roundtheblog

An afternoon at the watch repair shop

2009-12-01T00:13:00.000-08:00

The shop is snazzy pink and purple.
As if in a rocking chair,
a grandfather clock,
swings in a corner ,
ignored.
Nostalgic ?

The repair guy meddles with tiny screws
does he look into the future ?
Is Made in China the monster
his kids fear ?

An old man totters around him
twenty mad clocks tick every second
his teeth chatter in perfect synchrony.

Minutes pass.
trrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrriiiiinnggggg....
his 'Alaram' clock is now in good shape
and his afternoon has met purpose.

Edvard Munch.

2008-12-08T14:47:00.000-08:00

"From my rotting body, flowers shall grow and I am in them and that is eternity."

—Edvard Munch

Edvard Munch's style, i simply love .
i like how everything just flows in his pictures bringing to it a
hallucinating,liquid feeling.
My favourite and a popular one is The Scream.
On looking at it for a long time one feels that
deep loneliness which lies within.

Rich, poor, believer ,non believer,questioner,
teacher,student,party butterfly,cooped up pigeon,
clown,king,neta,beggar,man,woman,in a crowd,alone,aloof,
CEO,auto Ottunar,Whistler, artiste,grocer,parent,
everyone is alone.

In a page in his diary headed Nice 22.01.1892, Munch described his inspiration for the image thus:

“

I was walking along a path with two friends—the sun was setting—suddenly the sky turned blood red—I paused, feeling exhausted, and leaned on the fence—there was blood and tongues of fire above the blue-black fjord and the city—my friends walked on, and I stood there trembling with anxiety—and I sensed an infinite scream passing through nature."

Even without a TV,
sometimes with all views,opinions,discussions

,arguments,chatter,banter,taking sides,facebook,orkut,friends,traffic,views,market,opinions,forums...
the Scream seems to pierce in
shriller than ever.

Lecture Demonstration on Ragam Tanam Pallavi

2008-12-08T04:24:00.000-08:00

Here are the links to a Lecture Demonstration on Ragam Tanam Pallavi by Sri.T R Subramaniam.

http://rapidshare.com/files/171099770/TRS-LEC-DEM_-PALLAVI_-1a.mp3.html

http://rapidshare.com/files/171101328/TRS-LEC-DEM_-PALLAVI_-1b.mp3.html

http://rapidshare.com/files/171102676/TRS-LEC-DEM_-PALLAVI_-2a.mp3.html

http://rapidshare.com/files/171103814/TRS-LEC-DEM_-PALLAVI_-2b.mp3.html

enjoy.

Smt.Kalapini Komkali

2008-12-03T11:26:00.000-08:00

i simply loved this song ,rang na daro Shyamji

The bold lines

Kaise ho Khiladee ?

takes me back to Goppama Deivama ?

kind of reaction from Tyagayya who considers God so close to him.

Also, watch out for how she emotes at Jao with a hmmph jao wow ...

i really wish i could sing like that.

What a voice and oh yes , please go this shade of green because i have heard her live !!

Puddles

2008-11-28T02:35:00.001-08:00

As a holiday attraction,a beach had been set up at the mall near the river a few months back.
The sand and props like the palms,shells,pebbles,beach

house,water scooter facade
made it almost believable.The arrangement was convenient for parents who could leave their children in the pit and chat on the steps nearby.

On the day when it was closed due to light showers,a small naughty boy nagged his mum into letting him play in the pit and stomped about when she tried explaining to him that it was closed.After a while, noticing that his mum was busy discussing something with another lady, he jumped in through the stop sign and ran straight to the jet ski ,noisily drove it, rolled in the sand , got dirty ,dug his hands into the sand,filled his pockets with some things he dug up ,with that same unhesitating rush went to a corner and piddled into the sand, watched it for sometime and got back to his play,got tired and ran back to his mum.

Meanwhile,a couple sitting on the steps watching the whole show had complained to the Mall staff.

Ten minutes later the security officer came to the spot armed with disinfectants
but by then the boy and his mum had left.
They poked about in the sand to find the exact spot
and then it began to rain.

Happy Vijayadasami !

2008-10-10T05:15:00.000-07:00

Here are some pictures from our golu.

Wish you all, good thoughts ,
knowledge
happiness and peace.

On sunset

2008-08-31T12:53:00.000-07:00

Having drunk the sun
the sea,
foamed at the shore.

The curtains fell

2008-08-31T08:30:00.000-07:00

Applause had long
deafened his heartbeat.

cuckoo....

2008-08-31T08:06:00.000-07:00

Do your wings wish for a

tree

while they cross the sea ?

Say Cheese.

2008-08-31T07:48:00.000-07:00

Under
strokes of mascara,
sponged compact,
blushing pinks,
bleeding lipstick,
push-up bra,
skyscraper heels,
I lie.

