I turned 33 recently. There’s something about that number. It’s like you are going further and further away from the memory of a milestone that you have been long clinging on to, your fingernails digging in deep lest you be yanked and hurled away like those unimportant extras that get caught in tornadoes in Hollywood movies. I passed that milestone of 25 eight years back. I don’t remember how I felt back then, but it must have been great. Last week though, when I turned 33, I didn’t feel the same way. 25 was elation, over having reached the prime of my bachelor life – earning, single, not a worry (lack of attractive female company notwithstanding). 33 is not exactly a sad time comparatively…I have just about having completed the next stage of evolution – that of a middle class married man with house, and housing loan to boot.
I am not complaining though. Every age, every year has its shares of joys and grief. Although I would be a little more hard pressed if you were to ask me to quickly jot down 10 joys..could have done that when I was 25 without a thought.
Coming back to my birthday though, my whole day went by without too many people calling me up to wish me..Family yes..3-4 friends yes..else, my whole day went by just like any other..A small part of me wished that I would have got a few more calls..would have been nice to catch up at least :-)
And then, just a couple of days back, I logged on to Facebook, and I saw birthday wishes from close to 50 people.
Life’s ok then I guess..on the bright side, I would never have gotten 60 people wishing me on my birthday if it were not for Facebook..Somebody ought to beatify Zuckerberg (hope I got his spelling right).
Great to be blogging again..yet again..
Shain
Monday, March 05, 2012
Wednesday, November 16, 2011
Coming back to life..trying to..
It's been days, months, more than a year actually..and to think that this blog was once my one big link to virtuality. And then came along a lot of other things, both online and offline, that just took away, and are taking away a huge chunk of my time.
Not that all those things are not important. Some of them are..work for instance..Lol! Wouldn't have a reason to look forward to the end of the month otherwise. Then there's my wife, and anyone who's married would know that time spent with your wife is time well spent....rather, you better spend it there.
And then there is Daya, or Nina, as we call our girl. She is my one big time-killer. I have to spend time playing with her..but then she dictates the game, and the rule..just one rule..I have to sit on the floor along with her..past few days I have been escaping under the guise of a back ache..I did have a bad back for a couple of months though..and a very serious and morose looking doc told me (after I'd paid him around 300 bucks, plus another 500 to the hospital for an x-ray) that I had a very mild disc degeneration..Nothing unnatural he said..just a natural sign of aging..
So there it is..I am growing old ...come to think of it, half the people mentioned in newspapers,are younger than me..the people for whom I've been taking sessions, or now managing, are now products of 1989-90!!!It's not a very disappointing or discouraging thought..it's just that it never hit me. Now it has..
Changes at work too..I have moved out of my current role, to a more generic one..Change is very difficult, a bit scary too..coz u never know what u are gonna see on the other side..but then, change i must..am a frog in a well otherwise..so this change will see me move out Trivandrum to Chennai..That will happen come January..new year, new things..same old me..
Ciao..
Shain
Not that all those things are not important. Some of them are..work for instance..Lol! Wouldn't have a reason to look forward to the end of the month otherwise. Then there's my wife, and anyone who's married would know that time spent with your wife is time well spent....rather, you better spend it there.
And then there is Daya, or Nina, as we call our girl. She is my one big time-killer. I have to spend time playing with her..but then she dictates the game, and the rule..just one rule..I have to sit on the floor along with her..past few days I have been escaping under the guise of a back ache..I did have a bad back for a couple of months though..and a very serious and morose looking doc told me (after I'd paid him around 300 bucks, plus another 500 to the hospital for an x-ray) that I had a very mild disc degeneration..Nothing unnatural he said..just a natural sign of aging..
So there it is..I am growing old ...come to think of it, half the people mentioned in newspapers,are younger than me..the people for whom I've been taking sessions, or now managing, are now products of 1989-90!!!It's not a very disappointing or discouraging thought..it's just that it never hit me. Now it has..
Changes at work too..I have moved out of my current role, to a more generic one..Change is very difficult, a bit scary too..coz u never know what u are gonna see on the other side..but then, change i must..am a frog in a well otherwise..so this change will see me move out Trivandrum to Chennai..That will happen come January..new year, new things..same old me..
Ciao..
Shain
Tuesday, February 02, 2010
"Ashaaane!!"
