My Expression!! My Life!!

I picked up this book with a lot of expectations as the earlier books by the same author showed a lot of promise – Sister of my heart, Vine of Desire, etc. I liked the way she portrayed the Bengali customs, traditions etc and how she used the language so effortlessly and flawlessly. This book however – a collection of short stories – failed to live up to those expectations. Much to my disappointment the stories lacked something that I could not put my finger on. I felt they were incomplete, or rather on the whole deficient in something. Either there’s something that I could not quite figure out about the stories or maybe there’s nothing; and they are just that – STORIES. Of the whole lot, she has used characters in some that are common to the other books and the collection altogether left me a little disheartened when I finished it. I seriously could not understand the endings of some stories, if they could be called that!!! I preferred Jhumpa Lahiri’s - Unaccustomed Earth to this one…...

I saw this very nice movie yesterday (again!) called ‘Mozhi’ – a Tamil movie… I saw it initially when it was released in the company of my parents and my best friend – Vaish - and her family… I fell in love with it! And now it holds a prominent place in my list of favorite movies… I watched it again yesterday… and fell in love with it all over again… A very simple, sweet, story that is portrayed in a very realistic way… loved each and every character in the movie… they all contributed their bit no matter how small it was… and everything about the movie is so well-made that it makes you feel good after watching it… Jyothika has done a great job as the deaf and mute girl whose resilience is weakened when she comes into contact with another person who introduces her to things she was not aware of…. Prithviraj has done a brilliant job as the musician who falls in love with this strong headed, confident girl and wants to share his life with her… Prakash Raj – yet again a brilliant actor, he...

Someone today asked me if I was possessive about my blog… at that time I thought it was quite a weird question and shrugged it off… but the more I thought about it… well… Actually I am… :-) I mean, it’s almost like an integral part of me… Each day in the morning in office, once I finish checking my “official” mails the next thing that I do is diligently log on to blogger… Every time I come across something or some incident occurs, the first thought that crosses my mind is whether I can put it on my blog… I come across some kind of phrase or a nice saying or anything that catches my attention, I think of how to incorporate it in my blog… I love it when I get hits on my blog, I love it when someone leaves a comment, I love it when someone tags me… I love to browse the net for other blogs, trying to gain ideas or inspiration for my own… I compose posts in my mind to put them later on my blog… play around with words, imagination, stories that I have read, incidents that I have heard or see...

I went home for a couple of days this last weekend… one of my close friends was getting engaged and it was happening at my hometown… It was a good thing because I got to meet my parents and stay at home as well… and it was a really short visit by any standards …. But this post is not about how short my stay was or what I did during my stay… this post is about how the small sleepy hometown that I am a part of has changed so much – the right word here would be ‘evolved’ – I was literally taken aback… not that I did not expect it to grow or develop … but the pace at which it is getting there is amazing to say the least… The town that I belong to in Kerala was more or less referred to by my folks as a place for retirement… in the sense that it quiet, calm, serene and what not… it was the place that I grew up… went to school in, did my graduation from… and all through the course of my studies when I was old enough to think and act for myself, there was just one thought that kept running thr...

Soorya's tag...!! again! :-) but I enjoyed doing this one too.. it was good fun.. My Answers .... What is your first name? Aishwarya… (And no I am not going to put Aishwarya Rai’s picture here..! I searched for 'ash') What is your favorite food? Right now? Aloo fry… (the way Amma makes it :-) ) What high school did you go to? St.Thomas Convent High School … got the Saint’s picture…:O What is your favorite color? Black… Black… Black… and its various hues and shades… Who is your celebrity crush? George Clooney.. He’s so CUTE…. Favorite drink? Coffee…. Dream vacation? Some god-forsaken island somewhere… Just me and Mother Nature… Favorite dessert? Cheesecake What do you want to be when you grow up? A dancer What do you love most in life? Myself… ;-) One Word to describe you. Perky Your flickr name. No Flickr name...!!!