Not on Cycling nor on heather dotted valleys

2008-08-26T04:52:00.001-07:00

(warning Hellboy II , Cream tea spoilers ahead)

Nikoloi Gogol's stories , especially ones that are pastoral evoke such familiarity even if set in Ukraine.
In one where two neighbours fight, he describes a scene where one man watches his neighbour's clothes line and wonders at an old woman's rather large petticoat with pockets that could fit melons !!
This pastoral-ness of his stories is so charming you are drawn
into their simple lives without much cynicism.It is only more adorable when the author pops in every now and then to clear misconceptions.(Woody Allen must have gotten it from here, i suppose)

Pan's labyrinth had done magic earlier with its characters and their quirks.
From the same director,Hellboy II ,redid all that magic.With its Troll markets,aquatic man,lovely looking princess,tumour baby,tooth fairies that eat up human bones,a magnificent Forest Goddess,...its like being in a dream world,with the kind of dreams you dreamt when you were a kid,unspoiled by the reality all around.heh if you want to cleanse your dreams ,go watch this movie and stay hungover forever with its characters.i want a movie that goes into the mind of Guillermo Del Toro...i also wish someone makes Mahabharatam and Ramayanam into superhero movies with such style, that keep up its fantasy.

Disobeying the title,i must tell you that we went on a great bumpy cycling tour along an Old railway line,in quaint Burley.All that pedalling seemed easier with the postcard scenery on either side and lovely weather.Snapshots had cows,heather valleys,never ending stretches of green,apple laden trees,dogs with kind eyes and happy tails only too glad to get muddy,picnic lunches,small brooks,stately horses with some nervous riders,huffing up the hills and wheeee down the dales,kazhudais with their beautiful eyelashes,tractors,berries and lots of fun.
But let me tell you that cream tea has nothing to do with cream in the tea or vice versa.

264 no ... 2644... no no...

2008-06-09T07:34:00.000-07:00

See this is my problem ,i cannot remember what she said !!

i have tried recalling every little detail of that evening and it all comes back very clearly .

The faces of the kids playing at the park, two sweaty kids were even fighting for the swings, the fawn coloured Labrador dog she bent to pet ,the breeze teasing her violet blouse,the idiot cyclist who giggled at us,the 100 ms chalked on the road right where we stood,how she bit her lips,and then.. and then..... just as she said it, I sneezed . A very loud aaaaaachoooo !!
Now what ?

Should I call her and find out if it was a yes or a no ?
huh !!! it must have been that jasmine perfume that lady in the pink salwar wore.

Nature blessed me yesterday

2008-05-14T02:33:00.000-07:00

As i strolled by the cemetery fence
a deer i spotted in an instance
licking the grass on a dead man's grave
was it, when i stole from it a glance.
Fear it did not in a graveyard see
but on seeing me it happened to flee

Shauk

2008-05-14T02:32:00.000-07:00

"Shauk ?!!
shauk to waise har ek cheez ki hain
jisme Khuda ho
jisme Khoobsurati ho
aur jisme zindagi bharee ho "

Anju ruba ! Anju ruba !

2008-05-14T02:29:00.000-07:00

There is a man selling Pictures of God for 5 rupees near the temple.

"Only 5 rupees,any
God!!" he screams and people are rushing towards him to grab their
Gods.

Some pretend to not have heard him and hurry by.Some others hesitate and he pitches his cry a little louder.
He has been screaming all afternoon and i have been watching him throughout.
i live in the house next to the temple and i sip my tea in the balcony with a noise.i like my tea with ginger and less sugar.

Naming it...

2007-11-24T00:04:00.000-08:00

"Tommy? How very creative. Tommy.
And Gabriel? He is not an angel,"said Arun.

"What about all the Tigers?They aren't really tigers,are they?" said Vadivu.

"Mani, it is Mani even in the movie no, Anna? Please, why not Mani?"
said Priya.

"Money? Enna paisa vasoola?"

"Anna, look at her she is teasing me."

"Ok fine. Mani it is then."

He got the fetch, sit and run alright but the
German Shepherd did not think Mani was worth a Woof!!!

Aries Book Shop - Mylapore,Madras

2007-11-07T18:56:00.000-08:00

We visited the shop,one dull afternoon three years ago and discovered books by O V Vijayan,Asokamitran,Raja Rao,Mulk Raj,Dostoevsky and some really fantastic (odd) children's books which are difficult to find in many leading book stores these days.The second hand book shop sold a lot of first hand copies too.It was here that we hit on BFI books discussing films.The shop would throw surprises at us and we never tired of browsing through the various sections.The shop held the simple joy of surprise that a radio still keeps while bursting into a song out of the blue.

The book store , the old thatha, his stray wanderings into the thodi ragam,the rickety fan,the unsettling dust,the smell of old books mingling with that of the fresh gum from the new ones and the books of course- are all gone !!
And in its place stand a monstrosity of a clothes shop.

The dull afternoon remains.

