the cook, noisy jaws and the sulker

i can cook!! i can cook!! i can cooookkk!!

yay! finally.. my new answer to the question "what can u cook?" would be "sambar, potato curry, vada, curd rice (iyengar ishtyle), and vermicelli paisam" ... instead of the snigger-producing "maggi noodles, a simple sandwich" (and the like) that i have managed to spell out, rather confidently, as if i cared tuppence for the comical look arrowed at me

i can REALLY COOK now :) thanks to my experiments made on dipavali day, folks at home were quite impressed with the erm.. spread i laid out for them :) of course, dear old mom (the best ever cook on earth) helped.. a little.. ok, a lot. mind u, it was she who helped me.. and not me who helped her :)

it was a rather quiet dipavali at home. nothin exactly special, but for mom's gulab jamuns. aah.. what a delight :)

hey sandy, now u have company for jaw pain :( well, well,well.. what can i say? i yawned too widely 3 weeks back .. and it gave me permanent clicking of jaws when i open and close my mouth :( ok, don't be mean to laugh .. it hurts :(

i went to have my jaws x-rayed. apollo dental care is a nice cheery place. i was waiting,waiting and waiting like, forever and i was attended to, only when i started wincing in pain. i went in for the x-ray. sheesh! new equipment. the last time i had a teeth x-ray was when i was 8 :O

frequent power cuts .. sigh.

a stupid cold's been threatening to attack me severely. and i am trying in vain to shield myself by drinking hot water, steam inhalation and desperately trying to avoid chocolates. and still, i manage to sneeze, cough violently and look like a clown with a red nose.

I HATE THIS WEATHER. PLZ CHANGE. PLEEEEEEEEEEEASE.

exams are nearing :

Hi Eeyore!

i wonder how happy people stay happy. they have no reason to cry, no sorrows to brood about, absolutely no gloom. they are always in smiles, ready to do anything to keep others happy. may be thats how they stay happy.

i wonder how sad people are always sad. they always think about things that cannot be undone, and dwell in melancholy always.

sometimes i take the avtaar of Eeyore, the donkey. morose and mournful. nothing seems bright in life. and if i do find something bright, sadness overshadows all the joys that find me.

many a friend to hang out with, talk to, spend time with. but i feel i am this complex character that nobody, NOBODY EVER can understand.

there are so many orkut profiles i have come across, that say "my friends know more about me than i do" and stuff. but in my case, "not even i know about myself" . i really do wonder if people like me exist. i expect too much. i am happy with the few people that i know and like. no one else is all that important to me.

u can never trust a friend these days. secrets never remain secrets. it affects certain friendships. ok, fine, let me find friends within the family. that has taken me a long way.... family and friends are never the same. on second thoughts, would it be better to treat family as friends and friends as family? it confuses me.

i really DO NOT understand the difference . not that all have cheated on me, not that i don't want to trust anyone. would it be fair to blame the for making me an inconspicuous character, ultimately?? because, the search for happiness ultimately lies within you. but, there is something that bars the way, when i set out to do things to keep everyone happy. what is that something? its a whole universe around me. so many people... but, the more i reach out, the more i get betrayed. fear of trust. trustophobia :D

i prefer to stay curled up in my own shell. or cocooned.

my only mistake is... EXPECTATION... expecting reciprocation. expecting unconditional love. expecting a shoulder to lean on, no matter what.

u know, staying away from the people u really really love, makes u think like this. u DON'T want to trust anyone else, to the extent u love & trust ur loved ones!!

NO WONDER PEOPLE ARE SAD. THE WORLD DRIVES U CRAZY WHEN U ARE ALONE.

sacrifice a few things, to be with the people u love. it more than compensates for the sacrifices u made. CONSTANT AND UNTARNISHING LOVE, AFTER ALL, MAKES U HAPPY.

now, i AM a complex character... huh? ;)

this blog of mine... sheesh! i love u darlin' :)

pitter-patter

Me: (groggily) hi, are u going to college today? please say no
S: yeah. i might go today , becoz it isn't raining. we have work, remember?
Me: really? (i peep outside the window) but prayed for a heavy downpour the whole of yesterday.
S: i know :(
Me: well, it could rain... so don't go
S: but i told everyone i'd be going if it doesn't rain
Me: BIG DEAL. DON GO. sigh.

