100 word fiction!

She looked up anxiously at the clock, while chopping up the fruits. A power packed smoothie at 7:00 pm like every evening. It was seven, she could hear the car backing up into the garage. She was late today. A key turned in the lock. She scurried into the kitchen to load up the blender. He had switched on the television. She slid out the ice tray; the metal of the Smith and Wesson not so cold yet. The sharp recoil, almost rocked her off her feet. She turned off the blender and the television and sighed.

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I have seen The Curse of the Jade Scorpion for the umpteenth time and giggled through it. All Hail C.W. Briggs!

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I am sick to my stomach ...

gorging on them beautiful pepper flecked milagu vadais from Chennai.
I am addicted to them things, which the husband lovingly brought for me from his recent trip.
I can down six of 'em and still not feel satiated. All of the Rujuta Diwekar plus Gym eating right shenanigans are therefore being forsaked. And my good self is not quite enjoying it.

So I asked the husband to put it away in a discreet loctation and hand me one every alternate day when I am particularly needy of my junk fix.

So this morning, after getting breakfast I go into the kitchen to check on groceries that need replenishing and there it was, sitting pretty, my milagu vadais. Sigh(!!!), so much for discreet.

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Things that make you feel nice...

(with or without vino in your system)

1. Playing Scrabble
2. Trashing your opponents, by purely adding one alphabet worth 10 points on a 'triple word score' box.
3. Spending a pleasant Sunday afternoon reading on the patio
4. Drinking a concoction of tea, at half past four - a totally unconventional brew of masala chai flecked with chocolate and cinnamon and actually enjoying it.
5. Soaking in hot water with pleasant smelling bath salts.
6. Watching the hustle of life, while strolling on a quiet by lane of a busy arterial road

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What do you do when...

Your head is pounding with the heat of an imminent confrontation, and your hand is trembling with rage. The rage that comes from a million questions bursting in your heart. The rage of the injustice meted out to you simmers inside like lava, waiting to erupt out a volcano.

Especially if you are a peace loving Libran, who hates confrontations.

You down some water, feel the liquid course through your very being and try some deep breathing.

If that doesn't help either, you write on your blog and hope to God, the negativity stops short of consuming you.

Amen!

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Forgive me God, for...

... I have sinned.
Yeah me. In the blur of busy everyday morns and eves, I starved my plants for 2 days prior to Earth Day. Today morning on the august occasion of World Earth Day, they looked up me all wilted and forlorn, beseeching me to feed them.
I was running late for work and was lugging around the laptop, lunch, pile of books to donate, clothes to be laundered etc.
Feeling terribly miserable about my neglecting ways, I dropped all the stuff I was holding, and unlocked two sets of doors and another to reach my pail of water to feed them.
I spoke softly to them, apologising for my oversight and made a mental note to not forget their grub.
In the evening, when I returned home, they looked cheery and uplifted and I felt forgiven.

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Poll trail

Till today, I was smug in the knowledge that my generation aka the youth spoke a single language; the language of secularism and peace and equal respect for all religions.

I stand corrected. A certain Varun Gandhi has shamed my generation today.

I am a Hindu and an Indian and I am ashamed on both counts, of the behaviour meted out by supposed protectors and propagators my religion and of the laws of the land, that permit such politics of hate, to go unchecked.

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The Question on News Hour today is ' Should incest be awarded the death penalty'?

IMHO, Mr. Arnab Goswami-- NO! Death is too miniscule a punishment for a crime this heinous. To award death, is a liberation too quick , a redemption too easy, a chapter closed , too soon.

My raging self cannot think of any punishment that measures up to the wrongdoings of these monsters.

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On mobs and other manifestations of prejudice

He was all shook up by the ugly reality of his society. He knew things had changed;he could sense it in their vacant stares, their hostility and on their breath. They breathe differently you know-- an unhealthy, ragged,gaspy breath.

He had heard that they had been taken over by a legion of fanatics. He stored that information in a superficial area, and dismissed it as hyperbole.

What he witnessed, in the twilight, confirmed their growing bigotry.

He was stunned into a loud unnerving silence.

He fled their antagonism and sought his peace in the waiting, expectant eyes, at home.

She-- simple, unaware yet all knowing, would widen her eyes at his account and nod sympathetically. The sadness, he knew, which remained buried inside of her, would well up, and shine through her eyes. She would envelope him in her warmth. She would soak up the growing coldness, inside of him.