Tonsils and a weird dream

2007-11-04T19:45:00.000-08:00

Green,and long - a mossy tunnel ??? No (turn)
POP !!! - a play gun ? No....!!! (toss)
Murder in the tunnel - No No Not !!! (turn)
dark and cool, bottle green - a forest ? Rama !!! (turn)
a neck , a bottle green neck - a bottle ,a green bottle !!! Yes (turn)
a freshly painted red fingernail making circles on its mouth (too much TV)(toss)
fizzzzzzzzzz - soda ? Yes a green Bottle- Soda Bottle(turn)
and a
round blue gOli nestling in its throat!!(toss)
a stray mosquito hums the morning ragam(toss- turn-stretch-yawn)
And i woke up feeling this odd pain in my neck , no throat
Tonsils the doctor confirms !!

My Prayer

2007-10-06T03:22:00.000-07:00

O Lord! Please strip me off all this cunning,
so i can stand before you with
childish innocence, naked and stunning.

Wrong Number!

2007-09-26T06:08:00.000-07:00

It must have been 2 p.m in the afternoon when Pandian received a call , nobody spoke for a second, although the line seemed clear.And suddenly, a deep female voice broke into a song.No lyrics or anything just an alapanai , no instruments, just the Alapanai.Before he could ask any further questions she said thank you and cut the call.On calling the number back he received no response.

Many miles away in Nagapattinam, Ilango bought his first cellphone and just after a small pujai was done for it , it rang and everybody ran to it and listened to a deep female voice announcing a splendid atAna ragam.It reminded him of the stage plays where his father played king.

Today iron shop Aruna told us that even they received a call and a voice sang to them.
To her it sounded like a song from old tamil film .
She could not make out if it was a female or male voice but it sounded so nice that they could not ut the phone down,she said.

But i do not know whether or not to believe her.You see, ever since the anonymous calls started making it to the headlines everybody
has an incident to quote.They say these calls just come and go , nobody reports of her speaking and they love her music and voice.i have often wondered about these calls.....
(PMPMPRMGS .......GM
PMPMPRMGS .......PNSR, NSRG,
MP MP MP MP RMGS......)
ah, let me just attend that call and get back to you.

Long shorts

2007-09-14T11:35:00.000-07:00

I am to join Sri Ramachandra Boys High School tomorrow.We are allowed to wear full pants only from next year , that too real Khakhi - 100 percent .

Amma and Appa do not understand me or love me, else why did they get my shorts stitched so long ?It falls below my knees .I told them to shorten it when we went to Raju Tailors but Amma ignored me saying it would come for 2 more years.Now I wear them so up... up till my neck almost and it is such a problem when PT sir says to inshirt my shirt.Why can't they just understand that it looks so .. awesome .... no no what was that .. aw .. aww .. aweful .. no no .AWkward yes .... AWKWARD....Aiyoooo ......

The Wall , Withnail and I (him)

2007-09-12T06:02:00.000-07:00

Our wall broke many months back, they came last week and had it up again.Everything everywhere happens slowly and so the house hall has been painted fresh and i have a fine cold .

We watched a movie - Withnail and i which was screened in a theatre nearby and recorded an amazing houseful.

The film was made in 1986 and is about two boys/men Withnail and him (I) who live on pills and odd leftovers from the road in a miserable flat constantly fearing a rat may jump out of their sink.Their joblessness makes them sloth around this ugly home they wish to run away from.They scoot to Withnail's luxuriously fat uncle Monty and drink expensive wine while pretending to listen to his reels of youth, sniffing him out to be gay.The boys get him to let out his country side house for them and hit the road for some "rejuvenation".Their stay in the farm is a laugh riot.The story is funny and dialogues are studded with lovely imagery ,wit and cynicism.

Scroll down for some excerpts :

Withnail: [having just drunk a bottle of lighter fluid] Got any more?
Peter Marwood: No. I have nothing.
Withnail: Liar. What's in your toolbox.
Peter Marwood: Nothing.
Withnail: Liar. You've got antifreeze.
Peter Marwood: You bloody fool. You should never mix your drinks

another one
Peter Marwood: What about whatshisname?
Withnail: What about him?
Peter Marwood: Why don't you give him a call?
Withnail: What for?
Peter Marwood: Ask him about his house.
Withnail: You want me to call whatshisname and ask him about his house?
Peter Marwood: Why not? Withnail: Alright. What's his number?
Peter Marwood: I've no idea. I've never met him.
Withnail: Well neither have I. What the fuck are you talking about?

Movies like these bring out the times so perfectly giving us more than just a peek.Some movies are so real, you feel like you have been caught in their lives and lived it like the movie has it.This one surely has to fall in that category.

i am terribly hungover with its feel.

The Israeli Pandit

2007-09-11T02:02:00.000-07:00

David Shulman's achievement here .

Some pictures from the Reading Pride Festival

2007-09-10T08:10:00.000-07:00

Won't you come and see me just this once ?

2007-08-30T07:41:00.000-07:00

Shobana, is possesed with the ghost of a former dancer and dances awkwardly while the psychatrist, her husband and the one whom she fancies to be her co-dancer watch on.

