My first std contribution!

I was asked from my nephew, five years old, studying his first std, to write contribution for his school magazine. The school has already given a set of rules like to bring their contribution as A4 printouts in a size 12 font, with heading in size 14 underlined font, clearly hinting parents supervision. So I was called over by my sister to write a contribution that must look like a first grade’s (!)

I thought the contribution must be as simple so that he can read and understand it…moreover I want him to feel involved…not just take the print out and submit and see his name in the magazine…my thought went on…

As this guy has recently celebrated three birthday parties (one in each grandparents house & a midnight cake party) during his vacation to India, which he watches over and over from the recorded cassette, I decided the contribution to be on it.

This is what I wrote…

I like birthdays

I like birthdays,
Big Cakes with white creams,
Adults with party hats,
Blowing candles with snow sprays,
Daddy with a camera,
Mom with a kiss,
Friends with a game,
Uncles with gifts,
Aunties with love,
Everyone with joy,
I pray to god,
Everyday to be my birthday.

So ….does it looks like a first grade’s words ???... the small guy really understood and was happy to read it!!

Hope he writes his own next time and with the things he is learning, I am sure he will…. I was startled other day to hear him telling me about VIBGYOR, which I remember myself learning near 5th grade, but definitely not in first std…(and many more things like that...they are way way ahead..)

Just got reminded of Gibran’s words on children “For their souls dwell in the house of tomorrow, which you cannot visit, not even in your dreams… For life goes not backward nor tarries with yesterday”

Atheist vs Believer !

This time Ramonanda returns with a story on existence of god…an never ending argument of an atheist vs a believer...a local argument of barber and with his customer!

A man went to trim his hair & beard. As always, he and the barber chatted about this and that, until - commenting on a newspaper article about street kids.

Barber snapped "As you can see, this tragedy shows that God doesn't exist".

How?

"Don't you read the papers? So many people suffer, abandoned children, there's so much crime. If God existed, there wouldn't be so much suffering"

The customer thought for a moment, but his haircut was nearly finished, and he decided not to prolong the conversation. They returned to gentler topics, the job was done, the customer paid and left. However, the first thing he saw was a tramp, with several days of beard, and long tangled hair. Immediately, he returned to the barber's shop and said to the man who had served him:

"You know something? Barbers don't exist"

What do you mean, don't exist? I'm here, and I'm a barber.

"They don't exist! insisted the man. Because if they did, there wouldn't be people with such longs beards and such tangled hair as I've just witnessed up on the corner"

I can guarantee that barbers do exist. But that man has never come in here.

"Exactly! So, in answer to your question, God exists, too. It just so happens that people don't go to Him. If they did, they would be more giving, and there wouldn't be so much misery in the world"

This time the beliver won! next time??

Ramonanda's other posts:
Argument
Publicity

Theory of Continuity!

Have you noticed this….You yawn and the person next to you yawns instanteously… I am tired, sleepy and lack oxygen o.k.. but the other person who just came with lung full of oxygen yawns back like repeating a hello!....

lets see another case…you hum a song and the you notice that your accomplice hums the same song during the conversation like a successor who claims the throne….why?…lets cut to another location…. you find yourself humming a crapy tune your friend has just whistled and wonder where it came from…Whatz that?…Theory of continuity… and me, Ramostein is finding it more amusing than anyone else in the world…

“When you have same wavelength with the other person, its common” you may argue…but believe me it works in same way with others too…

Once I was humming a sub-standard song and my friend found it totally nutty to hum a song like that…”Damn! Where did you get that from” he yelled…

“Don’t know… just heard from so & so and has got in to me” I snapped…and to make it worse I hummed again and it really took an effort to get away with it….

So this theory of continuity is still continuing in our life’s and we don’t even notice about it (very importanta! @$^&*!)…After all life is to wonder these tiny amusements na..

What may be the reason behind this…I am not a Dr. Rudran, but let me give a try…

Our subconscious mind is always under surveillance …it sees the other person and absorbs substances beyond our conversations…thus we assume body postures during conversations…congruent to the posture of the speaker, if we comply or cross our legs, fold our hands that is equal to screaming “I don’t agree with you crap!”…and this same subconscious pick up these hummings too and replays back even if you dont intend too…the chapter of subconscious itself is voluminous and this may be leaf from it (idiom? metaphor?...good na!)

So next time when you indulge in conversation watch out for the application of this theory of continuity and provide royalty to me…But when it comes to yawning I cannot figure out the reason and if you can… yawn yourself at the comments sections and I will yawn back too…

Whatz ur position?

