Memoirs of a Driver

2006 has been different. A year of traveling, meeting family and friends, and a lot of “first times”. This is a recollection of the fond memories of this year.

January saw me complete a whole year in a company for the first time. In February, I saw myself having fun with my nephews in Texas. March and April were the best months of this year. Nothing is better than living a life with family in India. I saw myself visiting more places in a month than my 21 years at home. April was also the month of my first new car. May was more laid back but for the first time in my professional career, experienced a promotion. Of course, May was well-endowed with a share of traveling in my new car within California. My first experience with ‘white-water rafting’ came in the same month.

June was a month to relax from all that happened through the first half of the year. Of course, June was the month I had my first blog in this world of bloggers. July saw a third trip to the Grand Canyon and Sea World, this time, with a friend and his visiting parents. Towards the end of July, there was a trip back to Texas for a friend’s wedding. For the first time, again, I was part of the wedding party as an Usher, wearing a tuxedo for the first time and maybe the only time in my life. August was too short to notice, but even in that short time was a ‘first-timer’, a trip to a WTA tournament and watching not one but two games in person. A power game from Serena Williams was followed by a game from home girl Sania Mirza.

September started off with a trip to the northeast. A visit to Philadelphia, New York and Atlantic City started of a frenzy of traveling towards the end of the year. October saw a return to the northeast and a long drive through the colorful woods of New England. The drive covered nine states, nearly half of all the states I have visited in the U.S.

November was a third trip to Texas for more fun with my little nephews. December started off with an annual office party. A first time at a stand-up comedy club was as much fun to me as it was for Todd Glass when he picked on me and my co-workers for his jokes. The following week featured another two first-timers. One was a live football game at San Diego with the Chargers beating the Broncos. The other was go-cart racing - a short but fun period. The travel wasn’t over yet. An annual get-together with friends, this time at Atlanta was probably the best way to end the wonderful year. But wait, the year isn’t over yet. Weekend of Christmas was the first time I got to experience skiing. With a few more days still to go this year, more things are yet to come. With my friends set to visit for a week from Christmas day, I will be experiencing yet another ‘first-timer’ in the last week of the year. I, with my friends, will get to experience for the first-time, a bowl game between Texas A&M University, my alma-mater and University of California @ Berkeley in San Diego.

Gig’em Aggies! Beat the hell outta Cal.

Organized Chaos

Sreesanth pays back Nel

Now, there's something you wont see everyday.

Before & After

Calls answered
B: 85%
A: 15%

Fantasy football talk
B: Manning is god. LT saved my day.
A: What fantasy?

Blog entries
B: Five every one week.
A: One every five weeks.

Weekend trip
B: By email – “What say you guys?”
A: By phone – “I will tell you later”

Online during office hours
B: 8:00:00 am - 12:00:00 pm, 1:00:00 pm - 5:30:00 pm
A: 9:00:00 am - 9:00:15 am, 11:15:00 am - 11:15:15 am, 3:00:00pm - 3:00:15pm, 5:29:00pm - 5:29:15pm

Life
B: is strife
A: is ...

My tummy hurts...

என் நண்பர்களுடன் தொலைபேசியில் அரட்டை அடித்துக்கொண்டிருக்கும்பொழுது:

"...."
"அவனோட அம்மா சத்திரமே கிடைக்கலைன்னு சொல்லிண்டிருந்தாங்கோ."
"அடப்போடா, அவவனுக்கு இங்க பொண்ணே கிடைக்கமாட்டேங்கறது..."

Flight Attendant or Stand-up Comedian?

Standard Pre-Flight Procedures.
1. Please stow your tray tables and your seatback upright and most uncomfortable position.
2. Please be seated and wear your seat belts at all times the seat belt signs are on. Seat belts should be worn around the lap like Maria Carrie's mini skirt.
3. Although there are over 50 different ways to get out of your marriage, there are only 6 ways to get out of the flight in case of an emergency - two in the front, two in rear and two over the wings that are well lit by overhead exit signs and disco lights along the floor.
4. In an unlikely event that the oxygen masks should appear, after a brief moment of panic, please put the mask and breath normally, like this - "Breathes hard in and out twice on the microphone" . If there are people needing assistance, put on your mask first and assist them, unless its your husband.