Keep watching to see some lovely steps by the duo later in the court/durbar .Shobana and her partner are so graceful.This is the dance sequence from the original of the film Chandramukhi (almost a silly parody)- "Manichitratazh".

The song itself is sung in Tamil while the film is in the Malayalam language to show the influence of the ghost on the Ganga(Shobana) who loses her identity to the ghost of the dancer .It is set to the Kunthalavarali raga in which there is also a very popular thillana by Sri Balamuralikrishna.

The video maybe viewed here.

Let us cover the world with our footprints.

2007-08-29T05:45:00.001-07:00

Is it true that, with every footstep we take we leave a piece of ourselves behind?
Then , quicken your steps ,kanna , we have a long way to walk... so we can leave behind a loving, caring earth for our children !!

Ah! somebody from the moon spites at our footprints calling them kidney beans. Well, let him know that his moon is all pock marked !!!

No smoking !!

2007-08-29T05:38:00.001-07:00

Our love is all the cigarettes in this world, don't let it go to smoke. ;p

Love (b)

2007-08-29T05:18:00.001-07:00

Our love, many years later, will be reborn as a flower.Watch out, that little boy is coming for our heads .

POp !!!pop !!!!

Let us grant him his wish :)

Love (a)

2007-08-29T05:14:00.000-07:00

Our love is a sanctum sanctorum . Please leave your dirty footwear outside !!

Bathful of Music

2007-08-28T09:19:00.000-07:00

Bath Spa , United Kingdom .

Roman Baths , Cathedrals, Jane Austen centre, 8 crescents are the feathers on the city's cap but i wanted to tell you about something else .....

Bath Spa has great taste in music,i was thrilled to see so many musicians on the streets playing happily,especially old numbers from rock and roll (70s)
One small band of 3 - all in their teens were playing with a cello(pizzicato) , guitar , some jalras and a blow keyboard .Another flutist offered to attempt some
Jethro Tull on my request.Near the abbey a Xylophone played so hauntingly and in the gardens by the Avon they had a "free" flowing wind band play
tunes like April in Paris ,While my guitar gently weeps et al.... oooooo wasn't it love-ly !!!
They were simply refreshing .

Definitely my favorite place.Would go there any day !!!!.

here is the original version of what the 3-teen band were playing on the streets :

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tHbPD_bXaOA&mode=related&search=

listen to this ...and tell me if the intial badabada or nanana part sounds familiar -
remember the tune and try to slow it down in your hum.... and tell me if it rings any bells...

Promises

2007-08-17T06:00:00.000-07:00

Some promises die with people,they are kept thus.

Your BC

2007-08-17T05:25:00.000-07:00

You have grown so much, so differently , but i shy away from saying it.
You handle things so efficiently, men, work, and more but you are still my little girl.
You brush through some books , call for the taxi ,adjust your hair ,
step tall on your stilletos, stack your certificates in a file .
You wear your make-up well ,but i can see through those patches that you are nervous about this interview.

Your birth certificate is as old as you - yellowed with time,
i run my hands on its many creases and folds.i pick it up
and a whiff of Napthalene hits me.
The stubborn dog ears just refuse to straighten up .

As i wave to you , i am somehow reminded of the "Picture of Dorian Gray".

She lived happily under there ever afterwards .

2007-08-06T08:45:00.000-07:00

She could paint, sing, dance, act and write and run.

But many years later as she sat at the table to convey her soul
her prose fell short of words ,
lyrics dangled loosely about her song,
language stifled her thoughts,
rhythm beat her thoughts off and
her ragas were punched with notes astray.

So she decided to dig a hole.
The deeper her thoughts traveled ,the more she dug.

She lived happily under there ever afterwards .

Grace is Black !

2007-07-27T02:17:00.001-07:00

Vividha

2007-07-25T09:19:00.001-07:00

Shivaji - The boss

2007-06-18T01:59:00.000-07:00

Post script first :

All this rant is not worth your while or mine .

But if you are willing to go ahead anyway, please do .......

After much hype and hoopla about Shivaji we set out from our town Reading, no not in Nagapattinam but in the UK to Feltham to watch it .It is my first ever Rajni movie and after a news-knows-how-many crores shell out i expected it to stimulate my senses /sensibilities a trifle bit .

Scene after scene the movie crushed my spirits ,stomped over my sensibilities and scratched my soul with its screechy nails.I have often been warned that logic doesn't figure in such movies and i put aside that bit of my brain, actually all of it in the closet before we set out . The movie has Rajni aka Shivaji - the idealist wanting to build colleges, schools, hospitals for the poor and needy.After many crushed attempts,the tired Rajni becomes Robinhood and changes black money to Ujala white.
All fine and eternal sunshine, until now.
Along with this main dish came french overfry jokes from Vivek and sloppy tomato sauce Shriya gyrating to cluttered music.
All this stampede my poor soul bore and bore .
I have been warned and i ask no more .

