The Eleven Questions Tag - Part Two

With the first one done, the second cannot stay too far! This set seems like a really tough question paper.  I am glad you are not a teacher, Keirthana.

Have you always had to struggle for most things you wished for in your life or was it a cake walk till now?
I should thank my stars, my parents and a whole lot of others - but really, I did not have to struggle much. Hard work, yes.

What are the kiddish qualities in you that you still nurture?
A whole lot of them. I do not call them kiddish though. Most of all, I am happy I can still be amazed and elated with small joys. 

Which was the first incident that made you understand the true value/meaning of love?
Hmm..when I saw Hum Aapke Hain Kaun and realised I simply had to love Salman Khan. He was my first crush. There are some reasons why we decided it wont work out :)

If you had one single wish (with which you cannot wish 3 more wishes), what would  you wish for?

To go on a all-paid trip making a show for TLC like Samantha Brown. I know, I should wish for forever happiness but hey, dolphins and air tickets make me happy. So ya, it is all the same.

When it comes to relationships, would you like the other person to be the dependent one or independent one?

To be interdependent on each other yet retain individuality and separate wardrobes. ( I would have asked for separate beds, but ya..!)

Ice-cream or Chocolate?

Chocolate. Anytime. Preferably dark.

Will you change for your loved ones or will you want them to accept you as you are?

Ahem..both ways. With certain folks, I am glad to take advantage and make them accept me in spite of my ridiculousness.

Have you ever done anything that is so not you? If yes, what did you do?

Yes. I patted a really cute dog. Just once. 

Logic or Magic?

Logic. With the exception of Harry Potter.

What talent you do not have but you wish you had?

Singing. I really, really want to be an excellent bathroom singer. One who extends it to the living room at times.

Theist, Agnoistic or Atheist?

A childhood theist turned rebellious teen atheist, now a calmer agnostic.

There are 22 questions for you to pick up. Do not be shy, choose your pick and do the tag!

The Eleven Questions Tag - Part One

Ahem..I just wanted to have a title like that with parts. 

Both Uma and Keirthana have tagged me for the 11 questions tag. So, I am going to sit and post answers to 22 questions in two parts. The idea of writing all 22 together makes me want to get back to my excel sheet. Also, I am very sympathetic towards you. These are Uma's 11 questions.

All these questions will be treated as 2 mark questions only, though some may make me write a little longer. I loved 5 mark and 10 mark questions in school because it allowed me to write. Ya, I was like that. It is only when it comes to this blog, my lazy aunt stepped inside.

Now, if you have better things to do on a tuesday afternoon ( sincerely hope you do), please pass this post. And allow me to kill you in your dreams.

Which was the recent book you read and what was your take on it?

I wish I had a super intelligent book to quote, but the last read was "Losing my Virginity and other Dumb Ideas" and I found it a very predictable, regular time killer. I bought this book and many more from Bhargavi and made mom carry it all here.

Karna or Bhishma?

Karna - for his fight upwards, the indomitable spirit, the steadfast honesty. Bhishma is one of my least liked characters in the Mahabaratha. 

Most memorable trip so far? Any anecdotes to share?

Has to be the June'09 visit to Munnar where we celebrated the brother's birthday midst of tea gardens and jaw-dropping backdrop.

Mountains or the Sea?

Ahem..Sea.I am the beach girl. No, I love high altitudes. I really cannot decide. Looking at these pictures did not help at all.

Dream/Ambition to accomplish?

To do something more productive with my interest in food than making dinner and lunch for just me.

What makes a good writer/blogger? Am I One?

The knack to weave the right words to capture attention and the ability to convey emotions in the right amounts makes a good writer, apart from a dozen other things. I am not yet one. 

Favourite Outfit?

On me - jean, with anything on it. I also love sarees.

On a guy - any white shirt with a blue jean. Two extra points if it is a white kurta.

Sachin or Dravid?

Dravid. I do not have too many reasons but always found him a very intriguing, intelligent player.

If you had the power to change one thing about yourself or your life so far, what would it be?

I would have ditched some people way earlier than I finally did or they did. Also, would really like to be two more inches taller. That's all.

Are you in touch with your best friend from school days?

Ahem, I never had a best friend in school. 

Our family friend's daughter was Swathi. School days remind me of her and she is married, mommy and all, we can still and talk like 10 year old's.

