TWO DAYS TO GO

Listening to: Ennio Morricone soundtrack (just found it last week. Fistful of dollars is great)

I'm leaving in two days.
For home. Delhi seems a distant dream..but come tomorrow, and I will be there, in the cold, freezing and loving it.

5 days to Homecoming

its time to go home...finally...

Going home should be fantastic after staying in a place you aren't particularly fond of. Missing mom's food and touch, missing sister's silly behaviour, missing little bit of grannie nagging, missing the cold and the heat.

Delhi is home, a home that made me lazy and grumbly and maybe a bit of everything. But it is only through the knowledge of not being at home that, one can come to love it with all their heart. Missing home is hard jobb; but atleast you can look forward to being back home.

PS: Started seeing Entourage. It dulls the pain a bit.

A political Memory

Listening to : OLDER by George Michael
Waiting for: LOST!

Just browsing through the 1991 edition of Frontline, I came across the life of Rajeev Gandhi. Mostly pictures about his life, which were sadly preceded by the pictures of his death in the bomb blast.

Looking at the blast pictures, I was reminded of the very day. I reckon it was Sunday and very early morning. Woken up by loud shouts and the newspaper thrusted in my face, I saw the bold headlines (of Hindustan Times, I think) and bloody pictures of a body. I also remember a strong rush of feeling that passed me, even though I can't place the reason of it. I was about 6, I think. I can't imagine why such an event would trigger a feeling of any kind. Maybe I could conceptualize how important a Prime Minister was, or what it meant to be part of a country that lost its leader.

Even now when I looked at the gory and violent stricken pictures, I could feel the travesty and injustice. But that all changed when I saw the pictures that followed this story.

Rajeev Gandhi as a Prime Minister I can accept; but the fact that he is being remembered as a family man.. amidst a family, surrounded by his kids..makes him seem angelic and blameless. It will not make people forget that he was involved in Bofors. Or that his mother some years age had ordered the great emergency. Or what his brother did during the emergency... What benevolent images we create of our leaders when they pass.. A tainted memory, and a clean picture..people wish to colour the bad things that take place and remove it from their memory...escapism or putting it behind...its just distortion.

Economics is #%$^$ = non-understandable

An Op-ed piece on the global financial hurricane has put me in a dire crisis. It is difficult to fake knowledge about an event that you cannot understand nor predict. Its not just the US financial failure (which I understood partially), but also how the Indian market responded(which is my topic), unfortunately.

I have never been an economics student and have never expressed any interest in economics. AT ALL.

except, well, i gave a business exam for Reuters in September, which i cleared. Thank you, very much.

But other than that, I consider money to be a luxury, which when you possess, needs to be spent carefully and with strong intent. There is no theory behind it; there is no formuale. Its just simple. If you have little of it, save it with all your life. If you have a bit of it, spend some (I usually do with books and movies). There's no logic behind it.

Thinking too much about the crisis could lead to painful and tortuous actions like saving money instead of buying books. The term Indian liquidity and crunch were often used; which made me peculiarly hungry. The only benefit I got from reading the articles on credit crunch was that Indians are quite unaware of what's happening outside their pretty homes. A certain megalomania and narcissism has always protected us from civil action and I think that will pre vail for quite some time.

Sometimes, I think the crisis has been misrepresentated; but I'm sure Lehmans wouldn't think so.

Happiness in Support

Watching: the screen

Journalism might be great, but being taught journalism is hard work. And being driven with a truck load of assignments and marks hanging over your head, its even tougher.

So, I come here expecting some hard work, some challenges and it turns out that its not all rosy. Being challenged is one thing and being driven to death is simply a whole new field.

But today I see that I am not the only one with that feeling. Many others believe that free thinking is not a crime. Its about time. A lot of ill-feelings are generated against teachers, and I'm not a person who hates. I admit I dislike people, but hating them is just another ball game. So, I was surprised that I hated a city and its people so soon.

But I am not the only one here. Here, one is encouraged to think in a box, feel like a mouth piece and write in short paragraphs...Creativity is unmentionable and freedom, a myth.

But what I liked was the fact that people have come out and said it finally.

A spade is a spade.

Its not that bad when you know that people are in it, with you.

Also ... Obama won!