While Taxiing.
5. One morning, when I was coming to the airport, a young lady came and asked what we would do first thing before a flight. I said, we come in early, get into the little room and dress up as flight attendants and we get to choose the best pilots for our flight. I always choose the best pilot on all my flights. Anyway, folks, I forgot to mention that I was late to the airport today.
6. All folks sitting on the window seat, may we kindly request you all to press your face against the window glass and let know all those bankrupt airlines that we have a full flight today.
7. The overhead lights will now be turned off. If you need light to read, please turn on the reading light. When you press the switch with the light bulb symbol, your lights will turn on. However, if you press the switch with the flight attendant symbol, the flight attendants are not turned on.
8. Alright folks, please keep your hands and heads inside the ride all the time, we are about to go really fast.

Soon after take-off - over the city of Phoenix.
9. There is a landmark on the right of the aircraft that you folks would be interested to see. Not yet... not yet... now - there it is - thats my house over there.
10. Whispers in microphone: Sleep... sleep..., you dont need juice... sleep... sleep... you arent thirsty.... sleep... you dont need peanuts.... peanuts give you gas....

After landing.
11. Thank you for flying with us. Remember - no one "luv"s you and your money more than us.

Cartoon Craze - VI

Guess my name.

Cartoon Craze - V

Guess my name.

Cartoon Craze - IV

Guess my name.

Cartoon Craze - III

Guess my name.

Cartoon Craze - II

Guess my name.

Cartoon Craze - I

Bored of everything, I decided to test to my "paintbrush" skills

Guess my name.

Joy Ride - I

The trip was amazing and tiring as most trips I take with over-enthusiastic friends. It all started at noon with a long flight from Los Angeles to Philadelphia. The normally 5 hour flight took nearly 6.5 hours. That made a dent in plan A. Quickly and without much hesitation; we decided to go to plan B, which was “Take it as it comes”.

Pennsylvania
By the time I could rent a car, drive back to King of Prussia (a suburb of Philly) to my friend’s place it was way past bed time even for most late-niters. Soon as I stuffed my BK Veggie and onion rings down my throat, I went to bed to catch some precious sleep. Three hours later, my friend from his room gave a wake-up call.

“Hey, can we start in 30 minutes?”
“Sure – do you have liquid soap?”
“I will get it in a minute”

New Jersey
Following a quicker than usual morning routine, we hit the road to Trenton, NJ to pick our third friend. By about half past six, we were on our way to watch the wonders of fall colors with a coffee and a bagel from Dunkin Donuts. Traffic didn’t suck but the toll booths on the New Jersey turnpike did. They sucked our bloods out of our wallets.

New York
New York City came by and went. The exit numbers steadily increased and then dropped again to one. This could mean only one thing – we were in Connecticut.

Connecticut
Time to stop and change driving responsibilities apart from taking care of the pressure the morning coffee created in our lower abdomens. There we were. In state number four in less than four hours. I guess the Northeasterners never liked to be in the union after all. In California, one can drive for hours and still be a few hours away from the nearest border. On the road sides of I-95 and then the I-93, we could see the colors developing already. Anticipating a great trip ahead, we karaoke’d our way across New Haven with the really bad rental car stereo. Connecticut was smaller than Jersey, one more hour and we were in Massachusetts.

Massachusetts
Boston was in sight. We decided to hit the world famous MIT before lunch. All these days, I hadn’t realized that MIT was not in Boston. It was in Cambridge, which was across a gorgeous river at the verge of shaking hands with the Atlantic. What a spectacular place for an educational institution! Kayaks and canoes were everywhere with people surrendering their tensions of fast city life in the boisterous yet serene water. It was a picture perfect day with the sun shining as if it was a billion years younger and the skies blue with scattered white puffs.

MIT
It wasn’t noon yet as we walked towards a campus map to identify the statistics building, mechanical engineering building and the “Good Will Hunting” fame mathematics department dome. Unfortunately giving a map to three single Indian guys with no girlfriends AND no girls as friends is like handing a flower garland to a monkey, especially if one is a mechanical engineer, one an industrial engineer and one a statistician. After all the optimizations, the best route was agreed upon and meticulously followed. After a walk through the campus, we started snapping pictures at “must-be-on-photo-to-show-everyone-that-I-was-at-MIT” spots. One of my friends was curious to know “who-is-that-everyone-that-will-be-so-amazed-to-see-you-at-MIT”. We rejected his observation and headed towards the car.