When or with whom you sleep doesn’t matter here…but how you sleep may just tell other person who you are…

When I woke up one day last week, I found a terrible pain that ran through my body. It did not take much time for me to figure that abrupt position during sleep has caused the pain… 'may be it is a odd day', I told myself and no much thought went after it…
Next day my position was even more abrupt and it continued for the rest of the week… I sensed that my sleeping positon has changed in me… I gave a thought on it... 'I am on a restless phase of my career'...may be it has some thing to do with this... May be we have connections to our sleep position to our mind.

So I googled to find is there any relation b/w sleeping position & mind. I did not get an appropriate answer but landed on this site. If you find opening links painstacking...which you will, let me give you a brief synopsis here.

Professor Idzikowski have found that the position each person assumes during sleep is relational to their character.

The Foetus: tough on the outside but sensitive at heart. shy when they first meet somebody, but soon relax.

Log: These sleepers are easy going, social people who like being part of the in-crowd, and who are trusting of strangers. However, they may be gullible.

The yearner: said to have an open nature, but can be suspicious, cynical. They are slow to make up their minds, but once they have taken a decision, they are unlikely ever to change it.

Soldier: People who sleep in this position are generally quiet and reserved. They don't like a fuss, but set themselves and others high standards.

Freefall: Often gregarious and brash people, but can be nervy and thin-skinned underneath, and don't like criticism, or extreme situations.

Starfish: These sleepers make good friends because they are always ready to listen to others, and offer help when needed. They generally don't like to be the centre of attention.

He concluded that the freefall position was good for digestion, while the starfish and soldier positions were more likely to lead to snoring and a bad night's sleep. "Lying down flat means that stomach contents can more readily be worked back up into the mouth, while those who lie on their back may end up snoring and breathing less well during the night. "Both these postures may not necessarily awaken the sleeper but could cause a less refreshing night's sleep." The research also found that most people are unlikely to change their sleeping position. Just 5% said they sleep in a different position every night.

That’s enough for me to kindle my interest to find how I sleep… That week end when I went to my sister’s house, I told her to mark my sleep position and even suggested to use the cam corder…Next day, Ii was curious to find which category I fall into and inquired her. But she told that my position does not resemble like anything in the picture and it may be close to mixing foetus and free falling position (!?)…May be I am unique…I thought...convinced???

But she next added that I was all over my co-sleeper (there was only one free bed and my poor cousin has to share it with me) whom I had kicked to the verge of the bed leaving most of the bed unoccupied…Now,... where can I find this Professor Idzikowski to expain this?…

Ramonanda returns...

Ramonanda (hi..hi..naan thaan) previously posted that he will tell short strories that gives a insight for your life...

He returns now ....

Argument:

Once a wise man was walking on a road with his disciple when he saw a man trying to get his mule move...
When the animal refused to move, the man began calling him the worst names he could think of.

“Don’t be silly!’ said the wise man. ‘the mule will never learn your language. You would do better to calm down and learn his lanuage’

...and as he walked away, he remarked to his disciple“before you get in to an argument with a mule, remember the scene you have just witnessed’

(Pe.Ku: Ramonandavin ponmoligal yaavum suda pattavaiyae...

for peters...

P.S: all lexis of Ramonanda are truly borrowed...)

Are u doing it sincerely!

Enna solla varenna…adavathu… ethuvume nalla irukumbodu adotha arumai theriyathu…

Just happen to witness my brother in law’s struggle against his tooth pain…Never ending painful treatments and the amount he spends on it without any success. It is told that you will remember a part of the body only when it gives trouble to you…Fittingly dental problems are very common in here (Gulf)… ….may be due to water or due to the diet… people giving a thought to their teeth only when it torments them…all resulting in excellent business scope for dentists.

During our usual talks, Prasanna once snapped “We live mostly for others….if you scrutinize, Naama nambalkunnu panrathu romba kammi...brushing, bathing mathiri sila visayangal thaan…aana athu kooda naama olunga seyya matendrom…”

So how many minutes do you brush daily…while brushing do you think of the brushing or the things that you are going to do on the day or the things you stumbled upon…or unconsciously carry over your emotions to the speed of the brush and injure your gums (Eeeru!). Is your brushing done with utmost sincerity or it is just a mere formality… Just give a thought!

Considering my case… daily I would swear to do a proper brushing to my teeth… just to brush and think of nothing else. But after a few strokes I will be immersed in a pool of thoughts and I would regain consciousness only after all the toothpaste is spilled and the brush is at the verge of doing its final movement of the day... Or some days (hi…hi…mostly) I would get up at 6.50 for my 7.00 office (fortunately workplace is near my acco) and taking the advantage of 15 mins grace time, I will be brushing while bathing (off course after quick kalai kadans) and run away…

After a honest thought (!) on all these, I found that I was never sincere when it comes to brushing and always the laziness or the carelessness had taken over…and I am going to end up filling or pulling my teeth.

