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Tuesday, November 29, 2005
Sunday, November 27, 2005
An Invitation
I will be performing at the Kamaraj Memorial Hall on the 2nd of December, 2005, at 7:00 p.m.
I will be singing Bhajans and Ghazals.
Please make it to the concert if interested.
I will be singing Bhajans and Ghazals.
Please make it to the concert if interested.
Friday, November 25, 2005
As I have come to know, the show at Hyderabad will be telecast this weekend in the Sun Network channels I guess.
Other than that I am preparing for a concert at Kamaraj Arangam on the 2nd and 3rd of December.
what more? Have been reading, working, singing, watching a few DVD's at intervals, snatching time to sleep, irritating mom with eating... frankly I think eating is one of the most time consuming and boring things to do. And before someone is hitting the comment section without reading through to direct some not so kind words, read me out! :)) I love food. But find the exercise of eating boring. Wish there was some device under which you could stand and you could be instantly energised with the necessary nutrients to lead a healthy life. And you could eat if and when you want to. Not because your stomach protests and you have to go refill. I dont know what kinda girl I am gonna end up to be. But frankly, for the amount of chocolates I consume, generally fatty food, I should have been a samurai wrestler's sister. But thank God for small mercies. Actually this is a huge mercy. I love salads, soups .. and I comfortable with those almost all the time. Its rice and this and that, which bore me. Of course there are days when I crave for Vathakuzhambu and rasam. And if there is one culinary expert who must be pissed off most of the time, that must be mom. She makes great stuff, serves in style, .........To have such a disinterested person in the house, her interest is usually dampened thanks to me. But also she has trained my tongue so well, that I usually dont flinch, ahem flinching at food that is moderately made.
This state of mind has been around for a few months for God knows what reason. Hope this will pass.. thats something to chew on
Other than that I am preparing for a concert at Kamaraj Arangam on the 2nd and 3rd of December.
what more? Have been reading, working, singing, watching a few DVD's at intervals, snatching time to sleep, irritating mom with eating... frankly I think eating is one of the most time consuming and boring things to do. And before someone is hitting the comment section without reading through to direct some not so kind words, read me out! :)) I love food. But find the exercise of eating boring. Wish there was some device under which you could stand and you could be instantly energised with the necessary nutrients to lead a healthy life. And you could eat if and when you want to. Not because your stomach protests and you have to go refill. I dont know what kinda girl I am gonna end up to be. But frankly, for the amount of chocolates I consume, generally fatty food, I should have been a samurai wrestler's sister. But thank God for small mercies. Actually this is a huge mercy. I love salads, soups .. and I comfortable with those almost all the time. Its rice and this and that, which bore me. Of course there are days when I crave for Vathakuzhambu and rasam. And if there is one culinary expert who must be pissed off most of the time, that must be mom. She makes great stuff, serves in style, .........To have such a disinterested person in the house, her interest is usually dampened thanks to me. But also she has trained my tongue so well, that I usually dont flinch, ahem flinching at food that is moderately made.
This state of mind has been around for a few months for God knows what reason. Hope this will pass.. thats something to chew on
Tuesday, November 22, 2005
All over again!
Now next in line, my mother's blog has had some posts removed, by a another devilish mind apparently. And as I see this seems to the be the beginning of super malice in blog world.
As I perceive it, this shoul be happening only because some nitwit/s feel threatened.
And this is no 'harmless prank' which happened in mine and in Priya's blog. In her case her blog was deleted. As so far, only women's blogs have been hacked, I daresay the next one should be another woman.
It is possible that this is some who is sooooo anti- women who blog. So keep rolling whoever-you-are, you are bound to get pulled into quicksand soon.
As I perceive it, this shoul be happening only because some nitwit/s feel threatened.
And this is no 'harmless prank' which happened in mine and in Priya's blog. In her case her blog was deleted. As so far, only women's blogs have been hacked, I daresay the next one should be another woman.