Harvard
With a small city map to navigate through, we managed to drive from MIT to Harvard in the longest possible route. Soon as we parked, we were hungry and came down to an Indian restaurant by name “Tanjore”. Hoping for a wonderful South Indian buffet, we prepared our tummies for delicious idlis and vadas. To our disappointment, it was a North Indian cuisine with three vegetarian dishes out of eight dishes. We were wondering why they named it “Tanjore”. But we had done our share of thinking for the day. We were there to relax. After lunch, we walked hours through the campus of Harvard trying to find a Harvard sign for a picture. Amazingly, we couldn’t find a single Harvard sign inscribed anywhere on the campus.

Tired and our feet pounding, we decided to take on a small ride through downtown Boston with our little map. Maps and us were like a marriage between an old dying millionaire husband and a pretty blonde dumb young wife – it never worked. Realizing soon that we somehow lost Boston and the sun setting fast in the west, our next stop was Foxboro. The home of the Patriots on the eve of a Sunday afternoon game was unusually empty. The security denied us entry to take pictures and gestured us towards the exit. A spark went through my brain and I made a command decision to go to Rhode Island which was just 20 miles away.

Rhode Island
It was a dark and small state. Dark as it was night and small as it was in the Northeast. Providence was the only city I have heard about in RI. Rhode Island always reminds me of the Jim Carrey movie – “Me, Myself and Irene”. But to my friends, who were hell-bent to visit all Ivy League schools, it meant Brown University.

Brown
A chilly night walk through the dark campus and some unrecognizable photos to prove to the future generation that we were at Brown was followed by a long drive back past Boston to our hotel.

Dinner at Denny’s after another small lost and found expedition was soothing. The night’s sleep that was to follow felt even more comforting. My eyelids buried my tired pupils as my brain continued to ponder the day ahead – “busier and longer.”

India is consistent!

How bizzare is this?

India has the same number of points from same number of matches in the same period - both in ODIs and Tests. (Source: Cricinfo.com)

South Indian Temples

Thanks to Narasi. An amazing video documentary of South Indian temples and architecture.

Different yet...

Hinduism

Lord Kalki, the Lord of the universe, will mount His swift horse Devadatta and, sword in hand, travel over the earth exhibiting His eight mystic opulences and eight special qualities of Godhead. Displaying His unequaled effulgence and riding with great speed, He will kill by the millions those thieves who have dared dress as kings. After all the imposter kings have been killed, the residents of the cities andtowns will feel the breezes carrying the most sacred fragrance of the sandalwood paste and oher decorations of Lord Vasudeva, and their minds will thereby become transcendentally pure. When Lord Vasudeva, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, appears in their hearts in His transcendental form of goodneess, the remaining citizens will abundantly repopulate the earth. When the Supreme Lord has appeared on earth as Kalki, the maintainer of religion, Saya-yuga will begin, and human society will bring forth progeny in the mode of goodness.

Christianity

I saw heaven standing open and there before me was a white horse, whose rider is called Faithful and True. With justice he judges and makes war. His eyes are like blazing fire, and on his head are many crowns [diadems]. He has a name written on him that no one but he himself knows. He is dressed in a robe dipped in blood, and his name is the Word of God. The armies of heaven were following him, riding on white horses and dressed in fine linen, white and clean. Out of his mouth comes a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations. "He will rule them with an iron scepter." He treads the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God Almighty. On his robe and on his thigh he has this name written:KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS. {Rev 19:11-16 NIV}

Sports Talk

I think it was the fall of 2000 and I had just finished applying to the universities I had shortlisted. My brother was watching ESPN.

நான்: என்ன கருமம் புடிச்ச game டா இது... ஒருத்தனை ஒருத்தன் அடிச்சிக்கறான்.

அவன்: அடேய். உனக்கு தெரியுமா. உங்க Texas A&M Aggies நல்ல team. நீயும் போறல்ல, அப்புரம் பாத்துக்கலாம்.

நான்: அட போடா. அது என்னிக்கும் நடக்காது. நான் cricket தவிர வேற எந்த game-உம் பாக்கமாட்டேன்.

In TV: A man in zebra shows both his palms to the TV camera.

அவன்: Pass interference. Super. Go Broncos.

நான்: சரியான லூசு. நீயும் போய் மண்டைய உடைச்சிக்கோ.

மன்னி: உங்கண்ணன் பயங்கரமான Broncos fan. Foul-லாம் referee சொல்லறதுக்கு முன்னாடியே correct-ஆ சொல்லிடுவான். (பெருமையுடன் இளித்துக்கொண்டே).

அவன்: ஒரு season போய் பாரு. அப்புரம் பேசிக்கறேன்.

