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...

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, ...

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...

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 ...

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? ...

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...

Friday Evening. Most Important presentation of my career. I got out from my boss's cabin. I am one of those guys who barely sweats after half an hour of strenuous exercise; and here I was, dripping with sweat. My shirt was wet. This rather uneasy situation was probably a morale boost for my fellow associates. I didn't care for that. What I did care about was about the date I had that evening. I was 2 hours late.   'No Action this weekend as well!' Damn!  Well, just another solitary weekend, I thought. The only plus point was that I still had the 'Job' - that would pay my rent,  give me calories, pay my gym fees, buy me booze and smokes, pay my rather expensive pseudo 'dates', satisfies my parents, and ultimately that yields nothing but deep anguish within.  I headed to my apartment which was 5km from work. Naturally, it took an hour to reach! I had a nice cold shower and grabbed some beer. I had been alienated from curr...

08/08/08 - Very Auspicious Indeed. Go ask the numerologists. The Beijing Olympics had begun. Well, that didn't matter much to me. The onset of awesomeness had taken its course. Those were the days when the conversations would be like: A:  Hi. What's your cutoff? B: 199. :( :(. Nee? A: That's all? Sad dude.  :P :P B: You? A: 200 B: Must be ECE, definitely! A: Yes. I am so happy. ('We should ask him now the same question :P') Getting into ECE was/is/will be like getting a ticket for a Justin Bieber concert. Just like the latter, it is getting out of it, that matters. I recall the first day, leaving my house at 7 am, for some lab. I get into the bus and hand over a    50(Those days, the conductors would literally pound you for this. Now, if you have change, you get smashed!). So I reach college by 7 30, and still I am one of the last ones to get there. I see uptight looks on people. I mean, it is the first class for heaven's sake! I w...