It is possible that this is some who is sooooo anti- women who blog. So keep rolling whoever-you-are, you are bound to get pulled into quicksand soon.
Thursday, November 17, 2005
Also...
Has anyone wondered about 'Try'?
The etymology is this: Anglo-French trier to choose, sort, ascertain, examine judicially, from Old French, to choose, sort.
Also its more or less the intention to do something, or the lack of it. When try comes in, one has to be prepared for the eventuality of the task not happening as well. Or it also means an attempt, endeavour, effort..
But like maybe some more verbs, this is something which will not have a physical activity/action to demonstrate 'try'. This would be a toughie in Dumb Charades. Will you be able to convey " I am trying to read" Or "I am trying to give you the key".
Moral of the Story: Dont try, Do. If you can't do it, say that you can't. :)
The etymology is this: Anglo-French trier to choose, sort, ascertain, examine judicially, from Old French, to choose, sort.
Also its more or less the intention to do something, or the lack of it. When try comes in, one has to be prepared for the eventuality of the task not happening as well. Or it also means an attempt, endeavour, effort..
But like maybe some more verbs, this is something which will not have a physical activity/action to demonstrate 'try'. This would be a toughie in Dumb Charades. Will you be able to convey " I am trying to read" Or "I am trying to give you the key".
Moral of the Story: Dont try, Do. If you can't do it, say that you can't. :)
Wednesday, November 16, 2005
The strange case of.....
"Can be able" and "cannot be able".
The more I hear the usage of this phrase, the more I am scared that it will become an adage. Whoever gave the idea of "I can be able to do it" or "Can you be able to do it?"
Worse... "I had went".. Gosh. There are a few things that I have a low tolerance to. This is one of them. Mutilating any language. Mispronouncing a language, and horrors, make a grammatical mistake.
Way back in school I was taught that cousin brother and cousin sister are grammatically wrong. Then there is 'No other alternative', 'Overspeeding'... yikes... The more and more I see them, even I start getting used to them and think they are right.
There was once that I said "I cant ascertain what you are saying" and then that's it. I was ragged completely by the Producer. This was during the recording of an ad jingle. The producer said the guy was wondering whether you said something good or bad. Cant help it you know, after so much translation, you tend to use words like that. Now I am in a very diff mode. I use unctuous instead of oily, cognizant instead of aware, and I was surprised when people didn't know what quirk, resplendent, embossing.. and some more, meant. Should I be surprised?
During some recordings, I am asked to change the "spelling of my humming" which means please time your inflections to the rhythm. And the best is "Idhu oru Gallop-aana song". God knows what that meant. Actually most conversations are in Tamil and the people who do speak English are good enough with it. A lot of it is because I guess people have lost out on perfection, and finer qualities. Also a usual tlip of the songue.. sorry, slip of the tongue, sedation and seduction. When I heard that first, I burst out laughing much to consternation of the girl. I apologized immediately though. At this point, let me tell you somethings that not many know about me. Ok I changed my mind. Its becoming too long. I will put another post on that.
Even if you point out to some, that hey change that buddy, gosh they are soo irritated. And the trend that I have seen a lot especially in the south, is when you tell someone, please don't do something, the more they do it, just to irritate you and unfortunately for them (and for us)it becomes a sickening habit that they cant get rid of even if they want to. This is the way I am if it irritates you, I will do it some more so that you can be more irritated. And seeing you angry makes me so happy like I have won an Oscar. And then you correct grammatical errors in English, you are done for. Immediately you are a "Peter" or a "Jane" who is from a high funda school. Sometimes turns out that they would have come from a more up-market school.. but everything else is sooo "heylloo, houe aaaarrr yuuuu dowing?" And anything ending with -ve is immediately -we. Like 'lowe', "positiwe" also the 't' is non existent so 'id eees pohsidiwe". Everytime I hear a "Lowe story" I am almost hopping mad. Its -ve for God's sake. Well what do you expect when people say vaalkai instead of vaazhkai, "aNaithu vagai" instead of "anaithu...." and like "Ippodhu virpaNaiyil" and there are a lot of news readers, some actors in TV serials, who seem to have a confusion between the different 'n' 'l' of Tamil. Now also its hurts mom's ears when she has to hear "SaTTRu" "KuTTram" ... There is no damn 'T' there... The stronger R is devoid of T. Thanks to a lot of people writing in English and reading Tamil. Now who is going to correct that?