What is it you like about your comedians? Some like the split-second comic timing, some like the comic contortions they make with their faces, and hell, some people just laugh at the way their favourite comedian look. If I think about Cochin Haneefa, who left Malayalam cinema viewers today, I would think that it was the buffoon-who-wanted-to-be-a-thug persona that I loved.
Here was a guy who was built to be a bouncer, rather a street rowdy,but who's on-screen IQ always equalled that of an eight year old. How could you not help laughing at him in his garish red kurta, handkerchief tied around his neck, sleeves rolled all the way upto his armpits, and a silly excuse for a pocket knife twirling in his hand? And the way he would go 'Ashaane!!!' (roughly translated as 'sir' but yeah, not quite the same thing at all)
He invariably played a lovable rowdy, and invariably came with his chest puffed up, and left with his tail between his legs. Of course, he didnt start off this way. He started off as most wannabes started - as the villain's side kick and partner in crime and rape. Sometimes, he was the only rapist on screen. But I felt that he truly found his groove in comedy. Nobody even remembers his villainous roles - heck I don't. But I know his comic roles. Can't forget them.
There are people who can move you with their acting. Cochin Haneefa will never be known for being a great actor. Far from it. But will he be missed? Profoundly.
You will be missed Ashaane..
Here was a guy who was built to be a bouncer, rather a street rowdy,but who's on-screen IQ always equalled that of an eight year old. How could you not help laughing at him in his garish red kurta, handkerchief tied around his neck, sleeves rolled all the way upto his armpits, and a silly excuse for a pocket knife twirling in his hand? And the way he would go 'Ashaane!!!' (roughly translated as 'sir' but yeah, not quite the same thing at all)
He invariably played a lovable rowdy, and invariably came with his chest puffed up, and left with his tail between his legs. Of course, he didnt start off this way. He started off as most wannabes started - as the villain's side kick and partner in crime and rape. Sometimes, he was the only rapist on screen. But I felt that he truly found his groove in comedy. Nobody even remembers his villainous roles - heck I don't. But I know his comic roles. Can't forget them.
There are people who can move you with their acting. Cochin Haneefa will never be known for being a great actor. Far from it. But will he be missed? Profoundly.
You will be missed Ashaane..
Wednesday, September 23, 2009
tweet!
I just made my first tweet. That was five minutes ago..and now I've got three tweets to my name..the second was a reply to a tweet from Orange Fling..and the third was my reply to Shashi Tharoor's tweet. Now that's something, isn't it? To be able to share the same room (errmm) with someone like him. He'd come by our office once here in TVM. I must admit, I was overawed by his presence.
To come back to my first tweet though..and Twitter..Sure, I'd heard about Twitter quite a while back, and even seen it on one of my friend's (Phoenix)blogs..But there's something about me and things that are new and catching on..I take my own sweet time with them..it was that way with Harry Potter, Five Point Someone, Orkut, mobile phones..ok, the last one was a question of money..and that was the way it was with Twitter..I wasn't going to be tweeting like that irritating little yellow bird in Tom & Jerry!! And then the papers started going "Tweet tweet" a few days back..AS though they weren't bird-brained enough to start off with.
Tharoor's tweeting did catch the media's attention quite fast really..I guess from the time of his election campaign..but his 'cattle-class' remark seems to have touched all the wrong nerves. What was probably meant as a humourous remark went and did what it does to all self-respecting politicians of our motherland. It made them suddenly aware of the dignity of the common man - and woman. One gentleman was so disturbed that he thought Tharoor should resign..The Congress, seeming to be in an impregnable position these days, suddenly started sounding imperious. Some spokesperson said that action would be taken against Tharoor, called it a crass remark; Our Prime Singh Manmohan chose to call it a joke, and Big Brother Sonia Gandhi sternly warned Tharoor to stay clear of controversial tweets - at least that's what the papers have me believe.
They say that once you are famous, you no longer have the rights of the common man. Once you are famous, you don't need these rights anyway do you? Why do you crave the right to travel in a train swarming with people? Why would you crave the right to sit on your bike for almost an hour waiting for some God-forsaken VIP(!!!)to take his/her equally God-forsaken behind off your road? Why tolerate power cuts, scary and obese policemen, recession? Why listen to Arun Lal's inanities that are termed 'commentary' when you could fly your way to South Africa and sit in the celebrity box?