Time to take a serious step….Only way is to use the technology…Then came the patti mandram of Manual vs electronic brush…I googled (idha vida important velai officela enna irukka mudiyum!!) and was advised that electronic brushes do have a good effect…that was enough for me to grab one (long since I was obsessed to buy one, but foxed myself saying I am not that lazy).

But damn! what happened....Pudusulla…Rendu naal remba sincerea brush panninaen…Third day namma 6.50 timeukku electronic ellam othu varala…Palaya kurudi kadava thoradi kadaya (courtesy: Paravai Munima), I was back to manual brush and sweared to use electronic brush at night…But that night never came…Hey! I am not brought up or used to brushing at night (athellam engleeskara palakumungo…Nanellam local themil payyan) and…the postponing continued…till I was enlightened recently by my BIL’s sufferings…

Now I am manual at day and electronic at night...and brush properly in correct movements….lets see how sincere I am…to save my teeth.

Pallu velkurathu pathi ivalavu periya post thevaiya …@?&#!%&* ! …nu neenga titrathu theriyuthu…
Edukku solrenna… next time when you have toothpaste full in your mouth and indulge in a conversation (like Laila in Pitha magan) better give a thin…….Uvvvveeaa ! (someone is vomiting)...Better I will stop!

Ponniyin Selvan

My Weekend (weekend is Thursday and Friday here) movie was “Ponniyin selvan’ … (?!..CD comes little late in here)

As in Azagiya theeye, Radha Mohan gives yet another simple movie with no any punch dialogues and cinematic emotions but rather tried to depict feel good warmth.

Most of you would have seen the movie or known the story and so there is no need to post an elaborate review. Let us leave the scenes that try to create self pity on the protagonist or the expected debacle of his mother at the end when he had saved money for his plastic surgery or the non fitting song & fight sequences…

But there is this humor, carried right across the film either by the hero himself or by the supporting actors … that wins the trophy. In a time where irritating separate vadivelu or vivek (recent) tracks deflates the movie, Radha Mohan blends humor in to the film right till the end and you are sure to laugh all the way long…esp.. by the timing of the dialogues. You will not be able to recall later ….and when the movie ends you would wonder where all those fun came from…

It is not the best cream but if you need a mild laugh watch ‘Ponniyin Selvan” and it is better than now a day’s craps.

Kadi Time -2 !!

Makkal Vaendu Kolukku inanga….Kadi kiraen....

What's opposite of Krishnaswamy ?

Krishna did not see me!
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What is the opposite of Area?

Yeranguya !
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What is the similarity between short circuit and poramai?

Wire-eriyuthu

watch out! still more to come....

Tabu Shankar...

Hope some of you would have read Tabu Shankar in Vikatan some time back... now he is back again in Aval Vikatan.

He writes with striking simplicity (yes, that's the right word!) and after reading his Kavithai's, you would think to write one by yourself...making you to realize, it is not that easy to be simple...

You should have heard his lyrics in "Kadhalai Yaaradi" song from film Thaka Thimi Tha ...If not... hear it now!...It is a good song, sung by Hariharan & Madangi (got washed away by the failure of the film) ...See how he puts forward 'proposing your love'...You can download it here

Love is main theme in his writings...so fresh and fragnant...puts a smile instantly on your lips...

This is my justification...

Expecting to see more from you Tabu....

Kadi Time..

Spin Bowlarruku pen kuzhandai pirandaal enna paeru vaipar?

Bala Tiruppura Sundari

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Napoleankku bayam na enna ne theriyaadhu.. Ean??

Yeanna Napoleankku Tamil theriyadhu.


Hi...Hi...still more to come ....

***Wedding Cinema***

I am allergic to wedding cassettes. Especially when they make me to sit and view the cassette of someone's marriage, where I don’t even know the faces…I was caught in such situations when we visit someone’s house and they start this cassette mostly to carry on the conversation based on the person coming in the frame…Like if some X comes, then it will be like “you know what X does now?...”

I even watched my sisters wedding cassette mostly fast-forwarded. Why it sucks me? May be the dull texture of the camera with terrible lighting…automated smiling faces barring the real amusement of the children...never ending rituals…drained bride & groom accepting gifts (major part of the cassette) with a smile that next to screaming “when this hectic will get over!”...

If at all there is an air to breathe, then it is songs…but god!...where do they get the songs from … no one really cares about that! It all depends on the music knowledge of the studio guy…it some times become more erratic that we fast-forward to get away with the song.