Favourite subject in school/college?

School, it was english. College, I enjoyed papers related to economics.

Done. Boo Hoo, I saved myself from the sword!

Thursday Thirteen - India Trip To-Do list

I am going home. After 8 months. It does not count that my folks visited me over x'mas. They really did not bring the Marina beach with them, you know.

I am sitting at the terminal waiting for the gates to open ( I am so boring, I come early to airports) as I ramble this list off my phone, from my heart.

This list is certainly subject to a lot of change; and don't kill me if I don't end up doing one of these. Me and my disclaimers! Here you go :)

1. Visit a sunrise at a beach. I am positive I won't travel to marina for this; but so have to try and go to Bessy,at least. Done. Went crazy with clicking.

2. Buy some sarees. I am not a huge fan of it, but of late started to have a huge crush. I am going to fulfil my family's dreams by buying all I can before this crush wilts away too. Done. Got a beige on pink tassar silk for Vishu.

3. My bestest friend has a baby girl. I last met the baby as a just born and chickened out to touch her. So so excited to hold her. Done.She was happy with me. Did not cry.

4. Get my brother to start a blog/web page. He does not need a push, but a kick to get things done. WIP. He is a lazy ass.

5. Have a cooking date with Chitramma. I am so excited about this! Done. We chatted for long and ate Mango Rasmalai.

6. Street shop at Pondy Bazaar and buy some really cheap earrings. Done.I bought stuff for 400 rupess off platforms. Might proud of it.

7.Meet folks/friends I have not met in previous trips. I am pathetic in the keeping in touch business. Mid way. I still had three dinners to go.

8. Check the guava trees I planted years back. Yes. Yes. They are so beautiful now.

9. Bully the brother to create a header for my blog. It's not without a reason he works in design. WIP. Anything with the brother will be.

10. Get a good hair massage and a facial done. Big time wish. Done. Amma did both. Her wondrous hands.

11. Steal the brother's Nikon and go mad experimenting with my unbaked photography knowledge. Done. I clicked even the Hindu newspaper in various angles.

12. Try really hard to make a trip to sowcarpet. Absolutely no time. Next time wish!

13. Go on my Scotty over Anna Flyover! Was not allowed to touch my scooty. WTH!

Did I tell you I am going to a wedding at Varkala? Kerala is my most favourite place to go after chennai. Everything about that place makes me want to buy a small piece of land there and eat a mini sadhya meal everyday. I am sneaking in a trip for templing around trichy. All this and more in a work/vacation trip.

Typing from an airplane is more awesome than I thought it would be! Here it goes online; from the air!

Update: I am home, waiting for lunch to reach my plate. I am super overwhelmed to see comments waiting for me! This is a surprise trip and when I told mom I blogged about it; she has started to subscribe to my blog! Yay!

Here comes an Award!

Start the Music! Here comes an award. Now, just imagine one demented mind screaming up and down in joy. P.Subbu aka Prerna ( whoa, what a name - do you sing?) tagged and awarded me a month back, here I come with it!

Me, the versatile blogger - Did you like my boring stories on Facebook, or may be the one I babbled on turning 25 or was it one of those unplanned restauranttalks?

Whatever, my dearo – I am glad, you chose to give me this.

This award comes with a tag to write seven random facts.As if the name of this blog is not random enough. Dont blame me if you find this super boring. Subbu asked for it and you have come this far. So, please read on.

• I like reading instructions and details behind packets.It is one of my favourite pass times to walk into a grocery store and read through  packets of pasta, noodles, sauce and even detergents. I do this with no intention of buying any of those. 
• I have a sibling, whom I adore. Hold your breath, we have never had a single fight till now. No hitting, screaming or whatsoever. The maximum both of us have done is gone to sleep face down for two hours and woke up to amma’s scolding. 
• Someone groped me in a bus, and I dragged him to a police station. I was 19.
• I form judgements on people who fail to understand differences between a person's profession and his personal life. 
• I have worked on and created two proper, workable, investor wallet filling business plans with women enterprises. Empowerment of women through entrepreneurship is one of my interest areas, that I really wish to revisit. 
•  I have returned back a love letter because of a spell error. I have also refused to accept it when he came back with the second draft. 
• My only problem in English language is usage of articles. I have a terrible habit of mixing “a and “an” with the wrong words and am trying very hard to get over it. If you find a mistake, be polite and leave a comment on it. I promise to be thankful to you and send that magic candy through dreams. 