Something died inside him that unfortunate evening.The familiar streets of his adoptive city, no longer comforted him, even in their quiet evening stillness.
He would never be the free spirit, high on camaraderie, in this city.

He would be furtive and uncomfortable, for a long time now. He'd keep looking over his shoulder to ensure that, he was not violating 'their democracy'.

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Lately, I have been running up against people, who are sweating the small stuff. Really, they are stressing themselves out over minor details and in the process are completely blindsided and thwacked across the face by the big picture, when it actually zones into their consciousness.
And then, when I launch into " Duh... I told you so", I get a mouthful of venom.

It is happening at work and home :-(!

Am I lacking in " attention to detail"? Am I over simplifying or are THEY complicating their lives.

I'd like to believe its THEY!

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My communication quotient is...

You Communicate Passionately

You speak from the heart. You can't separate your feelings from what you're saying, even in a professional context. You tend to speak dramatically, with lots of passion and emotion. It's easy for you to get swept up in what you're saying. You like to connect with people early on so that you can personalize what you are saying to them. When you converse, you try to find common ground and harmony. Even if you disagree with someone, you try to emphasize where you agree.

What Kind of Communicator Are You?

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Frivolous Friday activity

We are in a minimalistic mode, on account of summer setting in early in B'lore. Hence, the strip down to a 'bare bare' look (on the blog; even at home :-P but one mustn't care -- at the risk of retinal displacement) . Like Dee would say, deep down within you are all ' brown -brown'.

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In memory of she who left...

To Jun Jun,

How do you tell someone that its OK that his baby of eleven years passed on? You can't.
What I can tell you, Jun Boy, is Goldie lived a loved charmed life. The poor baby, never hurt a fly all her life... She barked, early on only at Candy, the rather catty dog, next door.
She was all hugs and jumps and licks and kisses. Even people who were scared of a big doggie like her, couldn't escape her display of affection and eventually came to love her.
She had the most mournfully sparkly eyes and she could win you over, just by gazing at you.
She loved people and I remember, how as young teens when we'd all be in deep discussion of a crush, a possible love story, a little fling, she'd slink into the room soundlessly and plonk herself right in between the group having the intensest discussion. She'd push past people to cuddle up to anyone, who'd let her. She'd cock her ears up and gaze at you, almost like she understood, all the trials of your teenage life. She'd engage you in a game of "Fetch", when you were especially crabby after a bad day.
She made no demands on your affection or time. She just was her lovable, huggable self and you'd just lose yourself in her make believe games.
She'd let you play with her long floppy ears, even if it bugged her.

She knew, she was loved, because the family, never took a vacation together all these years, lest she be alone and mopey. No one even thought of leaving her all by herself or with strangers at a kennel club.

So Jun Boy, I want you to think of Goldie in 'Doggie Heaven', where she lies on a velvet cushion draped in a fur of gold (complementing her skin tone), wearing a diamond, ' bone shaped' tiara and mascara on her lashes. She lies by a freezer stuffed with all her doggie treats and ice cream. She has her parents and brothers and sisters and cousins all flocking around her, glad to see her after eleven long years. They want to bask in the gentle warmth of her love and affection.
She watches over them now, benevolently and smiles indulgently at them other fellas pouncing on her treats!

From Your Sister,
H

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It is the Pink Chaddi week

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V Day plans

V's day is around the corner and discussing plans A commented, ' I don't wanna be hanging around with you, hand in hand on V's day haan... that Mutalik bugger might get us married man. Kitne baar wohi mistake???'
Many pillows were hurled in the direction of the statement.
**********************************************************************************
We have senior citizen visitors (like the extended in-law family ) over the valentines weekend, so no pda around the house :-P.
We might just go catch a movie- Dev D maybe, perfect for valentines eh, the modern take on the most tragic love saga of all times. mournful for a 'luuvverly day'? .Naah, I have high hopes from Dev D- I am looking for slick , darkly comic, Devdas.

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Mind Troddings

The air this January hangs heavy with the shame, despondency, discontent and the heat of ensuing conflict.
What is wrong with us as a populace-- for surely , we have a role in lending a voice to manic madmen like Mutalik and self professed godpeople like Sadhvi Pragya.
Is it our misdirected anxiety (at the general state of the recession hit globe) manifesting itself as a suddenly retrogressive society?
Can something as active and aware as a mind be demoted to just an organ without rationale?
Excellent editorial in TOI: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/India/Not_Just_Saffron/articleshow/4048519.cms

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Ramalinga Raju for Oscars, for Satyam- The Deception!