Also one of the reasons I was taught not to imitate someone too much, (I am pretty good at that ;))with some words, and they way people talk and move or something, was because when you do it too much, it becomes your habit as well. And how so wonderful would that be, that sometimes you mimic someone cos its, you know quirky, or mad, and then it becomes part of you as well.
Anyway coming back this would not be if we read worthy books. If this is the way it will go, we can put language, pronounciation and grammar, in the list of things long-gone, sooner or later.
And also this was the post that Blogger ate up a few daya back. More or less. I like the older one though
The more I hear the usage of this phrase, the more I am scared that it will become an adage. Whoever gave the idea of "I can be able to do it" or "Can you be able to do it?"
Worse... "I had went".. Gosh. There are a few things that I have a low tolerance to. This is one of them. Mutilating any language. Mispronouncing a language, and horrors, make a grammatical mistake.
Way back in school I was taught that cousin brother and cousin sister are grammatically wrong. Then there is 'No other alternative', 'Overspeeding'... yikes... The more and more I see them, even I start getting used to them and think they are right.
There was once that I said "I cant ascertain what you are saying" and then that's it. I was ragged completely by the Producer. This was during the recording of an ad jingle. The producer said the guy was wondering whether you said something good or bad. Cant help it you know, after so much translation, you tend to use words like that. Now I am in a very diff mode. I use unctuous instead of oily, cognizant instead of aware, and I was surprised when people didn't know what quirk, resplendent, embossing.. and some more, meant. Should I be surprised?
During some recordings, I am asked to change the "spelling of my humming" which means please time your inflections to the rhythm. And the best is "Idhu oru Gallop-aana song". God knows what that meant. Actually most conversations are in Tamil and the people who do speak English are good enough with it. A lot of it is because I guess people have lost out on perfection, and finer qualities. Also a usual tlip of the songue.. sorry, slip of the tongue, sedation and seduction. When I heard that first, I burst out laughing much to consternation of the girl. I apologized immediately though. At this point, let me tell you somethings that not many know about me. Ok I changed my mind. Its becoming too long. I will put another post on that.
Even if you point out to some, that hey change that buddy, gosh they are soo irritated. And the trend that I have seen a lot especially in the south, is when you tell someone, please don't do something, the more they do it, just to irritate you and unfortunately for them (and for us)it becomes a sickening habit that they cant get rid of even if they want to. This is the way I am if it irritates you, I will do it some more so that you can be more irritated. And seeing you angry makes me so happy like I have won an Oscar. And then you correct grammatical errors in English, you are done for. Immediately you are a "Peter" or a "Jane" who is from a high funda school. Sometimes turns out that they would have come from a more up-market school.. but everything else is sooo "heylloo, houe aaaarrr yuuuu dowing?" And anything ending with -ve is immediately -we. Like 'lowe', "positiwe" also the 't' is non existent so 'id eees pohsidiwe". Everytime I hear a "Lowe story" I am almost hopping mad. Its -ve for God's sake. Well what do you expect when people say vaalkai instead of vaazhkai, "aNaithu vagai" instead of "anaithu...." and like "Ippodhu virpaNaiyil" and there are a lot of news readers, some actors in TV serials, who seem to have a confusion between the different 'n' 'l' of Tamil. Now also its hurts mom's ears when she has to hear "SaTTRu" "KuTTram" ... There is no damn 'T' there... The stronger R is devoid of T. Thanks to a lot of people writing in English and reading Tamil. Now who is going to correct that?
