on my current music list :)

These songs are classified in no particular order-these are just the ones i play on a loop for as long as i want

1)Hasili fisiliye- From aathavan, one of my FAV male singers-Karthik and one of my favourite female singers Harini have rendered this track and I LOVE IT. Love everything about the song.

2)Run by Leona Lewis – A song i hadn’t heard of until a short while back thanks to my musically inclined uncle This song wrenches my gut, in a way, i wrote about “confide in me”. It makes me happy and sad at the same time.More sad than happy i think. And yet, i love it. Life is not full of ups anyway

3)Blue Theme-by who else-AR Rehman–  Gosh,this song! or rather this track words fail me. I LOVE the instruments,love the motley group of singers,the way they sing bloooue, off and on. WOW.And my most favourite part of the song is more near the end of the song. I love the finish.

4)Tum Mile-from the movie tum mile- i like the peppiness in this song.Its a fun song.It makes me happy happy happy

5)Ti Amo- Gina G- i know this isn’t really one of the new songs but well i got this song after searching for it for alomost five years now. So its also on my current playlist. No need to elaborate on this track. I get pushed into either extreme from listening to this song regardless of my mood.If unhappy i become very angry and if happy i become deliriously happy.

Okay,so that’s all that i can come up with right now with a brain that’s muddled and a stomach thats in not so good shape.

All the sundal eating is finally having its effect as my poor stomach resists anything thats put into it

motivation & inspiration…

Well motivation comes from within while inspiration is external.

It is very easy to get inspired. Extremely difficult to get motivated.You could visualise something and motivate yourself to focus on reaching there;however, is that something you visualized inspirational? Sure,it is.

Then why are they being discussed as two different terms as such?

I get inspired a LOT. i mean it. A LOT. my dad’s words,my best friend’s thoughts,a song,some lines from a book and sometimes even an instance from a not-so-close person’s life. By not-so-close i mean,someone who i do not necessarily like.

Motivation probably is associated with memory. With vivid pictures that race through my mind.

A lot of times, i get motivated through the inherent fear of rejection/failure/losing what ever you wish to call it.

And there are these other instances when my lackadisical attitude worries everyone who’s concerned about me while i react unmovingly.

Its times like these that i wonder, if i work ONLY under immense pressure.The saddest part is the output need not necessarily be the very best when pressure is at its all time high.

Sigh.This is getting me nowhere.

Hope you’re all not driving yourselves up the wall

note to self

Sometimes,the going is SO bad -you just want to hide or run. Depending on the kind of person you are and the kind of situation you’re in. If it involves scenarios where detachment is a possibility then stand back,get set and RUN. If detachment is not possible then you’re only left with one option and that is to hide.

Hide from them who caused the trouble.Hide from situations involving them.

Just hide and run.Alternately.

If all fails,look in; Admist all the selfishness,all the hypocrisy and all other painful traits found in situations the strength to handle everything is found within.

of some childhood memories..

Dilbar jaane..the song from kalaignan is a very old song,by my standards…a song i needn’t necessarily relate to in terms of the age i was when this song was probably played incessantly..but then i do relate to it.

With a very strange incident.

A neighbour’s daughter was getting married and we had all gone for the reception. Going to a reception , for me,back then constituted being bathed by my sister,being dressed by her and then having my hair done again by the same sister.Infact she’d think of getting ready much later.I’d be ready and raring to go. Why,raring you ask? Well for the food of course

Kidding! Well,maybe not entirely but yes,food was one aspect.But the even bigger aspect was to go TOGETHER. I have always,always LOVED to be a part of this huge family. I have loved to have so many people around me. Have always felt blessed that though i wasn’t given a sibling of my own,God ensured that i have not one but two siblings to ‘call’ my own despite not sharing our parents literally.Practically,we do  An aunt and grandma who double up as my mothers . My father who doubles up as theirs. This is my biggest blessing.

For the life of me,i cannot imagine a past wherein i’d have lived with my parents alone. I guess i’d have grown into an entirely different individual and i don’t mean that in a positive way. Don’t get me wrong. I’m all for privacy and all that but i believe in the concept of a joint family.They maybe contradicting each other for many but i don’t think so.

So,reverting back to the wedding -This particular evening i was even more excited than before because i was going to the vandalur zoo the next day on a school picnic. I was thrilled to bits over the prospect and was showing off to all and sundry that i was going on my First School Picnic Little did i know that picnics in Enid Blyton books were entirely different from picnics in Indian schools. Reality hit a little later.

Anyway,so we reached the venue and i guess got ourselves photographed and seated. I say photographed because more often than not,that’s the pre requisite to attending a wedding.If you are photographed ,you have managed to go near the bride and bridegroom with their parents leading you to them and poking the hapless bride(in this case) to acknowledge your prescence with yet another smile and show of teeth and pose for the cameras while you hand in your gift/money etc. As an aside,its all these things that make our wedding and believe you me I LOVE THEM!