I just had to share this piece... ha ha:

http://4by6.in/utopia/?p=493

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Obamania!

Even across continents, seven seas etc., at 10 p.m on the night of 01/20/09 , Obama's Inaugural speech gave me goosebumps.
No fluffy clouds and rose tinted dreams; the man did cut to the grey dreary depressing chase, right on.

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A.R Rahman on Tehelka

I'd like to share this feature on A. R. Rahman that has appeared on Tehelka:

http://www.tehelka.com/story_main41.asp?filename=Ne240109cover_story.asp

Intriguing read.

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Movie Watch List

Slumdog Millionaire
Rachel Getting Married
Vicky Cristina Barcelona
Burn After Reading
Tell No One
4 Months 3 Weeks 2 Days

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Slumdog Slumdog, all the way...

Slumdog Millionaire wound off my rather weary weekend. Quite the icing on my weary cake weekend.

Slick - interesting movie; in an overly gushy moment, I might even call it ' really really nice'. If you could just overlook the bizarrely improbable Brit accent of our Mumbai slumdog- Jamal Malik ( played by Dev Patel). Oh well, I have an excuse for that too - he worked as a chaiwalla in a call center that catered to Scottish and English folks.

Life screws you over and over , when you are born into a slum life. You drift down the turbulence hurled at you , make the most of circumstances and just find a way to keep your head above the water. And then when opportunity crosses your path, seize her, hold her by the neck ,draw her into your bosom and use your screwed over life with impunity to overpower her. That was Jamal Malik's life.

The little kids, played by Jamal (Ayush Mahesh Khedekar) and Salim(Azharuddin Mohammed Ismail) are excellent actors.

Irrfan Khan and Anil Kapoor are stellar performers. Anil Kapoor especially, plays the cynical, sadistic and envious game show host with perfect elan.

The four options concept of the Who Wants to be a Millionaire show and Kaun Banega Crorepati are subtly interspersed into the flash forward- flashback sequences of the movie effectively.

All in all, an extraordinary, intelligent, well shot and gritty movie. And Rahmans background score is superlative. Just like it should- it adds depth and character to the movie.

Must See! Must See!

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The Satyam Saga!

While Ramalinga Raju continues to hog headlines for all the wrong reasons, here is an email forward by a Satyam employee. Intriguing how minds work. I understand that employees harbour gratitude and good memories of the ole' days in Satyam, but those memories or anything else equally 'disloyal' are no excuse to forgive or forget deceit of this magnitude. And no, Raju's CRIME cannot be relegated to a "only human mistake".

Here goes, the email by the Satyam employee, who I'd rather keep unnamed:

At a time when almost 90% of my Satyam friends are cribbing about the fraud and betrayal by Ramalinga Raju, I have a slightly different opinion. It's bold of me to write this in black and white but this comes straight from my heart and experience. Let me start by quoting an example of 2006. Most of my friends were unemployed with 50-60% plus marks in BTech, with a degree from an average University and hunting madly for a job.
Whether people accept it today or not but the truth remains that Satyam was the ONLY saviour and the only mass recruiter who was ready to accept students who had back logs but had cleared them and also it did not put a very strict minimum marks criterion. And this was true not only for my small college at Lucknow but also those across India .
Satyam is the fourth largest in IT in India. Looking at India's population I really want to thank Raju for giving some 54000 Indians jobs atleast for all these years . He was the reason for the revival of confidence and the reason for the bread and butter for many a families.
Satyam training was renowned all over India. Their STC training centre created numerous love stories and unexpected rekindling of a youthful environment where girls and boys were more independent than their college days . I remember most of my Satyam friends felt that they made better friends at Satyam's three to six months training than those in the four years of BTech.
Unfortunately people forget to thank God in sad times . I understand that what Raju did is deplorable and unpardonable. He should have treated business more formally and not dealt with it like a family affair . He should have been strict a couple of months or years before itself. Why did he hire so many non potential candidates and keep them on bench? When were the managers and the team mates last told that if they don't work hard, they will lose their job? Business cannot be run lousily. I have been staying with some 200 odd girls for the last 2 years and many of them are from Satyam. Moreover I network a lot and I have lots of male friends at Satyam . I have seen how people tail gate to Satyam, how they give their swipe cards to others to swipe it on their behalf , how female employees have gone home sharp at 6am irrespective of when they landed at office, how employees sit at home for months at a stretch, prepare for all kind of post graduate entrance exams and still enjoy a full month's pay, how often they went for movies at local theatres at office hours, how often employees went to office just to sign on registers in the morning and at evening, how often they faked their certificates , how often they put unlimited fake medical and house rental bills. How can we blame just one man when EACH AND EVERY person was disloyal ? How can we exclude Auditors like PwC ? How can we exclude the Board of Directors who have washed their hands off so clean? How can we exclude banks who gave hefty loans without true verification? How can we exclude the Chief Minister of AP who allowed leniency for Raju's fellow businessman? How can we exclude managers who were never able to trace which bench employee under him had been away from office for how long ? Yet how can people forget this is the same man whose ideas and potentials gave them an identity for the past several years? How many couples found the right match at an IT industry , courtesy Satyam and how many Andhra farmers benefited from their crores of investments in Satyam shares .How can people forget that Satyam launched its offices right at the doorsteps of a residential colony, where people can simply walk to work ? The most gruesome experience that I can recollect was when a Satyam tag wearing person was waiting to attend an interview and I overheard him saying that he was in a business meeting at the My Home Satyam ( Madhapur) office when he was sitting right in front of me at a totally different company. When employees themselves show such a lousy attitude and don't care a damn for the brand that they carry around their neck, how can they expect others to care? I am not saying that ALL Satyam employees are bad. I have known very dedicated people too, but my point is very clear, before pointing fingers at others, introspect .There are thousands of people who have completed certifications at the cost of Satyam, got trained at Satyam. Satyam made several freshers stand on their feet to get better jobs elsewhere across the globe and attain on site exposure through Satyam. What Raju did was to keep the business of Satyam going at any cost. I see a very smart man in him when he understood that he should rather accept his mistake than be caught by the USA laws . I see a selfish father in him too that he put a lot at stake for Maytas. However, he resigned with a lot of dignity and his letter of resignation shows humility. It takes a mammoth amount of courage to accept your mistake in public at a time when the media is ready to blow everything out of proportion. If humans don't make mistakes who else would ? My last salute to this man is for creating such mass employment in India for 57k employees and 57k families when even opening a beetle(pan) shop in a lane in India is a challenge !! Thanks to him for creating income for all the thousands of families who benefited through food chains, the tiffin wallahs, the transport people and all those who made money by renting their houses. I read he donated Rs 12000 crores from his personal pocket to give the January salary of his Satyam employees. Today Satyamites call Raju a FRAUD. The true and loyal Satyamites surely have all the reasons to say this word. But all the rest who sucked every rupee out of Satyam without doing any value addition need to understand - who was a bigger fraud.

Call me hardhearted or unmoved or ungrateful, but honestly I have no sympathy for Raju!

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And the Golden Globe goes to...

A smiled played on my lips, as I saw the looping video of A.R . Rahman making his acceptance speech when awarded Best Original Score, for Slumdog Millionaire. The mostly quiet and reticent Music Director made his nervous acceptance speech, reading from a cue card.
Smiles. Smiles.

As a tribute to the talented music composer- the famous "Masakalli "dove video from Dilli-6.

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Its another new Year...

So, we have entered another year over Pizza Exoticas, Argentinian Malambo wine, and card games.

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The Weekend That Was...

Christmas, followed by the weekend, was rather eventful, here at home in Bangalore.

Our mostly empty house was noisy and bustling with people. Just the perfect thing to warm and cosy the house in chilly wintry December.

The kitchen kept serving out hot masala chai, to my parents and other guests. The aroma of crisp dosas and chutneys wafting out at breakfast, brunch, snacks and other times.

So mom and dad are visiting; L was also here with her family. The house was bursting with conversations; whispered and raucous; there was cartoon network blaring for the little boy, the news channels blaring 24/7 for the older people; vessels clanging in the cook, serve, wash routine; people scuttling about from room to room; water running in the bathroom. It was a welcome change from the quiet that A and me have been facing ever since Nov 2nd when A's parents moved back to Chennai.

There was a good amount of talking, tramping, shopping and gifting over these days- more Bang land landmarks put down for future references; movies being seen; actors being judged. I do this stuff all the time, anyways, but doing it with people who matter, adds that extra spring in your step and joy in your heart. Like L and Ma.