நான்: உன் கனவுலதான் நடக்கும். இந்த கண்றாவியை எவன் பாப்பான்.

அவன்: உங்க கங்குலி ஆடற அழகைப்பாக்கறதுக்கு இது பரவாயில்லை. நான் வந்ததுலேந்து அவனொரு match-உம் ஒண்ணும் கிழிக்கலை. என்ன captain, முதல்ல அவனை team-லேந்து தூக்கணும்.

நான்: India team history-லயே most wins in tests under him. தெரிஞ்சுக்கோ. அவனும் சசினும்தான் best opening pair.

அவன்: என்ன opening pair. Waste game. Sachin is also waste. Team player இல்லை அவன். 100 அடிச்சா போறாது, team win பண்ணித்தாங்கறதுதான் முக்கியம். He is selfish.

நான்: உனக்கு இப்போ ஆடுற team பத்தி என்ன தெரியும். நீ America-ல இந்த அடிச்சிக்குற விளையாட்டு பாத்துட்டு cricket மறந்து போச்சு. Cricket is a gentleman's game. Not like this (என் கைவிரல் TVயை நோக்கி).

அவன்: போடா போ. இன்னும் 2 years-ல பாத்துக்கலாம்.

நான்: ஒண்ணும் நடக்காது. எழுதி வச்சிக்கோ. (வெளியேரினேன்.)

6 வருடங்களுக்கு பிறகு. இரவு 10 மணி பசிஃபிக் தினவிளக்கு சேமிப்பு நேரம் -MSN Messenger.

நான்: டாய்ய்ய்ய்ய்.

அவன்: டாய்ய்ய்ய்ய்ய்ய்ய்.

நான்: என்ன பண்ணிண்டிருக்கே.

அவன்: what news?

நான்: ஒண்ணும் இல்லை. போர் அடிக்கறது.

அவன்: Bore master. Cricket பாக்க ready ஆயிட்டியா?

நான்: அதுக்கு இன்னும் நேரம் இருக்கே. இந்த வாரம் team pick பண்ணிண்டிருக்கேன்.

அவன்: என்னடா Broncos கேவலமா ஆடிண்டிருக்காங்க.

நான்: ஆமாம். But Chargers are doing great. Go Chargers. Last week fantasy football-ல win பண்ணிட்டேன். முதல் வாரம் உதை. இந்த வாரம் கடும் போட்டி இருக்கு. ஒரு நாலு பேரை trade பண்ணி இருக்கேன். பாப்போம்.

அவன்: India win பண்ணிட்டாங்கோ போன match.

நான்: ஆமாம். 20 over பாத்தேன். அப்புரம் தூக்கம் வந்துடுத்து. 5 பேர் வெர out ஆயிட்டாங்கோ. தூங்கிட்டேன்.

அவன்: சசின் ஒண்டிதான் பொருமையா ஆடினான். பாக்கி எல்லாரும் waste. Team-உக்காக அவன் ஒருத்தந்தான் விளையாடறான். இந்த Sehwag தூக்கிட்டு பேசாம Ganguly-யே கொண்டு வந்துடலாம் பொல இருக்கு.

நான்: எல்லாம் match fixing. West Indies-க்கு India-வோட Finals விளையாடணும்னு தோத்துட்டாங்க. இனிமேல் அதை எவன் பாப்பான். All I am concerned is whether to start Michael Vick or Carson Palmer for this weekend. அப்புரம் பாப்போம். Bye.

அவன்: நான் match பாக்கப்போறேன். Good Night. Bye.

Smooth Sucker

With my back ache easing out, I thought I should do some of my laundry owing to lack of innerwear for the following day. To not totally stress out my back, I decided to just wash enough for the next few days. Wash cycles took 25 minutes at the apartment laundry. It was 4:20 when I returned. I decided owing my laziness that I will take care of it at 5:00.

As I slowly ambled towards the laundry with my arms supporting my back, a cute girl, maybe in her early 20s was walking towards me. As I was lost in her looks, we stumbled in front of each other. Try to be gentlemanly , I gave way to her with a smile. She smiled and thanked as she whizzed past. In the laundry, I found that my clothes had magically moved from the washer to the dryer all by itself. I was puzzled for a few seconds. The door to the laundry opened and there she was again. Her lovely face became apologetic.

"Sorry, I had to move your clothes..."

I intervened, noticing that there weren't any open washers, "Thats OK, sorry to have kept you waiting for the washer", I smiled.