Tagged by Soorya ..... here goes... 8 Things I’m passionate about: My Independence , freedom, liberty :P My friends My family Dance My collection of Books My room My laptop My collection of cd’s and stuff that I have taken care to hoard over years.. ;-) 8 Things I want to do before I die: 1. Get a tattoo 2. Do a lot of adventure sports 3. Learn horse riding 4. Become a successful top level corporate honcho 5. Become a master at all languages 6. Learn other types of dances 7. Take my mom and dad on a world tour 8. Live life my way… and in so good and best a way that people would want to emulate..!! 8 Things I say often: Shucks Am hungry! What the hell… Mummy….. Am feeling sleepy I Swear!!! Really?? Hmmm 8 Books I last read: Jhumpa Lahiri’s Unaccustomed Earth Advaita Kala’s Almost Single Ashok. K. Banker’s Prince of Ayodhya Must love dogs (Don’t remember the author’s name) David Baldacci’s Total Control David Baldacci’s Stone Cold Chitra Divakarunni Banerjee’s The Vine of Desire Chitra ...

It is raining heavily outside. I am sitting inside my centrally airconditioned office huddled up in a jacket to keep in the warmth. I can't help but think of what I would do if i was at home... Having a hot cup of coffee (filter coffee) in my favorite black mug, accompanied by maybe hot pakoras onion/potato, or mirchi bajjis, even spicy nuts... curled up in my bed with a nice interesting book and music plugged into my ears, cuddled in my blanket... hmmm... High hopes!!! Instead of that I am sitting here and listening to my colleague who has taken the day off on how he is enjoying the climate... gah! and double gah! I wish I were at home... I wish I were at Kerala... I wish I were anywhere but here....

You know sometimes I hate my blog! Hate of course is too harsh a word but then having a blog like this in my own name is a little unnerving… its unnerving because I have to think about what I am going to write, how I am going to word it, will it hurt people’s sentiments or feelings, would people who read it take offence, do I have the liberty to post it… I dunno… sometimes having a blog anonymously helps! Seriously! I mean, there are so many things that I want to write about, stuff about people, about incidents that happen, about the way people behave etc etc… the list is kind of endless… but no… I end up thinking that it might be rude to say/write stuff like that which of course is sarcastic enough for people to feel bad because sarcasm kind of runs in my blood… or so some of my friends say!! But when I get that feeling that I have to stop myself from writing something just because it would hurt someone, it irks me… it’s almost like I don’t have the freedom to post whatever I want on ...

This is one TV Show that never fails to perk up my spirits… It’s Funny, It’s Cute, It’s so easy to relate to and it’s BRILLIANT… Love it… Back in college, when we were in the hostel, it used to be our only respite from the always-on-our-backs professors. The slapstick comedy, the one liners, the USP of each character, the way they led their lives… it’s just too good…!! In fact, the show was such a rage that people used to equate it to their status symbol… “Do you watch F.R.I.E.N.D.S.?” “No, I actually don’t!! What is it about?” “You don’t know about F.R.I.E.N.D.S.??... It is a MUST-WATCH”… And then there were these quizzes that got popularized… “Which F.R.I.E.N.D.S. character are you?” etc etc… I can recollect couple of my friends swooning over Chandler and Joey... I did too ;-) In fact I still do! :-)… And whenever someone used to ask me “Who is your favorite character in F.R.I.E.N.D.S.??” I used to never be able to decide… I like each one of them for specific traits… and I think wh...

Happy friendship day..!!! :-) Yup… yesterday was friendships day… the first Sunday of August… a quiet, relaxing, and a normal holiday like any other weekend… I remember back in school and college, the enthusiasm with which Friendship Day was celebrated… brightly colored bands adorning the wrist right up till the elbow in some cases… comparing with one another who had more bands… the rare colored satin ribbons that passed off for bands (pocket money!!:P), cutting cakes, meeting up with friends… and since it falls on a Sunday, the whole fun would be next day at School/College!! But somehow as days pass by, as we grow older, these kind of “days” seem to have taken a backseat… yup..Birthdays, Anniversaries, Mothers Day, Fathers Day, Rakshabandhan, etc have their own charm still… but “Special days” as these have somehow taken less priority over anything else.. Gone are those days when you used to message everyone in your contacts list wishing them a happy friendship day… or calling up your ...

BEAUTIFUL... I could use a lot of adjectives here and tell you what a wonderfully made film it is! But I am going to do nothing of that sort... All I am going to tell you is.. MUST WATCH! :-)