A little bit of Godness

Listening to: Janis Joplin/Lil Wayne (seperately)


Watching: the monitor

• Have started to believe in God. Living in a place where you like no one..u start believing in some things that you thought you never will. Will have to think a lot about that..does living alone have any effect on how you perceive God? Does being away from family make you believe in what they say strongly?
  Is God a man or woman? ....What the hell!
• Saw an episode of Fringe...and i must say that it is Not at all Lost...Joshua Jackson was a good addition. But will have to see more to say more..
• Working on a report writing assignment right now. Apparently our class wanted Bush to be killed in Chennai, but the teacher thought it might be a bit too much..
• Thinking of watching Fashion this weekend. Might do too

Random small sized posts

• I am on a Monty Python spree. Have started watching it like MAD and I think I might do my project on it. But will have to do immense research for it.


• And now for something completely different.


• Have decided that Journalism may not be the best area for a non-socializing person like me. Have started to believe, "Hell is other people." There is no escape!


• Have discovered the benefits of a torrent. After a successful download of Dark Knight, have become a Torrent fan. Might have to buy a wi-fi connection soon.


• US election is coming up and fates will be decided. Honestly, my vote doesn't count and neither does my opinion, but I would prefer Obama to be the new leader. He seems young, radical, motivated and is liberal. I admit to not knowing more about his politics, but his stance on issues like war and abortion seem to be neutral. Anything's better than extreme.


• Chennai has books and movies and loads of them. This weekend I bought - books on film theory, plays by Girish Karnad, Another Agatha Christie novel called Dumb Witness. Also purchased a few films like Iko, The Birds, and Poirot movies... cant get enough of Christie


• Have stopped watching television all together. This thought scares me a lot! I am spending a lot of time on the laptop, but television is just another screen dimension. Missed so many F1 matches this season, along with new series on english channels.


• Will see the new Potter trailer and report. Cant believe I missed that one. Shame on me!


• Have started listening to BBC podcasts. I get a very slow connection here, but the podcasts are very small. So I can easily download a few. They are very informative and interesting.


• Dilli or Delhi? Once , I go back I might decide whether I am a Dilli-ite or a Delhiite. Makes no difference either way. To live in Delhi and not be a part of it is a shame.

Recently, conversations have been turning to subjects like marriage, caste, religion, region and family and what I discover is that all of these matter more than identity. Maybe because they are a part of one's self. Apart from these traditions, there are a few hangups that never leave us and are passed down from earlier generations.

I had never given much thought to what others believe because I always think that thoughts and beliefs are mutable, changing constantly with new experiences. One can never believe that anything is fixed because nothing is. How can anyone believe that our ideas and identities are permanent, when we live in a world that forces us to scrutinize our actions and doubt our ability..

• Just saw the HP trailer.. so familiar, it reminds of comfortable Delhi days...()

Alive, Depressed and Surviving

Listening to: Light My Fire - The Doors

I'm not a fanatic. Usually I try to mantain a distance from subjects, issues and try to listen to the other side. As a Journalist in training (unwilling at that), I am being taught not to be influenced by any coercion or attitude and preudice. But this time, I realize I have to do it.

Its hard to be comfortable when you are in an unfamiliar city. Chennai seems a hybrid town, struggling as a modernized jungle. Straddling the identity of a city and a village, it fails miserably in both. I'm being very judgemental here, but its the voice of a person who has left home for a short time and finds herself in a alien city that is reluctant to accept change. Trapped in its singular language and cult-star-love, it is half accepting and the other half, I am unable to decipher; But maybe most cities are like that. Maybe I've just lived in one city all my life and that might hinder Chennai's chances.

Chennai has one thing working for it though...It is the treasure trove of classic movies that are available at a very affordable price. I've already bought a few and plan to buy more. Can't love a city, but am always there to corrupt it!

Virgin Undone : First Meme

Meme as defined by designfederation consists of any unit of cultural information, such as a practice or idea, that gets transmitted verbally or by repeated action from one mind to another. This blog say that Memes function the same way genes and viruses do, propagating through communication networks and face-to-face contact between people.
And this meme is floating around on the net and I've decided to stain my blog with a 'popular' mass consumerist idea. Lets see whether this thing called Internet really works!