Yup...why is it good to still be a commoner? Because, you can call Air India's bug-filled Economy class "Cattle Class" or even "Swine Class"( What with all the H1N1 apparently having flown into India) and nobody would bay for your blood! You still have your freedom of expression and you don't have to be careful of what you say - unless your boss is around of course..
javascript:void(0)
So there - I've made my tweet. It's cool to be common!
After thought - First letters, then mails, then scraps, and now tweets....the last one isn't even asking for a reply...what are we coming to?
To come back to my first tweet though..and Twitter..Sure, I'd heard about Twitter quite a while back, and even seen it on one of my friend's (Phoenix)blogs..But there's something about me and things that are new and catching on..I take my own sweet time with them..it was that way with Harry Potter, Five Point Someone, Orkut, mobile phones..ok, the last one was a question of money..and that was the way it was with Twitter..I wasn't going to be tweeting like that irritating little yellow bird in Tom & Jerry!! And then the papers started going "Tweet tweet" a few days back..AS though they weren't bird-brained enough to start off with.
Tharoor's tweeting did catch the media's attention quite fast really..I guess from the time of his election campaign..but his 'cattle-class' remark seems to have touched all the wrong nerves. What was probably meant as a humourous remark went and did what it does to all self-respecting politicians of our motherland. It made them suddenly aware of the dignity of the common man - and woman. One gentleman was so disturbed that he thought Tharoor should resign..The Congress, seeming to be in an impregnable position these days, suddenly started sounding imperious. Some spokesperson said that action would be taken against Tharoor, called it a crass remark; Our Prime Singh Manmohan chose to call it a joke, and Big Brother Sonia Gandhi sternly warned Tharoor to stay clear of controversial tweets - at least that's what the papers have me believe.
They say that once you are famous, you no longer have the rights of the common man. Once you are famous, you don't need these rights anyway do you? Why do you crave the right to travel in a train swarming with people? Why would you crave the right to sit on your bike for almost an hour waiting for some God-forsaken VIP(!!!)to take his/her equally God-forsaken behind off your road? Why tolerate power cuts, scary and obese policemen, recession? Why listen to Arun Lal's inanities that are termed 'commentary' when you could fly your way to South Africa and sit in the celebrity box?
Yup...why is it good to still be a commoner? Because, you can call Air India's bug-filled Economy class "Cattle Class" or even "Swine Class"( What with all the H1N1 apparently having flown into India) and nobody would bay for your blood! You still have your freedom of expression and you don't have to be careful of what you say - unless your boss is around of course..
javascript:void(0)
So there - I've made my tweet. It's cool to be common!
After thought - First letters, then mails, then scraps, and now tweets....the last one isn't even asking for a reply...what are we coming to?
Wednesday, September 16, 2009
Stuck!
Jeez..this is harder than I thought. Forget blogging regularly...just blogging seems like a challenge right now...I just don't know what to write down here..other than the fact that I don't really feel like blogging. Yeah..may be I should leave it at that..for now..
Monday, July 27, 2009
The Twerp Who Bought The Ferrari
Living during these economically tough times has made me ponder over ‘alternatives’. Though those miserably repetitive and inane news channels have not aired a story on “Just How Secure is Your Job” in the last couple of weeks, my mind has been toying with the question of if not this, then what. In what would probably go down as my bleakest, or perhaps most audacious, thought, I even considered going back to my good old hometown, wear the trademark white sleeveless vest and the lungi, and start a bakery-cum-stationery shop-cum ‘cool bar’.
You could do that, or, if you have just a wee bit of imagination, you could write a self-improvement book.
Go to any bookstore, read any supplement that talks about books, and you will bump your eyes into yet another book that tells you what you apparently need to do to get to wherever it is you are apparently going – and of course, how to make yourself some money while going there.
If you haven’t yet mastered the art of writing self help books, here are a few tips to guide you along the highway to success:
1) “The quality of intention on the object of attention will orchestrate an infinity of space-time events to bring about the outcome intended” – if your language can compare to Greek and Latin, then you are on the way to becoming a writer of self-help books. It doesn’t matter if most of your readers are left with a heavy head at the end of it all. After all, you can’t have a clear head unless your brain is muddled to start off with.
