Mokkai...

It was one of those rare days when I had nobody to be with. I am the kind of person that cannot live without being surrounded by friends constantly. Loneliness kills me. I mean, I am a normal girl. I don’t like to be left alone and I love talking and that’s why I need company all the time. Last weekend, Sabal wasn’t here in Bangalore. He had gone to Ernakulam choosing a get-together (read: free beer) with college friends who were going off to Dubai (that is where most Mallus go, right?). It was supposed to be a farewell party kind of thing and off he went without any reserved tickets. How am I supposed to fight with “free beer”? I, in fact, told him I would buy him unlimited free beer in a bid to make him stay back. But he earnestly said, “You know I won’t drink much.” (Oh really?) “I am going because I promised the fellows that I would be there.” (Poda poda, rascala)… At that time I didn’t realize how lonely that would leave me for the whole weekend. It was probably the first time ever that I felt bad that I didn’t have to go to office on a weekend.

I made it a point to catch up with friends. I watched Vinnai Thaandi Varuvaya with Vinod. Thank you, Vinod for a pleasant evening. I really enjoyed it a lot. About the movie, what can I say? I felt that Gautam Menon hadn’t clearly made up his mind as to whether the boy and girl live happily ever after or not. Very confused and even more confusing. I really loved the Cinematography and of course Rahman’s music. Oh, and also Trisha’s saris (I am a girl, after all). It has been a long time since I saw a movie without any bloodshed and violence and villains. However, VTV was too mushy and romantic for my taste.

On Sunday, I slept like Kumbhakarna. Semma thookam! By the time I woke up, it was evening and I remembered I had promised Yals I would visit her place. We met up and walked up and down Brigade Road (buying nothing much except two plates of Paani puri and some coffee) and it was like old times again. Talking about mutual friends, careers, relationships… what you would call typical girl-talk – it was about everything and nothing. For a couple of hours, I forgot I didn’t have anyone to go back to. That is why they say, girls should always stay in touch with their girlfriends… Thank you, Yals for being there for me.

Somehow the weekend passed and Sabal is back from his trip and here I am back at office wishing it was weekend again. Namma dhaan thirundha maatome!

What can I say...

After 7pm is the best time to write blogs – that is when the office is almost empty (there are not many losers like yours truly, you see). I like the calmness here. My desk has been shifted to a place far away from my managers and far away from all the people that make the maximum noise. I generally love being surrounded by loud people; I myself am a loud person and now I feel left out and lonely. Literally lonely because there is nobody here; nobody to see what I am doing – I might as well watch some movie, but I prefer reading something/writing stuff to bore you all. I have a strong feeling that every time I write, I get worse. I am probably one person that challenges the proverb “Practice makes one perfect” – the lesser I write the better is what I feel about myself.

All that apart, I have made up my mind to mokkai pottufy and there is no sparing you. I have learnt so much from blogosphere. It has certainly given me great friends like Satish, Chan, Vinod, etc… and has improved my confidence a lot. Not that I was ever low on confidence. I have been a pain from the beginning. Or that is what Amma says. I wish she writes a blog ala Chennaigirl – kiddie talks. I used to talk a lot. Amma says I starting talking very young and started off with full sentences instead of words and never had that ‘mazhalai pechu’ – she says I started talking like a big girl. She and Appa used to feel very proud of me – I was their first child and they probably thought I was a genius because I started talking earlier and clearer than their friends’ children. Now Amma is feeling “Appo aarambichava innum nirutha maatengarale” (She started so early and has not stopped since)… Well, I am proud of it. Ever since I have been paduthufying Amma with my nonstop nonsense.

I have always been a talkative person and my friends can’t agree more (please read my testimonials in Orkut if you are THAT jobless). It is like a gift. At the same time, I have ended up creating a/being in the middle of a mess ever since I can remember. I once went and told my teacher (when I was in sixth standard), “You are being very partial towards G (a girl in my class). It is wrong. You are a good teacher, but I don’t like this.” Years later when I met that teacher she told me that I had told her something like this and I didn’t even remember the incident. To say it was very embarrassing would be an understatement but I really felt ashamed of myself for saying something like that to one of my favorite teachers and at the same time proud of myself that I had the guts to speak my mind to someone way older and respectable than me.

Ippidi palappala saadanaigala pannitu vandhurukka indha Sandhya… Enna poi velai ellam panna sonna, kaduppaagaadhu? Enna nenachutu irukkanaga? Oh God, let someone understand my genius (no, before that let me recognize my potential) and appidiye ennoda life-ahye maathiranum. Hayyo hayyo!!!

Lazy me!

