Celine Dion - I am in love with you.

Please do not get me wrong. I am hopelessly in love with this woman, for changing my SS Music level of tastes to truly international, romantic beautiful stuff.

I wanted to sing this song, at work today. If I ever get to meet her, I will hold her hand and thank her for making music. So good music.

This song is perfect for this day. For many reasons. A new day, indeed.

Listen and enjoy :) Happy Weekend!

An Obsession for Torture

Hello Plate, please mind your own business! 

For a few days now, I have been noticing these traits in people around me. Every single person insists on being tortured to wits end. I am no freaking all time positive soul but this trait bothers me. It is all the more annoying when I notice women are hell bent on making life miserable for others. Yes, you heard it right. That streak of feminism in me is not going to thrive if I continue seeing this range of women.

One of my weekday things to do is to treat myself. These treats are my own way of saying” goodbye” to mid week worries and acting like a heroine from a chick lit movie. Yea, I actually choose a place I would really find good couches one time, good brownies the other time, awesome menu the next time etc.  Once in a while, it is not even a dessert but a spicy craving; but yea – I mentally call it a sweet thing to do.  Last Wednesday, I ordered a chocolate cinnamon roll when a twenty something (just like me ) crossed over to the yoghurt stall next door. Just as I was walking out with my roll, she loudly remarks “Ah! I can never eat a sweet chocolate thing after work! It is such a crime to feed to sugar, after hours of sitting in one place.  Yoghurt has so much goodness”.

May be it was just coincidental but she could clearly see I was around and from my disheveled looks; it is easy to guess where I am from. I find this appalling. I just gave her a dirty look, bit into my roll and walked off in a huff.

What is with women to act like roaming diet freaks, when their own hips are oversized! If you do not believe me and think I am over reacting, try ordering a Chocó lava cake for you with a group of girls. One is bound to either say something nasty, or refuse eating with a look of “how the hell can you do this” or give violent body moves to justify she has never liked chocolate.

One more absolutely disgusting incident is at the health/pharmacy stores like Health & Glow, Watsons etc. Every time I walk by a person who is promoting a product, I am slowly hushed with a madam, madam tone. Now, I respect women who manage to look dressed, stand all day to sell a box of deep sea pearl glitter. Almost always, she starts with the ooh’s and aah’s of her product and mid way, points to my face. Yes, I had acne and some scars remain. It is not exactly cancerous and does not cause earthquakes. So, I live with them.

For the first few times someone did this to me at Chennai, I politely walked away. My anger exploded so hard one day that I screamed at non-stop at a store for over 5 minutes. After that incident, I have refused to step into any of these god damn stores. I will buy my face wash at Food World!

Things like this happen at Singapore too. I simply ignore and give my dirty look. Oh, did I tell you about this one lady who was hell bent on making me buy her aloe vera- red chilli – sea salt scrub to scrub away my inches? Holy Crap!

We women love to torture our counterparts. This is just a simple incident but in reality – we are always measuring up a girl around us.  If I hold a degree in engineering, I will comment openly on why it is the best course to take to a girl who did commerce. I will do this, even if all my engineering knowledge is today wrapped in software coding. If I have a fabulous body or if I am working out now and then, I will make sure I comment on every single girl who does not bother to work out. If I have a boyfriend or getting hitched, I will make sure my single friend knows she is living a dead life. What you folks do not realize is that the rest already know how it is. Everyone has their own head to figure out things and will do it when they wish to.  Until then, you learn to keep your mouth shut and let them eat the cake.

I am very sorry to break your bubble, but men DO NOT do this business. They are too held up on their gaming/porn/movies world – which is by the way fabulous and easy to figure out.

Image Source: cupcakesandcashmere.com via Audrey on Pinterest

Unplugged or what?

Folks,

I am strongly considering changing the URL of this blog. Suddenly, after 3 years – I do not want to be unplugged :) 

Three reasons why:

1.     I cannot sing unplugged. I have never been able to understand the unplugged rounds in music shows.

2.     I am done with smiling for the question I get – What do you blog on? Or the classic – Oh, you think you are a celebrity where folks want to know your thoughts unplugged!