Also one of the reasons I was taught not to imitate someone too much, (I am pretty good at that ;))with some words, and they way people talk and move or something, was because when you do it too much, it becomes your habit as well. And how so wonderful would that be, that sometimes you mimic someone cos its, you know quirky, or mad, and then it becomes part of you as well.
Anyway coming back this would not be if we read worthy books. If this is the way it will go, we can put language, pronounciation and grammar, in the list of things long-gone, sooner or later.
And also this was the post that Blogger ate up a few daya back. More or less. I like the older one though
Of the old and new..
To start off, have heard a lot of people making fun about older people. Right from school days. He is a thatha, she is a paati. And any kid who talks a lot is a paati. And then recently I met someone who said, the moment you know that someone has started talking a lot, that means he/she has mentally retired.. especially when they start with "in my days".......
Actually at my age, even I feel like saying during my childhood, and during school, and those were more or less my days. Older days. Nicer days. Happier days.
The times spent with grandparents and older members of the family was wonderful. I learnt to play stuf like 'Chozhi', Pallankuzhi, and something with tamarind seeds, I forget the name, where in you throw a seed in the air, and while it is airborne, you grasp one more from the ground and so it goes. I seriously doubt how many people my age know about stuff like this. Actually how many can pronounce the slokas properly, the Sanskrit way, instead of...a common example, my mom has always been called Bathma, for her name is unfortunately Padma. Anything starting with P, T, and in my case, C, you are done for. P becomes B, T becomes D, and C becomes S. So there is Badma, and Nadarajan, Sinmai so on and so forth. And my best friend. Yasaswini. I remember the way she used to cringe when someone mispronounced her name, which was almost always> Yasaaawini. yasasasaswini, hundred more variants, and this was when we use to be on stage and some guy wil annouce our names, and the next name to mutilate will be mine. And I used to end up giggling must to the iration of my teachers.
A lot of this has come to pass because we fail to respect the older generation. Just because we are younger, we have to tsk tsk away anyone who is older by a minimum 15 years.
Children nowadays dont know how to treat a Guru during Vijayadasami, when during school, I remember mom used to buy small mementoes and give them to teachers and take their blessings. And why dont children know about it? Thanks to their parents. mm maybe this is off topic a bit, but I had to put it down as well....
How much do we know of history from our grandparents? Of how life was? and like their view of why we had to bathe after a solar eclipse, and in almost all brahman houses, the concept of "patthu". Not many know the answer, and of the few who do, its guesswork, something that has been imagined on their own, or sometimes, they have logically thought of it and come to the right conclusion, and a handful know it from the horse's mouth. Talking of super imagination, I once knew someone who thought, Holi was celebrated with Turmeric and Chilli powder and then they came about doing it with artificial colours. And this numbskull went on arguing how he is right. Hm.... better not say anything more than that. How many of us know why we celebrate some festivals a certain way, the rituals, daily life?
How about simple stories like, for example, if you dont keep your peppercorns in place, and lose them, they will roll away and tell stories about you, dont eat too much raw rice or it will rain during your wedding, so many small beautiful things. Now I wish I could get back in time, or wish my grandparents were with me to unravel more about their lives. But its not to be.
My grandfather did all there was to do, owned mom's native village worked in the army, went to Jail during the freedom movement, starting a printing press or a newspaper I am not so sure, even made a movie, I found to my surprise, everything .. his must have been some life. And then my Grandmom. She was not as smart as Thatha. But she would just talk about so many things. And tell me stories, tell me not to draw the blanket over my head while sleeping, teach me the " Urugaadha Vennaiyum Or Adaiyum naan tharuven, ennaalum en kanavan ennai vittu piriyaamal irukka", and tie the nombu charadu on my wrist while I used to think, why I had to say this when I dont have a husband, and the best of all, she used to peel the skin off seedless grapes for me to eat.. check that out.. !! Of course to my mom's horror. Paati couldnt speak a stich of English except saying Chemistry and she was awfully proud of it, and later she could say "seedoaun" for sit down. It was great fun. I can almost imagine her reacting to stuff if I had to put down every thing that she said here.