And yet,being the hypocrites we are,as a nation, we love criticising the very same traditions we follow and enjoy . Yours truly is no exception to this .

So,it was only after we were seated a music troupe started playing. Light music at weddings, those days. i guess were a rarity.I am not sure about this though,i’d have to check with my sister. So the music troupe was playing this song from kalaignan. I was hyper that day because of the impeding dinner and picnic the next day. And till this day,whenever i hear this song, it reverts me back to those times.Especially THAT evening. I feel the rush of excitement,the thrill i felt at being so fruitfully engaged for two consecutive days.

Going out, just for the heck of it, was a rarity and holidays were practically non existent and yet, i had the time of my life. And i for one would say “its all about loving your family” …

back!!!!

I know i have been away for a LONG LONG time now And,for all those people who actually missed reading my blog-thank you!!!!

Came back from the below mentioned delhi trip and then..

then what? i really don’t know. August flew away with a flurry of engagements,weddings,get togethers -the works basically.

And before i realise september is staring at me in the face ;with october looming large.

I say this because i am not particularly looking forward to joining work in Oct. Enjoying the pampering and lazing around i am getting at home,you say?

Well,could be but thats not exactly the reason; I am as always in two minds about what i am upto.

I have never particularly had the ability to take the the right decision.

Notice how i use the word ‘right’? Reason is ,its not like i cannot take quick decisions.Infact pretty much most of the things i do are decided on an impulse-but its effect is not something i seem to percieve in its entiriety.

i am as such a very very very restless person. I can shift seamlessly between two things that are as disconnected as possible and not worry about the first task that i have left unfinished.This has become a character trait. I realise its not certainly to my advantage to have such a character trait and actually bother proclaiming to everyone as if its something to be proud of and yet i do this. All the time.

Take for example,my trials at dieting.There was a time earlier this year when i vowed to reduce my rice intake.Especially at dinner, thanks to the ever evolving discussions i have had,of this topic,with every possible member of my family who have insisted ad nauseum that rice at night is ‘BAD’/calorie adding/worst thing for those who want to reduce..you get the drift?

During this amazing period of less-rice-intake- i decided to show people around me(read:parents,aunt and my 2 sisters) that I can develop an interest in food that goes beyond tasting and eating. Plunged right in.Read up a LOT on salads,pastas and all the other things that assualted my senses in a nice way ..Result?

a small olive oil tin,a bottle of vinegar,two bottles of dressings,some pasta,LOTS of obscure vegetables and a burnt hole.Where? in my poor dad’s wallet ofcourse!

Having got all the things i deemed necessary i marched on.Quite proudly,i must add. For i was going to reduce in a couple of months and SHOW the world(again read:parents,aunt and sisters) that i CAN reduce all that annoying flab and COOK!!!

So,it was pasta one night. Came out quite well,if i can say so myself. And why would it NOT? For,i cut the tomato,garlic and the onion. While my mom boiled the pasta. worked with vegetables i had cut,painstakingly(oh,please-don’t you know how difficult cutting squishy tomatoes can be?plus garlic? Now,THAT was a skill by itself)

Infact,garlic cutting i learnt only from my dear athai. My mom detests the very smell of garlic and would rather jump on a trampoline than cut/use it. So it was athai i would turn to. She taught me that a garlic is not an onion that i attack with any knifed object . She taught me that i need NOT use all of the cloves present in a single garlic to get a garlicky taste.As an aside,i just googled garlic to find out if those crescent shaped things in a garlic were indeed called cloves.Been away from cooking for quite sometime ,you see.But i digress. So,armed with all these precious and requisite skills i set about making pasta one night.Some nice salads the other . These blissful days lasted for nearly 21 days. Ah,yes. you heard that right.

Twenty one days is not bad right? Infact i should probably write a book like 21 days to a new you..or maybe 21 ways to learn cooking the ‘Sona’ way!! oh yes i should. Probably price it in such a way that i help my dad recover all the money he lost on my culinary expeditions.Now THAT’s food for thought.And money !

So what happened after the 21 days? Well,some ideas came over and told me that i look ravishing enough and don’t have to embark on silly things like diet control and even sillier things like cooking.HA! I knew it!

Then i started speaking to my family(read :as already mentioned) regarding the kind of guy i would want to marry whenever i do. Wait,before you jump to any conclusions i would like to state this as a disclaimer. I do NOT,i repeat,do NOT want to get married right away nor am i so interested in the institution of marriage that i started dropping hints to my family.No,thats not it at all. Infact this is much more interesting. I was telling my aunt that not only would i want to marry someone with a large family; but also someone with exceptional culinary skills.