But my thumb (these days my soul resides here) felt sore when :
Rajni wants Tamizh Kalachara Pen so why let Shriya's small dresses scream with suffocation ? (logic please please stay away)
Shriya sheds her mel aadai and runs in front of a train to stop it from Rajni whose foot is stuck in the tracks.Eye candy with soda brandy !This is just what a Tamizh Pen should do .
Rajni comes up with "witty" dialogue about colour discrimination ?Aha you have made a point Mr.Rajni butwhat about scenes when you cringe on seeing two nubile girls who have been painted black ?
On being asked to sing, Kalachara Pen Shriya sings Theeradha Vilayattu pillai and Mr Smartass Vivek sneers at her ?
She dances a classical number and you demand a ghostly Raa Raa ?
You poo-poo away dwarves in a song sequence .So this is how equally you see your makkal ?

All this made me realise that 60 crores of reeking money cannot even by mistake produce anything sensible .But what totally threshed the poor thing was when i turned around to see lots of asians (many thanks to software) feeding their kids with such things .i wanted to leap across and shut every unblinking pair of small eyes that were gaping at this monstrosity.But i silently put my thumb(soul) in my mouth instead.

My soul and belief in humankind is lying low for a while .
For a long time now it will be music,nature, swans,
.................................................... sense ,quiet and frowns.

All this said i pause while entering the publish button . All this rant is not worth your while or mine .Why must i even bother ?i hope to sleep this night and wake up next morning and consider it all a nightmare .
i wore my logic back and she types in bold Verdana :
Let the world rest kid but not on your shoulders .

Chennai-Two faces of a expanding metropolis

2007-06-15T04:39:00.000-07:00

warts and beauty spots

Traffic Jam - Writer's block

2007-06-11T11:57:00.001-07:00

Goppa Deivama ?

2007-06-10T05:14:00.001-07:00

Some art moves you,some others affect you so deeply you stand still
and the world seems to stop for that moment .

Chinna NAde NA Cheyyi PattiTheevo emotes Tyagayya's tete-a-tete with Lord Rama
where he promises to hold his hand and lead him through.Tyagaraja asks Rama if he is now pondering about whether to hold his hand or let him go .

The lines "Goppa Deivama ? "seem to bring out such an emotion which will take a million colours to paint ,another few million words to describe . A feeling mixed with sarcasm,sorrow the lines emote so beautifully .

It is such a wonder that after so many many years an unrecorded tune should bring forth his deepest feelings, so well preserved .Such bold dialogues with what is Beyond,such intimacy finding that which is beyond within,such dejection, such a tune ,such words ,such truth ,such poetry,such so many things .....

It seems when art is produced with all truth it captures a thought so well and frees it from the cycle of time .Thus arresting it forever.

To be able to connect in some small way to such a soul , shakes me "still".

Here DK Jayaraman presents the song .

Here is a link to Shashank playing a sedate Chinnanadena.

p.s : sometimes links to Musicindiaonline do not function .Please use the search tool at those times.

Chak Chak Chak .....................

2007-06-08T15:05:00.000-07:00

The fan cut the air
in circles as they lay spent
Love is in the air.

A few pennies worth

2007-05-19T15:47:00.001-07:00

23C vs Vovlo (Office bus)

2007-05-19T13:10:00.000-07:00

Spicy Recipes , steamy gossip , hot politics ,stinging whistles,fiery arguments seemed to compete with the madras heat .As the din of daily exchange rose , she snuggled into a comfortable alapanai in Amruthavarshini and let it wash everything away and giggled as she imagined a "chiiiiiiiiiiiissssssssssssssssssssshhhhhh" sound.She was thankful there was no radio on the bus.

In a purrfect world

2007-05-18T02:31:00.000-07:00

.... thunder strikes when the cat is away .

Life ends , art lives on .

2007-05-17T04:35:00.000-07:00

The aim of every artist is to arrest motion, which is life, by artificial means and hold it fixed so that a hundred years later, when a stranger looks at it, it moves again since it is life. Since man is mortal, the only immortality possible for him is to leave something behind him that is immortal since it will always move. This is the artist’s way of scribbling ‘Kilroy was here’ on the wall of the final and irrevocable oblivion through which he must someday pass.—William Faulkner

Twilight zone

2007-05-13T14:02:00.000-07:00

May in UK

Night creeps in and floods me with a despair of having wasted the day.
At nine pm daylight lingers around and plays day for me to use well .

For me these zones spell Hope !

bits of blah

2007-05-13T13:43:00.000-07:00

After a cup of coffee, after a book ...............

"i am depressed , i want to read a lot and just die ."

"fair enough"

On Advertisements

2007-05-10T07:28:00.000-07:00

Please open your mouth wide , while i stuff this down your throat !!!

1 to 10

2007-05-06T13:37:00.000-07:00

First impressions,
secondary love,
third night,
fourth lover,
fifth condom,
sixth sense,
seventh fight,
Eight PM,
nine lies,
Ten is when she's gone.

venkat siddareddy

Aiming High - A Hero for Real

2007-05-02T10:34:00.000-07:00

http://www.1stindian7summits.com/

Kudos to Malli Mastan Babu !!