She smiled and moved on. I went back to starting the dryer cycle with a big 'hmph'. As I was moving my clothes from the other washer I had used, I smelt something burning. I turned and started looking around. I cleared the second washer and I could now smell it even stronger. I noticed smoke rising from the adjacent washer, the one she had just loaded. I instinctively opened the washer and saw more smoke plumes. The wash cycle stopped and the smoke seeked the exhaust windows. I put my olfactories to work trying to locate the source. The washer was overloaded with a huge comforter, which got stuck and prevented the washer from spinning. I made sure that there was no visible flame. I pulled out the wet and soapy comforter and examined it for damage. Nothing. I was glad I was a few minutes late. I waited a few more minutes to ensure that I will have underwear for the next day.

I walked out satisfied but I had to return the favor. I had to let her know that I had to stop her wash cycle. At least that was the reason I gave myself to get a chance to talk to her again. I impatiently waited in my porch for her to walk by for thirty minutes. I had never waited for laundry in my life like that before. Hoping that she would show up on time to move her clothes to the dryer, unlike me, I was at the laundry with still 15 minutes on my dryer cycle. Fifteen minutes felt like forever. The dryers stopped whirring and I reluctantly started collecting my clothes. All this time I was thinking of what to do. 'Should I write a note and put it on the washer?, 'Should I wait and let her know?', 'Should I introduce myself and shake her hands?'. The door opened.

She walked in. We exchanged quick 'Hi's.
Then,
"I had to stop your wash cycle on this one.", pointing to the washer, "It started smoking as I was loading up the dryers. I thought I should let you know."

She had a confused look in her face. "Oh", she said as she started closing the lid to restart the cycle as if she didn't understand what I just said.

I intervened again, "Something started burning, I think it was the wiring of the washer, it was overloaded and not spinning. I don't think your fabric is damaged. I checked it."

Now she got it. "Oh, it was too big when I put it in.", still confused on what her next move should be, "Thanks for stopping the cycle.", she managed a nervous smile.

"Oh, no problem." I piled on my clothes into my laundry bag.

As I was about to step out she thanked once again.

"Oh, I had to, you know, it was smoking and I had to" as I waved my arms at my clothes.

She smiled. I carried the laundry bag totally forgetting about my back ache. On the way back, I thought to myself, 'Another smooth performance by yours truly. I suck.'

Sleepless in New York

I pulled into Lot B. There was just an hour before my plane was scheduled to take off. It was definitely a bad idea to leave that late on a Friday before a long weekend. Running through the sea of cars, jumping onto the shuttle bus and standing through the rigorous LAX security line was just the beginning of a sleepless, eventful, yet an enjoyable long weekend.

The four hour flight to Atlanta was grueling. My inability to sleep while traveling combined with the two year old Asian kid’s tantrums one row behind made me understand the term “Red Eye”. The short trip to Philly from Atlanta was a little more relaxing. I got a whole half an hour’s sleep. It was raining heavily in the Northeast, thanks to Ernesto. To top the miseries, my friend was denied a car at the airport rental as HE wasn’t traveling in a plane. That meant that I had to rent and DRIVE the car. Grrr…, I wonder why my parents gave me that name. They must have had a jolt from Nostradamus himself.

After a ninety minute drive through the heavy downpour, we reached my friend’s den in a small town in New Jersey. My anxiety to see my friends and New York city overcame the physical stresses that my body was going through. Shortly after a speedy clean-up routine and a quick tea & Vada Paav (an Indian version of the Burger) at ‘Hot Breads’, we decided to hit the road towards New York City. New York was busy, rainy and fun. Despite the raging clouds and thunderstorms, we decided to take the “topless” bus tour. As it was meant to mean, the bus had no “top”. It was once in a lifetime experience to see (or at least trying to see) the high-rise buildings with huge raindrops falling straight into the (red) eyes. The rain forced us to cut short our bus ride at Times Square. Then we decided to take on Madame Tussaud to escape the wrath of the rain gods. Three hours flew by as pictures were taken with every known celebrity, from Homer Simpson to Jessica Simpson, from Presidents to CEOs, from Larry King to England’s Queen, from Madonna to Mahatma.