one hour later

Me: i dunno if i should come. it has started to rain now
S: (in a small voice) i am outside college :(
Me: ok, i'll be there :

10 minutes later

Me: i am not coming :
S: why?
Me: i'll have to row/wade my way through the waters
S: :O
Me: ITS FLOODED OUTSIDE!!

sigh. i stepped outside, to open the gate and be off, i found my legs below my knees missing :\
knee-deep water. YUCK. i got drenched, despite the useless unbrella above my head. and.. when i hurriedly came back inside, i found one of my footwear missing : i went out again to see where it went. it was happily floating in the water. i tried to wade my way to get my shoe back. it bobbed up and down in the water and got neatly stuck on the compound wall 3 houses away. i saw the drainiage pipes broken. : i was paddling through ditch water, sewage and ........

after all, what do u expect? heavy rains.... low-lying areas affected..... and.......... NOTHING BEING DONE ABOUT IT BY THE AUTHORITIES.

our fish-pond is overflowing with water. i have to go every one hour and pour out a few mugs of water. poor fishes :( some swam out and died :( the blue finned ones especially. so many of them dead :(

i wish it did'nt rain this hard.. though i usually like rain.
and i prayed for a heavy downpour :( . i don't like this at all :(

mournfully yours..
me..

thoghts in 20 minutes :O

• people always tell me i am a person of extremes. when i like a person, i am the most loyal to him/her. when i start disliking a person, i show my dislike and dissent to their actions. i cant bring myself to explain things. anyway they will fall on deaf ears.

• how long is one supposed to be patient and a good samaritan for? u know, i cant stand these people who get their work done at the cost of our time and energy. sacrifices can be made to a certain extent only.

• and if u have the guts to talk abt a person when he/she's not around, don deny it when the person asks u if u did it . accept it. let the person know u are being transparent in ur actions and words. its any day safer. u at least know who ur real friends and well-wishers are.

• all these hot outbursts aside, chennai is fun. rain doesn't play spoilsport too much. if u decide to get drenched. :) happened last week. i was walking out when it was pouring like mad. the colour of my dress started to run. i was gleefully admiring my delightfully pink feet :D .

• i love pineapple cake. and i love strawberry smoothie. i must mention chocolate. i hope no hater-of-me gives me chocolate poison. i might consume it. ok, i am not an alpe. :D .. well..i am giving u ideas : .

• i tried this restaurant here called sanjeevanam in nungambakkam. i was pretty skeptical about it because the word "health" in "health restaurant" was kinda repulsive. i thought it is a place for the health freaks and oldies and not for ppl my age what if i puked? what if i er... not feel good later :D ... nevertheless, being a major foodie, i decided to plunge into the mission :D. we ordered the special meals. i was like.. ugh. how boring.

• the waiter laid the huge banana leaf before me. he brought 5 tiny glass cups. they had weirdly coloured potions : ok, it was beetroot juice (no sugar), rice bran extract (!), coriander buttermilk and 2 other juices.. with herbs n stuff. i badly wanted to run away from the place. i gingerly held the first cup. (we had to consume it in some specific order.. as per instructions) hey! it tasted good! i downed each cup and ... i thought i'd be full : ... but my appetite started growing at a terrific rate. i couldn't wait for the main course. first came just steamed vegetables. then they served semi-cooked food. dhal, and vegetables. and then rice with the usual rasam and stuff. to round it off, it was a full glass of water. (no water between munches and mouthfuls) and then, a palmful of honey. omg. that WAS a spread. healthy and filling. believe me, i've never had a complete lunch before. this was AWESOME. people, please try it out if u haven't. no second thoughts. its smashin'.

• college: sem pracs over. no big deal. : viva was lovely in networks. for once, a sensible lady came. she asked really good questions which made me think well. which i didn't do for microprocessors. we simply jotted the important questions down and were prepared only for those questions. miserable viva. becoz in mup, if we flopped the viva, the external would scrutinize the program : and reduce marks for not understanding the concepts. or that's wat we were told. but for one ECE sir, we would have ended up with nice zeroes that wud have decorated the mark list. dbms was weird. period.