Current mood: Content.

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Lessons Learnt !

While being invited to organise a birthday party for a 6 year old,

• Be prepared to lose your voice calling attention to 25 odd kids, who are also yelling
• Brace yourself for wee li'l lah-di-dah girls who refuse to wear the party caps, cos' it'll ruin their perfectly straight hair
• Be prepared for kids clinging to your legs and demanding your attention
• Also kids crying cos' they got out in Musical Chairs
• Kids refusing to eat cake unless they got the 'Dora the Explorer' face or backpack part of the icing
• Kids spilling juice all over your spunky clothes
• Kids will puke without rhyme or reason, just for the sake of drama
• Tinier kids pulling at your perfectly permed hair or terracotta jhumkas, whichever is more attractive
• Kids drawing you into , ' Aunty she bit me, is she an animal?' discussions
• ALWAYS ALWAYS carry your camera to these kiddy events 'cos they do the darndest things and hell yes, photo op dangling in your face

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Today...

will be a day of new beginnings, in the lives of two good friends.I am not sure if the day is as significant to them. D said she was too drained running over numerous 'To do' lists to feel anything. L is coming home yet again, dragging her tired nomad feet to rest at what she hopes will be a life destination. Incidentally, these people will breeze past each other at the Mumbai airport - one on her way out and the other on her way in.

D is heading off to Cali to start a new life; actually to resume her idyllic life that was interrupted by several overseas projects, the lure of the great American dream and a several thousand miles of land and ocean . Enough resources by way of time, money, drained cellphone batteries, eyes glazed over by hours of typing away at numerous chat windows and numerous sleepless nights have been diverted into Project Lovelorn couple. D has never been more lucid about her choices. Over the last couple of years, I finally see her happy, relaxed and settling into her skin.

L comes home not knowing if she heads back - alone or otherwise, its another upheaval in all our lives as she will thrash through conflicted feelings towards family and society and career choices. I am bracing for several whys, what fors, and other soul searches. Nevertheless, her arrival is an event to look forward to.

Good luck children!

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We have had a facelift!

Libra:Indecisive / changeable
Linda Goodman defines Libra as a rather vacillating sign, where a native is trying to find balance while moving through a whole gamut of unbalanced states. As such they may occasionally be quarrelsome, annoying, confused, depressed etc.

It took me a better part of an hour deciding on this template ; I'm still not sure it really reflects me, or even my current sentiment. I love the turkey background, but hey, Thanksgiving is long over and I'm a vegetarian, and it turned out a little too loud. Nevertheless, I may go back and change it when I'm feeling a li'il jobless.

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Sometimes I wonder if God will forgive us for what we have done to each other,
Then I look around and realise that God left this place long ago.

~ Leonardo di Caprio, Blood Diamond.

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Barkha Responds.

The media was accused of several misdeeds in their 70 hour coverage of the Mumbai terror on 26/11.
1. Breaching security by telecasting live military operations
2. Being insensitive by thrusting a mike under the noses of waiting relatives, friends etc.
3. Covering only the elitist Taj and Oberoi hotel situations and ignoring the CST situation

Lurking through my favoritest blogs , I chanced upon this link, with Barkha Dutt' s responses to the allegations
For those who have not seen it yet:
http://ndtv.com/convergence/ndtv/showcolumns.aspx?id=COLEN20080075194 (Thanks to the Mad Momma)

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Who is Vishnu Zende?

While Satans took over Victoria Terminus (CST) , Mumbai on 26/11, a certain guardian angel was going about his life and work in the Announcements room tucked away in the throbbing mass of humanity, that is VT station.
This simple middle-aged man displayed tremendous presence of mind in beating those terror messiahs while they maniacally sprayed bullets around.
Hearing repeated gunshots around 9 pm , Vishnu Zende, peeked out of his cabin and saw injured people lying on the ground and some other panic stricken folks running helter- skelter.

A train was just chugging into VT station, with many more people. More potential victims of the mayhem that ensued.

Observing that the firing was focused near the front entrance, Vishnu announced that, people leave VT station from the rear exit. To avoid panic-stricken commuters, Vishnu firmly reiterated his instructions on exiting VT station from the back entrance, without revealing the seriousness of the situation. He repeated the announcement over and over again, for a full 20 minutes, until the terrorists started approaching the Announcements office.