What is love, awards, tags and chocolates if not shared? So yes, here it goes – from me to you!

Versatility, here it goes. To the tagged ones here, you can choose to display the award and write random facts about yourself. If you have already written earlier, link back to it and leave a post.If you choose to ignore this award, it will not cause you seven years of bad luck or leave you with blood puking cancer. It is perfectly okay, if you do not want to pick this up. But do it, okay?

·    Archana– my name sake, the pretty one and mother of a Krishna baby. She writes on work , opines on fair and lovely and talks about cricket.All in one blog. And, she has another cooking blog too.

·    Anu –My first reader. Isha Follower. Happy, joyous soul. She has the knack to announce about whatsapp and facebookon a post and not make it blight.  Herpet peeves are to write about pets andsuper cool food ideas, like milk oil .Readher to admire the way she lives.

·    Sumitra– Just like how she has, I started reading her recently too. Else, I so could have tricked random.org, showed booo to Spiff and won the giveaway. You had me when you put up Joey on the about page. You moo, bark or yawn, I am all yours.She writes beautifully on marriages, has a funny bone on how hard it was growing up with a set of parents like yours (okay, not exactly but you get the idea), and in between sneaks a chocolate cake. Killer, I tell you. An Isha follower too!

·    MyEra – The kind of people you wish you could directly meet via the blog. Her stories have been so inspirational and truly moving. Read her posts on celebrating the human, her letters to daughter and as though all this moving talk is not enough, she writes recipes too!

·     Prashanth– Don’t you like it when men write honest posts about women issues? He writes on serious issues PMS,abortions with an adorable understanding, and makes one smile with a happy poem!

P.S: I know you did not ask me, but that header was flicked from Shabby Blogs. I will write a proper credit note for them soon. Till then, pardon the kid for some copyright issue.     

South Asian Reading Challenge 2012 and Good Reads

This blog does no justice to any of those wonderful people out there hosting events, conducting challenges in blog sphere. This, if I complete successfully will be go down as the first ever challenge or even a bet that I have won over myself.

Of all the comforts at Singapore, the one I have abused the most is the library system. Coming from a place I am so used to lines, waiting, nightmares in libraries - the system to get a card is a breeze. And, and whole choice we have here is mind boggling to say the least. I realized the idea of walking into a library without knowing what book to take, or at least what genre is pulling me back to boring business likes or really well known slight chick-lits. Honestly, I was getting too bored of my laziness.

I chanced on GoodReads and life got slightly better. With an updated set of shelves, I know what to pick up when I walk into the library next. The last three month saw some real amount of 'good reads' cracking at at least one book a week. The trend in my choices was either picking up books on India or by Indian authors, even to the extent of reading Lonely Planet guides.

2012 has to be a year of better reading habits, so my random browsing for more Indian authors led me to S. Krishna's page. She has been hosting a lovely event for South Asian authors and has a ready to pick up list on her page.

I challenge to read 20 books for this challenge by the year 2012. If you think I am crazy, please go and check my GoodReads shelf. Yes, that is exactly how I came up with the trend :)

Now, before I get all started - a few pointers on it.

• I do not plan to review any book except if it is absolutely remarkable in my mind. Truly, I should not get into the reviewing business of books at all . My language flow goes for a toss and I end up using too many superlatives.
• Most, if not all of my books will be from NLB. So, I do have a restrain if I do not manage to get enough books here.
• For the interest of it, I plan to include some cooking and travel memoirs into it

I am also taking up the Good Reads challenge for 2012 ( please pretend that you have noticed the shiny new widget )

To a much well read 2012, here I come :)

The Mosaic Tag

When you are terribly stuck at work with no mood to finish anything, and all the priorities madeare totally screwed up, I try and pick up some tag and do justice to this blog.

The last week has been crazy. Juggling between deadlines, that never seem to meet. Friday comes, and I have happily scheduled my next week as I type this out.

The Mosaic Tag is very famous in flickr. And though I dont click, nor have a flickr account, I do gawk at photos. Infact, I have a brave thing for gawking at anything/anyone. Not any more on that.