The rules:
1. Post the rules of the game at the beginning.
2. Each player answers the questions about themselves.
3. At the end of the post, the player then tags five people and posts their names, then goes to their blogs and leaves them a comment, letting them know they’ve been tagged and asking them to read the player’s blog.
4. Let the person who tagged you know when you’ve posted your answer.

What were you doing five years ago?
Answer : Five years ago, I was 17, just out of school and looking for a college.

What are five things on your to-do list for today?
I'm a very lazy person (read procrastinator) and hence, my to do list sounds like this :
1. Wake up at a suitable time.
2. Try to take a bath at a suitable time.
3. Read a certain portion of a book. (These days its Archer's Not a Penny Less, Not a Penny More).
4. Found more about my Journalism application
5. Think!

What are five snacks you enjoy?
1. Anything with Chicken!
2. Chocolate, especially Fruit n Nuts.
3. Sprouts...Too Healthy!
4. Vanilla Ice cream with cashews.
5. Apples...Like Poirot's Mrs. Ariaddne Oliver.

What are five things you would do if you were a billionaire?
1. Buy a big library and all the books in the world.
2. Never think about working of course!
3. Start travelling (to places on my LIST) with a mobile library.
4. SAVE! I'm big on no waste.
5. Ya...other people...need to be given something too...

What are five of your bad habits? (This should be good...I hate and love criticizing myself)
1. Unorganized mind, body and room.
2. Obssessed with nitpicking others' faults.
3. Never taking care of myself.
4. Thinking and Believing that books are much more important than people...sorry, some people. (I was in tears, when in The Day After Tomorrow, they burn all the books as fuel.)
5. Being very, very, very lazy! (Look at this blog!)

What are five places where you have lived?
Delhi, Delhi, Delhi, Delhi and Delhi!

What are five jobs you’ve had?
Never had a paying job before....guess have to rectify that. Soon.

Tag 5 other people
Here goes.. I dunno anyone who would willingly do a meme. Anyone interested in it, just do as the instructions say. Leave a comment if you do so.

WTF : IPL FINAL

Mood : Ecstatic *100
Listening to : Sensual Seduction-Snoop Dogg (BITE ME!)
Icon by me!

I just finished watching the DLF IPL final and not only was it electrifying but also mind numbing. My face was covered with my hands most of the time, so much so that I think it has turned red and heated. This could also be because of all the Watson-Morkel-Dhoni hotness going around! (But thats just another story!)



I never planned to watch IPL cause I never watched ICL. Now ICL is pretty much a washed out series/tournament with only Brian Lara to die for and Inzamam-ul-Haq, if you're the kind who likes runner outers. So, IPL was never going to be my cup of tea, like Harry Potter and look how that turned out! Television has been re-defined in some ways, I think..especially in the way now the L shape appears now and then...and how pretty people keep stretching across your screen. I first watched IPL on the day of the Delhi match and then was hooked a bit. Then slowly with the pressure of exams one often turned to something less threatening and nuetral. Henceforth, IPL.

Today's final was to DIE for. Royals and Super Kings played will the last breath and it was so thrilling and pant-wetting that I had to jot down what I will term MY BEST MOMENTS :

1. Pre Opening Ceremony. OH MY GOD. Ramiz, Ravi, Sunil, Arun and Damien(has he seen Omen?) all in Kurtas looking swanky and as Damien Fleming said "the backstreet boys."..Not Quite!


2. The Opening Ceremony. Part1. C'MON PPL. Amrita Arora? okay...Dia Mirza...What would happen if she had moved...!!! Sameera Reddy could move but she couldn't save the day. Salman Khan appeared for some moments but just to say that "Dus ka Dum." I think he needs dus kicks up his. The laser show was much better.


3. The Opening Ceremony. Part2. The only thing that saved the whole thing was the acrobatics from Germany? Bending ability=100%=brain melts....

The Match Moments

1. Ravi Shastri's line "The Umpire owns the line." WOW. Ump = God of field.


2. Dhoni and Ntini before the 19th over. The LOOK was wonderful (ofcourse I didn't hear what they said so..), followed by Ntini hugging and pecking on Dhoni's face.