Why oh why is hard-work so important in life? Why do Amma and scores of others keep telling me that the only way to success is hard-work? Why isn’t there a ‘fotcut’ or a ‘chota fotcut’ that I could take? Well, the reason I am asking you this is really simple. It also explains why I have been writing lesser and lesser here these days. Laziness. Yes, I have been THIS lazy since birth.

Once when my mom asked me how I managed to be so lazy, I replied (thinking I was really smart) “You should ask yourself that question Amma. Why did you give birth to such a lazy baby? It is a manufacturing defect.” How smart that ended up to be was revealed last week when the epitome of “Nunalum than vaayaal kedum” (yours truly) asked Amma a variant of the same question – “Why did you do this manufacturing defect? It is entirely your fault. Because of this defect people are branding me as lazy and useless (as usual, you think? Fine by me!) and I just don’t feel like doing any work.” Amma gave me a one-liner – “Sorry, warranty period over. Goods once sold cannot be taken back.”

What a P.J. that was! You don’t know what a P.J. is? P.J. means Poor Joke. Was that a P.J. as well? Yes? Wow… I am the Lord of the P.J’s. But hey, I am far better than a few Bollywood movies that have released in the recent past and no, I am NOT going to write a review on any of them simply because I don’t spend time and money to watch such flicks. I prefer watching Balachander classics over and over again than watching the newly released, watch-me-if-you-have-the-IQ-of-a-cabbage movies that bore me to death. And now I understand completely what my blog does to you. I think the last Hindi movie that I loved watching was Ishqiya – way back in January.

Talking of movies, did you happen to watch the Filmfare Awards ceremony this year? Seriously, how much cool do SRK and SAK think they are? It was over-rehearsed and over-done and so long that it bored me to death. The only good thing about the function was Shahid Kapur’s tribute to Michael Jackson (drool drool). Well, it is no secret that I love Shahid, is it? And yes, I am very disappointed with the jury’s decision too. Shahid (darling) slogs it out at the gym and works so hard (and actually acts) in ‘Kaminey’ and who do they give the award to? Amitabh Bachchan. There is no taking away any credit from the hard work he has put into ‘Paa’, but I somehow liked Shahid’s performance better. Perhaps it is because I love him, but what the heck, this is MY blog J

God's Gift...

This time around I have a very sensitive issue. A friend of mine has a notion that women are inferior to men and should always listen to men and that he can never accept that women are equal to men. Well, that was a bold statement to make in front of me on any day – and he specially chose Women’s day for that. Needless to say, I and another female friend of mine gave him back nicely. He was left battered and bruised. No, we did not get violent; we believe in Gandhiji’s words – we explained that is NOT how it is with the maximum amount of patience we could muster. But he went on with his bullshit about how women should do all the household work and husbands should be their Gods. WTF!!!

Now I agree that women can’t do everything that men can. But what my dear friend had to understand was that similarly, there are (more) things that women do that men can never do. He also went on to say, “Girls who work in the IT industry are always looked down upon by the society. The society respects only those that are teachers or doctors or IAS officers.” Really, that was more than necessary to get on my nerves. No amount of saying or arguing was going to instill any sense into his non-existent brain. The reasons he gave for his filthy mind-set were:

1. I cannot accept that women are equal to men. They can never be equal to us men. (Oh yes, that is a very valid reason).
2. Most IT girls have bad character. They don’t deserve/get any respect from the society. (I understand it is because we are educated and independent and are able to support ourselves and our families).
3. Women should stay at home and do all the household work and men should go out and earn for the family – that is how God intended it. (Oh really? God told you what He intended? When did that happen?)
4. Men do hard work. Women are inefficient. (Oh yes, you do hard work? Like plough your land? Lay a road? Dig a mine? What?)
5. I cannot accept that women are equal to men. They can never be equal to us men. (Was it the first point all over again? Yes, that’s what he said – again)

When would men like these understand that women are individuals and they need their space and freedom where they could do whatever they want? Finally he said, “I would keep the girl I marry very very happy.” I just burst out in laughter and said, “The only way you can ever keep a woman happy is by staying away from her.” That was true in his case.

But for all the men out there who want to keep their mothers/sisters/friends/girlfriends/wives/daughters happy, this is how you do it. THE ONLY WAY TO MAKE A WOMAN HAPPY IS BY LETTING HER DO WHAT SHE WANTS TO DO. That is simple, right? The next time your girlfriend asks you, “When can we meet?” try telling her, “We can meet whenever you want to” and live up to your words. The next time your mom asks you, “What do you want for breakfast?” try telling her, “Whatever you want to cook” and then see how truly happy and touched she will be.

Understand that women are delicate and fragile and yet stronger and more courageous than men. Women are precious and without them, life will not be worth living. She can make your life heaven and hell – it depends upon how you choose to behave with them. She is truly God’s gift to the world.

Praise her, celebrate her presence!