ORGANIZING RANDOMNESS

I didn't particularly sleep well yesterday night - for no particular reason. I got up from my bed after having tried to push myself to sleep for the past 1 hour or so. I had stated yesterday that I'll be cooking lunch today - and I was ready for the undertaking. I've been wanting to cook this particular kozhumbu for many months now, but somehow never managed to make it. I always chose to make vatha kozhumbu instead of milagu kozhumbu, whenever I had the fortune of cooking in this spectra. It might be argued that these two kozhumbu aren't linked or in anyway similar - but in my head, it seemed to be alike.  I asked Amma for the recipe for this dish.  She sent me a WhatsApp audio note of the same. It can be heard in the below link.  Ramakrishnan Nagarajan · Milagu Kozhumbu Recipe When I started to learn cooking last year, soon after the pandemic broke out & there was a nation wide lockdown, I never really asked Amma for any recipe of how she prepared the basic dishes...

Having my evening coffee, my mother-in law & I were gazing through the door at our societies departmental store, to see if it had opened or not. In the midst of this 'Triple Lockdown' or whatever Lockdown in Tamil Nadu, our societies store has come to our rescue. It's named 'Nithila'. Nithila has become a household name for us. Has Nithila opened? Have they stocked up yet? For the 20 odd families that live in this complex, its a rat race to grab whatever you can - to survive another day, another week, another breath in these times that we live. My MIL had her urges - to buy pumpkin, beans & curd packet. Oh boy, how important it is for her to get hold of the curd packet - required to make curd ofcourse. I had mine. I needed something to munch on during my late night espionage binge watch session - and today's quota is ice-cream. And well, I can't just buy ice-cream for myself, they say - sharing is caring. Sure, I care about my fix for which I got to ...

Just like many Indians, I am a cricket lover and a Sachin devout. When he got out today, and I saw him walk back to the pavilion, almost instantaneously, a tear came out of my eye. Just a tear drop, which was enough to keep me dumbfounded for minutes. I had to turn the TV off and accept the brutal reality.  All good things have to end someday, and all of us have to move on. Truth is intolerant & that's life & it's greatest lesson.  His total runs in Test Cricket is 15847? Numbers ring? 15-Aug-1947! It's a fabulous number. This is a number I'd definitely like to remember other than the figures of exchequer loss for the Government that the CAG gives now & then.  In a way, it's a landmark number. Freedom - from the mundane routine, from a bewildered life, from depression, from joy! It's just pure bliss & there's nothing greater than that moment when one drops everything & looks up into the sky & just smile. And, in all my life, ...

I met someone in Chennai last month. He told me that he has seen only doordarshan in his entire life. No cable, no Tata sky, hell not much of big screen as well. Just the traditional antenna lying idle in the terrace with some crow shit. And then, something suddenly struck me like the low wavelength doordarshan antenna. Everything about his character suddenly made sense to me. And somehow, lot of it had to do with the fact that he has seen only doordarshan through out his life. And then, I suddenly gazed upon myself. I was a couch potato. At least when I wasn't playing or fooling around. A special bond definitely exists between I & TV. A bond, which is way more stronger than C-H bonds in the benzene ring :P. I still remember the moments where I've been watching Cartoon Network from morning 9 to the evening 7, only to stop as Dad would then be back from work. Its still very vivid in my head. The 2 Sharjah knocks by Sachin to lead India triumph is still so much in vicini...

Alarm rings. I look at the phone : 7 am! I get up and sit upright. I had a choice, like always. I chose to get up for a change. I hadn't seen the morning sunlight for a really long time. I enter the washroom. And then, I remembered. The flush wasn't working as there were water issues in the building [Not our fault. Sometimes families also screw up]. There was yesterday's crap, which was still not cleared [:S :S] . We had some real crappy food yesterday night, and you know, things weren't looking good. Things were not smelling good either.  So, what did we do? My friend & I went to McDonald's and like hogged a really nice breakfast. We were hoping to do the morning ritual there, and we find the their toilets not functioning due to "technical reasons"! Technical Reasons? What? Do the bum showers have some sophisticated electronic hardware attached to it? Anyways, we head back home, rather constipated.  We follow the traditional approach of using the b...

All our thoughts & actions are so relative. But, at the same time, there are so many common notions across the diverse sophisticated spectrum of all our minds put together.  For example, consider the following scenario.  At a particular stage in Ramu's life, he wishes to achieve top secret classified goals, which is like totally 'different'.  1. Get up early and study for the test.  2. Study for the test.  But then, what makes Ramu get these ideas? Why does he want to study? Forget that! Why does he want to get up early and study? Studying is after all an action. How does it matter when he does the action? Is the time of action an important parameter? Is the action itself relevant? Why is there a test in the first place? Let us take another situation in Ramu's dreary life. He meets a really charming & cute girl at work.(Yes! Real Surprise! Yay!!) It's the classical love at first sight phenomenon. As my friend would say, "lov...

Joyfulness. Bliss. Stress free. Beauty. Love. Peace. All of us long for the above. In all our pursuits, we finally want to be happy. The journey of life is to unwrap this gift happiness that lies somewhere. But, where is it? With my girl friend? With my grades? With my 6 digit income? Does it lie in our hands? Is there a guide who can reveal this secret to us? Do we need a guide who can show us the path? When does it happen? Has it happened already? Do we experience it every day or once a week or now and then? Can it be scheduled? Is it spontaneous? Is it something gross or tangible? Is it a subtle emotion? Is it an emotion? Can it be taught? They and many other queries arose in me. The thing that bamboozles me the most is the fact that irrespective of what we do in our lives, one fine day, the appointed time does arrive. Yes, it’s the stipulated time to face Lord Yama. He doesn't spare anybody. You may have all the wealth k...