3.     I want to be called Arch !

I have been thinking of a change of my url to www.archwrites.blogspot.com. Now, if I do this – what are the disadvantages?

- Will google reader continue to redirect to the new URL?

- Is there a way I can leave a message for users to move to the new URL? I notice some search results for "archieunplugged" :(

Also, if you think all this is too risky, let me know. I will just drop the idea and learn some singing.

The S(w)treet Love Proposal and a Veg Puff

You know how it feels for him? Stop putting “scene” and say yes

One day, you will feel bad for this de, I am sure.

School day Valentine stories had these dialogues. If you are one of those P. S Senior or Chettinaad Vidyashram type elite class, run away. This post is not for you. I am jealous of you.

Makku Madhan has always liked Kicku Kamala. Sorry, loved. His report card had more red ink than print and her choice of earrings irked ayahs in school.  Maddy comes from a tamil movie second hero kind family background. Kicku loves anything free – even take extra copies of pamphlets. She is called Kicku because of her sheer oomphness. No kidding.

Evening after school classes were the biggest bane. It was made entertaining by veg puff breaks, romeo escapades of madhan and co etc. I was hungry, ravenous types and craved a puff. That day got me more than a puff. 

In school days, almost every single girl in the class had a follower. Some (like me) were totally out of league and hung around just for time pass. The guys were pretty kicked about it and the girls never took them too heavy. We had at least seven serious relationships in our 35 students strong class. One stayed up together for one whole year.

A group of us were walking ahead. I distinctly remember my rettai pinnal and blue dupatta. He walked past me and blocked Kamala’s way (truly mechanic hero style).One minute of looking straight, and then…

M : Kamala, I love you. Avallo dhan. Yes sollu. ( This is it. Tell me a yes)

K : Chi, po. I don’t love you. Enaku apadi feeling varala pa, naa enna panaradhu ( I don’t get those feelings pa, what can I do)

M: Love pannu de..en de torture panra? ( Love me, why do you torture me?)

Then goes on his knees.

K: Hey..idhu road..enna panra (this is a road…what are you doing)

M: sings in his newly found puberty voice….  

Oru punnagai poove

Siru pukkalin theeve….lowwee pannu..lowwee pannu

He extends a red velvet rose wrapped in plastic sheet and a 10 rupees 5 star. Limra fancy store, you know.

K: Aiyo…he he..giggles..he he..seri, okay.

Me and a bunch of other rettai pinnals : Heyy…ok sollitaaa.. (some 4 pairs of mutta kannu pop out)

They went to Cake Walk and had 7 rupees black forest cake. We tagged along and ate one veg puff each.I am not kidding. He really sang but this story is not fully true. It is modified to add some jazz. It was/is one of my unforgettable V-day memories.

If you don’t know this song, listen to the song here. Sing along with the lyrics here. At the cost of protecting myself, I did only two years in this school. It gave me the much needed localness to my otherwise elite education.

The kids in the image have nothing to do with this post.

Glossary for higher wisdom:

P. S Senior or Chettinaad Vidyashram  - the schools I was not sent to purely due to chennai’s geographic  set up. Most smart kids go there. The rest survive like me, elsewhere.

Mutta kannu – big round eyes ( like mine)

Putting scene is a commonly used slang referring to anyone who denies/accepts/talks/dresses/plays cricket/studies too much and too well . It was coined by makku madhan’s and likes.

Bombay Cafe Review - Bollywood Inspired Indian Place

The day you walk out of a MRT station, and just bump into a fun person to be with. And that fun, enthu cutlet agrees to come out for dinner. The day cannot be too wrong, can it ?

Before ideas fly by, I met Revathi at Little India last evening and we both were bored. She claimed to be hungry as well. I do not mind eating as long as there is boredom and company. Hunger is kind of not my consideration for good food.

We walked to Bombay Cafe. It is a very famous place, and not one you can miss; but I had never been there earlier. The place is bollywood inspired. It has posters, neon lighted posters and pink furniture. There, I said it. Yes, it is in pink. Go and see for yourself if you do not believe me.

The menu is very impressive. It has got pictures that will make you hungry and a wide range of stuff to order. We could not have tried all varieties. Here is their complete menu.