It was still showering when we emerged out of the house of wax. Dinner at a pizza joint was soothing. Times Square at night was dazzling. It was almost midnight by the time we reached NJ. The rest of the night was spent in watching “Crash”, drinking and making fun of each other. By the time I hit the sack, it was 4 am. Five hours later, we took to the road, returned the SUV at PHL owing to lack of space for six, had tea and Paav Baaji at Hot Breads and hit the road to New York again by noon. Day 2 was pleasant – 70 degrees and sunny, a picture-perfect day for a New York visit. A short ride on the bus again through downtown, a quick look at the Empire State building, followed by a 75 minute city cruise on the Hudson River that included great views of the Manhattan Skyline and the Statue of Liberty, a 5pm lunch at a Turkish eatery in Manhattan, a photo-session outside the Ed Sullivan theater and a night-time bus ride through downtown Manhattan and Brooklyn made the rest of the evening. All the coffee and soda I had all day long made me run from Times Square to the Grand Central Station to take a well-deserved long bathroom break. I felt liberated in the city to which the word meant a whole lot more.

A short ride back to NJ, a quick bite at Taco Bell and a night trip to Atlantic City meant only one thing - INSOMNIA! The Trump Taj Mahal was no way like the Agra Taj Mahal I am used to seeing on pictures. Before that night, I had not known that the Caesar’s Palace casino and hotel were named after “Caesar Augustus” and not “Julius Caesar”. A walk on the breezy Atlantic boardwalk seemed to temporarily quench the sleep I was craving for. The sun was ready to jump out of the Atlantic when we were ready to hit the road back to Lawrenceville. By 8:00am, we were a bunch of sandbags. Four hours later, after yet another brunch at Hot Breads (this time a Vada Paav AND a Bombay Sandwich - yes! we were a wild bunch) followed by a quick photo-shoot at the Princeton University (with a camera that belonged to none of us), we headed back for a long flight back home. It was 2am by the time I had my back on my precious bed. It was wonderful - this time I am not referring to sleep.

Musical Inspirations

Indian cine music is well known for "inspired" music. But, it was interesting to see a few western composers getting "inspiration" from Indian compositions.

Links thanks to www.itwofs.com

A R Rahman's 'Ottagatha Kattikko' (Gentleman, 2003) and La Caution's 'Pilotes Automatqies', 2005.
Pilotes automatiques / Ottagatha Kattikko

Black Eyed Peas' 'Elephunk Theme'
Elephunk Theme / Unakkum Enakkum

Black Eyed Peas' 'Don't phunk with my heart' (2005)
Don't phunk with my heart / Yeh mera dil (Don) / Aye naujawan (Apradh)

Hyper-Caffeinated Saturday...

100 Baseball pitches - $6
18 hole Mini Golf - $7
Beach Swim - $0
Taladega Nights - $9
Body Aches - Merciless...

Ouch...

Only in India!

This

and this...

சுதந்திர தினத்தன்று...

உந்தன் தேசத்தின் குரல்
தொலை தூரத்தில் அதோ
செவியில் விழாதா...
சொந்த வீடுன்னை வாவென்று அழைக்குதடா தமிழா!

அந்த நாட்களை நினை
அவை நீங்குமா உனை
நிழல்போல் வராதா...
அயல்நாடுந்தன் வீடல்ல விடுதியடா தமிழா!

டும். டும்.. டும்...

இன்னிக்கு மத்தியானம் லன்ச்சுக்கு திருப்பதி பீமாஸ். ஒரு non-spicy தளி. சப்பாத்தி-குருமா, (ப்ர)சாதம், மோர் குழம்பு, அவியல், சாம்பார், பருப்பு குழம்பு, சாத்தமது, பீன்ஸ் கரியமுது, அப்பளம், தயிர், ஊருகாய், காரட் அல்வா. ரெண்டு மூணு நாளா ஈ-மேயில் திறந்தா ஒரே கல்யாண பத்திரிகை. கல்யாண சீசன். ஆகஸ்ட் 20, 21, ... தினைக்கும் ஒரு கல்யாணம். கல்யாண சாப்பாடு சாப்பிட்டு எவ்வளவு வருஷம் ஆச்சு. ஹூம்! அந்த நினைப்புலதான் இன்னைக்கு பீமாஸ் பக்கத்துல தலையைக்காமிக்கலாம்னு புரப்பாடு. என்னதான் இருந்தாலும் கல்யாண சாப்பாடு மாதிரி வருமா.

