Apr 30, 2007

Wings

Huge and strong,
Wide and colourful,
Pink shades
intertwined in white.

Beautiful pair
makes everyone stare
You give me
the power to dare

a wish to fly,
a dream to roam,
the ride to glide,
the height to stride

I fly high
I see places
thanks to you,
my dream comes true

Wish I had you
by my side
not just when I'm asleep,
but also while I'm awake.

A real fake

Sounds like an oxymoron, isn't it? Being an impatient person, I couldn't wait for July 21st to get my hands on the final book of Harry Potter series. So I was casually browsing through the net a couple of weeks ago to catch a glimpse of the HP cover and what other fans had to predict on the storyline. Little did I know that the next two weeks, I am going to be engrossed in a fake "Harry Potter and the deathly hallows" book. A casual web search took me to this book. I didn't care who has written this book or if it's worth a read. I desperately needed a break as it's been a busy 2007 so far.

If I have to review this book in one word, I would say "brilliant". How can someone imagine in such a way and write an unputdownable book in the first place? I'm sure that person should have read and re-read all Harry Potter books several times before attempting to start this fake book. He/She has given attention to so much detail. When I finished the book, all I prayed was "Let this not be the original that's expected on July 21st".

There were some occasional spelling and grammatical errors here and there that can be ignored. At some places, the story was moving quite slow. When I read JK Rowling's versions, there were moments when I would laugh so much at certain situations like Ron's remarks and dialogues. When Dumbledore died in the sixth part, I felt very emotional and my eyes were brimmed with tears. As far as the fake book is concerned, it never brought such emotions in me although it was a nice read.

HP fans, If you are impatient like me and want to read something for fun, search and download this fake book. Meanwhile, I'll try to continue the story from where this fake book left. I have already decided the title - "James Potter and the Deadly Dudley" :-)

Apr 24, 2007

Happy birthday Sachin!

There couldn't be a better day than today to write about one of my superstars, whom I admire for his stylish approach to his batting, his impeccable commitment and above all, a simple, down-to-earth human being. On this day when he celebrates his 34th birthday, Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar is a star to millions of Indians. Whatever the media says or people who don't like him try to anguish his fans like me, the statistics speak for him. I'm not going to elaborate on the statistics and prove that he is a great player. Cynics never agree on them, anyway.

As Tony Greig often says in his commentary "What a player!", he is truly a gem in the current, high pressure game of cricket. It wasn't a smooth journey for him in the past 17 years of cricket, especially the last 7 years. His consistent, flawless and ferocious approach to the game for a span of 10 years had taken it's toll on his physical health and he is not able to perform at the same high limits that he had set for himself. As a result, people expect him to hit a century every single inning. More than individual fans, it's the media that takes him to an unbelievable height when he hits a century and drops him to such low depth when he fails, creating a speculation that he is due for retirement. Whether he performs well in his batting or not, his sheer presence makes wonders in the mindsets of youngsters. According to me and many of his fans, there is still about 4 years of cricket left in him. All he needs is to become completely fit, focus on some key areas where he gets out most of the time these days and work on them. That's it! There's nothing wrong in his style or manner of batting. He is still as aggressive as he was 10 years ago. I'm sure he is going to bounce back soon, entertain his fans and quieten the cynics. This day is not so far!

Apr 19, 2007

Secret Identity

You glow bright
basking in twilight
I admire your beauty
all through the night

You change forms
You change shapes
Yet, something
unclear of your nature

A silver plate to
the richest
A perfect pancake to
the hungry rest

Not crystal clear,
yet not far off
An irresistible
illusion you are!

A characteristic that
you can be proud of,
Obscuring the reddish,
powerful, distant sun.

In few seconds,
the earth gets
to witness glimpses
of day and night.

Not so common,
yet can't be ignored
Your secret identity
in a day of eclipse.

Apr 17, 2007

Cut, cut, cut......

Time is flying at a brisk pace. No wonder, it's already April 17th. I'm contemplating on things I see, topics I discuss with friends, situations I face and minutes I while away in useless thoughts. I'm wondering about the sudden downpour on a sultry summer evening in Bangalore, followed by the continuous power cuts. These days, you cannot claim this as a "power cut". The power goes off for hours,comes back and then goes away for hours. This cycle keeps repeating for the past few weeks ever since we started experiencing a glimpse of summer. Is the Electricity Board playing hide and seek with common people? Whether the concerned authorities are taking any action or not, definitely God has understood and thanks to him, the evenings are cooler these days.

