K Suryanarayana

The killing of this engineer by the Taliban is brutal. The family is udnerstandably inconsolable but there goes the rediff media, takes a picture of his wailing wife and publishes it as "First Look". You are supposed to feel great that you actually got a glimpse of the crying family. We need the news about his killing alright but do media men need to go to his house, take a picture and post it on the net? I find this disgusting. The picture of his wife and the wailing daughter would probably make you skip a meal. My heart goes for the family, who not only have to bear with the loss of life of their beloved but have to put up with the our immature media also. God help this family through this phase.

Update: This blogger talks about this too, in a better way. (Thanks for the link Bubby)

Thats me

I have a kind of memory that I am definitely not proud of. I won't remember, especially while leaving the house, where I kept my cellphone, house key, car key etc but I would remember every detail of a brain-dead conversation I had with some stranger a decade ago. Even details like the stranger's date of birth, nickname etc would be tattooed in my mind. Ditto for movies' details. I just have to spot a scene in a movie in some channel while flipping and all the redundant details of the movie are registered in my mind inadvertently.
Long ago, I met a guy who happened to be waiting for the same bus as I was. We smiled at each other and started some totally uninteresting conversation. Infact he was talking more. One of his friends passed by and wished him "Happy Birthday". It was December 1st, World AIDS Day. Years later, one of my acquaintances was engaged to this guy. When I met him, I was surprised and asked the couple if they had any special plans for his Birthday, which was a few weeks since then. I was not irritated that he didn't recognize me but he actually thought I was one of those girls that was so floored after just one interaction with him that I even remembered his Birthday. Ewww!
That was just one incident. So many times I have spelt out so many details of a person that some were even embarassed and some were flattered and some were confused and some, found it funny. They probably thought I was a weirdo. So I consciously decided to suppress all the details and hold my tongue. I succeed sometimes.
Recently, when I was at a temple, a woman patted me from behind and started yelling "Hi, remember me?" I nodded. She wasn't convinced that I remembered her and started saying "We met at the party. You had brought your baby. We watched tennis and both of us suported the same guy". I continued nodding. I didn't want to say "Yes XYZ, I remember you. You were talking with someone loudly in your cellphone and said you were in a bad mood and didn't want to attend that party. But then you actually had fun, you told me later. BTW, did you find that black ear-ring which had fallen down somewhere?". I just continued to nod and when she asked "Sorry, I forgot your name". I reminded her and asked her the same question. I am sure she felt I was just a normal person and I felt good even after lying.:-)

Naked truth

I've never been a big fan of taking pictures of babies when they are not wearing anything. Thats because most of the times the subject is embarassed when he/she looks at such pictures after years. This report seems actually funny. I agree the reaction has been a little extreme but when you are hi-tech enough to have your baby's picture on cellphone, you need to at least dress your kid up a la Gandhiji. Right? People need to understand the plight of the babies. Poor them.

Mother

Signs that would tell you, you are around a new Mom.

1. You ask "how is your baby" and the answer goes on for the next 10 minutes.
2. A person that says "your baby is cute" or gives any compliment to the baby is automatically a "very nice person" and is friendly.
3. Its an effort for a Mom to have a conversation with someone for 30 minutes without mentioning the baby even once.
4. The phrases "Spending quality time", "very fulfilling" etc come up every now and then in all sorts of conversation.
5. If she hangs up the phone mid-way through the conversation, the excuse is always the baby (and she thanks the baby).
6. She agrees with all the above and laughs at herself (and blogs too).

P.S - As a caveat, I gotta add that there are exceptions for everything in life.