இலையைப்போட்டு, தண்ணி தெளிச்சு, ஒரு மூலைல சக்கரை, வாழைப்பழம், அதுக்கப்புறம் பருப்பு, வகைவகையா கரியமுது. இது பரிமாரும்போது, பந்தியில தூரத்துல அப்பளம் நொருங்கற சத்தம் அப்படியே ஒரு தக்காளி சூப் அப்பிடைசர் மாதிரி வயித்தை உருட்ட ஆரம்பிக்கும் அந்த ஒரு ஃபீலிங். அடடடடா, நினைச்சுப்பாத்தாலே ஒரு கிக்குதான்.

Stars in LA

Prime Time Attraction
Local girl Serena Williams takes on yet another new Russian - Maria Kirilenko...
Serena serves strong and plays strong...
...while the newbie definitely impressed.











Cheering the girl! - No pom poms though!
She had...

...the Indian support at the stands, but...

...yet another forgettable outing for our girl.

The Usher caught the Garter

After a brief mid-afternoon shower, the evening became more serene and pleasant. My friend's wedding concluded smoothly as planned. The last few minutes at the church were spent for some quick snaps with the newlyweds. I was thrilled to be an Usher, more thrilled to be in a Tuxedo, even more thrilled to show my pictures to my friends and family. It was the turn for a picture with the Ushers and I promptly jumped in not trying to hide my anxiety. As quickly as the pictures were taken, we were "ushered" out of the church for the next wedding party to get ready. Man, the church was busy that Saturday.

There were two hours before the wedding dinner and reception at a nearby ballroom. My two friends and I quickly jumped out of our coats and tuxes to cool off from the hot Houston evening. Our large intestines were engulfing the smaller version. We rushed to our hotel, picked up my buddy's Hispanic date, who was in a hot purply maroon low cut evening gown. For a moment, we weren't hungry. But again, getting back to our senses, we grabbed a quick late lunch at 5:00pm at Masala Bowl only because she wanted to try Indian. After the quick naan and malaai kofta, we jumped back into the car and arrived at the ballroom and bored ourselves to death for the first hour when, unusually for that day, almost everything was going wrong. The DJ was screwing up the jukebox, slow numbers were fast and the quick numbers were dragging. Songs to the dad and daughter dance, bride and groom dance, groom and mother-in-law dance and every other dance was devastatingly boring. In an hour, the buffet was ready, the DJ was changed and people started enjoying the evening. After a quick taste of a limited vegetarian menu, I took the guts to talk to a girl I knew from my college town, whom I had met the previous day at the rehearsal dinner. She had promised to catch up on the wedding night. After a quick intro to her mom and dad, who is a pilot (superfluous data alert), I settled next to her and discussed our lives after College Station. After the quick catching up, I returned to my table occupied by four.

The dance floor was then opened up for everyone after picture-perfect dance performances by the bride, groom and their family. Couples walked in and started swaying to the gentle music, now better delivered by the new DJ. My friend moved into the crowd with his date. As my other friend and I were watching, something sprang into me and I walked across and asked her for a dance. I didn't have time to think what I just did. She graciously accepted and walked with me to the dance floor and we started swaying - not so graciously owing to my total lack of experience. I tried to keep a whispering conversation going.

"I am not a good dancer, hope thats OK" - I said sheepishly.
"Nay, thats alright, neither am I" - she said almost convincingly.
"The last time I danced was with the bride in her brother's wedding" - I recalled.
"Oh, I remember seeing you then, it has been quiet sometime, is it 3 years?"
"Almost".
Soon the music slowly mellowed out in the background. She said - "Thank you for the dance."
"Thank you for dancing with me" - I smiled humbly as she walked towards the direction of her parents.

I settled into my chair, my friend looking at me with a confused expression on his face. I just looked at him blankly and said, "How about something to drink?”. I headed towards the non-alcoholic fruit punch, while he still looking confused headed for the Sangria. Then, it was time for some toast. The three who delivered their speeches on the newlyweds were so different in their delivery. The first guy, the best man, delivered a funny and poetic piece. The maid of honor, the one I had danced with, delivered a heartfelt and very emotional monologue. The third guy, a common friend to the bride and the groom, did a quick and dirty impromptu that made the guests go wild in laughter.

Next was the bouquet throw by my bride friend. All the single girls gathered behind her back to catch the flowery bunch in high hopes of being the one to get married next. A funny and crowd-pulling tradition. I didn't bother to notice who caught it. It was my least of concerns as I had my eyes on my two buddies gulping shot after shot. 'Man, I am going to have an eventful night' - I thought to myself as I turned towards the dance floor. The bride had given way to the groom and he was pulling out a piece of cloth from her leg and waving it wildly as the DJ called in all single men to the stage. I had seen this once before, in her brother's wedding. It is a male version of the bouquet toss. I, accompanied with all the single men took the stage. I was on the far right on the stage.

