1947 create a vacancy

It isnt clear how he was related, why he came that day. In all probability to ask for the use of influence( you know the kind which after use one can safely keep in almirah/Bureau or even fridge). But that isnt important at all.

What was important was the words that were to be uttered. A grey-haired 80-something Thatha in our living room. My Brothers and I somehow couldnt get out. This man launched onto one of those " In those days... . my uncle was the post master, I was looking for a job. My uncle asked the post office to give me one but there was no vacancy. In 1947, my uncle said create a vacancy." - the last part repeated couple of times with a peak of cresecndo tone. That create a vacancy is how we refered(that includes my parents) him from thenon.

But he was talking about 1947, even my Dad wasnt born yet. The country was few months away from Independence. And he was referring to it in late 90s. Quite a reminiscence-able age I say. Officially earned one.

There is a whole nostalgia post series that has been going on in my head for a while now. In late 20s, I feel the urge to talk about the past. So much to tell.

Today I was blog hopping - i mean literally clicking on next blog - when i saw nostalgia trip of some one who was going to give his eighth sem exam. Eighth sem - not yet 21 talking about those days.

I fully expect my 3 month old nephew's first words to be, " In those days".

Karunanidhi - opposing all caste bar one

What was casteism - determining one's occupation by birth? But now we have Karunanidhi's & sons & Daughter & potentially Grandsons in Politics. And the man came to Politics opposing casteism!

status report

Check face book, twitter, blogspots, google reader, gmail, check face book - repeatu.

Full time job - what is that?

Know your rulers

The dynasty in all its glory!

Didnt know Karunanidhi has 3 wives - dont panic, the first wife is dead. But 3 is the official number. One of them is going to be your future ruler, my bet is Azhagiri because he makes Stalin look good(!!! ). And you all know in politics, the further one is from good, the better the chances of success.

Calling out Karthiks

One of these days, I will meet some one from Tamil nadu who never had a Karthik in their class(co-ed/boys school, ofcourse).

And then a tamilian's cell phone without a Karthik listed in there.

And then enter a US Office without a John/ Mike.

Ps: Advait might become the new Karthik - such a pity, I like that name.

About VTV

One of these days, may be just once, I will get to watch a movie without an iota of knowledge about what it deals with. I try to avoid reviews, skim through, them, skip any thing that remotely has spoiler, yet couple of sentences creep in. But there is also a slew of interviews and publicity stuff I so religiously catch up even for movies I dont plan to watch - somehow some preconceived notions creep in.

Yes, one of these days, I will just walk into the theater for a movie - it has to be from a favorite director, ofcourse but will watch the movie directly. Then there wont be what was that scene that i read in that discussion and all that, huh.
*****

This love at first sight - I know billion people, billion different lives and so on. Yet this is something I can never wrap my head around. Gautham is especially known for this. Friends argue, Maniratnam does it too. I dont know because i never noticed while in Gautham's movie, I never seem to get past that. There is a siren screaming stalker stalker going in my head.

Spoilers ahead:)
Those were the feelings I had till interval. But the ten minutes after interval changes everything. When Jessie confesses her feelings for Karthik - that moment changed it. When she says how she thought he followed her because he had noticed her attraction to him which angered - it sort of justified why she accommodated him (as opposed to tamil cinema principle of heroine falling in love just because hero has - the hero would like her because she looks beautiful - god forbid, if heroine tends towards even a wee bit of shallowness - leave alone handsome looks - she cant even expect him to be as educated she is - you might say Gautham doesnt do that - but he needs to do little more to wash off the sin that was minnale) and more importantly I could identify with that.

The way Jessie sneaks into Karthik's room for a quick hug, Karthik's foot fetish, infact the whole portrayal of their physical relationship was pretty poetic. Though I thought about what Jessie did and the only conclusion I could come about was, Gautham never understood her or atleast portrayed enough to understand that particular scene - it was too sudden. It wasnt because it was an easier route -she was someone who stopped her wedding at the altar remember?

What exactly was going on Mannipaya and other songs? Gautham should just stop picturziing. Just let them play in the back ground or just release the songs and never show them in his movies. This half hearted sometimes lip-syncing sometimes montages deal is killing the song and the associated scenes. The Anbil Avan song was so well shot that it didnt matter to me what happened afterward. We all already had our fill what their life would have been.

Trisha and Simbu - liked what they did in the second half much better than the first half. There was a marked improvement. Trisha had some kind of bubblegum in her mouth look in the first. I couldnt stop laughing the first 15 minutes at Simbu - because his close ups reminded me so much of the thing that roams around in the forest - sorry but it did. Rest of the movie his presence was quite good and even felt an innocence about him. But mostly it had everything o do with Gautham's screenplay and direction and nothing to do with them really.

a piece of mind

" ....they serve the most authentic italian." what if i dont like authentic, what if i only like the hybrid or localized version.

Authenticity doesnt make a food item superior, my tasting bud liking it does. doesnt it?

From Franny and Zooey

" Everything everybody does is so - I dont know - not wrong, or even mean, or even stupid necessarily. But just so tiny and meaningless and - sad-making. And the worst part is, if you go bohemian or something crazy like that, you're conforming just as much as everybody else, only in a different way."
- from JD Salinger's Franny and Zooey

I am not as disturbed as J D Salinger was with 'phony' attitude (as he called it). But every now and then, I really need to stand away, dig deep and figure out if this is what I want really do. It is such a battle. Meanwhile, I keep bumping in to those conformists - bohemian or otherwise -more the different type. unaware they are confirming in every sense and then seeing their smug attitude what i feel then so is not different from what some of us feel while we hear the velcro sound.

These Tear ducts..

is there a remote control for them? they dont even roll out when I am sad, only when I am overtly emotional/angry and I am angry a lot.

I am angry at the tear ducts too.