And present gen children dont have the luxury of listening to stories from their grandparents. Most times its the clash of egos. The elders feel they are not respected and the youngsters feel that they must stay in their 'place' and not interfere. So much of wisdom and knowledge being lost. So much is already lost anyway. Most of us dont even have the time or patience or inclination to talk to our parents, forget the grandparents.
I decided to write this because my best friend's Grandmom has started blogging. And this may well be a missing link. I wish all older people start blogging to share their world from the days of yore, the world through their mind's eye and as they perceive it now. I only wish all grandparents of the world are introduced to this. No better way to preserve culture, at least as far as my small brain goes. At least for all those disinterested people, there will be hundreds like me who want to know of them, know them.....
And for all those who keep calling people mama, thata, oldie, you know, to generally poke fun at older people, I think its such a sad state of mind. Come on, how much longer will it take to be at the same age as they are. And I bet that we ll be a more miserable lot than the present older generation. Because our children are a 100 times better or worse than we are. And what goes will come round a 100 times better or worse.
Yes this is also saying in other words what I learnt, I guess all of us would have learnt in Std. 1. Respect your elders. I sincerely believe that their wishes prayers and goodwill, is the greatest protection and I guess there is always space in our skulls for more knowledge, even if it is trivial.
Actually at my age, even I feel like saying during my childhood, and during school, and those were more or less my days. Older days. Nicer days. Happier days.
The times spent with grandparents and older members of the family was wonderful. I learnt to play stuf like 'Chozhi', Pallankuzhi, and something with tamarind seeds, I forget the name, where in you throw a seed in the air, and while it is airborne, you grasp one more from the ground and so it goes. I seriously doubt how many people my age know about stuff like this. Actually how many can pronounce the slokas properly, the Sanskrit way, instead of...a common example, my mom has always been called Bathma, for her name is unfortunately Padma. Anything starting with P, T, and in my case, C, you are done for. P becomes B, T becomes D, and C becomes S. So there is Badma, and Nadarajan, Sinmai so on and so forth. And my best friend. Yasaswini. I remember the way she used to cringe when someone mispronounced her name, which was almost always> Yasaaawini. yasasasaswini, hundred more variants, and this was when we use to be on stage and some guy wil annouce our names, and the next name to mutilate will be mine. And I used to end up giggling must to the iration of my teachers.
A lot of this has come to pass because we fail to respect the older generation. Just because we are younger, we have to tsk tsk away anyone who is older by a minimum 15 years.
Children nowadays dont know how to treat a Guru during Vijayadasami, when during school, I remember mom used to buy small mementoes and give them to teachers and take their blessings. And why dont children know about it? Thanks to their parents. mm maybe this is off topic a bit, but I had to put it down as well....
How much do we know of history from our grandparents? Of how life was? and like their view of why we had to bathe after a solar eclipse, and in almost all brahman houses, the concept of "patthu". Not many know the answer, and of the few who do, its guesswork, something that has been imagined on their own, or sometimes, they have logically thought of it and come to the right conclusion, and a handful know it from the horse's mouth. Talking of super imagination, I once knew someone who thought, Holi was celebrated with Turmeric and Chilli powder and then they came about doing it with artificial colours. And this numbskull went on arguing how he is right. Hm.... better not say anything more than that. How many of us know why we celebrate some festivals a certain way, the rituals, daily life?
How about simple stories like, for example, if you dont keep your peppercorns in place, and lose them, they will roll away and tell stories about you, dont eat too much raw rice or it will rain during your wedding, so many small beautiful things. Now I wish I could get back in time, or wish my grandparents were with me to unravel more about their lives. But its not to be.