The DJ counted to three –

"One, two, three..."
I was smart and didn't jump for it - I knew it was planned - the bride fooled almost everyone but me and a few not so sober single men.

"One, two, three..."
I jumped ahead like all, but this time - as the crowd burst into laughter, we were really fooled.

"One, two, three..."

Diving forward and towards my left, with my long, crooked and outstretched left hand, I tried to pluck it out of thin air. The Usher caught the Garter.

Animals and Me??

My friends made me wonder....




... still wondering...

BLOGS

Be
Lazy
Or
Go
Sleep!

Tamil சாட்டிங்

நண்பன் (ந): etho tamilla en per thappu thappaa ezutharaa maathiri irukku?

நான் (நா): உன் பேரை எங்கடா எழுதினேன், உனக்கு முதல்ல தமிழ் படிக்க தெரியுமா?

ந: Dabba dabbavaa theriyuthu. Enna font use panre?

நா: கிழிஞ்சிது போ. Appuram ethai vechu tamizhle un perai ezuthinennu sonne?

ந: athai udu daa, unnakku oru kelvi.

நா: nee muthalla inthe software download pannu - ethukku Tanglish, when there is Tamil. http://......

ந: OK. ethai download pannanum?

நா: Muthal link, zip file, install pannittu athu solra steps follow pannu. Kelvi ethuvum kekkathey.

ந: Done, ippo enna pannanum?

நா: Dei vendru, kelvi kekkathennu sonnen - instructions follow panniniyaa - tray iconla install pannina software vanthuthaa?

ந: Irukku, aanaa velai seyyalai.

நா: restart pannu, programai, machineai illai, naan ippothaan install panninen, ennai restart panna sollalai.

ந: vanthuduthu... eppadidaa tamiz keyboard podanum?

நா: ஆல்ட்+1 ஆர் 2 டு டாகிள் பிட்வீன் டமிள் அண்ட் இங்க்ளீஷ்.

ந: ஓகே, னௌ இட் வொர்க்ஸ். ஹௌ டிட் யூ ஃபைண்ட் திஸ் சாஃப்ட்வேர்?

நா: டு யு நோ ஆல்பர்ட், ஹீ ரைட்ஸ் எ லாட் ஆஃப் டமிள் ஸ்டோரீஸ். ஹீ ஸஜஸ்டட் இட்.

ந: னைஸ், ஹௌ டு ஐ கெட் "na" காக்கா "na"?

நா: யூஸ் ஸ்மால் டபுள்யூ. ஸீ ஹௌ மச் ஈஸி இட் இஸ் டு சாட் இன் டமிள். ஓகே, யூ வான்டட் டு ஆஸ்க் மீ எ க்வஸ்டின்...

Weekend!

It was Friday night - around 7:30. The sun was setting and the light fading. Like the sun, another eventless weekend was on the horizon. Just when I was staring blatantly into a boring future, my phone rang. A female voice said - "We are here!". "Wow, it isn't going to be as boring after all" - I thought to myself. I pulled out my keys and ran downstairs to meet my girl. She is sweet and funny, I have known her for about 9 months now. I walked down the stairs, past the spa and then the pool. The last few were leaving with their clean white towels protecting their self-respect. I wish she had come earlier, maybe we could have spent some good time in the pool. But it was getting darker and cooler. I decided to save that plan for Saturday.

When I turned the corner past the flowing streams of artifical landscaping, I could see the green Civic. I walked past the car with the open window. I shouted - "Stay here, I will be right back." My friend and his partner, nodded their "Hi"s. Also in the car was her - anxiously waiting for me to hold her and to kiss her. I went to my RAV4, safely parked in the visitor lot. Pulled out my parking permit and the gate remote and walked back into their car. I directed him to drive through the gates and park in my designated carport. And then, I saw her, eyes gleaming and a smile as wide as the space between her ears. I swooped her out of the car and carried her all the way to my apartment, my friend and his wife - arm in arm, following us to my den. Aah, I was relieved; I am going to have the best weekend ever. The couple settled things around in my living room while I spent a lovely few minutes with the lady in my arm - kissing and cuddling her. As we were lost in the moment, my friend interfered - "What's for dinner - Apple or Sweet Potato?" – as he waved the two bottles of baby food in thin air.