The rules are pretty simple:

• Type your answer on Flickr search
• Pick an image, from the first page
• Form a mosaic with the images.

I have slightly tweaked the questions, here it goes

1. What is your alter name? Archie
2. What is your favourite food? Brinjal curries and Curd Rice
3. What high school did you go to ? Adarsh Vidyalaya
4. What is your favourite colour ? Blue. But, Black in Clothes.
5. Who is your celebrity crush? Certainly Prithviraj.
6. What is your favourite drink? Masala Tea
7. What is your dream vacation? Santorini, Greece
8. What is the most beautiful place you have lived? Nanyang Valley Apartments @ NTU.
9. What do you love most in life? Books
10. Favorite Dessert? Chocolate Trifles
11. What do you want to be when you grow up? A writer in any form
12. One word to describe you ? Cranky

and here is the picture :)

This post took so much time to go up because I kept changing the pictures. I chose the pig for Archie because the rest were all images of people, and prithviraj is so cute as a caricature. A little dorky, but I dont care!

It is surprising that my answer for what I love most, came as books on my mind. I have always loved reading, but never owned too many books after school. And now, NLB is there and I still do not own too much. I should start buying good ones, but yea...sometime.

Photo Credits from Flickr

1. Archie, 2. Brinjal vegetable, 3. Maharashtra Cadet Corps, 4. Blue, 5. Prithviraj , 6. Masala Tea @ Delhi Railway Station, 7. Santorini, 8. nanyang_valley_3, 9. Read Across America Day, 10. chocolate trifle, 11. Writer's Weapon, 12. PuzzLe !!!

On how Facebook is a Pain- Thursday Thirteen #4

13 ways how Facebook has made life tougher - Thursday Thirteen #4

1.It keeps changing. This is a big rant, especially for someone who is technically challenged. There is a new way the photos show. The next day, there is timeline. It is way too clumsy.

2.You are forced to see ‘report cards’, ‘friendship tree’ and such random places tagging you. I was hanging in the highest branch of a tree near a banana.

3.The pictures we see on a mother protecting her baby in Japan Earthquake, a dying child buried alive in Uganda – all in 920P. I fail to understand how I can help by clicking a ‘Like’ or Sharing it!

4.The coverage of micro details in status messages truly pisses me off. I do not have to know which NH you took to reach the lake you are holidaying now in your new icy-blue capris with your munchkin husband. Argh is an understatement.

5.There is ZERO originality in status messages, if it does not fall in the above category. It is ripped off from just about anywhere, and that is only fine if one person on your feed has it. I cannot bring it to see twenty stories on one quote talking about how happiness resides in some unknown place, etc. Or, like this one - “Woman reaches love through friendship; man reaches friendship through love"

6.The applications – did I already speak about it? Ah, worth it again , the ones with ‘Get your finger print’, ‘write your names in letters’ (!) , or the X-Men characters, whatever!

7.All aunts, uncles are there. I do not have too many issues with my elders and love some of their wit on Facebook, but most of the time, they use it for matrimony and its allied purposes. OMG! (runs away)

8.There are some people who were friends, and are not now. And then there are some who are friends but not really close. You really do not know who should be in which group. The task of putting 526 people in groups is tougher than going off Facebook ( if I could)

9.There are weightloss ads on the sidebar. I get depressed when I see them.

10.I watched Disney Series when I was 9. When I saw a page for Minnie Mouse, I liked it. Now, I see posts daily on the new construction material Mickey has bought to upgrade its (or his) house.

11.We can have 31 mutual friends. Still, I wont accept you on my list if I do not know you. It is a stalker’s haven. Yuck!

12.The torture of the DSLR maniacs flooding my pages with pictures of trees, cars and shoes. Painful.

13.It is making people turn narcissist. I am particularly scared of this one.I am not kidding at all. Do watch this video to know more about it.

I know of at least 5 reasons on my mind on why one cannot quit facebook. One is certainly on how photo sharing has been made so much easier! Google+ is better, though :). I am too bitchy, love the idea of people ( even if i dont talk to any of them) to quit it. That's it! Pardon me for the lack of better ideas for T13. Promise to make it more lively in the next. Mean while, if by random chance any of you decide to quit Facebook, lemme know. Will send you some ballons!

P.S : Post updated to add video link.