Just a thought

2007-05-02T08:27:00.000-07:00

I feel that great souls like Sri Vivekananda , Sri Aurobindo - people with a higher realm of thinking die but their greatness is distributed amongst many souls to be born .

One very nice observation that came across while watching Kathakali, is that the characters of noble bearing are painted green while the ones that are evil are tainted green with red streaks(depicting evil). Characters like Ravana in Ramayana are also developed with such an interesting combination of good , bad , beautiful and the ugly .Unlike many films which have only shades of Black and white for people's characters .

Ideally Nature tries to establish a balance between good and bad . For without bad around ,how will we know the good ?

So everybody has in their souls a dialogue between this distributed greatness and their own nature(own soul) .
It depends on this "own soul " to recognise and bring out such greatness or to totally extinguish it .
Reading , watching life ,experiencing pain , joys , thinking , being good ,music et al aid in cultivating such greatness.

From the Gitanjali

2007-02-07T02:15:00.000-08:00

I came out alone on my way to my tryst. But who is this that follows me in the silent dark?
I move aside to avoid his presence but I escape him not.
He makes the dust rise from the earth with his swagger; he adds his loud voice to every word that I utter.
He is my own little self, my lord, he knows no shame; but I am ashamed to come to thy door in his company.

Tagore

Hiroshima Mon amour

2007-01-25T21:56:00.000-08:00

Madness is like intelligence.You can't explain it.Just like intelligence.
It comes over you ,consumes you ..........and then you understand.

But when it's gone.You no longer understand it at all.

Hiroshima Mon amour (1959)
http://www.film.u-net.com/Movies/Reviews/Hiroshima_Amour.html

Madman dies - Anonymous

2007-01-25T21:43:00.000-08:00

The book was being made into a movie after 25 years .It was cult all the way . People loved it,reread it, thought it ,breathed it , killed after it , died for it .

Nobody ever took him seriously . Not his wife , nor his friends at the bar when he said that it was his child , that he wrote it .No honour would be paid , no newspaper would scream his name .Not even when he passed away, alone by the fountain,this May hugging the book close.... very close.

Have been here

2007-01-08T02:45:00.000-08:00

http://www.ecse.rpi.edu/Homepages/shivkuma/personal/music/index.html

To learn more and know more about Carnatic Music .

A perfect match.

2006-10-31T07:25:00.000-08:00

Once upon a time ,a boy sat by the river and cried "Nobody loves me".

Upon that same time in another world a girl screamed from the rooftops,"I am nobody".

They lived happily ever after.

How come ,now ?

2006-09-14T06:53:00.000-07:00

We met a naturalist in Kerala who told us that the worms (on the orange plant)would turn into a rare species of butterflies . He asked me to store it in a glass jar and watch them grow.

I hurried to my terrace this morning and did not find a single worm .

How come ,now?

Ramu : So tell us frankly ...

2006-08-27T09:34:00.000-07:00

(ramu continues)Yours is an arranged marriage a or ummm .... lovvvvaaa ?

Somu : Well, we arranged for it and our parents loved it .

Silly Superstitions

2006-08-18T23:07:00.000-07:00

Blink :A grey rat crossed my path .

Bat : Oh ! thats a good Omen . It warns you of a black cat that might have followed her .

Blink : ( smirk................sigh!)

Postman, please come and pick it up and put it in his pocket

2006-07-19T02:51:00.000-07:00

Dear Mr. Caterpillar,

Please leave my mandarin orange plants alone . I have been taking care of them for the past five years .It is a pain to see you and your family chewing away at the leaves every morning and evening .

Thankyou ,
yours sincerely
ranjani.

Mylapore meengal

2006-07-06T22:16:00.000-07:00

Watched fish fighting for pori urundai at the Mylapore tank .

Its a lovely sight and you can stand there and watch until the kombed watchman drives you away with his stick .

P.S : Please make sure you dispose of the plastic covers though .

Kanden

2006-06-30T08:57:00.000-07:00

sitting on the bus
i saw a salamander
kill in one second

Oru eee kaka illadha ooril , orunal .....

2006-06-15T03:13:00.000-07:00

The infinity of Grace - O V Vijayan

2006-06-07T23:50:00.000-07:00

To discover India , to respect her past , to know lives , to feel love,
to learn grace .....

... to better your understanding of life.

1+1 = 2 (from dustflies)

2006-06-02T21:04:00.000-07:00

The Progressive Classic

2006-05-22T22:13:00.000-07:00

The lovers sat on the deserted riverside,the full moon above them.
He held her close.Their lips met.

'Darling', she said ,'there is something on my mind'.
'Tell me precious',he said.
'Have you read Karl Marx's Das Kapital?'
'I haven't .I have been wanting to.'
He began undoing her blouse.

'Have patience',she said.'Let us read Kapital.I brought it along with me.'

He took his hand off her and said,'As you wish.'
They lit a lamp by the riverside and began reading.
'.................................................................................................................................................................
................................'