Tamil New Year

Happy Tamil New Year to all Tamilians of the world. Sorry Putthaandu Nal Vaazhtthukkal. Resolutions are not just for English New Year right? So I decided to take some reslutions for Tamil New Year. Could think of two. No, its not that I am going to stop doing something or start doing something. I am gonna ask people to stop doing something. Thats always the easiest.;-)
If someone starts a sentence with "Sollareney nu thappa edutthukkadha..." (don't get me wrong but...), its guaranteed that the words that follow would be offensive, annoying or at the least disagreeable to the person who is actually at the receiving end. From tomorrow, I am gonna stop that person mid-sentence and say "Its OK, naan thappa edutthuppen" and I want to see if they actually stop or continue. Too many times people say things like "Sollareney thappa edutthukkadha but you sound stupid" and get away with it. Would their heads explode if you prevent them from stating what they think? I want to check that out.
Have you ever asked the age of someone and got this reply? "I am running 30 but I am actually 29". Who wants to hear their running, sitting, walking age? I am not gonna ask anybody's age anymore. I am only going to ask their year of birth.
If you can think of any more of such "good" resolutions, let me know before tomorrow. (My dear friend Bubby, I am counting on you.)

Sigh!

IITs and IIMs have been captured as well by the Mandal Army. Read this. Whats next?

Would anyone be surprised if this happens - American Embassy has been advised to give visas according to the caste of a person. OBCs and SC/STs have to be given earlier interview dates and 49.5% of the visas have to be reserved for them.

Everytime this caste discussion comes up, someone raises up to say how the upper caste ill-treated the MBCs, OBCs, SCs and STs and that Mandal type of reservation would serve them better and they can participate in the community with dignity. But don't you think its an insult if someone says "You need to get only 50% because you are an ST and you won't be able to compete with those forward castes, who have to get 99%". I am not saying all these reservations are always bad. They had their purpose those days. You need a walker only when you are learning to walk. Once you start running, if someone gives you the walker, for God's sake, reject it. These stupid reservations further divide our already-in-shambles society. Well, these rants mean nothing to anybody but just to feel good I wanna say "Arjun Singh, you are a lunatic".

Matrimonial...

I think 80% of the people who advertise in the matrimonial section of newspapers and magazines sound funny and I don't think they even realize it. I am thinking thats because the ones who give an ad there are not the ones who are actually in the market but some well-wisher does that job for them. So they don't sound honest most of the times and they end up sounding funny. (Remember I said 80%?)

If a guy says "Wanted - a girl who looks like Aishwarya Rai and can do some good cooking in the house for a fat guy", that sounds honest. Fair enough. Hey, no one has the right to find fault with this as its upto the individual to say what they expect of a life-partner and one needn't be politically correct though this guy would probably get married when pigs start flying. Instead, what you see is something like this. "Wanted - a slim homely girl for a slightly plump, good-looking guy". If you look at the actual meaning of homely, the dictionary would say "plain or unattractive in appearance" but in matromonial lingo, it means a girl who puts the home first or a girl who does good house-keeping or a girl who has a neatly oiled, combed and plaited hair with no lipstick or a girl who doesn't have a boy-cut/short-hair/bob-cut or one who doesn't wear a sleeveless top and a tight jean. It could mean any of the above and slightly plump most probably means fat. And if someone can't be categorised as "fair", he/she is automatically "wheatish".

And you also find - "Wanted - a girl who is traditional yet modern for a teetotaller earning Rs....". I don't get what traditional yet modern means. Very subjective indeed.

Coming back to "wheatish", the equation "fair skin = beauty" is so ingrained in our Indian minds that it would take at least 2 centuries for people to think otherwise. Why blame the person who advertises thus, can anyone realistically think they'd get married if they specify they are dark? Thats sad but true. In fact, guys at least have a repreive sometimes. (If you get a fat pay check or have inherited some property) But girls have to be fair-skinned. Wonder how this fair-skin obsession started!!

When the parents of yet-to-be-married-but-in-the-market people meet, they discuss how difficult it is to get their kids married these days. After all, they say, this generation expects a lot. But how many of them would agree to a love marriage without fights or tears? We, 20 somethings and 30 somethings, are the ones that are sandwiched between arranged-marriage-only and love-marriage-only generations. We gotta be traditional yet modern I guess.