Problems of This Day - Thursday Thirteen #3

13 problems of this day, this age( in no order)

I am on an amazing day off and been watching season after season of FRIENDS. The kind of problems we have today is an idea that stayed on my head. I intend to make it partly funny - lemme try. Humour has never been me.

1. I will show love for my community by purchasing an over-priced shampoo that apparently has community trade olives from Siberia.

2.I have three hearing devices. One headphones for my laptop. One handsfree. One more while I travel to work. And some songs are nice only in one of them. What a headache!

3.Putting pictures on Facebook means I cant wear the same kurta twice for a trip.

4. I am in search of a hairdresser who understands when I say 'do something with it, you must know, right?'.

5. I have over 50 different outfits but have no clue what to wear because its too cold for a kurta and too warm to carry a jacket.

6.I wanted a McDonalds Oreo Milkshake. The machine is broken. I just tweeted about it.

7. There is way too much low-cal feta cheese in my salad.

8. My pillows are too soft, that I wake up with a neck ache.

9. I have too much ketchup packets left after the million takeaways.

10. My neighbour's eight year old son called me and asked how 3G works.

11. I am too worried if the picture of my to-be groom is true or photoshopped.

12. I want to buy a DSLR. But hate to be one more of those who torture us, or be a feed for sarcastic bloggers.

13. I have been planning to go running. The gear, headphones, meter, shorts are all too expensive. Every month.

Whattay fun post to write! Loads of inspiration on this topic in web - looks like everyone seems to have problems with this world, anyways. Might as well get back to watching FRIENDS.

'I' does not necessarily mean yours truly :)Yea, I do love the community trade olive shampoo of mine.

Namma Chennai Rocks - Thursday Thirteen # 2

13 reasons why Madras aka Chennai rocks!

Having lived all my life ( barring the pre-KG years ) in Chennai, it is no surprise I am in love with it. I have travelled and lived for short durations in other main metros, but somehow the quintessential charm of the city fails to be replicated.

I rarely hate cities. I loved the bustling Hyderabad, the antique vintage charms of Calcutta and the smart chic Delhi I met. Trichy, Coimbotre are simply the most heart warming places for me to visit. The former because of my childhood love, and the later because of Isha, friends and simplicity. Ah, and the food in both places :)

Now on Chennai - the autos, the maniac driving and sticky sweat included(absolutely in my own perspective, I will try not to repeat food often)

1. The People and Jobs. We are a very cultural,educated lot. I say that, with a certain sense of pride. From the auto annae, the keerai kaari and the cobbler - everyone has an opinion on politics. People may not be the best to you, but we love our place. I have hardly heard of people from chennai migrating for jobs, except for a promotion or if they work with Google :) There are so many jobs available. Especially, on an entry level.

2. Beaches. I am a sucker at beaches. I love the winds, the sand and the messiness. Irrespective of whatever happens ( rains, sun or tsunami ), I love the beach. Had I been raised in Trichy or even Singapore, I would have missed this. No, Singapore does not have chennai or even remotely close beaches. Marina is now photogenic after the makeover. Elliots has long been my favourite kadalai beach for knowing the hep and cool chennai. We have one more beach, the Thiruvanmiyur one for amateur '8' design car rounds. Beat that, 3 beaches!

3. Food. Name it, we have it. I am not elaborating more on this. Tried the woodfired pizzas at Blur, or the Paneer Kheema dosais ? Yumville! Like every other Indian city, the street food in Chennai is brilliant. Thanks to migratory folks, we have bajjis, sundal and chaat sitting on the same counter. The under-rated son-papris and the over-rated milagai bajjis, we have it all.

4. Tanglish The most elite convent educated girls speak it here. We love our tamil. We love english. So we kalakify it and serve it with a smile. It works like a charm if you want to do shopping in chennai.

5. Pondy Bazar. A reason for anyone to visit my city atleast once. It should be a part of the tourism programmes there. The sheer colours and variety will bowl you over. To me, reminds of college time kurta walks and earring bargains.

6. Sowcarpet. If you have been raised in chennai and never gone shopping ( alone!) to Sowcarpet, you have missed it. The murukku sandwiches, the golas, designer sarees and awesome jewellery. Its our own mini version of Paris for fashion and Italy for food. And its an inspiring place for any juvenile entrepreneur (like me!)