When I was watching Monsoon wedding, my brother in law commented that “Yaaro kalyana cassette parpa… aana..enga caseete ellam parka maatee”.

Thinking on this … how can we make the wedding shoots more interesting...why can’t we make them in such a way that any one can watch it like a film.

Let’s leave the feasibility and use my small creativity…

- introduce bride and groom in their normal good looks and in a casual way in their own houses before wedding
- show the wedding buzz in both the respective houses…
- move to the wedding hall… empty...half filled...to crowding...shot in different angles and clear lightings
- show jubilant faces more especially young girls, neatly dressed women (!), children
- avoid crazy individual shots like bride holding a flower or visualizing some thing or groom vs bride shots.
- avoid doordarshan level graphics like showing faces in flowers, waterfalls etc
- show the gift part as small stills appearing randomly on a canvas (more stills in one canvas which refreshes after it fills out)
- not to miss the intimate talks between the bride & groom..
- not to miss the secret sight exchanges between the groom & the bride.
- show stills of people bursting out in laughter, happy faces and some fuming situations (there will be)
- show the rituals crisply and snap a still at any interesting moment.
- fix Handicams in the car to register the weepings of bride when she leaves her family and travels from them and the grooms effort to console her (can see how long she cries!)
- shoot must continue till the groom & bride reaches their home and to the aftermath of a wedding house.
- use good songs and music so that we can ever listen to them
- add clippings of the respective father, mother & friends feelings on their daughter or son..can tell how he or she like…how she is the best…best moments in their life…
- Finally edit all the shots in a perfect way as doing a film with all type of modern techniques & colours and add the songs, music appropriately

Wow..Looks like a good business scope to me…Cinematic wedding shoot in the cinema driven world, where everyone needs something different…Budding editors, cameraman and directors, who waits to prove, can come together and give a try… who knows… can click!

I had tried only a small part. If anyone interested...Please maximize your creativity on this…just a fun (looking forward to get ideas on shooting dinner hall and people eating).

For my wedding, I pray such creative shooters emerge soon and god save me if I hold a flower in the garden and pose for a still…and watch it all over my life.

Drew....!

If at all there is an actress who really engrossed me… it will be Drew Barrymore…

I do fancy Jennifer connely, Kate Winslet, Monica Belluci, Kate hudson, recently Nayanthara, but (for me..now) they all fall behind Drew..

My first film of her was Wedding Singer …and not before I was so much attracted by an actress. Ever since, I try not to miss her movies. Surprised to see her as a small girl in E.T...looking cute and same as now.

Have you seen this movie Ever After…portraying real life Cinderella, her performance in the film was great and I really fell for her in that film…Especially the smile she does biting her lower lip…her voice, more enthralling with a special accent...damn…she is stunning. She does have a bulky structure.... but inhta mathiri Koluk Moluk..Chubby.. has always attracted me!

Just to say “Naan ippo Drewkku maaritaen…Appo neenga!”

Salwar Memories

I have this tendency to notice the dress sense when it comes to the opposite sex…In silly college days during our first year, I used to team up with Venkat and spot the dresses of the girls (of course, good looking ones) and their looks. Even the slightest change in them would not escape from our eyes. It was a work of total vettis…

We even started to know what salwar collection (no minis or jeans, its typical Tanjore engineering college) each girl has and could easily spot whenever the girl comes with a new salwar…Any new styles, any new looks…we were there spot on…The girls would have been happier(!) if they would have known that there are these two maniacs watching their dress sense and may be they would have come in different salwar styles daily…

During gaps of class hours we used to stand and look at the girls walking by and would thud our hands if we spotted a same change from a particular girl…

Especially there was this senior of us, Aarthi (our code was Alpha for her and her accompanying two girls were beta and gamma) whose looks were stunning as per our standards…She is the one from where we started this vetti velai. We did all sort of funny things… we were even clear of her schedules…use to take water only when alpha come to water cooler, simply cross her on the road when she comes out during breaks…we know her college arriving time…we know what bus she takes…the momentum picked up to other girls also…We never missed to appreciate any girl who really dressed well and looked pretty. We carried on and some guys were also inflicted by the virus from us. As we went to next years gradually we lost momentum due to our hectic studies and scarcity of pretty girls.

I can still remember the different types of salwar and the colours. I cannot control my smile when I recall these things now… But it was one of little fun that I had in otherwise dull college…

P.S. Sorry Venkat! to publish you out along with me…but this is what we did… right…let me save you by announcing that I inflicted the virus to Venkat first and he …mutated it…may be still carrying it on...