So, is it a comedy piece? Is it a melodrama like the countless yesteryear classics? Is it a Gautham Menon fantasy ride on the Indian Railways? [Gosh, only he can come up with such stuff] Well, I'll go ahead and call it chaos. At some point in time, our minds tend to find some order in randomness. And well, I want to share one such incident. Now that I am 'jobless' and/or 'unemployed' for the next six months, I've decided to attain individual salvation. Yes, I've decided to become part sanyasi [not inspired by Nityananda :P] ; the first step being to flee from Chennai. So, I had to catch this train at 10 50pm to Pune this Wednesday, and by all means, I reached there like an hour early. After a few phone calls, I finally became idle only to be abused by a Bihari couple for no rational reason whatsoever, in what seemed like Bhojpuri slang. Frustrated a bit, I could think of only one thing that could cheer me up - Saravana Bhavan's Pure Filter Coff...

Things have finally settled down a bit after a rather hectic 45 days. So last Saturday, few of us decided to go for the 2nd show for Oru Kal Oru Kannadi[OK OK]. There is nothing special about the film. It's just another mediocre effort, mediocre script, an awful hero, and a brilliant comedian. But, it's not the movie that I'll remember. It's the after effect, which was rather bizarre that day. There are 3 important things one has to remember when going for a Night Show: 1. Carry your documents along.  2. Don't throw away your movie tickets.  3. Wear Helmet. So, I strictly adhered to the above points. The theater was about 12km from my house. I had almost reached home, and surprisingly, there weren't any cops en route. But then, I was wrong.  I was stopped by them, along with another dude. He was returning home after his office party, and was little drunk. So, they dealt with him first. He didn't have any documents, no helmet, and w...

Life is about the different characters that we encounter either in real or in reel life. In the latter, I'd definitely narrow the following 3 characters down as my all time favorite: 1. Lord Krishna 2. Forrest Gump 3. Karna A few months back I had read about the happenings of the digitally restored version of ' கர்ணன்'. I was super excited.  This is a movie that I should definitely go with my mother. And well, it did happen. 17th March, 2012 - Shanthi Theater - Matinee Show. My dad, being a hardcore Sivaji fan, had booked the tickets well in advance. For obvious reasons, he picked Shanthi Theater. He had loads of expectation on the movie doing exceedingly well in the 21st century. [I had just thought of the benign Vijay fan when I heard all that :)]. I didn't expect too much, though. And boy was I mistaken. I was perplexed when I had gotten there. The car and bike park was packed. There was a long queue for the tickets. I was surprised ...

After 10th, my parents had decided to put me in a boarding school. I was immensely exited, and the thought of independence, overhauled my career objectives. I was good in Maths, and Physics excited me. So, quite naturally, I ended up taking the Science stream. After successfully completing 12th Standard in 2008, like thousand others across India, I had only 1 choice - Take up Engineering! Pretty obvious, isn't it? I ended up taking ECE of course, in the prestigious College of Engineering, Guindy. But, I wasn't intimidated in doing so, like many of my friends. I truly believed that my interest lied in Electronics, and I could create an impact in that field. Here's where the problem started. The teachers had always played an important role in my schooling days. I would attribute my interests to them. But, in college, teaching was utterly gruesome. I can confidently say that, irrespective of the branch, the first 2 years of Engineering, is most important. When weig...

Earlier this week, my mom had left for Nagpur, to attend a friend's marriage. For her, it was a welcome break from her mundane activities. She is having a ball actually, sans her notorious son! :) If you are wondering what's so special about 'Home Alone', well, it kind of is. Rarely do I get the gigantic place for myself, and well, I was looking forward to it. Technically speaking, at home,we generally don't talk much. Nothing actually changed much initially. I still kept fiddling with my laptop or was on the phone. Apart from the usual stuff, I wanted this to be different. My school mates come home often. They don't need any invitation. My home is their home. But, for some reason, it's not the case with my college buddies. So, yes, I decided to call them over! Some of them did turn up, and we had a nice time.  What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas!  Anyways, the next morning, they were gone and things were back to square one.  Now What? ...

Cult following is something that only the adherent can understand!  One such person I admire is Preeti Shenoy!  Here's the link to her blog! http://justamotheroftwo.blogspot.in Here is the banner for her latest work! You can preorder it at flipcart! Anyways, here is this Tuesday's Meme! "The table is set perfectly, for 'tea for two'. (and the piece of cake is ready too).  I am really looking forward to this. There is still a good half an hour left for my guest to arrive as per the  text  I just got. Suddenly the door bell rings....... Has she come already? Damn! What an artifice! Once in a blue moon do I clean my house, and the Gods didn't like it one bit! So I thought. ' This is not what we expect from you my child. You are expected to be surrounded by filth'  Well, sooner she found out my chaos, the better I thought. Hesitatingly, I rushed to the door! Well, it was some random guy. 'T...

Of late, My Mother has been worried and also active! Now, when does anyone get affected with the mentioned symptoms? Is it some sort of stress disorder? Some Allo pathy side effects? Some Homeo pathic  bullshit? Menopause? Wait! Maybe, it's the Venkatachala pathy effect! Well! That wasn't the case!  She's been on the hunt for some girls!  I was shaken!  "Amma? I am off to Hydera bad only! It's not ' bad',  ok!! Rombo over ah illa??" Now, she was shocked! "I am not searching for you Eruma Madu! Chi Kalambu!" Now I was disappointed.  Cha! WTK? You don't want your parents to fiddle around with your personal life! It's just not cool. But, when you find out that they aren't actually bothered about it, you get the creeps! You begin to wonder.... A slap on the face! My intellect intervened! Life's is not always about you! So, just shut up and analyse! So I did! Many of my relative...