Identifying the source of the announcements, the terrorists directed their attention to the cabin. Vishnu and his colleague, immediately switched off the electricity in the room and ducked down, just in time; a bullet whizzed into the cabin and exited through the back of the cabin.
The staff in the Announcements office lay low until the terrorists disappeared.

Yesterday he stood before the bullet scarred cabin talking to the NDTV crew. The mild mannered man, still visibly shaken by what he had seen quietly goes about his work even today. So do the staff in AH Wheeler, and the tiny Cafe Coffee Day Express kiosk in VT station. They say, ' kya karen, kaam toh karna hi padegaa na?', Uss din apna ek dost ko goli laga. '
Look, he is already bustling about his customers.

On that dark Wednesday, Vishnu did not realise how many lives he had saved with his public address system.
An instance of extraordinary courage from the common man. It doesn't take a uniform or a designation to step up, does it?

Link: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/02/world/asia/02heroes.html?em

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Moviemeter!

I caught Sorry Bhai the other day...
Its a sweet fluffy movie, nothing to write home about. The movie belongs to Boman Irani and Shabana Azmi and eye candy : Chitrangada Singh (SHE IS SOMETHING). Sanjay Suri and Sharman Joshi could as well be wall paper. Flaccid storyline, made watchable ONLY by Boman Irani's bittersweet humor, comic timing and his very presence with Shabana.

Also caught the not so new Music and Lyrics, with Hugh Grant and Drew Barrymore. Again, sweet- a must see for lovers of Hugh Grant's very Brit humour and Drew Barrymore's complex screwed self esteem. And Hugh G does look delish in the gelled hair, medallioned , slightly aging musician look.

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Post 26/11...

There has been a lot of cynicism in the last couple of weeks following the terror strikes. And justified too!
Though I'm not jumping with joy yet, there maybe light at the end of the tunnel. The powers that be are rolling some wheels into motion:
At Chennai station:

• There are a sizable number of gun wielding Railway Police glaring down at you; mind you not chatting away!
• All departures have their baggage screened at the Chennai Central entrance and a 'security cleared' tag affixed on it.
• There are metal detector passages for the peoples and male and female guards who run their hand held detectors down your person
• No hanging around. I was brusquely told off for waiting for A, post my security check.
• Dogs were sniffing around trains and no there was no delay in departure, on that account.

I did feel a little secure but I'm not gloating yet.

I want to know, that this will be a permanent fixture and not just a ' in the wake of terror' or ' around the Babri Masjid anniversary' thing.

I want to know that this will happen at every railway station.

I want to know that the train doors will be secured by some hydraulic power each time it halts at signals in between stations.

I want the citizen to be able to propose a reforms bill to make all this happen. If it takes more money than the government has, I will not flinch or complain about more tax levied.

The anger at being violated as a nation will not simmer down into nonchalance as we settle into our lives with a , ' I know what happened was wrong, but MY life goes on.' Probably not this time.

PS: One can still walk through Bangalore City Station, with or without a ticket, with or without a weapon. There is a detector passage, and a gun wielding cop, but neither did he bother to ask for your ticket or even look at you. The TTE, was standing by, he too seemed least interested. What will it take, to shake up Bangalore?

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3.12.08
Arrivederci- Chennai Central: 4:15 am.
Odor fest begins: Unwashed railway station smell. Collective bad breath of all arrivals including self. Consignments of fish stacked up on platform; arriving and departing fish. Fresh filter coffee from Saravana Bhavan. Smell of Dosas on the Kallu soaking with ghee, in prep for the 50,000 odd dosas that will be churned out in the course of the day. Lingering smell of mud in the wake of the rains that assailed the city, over the last week.

Surprise Surprise: PEEPS in sweaters, in CHENNAI. Point is, most peoples in Chennai dont own sweaters :-P.

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Is this the path?

Understand
Recognise
Cogitate
Actionise
Do
Mobilise
Do

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Scared shitless

Last night while at dinner, my mom calls from Mumbai. What ensued is:
Mom (apologetically): were you asleep , I know its 10:45 pm
Me: No ma, Out for dinner
Mom: Is A(better half) with you?
Me: No
Mom ( marked increase in decibel, almost borders on hyteria): What, are you mad, or stupid, you know how times are lately.
Me: I'm OK, I'm heading home in a bit
Phone beeps: Dad (SMS)- Call me when you get home, where is your sense of responsibility?
Nevertheless, I did get an earful from Dad.