7. Hop-On - Hop-Off buses. I am not sure if any other Indian city has this service. But chennai's AC Hop-On Hop-Off bus services are by far the best ways to go on ECR, if you do not have a car. Great views, and an excellent suspension on these buses.

8.Music Season . I am internally weeping at missing this. The smells, sights, colours and the sheer love for art my city has. The silk cotton crowds, beaded jewellery and south indain chic. The steaming coffees, kasi halwas and vazhaipoo vadais - A feast to all six senses. A place for celebrity spotting - do not be surprised if you find an yesteryear heroine (or a still-young Shobana) sitting next to you :)

9. Satyam Cinemas. Name me a place that offers an equivalent movie experience, steaming dosas on a bar stool and an unparalleled, creamy cold coffee. Simply the best place to watch movies. Even better than IMAX, trust me.

10. The Scene Colleges Stella, Ethi and MOP. Yeah, we are that awesome that we ought to be on this list. The tip of tongue tamil, the kurta-jean costume and the scooty whizzing around Nungambakkam. A treat. MOP is the best, though :P

11. Mount Road. We have one major road that connects you from one end to another - quite literally. Like the PIE here. And if you miss a right,you dont have to go all the way to another corner to get back, like in Banglore.

12. Traditional'a Moderna ? Have a vazhai elai sapadu and shop for ESPRIT clothes. Smoke on a hookah and head off to AF for a play. Nibble on a frankie and shop at Sundari Silks. Chennai is somewhere in between. It does not have the ultra cool post 11PM places to hang out and has a sense of laid back attitude in almost everything, but it suits fine for us. It is safe, spread out well, relatively organised (area wise) and has a blend of tanjavur to mexican food :)

13. We do know Hindi Chennai has got mostly a settled down crowd. The natives do not know hindi. We never had a need to know, because our marwari seths speak tamil. When someone says, abbey yaar, autowalahs do not speak hindi, I am fumed. Why would they expect a native nagapatinam born, educated chennai living autoguy to speak hindi? Walk into Tidel or Ascendas. I bet, 1/5 are from the aloo land.

This post has re-kindled so many happy memories. There is one more point, a very personal one that did not make it to the list. Chennai is the closest city to reach from Singapore. Takes me only 3.5 hours :) and we have budget flights that take for less than 100 dollars. Beat that!

Okay, I am in glee. This post was published on the most amazing fan page "I love Chennai "on Facebook. It is right here and no wonder, I am jumping up and down because of it :)

16 year old Talks - Thursday Thirteen #1

I am sick of my lethargy in posting here. If I hate anything about myself at the moment, this is it - the inability to write regularly. So, I spent half of a monday :P morning browsing through ideas to keep my blog going. One of my favourite is tags. In case you still do not know what tags are, just go away to this post by Nags.

So yeah,be all ready to find me tagging myself. I am that shameless to keep this blog going :)

Another major idea ( yea, thts how I call anything I think of ) was to do regular lists like some kind of a series. I know it is not exactly saving the world, but it gives some kind of a pattern to posts (whatever!). One of it is Thursday Thirteen.

So what I will do is to post a list of 13 things every Thursday. And on what I will post will depend on my silly head. This week, I planned to post the top 13 foods I have cooked. But I wanted to add photos. And I wanted to link it to the recipe, if online. And I wanted to do this, that. So it is not happening for this week. It would be a nice separate post, than this list.

So here it is, all grand music and wild entry - My Thursday Thirteen #1

13 things I should tell to the 16 year old me : (or to any 16 year old)

1. Be proud of your choice to take commerce. You did the right thing.

2. Do not stop that meditation you do now. You will learn about Isha and get involved in it, later.

3. Get used to wearing sleeveless.

4. Learn about what 'taking backup' is. Do not lose any photos.

5. Start liking 2 minute maggi noodles. Its now or never. The 24 year old me still does not.

6. Join a dance class. You will regret you did not do it, later.

7. Continue with the diary. Do it in pencil, so that you can erase stuff.

8. Her hate for you is plain jealousy. It will come back as FB request years later.

9. Start washing your tiffin boxes. It is seriously sick to start doing it at 24.

10. The annual holidays you get now, is practically unheard of for the rest of your life. Sleep well. Please.

11. Learn to manage a dupatta, properly. The girl way.

12. Stop answering back amma for everything. Years later, you will sit miles away missing her.

13. DO NOT bother about your 10th marks. The world does not care anyway.

Lapse of the 30-day challenge, and hello, home post.