After many months,when they had finished the four volumes of Kapital,he resumed his petting.

'I love you',she said.
The moon shone over them.

*

Post script : Readers are requested to get hold of four volumes of Das Kapital and fill in the blanks.If they do so,this little story will become the lengthiest Socialist-realist novel in contemporary literature.

*

- O.V.Vijayan

HSH

2006-05-08T01:25:00.000-07:00

home sweet home

BCL - Madras

2006-04-22T20:30:00.000-07:00

They travelled a lot but they did not take any pictures . They did not take trains , they hated flights .They did not need a car or a bus .Ugh! no! they did not like the idea of being pulled through the streets by another man .

They walked to British council library on that wet day .

They returned books at the counter and stood transfixed looking at a collage of pictures .

Out of the drain hole , into time , sliding through a bangle , swirling in
a cup of coffee,onto the rings of smoke ,reaching upto the ceiling
fan,
jumped into bubble smiling as the sun hit their faces,splat on a coin
being tossed up and down,
napping in a flattened pondicherry lamp,
kicking pebbles rounded by the rivers ,rolling in laddoes covered wet with
greedy tongues,
each slid from either sides of her brow and splashed red
into her bindi ,juggled a bit with saturn and her moons ,
flew all over the park on a green frisbee with shakthiman stickers ,
they played white in the
seas churned by the grinder,
resonated a bit on the Oms in a yogaclass ,
up and down the pepsi crown they marched ,
crtl+C out of infinite loops and finally settled on the Os ,
an 'O' each on a plate that read Books -return/issue
and felt a fierce nudge asking them to move on .

Waiting

2006-04-12T23:20:00.000-07:00

Aesthetics

2006-04-08T22:37:00.000-07:00

Dandi and Kalidasa were contemporary poets in the court of Vikramaditya .

One day the king , sensing Dandi's jealousy towards Kalidasa called the two of them and asked them to verse a one liner of the words " There is a dry tree standing here "

Dandi jumped up to the challenge with a dry staccatto verse - "Shushkovrikshathistatyagre".

Dandi's jealousy died when Kalidasa aesthitically responded with "Neerasataruruhavilasithabimbe".

(excerpts from mami's music class)

Kalidasa

2006-04-08T22:29:00.000-07:00

Dustflies

2006-03-17T01:10:00.000-08:00

Dust is flying places !!!

aaaaaaaaaaaaaatccccchooooiloveittchoo

Sven and Swetan !

2006-03-09T19:35:00.000-08:00

Expect the unexpected

2006-03-09T19:08:00.000-08:00

Sowmya's catcheri at Ananthapadmanabhaswamy Temple began with the oft heard Vathapi Ganapathim Bhajeham , Varanasyam varapradam Sri,
Waaaahthapi !!! which had my heartbeat at a normal 75 per minute .
and then followed -bootaadi sam sEvita caraNam |
boota bowdika prapanca baraNam ||
and then marched veetaraagiNam vinata yOginam (shree) |
vishva kaaraNam vigna vaaraNam || and then the
praNava svaroopa vakratunDam |
nirandaram niDala candra kaNDam |
nija vaamakara vidrutEkshutanDam |
karaambuja paaSa beejaapooram |
kaloosha vidhooram bootaahaaram |
haraadi guruguha tOshita bimbam |
hamsadhwani booshita hErambam ||followed dutifully
and suddenly there was
| silence (for 1-8 ,3 beats ) GPNSR... hamsadwani booshitham herambam ...
... what surprise ....!!!!!and 73..74 … skip !

jaundice Joan

2006-03-08T23:13:00.000-08:00

Ravelstein - Saul Bellow

2006-03-08T20:15:00.000-08:00

A wonderful book .

Abe Ravelstein, a professor with an ardent student following, writes a book on his friend's (Chick) suggestion ,that turns him a millionaire.Abreast with the politics of the great world , supplemented with his own opinions and a penchant for fancy , he asks Chick to write his biography .

Their friendship :
"We were perfectly open with each other.You could speak your mind without offending.On either side there was nothing too personal ,too shameful to be said ,nothing too nasty or criminal.I did feel at times that he was sparing me his most severe judgements if I wasn't just then ready to stand up under them.I used to spare him, too.But it gave me tremendous relief to be as plain and clear with him as I would be about myself about weak or vicious things.In self-understanding he was well ahead of me.But every personal discussion turned fimally into good ,clean nihilistic fun ."

Every bit engaging through my rocky bus ride and every now hoping my father does not find out the sambar stain on page 31 .

Godmen and angels

2006-03-02T19:33:00.000-08:00

No man is God.
No woman is his angel.

Whatever

2006-02-18T09:11:00.000-08:00

What were you thinking when i mixed apple,cucumber,chilli flakes,sugar,nutmeg,cinnamon and pepper ?

Whatever ...

I wasn't .

DBY night they lived happily ever after

2006-02-10T03:19:00.000-08:00

That night while both tossed on their preferred sides of the bed with a book each and an ocassional kiss in between ,they grew smaller.......