2)Choose an animal or an insect or even an invertebrate – anything that moves- and weave a yarn around that. Dedicate your title to that animal. You already have books dedicated to mice, fish, frogs, whales, elephants, etc. But then there are plenty of species out there. Sample titles could be “ Woof: Canine Wisdom Un-canned” or “Moo-A magical fable about asserting yourself”. Which brings me to point 3.
3)Use the word ‘magic’ or ‘magical’ in your title. Else,use ‘fable’, ‘tale’, ‘secret’, ‘gift’, ‘mystery’ or even ‘fairy tale’. Some of these readers can be really childlike. Using such words will easily win them over. Nothing like a bit of magical fantasy to boost your sales.
4)Use the number 7. This number has been used by many to great effect. “The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People”, “ The Seven Laws of Spiritual Success”, “The Magnificent Seven”, “Seven Brides for Seven Brothers”… the last two, I admit, are movies. But you get the point. Seven is a magic number. Period. Sample these, “The Seven Circles of Success”, “Seven Steps to a Positive You.”
5) Quote some Eastern Philosophy – Indian, Chinese, Mongolian, Babylonian etc. The more exotic the better. However, since these countries would already have been tapped, you might have to really scour your atlas to find untapped countries.
Follow these points if you like. But regardless of what you don’t do, you absolutely must talk about how to achieve your dreams, how to believe in yourself, how to get in touch with the ‘real you’, how to become successful, how to stay positive, and, never forget to talk about how all this will help you make more money. Throw in a chapter on meditation and you are on the way to selling Ferraris, cheese and fish to all the twerps out there.
If you think all this is too complicated, all you have to do is believe in the power of your hidden self! You are Magnificence!
Happy Duping!!
You could do that, or, if you have just a wee bit of imagination, you could write a self-improvement book.
Go to any bookstore, read any supplement that talks about books, and you will bump your eyes into yet another book that tells you what you apparently need to do to get to wherever it is you are apparently going – and of course, how to make yourself some money while going there.
If you haven’t yet mastered the art of writing self help books, here are a few tips to guide you along the highway to success:
1) “The quality of intention on the object of attention will orchestrate an infinity of space-time events to bring about the outcome intended” – if your language can compare to Greek and Latin, then you are on the way to becoming a writer of self-help books. It doesn’t matter if most of your readers are left with a heavy head at the end of it all. After all, you can’t have a clear head unless your brain is muddled to start off with.
2)Choose an animal or an insect or even an invertebrate – anything that moves- and weave a yarn around that. Dedicate your title to that animal. You already have books dedicated to mice, fish, frogs, whales, elephants, etc. But then there are plenty of species out there. Sample titles could be “ Woof: Canine Wisdom Un-canned” or “Moo-A magical fable about asserting yourself”. Which brings me to point 3.
3)Use the word ‘magic’ or ‘magical’ in your title. Else,use ‘fable’, ‘tale’, ‘secret’, ‘gift’, ‘mystery’ or even ‘fairy tale’. Some of these readers can be really childlike. Using such words will easily win them over. Nothing like a bit of magical fantasy to boost your sales.
4)Use the number 7. This number has been used by many to great effect. “The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People”, “ The Seven Laws of Spiritual Success”, “The Magnificent Seven”, “Seven Brides for Seven Brothers”… the last two, I admit, are movies. But you get the point. Seven is a magic number. Period. Sample these, “The Seven Circles of Success”, “Seven Steps to a Positive You.”
5) Quote some Eastern Philosophy – Indian, Chinese, Mongolian, Babylonian etc. The more exotic the better. However, since these countries would already have been tapped, you might have to really scour your atlas to find untapped countries.
Follow these points if you like. But regardless of what you don’t do, you absolutely must talk about how to achieve your dreams, how to believe in yourself, how to get in touch with the ‘real you’, how to become successful, how to stay positive, and, never forget to talk about how all this will help you make more money. Throw in a chapter on meditation and you are on the way to selling Ferraris, cheese and fish to all the twerps out there.
If you think all this is too complicated, all you have to do is believe in the power of your hidden self! You are Magnificence!
Happy Duping!!
Sunday, May 31, 2009
Why I Blog(ged)
My last post was in February. I don't think I've spent such a long time away from my blog. Ever. It's not that I really don't have the time. Blogging doesn't take too much time. And it's not as if I don't come online. I do that almost every day - night rather. So what kept me away?