If point number two is not exactly there ,then i wouldn’t mind a GM of any nice 4/above starred hotel. i went on to elucidate the advantages i would possess on being the batter better half of such a person. Over and done with these petty issues i have now begun to relax mentally as i know my case has been made.

As for my aunt? Well,she’s still not quite overcome the explanation i gave.Poor aunt is still speechless. And with this,i rest my case.

~!~!~!away away away~!~!~!

i’m in delhi..sweltering horribly hot delhi. the heat actually saps me of all my energy.. COMPLETELY. its like i’m on a holiday but i feel even more drained than normal times..hope y’all having a great time..

signing off is one terribly tired CT…

i tried so hard..

Have never really appreciated Linkin Park. Or rather i have not bothered to hear them enough. It was always -linkin park,pink floyd etc were music i could neither understand nor appreciate for reasons unknown even to me..And then,all of a sudden i hear this song from Linkin Park and it just made me go wow.

I am not sure if its that way for the lyrics or the music. I think its both..

It goes something like

I tried so hard ,and got so far
In the end it doesn’t even matter
I had to fall To lose it all
In the end it doesn’t even matter…

I like. Like,like,like.

SO much.

Brilliant lyrics.

an afternoon at Sathyam,with nadodigal!

If you’re actually looking for a movie that’s different from the commercial masala being dished out, then, at the risk of sounding cliched , i must say, Nadodigal is for you.

WHAT a movie!

The movie does not stick to any kind of stereotyping and allows itself to unravel its beautiful and strong screenplay to the eyes of the movie-goer.. A story which is interlaced with humour even during the tumultous periods in the film. I have not been so awestruck by a  film in a long long time..

The crux of the film is friendship. Friendship of the pure kind,not the opportunistic kind that people these days indulge in.

It shows both facets.Both the pure one-in the form of the protagonist and his three friends and the inverse-in the form of the guy for whom all the sacrifices are made.I am not going to let on more if in case you are amongst those contemplating  watching it.

I’d say Go for it!

Its brilliant.

Music- I personally liked the background score a LOT more than the songs.

There were only 3 songs if my memory serves me right. And obviously,i liked the Sambo Siva Sambo much more than the intial two commercial songs. While the first one was tolerable since the set up was a thiru vizha and hence the situation warranted such lyrics and music ,the second song ,however, was an item song kinds clearly meant to satisfy the front benches. Anyway,that tiny error can be excused given the general screenplay

The BGM for the pair involving the hero’s sister and his friend was particularly endearing.. Like i said,the movie was awesome-it certainly does NOT need songs to push up its box office collection. If you haven’t seen it yet,do watch it!

All in all,100 Rs well spent

kaise mujhe tu…

kaise mujhe tum mil gayi, kismat pe aaye na yakin.. and so goes this lovely track from the hindi version of Ghajini..

One word for it-beautiful. I am not an ardent admirer of the hindi language myself,for i cannot fathom its intricacies but, even to me , the lyrics and the way it has been rendered by Benny Dayal and Shreya Ghoshal give it a magical touch!

this song is for the times when i actually want to cry but refrain. ..

Nevertheless,i cannot fail to appreciate the beauty of this song.It starts with a humming by Benny Dayal and his voice just moves effortlessly over the instruments. The strength of the song,i feel,is the way its been sung. Not the instruments. The way his voice rises and falls as if his voice were an instrument that was being manipulated to get sounds.Its just magical. Any one who agrees with me?

maggi :)

what is it about certain food items that makes one attach memories to it..Well,in some ways, we attach instances and incidents to everything in our lives-i mean,that’s human nature i suppose. To interlink and to connect. But nostalgia comes through when you realise that you can never have that moment again,ever. Or even if you do have such a wonder moment,it cannot be the same. In absolute sense.

Comfort food, for me, amongst many things would be foods i can always associate with ,no matter how old i get…

When my sisters lived here,in chennai with me,the elder one would make delicious maggi. There was something that she would do to it that would make it extremely delicious. ONLY she could do it that way and i don’t even know if she still does. Back then , we were kids,or atleast i was and they were the teenagers and older girls who’d have the opportunity to decide when we get to eat these not-so-liked food items in our household Though i have such opportunities ,every single day these days ,what i wouldn’t give to get back to those times

Well,after a while ,she married and things changed..became all health concious and diet conscious.. i don’t even know the last time she ate maggi in the last few years she probably prefers straining herself to make noodles the original chinese way than to throw in a packet and cook it..

For me though,its instant stuff,all the way…

To all things junk,forever and ever

PS-upon reading this post i realise i sound a little incoherent..this was just me,rambling,as always,as friends of mine will testify !