At first the letters of the book they were immersed in seemed to grow larger .
Then they looked at each other .They looked normal !( equally small... that they did not know).....until he nudged her and pointed around to the mammoth alarm clock, the monstrous lamp shade they had bought from pondicherry,the huge bathroom slippers with their mouths open as if they would swallow.

She grabbed his hand and he held it tight .

They measured now a fontsize 10.
She looked a century Gothic with her dancer buttocks and he an ancient and impressive Bookman( oldstyle) with his glasses on .

They argued for a minute and then "phhhhhhhisssssssssssssssh" jumped into her book .

oka tamilammai telugu kavita.

2006-02-09T19:44:00.000-08:00

nee prayathnam naadhe koda
nee prayasam naadhe kooda
nee baadha naadhe kooda
nee lokam naadhee kooda
nee vijayam naadhe kooda

ranjani Sivakumar

Time had heavy lunch today

2006-02-03T01:42:00.000-08:00

Its only 3.07 pm ?!??!
Just a second before time was in rapid progress ??

Clear vegetable Soup

2006-02-03T01:40:00.000-08:00

I had clear vegetable soup with a mosquito in it .
I did not eat the mosquito .

A earful at the canteen

2006-02-01T00:29:00.000-08:00

girl1( with very interesting homemade lunch) : you know i got a proposal.. he is with WIPRO and is into mainframes .

girl2( boring tomato rice with oily appalam) : what's his name ?

girl1 : ummm......I do not know ......

I bathed my idlis in Sambar and dug my fork deep into its whites for it to seep in .

NS Mama

2006-01-25T08:00:00.000-08:00

Music composer passes away

Staff Reporter

HYDERABAD: Flute maestro and composer N.S. Srinivasan passed away after a brief illness here on Sunday. He was 75. With a long and illustrious service as producer of the Carnatic music section of All India Radio, Srinivasan was among noted disciples of flautist T.R. Mahalingam. He won several national awards. Srinivasan is survived by his wife Sarada, eminent drama artiste, and daughter Neerada, a Kuchipudi dancer.

http://www.hindu.com/2006/01/23/stories/2006012316550400.htm

Once upon a time in London ...

2006-01-05T21:33:00.000-08:00

three....two... one ....zero and he will be here !

Happy new year !

2006-01-02T03:02:00.000-08:00

Kulla Kamini and Thatha

2005-12-21T01:00:00.000-08:00

2005-12-21T00:57:00.000-08:00

Sketch

2005-12-20T05:03:00.000-08:00

Waits at MATC , spent thus .

Gallery

2005-12-20T04:59:00.000-08:00

Spot ten differences and win yourself a free trip to Timbaktoo !

2005-12-20T02:47:00.000-08:00

December dew on Mandarin oranges (terrace)

ganesha

2005-12-20T02:45:00.000-08:00

The whole picture

2005-12-20T02:40:00.000-08:00

Nail Polish on Exam pad .... Ranjani (seventh)

Oil Bath Sagodharargal

2005-12-19T21:06:00.000-08:00

Nalla Pullae

2005-12-19T20:59:00.002-08:00

Rock .. Paper .. scissors for the last one .

2005-12-19T20:55:00.000-08:00

Worries, whims and all!

2005-12-02T07:21:00.000-08:00

Worries, whims and all!
She leaned over the window of the bus.
After a while she was fast asleep
And turned the other side.

Whims, worries and all and a drop of sleep,
Rolled onto her neighbour's shoulder.
After nearly twenty minutes she woke up
And realised she had missed her stop.

Thank you .

2005-11-24T20:40:00.000-08:00

Nijanthan interviewed Anitha Rathnam . She spoke well and passionately about dance.

Watched "Malgudi Days" on Pogo .Loved everything about it , the actors , the story , the place , the feel, the way the camera moved around the story .

Sanjay Subramaniam at Vani Mahal today , life cannot get any better .

Shaw

2005-11-21T01:13:00.000-08:00

Eliza : “You see, really and truly, apart from the things anyone can pick up, the difference between a lady and a flower girl is not how she behaves, but how she’s treated.”

Bosnia - A K Ramanujam

2005-10-21T21:08:00.000-07:00

How can one write about Bosnia
Biafra, Bangladesh,just to take only the atrocities that begin with B

alphabetise cruleties,
eating persimmons and sleeping safe
in the arms of a lover,a wet moon

in the mullioned window?How file away
a young friend just dead of ovarian cancer;
a young breast cigarette-burned by a jealous

husband;where shall i put the old man who peers
through office windows looking for a yes
that'll negate all no's,or bosnia mothers

who lift their babies to strangers
squabbling for a foothold in lorries fleeing
to the borders where only death waits

gun and milk in hand,irony in his narrowed eyes
holding in one thought Bosnia,cancer,
persimmons,widows,serial kilers,

and you and me in our precarious safety?

:)

2005-10-10T10:07:00.000-07:00

Oh! she made you smile,
like you would when sunshine fell in your eyes .