3. Before the last ball of the last over, with equal scores, Warne, Dhoni and Tanveer all laugh..JITTERS!


4. Sunil Gavaskar says... "Warne was sitting in front of the IPL trophy. He was eyeing it. He wants it..."


5. At this point Aamir Khan asks Tendulkar, what will happen if scores equal. Tendulkar "Bowlout!"


6. The Royals erupting on the field after their win. Wonderful. Followed by Dhoni and the boys in a huddle, consoling and appreciating each other. Team Spirit GO!


7. Kamran Akmal, being interviewed by Shastri, says for Warne, "mashahallah"...dies LOL!


8. Marsh accepted his award from a hotel room with the worse-hair-possible!


9. Lastly, Warne accepted the IPL trophy and dedicated it to the people of Rajasthan..awww!

Enough for the Night! Ipl's next year now!

the last semi final

Mood : Ecstatic

Listening to : Billie Holiday

Chennai just won the IPL semifinal against Mohali. Dhoni vs. Yuvraj.

Its not as if it was a match that went down to the last ball. It was a pretty straight forward match, and it was pretty obvious that Chennai could bag it. A good 100 partnership between Raina and Parthiv made all the difference. Punjab had set up a very meagre total of about 116. All Chennai had to do was focus and win it.

Ntini was awarded the man of the match and it was well deserved. His enthusiasm and energy in the field was thrilling and his big smile would put any non-supporter to shame. He, along with Dhoni, commented on the fact that there were many people in Mumbai supporting Punjab and there was a sparsity of Chennai fans. In spite of that, Chennai performed brilliantly, by fielding tightly and bowling even without giving an inch(except that last over by Balaji).

Finally commentator Arun Lal asked Dhoni whether he even faced pressure...(he should have asked that when Dhoni was giving his 10th class Board!)...and Dhoni, diplomatic that he is, said "Well, ofcourse.." but amended by saying that he concealed it well! This is partly my reason for supporting Chennai; I dislike Mohali because of its rather brusque captain who did not perform well at all in the series. He relied too heavily on Marsh, who was a very dark horse. But other than that, Singh has relied more heavily on his bowlers who, tonight, could not defend such a sparse total.

I still don't know whom to root for in the finals. Its India vs. India.

Lets see....

Cricket and Inflation broadcast

Mood : Bored, Pensive, Irritated, Frustrated..awaiting.

Today is the big semifinal. Delhi Daredevils vs. Rajasthan Royals.

I was keeping my fingers crossed for Delhi. They played well in their earlier matches, but were very shabby in the latter. Wondering how they even managed! But now they are facing the Royals who have lost just 2 to 3 matches in total. With the likes of Warne, Pathan and "the younger boys" that they have, they might total Delhi out. I'm not sure what chances Delhi has of going to the finals. Seems like today its sudden death! Many are hoping that Delhi and Chennai make it to the finals like Morkel and me, but that looks to be seen.

In other more important news, seems like price of petrol and diesel may escalate but not to rupees 10....no....its just between rs.2 to 5. Well, isn't that a relief...five bucks...which is now being called a moderate hike ! All this results from what I call the spiralling effect, when our dear Finance minister decided to forgo the farmers loans and did not think of any other way to earn that money...! Then Mr. Gandhi decided to increase that loan further, without thinking about substituting any other means of earning that....this along with the increase in the salaries of the IAS... SUPER..

WELCOME TO THE 8.1% inflation!

The difference between Clench and Grind

I decided to celebrate the end of my exams with a visit to the Dentist. Call me adventurous, but I like to live on the edge. A few months of toothache, coupled with occasional disprins twice a week will make you fret a bit or more. After diagnosis, the result was 4 cavities and the BIG ONE, a Root Canal. Pain I was prepared for, along with loss of liquid cash.
All in all, it did not turn out too bad. Still the last day was eventful, with the assistant dentist, asking me to clench my teeth by which he meant that I should imagine eating food. I mistook that for grinding my food, which I think is the way one eats food. So just to prove that I am right, here’s what my Oxford Genie says :

To clench : when you clench your hands and teeth… you press them together tightly, usually showing that you are angry, determined or upset
To grind : to break or crush something into very small pieces between two hard surfaces or using a special machine (drill).
Turns out, my five years in literature haven’t been a wasting!