I started blogging in August 2004, when I was slogging it out alone in Coimbatore. I had just about joined my present company, and I was shipped out to Coimbatore, a place I had last been to when I still wore shorts to school. There was nothing to do, nowhere to go, and nobody to be with. That's when I came across the world of blogs. Here was something new. Write just about anything you want to, and keep it open for just about the whole world to read. Imagine, suddenly your world is populated with people who aren't even in your part of the universe. I had a personal diary back then- that I still have the same personal diary with more than half of it empty is testament to how regular I was/am - but this was the other side of the earth! Write about your deeply personal life, and leave it out there! In the open! The comfort of being anonymous in virtual world. And the chance of making new friends, without the barrier of geographic space coming in between. So I started my blog in rediff. And here are the last few lines from my very first post:
"I am going to try to find adventure and life - no matter how commonplace or routine things probably are. I walk down the same street every morning to office. I get up on the same side of bed with the same odd dry feeling in my throat. I eat at the same place atleast once a day. The same boy serves me my breakfast. I get my tea at the same teashop at the corner. And darn me if i don't see the same faces as i do daily. Whatever, i am going to see if i can find something worth writing and posting. And if i can prompt you, my reader, to look into your own life and see if you couldn't do the same without thinking that life is just 'ok, nothing new, all the same as yesterday', then i should think that my fingers aren't going crazy by typing for nothing."
Five years from then, nothing's the same anymore. New place, new people, one of them new-born. Is it that I find nothing interesting anymore? Is it that I get no time to stand and stare? Is it that I don't feel lonely anymore? Did I start blogging to stop feeling lonely? The answers aren't all a 'yes'. My blogging was a way out of loneliness, and I don't feel that anymore. My world is full now. And I find it hard to keep a watch on Time flying by on his winged chariot. But my world is still interesting. What I see out there, whenever I get to go out, is still interesting. I guess I just needed some time to see what this new life was like.
My friend recently asked me if marriage and fatherhood had left me with no time for myself. My answer was an overwhelming yes. I wonder if that is true though. I think I can still make time. I think I still want to blog.
I started blogging in August 2004, when I was slogging it out alone in Coimbatore. I had just about joined my present company, and I was shipped out to Coimbatore, a place I had last been to when I still wore shorts to school. There was nothing to do, nowhere to go, and nobody to be with. That's when I came across the world of blogs. Here was something new. Write just about anything you want to, and keep it open for just about the whole world to read. Imagine, suddenly your world is populated with people who aren't even in your part of the universe. I had a personal diary back then- that I still have the same personal diary with more than half of it empty is testament to how regular I was/am - but this was the other side of the earth! Write about your deeply personal life, and leave it out there! In the open! The comfort of being anonymous in virtual world. And the chance of making new friends, without the barrier of geographic space coming in between. So I started my blog in rediff. And here are the last few lines from my very first post:
"I am going to try to find adventure and life - no matter how commonplace or routine things probably are. I walk down the same street every morning to office. I get up on the same side of bed with the same odd dry feeling in my throat. I eat at the same place atleast once a day. The same boy serves me my breakfast. I get my tea at the same teashop at the corner. And darn me if i don't see the same faces as i do daily. Whatever, i am going to see if i can find something worth writing and posting. And if i can prompt you, my reader, to look into your own life and see if you couldn't do the same without thinking that life is just 'ok, nothing new, all the same as yesterday', then i should think that my fingers aren't going crazy by typing for nothing."
Five years from then, nothing's the same anymore. New place, new people, one of them new-born. Is it that I find nothing interesting anymore? Is it that I get no time to stand and stare? Is it that I don't feel lonely anymore? Did I start blogging to stop feeling lonely? The answers aren't all a 'yes'. My blogging was a way out of loneliness, and I don't feel that anymore. My world is full now. And I find it hard to keep a watch on Time flying by on his winged chariot. But my world is still interesting. What I see out there, whenever I get to go out, is still interesting. I guess I just needed some time to see what this new life was like.
My friend recently asked me if marriage and fatherhood had left me with no time for myself. My answer was an overwhelming yes. I wonder if that is true though. I think I can still make time. I think I still want to blog.
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