The 30 day challenge is getting royally screwed up with such changes in life. I started the thirty day story on a frustrated, 'i-am-feeling-lonely' afternoon after a messed up lunch. Whoever would have thought that in 15 days, things would radically change and I would be typing across sitting in my swing :) Oh, I love this swing - will take a picture of it.

There are very few things I do not love about my home. Everything else,from my small room to the guava tree with a 100 fruits, I love it all. We live in an apartment where I have birds to wake me up to. No big royal kerala palace house, or even a city place I live in. But a real simple place to sleep and eat. As a matter, that is the only thing I do here.

In a matter of two weeks, things moved so fast - an interview, an offer, papers, tests and last minute tickets. Absolute no time for shopping, and certainly none for treatment. Sitting with a cold in India is like traveling all the way to Disneyland and then getting a leg sprain! After a bout of antibiotics, the cold refuses to leave. The fever is just bidding a bye.

Honestly, with such pampering and hour-to-hour meals, except if one had return tickets, none would leave. I will have to, coming weekend :(

Day Three - The American/Indian Dream!

Day Three is an absolute blah day. I am lethargic and tired, and too mentally unstable to write on amazing videos, but simply cant miss this one.

The video on how India is exciting, and how opportunities and jobs are burgeoning in India is so wonderful to wake up to. I so really do not want to make this a serious post, and here are some absolute tit-for-tat things we can do for this situation! Some of these are inspired from a FB post. Check the video out - " Top American Graduates heading to India for Employment "

- Serve upmas only for breakfast. I am aghast at the idea of waking up to orange juice, so yes folks - time for some kaafeee.

- Teach Indian History in international schools. I can already hear the kids talk on Jalianwalla bagh, in that firangi accent.

- Have at least five different visas. Make people wait for it and issue only limited numbers.

- Create problems for people who want to bring spouses. Tell them to show the wedding photo, the ring, the gown, have testaments from three non-related guests and also submit copies of certificates.

- India can have PR Ration Cards. This is a real WOW. I mean, how awesome it would be to have two people fight for a pink cover, or a yellow cover.

- Say it is ZED. And not ZEE

- Have talk shows on the great American Brain Drain!

This post could be slightly over the board, but honestly I am personally feeling elated at this turn around of situations. As Narayana Murthy aptly points out in the video - people will flock and congregate wherever there are economic opportunities, irrespective of power outages, monsoons and screaming dogs. Hey, you guys do have spoilt teens and horrible lifestyles!

It is time to let go of certain dreams, to look for places unexplored and set foot. I have all due respects for the millions of Indians who have set foot bravely outside and created a global identity, but this trend means a pay off for such efforts.

Day One - The things I cant do..

I give up, in entirety to do these things in my life. I mean, they are seemingly simple that anyone raises an eyebrow when I struggle but honestly put, I can solve math than doing these.

The biggest and the most embarrassing is my inborn inability to open a simple plastic cover. The ones that come in rolls and are kept at supermarket vegetable aisles and expect us to tear along the perforation - I cant do it. I do most shopping alone, and it is highly annoying to be not able to do this. With a bag of onions in hand ( prepacked, thankfully), I sometimes sigh in exasperation to do this! Honestly, who ever invented such things? Why cant they just kept torn covers? Or, like my good old hometown, have stores where people will pack it after I ONLY pick it up! The whole idea of being called a 'super' market, with me having to do all the picking, packing, weighing is outrageous to me. Hail local veggie shops in India! Free curry leaves, too!

The next most toughest thing to the idiot in me is to poke a straw in a plastic takeaway cup. I prefer paper cups, tins and what else! This is a wonderful idea to carry a milo into a meeting, but I simply cannot poke it unless i spend 20 full seconds developing a strategy to attack it. The reality is that I simply dont care and flip the lid open to sip!

Temme, what fun is it to simplify things and make it so difficult? I know I probably have a queer disease, but simply my fingers are better solving valuations :) using excel!

P.S : And this my friends, is the first post of the 30 day blogger challenge. To make myself snap out of the 'head blogger'