• i somehow cannot relate to people who think they needn't care about the society.eventually, i am the one who gets affected : .

• a visit to my native village recharged me. fresh air, fresh milk, sitting on the stone benches outside the house (thinnais) :) and looking at the street kids play with a tyre.. rolling it along the way... buffaloes in the marsh. walks to the mangroves, coconut groves and the rice fields, "athi kulam" , lotuses, wells, snakes, scorpions, pigs, cows, bullock-carts, local paneer-soda, temples, "kuppaimeni" herb for the rash i developed on the back of my palm, thanks to some insect.... and sigh, power-cuts : , oor-vambu :D .. oh it was so much fun :)

• i went to this place called madhuramangalam, one of the deities being the holy saint "embar swami", cousin of saint ramanuja. i was excited because i thought it was the native of my favourite violinist embar kannan and i expected to see his ancestral house n all. (i have been listening to too many pazhaya kadhais). later i realised i was stupid :.... hmm... i idolize him. he is blessed. u must listen to him in live.

• i am falling in love with sarees. Diva, a unit of Hi-style in anna nagar is THE place for designer wear and anarkali suits :) check it out if u haven't , girls.

• i love shopping with grandmom. because it happens so quickly :D

• the character Ucchaishravas in koorma avatharam is fascinating me to no end . Ucchaishravas means `sharp-ears`. he is a divine seven-headed flying horse, and was obtained during the churning of paarkadal .Ucchaishravas is said to be snow white in colour, with a jet black tail.. i wish i had a small pony like that :D and i am totally in love with his name :) :)

• study holidays... : .

have fun, engineers-in-the-making :)

well, i have typed all that popped in my mind in the last 20 mins.

navratri

i was in a really bad mood until a week back.
i mean, the IV really spoilt us. we couldn't stop talking about it. and exams were nearing. EVERYBODY was cribbing. it spread a blanket of gloom all over college. (yaarum madhikale, adhu vera vishayam) . the worst part: a fine of Rs.25 if u slept in the exam hall. :| there we two papers which i finished in like... 1 hour.. and i dinno how to kill the rest of the time. i tried peeking into usha's paper, just to see if she wrote more than me. when i realised she did, i hurriedly wrote 3 extra pages of crap. hoping for attempt marks. unfortunately, they were mercilessly scored off :|

gethu answer:

"what are the different types of messages?
incoming and outgoing :D :D "

then, golu-keeping in college :D

first we thought it was a rather weird idea...
since there was no scope for escaping, we gave up and decided to do something for namesake. interest was building up and it became fun.
6 of us went to ranganathan street, scouring all the shops for the stuff. flop. so the 4 boys biked to mylapore kapali temple. the two of us , preferred to scan pondy bazaar for the smaller stuff. and we had a great time shopping and bargaining :D .. aah, girly fun :D

and then, no word. we thought we dropped the idea.

i went home to catch up with family :)

i came back. went to college. i went to MS auditorium. very very nice job done by the boys n girls :) half didn't expect it :)

then the extra fittings were set up.... many nice models done by the first years. they were grand, take my word.
we peeped inside the auditorium. the stage said "navarathri, golu and dandia celebrations"
WAT? DANDIA? :)

7 ft statues of the paavais with lamps. 7ft durga , srichakram models, tirupati perumal.
college was GRAND.
lovely pookalams, rangolis painted the floor. and very very very innovative ideas took shape successfully.

the first years were a great great deal of help. but for them, we would've landed in deep trouble :|

it seems the evening buffet was great :| i missed it :| food arranged for special ocassions in college is always sammmma fantastic..

we had a great time, organizing stuff.. (fighting for resources, kevla-paduthing some ideas... super aama-poting few others) ..

this was something that we first showed nil interest... eventually, on THE day, in 4 hours, we did all we could and we loved the fun! i caught up with all the real nice people that i couldn't spend much time with.. after a long time :) no wonder i felt working together was fun fun fun.

a different last day of navratri :P