretty much in the same percentile as to what it was four years ago (discovery courtesy – Tickle score mail stored in a near extinct, wiped-from-the-face-of-earth(internet) mail id – checkout_aparna@yahoo.co.in)

Intezaar... ho rahi... mere 'aapu' ki

Do you know how irritating it could be to wait for someone! - Am sure you do!

But do you know how embarassing it could be to make someone wait???
Especially if the 'someone' panel reads like a Who-is-who in the context of an organisation! Something like, say, the Group Operations Director, Group Head and another Group Head, Group Lead (to be read in a top-down approach in hierarchy) and alongside the CLIENT!!!
Well, now I know!
Why did they have to be 'humble' enough to visit me?! Why couldnt they simply have asked me to pay them a visit! How and why does nature beckon me at such inopportune moments?
EEEKSSSS! Why me oh why me???

I went a deep crimson-RED! The client must have mistaken my embarassment for a Red Indian complexion!

ek chalis ki last local

Two months in Bombay, atleast once inside the Andheri Station everyday- but never been in a 'local'!!!

I should be ashamed of myself - how can i not have travelled by the famous (read as crowded) Bombay train??? Well, thats how things stood, as of Saturday (Aug 8)... and what better way to open my account than on a Saturday (Appa says, 'sani perukkam' - Saturn increases and therefore Saturday augurs well for most activities)...


Well, coming back, my caro sposo wanted to go to the Town (imho, in Mumbai, town revolves around the axes of Dadar, Victoria Terminus, Churchgate and Nariman). Hence we set forth on this journey to the centre of the earth, oops, the heart of the city :), in a train.

The equation was right for me;

A Saturday afternoon + Opposite direction of the general flow of traffic + a Fast train = an easy ride... (so much so, it left me wondering, whats all this gung-ho about the train trave(ai)l? Everything seems so innocently quiet and at peace :) )

Add to it, the nostalgic pleasure of a solitary train travel in the ladies compartment (no offence meant to my better half, who seemed better off in the General)!!! but sigh... 20 kms covered in as many minutes... i wouldnt have complained if it had taken an extra ten minutes...

On a broader note, my contention has been that, if a train starts from some place, it invariably reaches its destination at more or less the appointed time - there is no question of traffic jams, processions (flooding in the tracks could be a plausible excuse; but a flooded road is worse off than a flooded track, I presume, unless the rail network decides to shut down).

And yeah, the ladies compartment - is a haven of sorts... when I run the risk of being sandwiched, i can be grateful that am being squeezed by people of the same species (Men are from a different planet, you see :)) and the multitude of vendors who have mastered the art of getting into and out of crowded trains, propose a welcome treat to the eye (to the purse also???)

No pollution, no back pains; sheltered stations, higher frequencies, better communication, more standing space, fourth seat comforts... numerous are the attractions of a train, over a bus (how we would travel three hours (close to ninety mins by train ) to attend a four-hour evening College!!! )

If you think five years of incessant train travel and a couple of years of intermittent but back-breaking bus travel (all in Chennai) has made me prejudiced towards trains - think again. Has there been a soul amongst us, who has not been captivated, at some point of time in life, by the sight of the great caterpillar plugging into/out of a station???
(Heard about the kid who wanted to be an engineer cos he thought, an engineer's job is to in an engine(train? this kid did turn out to be an engineer, whose goal (succesful, too) in life was to travel by both the TGV and the Shinkanzen!)
Ofc, not everyone is a freak who spends sleepless nights crouching in the lower berths, merely in analysis of the direction and union of tracks... but am sure, there is hardly a kid who hasnt quarrelled for a corner seat in a train!!!

But then, the charm of a train is unparalleled; dont take my word for it, just ask a kid... child IS the father of man :)