~*~

At breakfast, skimming through TOI,

Me: He actually passed through the metal detector with a .32 tucked in his waist

A: Yeah. The guards did not hear it beep.

Me: Now, how lame will that sound if he had decided to fire a couple of rounds.

A: Its Mumbai babe, people are bustling about on their mission to earn bread and butter.

Me(angrily): It helps to look around once in a while. They can't treat their lives like this.

A: Are you making excuses for faulty metal detectors or non-vigilant cops?

Me: It helps if people are a wee bit more alert.

~*~

At the bank, while in a queue for stamp paper:
Me(in the head):What if someone bombs us here? It seems ideal, lots of people, main road etc.
Me(looks around): That man looks shifty- he keeps staring at us in the queue.
Me( shaking her head, as if to purge thoughts): Don't be silly, you are overreacting.

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Shocked, Pained, Angered and Hurt...

By what is happening in Mumbai over the last 12 hours.

God, be with the people who lost their lives and sacrificed theirs in their crusade against terror.

Update 16 hours after the attack began:
Q: So have they finished with Mumbai yet, ripped her breast, and crushed her beating heart and silenced her ?
A: No

21 hours into the siege

Waiting for the military operation at sundown.

34 hours into the siege

The war has taken on epic proportions.

I hate to ask the obvious and oft repeated question--should this really take this long?

Are we ill-equipped/ incompetent?
I don't want to admit to anything not when 25 Mumbai policeman have died. Not when THE Army has stepped in.

Don't we deserve better?

Like Suhel commented yesterday, cant we be the instruments of change?

36 hours later

Casualties: 25 policemen, 137 civilians, unknown number of NSG.

Some of us have the option to turn away from the disaster, by changing channels, switching off the television, not the men on guard in Mumbai. The real men are those who are manning the hotels, engaging with the terrorists, rescuing the hostages ; not the wimps, who rule the state and center, who issue lack lustre robotic statements from prepared pamphlets, not those publicity hungry politicos, who show up at the site of terror to be 'seen' to give a 'soundbyte', and thereby posing a security hazard and unwarranted distraction to our already harried security personnel.

Shobha De on TV yesterday: We as taxpayers have spent billions on providing Z plus security to these politicians, and what do we get in return? Terror attacks of some form in some part of the country, every other month.

I agree-- they owe us an explanation.

I am reminded of a scene from the film Mumbai Meri Jaan, where one of the protagonists, is mulling whether he should move to work in the United States. He then finds himself in the midst of the train blasts in Mumbai. He is caught between loyalty for his country and the lure of a better life in the Americas. Moved by the resilience of the city, after the blasts, he decides to stay on.

How many times are we going to call upon each other to be resilient.

How many of us are thinking: I deserve better!

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I am awestruck by the beauty of terracotta jewellery at Aakar. Thanks to my akka H's (also!) single minded determination, on a cold overcast Banaglore morning- we actually drove 30 kms out of the city, in circles, with slightly skewed navigational skills and reached the sprawling jungle property/ boutique.
More about the gallery here.

~*~

Tomorrow is dad's birthday and he is travelling in cyclone hit Chennai with bad network coverage. Whoo...

Its also Soo's birthday; and I cant help but think, that, this time last year, I was planning his birthday party. And today so much has changed in the last three months that, I am wary of intruding in his life. Of course Goddess Sou is all set to make him a special birthday snack. Well she is shining proof of what i said ' on Relationships'.

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Poetry with caramel

I made a slightly wobbly , runny but nevertheless nice tasting caramel custard for dessert yesterday. Since the caramel decided to swirl around , it could be poetry. :-)
The idea is, we eat it through the week for our post-dinner sugar hit; this, so that we aren't left craving- binging dessert over weekend. More so cos' gym don't happen over weekend.

~*~

Anyhow, I am seriously contemplating getting me a conventional oven for bakin' and grillin'.
Two years ago, I never thought I'd ever look beyond a microwave for the cooking or the lack of it that (un)happens in our life.
But well, stuff happens and then it doesn't!

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A cousin and his fiancee have come up with a lovely wedding website! Now why did I not think of that, two and a half years ago?
Now, I'd go back and redo my make-up and my hair and all the other wedding weirdness that befell me. We'd need a time machine for that then? I wonder what else, I'd have changed with that time machine, anyways.

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