My grandfather did all there was to do, owned mom's native village worked in the army, went to Jail during the freedom movement, starting a printing press or a newspaper I am not so sure, even made a movie, I found to my surprise, everything .. his must have been some life. And then my Grandmom. She was not as smart as Thatha. But she would just talk about so many things. And tell me stories, tell me not to draw the blanket over my head while sleeping, teach me the " Urugaadha Vennaiyum Or Adaiyum naan tharuven, ennaalum en kanavan ennai vittu piriyaamal irukka", and tie the nombu charadu on my wrist while I used to think, why I had to say this when I dont have a husband, and the best of all, she used to peel the skin off seedless grapes for me to eat.. check that out.. !! Of course to my mom's horror. Paati couldnt speak a stich of English except saying Chemistry and she was awfully proud of it, and later she could say "seedoaun" for sit down. It was great fun. I can almost imagine her reacting to stuff if I had to put down every thing that she said here.
And present gen children dont have the luxury of listening to stories from their grandparents. Most times its the clash of egos. The elders feel they are not respected and the youngsters feel that they must stay in their 'place' and not interfere. So much of wisdom and knowledge being lost. So much is already lost anyway. Most of us dont even have the time or patience or inclination to talk to our parents, forget the grandparents.
I decided to write this because my best friend's Grandmom has started blogging. And this may well be a missing link. I wish all older people start blogging to share their world from the days of yore, the world through their mind's eye and as they perceive it now. I only wish all grandparents of the world are introduced to this. No better way to preserve culture, at least as far as my small brain goes. At least for all those disinterested people, there will be hundreds like me who want to know of them, know them.....
And for all those who keep calling people mama, thata, oldie, you know, to generally poke fun at older people, I think its such a sad state of mind. Come on, how much longer will it take to be at the same age as they are. And I bet that we ll be a more miserable lot than the present older generation. Because our children are a 100 times better or worse than we are. And what goes will come round a 100 times better or worse.
Yes this is also saying in other words what I learnt, I guess all of us would have learnt in Std. 1. Respect your elders. I sincerely believe that their wishes prayers and goodwill, is the greatest protection and I guess there is always space in our skulls for more knowledge, even if it is trivial.
Tuesday, November 01, 2005
Happy Deepavali!!
Thanks to the rains and the corresponding Power cuts and also problems with our internet, I have been on and off connectivity. And when I did, just had enough time to catch up on work. The television has not been switched on in our house for ages, and anyone asking me what's on TV, it will be more "Duh". And its good that it has not been raining the past couple of days.
Had to give a sound byte to All India Radio and talk about my most memorable Deepavali. Did that.
This festival, to celebrate the triumph of Good over Evil. With the blasts happening in one of the places I love the most and to sickeningly plan it during a festival, that is close to the hearts of millions, I really hope and pray that all the evil minds are removed without a trace. And to also celebrate the fighting and living spirit, for the good of course, well I really hope this year on and from this moment, Evil everywhere is vanquished, the good rejoice and the others who have not been so good are modified to be good.
"Deepa - aavali" - Garland/Chain of lights... Sincerely I hope and pray that this festival should warm each heart and every home, bring happiness, togetherness, good hope, excellent fortune, good thoughts, and eventually put us on the path to get at least a step closer to Godliness.
Happy Deepavali and Godspeed Good People!
Had to give a sound byte to All India Radio and talk about my most memorable Deepavali. Did that.
This festival, to celebrate the triumph of Good over Evil. With the blasts happening in one of the places I love the most and to sickeningly plan it during a festival, that is close to the hearts of millions, I really hope and pray that all the evil minds are removed without a trace. And to also celebrate the fighting and living spirit, for the good of course, well I really hope this year on and from this moment, Evil everywhere is vanquished, the good rejoice and the others who have not been so good are modified to be good.
"Deepa - aavali" - Garland/Chain of lights... Sincerely I hope and pray that this festival should warm each heart and every home, bring happiness, togetherness, good hope, excellent fortune, good thoughts, and eventually put us on the path to get at least a step closer to Godliness.
Happy Deepavali and Godspeed Good People!
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