I understand the need for power cuts when there is a shortage, especially in summer. I'm thinking of a solution that can be proposed to the Electricity Board. Let's say, the power has to be cut for 2 hours everyday. The individual in every house can choose a block of 2 hours in a day of 24 hours. If a simple device could be designed, it would be useful to program the input of 2 hours every day since the requirements of power in every household would vary depending on the day. For instance, I might not need power during the afternoons in weekdays and in the mornings over the weekends. If a block of 2 hours was not set, by default the power will be cut from 10 PM to 12 AM. As a long term solution, we will have to think of alternate sources of energy if we need to sustain with the current supply and increasing demands. The time is not far when the hand fans used by our grandmothers become a fashion statement.

Recent humming

I'm completely mesmerized by the sound track of Mozhi (Mozhi means language). This is definitely my kinda music. I simply adore the title track "Kattrin mozhi" - the tunes, the lyrics, the singers and the picturization. I've been listening to this song since morning and feel so relaxed. I do like Vidyasagar composed melodies. Though it might sound like you-have-heard-this-tune-somewhere, still it is very beautiful. My other favorite song "Kannal pesum penne" is sung by none other than SPB. It's been a while since I heard him sing a soft tune in the recent few months. Even after so many years of singing, his voice sounds so fresh. Wish he keeps singing such nice songs for many more years to come. Again, you feel that you have heard a similar tune somewhere. But who cares? As long as it is soothing to eardrums, repetitive tunes or tracks hardly matter. My third favorite "Sevvanam selai" is being played continuously in Sun Music. I guess this is the most popular song of the movie. More than the tune, I like the picturization with Jyotika in different costumes. I used to hate her when she entered Tamil films because I always felt that she overacted. But she has improved tremendously in her acting skills and Mozhi is a classic example of her depicting subtle emotions. Ok, enough of my mozhi about the movie "Mozhi" now. All I can say is that it's worth a watch and a hear!

Apr 10, 2007

Flavours of the summer

The queen of fruits, my most favorite, summer special! No points if you have already guessed it right. I'm talking about mangoes. Yesterday, I tasted a delicious, juicy mango for the first time this summer. Doctors and dieticians suggest taking fruits rather than fruit juices. I completely agree with them. To enjoy the taste to the fullest, I suggest that you follow these steps - Cut a mango into three slices, with the centre slice being the seed. Start eating the two big slices. Don't worry if the juice drips down on your palms. God has given something special called a tongue to lick the trickling juice. Then finish off the pulp from the seed with no trace of pulp left. Heaven! One kg of normal mangoes - Rs.50, one kg of Alphonso mangoes - Rs.130, the relishing experience - priceless! Mangoes taste awesome with plain curd rice as well.

Summer time is also special for other reasons; water melons and musk melons, refreshing tender coconut water, noongu (don't know the English word. This is taken from palmyra tree and looks like litchi), spicy butter milk, endless glasses of fresh lime juices etc. The weekend special was chilled Apple lassi although I'm not really a big fan of lassi. After taking a sip in the sultry afternoon, I felt so refreshed. The only thing that I miss terribly is the summer vacation. All I can do is read this post of mine and feel nostalgic. I'm so jealous of my little cousins now.

Apr 1, 2007

The longest break

from the blogging world! It's been almost a month since I rambled something in this space. Every morning (during my journey to work), I think that I should write about this and that but the minute I reach office, all such thoughts and plans vanish. Work continues through out the day and I ask myself during my return journey from work why I didn't pen down my thoughts. I get the urge to open my laptop in the cab and start pouring the words on notepad before the next day begins and the same cycle continues. I also realize that I haven't completed reading a single book in the past three months. Again, the longest break in my reading. I do have my career goals and ambitions but in order to pursue them, do I need to sacrifice my interests and hobbies?

It was a busy March and many things have happened in the past few weeks. Some happy moments, some sad and I'm not in a mood to write about any of them. I just hope that I come back to my usual self soon. Most importantly, I don't want my interests to take a back seat. I need to take a look at my dusty bookshelf, read a book, try out a few new recipes, update my photos on flickr, start a photo blog (a long pending idea), update my reading list, write for Sunday scribblings, plan for the next weekend getaway etc etc. The list is endless. All I have to do is squeeze in 30 minutes everyday to work on these items.

PS : I saw the cover of Harry Potter and the Deathly hallows, the last in the series. Can't wait to get hold of the book. July 21st, how far are you?

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