Publicity

I had always liked to read stories..short stories...only ten lines but gives immense meaning.

Just thinking to add the stories I liked, in the blog frequently...(I have a bulky collection)

To start with:


The tree was so laden with apples that its branches could not sway with the wind.

"Why don't you make some noise? After all, we all have some vanity and we need to call the attention of others" - commented the bamboo.

" I don't need to. My fruit is my best publicity "- answered the tree

100 People world

“If it were possible to reduce the population of the entire world to 100 inhabitants, maintaining the proportions of people which currently exist in the world, it would be made up as follows:
57 Asians
21 Europeans
14 Americans (North, Central and South)
8 Africans
52 would be women
48 men
70 non-white
30 white
89 would be heterosexual
11 homosexual
6 people would possess 59% of the world's wealth
80 would dwell in inhabitable housing
50 would suffer from malnutrition
1 would have a computer
1 (yes, just one) would have a university degree

And consider this: if you are more healthy than sick, you are luckier than a million people who will not see next week. If you never experienced the danger of battle, the loneliness of prison, the agony of torture, the pain of hunger, you are luckier than 500 million of the world's inhabitants.
If you have food in the fridge, clothes in your closet, a roof over your head, a place to sleep, then consider yourself richer than 75% of the world's inhabitants.
If you have money in the bank, a wallet or some loose change lying around somewhere, consider yourself among those with the best quality of life in the world”

When I read the above, for a moment…., I felt to thank god for making me born & brought up in peaceful place, thank my parents for giving me good education, and thank others who had helped me to reach at least this far so that I can read the above stats in my office and write a blog on it. The stats say that there are other people who are in terrible condition than me and I must feel contended with my present life as richer & luckier.

But next moment….I think on the things yet to be achieved, miles to be traveled… and then what I have reached now, seems obsolete… I had this vision of comparing myself with those who are behind, feeling contended with what I have, and guess what….I ended stagnating. I also felt myself divine being able to be contended and travel with the flow and wanted to see where it will take me…. It never took me any where and I was where I was... I later realized that I was fooling myself and the extra mile that I could have reached was already gone.

It was better late than never for me to imbibe the blood of this IT smitten Indian generation…"Just forget the sentiments!". I promised to stay on course, confident that the best is yet to be, and move on …

Can you sing a Lullaby?

This is one part where I definitely need to improve…Baby lulling…Baby Konjing… what ever you may call…But I am pretty sure to tell you all that I am a damn bad konjar…

Three days off from the cybersphere as my sister returned to Muscat with her new born and, I spent my time, as always with my sister’s family, now more on the new arrival…

Thinking back …this has always happened to me… me visiting relatives house to see a new born (or accidentally happen to see a new born)…they give me the baby in hand…and I examining the child …wondering its little fingers, legs, eyes and the smooth skin… where every one present there was rather expecting me to lull the baby with traditional words (usually…Kutti maa, Ammu maa, Amma yenge!,…????). There will be a silence and I would sense everyone watching me. My mother or sisters would immediately help me by declaring that “Avanukku konja theriyadhu!”… and I acknowledging it with a smile as if it’s an act to be proud of.

I usually admire people when they do that with ease…why am I afraid to open up?…am I afraid of embarrassment? I have even tried to over come the barrier by rehearsing words in my mind…only to end in a flop,…either the baby will start crying or the mother will snatch the child from me, worried over my strange language….Day by day I started to only wither a smile at the baby from a distance and indulge in more conversation with the parents, carefully finishing it off without letting them to see of my weakness…

When I sit back and think, why this has not dawned upon me… May be I am the youngest in the family and there was no any chance for me to lull my siblings…or may be I was so much aloof from younger kids or may be it is in my genes ( I recall my dad is equally bad konjar and my mother keeps on complaining).

My sis pulls my legs telling me not to examine the baby... but actually lull it. She adds another thorn saying that me being the Thai Mama …the more important relationship for the baby as per our tradition…I should lull the baby more!

Thinking on it, I was worried what I am going to do when it comes to my own child or will the lulling dawn upon me instinctly when I have a child on my own. Anyway there is no taking chances and I don’t want to be spotted as my father.

So I have started to learn …carefully watching how others lulls the baby…trying out my own…(My sis’s elder son... six years old is thousand times better than me and I am taking a crash course from him)

Should we really need to master the art? I bet you need to…the baby some times expects you to do that…by throwing its legs, lifting its body, making a noise…it needs the amusement of our lulling and to be a good father or brother or uncle, you need to meet the child’s expectations…just as you will do when they are grown up.

I don’t know how many of you guys are there sailing in the same boat…

Hope I will one day sing a lullaby and make a child sleep!!!