We ordered a Gobi Manchurian (dry) for starters. It was crispy yet soft on the interior, and very peppry spicy. One word - Must try!

 Like any self respecting Indian, I love Indian inspired chinese food. I heard Indian Wok above also serves tasty food. There is a good choice of sizzlers choices for maincourse. We ordered the Kebab Platter Sizzler.

The paneer is probably in house done, it was amazingly soft. Though they could have gone a little easy on those colours. No, I did not do bad contrast correction - it was that orange looking. The sizzler comes on a jeera rice bed, along with rotis. There was some more gobi, some vegetable kebab and a potato - besan based kebab ( for want of a better description).I took a snap with the rotis, but it looks all steamy with the sizzler smoke.

We had lemon based drinks - a soda and a shikanjvi ( a lemon drink with loads of chat masala and amchur). They had a impressive dessert menu, falooda et all. Next time :)

Over all, Bombay Cafe is a good place to go with a group, catch up with some tasty food. The place is smoky and noisy. Also, it is pink. So if these turn off your appetite, visit Indian Wok. Heard it is more of a fine dining place. The sizzler is a huge serving. So, do not get over ambitious and order way to much.

A meal for two, with drinks costs 40- 45 dollars.

Also, if you are in SG and looking for good Indian valentine's day meals - check this dinner at Annalakshmi.

A huge thanks to Revathi for mast company, and to Chandru for promptly sending the Annalakshmi picture!

Mermaids on Earth

Old Post Alert : I wrote this when I was in school. I was taking some classes for kids in my apartment and had to tell stories. This particular story influenced me greatly. I had no idea, why I pulled it off this blog. Reposting it again, just for records.

Have you seen a mermaid, walk across and stand up with a smile?

This short story is inspired from Chicken Soup For the Women's Soul. I read the story about a week back, along with 25 other stories. After about 7 days which included 3 days of hectic travel - this is the only story that makes its rounds over and over again. I thought of it almost every night before I went to sleep. I have not read the story later on. So what follows, is a recollection of memory, and it certinaly would not be verbatim.The story goes like this. A group of children were playing in a church. The teacher, exhausted and tired wanted a simple game for the kids - Simple enough to be played without much instructions but enjoyable enough to keep kids occupied. She announced the group to stand in two lines - one line for angels and another for elves. The group was then asked to run around in circles, along with their line members. And the game went on. The teacher satisfied with her idea, sat back to relax and watch the kids play when one young girl tugged to her gown. She asked - "Where should the mermaids stand?". That question made all the difference.

In life, when we really have to do something different and come out of the ordinary - we all have to become a mermaid. It is everyone to be a angel or a elf, but only few who get to be a mermaid. It takes a lot to stand up, and say "I am a mermaid and I dare to be different"

There have been innumerable instances in my life, when I have done that. Sometimes, people find me crazy or weird. Other times, they find me pompous or secretive. There have been times when I have simply refused to go with the crowd and followed my inner call, or times when I have vehemently opposed the ways of angels and elves.

Lets go ahead and stand to be different. It is time we took the road less travelled - and became mermaids!

Inspiration on Pinterest

Inspiration comes from anywhere - someone who was probably very creative, smart and a genius

For usual souls like me, it comes from Pinterest. It is not a new martini drink ; nor a dating site. No, it is not a dart board game.

It is a virtual pin board, of all things you want to share, store and keep for future use. Someone has already explained all about it; so hop here to read about it. I have a very average arranged set up there and working to make it better ; but yes, I do have a space and I am kind of happy (proud) of it. If you want to be a part of Pinterest, and need an invite - drop a line and I will mail it across to you. I want to share pictures on this blog ; and not mine. So, off to some favourite, inspiring, funny pictures from Pinterest. Happy viewing ! And if you are there, follow me.

Who can not love C&H ?

Source: twistermc.com via Archana on Pinterest

Yes! I felt like saying hi-five when I read this first!

Source: strengthissexy.tumblr.com via Archana on Pinterest

Would it even matter, what is served on this plate ?

Source: google.com via Archana on Pinterest

I promise, to never leave the porch

Source: sunsurfer.tumblr.com via Archana on Pinterest