2. On the other hand, I just finished reading an easy biography on Al Capone (do not read as Wikipedia entry). It was fun, neutral attempt to capture his personal life and events in a less serious tone. It was fun to read about him, because I haven't seen Scarface but heard just rave reviews. After Capone, I started with an assorted Whodunit series. Lets see how that goes cause I'm a sucker for those. Wondering whether I should buy the Twilight series or just be happy with the movie version...

3. On the sports side, IPL is fun to watch...Delhi being in the semis is a bonus too. The problem is that they'll be facing the Royals; Rajasthan Royals, not the Challengers! Raikkonen's battling with Hamilton for the top spot.....EXCITING...mind numbing to watch Kimi get no points along with driving Sutil out...!! BAH

4. Loved this game called Submachine. Technical and escape/maze game. Start with part one here...very easy....then follow it up with part2, part3 and part4. There's also one called Submachine zero.

5. Started watching Pushing Daisies and Chuck. Interesting mid-exam snack type.

W.H. Auden - Not so much American...

Mood : half-witted and laziness!

Listening to : What goes around comes around : Justin Timberlake

It is always during exam time that I find good books and good poetry and realize that I dont have time to appreciate them. Found Auden, but dont have time to love him.
This entry is under the tag of American poet. Auden was partially an American. Wasn't born there but found refuge and comfort there. I've attached a fragment of his poem called September 1, 1939. A dirge on war. Beautiful and simple, as poetry should be.

September 1, 1939

All I have is a voice
To undo the folded lie,
The romantic lie in the brain
Of the sensual man-in-the-street
And the lie of Authority
Whose buildings grope the sky:
There is no such thing as the State
And no one exists alone;
Hunger allows no choice
To the citizen or the police;
We must love one another or die.

New Year Resolutions

Listening to : Evil Ways by Santana

Liberian Girl by Michael Jackson

Crystal Ball by Keane

Another new year. For me it usually means, a chance to spend more ways learning how to waste time effectively. However, this year I might waste it in much better ways. Firstly, by buying and reading more books. Secondly by watching more televison which includes reruns. Thirdly, by trying to write. This one might be on the threshold, of pain and pleasure, wasting time and actually attempting to come up with what some might label trash.

And lastly, I have decided to finish all Agatha Christie by this year. Given below are all of her works. I have read a few, mon ami.

(the ones in black=done. Virginal and untouched=Blue)

The Mysterious Affair at Styles

The Secret Adversary

Murder On the Links

The Man in the Brown Suit

The Secret of Chimneys

The Murder of Roger Ackroyd

The Big Four

The Mystery of the Blue Train

The Seven Dials Mystery

Murder at the Vicarage

The Sittaford Mystery

Peril at End House

Lord Edgware Dies

Murder on the Orient Express

Why Didn't They Ask Evans?

Three Act Tragedy

Death in the Clouds

The ABC Murders

Murder in Mesopotamia

Cards on the Table

Dumb Witness

Death on the Nile

Appointment with Death

Hercule Poirot's Christmas

Murder Is Easy

Ten Little Niggers

Sad Cypress

One, Two, Buckle My Shoe

Evil Under the Sun

N or M?

The Body in the Library

Five Little Pigs

The Moving Finger

Towards Zero

Death Comes as the End

Sparkling Cyanide

The Hollow

Taken at the Flood

Crooked House

A Murder Is Announced

They Came to Baghdad

Mrs. McGinty's Dead

They Do It with Mirrors

After the Funeral

A Pocket Full of Rye

Destination Unknown

Hickory, Dickory, Dock

Dead Man's Folly

4.50 from Paddington

Ordeal by Innocence (Read a long time ago. Have to read it again.)

Cat Among the Pigeons

The Pale Horse

The Mirror Crack'd from Side to Side

The Clocks

A Caribbean Mystery

At Bertram's Hotel

Third Girl

Endless Night

By the Pricking of My Thumbs

Hallowe'en Party

Passenger to Frankfurt: An Extravaganza

Nemesis

Elephants Can Remember

Postern of Fate

Curtain: Hercule Poirot's Last Case

Sleeping Murder

At the moment I am reading The Unexpected Guest.

(p.s. - incomplete list)